Calling All Mountain Bikers

Originally sent 6-13-09

Matt Perry, Big Rob and I hit up the SGDC Summer series #1 today. About the opposite turnout of the PreOtter with only 15 people across all classes.

Weather was great, course was new (no middle climb/downhill); faster with more laps and there wasn’t much competition. In the Pro/Expert Field, Matt Perry rode away from the competition (me) on the first switchback climb and never looked back. I finished in about 2:28 for four laps/30 miles and Matt was probably 5-10 minutes in front of me. Smokin! Big Rob – gotta let us know how you ended up. Last I saw you were being eased into your van, holding your wrist/shoulder. Hope you are OK!

Come on out for the other SGDC races this summer. Support one of the best racing venues in all of CA (where else do you get a cash payback for sport/expert/pro classes??!). I’ve been racing MTBs for 20+ years and isn’t this what we all ask for – local venue, lots of races, varied courses and great people to race with?

The other Summer Series races are; 7/25, 8/22 and TBD.

VERY IMPORTANT (one of my favorite kinds of racing) – Wednesday Night Dirt Crit Series starting 7/1 and running weekly through 8/5. Cash payback, short, spectator friendly and a great mid-week workout.

See you all out there!
Pete

Elings Race Reports

I waited a couple of days for all the race reports to come in and I have decided to post them all in this post. There are some good ones. Thanks for contributing everyone!

so this is the story, saturday got second in the down hill, second in the super d, and that gave me second in state points super d for the year. sunday, qualified for the d/s thanks to team big bear and ed brown, letting me time it out pre cross country race time, raced xc was in first and did not know it, sprint to the finish thinking it was for 3rd and tangled with the guy, went down on the pavement at the finish, ended up second in xc, got a patch on the knee, ran the duel slom corse and got 3rd. what week end, from the chicken ranch banquet to the finish in the med center sunday afternoon for about ten stitches! all is well.

--race

mike abbott

John Goodman was nice enough to take some good shots. I think I have all the Chicken Ranchers below. Enjoy and if you want to purchase any of the shots just contact John.

The Elings XC was fun and brutal as ever today.

The marine layer did help to keep the temps mercifully low, at least right up until the sport class heats went off at 11AM. There seemed to be a solid turnout at the event in general (with the notable exception of the Chicken Ranch Triathlon team members of course). The number of riders seemed to be down only slightly compared to the June Elings race.

From the Chicken contingent I saw only a couple Sport Class riders and no experts or beginners: Philip, Blingerman (& Wingerman), FastTrack, Iron Man Abbott and our freshest Chicken recruit Matthew Perry (won his first beginner class race today AND took the attached photo of me pedaling through a corner, very nice).

Was anybody else out there, Jed on the Slalom perhaps?

They combined my class of 17 riders along with two other classes into a single heat to make for probably the most hectic start I've ever experienced at an MTB race. I found myself zig-zagging in & out of slower riders (what few slower riders there were) up that first fire road climb in a massive pack & hugely thick cloud of dust. Clearly a good argument here for lining up early if you see they've combined start times with other classes on you!

Anyway, in spite of not being prepared at all to "bring it" myself today, I did have a few highlights:

- Playing cat & mouse with a multi-year nemesis that himself crashed twice but still managed to nip me on the last half lap. (rat ba**rd)

- Playing cat & mouse then finally dropping a friend who was in my heat (but not my age group) who I had talked into coming up from Santa Monica to race the event. (priceless)

- Chatting with Mike Abbot post race as he was bemoaning his loss/crash at the XC finish line while bleeding significantly from his knee & hip. He proceeded to casually throw on his flak jacket body armor and prepare to transition over to the dual slalom course to get quickly bandaged up before
his next race. We did all agree that it made sense for the first aid
station to be located at the foot of the slalom course....
Iron Man, you are THE MAN!

Ride On!
Paul

Below are a few more photos that Paul & Rod contributed.


