Eric Knight...... VICTORY!

Cat 4&5-45+ Well for the last race of the season I thought I would try to ride smart and see what happens.

The weather could not have been better. Low 60's starting off and high 70' to low 80's at the end of the second lap for a total of 47 miles.

The first lap was uneventful as I concentrated on eating and drinking while staying in the middle to the back of the tightly bunch field of 50 riders. At the start of the second lap I went up front to see if I could help pick up the pace a little and thin things out and to my surprise it worked.

The field split with around 18 riders dropping the rest behind. Nobody else was really willing to work very hard so I went back to the rear to eat, drink and rest some more.

With about 10 miles to go I thought I would try again to break things up some more but had no luck. Everybody was willing to sit in and wait for a sprint finish. Not being much of a sprinter I was hoping for anything else.

As we approached the last 1/2mile things really bunched up. I was in the back looking for a place to slide up the outside on the left.. So were a lot of others. So I looked at going up the inside on the right but that looked pretty crowded as well which left me bumping elbows and shoulders up the middle.

As I quickly squirted through I realized there was only one more set of wheels in front of me. I hung on tight and as we rounded the final tight turn the guy in front took a bad line and I shot into the lead. Probably earlier than I wanted but I was in front so I got out of the saddle and hammered for that white line across the asphalt.

Well my legs were about to explode so I had to sit back down. I continued to give it all I had including a lot of grunting and then it happened. I crossed that beautiful white line in first place. I won!. What a great feeling.

A special thanks goes out to all of you that have been training me this past year by letting me suck off your faster wheels. Its been a lot of fun and looking forward to much more.
Eric Knight

Goin Blue Collar @ Sisquoc

Saturday, April 19th ...
Well, time to race, only number 3 in my very short rein of madness ... standing at the registration table anxious both to register and to see cat4 finish since I know Peter will be vying for top 3 spots ... OK, go sign the waiver ... then a GASP from the "audience" basically all the other cyclist watching, and "carnage" in cat4 finish, I mean something went way wrong and dust and bikes and at least a couple people were tumbling and it was fast. Hmmm, maybe today would be a good day to stay upright I thought when Eric leaned over and said is that Pete, it was just rolling in after the major spring, their finish was sketchy, I think someone dropped a chain ... OK, this sport is not for wussies.

Race starter calls out Cat5 pre-regs, since we now have a second group "the public" .. we roll-out and the someone sez "here comes the other racers", and proceeds to say "get ready, go" and were off ... that was sweet, no time to even hang and get all fuzzy ... And then Brian B and Brian H are leading us out and Eric K is also looking strong, wow, I think, we may do something here. Lap1 is all about Chicken Ranch as the first break occurs with one rider going out front 100yds and I'm thinking ..I can bring the Brians and Eric up to him no prob and so I wheel out of my comfortable 10 position and bridge the gap for my teammates and now by Sisquoc, Brian H is still in it and giving me encouragement, "go Rick ya", on we go to Palmer, Cat Canyon and the feed zone when we hit Dominion to climb I'm psyched and what the road if full of the other group, and me being a gentleman and single , it was the Cat 4 women I honor yellow line and try to make some groovy eye contact and realize, the married guys and cheeseballs are all off the front as I meander through the "girls". So, four of us are several 100 yards off the back and guess who bridges again, moi. I had help as one other rider pulled through with me and by Start finish line we are one again with peloton.

LAP2: fast and just in the group with no big deals ... Eric and I get to hold a conversation and I inform him the Brian's are behind in the second group and we were on our own ...

LAP3 (our last lap): ... the excitement is building and a rider goes off right about the start/finish and is looking strong and who responds, no not me this time :) , but my teammate Eric K and I'm thinking again, SWEET! So, I'm on his wheel in number three position and we are cruising and as we hit the roller on Orcutt Carey Road I am feeling, well "intoxicated" and I hammer up the little tilly hilly and I am on the leaders wheel and BOOM: I'm hammering over the top and hit it and jump past the leader and get a couple hundred yard lead (@ 24 mile mark) by Foxen Canyon I'm out of saddle and pouring it on and getting what seems to be the biggest lead by any rider in the race for as long as any rider and think, can I hold this? No! So I manage to get reeled in right about the town of Sisquoc .. when one of the riders behind me said (to let me know I was caught) "nice shorts, your teammates must love riding behind you ..." because I sport TEAM Chicken Ranch large size with major stress fractures on my seams and hiney is poking, you get the pic, when I reply "not as much as you do pal!" and then proceeded to hit it and stay out front well on to Palmer (@ 27.5 mile mark) but as I let up the whole peloton let up and the original dude who broke on Lap1 was off the front and I said "that's trouble" and I was right ... no one reacted and I was ready for a beer by then. I was wishing Dan R was in the race at that time! So, I stayed in front until the feed zone and the bumps ate me up so I knew I was in trouble .. when I got out of the saddle to climb on Dominion road is was OVA and my legs were cramping so I sat down fast, unzipped my jersey and hung on in the back of the pack and watched the race from there, including Eric K doing his best to hang but it looked like we both had "rookie fever" and we grateful for our 2008 season as a CHICKENS ... when I wheeled over to congratulate the winner. I hear "gratsi" instead of "thank you" and think, OK Italian ...EPO :)

