Divide Peak!

Hello,

Here are a few shots from this mornings MTB ride. Another great turnout today! Seems like this Mountain Bike thing is catching on. Brian Bermudes and Brad Jellison came out of hibernation to join us for awhile which was nice, and Shaun Condon finally made a Chicken Ranch ride. Hopefully, we'll be seeing a lot more of all three of those guys. Chris Brown only flatted once today which is a vast improvement from his usual 6 or 7 flats. Of course nobody stops to help him anyways so it doesn't really affect the rest of us. Dave Lettieri actually crashed today which is an extremely rare occurrence, so I feel lucky that I got to witness it. Nothing too serious...just a front tire washout on the Divide Peak fireroad.....but very entertaining! It's good to see Dave with a little dirt on his jersey now and then. Matt Perry and "new guy" Aaron pretty much dusted everybody up the climbs but for the most part we kept the group pretty tight.



Great views of Jameson Reservoir and the coastline from up on the Ridge. Nick and his buddy Brom went to go check out Blue Canyon trail so I'm interested to hear how that trail looks for future adventures. Looking forward to seeing all you next Sunday for more off-road fun!


Matt

Wednesday Night Ride

Santa Barbara Mountain Bike trail Volunteers will be hosting our Wednesday evening ride this Wed.

We leave Rocky Nook Park at 5:30 pm, for an easy/ moderate 1 1/2 hour ride. Lights may not be required, but bring something just in case.

Great Job Pete!

Yesterday afternoon I headed down to beautiful Fontana for SoCal series #2 and the National series opener and a lovely 8 am Sat. morning start.

The race was good and bad for me. The good was the best race I’ve had in a long time. It may have been two weeks straight in my ‘stretchy pants’ or Matt’s advice to pace myself but I managed to ride 3, 37 minute laps and finish only two minutes back of guys like Ron Takeda and Todd Booth that were 10-12 minutes ahead of me at Bonelli. The bad was totally blowing my chance to beat my nemesis from last year (the guy who won all the sport 35-39 races). He beat me by over 8 minutes at Bonelli so I was surprised to be on his wheel mid way through the second lap. That is where I stayed the rest of the race (except for a small pit stop to try and fix my water bottle cage that was falling off) planning to take him in the final 50 yard sprint. I was super confident I would take him but ended up completely botching the sprint; wrong gear, wrong line, everything, and missed the podium and 5th place by half a wheel. Oh well, the legs were good and I kept the cramps at bay.

Looking forward to hearing today’s San Dimas report and good luck to those racing tomorrow in San Dimas and anyone going down to Fontana for Sunday’s races.

Pete

Stump Grinder Dirt Club XC Race

Last Saturday, a scant five Chicken Ranchers braved the frost, sub-freezing temperatures, and bovines to race Mike Hecker's Stump Grinder Dirt Club Winter XC Race up at the Chamberlin Ranch.

It was literally below freezing when we arrived. Dave Lettieri, Mike Abbott and I did a short warm up out on the course beforehand with all the clothing and gloves we could find and were still frozen. In honor of his son (Cash), Dave even sported a rather "Man in Black" look in his long, black Oakley coat. However, his tough look disappeared when we came upon a whopping three-foot wide creek-crossing and he balked (he's not a big fan of the water crossings as some of you know). We finally convinced him to give it a whirl and, surprise, he didn't melt (though he did have to rush back to his truck to change into dry socks).

Fortunately, right before the race the sun rose above the hill and took some of the chill off of Charlotte's Meadow. Dave, Mike (The Abbot) and Phil Friden (Tazer) first took off in the two-lap Sport 35-49 race, followed by me in the Sport 50+ race, and later by Pete Sproul in the Expert 19-44 race.
Despite the impending creek-crossings, Dave was on fire and had a great first lap, followed by the best second lap of any of his competitors. At the finishing line he was closing fast on the first place finisher, but couldn't quite get to him and took 2nd Place, only six seconds behind. This was Dave's highest placing yet in a mountain bike race, and he was pumped.
Nicely done, Dave! Mike and Philip rode well and fought off mechanical and other issues to place 10th and 11th, respectively.