My report goes as follows,

I went as hard as I could for 3 brutal laps. On the final climb to the finish there lay a rather flamboyant rider laying spread eagle on the course screaming in pain, cramps on the hammys it looked like. I jumped off my bike thinking I would run around him (after making sure he was OK, you know
me) but when I straightened my legs wouldn't you know it my quads locked up on me. I'd never had cramps like that before. After standing frozen on the course for some time and watching the other rider eventually get up and go on, lots of riders passing by and offering words of encouragement, "drink your water man!" I was finally able to finish, but lost lots of time. But as I was standing there, it did strike me how nice and caring all the fellow competitors were, even in the heat of battle.

Love to you all.
Taser Friden


Based on the fact that it’s a 10 minute effort I decided to race the SuperD again this weekend at Elings. This would also salvage a bit of my weekend of racing as I was seriously wavering on whether or not I would do the XC on Sunday (ended up not). My fitness has been on the decline since early July and the last Elings XC was painfully still very fresh in my mind. Possibly the hardest 20 mile MTB race I’ve ever done.

Ran into Iron Mike, Dave L. and Dave Jurist before the start and we were all ready for a little suffering. Course was slightly different from last time with a trip down to that lookout/turnaround that is used in the XC. This added about a minute to the times and it wasn’t a fun minute. I swear I’ve ridden the whole SuperD course much faster when I’m racing XC and in a good rhythm. When the gun goes off for a 10 minute race, it’s full gas and severe oxygen debt from the start. I ended up winning my class, the 30-39 open division, Iron Mike was 2nd in the 40-49 open followed closely by Dave L. in 2nd with Dave J. in 5th (with a crash, I believe).

It was also very nice to have an awards ceremony within 20 minutes of finishing. I’ve attached a photo taken by Dave L’s Dad who was at the race. Dave said no helmets on the podium but he didn’t mention anything about gloves so I kept mine on.

I glanced at the State Series standings today and low and behold, I ended up 2nd in the overall for the year in SuperD! This, coupled with my solid 2nd place in the national XC series, and I’m keeping that 2nd place Chicken Ranch tradition going strong!

Now, who’s up for some cyclocross? http://www.socalcross.com/

Pete

This Is How To Do A Triathlon!

Ben Edwards has a very unique perspective on how to complete and win a triathlon. I'm on his team! Thanks for sharing Ben, and congratulations to you and Sean, and Katrine?

Yes, indeed what a weekend.

First off, I'm not sure where all this "Triathlons are hard" stuff comes from. It was a piece of cake. After a some what taxing 21 minute swim I took a quick 2 minute break in the transition area, courteously arranged by Pete Sproul. After which it was off to the East Beach Cafe where I had a nice Santa Barbara Omelette and a big glass of fresh squeezed OJ while Pete took off on his bike. Not wanting to let my teammates down, an hour or so later, I made the long walk from the East Beach Cafe to the transition area to see Pete finish his ride and cheer Eric Forte on as he headed off on the run. Then if was off to the Trader Joe's Athletes tent for some fruit salad, a bran muffin, and a wonderful yoghurt parfait. I have to admit, at this point I was suffering a little, the Parfait was quite filling after the Santa Barbara Omelette, but I managed to finish it. That's the kind of commitment I bring to Triathlons. After a quick nap on the beach I arose in time to see Eric cross the line after blistering the course to bring our relay team home 1st. Again, apart from the first 20 minutes or so, pretty easy day at the beach, so don't believe the hype, with the right strategy (get other guys to do the hard parts really fast) triathlons are easy!

And you know what? The awards Pete, Eric, and I won don't say anything about a relay. They just say Santa Barbara Triathlon: Long Course, and oh yeah, they also say 1st Place. as opposed to... I don't know... 2nd place.

The things I will really remember about this triathlon are all the examples of incredible team work I saw out on the course. I'll never forget how Pete selflessly gave up 2 minutes of our lead to give Blingerman somebody to chase on the bike. I'll always remember how Gabe stood in the surf after his swim, pretending to cramp for 5 minutes, so Matt might be able to equal his swim time. Or how about Mike Cage courageously striking Ramirez in the head during the swim to snap him out of his panic attack. It proves that when we Chickens stick together we can get some marginally respectable results!

