Ruston Race 2015

Saturday was the Piney Hills Classic in Ruston. This is my "home" course as I went to college at LA Tech in Ruston, worked at the park while I was in school and have countless laps out there. The course has gone through small changes over the years, but I generally still know it very well as I get to ride it a few times a year and my confidence is high when we line up to race. I won the Cat 3 LA state championship there in 2005, which was my first year MTB racing. It's been 10yrs now since that race, and I think I've been to every version and trying to win again ever since. I came close the last 2 years but a crash and a mechanical problem slowed me down. 2 weeks ago my BMC frame broke and I landed on my head and hurt my neck, so I wasn't even sure I'd get to race this year. I was feeling ok enough to at least line up and ride around, so I brought the Monocog and moved my registration to the SS Open class. The forecast all week was calling for heavy rain on Saturday and we woke up that morning to a steady rain and a lot of water already on the ground. Because of the weather, the turnout for the race was really low, it was just me and one other guy in SS Open. All the Cat. 1 did a mass start, so I was shuffled towards the back pretty quickly with my one gear and the long fireroad start. I built a good lead early on the other SS'er, and then backed it down a half a notch to cruise control to stay safe. I pulled a little more time on him the rest of the race, and held on for the win. It's a bit unsatisfactory as a competitor when most of the competition doesn't show up, but it will still go down as a win so I'll be glad to take it and add one more for 2015. 

We are hanging around LA for the next week until LA Tech homecoming, so maybe I can sneak in a ride or two if the weather ever gets decent.