I managed to only go off course once and took 2nd Place in my race behind a previously unknown guy from Lompoc. It was lactic shock therapy for me, having not done any real prep for the race. I got a flavor for what I was up against when, talking to the 1st Place finisher afterwards, he told me that his group trains secretly on Vandenberg Base and on local, private cattle ranches. So between dodging Feds, bullets and bulls, it appears the Lompoc guys might be a tough group. I'll be better prepared next time.

Pete Sproul had a great start to the season in his first Expert race, hitting 'em hard on the first lap and holding on for the second lap to take 3rd Place, with Bob Nisbett passing him on the last hill to take 2nd place.
Their lap times were ridiculously fast! Good job Pete.

All in all, it was great fun on a great course. We no longer go through the Vineyard, but Hecker's added a tough little singletrack climb and made a great 11 mile course. Can't wait to do it for real in May and throughout the summer. And dodging the occasional calves and cattle added a fun new element to the elements. Hope to see more of you Mountain Chickens out there next time!

Bring on the Tour of Cali! Looking forward to Matt and Blinger beating some
of the Pro times in the Solvang TT.

Kim

This Just In, Race Photos & Results From Saturdays Mountain Bike Race

Dave Lettieri is a man who likes to get to the bottom line. When he sends in his race report it consisted of photos and this link for the results. Great Job everyone! Dave thanks for the results and photos. We certainly had some players there. Check out the results.

Elings Is A Blast Right Now!

I thought I would get this off my chest before the race reports start coming in. If you have a mountain bike get over to Elings and have more fun than you deserve! I have been there the last couple of days on my new Frankenbike (I'll explain that one later, B-rad you know what I mean.) and somebody over there has been doing tons of work. There are new trails, especially on the Cliff Dr, and Las Positas side of the park. The switchbacks at the end of the parking lot are in terrific shape and the technical section which is to the left after you get to the top of those climbs is fast and fun. If you need a quick tour, let me know and I'll let you know when I'm headed over there next. For now, Enjoy The Ride!


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So You Think Only Clydesdales Can Break Frames

On my 2nd lap Sunday at Elings Park, I felt my seat get a little soft.

I thought the bolt on my seat had come loose, so I continued up the new singletrack that parallels the fireroad climb. Once I got to the top I got off of my seat and was expecting to quickly tighten the bolt and be on my way.

You can imagine my surprise when I saw the rather large crack in my frame. Thank goodness the seatpost supported the seat tube well enough for me to not impale myself. That could have been a good ouch.

I took the bike to see Dave and Luke and they were pretty impressed that a 160 pounder could break a frame.

I guess it proves that an out of shape 48 year old can still put some stress on a bike frame. The good news is that it has a lifetime warranty on it.

The bad news is, that the new frame might not be in time to race this weekend. That may be a good thing, since the dish of humble pie I'm certain to get served never tastes that great.

See ya out there!

Way To Go Jed!

Jed, and the rest of the SB Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers Organization were recognized by Parks and Rec for their terrific service to the community. Check out the story on Edhat. There is a good photo of our man Jed with the rest of the group. If you don't know Jed, he is one of our B Team Downhillers, maybe the only one. Downhillers Rock!

Be Careful Out There

Blingerman just emailed me this link http://cbs2.com/local/mountain.bike.trail.2.623394.html You have got to check it out. Not only do mountain bikers need to watch out for horses, and hikers, and dogs and the normal obstacles, in some areas they have to watch out for people like this doing stupid stuff. It makes the controversy here in Santa Barbara look pretty tame. Like they used to say on Hill Street Blues, "Let's Be Careful Out There". I know I dated myself by bringing that show back, but hey it was a good one.

Bruises & Broken Frames!

Hello all,

We had a great MTB ride this morning! 8 riders total, including Ben Stefanski who we haven't seen in a while, and Brian Bermudes as well. We did a little Power-lines-Jesusita-Tuckers Grove loop that was really fun. Jesusita is as good as I've ever seen it right now. We can thank the Santa Barbara Mountain bike Trail Volunteers for that. We saw a few hikers, but they were very friendly and we all had bells on, so no problems there. We did have a couple little mishaps worth noting though.