The real story of course was those kids! Sunday was indeed the highlight of my athletic career. To be right there along side all those kids as they truly raced the course was amazing. Not sure about how all those ladies in their matching Momentum, Moms in Motion, Tri Divas, and Queen Bees kits felt as a bunch of 9, 10, 11 and 12 year old kids, who looked like the bad new bears, blew past them on the bike and on the run. I highly recommend the parent child triathlon to everybody!

And Matt, as for my head getting two big don't worry about it. Thanks to an Active.com screw up in the results everybody in Ojai keeps congratulating my wife Katrine on her incredible weekend at the Santa Barbara Triathlon. They then ask me why I didn't man up and do it as well.

But I must go now, the phone is ringing and I'm expecting a call from Triathlete Magazine any moment. No doubt they will need me and Sean for next months cover...

Ben

Chickens At The Santa Barbara Triathlon!

Most Chickens just enjoy participating, and competing. So quite a few of them decided to do the Santa Barbara Triathlon last weekend. Below is Matt's report. I'm hoping a few others will chime in as these one sided tongue in cheek renditions of the days happenings must be stopped. Pete, did you get some good seats for Celine? ;o) Enjoy the ride!

What a weekend!

I'm pooped. But that was a blast. Why is it that triathlons have more participants than road or mountain bike races? The timing seems like it would be a nightmare, and yet they're extremely well organized and the results are up and accurate within minutes of finishing? I don't know how they do it, but Joe Coito and his crew from the S.B. Triathlon do a phenomenal job. It's a first class event.

We had several Chicken Ranchers taking part in the festivities with some impressive showings. I'll mention some of the highlights but leave it up to the individuals to tell their own stories.

My own race went something like this:

One mile of very poor swimming.
35 miles of pretty good biking.

5 miles of mediocre running followed by 5 more miles of very painful running.

Doesn't that sound like fun? Well, actually it was fun. Challenging but fun. I accomplished my goal of finishing in the top 10 of my age group. It's getting almost comical but I managed to extend my world record string of 2nd place finishes. But one goal I did not accomplish. I bet Arick Fuller and John McFadden (both excellent swimmers) a burrito, that I would be able to catch them by the top of Toro on the bike leg.... I wasn't even close. So while I just missed feeling the thrill of victory. I can fully experience the agony of defeat. Great job guys. I just sent each of you a gift card to Taco Bell for .99 cents. Enjoy your burrito.

The all Chicken Ranch relay team of Ben Edwards, Pete Sproul, and Eric Forte won the relay division handily. The best part is that after his swim Ben ran into the transition area to tag Pete for the bike leg but Pete wasn't there. He had to wait for 2 minutes for Pete to finally show up and ride and they still won! Apparently Pete was late because Celine Dion tickets went on sale at the Arlington and he didn't want to lose his place in line. Craig Blingermans Team finished 2nd but he retains bragging rights by posting the fastest bike leg of the day. I think Blingerman's legs were a little fresher because he's not a Celine Dion fan......he prefers Barbara Streisand.

Gabriel Garcia and Robert Ramirez renewed their rivalry with Gabriel coming out on top once again. As soon as Robert figures out that the doggie paddle is not the most efficient swim stroke they might actually have some close battles. I also saw Fredrick and Mike Cage out there giving it their all. Nice job everyone!

Sundays short course saw some excellent racing action. My 13 year old son Tyler was offered $50 bucks if he could beat Brad Jellison. Unfortunately, Brad had the race of his life and he beat Tyler by 18 seconds. Tyler was bummed about not getting the $50 bucks but he finished 3rd in his age group and got a trophy so he left happy. Brad finished an impressive 7th place in his age group and left with a sore right hamstring. Brad's 17 year old daughter Kelliann also tackled the course on her own finishing 4th in her age group.