... in my mind I rode the most aggressive and in Eric's words .. "Rickydude, you had some great TV time out there!" but I also rode like the fool that writes this spew (get me out of your spam filter!).. next year I'll win a Cat 5 stage for us and hope to have Eric K on my wheel for #2 ... if I can stay healthy!

I rode blue collar all year in a white collar sport and I LOVED it!

PEACE all and meet Peter S and I for a brew at Hollister B.C. once we bust a move on what day next month!!!!!

Love, RD

Rick Martz

Devils Punchbowl Part Trois

Namaste, wow bike racing is pretty f*&%^% k-gnarly! ... Really enjoyed my day Saturday at 666 Puke Bowl, raced 40+ Cat 4/5 with Eric and Gene.

Gotta say pinning on my number was one of my challenges for the day. But Diane and Elda got the flap out and dialed me in. It wasn't that hot boyz (drama), or that windy ... maybe hotter and windier in SY valley Sat. All things went smooth in the lead -up to ...

#941
So, off we went and over the top I labored but was in lead group (@13) where we lost Eric , then Gene ...I was ready to turn back to the truck. Full lactic sizzle-lean, I was gapped on the first downhill by the group since I was spent from the effort of climb and was checking the Lakers score on my BlackJack .. and actually enjoyed the ride down but worked some, too much actually!

Into the wind on the next leg and sucked up by group two and the next thirteen or so riders where EB but no Gene was clocking and I had a chance to nod to my teammate, he said later I looked pretty red-faced :) , well, Eric looked good really ... I rode and hung for a couple miles with them but they dropped me as well AND with four to five other riders we re-grouped and we kept them in site. After a completely smoking quick down hill to the bottom of the climb, I dropped all the riders with me ( .. only one dry heave that was spectator viewable if launched , ego said look good thru the S/F line area :) and I did, I was surprised how much I made back ... but no contact with group 2 and the tank was well into it's burn now, and then another downhill of gyping and tacking, the 5/6 guys I dropped well, they reeled me back ... and we split again and ..

Then somewhere down toward the end of our second back stretch into the wind leg, came a train with a Team Chicken Ranch rider, Gene, and a few other riders came storming up on me, I was riding solo, ... and I hung on to their wheels to the finish (Gene, who I did not know, the two of us introduced and met on the final climb home with Gene sporting me a FasTrack Bicycle water bottle (thanks for the bottle) with some backwash to wet my whistle and lighten his load for the checkered!) .... two riders were from another team and one of them went early and then Gene jumped up and hammered them pretty nicely then the unattached rider and I went and the final rider was from the other team ...we all finished together .. 34th to 38th and I was 37th I SWEAR :) ... great fun! wooo, glad it was OVA!

Here's are après race picture ... we are basking in Brett's FIFTH-place finish (NICE!), I felt allot of support from the other Chicken Ranchers and mates on race day, Brett and Dan and I warmed up together and chilled and last minute wheel change for Brett and good teamwork (a day's highlight!) ... HOWEVER, the race itself was absent of CR teamwork, I believe if Gene and Eric and I rode together we would have all placed higher!!! Hummm.

I'll be registering for race #2 soon, in June. Since only deciding to race the first of March, with no speed training or real endurance training, I accomplished the goals and could not have a better team or done it without, Eric, Dave, Matt and the B Team blog ... sweet, thanks.

PEACE.

Rick Martz
Department of Earth Science
University of California, Santa Barbara

Punchbowl Part Deux

Hi Everyone

I was told I need to write a race report so here goes. This is my first one so bear with me.

Saturday
Devil's Punch Bowl is a very hard race! It was hot, windy, hot, with lots of climbing and very hot. Brian Hershkowitz, Dan Rudd and I rode the cat 5 race. This is my story, I will let Brian and Dan tell theirs.

On the first lap the field got blown apart on the back stretch, with a lead group of about twelve guys. Going into the second climb one guy got off the front. I pulled most of the way trying to bridge and also break up the pack. It worked on the back stretch there were only four of us left still chasing the leader. At this point I was freezing cold and could barely hang on. Two guys broke off and I was left with one guy to work with. We raced to the finish together, and he got the best of me. I finish 5th, Dan 11th, and Brian 32nd respectively. Many thanks to Elda (Dan's wife) who was there instantly at the finish line with cold water. Which I'm pretty sure saved my life.


