Racing

It is that time of year, races everywhere. These are "race with the guys" races and so much fun.

Thursday Joy and Adam put together a last minute weekly short track practice. 10+ racers showed with about one day's notice. Pretty cool. To make it even more fun we did a figure 8. ever seen figure 8 car/bus racing? that was us. see Joy and Matt's (March 13th) write up. The course was open so we had a family out for a hike complete with off-road stroller on the course for a while, crazy. Going through the crossover/two-way section the on-coming racer yells to me "stroller!" my thought was "huh??", then as I rounded the blind corner "oh".

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Saturday's Racers and Chasers race was great, a mass start of ~ 100 racers, lots of fun singletrack, including switchback climbs. The branded handmade leather number plates was an original idea.

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I just dropped the fireline off at Incycle, if everything goes right I'll pick it up tomorrow and it will have become a Specialized S-Works Carbon race bike! The fireline frame will become a designated singlespeed!

SoCal MTB High School League Race #1

What a fun day. Sunday was the first ever SoCal High School Racing league race, NorCal has a very successful program, SoCal is now following that model and the first race was a big success. Vail Lake Resort (Temecula, CA) was a great venue complete with camping. Thank you Michael McClure for the first two pictures. . Great turnout for the first ever race, 75+ racers (only 6 girls though...). For more race info and pictures see the socaltrailriders post. I wore a Marshal's vest, carried a radio and rode the course during the race to verify all course marshals were okay and to transfer any information required due to intermittent radio contact. The course marshals were various kid's parents so it was cool to talk with them and to cheer their kids on. If there was a crash on the course someone would announce it on the radio (very professionally, "MP 7 reporting, rider down between MP7 and MP8") and if it was in my area I would ride to the crash and make sure they were okay. There was one channel for all course marshals and one person who was in touch with the race and medic crew who were on a different channel(s). It was all very well thought out and explained at the meeting. The meeting was complete with vests, radios, maps, marshal locations and a sheet of rules. The last rule was that you are relieved of your post when the last Sweep Rider comes by and tells you so, he had a race plate that said Last Sweep and was wearing a SoCal League jersey. I'm telling you they did such a good job. This was not an easy course, the racers really got a workout and tested their skills at speed in singletrack. No one was injured, one racer taco'd his wheel. I tried to straighten it, but didn't have much luck; it was good enough to roll to the finish, but that was about it. If a racer receives outside assistance they are penalized 5 minutes but may continue the race. I was impressed with the amount of preparation, attention to safety and awards (trophies, medals and nice leader's jerseys). This is a great thing, hopefully it will spread across the US.

more on US CUP #1

The week before the race was a bit crazy as more parts arrived just in time, NoTubes wheels and Magura forks and brakes! I tore my Fireline apart (looks like I will be riding last year's Titus frames for a while) and replaced every single thing except the headsest, cranks and pedals. I headed to the shop to get the brake lines and steerer tube cut. Incycle hooked me up with new Specialized shoes and a Specialized helmet. Thanks! I picked Todd up at the airport Saturday night, he flew in just to help me on Sunday and flew back out early Monday morning. Thanks Todd!

The highly anticipated US Cup (Sho-Air, Kenda, Specialized) kicked off Sunday at Bonelli Park in San Dimas, exceeding expectations in every way. Driving into the venue, the changes and improvements were obvious. From the giant black and red blow-up Kenda arch to the newly detailed trailer, gates and start-finish banner, all in black with red trim.

Turnout was huge, parking was scarce and the races were delayed about 15 minutes due to massive lines at registration. Even with the large fields, the races ran smoothly. Thank you to Scott Tedro and Ty Kady of Sho-Air, Jim Wannamaker of Kenda, Tom Spiegel of Team Big Bear, the volunteers and everyone else who made this happen. see pictures in post below.

It was crazy hot (87) and there was no shade on the course! With the snow covered mountains in the background you can't tell how hot it was from the above picture.

The only things I focused on during the first two laps were 1.) trying not to overheat and 2.) keeping an eye on Melanie McQuaid. At one point I passed a rider with a flat, I thought it was Melanie, so I slowed down a bit. After a while I saw her up ahead and kicked myself for losing time, I sped up just a bit to keep her in sight. On the third lap Todd told me to go and I started closing the gap, I actually made contact before I meant to and just hung back for a while as I wasn't sure how hard we would have to go once I tried to pass her, my main concern was still overheating. Once I decided to go, I was surprised with how good my legs felt, I was able to pedal away and cross the finish line ~1:30 in front of Melanie.

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I did a quick cool down and changed quickly to do my race clinic. I got called away from the clinic twice, once for awards and once to pick up my check (they wouldn't let Todd pick it up and they said they were leaving so I had to get it right then). Sorry guys, we'll schedule the clinic a little better next race.

Sometimes things go according to plan and Sunday was one of those days! I'll take 1st place any day. Last year at Fontana both Melanie and I had a bad race and came in at the same time, she beat me by 1 second. Fontana is the next US Cup race (March 28th), that should be fun, hopefully it will be cooler...

US West Cup #1 Bonelli Results

1st Place in San Dimas, CA! This season is off to a good start! more later... till then read: http://www.mtbracenews.com/

Thanks to Michael McClure for this picture of the venue, lots of people!

