Don't think "Birds" or "Psycho" for Sunday's Round 3 of the Bay Area Super Prestige Cyclocross Series, presented by Accelerade. One of the masters early classic thrillers, "The 39 Steps" will be the inspiration for one of McLaren Park's signature elements.

A brand new venue, just up the street from the Cow Palace, McLaren Park and it's neighbor, Crocker-Amazon Playgrounds, are a perfect combination for 'cross - C-A's flat sections underneath lofty pines mated with hilly McLaren Park's challenging gradients. There will be a couple of plank barricade sections (we are grade A #1 "Plankists", afterall) in Crocker-Amazon where, for the first time in Pilarcitos history, grass fields will form a small part of the circuit. We'll see if the budget for potential turf renovation can be controlled. McLaren Park will also feature a natural log barricade and for good measure, we've got about 250 yards of pavement under the Finish arch. And those steps? You count 'em - either "Stairway to Heaven" or the "Portal to Perdition" - they launch everyone into the wild blue yonder of McLaren's fields.

We've had enough rain this week to eliminate the dust - but McLaren will still have a few hard spots. Tom Simonson is back from USAC meetings in Colorado and will be posting Series points totals as we reach the midpoint of this seasons competition. And Paule Bates has determined the sort-of-perpetual "Roaring Mouse Team Competie" trophy - and it's going to be Belgian. He'll be happy to tell you about it.

We've got 2 large parking lots for the race - one is on Geneva (look for the big red Pilarcitos trailer) and the other is just off Moscow inside Crocker-Amazon playgrounds.

See you sunday

Tom & Alec
Pilarcitos Cyclesports