Race Report: 2026 CCCX MTB Series #1 XCO - Men’s Cat 1/Expert

Race: 2026 CCCX MTB Series #1 XCO - Men’s Cat 1/Expert Age 19-39 

Date: January 4, 2026

AVRT racers: Michael Matthews

Top Result: Men’s Cat 1/Expert Age 19-39 2nd/8 (Men’s Cat 1/Expert Overall 5th/33).

Course: Fort Ord is the venue again this year for the 3CX (CCCX) race series. The race was a traditional format MTB XCO race with a 2.9-mile loop. Per lap elevation gain was 267 ft. The course was mostly singletrack. The expert field did six full laps. IT WAS POURING RAIN, during warmups and at the start. We would finish in sunshine though! The features of a full lap included a few pitchy little climbs, flowy single track, massive blind-bottom puddles, watt-eating mud (up to 6-inches deep in places), slippery and fast descents and a few nice straight sections that you could hammer. Trail conditions were wet and wild.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/16941156360 

Nutrition: Normal breakfast and ~100g of carbs in a bottle for pre/during race nutrition.

Event Recap: Lined up with what looked to be a competitive field in the pouring rain. It was a day that keeping the rubber side down could win you the race. Started well and kept with a pack of four fast younger riders. They had more to give that early in the race that I did and I made a choice to let them go toward the end of lap one. Last season I was able to use my endurance to catch back onto these moves and I wanted to avoid blowing up. The right choice, but I would not catch them. One rider was in my age category (barely, at 19 y/o). I rode the race mostly alone except for a few stints with really strong riders from age categories 40+. I took one small slide but otherwise went well. I’ve definitely taken some good learning from this poor weather racing and look forward to applying it in some aggressive dryer racing later this year. I am happy with 2nd place and some points in the first month of 2026!

Ps. took the dogs on the podium (one out of frame)!