SoCal State #6 (SBBF) plus US CUP West Final (CO)

It's been a few weeks since my last update, but to be honest I've been too busy and tired to write here. I've probably covered over 3000 miles in the past weeks (not pedaling) with races in Santa Barbara, Colorodo, and Big Bear. Four weekends in a row of back to back racing with an upcoming 5th next weekend. The season is almost over, but I still have 2 very important Socal State races to attend.

Earlier this month was the Santa Barbara Bike Festival. I've really enjoyed this course since racing here twice last year. It's mainly comprised of single track and is just plain fun. Steep switchbacks and fast descents. I drove up with Matt the morning of the XC event. I felt good and was really hoping for a good result. The usual guys were there at the start line with the usual chit chat about the course and such. I decided to make a change with my sports drink. I still haven't found something I totally like, but using Edurox R4 in my training rides hasn't left that sticky saliva in my mouth. I find myself trying to spit all the time with Cytomax. I know it's not the prettiest picture. That being said, I used Endurox for the first time this race and I was much happier with the end result.

The race started out with a blistering pace for position to the 1st singletrack. I was able to secure 4th behind the leaders and I wish I had sprinted for the lead. I was in a dust storm, but at the same time being held up by the slower leaders. I knew it wasn't going to last for long since the single track was fairly short until the 1st pavement climb. I passed 1 racer there and the next on the following single track. The leader wasn't that far ahead, but as the race progressed he slowly gapped me. I held onto 2nd place for the rest of the race which was 3 laps total. Most importantly, I was able to finish ahead of Mike Barbee who finished 3rd. This gave me a little bit of breathing room for overall points. Also to my surprise, I was able to post a time that was 7 minutes faster than my previous best on this course from last year! I guess all this training time on the bike is paying off or maybe it's my beloved Blur XC carbon? We all know it's the rider, not the machine. ;-)

The following weekend, Matt and I made the long haul out to Colorado Springs, Colorado for the final round of the US Cup West series. We decided it would be cheaper to drive instead of flying. It would be such a pain to pack and ship bikes. We most likely would require special cases which are pretty costly if we would have wanted to bring them on the plane. Driving was the best choice. We left on a Wednesday evening and my parents were gracious enough to embrace us with their hospitality in Prescott Valley, AZ. That's where my parents live. I couldn't imagine driving the whole 17 hours straight, so this was a good stop. We arrived in AZ pretty late. The next morning my parents took us out for breakfast at Jamie's Waffle House. I tried some Buckwheat Belgian waffles. Once breakfast was finished, we were off to finish the second half of the drive.

Matt posing in front of our ride. (Thanks Jerry)

Breakfast in Prescott Valley, AZ

Flagstaff, AZ. A must place for riding. Maybe next time

My home for 35 plus hours

Matt hard at work being a passenger.

Some AZ landscape

Awesome race machines

Entering Colorado from 4 corners.

Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs

We arrived at the Doubletree Hotel in COS late Thursday night. I managed to get pulled over by the local authorities in CO, but was given a warning for going 80MPH in a 65. Everyone drives the speed limit once you leave CA. It's quite annoying. We got a good nights sleep since the plan for Friday was to get registered for the race and do some pre-riding of the course. We arrived at Cheyenne Mountain State Park around 1pm and we suited up for the pre-ride. The course ended up being the most technical course of the series as it should be since it's Colorado. All the climbing was done in the first half with the majority being a gradual grade with an occasional steep switchback and some rocky technical sections. The terrain was very similar to SJTas in hardpack with a fine pea-like gravel on top. The 2nd half was a rollercoaster of fun. Tons of natural and challenging obstacles to clear including rocks, boulders, and tree roots. We rode the course twice before the rain started to fall. No sense in burning more energy and getting wet.

We got back to the hotel and had plenty of time to kill. We decided to go see a movie. We saw Land of the Lost which was surprisingly good. I found it pretty funny while not being your typical over the top comedy with Will Ferrell. I'd say it's a rental though. Don't spend your hard earned cash at the movies on it unless you are out of state. I think the admission price was $8.50 in COS. I tried to get to bed early since my race started at 8am the next morning. The long drive really wore me out.

Packet pickup

Sweet number!

