"Ft. Ord is the poison oak capital of NorCal! I got a horrible case of it there last year, so this year I took precautions: Ivy Block on my legs, then long sleeve skinsuit and light leg warmers to cover exposed skin, and a thorough wash with Tecnu Extreme when I get home. So far no rash from 2 weeks of races there!

This was also my first race on my new Stevens frame with the Sram CX1 group and new Ritchey Apex II wheels. The bike worked perfectly and I really like the 1x11 gearing for CX!

The course was quite different from last week with no significant climbing on the bike. There was a short sandy hill that was rideable (barely), but there was a barrier right before it, so it was faster to run it. There was another short, steep hill with loose sand at the bottom to force a dismount, but you could remount halfway up in a shallow section and ride the top part through ice plant that provided some traction.

I had a horrible start, completely missing my pedal. I made it up to 3rd by the 3rd turn behind my Rambuski Law teammate Trina, who got the hole shot and Amanda Shaper (who was 3rd last week). Amanda was slowing in the turns and I was stuck behind her for a bit as Trina pulled away. We finally hit a straight section and I accelerated by Amanda so she would not follow me as I eventually bridged to Trina. Trina was easier to follow and we had a small gap on Amanda. Then we hit the sandy run up, and as I was setting up to dismount, my wheel slid out to the left in the turn and I had to put a foot down on the right. I guess I should learn how to remount from the right side of the bike, but unfortunately I am not ambidextrous and I had to yank my bike over to the other side to remount. Amanda passed me again and Trina surged ahead. After the climb, I was able to get by Amanda again and catch up to Trina.

After the first barrier section, I passed Trina and started eeking out a gap that grew every lap. I held on for the win with no more mishaps. Amanda passed Trina for 2nd with Trina in 3rd."

Karen Brems