They also had a parent/child division on Sunday where parents could compete alongside their kids for moral support. Ben Edwards and his son Sean, Gabe Garcia and his son Dylan, and me and my son Brennan all took part. Ben Edwards is going to be impossible to deal with for a few weeks because not only did he win the relay division, his 11 year old son Sean also won the parent/child division. Sean is a great kid and is a gracious champion with good sportsmanship. But his father is an obnoxious braggart. So if possible, avoid all contact with Ben Edwards for at least 2 weeks until his ego returns to normal size. Gabe's son Dylan is 9 years old and weighs all of about 60lbs but he was out there running 9 minute miles and giving a lot of adults a run for their money. My 12 year old son Brennan finished 4th in the parent/child division. But more importantly, he had the fastest bike split, and as you all know the bike split is the only one that really matters.

All in all it was a great weekend. I can't wait 'till next year. My blisters should be gone by then and Tyler will be one year older and a lot faster. Brad on the other hand should be one year older and a lot slower. So I think next year I'll offer Brad $50 bucks to beat Tyler then I'll use that money to bet Arick and John that I'll catch them by the top of Gobnador and I'll still end up $48 dollars ahead!

Big thanks to all the people who were out there cheering and yelling. That was a big help.

See ya out there,

Matt

Deer Valley National

So last week I made the (loooong) drive out to Park City, UT for the NMBS race @ Deer Valley. Was able to preride the course on Thurs and Friday and have to say it was probably the best multi-lap course I’ve ever done. Started out with a 7-8 minute climb up an access road turning to single track followed by about 10 minutes of sweet downhill and sidehill single track through Aspen trees. Super smooth, perfect buffed out singletrack. After that another 10 minute or so climb up singletrack followed by another 10 minutes of single track down hill. Out of the 7.1 mi loop, about 5+ miles were singletrack. And oh yeah, it started at over 8k’ and went up to 11k’ so the air was a little thin.

Sat. morning 8 am start brought 60 degree temps and smaller fields than the other nationals I’ve done in Fontana and SY this year. Only 10 guys in my Expert 35-39 group. Gun went off and the usual chaos ensued. One guy took off and had about 100 yards on the field about 200 yards into the race (straight uphill). I figured he was gone or would blow spectacularly. The rest of the field was fairly bunched up. I was in about 6th but only 20 seconds or so from the 2nd place guy. Stayed that way until about ¾ through the first lap when a very large, giant actually, bee flew into my helmet and wouldn’t come out. I had to stop quickly and get it out and was passed by three guys putting me in 9th. I was feeling ok but stayed in that position through the first part of the 2nd lap before passing a few guys at the end of the first climb. Things were still bunched up and was hoping to just maintain and put in a good effort on the final lap. That worked and at the start of the 3rd lap I put in a good effort on the first climb and was able to move up to about 5th. I then saw the 4th place guy and picked him just before the end of the first climb. I was stoked as this would have been my best result by far in a national this year. I then started to see the 3rd place guy about 40 seconds ahead. I seemed to be gaining on him on the downhill and he really started coming back on the second climb. Just before the top of the final climb I was on his wheel and made the pass into 3rd. Bombed the dh and suffered severely up the couple of small inclines before the finish to hold on for 3rd. Ended up about 1:40 behind the 2nd place guy and 5 minutes behind the guy who had blasted off at the start. Later found out he was from CA and took second at Firestone this year, ahead of Chuck Ross (who has won every other race this year) so it wasn’t a surprise that he ran away with it.

Great race and a good weekend. Got in some other rides on the road and mtb and they were all epic. High alpine, great time of year with everything green and perfect weather.

On a related note, my friends neighbor is on the mtb board of trustees for USA Cycling. She informed me that they were doing away with Semi-Pro next year and the categories will be Pro, 1, 2, and 3 with the option for promoters to add a first timer category for larger races. Meaning that this will certainly be the last year I have a shot of any podium appearances sine Semi-Pro and Expert will be effectively combined next year.

Happy 4th and hope everyone is out of the way of the fire!