First off, we were doing a little section of Tunnel Trail on our way over to Jesusita when Blingerman did a perfectly executed endo and landed on his head. Luckily, he landed right on the "sweet- spot". That would be the area between your eyebrows and your helmet. So he didn't damage his new helmet, or his eyes..........his forehead was not as fortunate. To his credit, he shook it off and kept ridin'. I actually think he looks better with a Neanderthal like forehead.....very distinguished.



The second incident happened on Jesusita. Now nobody's ever accused me of being a good descender. That's why I like riding with guys like Mike Abbott and Dale Kramer and.......(you're not gonna believe this one)...Dave Lettieri. That's right, Dave's become somewhat of a kamikaze on our Sunday Mountain rides. But he actually has the "skillz" to back it up. He flew down the stair section of Jesusita today like a man possessed. It was awesome! He used every inch of suspension on his carbon fiber Trek as he bounced down the trail...and he pulled it off. After watching Dave, Mike, and Dale ride all these sections that I was walking I learned two things.

1. I'm not a very good descender

and

2. Sometimes it's better just to close your eyes and let go of the brakes.

Now while Dave is very good......he's not perfect. Later in the ride he crashed amongst some rocks and broke the top tube of his beloved Trek Fuel. For the rest of us this would be a terrible turn of events. Fortunately for Dave, carbon frames are cheap, and easily replaceable.

Besides a couple dings and scratches the rest of the ride went according to plan, and we all got home with big smiles on our faces and in one piece...........except Dave's frame.....that was in two pieces. Hope you'll join us next weekend!

Matt

Annual Mountain Bike Marathon

Wow,


That was an awesome ride! The weather was absolutely perfect, and the trails were fantastic! After 5 hours and 45 minutes and a boat-load of climbing we all finished in one piece. We all felt great until that final 7 mile climb up Angostura. That thing is a bear after 4.5 hours of riding. But, we each climbed into our own little "pain caves" and made it to the top. I'm no photographer but I took a couple pictures of the days activities. Sure beats workin'! I think I'll take tomorrow off.......from riding anyways.
Nice work Dave, Robert, Brad, Eric, and Rick.




See ya'll Saturday!


Matt

Calling All Mountain Bikers-Ridesb.com races

In case you are in need of some early season MTB racing, and an update on some races for next year, take a look at Ride SB’s web site. They are having a New Year’s Day ride up at the Firestone course. There is also info on the Firestone Race (now in May and under a new name, but still a National Race). Hecker is also starting a series of XC races this summer. Here is his link. www.ridesb.com


Please consider visiting us on New Years Day at the new Stump Grinder Dirt Club! http://www.ridesb.com/sgdc_newyearsday.htm

With all the forest damage and closures (Little Pine is closed), plus given the fact that New Years Day is a huge trail day for many users, why not come to the SGDC for some nice conflict free (no other trail users) DH shuttle riding, XC trail riding or Dual Slalom practice! It's only in Los Olivos ...

Then mark your calendar for our first new event in 3 years, the SGDC Winter XC on Feb. 16th. http://www.ridesb.com/sgdc_crosscountry.htm


Thanks Robert (Gritty Spaniard) Ramirez for the info

TestRider's latest

I'm not sure if you have been keeping up with the exploits of our dynamic duo of Ben Burn Edwards and Matt (L.J., Mutant, Chicken Ranch) Benko on Ben's new website. Check out their bios.

Ben Edwards Ben has over 20 years on the bike, 4 State Championships and one National Cycling Championship to his credit. Ben was the creative force and on air personality at the Broadbandracer before joining the Testrider team.

Matt Benko Matt is an expert mountain bike racer with many wins and years of experience under his belt. He began racing when suspension wasn’t even dreamed of and today he runs the 2006 CAL State Championship Mountain bike squad, Team Chicken Ranch, in addition to his Testrider duties.

Here is a link to Matt's latest test ride. Nice Job!