Woke up bright and early Saturday morning and made it out to the venue. After suiting up and doing a hill climb warmup it was time to line up on the grid. The start was very interesting. I'm used to having the age groups start in waves. This was the first mass start I've been in that wasn't a VQ or Traverse race. The gun fired and all the CAT2 men sprinted for position to get in the front since the course quickly went from a wide road to doubletrack and finally singletrack where passing became a problem. It was elbow to elbow racing for about 30 seconds. I didn't do a good job of getting position and was being heldup by alot of slower riders, but there was nowhere to pass. The pace felt like a social ride for the first couple of minutes. I grew tired of this and decided to up the pace and work around the other racers. This was quite tricky at times finding the right time to pass. What really sucks about not being in the immediate front is the traffic jams. As soon as one rider can't clear an obstacle, he gets off which causes everyone else to get off and HAB. I passed a bunch of riders as soon as this happend. I just ran with my bike around obstacles to get a better position. The first of 3 laps went ok for the most part. I was held up by a slower a rider for most of the 2nd half of the course. I had no idea what position I was in since there was no class marking.

I could feel the altitude was affecting my breathing. My HR was about 6-7 beats higher than normal and I didn't like that. I felt like my legs were tiring quicker than normal. I made up some time on the 2nd lap. I caught up to the 3rd place guy (knew this after the race) and eventually passed him just before the singletrack descent. I was able to hold him off until the fast road descent before the finish line. I need to work on pedaling more instead of coasting on the easy descents. I usually don't pedal as hard as I'm trying to recover. I guess more training will eventually correct that. On the start of the 3rd lap climb I was able to pass this guy again and then it happened. I ran out of energy and my legs had no strength. I was passed again and could no longer hold his wheel. I lost site of 3rd place. At this point I just wanted to crest the final climb so I could enjoy the fun and techy singletrack to the finish. I could see another racer slowly catching up to me on the climb, but it was in vein as soon as I hit the descent. I opened up a big gap and held it until the finish. I finished 4th after the results were posted and had an ok time of 1:35. I really wanted to break 1:30, but oh well. All in all, it was a really fun race.

Results here:

http://www.uscup.net/up/file/6-13-09_Amateur_Results.pdf

Here's a couple of links to professional photos:

http://photos.abouttheshot.com/p455426388


http://photos.abouttheshot.com/p77117095

Matt being aerodynamic. He had to race with the CAT1 guys since there is no CAT2 SS class. They were scheduled to do 4 laps, but due to time constraints the organizers shortened it to 3 laps. He was happy to not be DFL.

After we were done with our respective races, we decided to hike up some of the course to check out the pros go. It was fun to watch these guys blast down the hill. I got some pretty cool shots.

Matt being a badass

This race crowned me the US Cup West Champion for CAT2 30-34. I was a little bummed to find out there was no ceremony for the overall winners. After being told by the series orgainizers that I had to be present to collect awards months before the final, it turns out they weren't completely prepared and were going to mail out awards. I was really looking forward to getting that jersey after all the hard work I've put into it. Oh well, I should be getting my award soon.

Overall results here:

http://www.uscup.net/up/file/09_Kenda_Cup_West_Points-After_SandCreek.pdf

After the event, we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up. Grabbed some dinner at a local Mexican joint for Margaritas and tasty food. Matt beat me at air hockey...damnit! Woke up the next morning and we hit the road. We stopped in Alburquerque, NM to visit a friend of Matt's. We ended up at this place called "Twin Peaks" which ended up being like a Hooters. Lots of eye candy, but I wasn't going to let the talent try to win me over in giving out a big tip. They sure try hard to be really friendly. We got back to my parents house around 8:30pm where my Mom made some kick ass kebob's for dinner. We watched the Lakers win the NBA finals while enjoying drinking more margaritas. Seemed to be the theme for the weekend.

The next morning Matt and I decided to get some pedaling in. We decided to hit up Granite Basin Lake. We were able to get about 3 hours in of exploring some new trails to Matt, but somewhat familiar to me. I wish this place was bigger, but the trails are really fun. We went out to lunch at "Casa Bonita" as made famous by Southpark before heading back home.