Pete

A Couple More Elings Race Reports

Mike Abbott, who is Mr. Mountain Bike has a quick race report below followed by Mr. Sproul (dirt boy) and some photos. The photo credits go to Pete and Gabe. Thanks for sending them in guys.

it was a great weekend, got to see a lot of ranchers out beating the trail, thanks to matt and the feed zone we were all in good supply fluids, I was able to catch the first place rider in xc on the decent of the second lap, but on the end of the second lap climb he got by, i kept him in sight on the last lap up the pavement but did not see him till i was going south and he was crossing the line for the finish, he got me by more than a minute. the down hill on the other hand I got first!!, the super d came in fifth, due to the rule i did not know(you are suppose to drink a few beers shortly before the start if you want to claim a podium spot) that rule may need some tweaking to fine the proper mount of courage fluid!! Great job everyone.

Mike


Hard?!? Yeah, that was hard, one of the harder races I’ve done in a long time. I blew so hard on the fourth lap I wasn’t sure I was going to finish. Actually, maybe that was the second lap? I started off with what I though was a pretty mellow effort but after checking my first split and seeing around 27:30, I knew I needed to back it off a bit. I was sitting in 8th or 9th and had to figure out how to slow down and still pass people! Fortunately, that turned out to be quite easy as guys started popping big time about halfway through the second lap. By the end of the lap I’d moved up to 5th and just tried to maintain. The laps got harder and the lap times slower; 28 something for lap two, 29 something for lap three and about a 33 minute final lap. On lap three I was seriously overheating so I decided to roll around in the dirt for a bit. Didn’t really help but made for some good pictures. Best part was forgetting I was cramping in both legs and could hardly pedal and being able to pretend I was racing and sprint the last 100 yards with Matt! I’m sure it wasn’t nearly as fun to watch as Ramirez and Blinger but we gave it a shot. Fun times, too bad we have to wait three months to do it again!!



Great job to everyone else who was out there racing or just hanging out and yelling. Especially Jelly for talking me into racing SuperD on Sat. I’d forgotten what it was like on the podium and the 8 min race effort didn’t affect putting one foot in front of the other like I’m having trouble doing today!

Pete

Santa Ynez Valley National Mountain Bike Race

Well another Firestone (or SYVNMBS) in the books. First off, let me just say how glad I was to be racing at 8 am after pre-riding the course on Friday from 1-2:30 pm. Ouch.

Showed up around 7, got my usual 15 minute warm up in and then stood at the starting line for another 10-15 minutes. My legs had been feeling good and I’d been riding well and was really hoping to crack the top 5 this time around. I was feeling even better about that when I didn’t see Todd at the starting line. Already moved up one place before the race even started! I did notice a number of guys who I’d never seen before who looked pretty fast. Gun went off and people took off at the usual smoking pace. I settled in about mid pack, 10th or so. Kept this position for a while then moved up a couple of spots about half way through the first lap. I could see a good sized group of about 5-7 guys from my category about 25 seconds ahead of me going into the second to last climb. Held this steady through that climb then started the second to last down hill on the far end of the course. Right near the bottom there was a dip that was fairly rutted, not very narrow ruts but I managed to go from one to the other while kind of turning my handlebar a bit and partially rolled my tire. Went from about 28 lbs of pressure to 20 or less. I was thinking I would be fine if I could just get up the last hill, down and through the start/finish then to Ramirez who was feeding Matt and I. All I could think of was adding air in the shade (it was probably high 90’s by now and I was a little warm). I was pretty bummed as I had ridden pretty under control and I knew guys were going to start blowing. I (barely) survived through the start/finish where Matt caught up to me. We rode up the little start hill together and he dropping in first to the dh with the berm at the bottom. Good thing because if I’d been in front I would have taken us both out. My tire rolled again and I went straight over the berm into a pile. Got up took out my co2, struggled mightily to get it to function (amazing what o2 debt and 100 degree temps will do to your mind). Finally did and got the tire back to normal. I was pretty bummed by this time and was sitting probably in 15th or so. Decided to keep plugging away, got new bottles from Ramirez, handed him my 5 lb multitool I forgot to remove from my bike before the race and was off for lap two. 10 minutes later I found I had jinxed Matt as he was walking down the first dh with a totally blown front tire. Bummer ‘cause he was on way to at least a top 3 finish and was riding well. I started to feel better as the lap went on and passed a ton of guys. I knew I was going well when I caught up with Ron Takeda, who had passed me earlier, and went flying by him. I kept telling myself that I was going to catch guys that were blowing. I ended up passing quite a few guys including a number from my group in the last two miles, finished strong in 9thand felt good about my race despite the tire issue.

