SCX #3 Silver Lake Park

And just like that, Autumn is here in full force.
The rain came out this weekend to remind us that it is indeed the middle of October already. Every year, the Seattle-area cyclocross racers drag themselves up to Silver Lake in Everett for the crazy Silver Lake cross course. With loads of sand, steep climbs and steeper descents, and more sand, this course really puts a beating on riders and equipment.
The 1/2 race was a show of pure power as local powerhouse Logan Owen of Redline shot off the front of the pack and would lead for the entire race while Gian Dalle (who has been having a great season) was working at max capacity to keep within sight of the Red and white Redline jersey. The remainder of the pack was struggling to keep pace with these guys, and it definitely showed how important having a clean line through some of the sections could be.
My early season consistency put me in the front row for the poorly organized call-up (they gave us about 10-15 feet to pack all the riders into, resulting in an odd bunching rather than organized lines), but the rushed start had me about 15 riders back on hitting the sand for the first trek across the beach. I got stuck in some of the pile-up as riders forced into the 2 defined paths through the long beach section, and the next thing you knew I was about 20 riders back from the leader. Not a great way to start this race.
For the rest of the race I was dragging back riders as I could, but that initial sand-trap created the separation for the leaders that would last the entire race. By the end I had managed to get within 20 seconds of the trailing group of the lead pack and settled with a decent 16th for the day.
Luckily I suffered nothing more than mediocre finishing, as many riders rolled tires, flatted, or broke parts on there bikes due to the grueling sands and off-camber bumpy descents. This finish puts me in 3rd for the series right now, with 4 more races until the finish in November. Luckily we drop one race, so hopefully 16th is my worst finish of the season.
Great job David Matthews on 24th in the Men's Single-Speed race
Next weekend will be Magnuson Park in Seattle which last year featured slick grass and deep mud. If the weather keeps up, we may be in for a repeat of those conditions. See you there!