solobreak

The Glendale course sits in an upscale urban park.



Rockin' Rob Kramer absolutely killed it off the start in the 35+ race, riding in front group of four for two laps.



Solo and Kramer posing for animal crackers post-race.



Robin rides the sand pit.



Solo eating a pumpkin cupcake. WTF is the world coming to?

Glendale, the Gene Galindo Turkey CX. For me this was a repeat, but they adjusted the course a bit, making it totally awesome, fast and flowy, with alternating hammer and recovery sections. No call up for me. This was the SoCal state championships too, so even though everyone in the 45+, 50+, and 55+ started together, we were scored separately.

Being in the last row, I still picked the wrong side for the start. I'd preridden all of the course except for the start/finish stretch, as with chip timing pre-riders are not allowed to pass through there. I got pinched onto some roots that I did not know were there and lost ground. In the chip results, I'm one of the few whose fastest lap was not the first, instead doing my quickest on lap two. I moved up steadily, but by the time I cleared all the traffic the leaders were gone. In the end I got 4th/11 in the 50-54, 8th/31 overall. The winner was former Honda factory motocross pro Johnny O'Mara. Stuck around to watch the two Rob's, feasting on a catered Mexican buffet provided by the race organizers. Life is good again. Thanks for reading.