Overall, it was a fun time and I would totally do it again. It ended up costing more money than I would have liked it to, but I honestly don't know when I will get a chance to go back out there again. I also wish I had more time, but both Matt and I couldn't afford to anymore time off from work. I need to get rid of this "work" thing so I can ride a MTB full time. One can dream. I'll make a new post for this past weekend recap at 12 hours of Rim Nordic.

State Series #5/Big Bear ShootOut #1

After a nice month off from racing, this past weekend marked the beginning of the 2nd half of the season. I took some time off of the bike and enjoyed a few fun rides with friends. I also got all my repairs taken care of (Fork, wheel bearings) as well as mounting some new tires to finish off the season. I finally got my new bike dialed in and it's feeling incredible. I was feeling good about this race.

I'm just going to get into it. Some new riders showed up to this event and the turnout seemed surprisingly high compared to last year. This is great for the sport. The race started and I tried to get an early lead, but my legs weren't on the same page. Usually I can come out of the gate attacking, but not today. I turned the jets down a bit and settled into a moderate pace trying to keep up with the leaders. This wasn't happening and could see myself drifting backwards in the pack. I was probably sitting in 5th or 6th place and wasn't making much ground. The first climb seemed to keep going and the legs were still feeling weak. As I started to crest the climb I was able to get a little break and recover. I turned the big gear to gain some ground on the others and my legs felt alive finally. I was trading places with another guy quite a few times. The blur absolutely punished my competitors on the single tracks...that could just be my mad skills too. ;-). I was able to make up time on the first single track. Unfortunate for me, there wasn't much of it and the course again catered to those that ride fire roads mainly. I consider myself a pretty fast climber, but I don't know why it seems I'm going backwards. Anyways, more than halfway through the race I get passed by a guy I have never lost to. Now I'm in trouble. What was the problem? I didn't feel horrible at all. I felt pretty good. Is everyone else improving and getting faster? I thought I was improving. I kept him and another guy in my sights for awhile until we crested the final climb but I could no longer see them on the final fire road decent before the last single track. As soon as I got to the single track, I could see one guy in front of me. I attacked hard as there was some climbing still to do before the fun began. I passed this one rider and started making ground on the next guy. I was moshing through the technical and rocky parts as now I was flying down the single track. I passed another guy in my class and kept going. I then see another racer in my class not too far ahead and I'm making ground. I had no idea what place I was in, but I just made up 2 places. I attacked more and passed him on a short little climb and then bombed down looking to make up more time. I remember even passing a Pro rider on the Pirates or Fall Line single tracks. That's got to be demoralizing for a CAT2 rider to pass a Pro. I see another guy in front now and I kept gaining ground on him. I knew the end was only a few hundred feet away or so. I got right behind him but couldn't pass him on the final turn of the day and that was the difference in the race. I need about another 100 feet or so. Turns out I lost out on 3rd by 1 second! This was definitely the closest race I have been in. In the final half mile I could have given up and settled for 7th or 8th place. That would have been my worst finish if I did that. I don't know what's wrong, but I need to step up my game if I want to retain my overall lead. The 2nd place guy overall, finished 1st today which means he made up alot ground on my overall lead. I believe I'm only 6 points ahead which really is the difference between 1st and 2nd place. It's that close right now.

The final turn where I lost by a second. Dissapointment on my face.

I've worked so hard this year, but looks like I'm going to have to work harder. Next weekend is the Santa Barbara race and I'm hoping this will favor more to my style. It's 80% single track and very fast. Lots of quick ups and downs so I hope to really take advantage of the terrain.

Idyllwild Spring Challenge 2009 Update

One word describes this race course.....AWESOME!!!!

I highly recommend this course to everyone to do at least once.

Walked away with 1st place....literally. 2nd place wasn't even close. My race time was just over an hour and fifty minutes. I raced CAT2 Single Speed, but for some odd reason, CAT2and CAT3 raced against each other. Most likely because there was only 5 CAT2/3 Single Speeders. I just had lots of fun with the course and didn't give it my max effort. I still managed to cramp up a bit towards the end of the course though. Don't know what's up with that.

This race doesn't count towards the State Series championship. It was just a one-off fun race for me. There's about a 4 week break before the next state race. Some much needed rest and more fun time is over due.