That night as I was lying in bed it kind of hit me how stupid it was to keep riding and not fix my tire right away. I could have lost 45 seconds instead of 2-5 minutes from all the super slow riding I was forced to do with the flat tire over the last couple of miles. Douh!!

Headed back over on Sunday to watch Jackson and my brother race. They both had great races with Jackson actually beating half of the kids he started with and riding really strong taking 3rd in the 12 and under category. My brother, Seth, had his best race since the early 1990’s when he used to beat me and finished 5th in Sport 30-34. Nice job to all the other CR’s out there on Sunday, especially iron man Mike Abbott who raced every event that was available to him!

See you all soon.

Pete

Santa Ynez Valley Classic Photos

John Goodman is once again kind enough to share his photos with us. I pulled out all the Chicken Ranchers (and one Nick Davis photo)from his gallery and low and behold I came to the conclusion we may not receive a race report from one Mr. Matt Benko. Pete, you are looking good, maybe we can get a report out of you. Check em out!

The Whiskey, Pete Style!

After reading about this race in Bike magazine my brother and I decided a few months back to give this race a try. The Whiskey goes down in Prescott, AZ and having ridden there before I knew there was an abundant of epic single track to be had. This race is put on by Epic Rides out of Tucson, AZ and I’d heard that their races are indeed epic.

The Whiskey was said to be an old-school style MTB race with a festival like atmosphere. There are three version of the course; the 50 proof (44 miles, 6,800’ of vert), the 25 proof (28 miles, 4,800’ of vert) and the 15 proof (19 miles). My brother and I opted for the 25 proof. I was looking at times from years past and out of about 250 riders doing the 25 proof, the winning times were around 2:40. This wasn’t shaping up to be your standard socal series lap race with 25 miles being done in 2 hours and my brother and I were a little apprehensive. One thing I was really looking forward to after weeks of 8 am start times was the 10 am start and a hotel a block away. Prescott is at 5,000’ so temps weren’t forecasted to get any higher than 75 which would be nice. With a mandatory meeting on Friday afternoon the town was crawling with bikers when we arrived around 4 pm to grab our packets and get in a little ride to loosen the legs up after 8 hrs in the car.

Saturday dawned sunny and mild, perfect for racing. The 50 proofers went off at 9 am and we rolled out with a neutral start at 10 am sharp. I kept telling myself to heed Matt’s advice on pacing as the race started with a 9 mile climb and another 6 mile climb awaited near the end of the race. Blow up early and an already long day could turn epic. The pace was manageable on the first climb and I managed to stay in the top five. This wasn’t a NORBA race there were not the usual categories just junior, open (19-44) and master (45+) categories so I tried to keep my eyes on guys who looked over 19 and under 45. Maintained about 4th overall to the top of the climb, passed on the Whiskey shots being handed out at the top and hit the downhill which turned out to be pretty gnarly. Similar to something like San Ysidro or Romero singletrack but with cactus. Had to stop once due to my stem faceplate coming loose and my handlebars twisting but a quick bolt tightening did the trick. Suffered like a dog up the final climb and bombed the single track and pavement to the finish. I was thinking I would be happy with a top five in the open men since it got hard to tell who you were racing against as we came onto the 15 proof course and there were some 50 proofers scattered in as well. I ended up getting 2nd in open men and 5th overall on the 25 proof course. Floyd Landis was there racing the 50 proofer and finished third.

