2008 Golden State Cross Country Race

Ten teams of cross country enthusiasts swarmed Cal Val Lodge owned by Ken Tab for the annual Golden State Cross Country Race in California Valley.   Friday was practice day and LSF task day.  Dean Gradwell completed his 1 K goal and return task.  Two winches were set up and practice flying continued for the rest of the afternoon in preparation for the events on Saturday and Sunday.  The weather was a sunny, hot, 100+ degrees.  But it was a “dry heat”.  Friday evening’s Santa Maria style Tri Tip barbeque was enjoyed by all, coordinated under the watchful eye of our food consultant Ron McElliot.  The barbeque was a pot luck dinner with teams providing a variety of dishes.  These event evenings are spent catching up with old friends, sharing flying stories and enjoying the fun atmosphere.

For some, Saturday morning came way too soon.  Saturday’s weather was clear, sunny, hot with light thermal breezes.  The event task for the day was distance.  An open course around California Valley’s Soda Lake using 7 turn points totaling 39 miles.  We had a total of 10 teams registered for the event.  Three new teams joined us this year: Servo Dog headed by Tony Martin and team members, Bernard Ahyow & Scott Ketcham; Stuck in Lodi headed by Bill Chase and team members, Bob Chase & Bob Chase (Bill’s son & father); Yellow headed by old team Captain Greg Norsworthy and team.  We really enjoy having new participants join us in the sport of cross country soaring.

 Saturday’s distance event was a successful thermal day for most but not all.  The visual ceiling for planes was limited to about 900 meters due to the poor air visibility.  Never the less several teams were successful in logging over 50 miles with Team Ellias taking the lead with 80.8 miles.  Our new team,  Stuck in Lodi experienced some misfortune and bad luck with three of their airplanes and had to leave the event early on Sunday.  We look forward to having them join us again in the near future for another cross country event.  Saturday also brought 2 new cross country distance task awards.  Dudley Dufort received a 50K pin and new participant, Tony Martin, on this first event, received a 25K pin.  Congratulations to these two new pin winners.  Saturdays barbeque was another culinary delight with sausage and hamburgers, gourmet coleslaw by, non other than, Chef Bruce Moore and watermelon for dessert.  The warm evening was again enjoyed with tales of the day.

Sunday’s event was a 28 mile speed task.  The day again was hot and breezy with the famous Cal Val thermals popping everywhere.  Three teams completed the 28 mile task with Team Ellias succeeding at #1 in just over 1 hour.

Award ceremony commenced shortly after the 2pm close of the event.  Thank you to all for the help in putting on another successful, fun weekend.  Look forward to seeing you all at next months Montague event sponsored by Dean Gradwell.  For more information on cross country soaring visit our web site at www. xcsoaring.com or email me at gervais1@sbcglobal.net.

Happy Soaring,

Michael Gervais