Race: 2026 Bay Area Superprestige (BASP) CX Surf City - Day 2
Date: October 25, 2026
AVCX racers: Simon Edwards-Parton, Bryan Hains, Jonathan Lewis (sort of), Sharon Newman, Brennan Pang, David Remahl, Andrew Yee
Top results: Sharon, Women B, 3/5; Bryan, B45+ 1/10; Brennan B45+ 3/10
Course: Crest Ranch Christmas Tree farm in Santa Cruz. With a course reversal all the sketchy stuff got more fun this time around. The course started with a long gradual dirt climb that separated the field nicely which turned into some swoopy jungle gully sections, followed by the big maze and mandatory barriers, a dirt trench, and a downhill gravel bit. Then a gravel descent into a beat to hell off-camber drop down dirt bit, then the long mulch section to the finish. It will be sad to say goodbye to the Crest Ranch christmas tree farm as a classic BASP CX venue going all the way back to 2013. Thank you so much to Brendan Lehman, Maddie Ortenblad, and the Rock Lobster and Onko Rinkus organizers for making this event so so special for all of the racers, families, and friends.
Race recaps:
Jonathan: After finishing my race Saturday I chucked the bike in the back of my car, got checked out by the medic, and figured I had bruised ribs. Went home for the night unsure about racing Sunday but I had already registered and paid, plus I promised Siena we would go. Loaded up the car and made the drive. Get my bike out and see that I’ve managed to crack the head tube in yesterday’s crash! Thought I might as well try a practice lap anyway and the busted headtube sent me over the bars twice on my practice lap, two more blows to the sore ribs, the last one knocked the wind out of me again. I decided not to race. In the coming days I will find out that the frame isn’t repairable and I have a broken rib. RIP to the Flying Dutchman. But Siena did the kid’s race, so at least someone got to wear my race number that day!
Open C:
Simon: The Sunday course was run the more traditional direction as well as adding in a long flat twisting section through the Christmas tree groves at the beginning of the lap. The race started off fast and with the flatter section early on I elected to ride at a more sensible tempo given how spread out we’d get before the technical bits avoiding bunching up and there being more opportunities to overtake than the previous day's races. I settled into a maintainable effort for the race and slowly began reeling in some of those riders who had started off a bit too eagerly. A few laps in I caught up with Andrew from Radhous racing who had finished ahead of me the previous day and had a fun backwards and forwards battle where he would get ahead of me on the technical sections while I would squeeze past in the areas that rewarded sustained hard efforts. After being overtaken by who we thought was the lead rider and thinking we were on the final lap we were both pushing it to the line and he was just ahead when we saw the lap board and realized that was not the lead rider and had one more lap to go at which point I had just enough energy left to get past Andrew and maintain my lead on the final lap.
Open B:
David: I returned with the pit bike he neglected to bring Saturday. Wider tires made the course more enjoyable, for sure. Since the direction was reversed, the start had moved; I had to start towards the back of the field and moved up only marginally during the race. The only place I was able to reliably pass people was on the long straight-away along Empire Grade, but I found the course almost entirely rideable without wasting time. First lap was slowest due to traffic, and ultimately I improved my position from 31st to 24th during the race. As always, very much enjoyed the atmosphere, lovely weather, kids race (Julian, 18mo, and Minerva, 8yo, completed 1 and 3 laps respectively!), and nearby wineries. I still hold out hope that there will be future Crest Ranch races.