Rick Martz ,Eric Knight and Gene Raphaelian also raced in the 40+ 4/5. Eric 25th, Rick 38th and Gene ?.

Sunday
Chuck Pontius Crit. Ok I will try not to be as long winded on this one. I showed up for the early morning cat 5 start of 7:30, which turned out to be a good thing.(hot and windy) We had full field, the pace was fast with lots of attacks that didn't pan out. On the last lap at turn 3 I attacked on the slight uphill, knowing this was my only chance on a good sprint position (I'm not a sprinter). It worked, I came into the last turn in 1st and almost made it until this big diesel engine passed me just before the line. 2nd place, and now a cat 4... I'm stoked!

Cheers,

Brett Harrison
Surf 'n Wears Beach House
10 state st. SB, CA 93101

Chickens In The Punchbowl

Yes, there were several Chickens cookin' in the Devil's Punchbowl on Saturday. And by "cooking" I mean roasting in the 95 plus degree heat and not necessarily kickin' ass. But, as everyone who's participated in this event knows, surviving and finishing the Punchbowl is by itself an accomplishment. All Chicken Ranchers who made the drive out to the high desert above the not-so-thriving metropolis of Pearblossom did in fact finish, get a great workout, dehydrate, suffer, have a blast and in the end place very respectably. With a full field of 50 in the Open 5's , Brett Harrison led the way with a 5th place finish, followed by Dan Rudd in 11th, and Brian Hershkowitz in 32nd.

With a field of seventy in the 45+4/5's, Eric Knight posted a 25th place finish, followed by Gene Raphaelian in 34th and Rick Martz in 38th in his first ever RR (you know how to pick 'em, Rick!). We didn't notice any others Chicken Ranchers so if I missed someone I apologize.

In the first race, things got started before the race even began. On the drive out in the morning we watched the temperature climb from 68 degrees in SB to the 85 at Fillmore. At this point we stopped looking. When we arrived and went for our not very necessary "warm up ride" we noticed that Brian was spinin' & sweatin' it out on his trainer which was strategically positioned straddling the San Andreas fault (really). On the way back in from our warm up ride Brian was still rollin' & shakin' on his trainer. I don't know about you Brett, but there's a chance that Brian may have over-done his warm up. The race itself got off to an interesting start in that the threats of the Starter to DQ anyone who even as much as looked at the center-line were well heeded. Read this to mean that at the beginning of the first 4 mile climb several riders were literally pushin' there way to the right shoulder. The sounds of of wheels touching was enough motivation to slip out of the pack and move up front which turned out to be a well timed move as three riders jumped on the last step before the road turned right for the last mile of the climb breaking the group up in two. While I certainly was under some stress, Brett and I made it over the top as part of the lead pack which hit the rollers hard before reaching the long descent. I moved up to third wheel and kept having to tap my brakes and decided to instead move outside and see how it felt in the wind. Next thing I knew I was in front, feeling fast and comfortable. I was having a great time and approached the right turn onto Tejon Road, but much to my surprise the CHP manning the intersection started waving me/us through as though not to take the right. I hesitated a second and a guy blew by me and through the intersection and I followed. Of course, the rest of the pack swept right through the turn in the correct direction. It was at this very moment that I heard Brett's fading voice yelling "DAAANNNN" and the CHP swear "Oh Sh-t!". After a quick brake, U-turn and what was now a left onto Tejon Road I was in full-on chase mode. I think I may have panicked a little and over-extended catching back up to the group. Once I re-connected Brett was kind enough to say "hey, don't worry about it. You're back". But all I could think about at the time was "please, no one attack on the step up ahead. I need just a few seconds to recover". No sooner did the guys at the front stand up and accelerate. I told Brett to "go" and I faded away from the lead group. I did recover and felt that I finished strong picking off close to another dozen riders over the second half. In the end the, blowing through the turn wasn't the difference for me as I could tell on the first climb that I didn't feel light and have the legs on Saturday. All in all it was a great time and experience that offered many valuable lessons and many fond memories. Looking forward to the next one, but in the meantime I need some water...

Dan Rudd

Rick, Eric & Dan's Big Adventure

A few Ranchers decided to do a Figueroa Mountain Loop over the weekend. Check out their report below.

The Valley ride was outstanding. With two people changing their plans last minute it ended up being Dan, Rick and I.

The weather was cool and brisk starting out but it warmed up quickly as we headed up Happy Canyon. The grass was green, the creeks flowing, the sun bright with the clouds in the distance dark. The wild flowers were wildly bright and plentiful. It could not have been a more beautiful day to ride. The down hill was a blast and the last miles back to Los Olivos with a strong tail wind were fast and fun. What more can I say, "I love riding my bike". Wish you were there!"














Dan setting the pace with Eric and I in pursuit heading home to the tri tip sandwich! We just could not wait to get to the Chicken Ranch :)
















Are hungers were equal, Dan, Eric, Rick