Ara's Double-Cross Day.

Hey Captain,

This past weekend was the 9th annual SoCalCross Turkey Trot race here in my hometown of Glendale, California. After taking a month off of racing the cross series I felt prepped for this one. The course is a fun technical affair with tight turns, steep uphill runs through mud, and alot of dirt on the hillside of Verdugo Park. Grew up playing in this park and now racing in it is pretty nostalgic. Family, friends, and colleagues came out to support. Sadly, Thome was away for the Thanksgiving weekend to visit Matt in Missoula.

Decided to race the Class C category for fun and as a warmup. That turned out to be a mistake. Even though I didnt go all out (was messing around splashing spectators with my water bottle). Showcasing my new Royal Racing cross country kit was the main purpose. Epic Jersey and MW365 BioFlex shorts were so comfortable to ride in. Came in 7th out of 54 racers with a hot dog in my mouth, a good friend handed it on the last lap, dont get any ideas but it tasted good. Thinking I have 30 minutes to recover, drink the fluids of the gods Amino Vital, spin a little to loosen up again but no... the Class B race was going to start in 5 minutes. Because of the late start in the morning, the organizers were rushing through trying to get back on track. Quick jersey change back to Backbone and a new bib number was back on the the start line.

Started off well. Halfway through was in the top 15. Missed a major pileup in the sand and was gaining on all the technical sections. Was trying to hold on for dear life in the tall grass and straightaways. Kenda Small Block 8's were hooking up really well, best choice of the day. The final two laps were starting to hurt and cramping started. Muscled through but dropped spots on the final lap to finish 20th out of 48 racers. All in all, was happy with the results because of the circumstances. Good to be back on the race course again representing out team and sponsors. With there was more Backboners out there.

Thanks to the Family for coming out, friends that cheered us on (need more heckling), Mr. Margve for bbqing hot dogs during the race, and others. Major shoutout to the High School kids who came out and threw down good results : AJ, Simon, Chelsea.

Big Thank you to Royal Racing, Jason "Shipwreck" Shippers, for the amazing technical and casual riding clothes. Next race will be dedicated to Amino Vital this Saturday at the Downtown Los Angeles UCI After Dark race. Should be raining and muddy! BOOYA!

Fuzz