Fruit pie and a mocha

That’s exactly what my best bud on this rock, Jason, is going to get – a fruit pie and a mocha – for his gritty performance at the Shasta Winter Cyclocross Series on Sunday.
Riding his spanking-new Redline cross bike (he entered his first cyclocross event two weeks ago on a borrowed bike and I, wrongly, made a prediction that it would take him until the third race to drop some $$$ on a cross bike), Jason finished first in the C (beginner) class.
The 1.5-mile course through Enterprise Community Park was a true nut-buster that had some vicious climbs, some nasty hike-a-bike areas, a dipsy-doodle downhill that claimed a few riders – and a giant pile of wood chips (Chips Ahoy!) the riders had to ride up and over.
Cyclocross is a mix of mountain biking, road cycling and an obstacle course. Nasty. But fun.
Fruit pie and a mocha? It’s an old joke, one that goes back at least eight years. As in, “Man, I feel like a fruit pie and a mocha.” Our-speak for walking over to the nearby Gas-N-Sip for some convenience store nourishment.

There was a time on course where Jason was kind of languishing.
“Dude, win this and I’ll buy you a fruit pie and a mocha,” I yelled over the cowbell.
A smile spread across his face.
At one point, he opened up a 57-second lead; he won by like 17 seconds.
Fruit pie and a mocha.
He got some really cool swag for winning – new clipless pedals, a pizza coupon and a DVD – but I’m sure he’ll appreciate the pie and coffee.
And he’s now done with the C class.
Win a class and you have to move up. Next up, at Anderson River Park, he’ll have to ride with the B class guys. Forty-five minutes on course, as compared to 30 for the C riders.
“Dude, I dunno, that extra 15 minutes is gonna kill me,” he said.
I think not. To make the progress he’s made (and he's dropped like 60 pounds riding his mountain/road/cyclocross bikes), I’m betting he holds his own.
Just in case, instead of a fruit pie and a mocha, I’m bringing a few cold Etna Porters to the Jan. 31 race. A cool salute for being so goddamn cool to put himself out there.
And thanks to my buddy Stevo for the pictures!