I've decided to take care of a couple of repairs on my bike since there is a break. I'm having some work done on my fork to finally fix the lockout on it. It's been broken for about a year. I'm also having the bearings replaced in my rear hub because there is small amount of play in them that causes my rear brake to drag while leaning in turns. Can't wait to get the Blur out there on the race course for it's debut. Next race is at the Big Bear Shoot Out #1 on May 31st. This is the 5th round of the Socal State Series.

Santa Cruz Blur XC Carbon = Next Chapter

After my first ride on it last night, I'm very impressed with the Blur XC carbon. This is my 3rd Santa Cruz ride and they have yet to let me down. Hope it stays that way.

First of all, this bike is a completely different animal than my previous Superlight. It climbs and descends in a whole new way that I didn't expect.

Climbing:

Great amount of traction compared to the Superlight. I prefer locked out shocks and the Rock Shox does a great job with their gates. The Monarch 3.3 has 3 settings of Open, Mid-Gate, Max-Gate. I started out with the shock open and as expected it felt very plush while pedaling through Whiting. Once I reached Mustard, I put in it the Max-Gate mode. This totally caught me by surprise. I was expecting the bike to feel more like a hardtail since that's how my Superlight felt with Max Pro-Pedal on. However, the suspension was very compliant. While spinning in the saddle the suspension would just open up enough to absorb the smaller bumps while keeping the rear tire planted, tracking and more importantly my efforts being applied to the wheels. Out of the saddle, there is no bob what-so-ever relating to even more power put to the wheels. Still, the suspension would give just enough over bumps resulting in maximum traction. The bike would react very well to my power inputs and is just responsive as hell. Traction was the biggest thing that surprised me. With the superlight I would be bouncing off small bumps, rocks, which would lift the rear tire off the ground just enough to slip under power. This was not the case at all with the BXCc. I couldn't say maybe it's the tires because I transferred all my components from my SL over to the BXCc. Only thing different was the frame. I'm sure this can be contributed to the VPP as well. One thing that I wasn't happy with was the amount of lift on the front wheel. I felt that the front was just a tad to light and it would come off the ground more often than the SL, but I believe that will be solved with lowering my handlebars for more of a XC position. I did have them in the highest position. That's small potatoes to me. BTW - This was my first time riding a VPP bike.

Descending:

Nothing but awesome things here. The Luge is practically my second home and I never tire of it. I really wanted to see what this bike could do and it didn't disappoint. The steering was the first thing I notice over the SL. It felt a tad bit slower due to slightly slacker head tube (69.5), but after I was used to the steering, everything just started to click. This bike is amazingly smooth and holds a line so much better than the SL. The bike induces much more confidence and speed all around. The SL is a fast bike, but definitely more twitchy in the turns than the BXCc. Again, I was so surprised by the amount of traction this bike has. I was able to carry more speed in the twisty sections which allowed me to brake even later into the corners. The bike was very lively and responded very well to my weight transfers and movements. I just felt like it was in sync with my thoughts doing exactly what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. I was completely amazed. This put a huge grin on my face knowing that my investment was well worth it. Only thing that was annoying was the slapping of my chain on the aluminum protector on the chain stay. Made for much more clanks than I was used to. I'm sure I can do something to quiet that down a bit. SL has those elevated chain stays where this was a non-issue. I couldn't wait to get to Live Oak and Cow Serrano in Whiting for some more fun...and fun is what I did.

Overall:

This bike is FAST! After a couple of small tweaks, fine tuning, and more saddle time, I should be able to put down faster times on the race course. This bike holds a line far better than the SL. It feels more connected and planted with the trail. The traction is great! It's stiff, yet very smooth. It's a very very efficient climbing machine. It's a great all around trail bike. Did I say it tracks great!? This bike is capable of way more than just XC. It easily could dabble in the AM terrain, but it's bigger brother the Blur LTc can stay there. This bike was built to go fast and fast it goes.


Huge thanks to Jake for building it and to Switchback Cyclery for getting it in for me.

US CUP #5/Santa Ynez Update

Short and quick.

Camped the night before with Matt. Cold and windy in the morning.

Raced...chased cows off the trail...bunny hop'd cowpies...not so great performance.

4th place finish.