Andrew: Why do we race? For me, it’s a coveted hour of singular focus, the challenge of improving with Father Time looming, the chance to create a few memories with my kid, and the awesome community. Working with teammates to get one of our race numbers across the line first is gravy. The beauty of camping at the venue is that there is plenty of time to pre-ride. I got a few laps in, figured out my approach to each course feature, returned to camp to chill, pin my #832 on my clean jersey, and then warm up. Hanging with fellow campers and teammates Brennan, Simon and Sharon made for a relaxing morning—always nice not to be rushed. I put on my bibs and shoes, then went back to my camp chair to don my jersey, only to find it missing. So much for a relaxing pre-race routine. Multiple unsuccessful checks in my car and at camp only got me more frazzled. After half my warm-up time had expired, I cut my losses, grabbed the reject AVCX neon jersey, did the walk of shame to reg to get a hand-written replacement #832, and did a few half-hearted sprints to fake a warm-up. My highlight came just five seconds into the race, as my son Kai and I grabbed the holeshot, side-by-side. He took off with another racer, and his pace was too hot for me. I shouted, “Go! I’m blocking!” and watched him lead the first lap and gradually ride away. Unlike Saturday, I never got swarmed by the kids on the first lap, didn’t have to dismount, and even rode the run-up that promoter Brendan said was my fault. I got my revenge. I crossed the line for the final time, proud of not dismounting and keeping my kid (barely) in sight, and hoping I’d snuck into the top ten. But after I caught my breath, I was pleasantly surprised to hear the officials had credited me, #832, with doing more laps than anyone else. Victory! Simon then rolled up and apologized. He had accidentally picked up and squeezed into my jersey, and raced the entire B race in it. Together, wearing the same number, we did ten laps! After the number controversy, I finished 9th of 33, easily my best race of the season. Sadly, Simon got DQ’d and didn’t get a result. My kid just missed the podium despite dropping his chain three times (he’s his own mechanic). It was a good day. I’ll miss Crest Tree Ranch. This year was my favorite edition, thanks in large part to AVCX.
Women B:
Sharon: The night before, I had started a dirt cough, which progressed to make me feel like I might be getting sick, and I was pretty dang tired from giving my all the day before. Prior to the race, I was not in the greatest mood and energy level, but luckily the Costume race cheered me up and reminded me why I love cross. I was already pretty hot from the warm-up, so I doused my jersey in hose water and headed to the start line with a much improved attitude. We started off again with me taking the holeshot. I knew the other ladies were right behind me, and given their lap times from the day before, I knew two would pass me soon. I just yelled back to them about how I wanted to give them a little bit of a race before they passed. We had a good chuckle. Probably meant we could have gone faster if we could talk. Two of them passed pretty early on and I was again by myself in my own category. I knew there was another lady in my category close behind me, but I didn't see her the entire race. The thought of her behind me, though, kept me going a little bit faster, and I played a little game of trying to not let one person (not in my category) pass me. So that was a good game of "How high can I keep my heart rate?".
The course was pretty fun and I loved the two more techy drops in dirt and had to whoop most times I dropped in. I surprisingly felt a lot better than I did the day before, energy-wise, so that was quite nice to feel steady throughout the entire race. The guys did a really great job of also cheering me on at practically every corner. Also had a surprise to see a Shrek head (Robin) pop up on a run-up! So Long Crest Ranch and thanks for the beautiful space over the years! Sad to know that the best race in the series has to move venues.
B45+
Brennan: A lot more climby than yesterday with some fun runups sponsored by Cyclocross Magazine. Still all rideable and it was fun to rail the downhill berms. Slotted in pretty well and just settled into the pace at 3rd and stayed there the entire race picking mostly good lines and passing people not in my race category. Stoked to finish on the lead lap in 3rd with Bryan in 1st. Good day for AVCX! Surf City was my first cyclocross race ever in 2021, so it was a fitting end to 6 years of racing at Crest Ranch.
Bryan: I personally liked this “correct way” course better than yesterday as the sketchiness was mellowed out going this direction. I had a good start with Brennan establishing positions going into the first gully section. I rode with the 2nd place guy for a while and then was able to put some distance in on the techy bits. Around and around we went until I connected with a rock lobster single speeder (Jeff?) and we swapped positions several times on the tech vs. grind it out hills. I made minor unforced crashes several times - banging into a tree, not getting a line right in a gully, etc. I finally decided to let him tow me into all these features which was super smart - no more crashes. So clearly more tech work at speed is needed. In the end Brennan and I got on the podium which was a great moment for AVCX to represent.
Costume race:
Brennan: Since I (Grogu) had a deep sea helmet on, I joined in with the deep sea creatures and we all ended up on the podium in 1st for the costume extravaganza. Man, that helmet was really hot and I couldn’t see anything.
Simon: It’s always a challenge trying to find a costume that will survive a lap of the course, provides sufficient visibility and doesn’t get too warm. In previous years I’d compromised on the breathability of the costume and ended up soaked in sweat, this year I went for an option with a built in air pump as part of an inflatable velociraptor which kept me cool but I hadn’t taken into account how little you can see when there’s a giant raptor head bobbing around in front of you. It did provide an extra challenge and thankfully having raced earlier in the day I knew the course well enough to avoid any misadventures and had great fun, finishing side by side with a pterodactyl which was a first for me.
Photo credit Mark August