All in all an epic race that reminded me of races in the late 80’s-early 90’s like the Revenge of the Siskiyous, The Lemeurian and the Humbug Hurry-up. If you want to experience what mountain bike racing was really like back then with huge fields, epic courses, tons of free schwag and just a really fun time I would definitely suggest you check this race out. I’ll be back for sure.

Oh yeah, Gabe, since they don’t break it up by category, just by age, we can move our rivalry over to the dirt. Put it on your calendar next year! J

More info on the race is here. Check out the video from 2006, it’s pretty sweet;
http://www.epicrides.com/wor/wor.htm


Pete

Gabe, throwin down at Sea Otter

35+ Cat 4 Road Race
The road race started bright and early at 8am on Friday morning. It was foggy, a bit chilly, and there was a constant breeze. The race got underway w/ the neutral start down into the valley where we were scheduled to run 6 laps and end w/ the final climb out of the valley to the uphill finish. There were 3 CR’s in the race w/ Pete Sproul, Mitch Karno, and myself. The game plan from the beginning was simple…. survive until the final climb and grind it out to the finish.

The race started off on the .5 mile climb at a hard tempo. The climbers were off the front and determined to split the group. Once at the top of the climb, it was carnage behind and the group was divided in half. We were down to about 25 riders in the lead group w/ all the CR’ers still present. The pace was a constant hard tempo around the course w/ the pace picking up every time up the .5 mile climb.

At the halfway point, we were down to 17 riders and going into the final 2 laps, it became evident that no one else was going to be getting dropped. The group appeared to take it a little easier on the final lap, saving their legs for the final push up the 2k finishing climb. Once we started climbing out of the valley, the pace picked up and riders started to drop off the back. Pete and I managed to stay w/ the lead group up until the final 1k where the hill kicked up and got steeper. Both Pete and I got unhitched and began to lose ground on the leaders. The race ended w/ Pete coming in 8th place and me right behind in 9th. Mitch gave it all he had and came in just outside the top 20.

Once I came across the finish line, I rode up to Pete to give him a pat on the back for a job well done. But before I could say “good job Pete,” his first words out of his mouth were, “Gabe, I finally beat you!” Apparently Pete wasn’t racing against the other 50 riders, his goal was to come in before me. What Pete didn’t realize was that once he attacked for his 8th place finish, I was playing the team role and blocking for him, guaranteeing his top 10 finish. Although Pete doesn’t believe my “blocking for him” excuse, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! As far as I was concerned, there wasn’t an inner squad rivalry between Pete and myself, but after Pete’s untimely comment, there is now!!! :o)

35+ Cat 4 Circuit Race
After Friday's road race, which was suited for the climbers, I was looking forward to Saturday's Circuit Race which was more suited to my strengths. The course is fast w/ one steep, but short climb.

The race started w/ a hard tempo leading into the first climb. I was surprised that the pace started so hard, so early. At the start of the race we had over 40 riders, but going into the final 6 circuits, we were down to only 8 of us. Of those 8, there were 2 teams represented w/ 2 riders each. And from the way all four of them were chatting, it appeared they all knew each other. With the 6 circuits remaining, one of the riders from the represented teams went off the front. I sat in waiting for someone to chase and see how the other team would react. It became obvious that there were 3 riders of the remaining 7 blocking and neutralizing any organized chase for the rider off the front. I glanced around and the remaining solo riders were looking gassed, including me. It was now a race for 2nd. On the final circuit and coming into the final corner, I positioned myself perfectly on 3rd wheel. I tried to catch everyone off guard and lead it out early, but I made the mistake of shifting down and sprinting at the same time. My chain didn’t like the torque w/ the shift, and the chain skipped. My plan of catching everyone off guard failed once my chain skipped and I had a hesitated pedal stroke. I did manage to wind up the sprint and hold on for a 4th place finish and a spot on the podium.

I left Sea Otter satisfied w/ my efforts and results. My goals coming into the races were top 10 finishes. I successfully accomplished my goals and exceeded them w/ a podium finish in the Circuit Race. With the season halfway over, it’s time to take a few weeks off from racing and start to recover physically and mentally.

See you on the road,
Gabriel

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