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Boggs State Forest, October 7-8, 2006
Boggs is the new Parkfield, and then some. It has the pixie sumo, the jumps, the huffy toss, the nudity,
of course. But it also has miles and miles of world-class singletrack. Now in its
third year, Boggs has firmly established itself as the destination event of the WCCC season.
Saturday's marquee XC race featured a full MA squad of Todd Norwood, Andre Gondouin, and
roadie refugee rookie Elliot Holland. Following the Davis tradition of poor course
marking, Todd's finish was hurt by a missed turn, but he safely cracked the top third.
Andre, making his debut in MA, posted a solid result as well. Elliot suffered a broken
chain in the first lap, but finished the race in one smiling piece.
In MB, the course was again a factor, as poor markings led to a group of MBs--
unfortunately not including yours truly--
cutting a couple miles off the course. Nonetheless, Aaron Johnson, Shawn Litster, Andre Marta,
and myself
all had good races. Rookie Michael Hutson joined Ben Almquist and Terry Hou in MC for an enjoyable lap.
After the race we retired to the Norwood cabana in Cobb for a great dinner with Kitty and Bob.
The main event, pixie sumo, was Saturday night, preceded by Wheelman Matt Goebel's clinic on
pixie flame jumping. Notable participants included NORBA official Jeff Wu (not pictured:
his much different attire for the semifinals, although you can see it on the woman behind him), and Elliot.
But the star of the show was Stanford's own Shawn Litster, who advanced through
the bracket to the final 3-man elimination round. Bronze never looked so sweet. With Rafer
graduated, Stanford has a new PX leader in Shawn.
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The Sunday morning SuperD featured Todd's defense of his victory in the MA event here
last year. His 2nd place finish this year led the team for the
weekend. Sean Ardley and Shawn Litster joined him in MA as well. Elliot kept up his
luck-o'-the-roadie with a bent chain and broken front
derailleur this time, but finished nonetheless.
In the short track, Everyone appreciated the extra-loud Stanford cheering section
of Coach Scott, Ken Green, Boggs guru Tim Battaglia ("Uncle MTB"), our new friend Tex,
and Shawn's wife/team photographer Kris.
Elliot, returning late from his broken-bike SuperD finish,
missed the MA start, but pulled 2nd in the MB for the first podium of his young but already
storied mtb career. Todd and Dan also scored high finishes
in MA and MB, while Sean
Ardley worked the block in MA. Shawn, racing MB, had a fall at the start, but recovered
for his own solid finish.
Everyone had a great weekend in the mountain bike paradise that is Boggs.
But despite all the positives, there was something very wrong with this weekend. For the first time
in a long time, Stanford had no female racers! Women, you need to get back on your bikes
and join us at Reno, Pomona, and most of all the Conference Championships hosted by Cal
at Lake Sonoma. See the complete weekly group ride and race schedule here, and email Todd
if you have any questions.
submitted by Dan McGarry
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