Prentending to be happy below:



PS: Matt got his first 1st place finish. Huge congrats to him. I'm still the current points leader for the US Cup West series with the penultamate Round #6 June 13th in Colorado Springs. I will be there for that adventure.

SEA OTTER CLASSIC/US CUP #4 RECAP

The infamous Sea Otter Classic at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA. I've been wanting to attend this event for years and now I have an excuse. The 4th round of the US Cup took place at the SOC (Sea Otter Classic). The SOC isn't just a race, it's a 4-day festival where there's something for everyone such as vendor exhibits, mtb/road racing, beer gardens, live music, and other entertainment. It's the biggest bicycle event in the nation that attracts over 5000 athletes and 100,000 visitors.

Matt and I decided to leave early Thursday morning so we would have enough time to pre-ride the XC course that afternoon. We also decided to stay at a cheap hotel in the city of Salinas which is about 20 minutes away from the SOC. Let me tell you, Salinas is definitely not a vacation spot. That place is a shithole. We arrived at our killer Days Inn hotel right next to the ever loud 101 highway around 12pm. We couldn't check in yet, so we decided to head on over to the SOC and get the pre-ride over with. I couldn't believe the size of this event. It was freaking HUGE!! It was a cyclist's dream. Seeing the actual Laguna Seca track was cool in itself. I've seen plenty of motor races at this track on TV and it was just awesome to see the track in person. Lots of history there. Anyways, Matt and I suited up for our pre-ride. It was pretty windy and chilly at this time. The course was well marked off and we were on our way. The course had a little bit of everything and I found it to be a really awesome route. This was my first time out there and the word on the street was to beware of the sand as well as the beach downhill. Other than that, it was really fast with lots of fast flowing singletrack, a short pavement climb and a longer fireroad climb as the deal breaker at the end. The wind really started to suck at that point as well. I was hoping it wouldn't be an issue come Saturday. Our pre-ride took us about 1:45 (including Matt's bathroom break). My goal for race day was to break 1:30 and hopefully finish in the top 5. I knew the competition at the SOC would be tougher than a regular state series race. The race already had 62 pre-registered racers in my category.

After the pre-ride, we decided to go checkout the exhibits and low and behold...the first vendor I see is SANTA CRUZ!! Not only did they have the brand new Blur LT Carbon on display, they had two Blur XC Carbons on display. One in orange and one in silver. The reason I was so excited to see the BXCc was because I just ordered a large BXCc frame in silver that Monday. I was able to drool, touch and molest the new BXCc at the SC booth! Man it is so sexy! I should make it my new girlfriend. They had a large size and I was able to sit on it to make sure the cockpit fit and it felt great. I'm glad I decided to go with the large. I should have the new frame in 4 - 6 weeks time. I spent way too much time at the SC booth talking shop to the guys. Once I got tired of that...ahem...I mean Matt got tired of waiting for me, we cruised around some more. There was so much time an effort put into this event and in definitely showed. We eventually found the Felt booth where we found Nick of course since he works for Felt. It was cool to see him and we would get to hang out and ride with him Friday. It was getting late at this point and we headed back over to our 5 star Days Inn Hotel next to the loud 101 in Salinas. We checked in, went to Chevy's for dinner downtown and then a night out on the town of Monterey with Donald Jackson. We met up at a bar called the Mucky Duck where the $2 drafts of any type of beer were flowing. That was a fun time and we even managed to play some ping pong at some other bar. A ping pong table in a bar has to be one of the best ideas in the world. That was so much fun. We got back to the hotel late...err...early morning and called it a day.


Isn't she sexy?

Friday was much or less of the same with the SOC except alot more traffic. We ended up getting there a little bit later in the morning. I managed to get pulled over by the Salinas law enforcement on the way there. The officer let me off with a warning for no front license plate probably after finding out I'm such a great law abiding citizen minus my license plate. We checked out more of the vendor booths and eventually got burned out on doing that. We met up with Nick and Abby from WI, who was out here to race in the Pro Women's XC event, and we went for a little 10 miler pre-ride with them. The ride was starting out great until Matt snapped his chain and smacked his knee into his fork crown. Good thing it happened the day before our race instead of during. It just sucked because he was hurting from that impact. I forgot to mention that we started to ride during the CAT3 beginner race. I don't think it made the CAT3 guys feel really good since we were passing alot of them. Oh well. We had a nice pasta dinner hosted by Tim Z. from the Sho-Air team at their campsite. We arrived an hour late because we couldn't find the incorrect site. We had the wrong info. It was getting late and we decided to get some good rest before our early morning race start of 7:30am.

We woke up early the next day and arrived at the SOC with plenty of time to get ready. The word on the street was to stage at the starting line about 45 minutes before the race. As we did our little warm up on the track of Laguna Seca, I found out that they delayed the race by 30 minutes. Damn! That's 30 minutes of sleep I could have had. Oh well, it actually worked out for the better because the morning was really chilly and the fog was thick. The extra 30 minutes gave it enough time for some of the fog to burn off which would end up being a really warm day. I ended up chatting with a few other racers and some team members while waiting for the start. Each category would start in 5 minutes waves as opposed to the 1 minute waves with the previous US Cup races. I really liked that format better since it gives you more pedaling room due to lesser traffic out there. Matt's wave left 20 minutes before I would see the starting line. I tried to size up my competitors, but 63 of them were new to me. Only one other racer I knew was there and he happened to be a teammate. I got a good starting row position near the inside wall...GO!!! and away everyone went. Like Sagebrush, I was hoping no one would take off like a rocket really stressing the whole group. The pace started off hard, but wasn't a frantic pace. I stayed near the top 10 of guys sticking on the wheels of the guys in front. The rear of the group was in a big blob, while the front was more in line with racers trying to draft each other. I was in that group. As we approached the top of the cork screw, the course would veer off onto the dirt via a small entry way. I got through the fence before the pile up of guys. That was good. Now it was an all out sprint to catch the leaders and get to the 1st singletrack. The fog was bad at this point and it turned out to be a bad idea to wear eye wear. I didn't have time to really pull them off so I had them pulled down resting lower on my nose so I could see. There was a high speed downhill and to crash there would really suck. I made it to the 1st singletrack guessing I was in the top 5 or so. It was really hard to tell since we weren't marked to tell who's in the category. I had a good pace in the singletrack and it's always a good sign when you catch up to a racer while recovering at the same time.

I came up to the beach and it was like a war zone out there. I saw 2 guys in front of me go OTB and guys walking their bikes down. It was just a mess. I had no mishaps at all while skiing through and dodging the human obstacles. It was actually fun weaving in and out. I pedaled on and kept a really good pace. I caught up to a couple more guys in my group and one guy decided to hang on to my wheel. We trade positions a few times, but I decided to change that towards the last few stretches of singletrack. I up'd the pace while charging the fun-flowing singletrack. I didn't look back, but I knew there was a big enough gap there since I heard nothing behind me. I wanted to make sure I had enough in the tank to attack the final climb of the day and attack I did.

That last climb, the pain was really starting to set in. I could feel my muscles twitching which a sign of the cramps to come, but I was able to fight those off. I passed alot of riders here, but I figured most of them must have been from the previous waves. I had no idea. I crested the final hill while a spectator was offering donuts to those who wanted any. I respectfully declined, but it was quite funny to see that. I charged down the course, crossed the track over the bridge and sprinted to the finish line...the race was over. I was happy to see that I completed my goal of finishing under 1:30:00. My overall time was 1:28:44. I was really happy about that.

It was great to see Ryan and Sarah there at the finish. They drove up the night before. After changing and getting the bikes packed up in the car, we went to the awards ceremony to find out they already started...Yikes!! We got there just in time, but for some reason there was some sort of problem with the 30-34 results being finalized. I took that time to check the posted results and to my amazement I placed 2nd out of 65! I was ecstatic, but at the same time a little disappointed I missed out on winning the SOC. Don't get me wrong, 2nd place is an awesome result for a field of 65 especially at the SOC. The competition is generally tougher at these bigger national races.


After about 30 minutes or so of waiting in the blistering 85 degree weather, the results were finalized and I got my medal with swag bag. It was at this time I got to see the guy that got first. Now, you would expect some fit looking guy with muscle definition all around, but no...this dude was the exact opposite. We punned him the Mr. Bean looking french doughboy. He looked like Mr. Bean, he was french (didn't speak a lick of English), and he must have worked at a bakery eating nothing but donuts. I couldn't believe that this doughy guy beat me. Just look at the podium picture. The only way he could have beat me is if he ate one of those donuts on the final hill. I just don't understand it. Completely at a lost there, but whatever. Still a terrific result and I was happy to go home with some hardware. On a side note, Matt beat his nemesis Joey and finished 13th out of 66! An awesome result and he should get a little edge with points for the season.


We hung out for a few more hours, watch some dual stunt, ate some food, drank some beer, and then left. Officially ending our Sea Otter weekend and it was a great weekend. It was good to finally get home and get some real sleep. The weekend was exhausting. Next weekend is Santa Ynez/US Cup #5. The race season is in full effect. I don't get much of a break until mid-May.

PS: You can see my Sea Otter pics on the photographer's site. I don't think they are worthy enough for a purchase.
http://www.brightroom.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=48040&PWD=&BIB=1728

SAGEBRUSH SAFARI/US CUP #3 RECAP

Round 3 of the US Cup takes us to east San Diego county not too far from the Mexican border and town of Tecate. This little spot in the southern most part of the Cleveland National Forest is called Sagebrush Safari. This year in the series sees this venue come back after a 3 year hiatus do to wildfires the past couple of years. Everyone in the MTB race community has had nothing but great things to say about Sagebrush leading up to this day. Maybe they talked it up too much which raised my expectations of the course.

Matt and I decided to pre-ride the course the day before the race which turned out to be very valuable. I was fortunate to have a place to stay in La Mesa thanks to Matt and his awesome Grandpa Jack. It's always nice to save a few bucks and to have a warm bed to sleep in along with a shower. Upon pre-riding the course I was shocked on how much tarmac there was to deal with. The first 5 miles of the course had us pedaling on a paved road which was mostly flat until the last mile or so. I knew some strategy would come into play during the start. Everyone kept saying that this course had really awesome singletrack. I think most riders seem to have a different definition of what singletrack truly is. They were right about it being awesome and fun, but they were wrong about it being singletrack. IMO, there were very few sections of singletrack. It was mostly doubletrack which should be the correct definition as the trail was plenty wide enough for 2 riders to pedal side by side. I was also expecting the trail to be more technical than it came off to be as it was explained to me it was a technical trail. The natural obstacles such as rockbeds and the small rock drops are always a pleasant sight which do add a new element of fun. Riding the same trails over and over in the OC can get quite boring, so it's always fun to ride somewhere new. Alas, I found the trail to have very few technical spots to me, but maybe others found it to be opposite. I think this is because I have become such an awesome mountain biker that these normally technical trails look completely tame to me now...lol! I think this can be proven by the fact on how many people ate shit on race day. One thing for sure, this course was going to be very fast and very fun. They were right about it being fun!

Race day started off nice with Grandpa Jack making bacon, eggs, and toast for breakfast which was yummy. Hopefully it would provide the fuel for the burn that was to come later. We arrived at Sagebrush just before 10am and got our gear ready. We found the Team Velosport EZ-Up and relaxed before our 11 something start times. My race started at 11:13a while Matt started at 11:19a. The weather forecast was calling for temps in the low 80's, but man was it chilly. It turned out to be quite windy and dry which made it hard to warm up. I knew it would be fine once the race started. Once in the staging area, I had good conversation (CONVO) with my fellow competitors including Robert, who is the guy that got first at Fontana last weekend. I knew I would have my work cut out for me because this guy is fast. Turns out he's a really cool guy and didn't have that typical racer "I'm better than you" attitude. I find that attitude to rarely exist in the MTB world which is nice.

I lined up on the front line with 19 others in my category! This was the biggest field of racers I've raced against. GO!....off we went. The start was very good and I'm glad no one decided to be a speed demon for the first miles of flat road section. My plan was to not pull the group through the windy flat road miles of the course. That's exactly what I did. I stayed about 5 riders back as everyone was riding in a single file line. As soon as I felt the group splitting and my chase group falling behind a little, I decided to pass my chase group leader and grab onto the wheel of the 2nd guy in the lead group. I didn't want any large gaps before the 1st climb of the day. I could see most of the riders in my field falling behind as there was about 8 of us in the lead group now. Once we approached the climb, I knew things were going to get shaken up a bit. Robert attacked the climb hard and I couldn't match his pace that early on. I could see him pulling away at every bend on the road. At that point I was hoping I make some time up on the "singletrack" and I would just pedal away on the climb. Three other racers were in front of me, but I slowly reeled them in just before the climb crested. I grabbed my water bottle from the feed zone, drank a big swig and made it to the "singletrack".

I was sitting in 3rd at this point and I could see 2nd place about 100ft in front of me as the trail twisted left and right. I knew this section was where I had to make up some ground. I quickly caught up to 2nd and was able to pass on this short little sandy/rocky section where there was a small traffic jam. Once someone gets off the bike, everyone gets off. This is where I made my move and passed 2nd while running my bike. I just happened to pick the less congested line at the time. After that, I was able to increase my gap with ease while passing other slower riders either left or right on the "singletrack". There was quite a bit of traffic because of the other categories that started before me, but I never was really held up that much. A couple of times I would get held up while waiting for the safest moment to pass. Once the trail opened up a bit with no one in my way, I had so much fun with all the banked turns.

About halfway through the course I knew I was approaching the Hike-A-Bike (HAB) section. I was hoping I would see a glimpse of 1st, but I didn't. Robert told me that his downhill skills aren't that good, but maybe he was playing mind games with me? The HAB section sucked. I pedaled up the lower 1/4 of it until I ran into someone walking. I got off and ran passed this hiker, but man that really was hard. Trying to push your bike fast on a steep, sandy uphill is pretty tough. It really tired me out. Once I got to the top of the HAB, things got easier and I was able to recover. More "singletrack" was ahead and I took advantage of this terrain. Things were going great while passing more slower riders as I approached the last sustained climb of the day.

Of course this climb was on a paved road. Although boring, it does take alot less out of you then climbing on a dirt road where traction is limited. A couple of riders from the category that started a minute behind me passed me up. I knew at this point I wasn't pushing hard enough and I turned up the effort. I was able to catch up to those 2 guys and passed one just before reaching the top of four corners for the 2nd time. I grabbed a water bottle to cool myself off and went down the last "singletrack" of the day.

I caught up very early to the guy that passed me who was not in my category on the pavement climb. He let me pass and I started gaping him big time. This part of the course was the loosest, dustiest, and sandiest part. I guess riders were a little bit more careful on this section. I was fortunate to not have anyone in front of me at all. No one to slow me down, or throw up dust in my face. This was nice. It was also on this last downhill where I broke a spoke on my rear wheel. I remember going through some rougher terrain and hitting a couple of harder bumps. The bumps were hard, but I've hit harder bumps with no problems. I knew something was up with my bike since a new sound was coming from it. My guess was a broken spoke and I could see my rear wheel had a small wobble to it. A broken spoke would cause that symptom especially since I just had my wheels trued the day before. It wasn't slowing me down so I just kept going at race pace.

I was just a couple of miles before the finish and on the last "singletrack". Actually this was singletrack! I took a look over my shoulder to see if I had to put out a hard effort to the finish and I see the guy I recently passed not too far behind. This part of the trail was all flat. It seems the flats is where I lose time. At this point I felt I was home free and I was. That guy did catch up to me and we finished the race at the same time. I finished 2nd with a time of 1:29:14! I'm definitely happy with this result and I felt 100% better than I did last weekend at Fontana. I found Robert who got 1st and he had beaten me by 3:40. Wow! That is alot of ground to make up. I also verified that I did indeed break a spoke. At least this was a small mechanical that didn't give me any problems during the race.

In closing, it was a great race weekend and I had alot of fun out there. Again, the roadie turned mountain biker was just too fast for me on the climbs and the flats. I was hoping the course would have favored a true mountain biker more, but that didn't happen. How do I get faster? The question that no one has the answer too. Next US Cup event is the Sea Otter Classic at the Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA. I'm planning to go this event, but it's not set in stone yet. I'm still sitting 1st in the overall standings, but that is just because I have 1 more race under my belt.


PS: The guy that beat me out for 3rd in Fontana decided to move up to CAT 1. Kind of sucks as I was hoping to race against him at Sagebrush. Doesn't seem to be too many event pictures either. If I find some, I will upload them.