Race Clinic March 1st @ US West Cup #1

SoCal riders, please help pass the word! Thanks! Note: Clinic is now scheduled for 3:00 We will do a drawing, one attendee will receive a free pair of Ergon grips at each clinic, thanks Ergon! click on the following picture for larger view of the flyer. Also, the new US Cup/Pro Tour Site is up! click on the US CUP logo (left side of blog).

Sponsor Thanks - Voler and Genuine Innovations

I love Voler cycling clothes, plus their service is top notch, fast shipping, easy returns and they always include two tootsie rolls with the shipment. The thermal vest is awesome (top left), the wind vest and wind jackets are perfect for stashing in my jersey pocket. These go well with my Voler undershirts, leg and knee warmers, and thermal gloves. The jackets and vests were part of my winter kit, but I bet I use them all year.

Thank you Genuine Innovations for the support again this year!! Check out the new floor pump, it has a really solid feel and is a good looking pump, stainless steel and black. You'll see the Big Air! on my seatpost all year, hopefully I will never need it in a race.

Live Old Pueblo 24 hour Race Results

Todd and I had a great time watching the OP, warm, at "home", via live updates. Thanks Epic Rides!

This is the list we were keeping up with: .

Solo - Single Speed Female 1st Place: Lynda Wallenfels beat everyone in Male SS solo (29 racers), beat everyone in Female geared solo (20 racers) and placed 5th in the Male geared solo (102 racers). Wow! 2nd: Rebecca Tomaszewski . Solo - Single Speed Male 1st Place: Dejay Birtch, 4th: Chad Brown, 6th: John Hudspeth (Incycle) . Solo Female 1st Place: Sarah Kaufmann, 3rd: Mary Metcalf-Collier . Solo Male Dave Harris was in 3rd when we went to bed, but we must have jinxed him because that was his last lap. 69th (out of 102): Brian Rogers (Incycle) looks like he stopped at 10:30pm. . 4 Person Men Open 1st Place: Adrenaline Race Team (Andy Schultz, Sam Schultz and friends) vs. 2nd: Kona (Ryan Trebon, Barry Wicks and friends) . Duo Co-ed 1st Place: Shoair (Mario Correa and Heidi Volpe). This was an exciting race till something happened to the Man, Wife and Bike team (KC and Chris Holley). . 4 Person - Single Speed 4th place: Los Cycle Locos (Issac, Dominic, Aaron & Mark) . 5 Person Co-ed 150-199 Combined Age 1st Place: Ergon Corporate (Jeff Kerkove, Sonya Looney and friends), 2nd: M and M Cycling (Jen and Dave Wilson and friends)

Nutrition Sponsor: Dedicated Athlete

I am excited to be using the full line of Dedicated Athlete products this year!! I really like the Vanilla Creme recovery drink (Rapid Recharge) and my favorite energy drink (Rapidade) flavor is Jittery Orange. John is really dedicated to using top of the line ingredients and creating a product which allows the athlete to get the most out of their workouts and recover as quickly as possible. Dedicated Athlete is also the official drink sponsor of the US Cup races!

If you ride in the rain you need this

Here is another product that really works.

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It has been raining almost non-stop for four days. I don't mind riding in the rain as much as I mind putting on wet shoes or starting in the rain.

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Luckily I have been able to start each ride with dry shoes and a dry helmet thanks to this gadget. ZeroGoo 10% off code: Krista

(They also have a 12V car option.) After Friday night's ride in the rain I had to get ready for Saturday's early morning race. I put one shoe in front of a space heater and used the ZeroGoo on the other. The ZeroGoo dried much faster. I shut off the heater and used the ZeroGoo on both shoes and the helmet. Sunday I got in a morning ride in the rain, dried my shoes and did an evening spin on the trainer - with dry shoes!

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Saturday's race (3rd in the SoCal Shimano Winter Series) was perfect with a break in the weather just long enough for the XC race.

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Todd placed 3rd in SingleSpeed.

I placed 1st, but there was only one other Pro female. They started us with the Pro and Expert men which is cool, lots of guys to race. My legs were not nearly as tired going into the race this week which made for a much happier race.

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The 4x and Downhillers had to race in the rain, but they were all there to cheer us on. Thanks Incycle!

In Anticipation

I was hoping to post all about my 2009 sponsors today, but things are still not 100%, so hopefully next week! (I may be selling my carbon Titus Racer-X. I just weighed it, 22.6lbs w/o pedals, size small.) I am adding sponsor logos to my blog as things are finalized and products arrive. It is starting to feel a lot like Christmas... One company who has been behind me since I started racing is LHThomson (Thomson seatposts and stems). They have been very supportive of me and the entire Southeast race scene. Both Todd and I won more than one Thomson gift certificate as Sport racers, now that was a pretty cool payout. As anyone who has used their products or toured the Thomson facility and watched the manufacturing and destructive test process knows, these lightweight products outperform anything else. They even have a super fun singletrack right there at the facility. I have strayed away from Thomson seatposts twice in my race career and ended up with a broken seatpost both times. So if you haven't already, check them out.