Boss Cross 3

Janelle's family was in town for Boss Cross 3. Her little brother just started doing cross last fall, and brought his bike so he could race too. It was very cool. He races in the junior class in the Santa Cruz CA series, but I suggested he should probably race Cat 4s here since the Jr category is not too competitive.

He raced very well. After starting on the 4th row, he rode aggressively and made his way into the top 10 after 1 lap, then off the front on lap two.He continued to gain ground on the field, but then got a flat and ran half a lap to get back to the pit. I let him use my B bike, since I didn't have any wheels with 9spd, so he finished on a too-big bike in 17th.

On the front row

I got a front row start, but my slow starts continue to be an issue. I'm not sure why that is. I've only had one good start this season. Anyway, Brian Jensen and I were the chase group after about a half lap. Joe, Jeff, and Jon were ahead and were gaining. I was hoping to ride up to them with Brian, but he was dropping me on all the open sections and I would claw back up on the technical parts. Unfortunately, Brian had some bad luck with a broken shifter and a broken pedal.

All alone

This left me on my own for the rest of the race. With about 3 laps to go, I could see Adam Mills chasing up to me. I put in a little more effort to keep him away and that was it. I ended up 4th. The course was really fun., I liked it a little more than last years course.

Barriers plus sand

It was also cool to have friends and family on hand. I had my own little cheering section, which is always nice. It was also nice not to race in a huge dust cloud. Maybe November will bring some mud?