NorCal High School Cycling League, Fort Ord, 3/27/2011

By Kevin Giberson

Wow, what a weekend of exciting NorCal High School Cycling League cross-country mountain-bike racing. Several racers moved up in the standings, the team moved up to 3rd overall (out of 28 teams in our division), and the racers learned that a team effort can result in success even after the top rider is out with a mechanical issue.

The race was originally scheduled for Laguna Seca which our team prefers due to the larger hills, but due to the huge amount of mud and water on the course from the week of rain the race was moved to East Garrison at Fort Ord. Luckily that course dried out wonderfully and was in great condition for the sunny race on Sunday.

In the Varsity Boys race, the team’s top racer, Jacob Albrecht, had a mechanical on the first lap as his chain broke and that essentially took him out of the race, though he did finish after repairing his bike. Jacob will be back strong at the next race.

In the JV Boys race Curren Giberson came in second place even with a crash and closed the gap on the lead rider to a mere ten seconds in this race, keeping him in second place overall in the standings. Chase Cummings also had a nice race finishing in sixth place.

In the JV Girls race Dominique van den Dries had the most movement in the standings from the prior week by finishing in third place and moving up seven spots with a strong effort.

In the Sophomore Boys race Josh Krisman also moved up in the standings and came in third place after a sprint to the finish with the top two racers. Leon Markarian moved up to 8th place this week.

In the Freshman Boys race Chance Tiner moved up to 8th place also.

The great side of so many racers moving up in the standings was the team captured third place at this race, and moved into third overall in the standings. All this was possible because teammates stepped up their game this week, even though our top point scorer was unable to contribute due to his mechanical. So a great effort by all, and next week we head to Laguna Seca… should be fun!

As always, thanks to our sponsors for helping to make this all possible.

Kevin Giberson, Program Director
Santa Cruz Junior Cycling Composite