News Press Clippings From Esquire

think maybe we should post the Friday Newspress clippings on the Blog since so few people actually subscribe to the Newspress. Here it is below (with the Platinum stuff scrubbed out) Please note the inclusion of Matt’s “quad-fecta” phrase that is not to be found in any dictionary; I was bummed they omitted my attempted outing of Robert as “Don Keeballs”):

Kim

“Local cyclists had a banner weekend with several top finishes, with women road cyclists traveling to a stage race in Kern County and mountain bikers of both genders tearing it up close to home at the prestigious Santa Ynez Valley National Presented by Platinum Performance.

The Santa Ynez extravaganza, one of the biggest mountain biking events in the nation, drew thousands of cyclists and spectators to a sweltering four days of action at Charlotte's Meadow. Top cyclists came from all over, and members of the Chicken Ranch Cycling Team and Team Platinum Performace made sure that plenty of the hardware stayed in Santa Barbara County.

For Chicken Ranch, first place finishes were taken by Sue Fish in the 50+ Sport Women's race and by Mike Abbot in the Downhill Sport Clydesdale 35+ race.

In Cross Country for Chicken Ranch, Robert Ramirez was third in Sport 40-44; John Nygren third in Beginner 35-39; Jackson Sproul third in Junior Boys 12-Under; Brad Brown fourth in Beginner 45-49 (behind a couple of Pro and ex-Pro road cyclists); Seth Sproul fifth in Sport 30-34; Mike Abbot fifth in Sports Clydesdale 35+; Brian Bermudes eighth in Sport 30-34; Pete Sproul ninth in Expert 35-39 (despite having to change a flat tire mid-race); and Craig Zimmerman ninth in Sport 40-44. Mike Abbot, racing the quad-fecta over the weekend, also took 2nd in the Sport 40+ Dual Slalom race and 5th in the Open Men 40+ Super D.

• The Kern County Women's Stage Race also endured hot temperatures last weekend -- topping over 100 degrees -- in four stages over three days: a 10-mile time trial on Friday, a 50-mile road race on Saturday morning and 13-mile uphill time trial on Saturday afternoon, and a different 50-mile road race on Sunday morning.

Among Chicken Ranch women, Susie "Podium Girl" Willett took second place overall in Category 3 after winning the opening time trial and placing second in each of the following stages. Kim Turner finished sixth overall, including a fourth place in the opening time trial.”