Dear BMR sponsors,

November turned out to be a mixed bag of results and experiences. For the first time in my 23 years of racing in NorCal, we had a night-time cross race. The folks at Pilarcitos that bring us the Bay Area Super Prestige series, our premier cross series in NorCal, overcame an amazing array of technical difficulties associated with creating a fun, demanding, and safe circuit in Brisbane. The end result ran the full spectrum from calamity to victory for the team, and a great time was had by all. We donated some blood, chewed up a couple hundred bucks worth of fine Dutch rubber, and won one if the tightest races of the night, with Janel clawing her way free of a strong contingent of master women racers, to win her 3rd BASP race in a row.

While Edwin was trying to defend his SoCal district cross title from '07, taking a hard earned 4th, we were attending our own NorCal district championship race at Manzanita Park, put on by the folks at CCCX. The most solid rides came from Tim (4th), and a fantastic silver medal for Janel in the 45+ master women's event.

More success was on the way for the team at the next BASP race in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. The entire team put in solid rides, with exceptional results coming again from Tim in the 35+ race (5th), and Janel crushing in the last lap to seal the deal in her 4th straight win in the series (climb podium, get new leader's jersey, wave to fans. She can do it in her sleep now...).

The gaps in these outstanding results were filled in by the rest of the men and women in black, like Bruce taking his highest placing (3rd) at a CCCX race this cross season. Also, in no small part to Janel and Trina, the female contingent of the team. At the BASP race at Candlestick Point, Trina just decided to ride away from the rest of the elite women's field (on a lark, it looked like to me...).While that show of domination was taking place, Janel was locked in a battle of wills with a tough, resistant masters field. While Trina led from the second lap to the wire, never in danger of losing her grip on the race, Janel traded punches with several of the top players in her group, to again take advantage of her skills and race savvy, and close the deal in the last lap.

The theme of November seemed to be that the women were carrying the team in victories (5), while the boys were getting schooled with only 2 wins. However you slice it, 7 more wins in November alone is good racing. We hope you agree. Thanks for reading.

Thank you all for your continued support of Blackmarket Racing.

Mark "Howie" Howland
Team Director
Blackmarket Racing

November '08 CX race results:

Elite Masters 35+:

Elite Masters 45+:

Elite Masters Women: