Friends of Tamarancho

indeed there was a race on sunday.

the super chill and low key tamarancho fairfax fat tire festival mtb race. the weather was perfect, mid 70s and clear, the trails were super tight and dry, and the attendance was much larger than last year, about 60-70 riders this year. Course length was extremely short, 6 miles for beginner, 12 sport, 18 expert/pro. I almost opted for the expert ("to get my $35 entry fee-worth") and to see how i'd compare with the likes of mark weir, who showed up to lead the pro pack of riders. however, the organizers indicated the results might be sent on to norba, so in fear of having to race expert for the rest of the season, i wimped out and took 5th overall in sport.

the course doesn't entirely do justice to tamarancho's singletrack, 1/2 was very fast and steep fire roads, but it was sweet to be able to race a course that i know every single inch of. another excellent factor was in having a cold beer immediately post race in fairfax and only a 20 minute drive home.

Friends of Tamarancho 2007 race
Sport
5/35ish

josh

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2007 NVDC Race Reports

Doug Rea * Patrick Meyer * Matt Leonard

Peter Sterlacci's race report:

My result was not what I expected 34/35, but a pretty bad mechanical early in the race kept me on the side of the trail for a good 20+ minutes. I virtually called it a day when all the other race categories whizzed on by as I sat there cursing my bike. I finally got the bike working again and took off. I figured at least I would finish this damn thing.

I wound up passing a lot of people, but then again these were all the beginner classes. I can honestly say that even with 3 years of not racing I am clearly not a beginner. There is a HUGE difference between the beginner class and sport. I was just cruising past people on the climbs, downhills, etc. It was kind of a nice feeling as in my typical Sport races I generally wind up settling into the position I most likely finish in. In any case, I was hoping to eventually catch up with Doug Rea, but alas he wound up crossing the line 2 minutes before me. (Thanks Doug for at least asking if I was OK when you saw me on the side of the trail.).
I was super surprised to see that I actually did not finish last so I must of passed 1 guy in my category. Before the mechanical I was feeling really good and even had Matt Leonard in sight -- about 5 or so bikes up ahead of me. Assuming all else had gone well I may have actually finished in just under 2 hours (my goal for the day) -- but, hey, that's racing!! See you at the next CCCX race on 5/19.

Peter

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2007 Sea Otter Classic Race Reports

Matt Leonard * Kathleen Meyer * Mike Urbina

Peter Sterlacci * Matt Cerkel * Loren Thomas

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Super-D Sea Otter Classic: Scott Schlachter

I managed 8th/37 in Mens Open 40-49 in the Super-D. I'm happy with
that since I know our field included Keith DeFeibre (whos just damn
fast, at one time raced Semi-Pro DH, and currently Expert XC - he
took 2nd), and other Expert XCers. The course was very peddly and
not too technical - very suited to those in good shape primarily, as

long as they had half-way decent skillz (Expert XCers were perfectly
suited - and I'm guessing that many of the podium folks will be from
that background). We hit close to (and maybe over) 50 mph on some
of the fireroad sections. In practice, my buddy Eric, who was going
somewhat slow, registered 46mph on his Garmin.

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CCCX#5 - Toro Park - Isaias Job

CCCX#5 - Toro Park
TWW Fox XC Cup Series - Race#1
March 31st, 2007
Expert 19-34
Results 3/7

Ok, so I've been a roadie all year. I've got 6 road races\crits under my belt. I've been trying to ride my mtb at least once a week to keep my mtb skills honed. Well the proof is in the pudding as they say and wow I proved that although I have some roadie fitness, it doesn't necessarily transfer to mountain biking fitness.



Cause I gots my own blizog...check out my report here.

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CCCX DH #1: Scott Seery

Such great weather this weekend! I'm still sunburned from 2 days of bright, sunny skies.

Just a quick recap of the first DH of the 2007 season.

Arrived Friday afternoon and met up with a few others who had also taken Friday off to check out the course. I brought both a full DH bike (Yeti DH-9) and my new favorite, a Yeti 575 with Fox 36 Talus and DHX 5.0 Air, and DT Swiss DH wheelset. I brought them both, as one never really knows what to expect of a course, and the description on the website convinced me that it may be DH-bike worthy race.

The course essentially ran in a reverse direction on the trails used to get to the start of the race I ran in October '06. It began with a super fast rolling fireroad with two blind ski-jump style steep sections littered with moonscapes of erosion ruts and the like in the down slope transition. You'd approach each with enough speed (40+ mph) to unweight coming over the lip. The road then narrowed as it dumped into a series of tight 'n' twisty single track sections, some small ledges, some small rocky jumps, etc. Finally, the course popped out onto a paved section for ~100 yards, and then back onto single track, including a high speed, cobbly dry-creek crossing just before the final sprint to the finish. Although there were portions where a big bike would have reduced the speed pucker factor, I ended up racing the 575, a good choice overall.

I managed 2 practice runs before the park closed at 5 pm on Friday. The 2nd run I managed to snap a chain at the bottom as I sprinted the final couple hundred yards of gentle rollers on single track before the finish line. In 21 years of mountain biking, that is the first chain I've ever broken, a Shimano item with maybe 10 hours on it. Fortunately I scrounged a SRAM master link from someone at the venue and patched it up before I got kicked out of the park.

Race day came, and somehow I forgot to stop for breakfast before I got to Toro park. Darn it. So I drank tea and ate a few Balance bars and an apple. I saw Kathleen and her son just as I was headed up for my sole practice run, which I did late in the session. I had an early start time (13th racer down) and wanted to see the course in a condition that would be similar to what I would encounter in my race run. I donned most of my RockGardn gear (sans leggings) and full-face Azonic helmet to gain enough confidence for a practice run at race speed. It was no surprise that the tight, technical sections changed substantially from the day before, and so, too, did my tactics. Once seeing these changes in course condition/lines, I decided to race at a pace just fast enough to (hopefully) beat the competition that was there, and no more. I've learned the painful way that you only need to go fast enough to beat the 2nd place guy.

Once back to the bottom, I had just 20 minutes to rehydrate, eat a bit, and start the 30 minute, full-sun, push back to the start. I was already pretty fatigued and it took about 35 minutes for me to get the the top this time. I was drenched in sweat. Drenched. Someone managed to find and drink the water I had stashed at the top for my race run. Great. No shade and no water, and I had just 5 minutes to control the flood of sweat down my face before donning helmet and gloves. Before I knew it (and was ready), I was next to go. Dang.

Well, I overcooked the first loose turn off the high speed fireroad and got caught a moment in the branches of a scrubby bush, needing to downshift twice to get back up to speed. Not a bad mishap, really, but I lost a a good deal of speed. I was cautious through the new lines in the technical sections, but pedaled like a banshee where ever I could, sprinting all the way through the finish line. Soon I was looking for a good place to launch the contents of my empty stomach. My time was good (3:21.86), good enough to beat the guy I knew to be my main competition. I was 6 seconds ahead of him, and was certain I would be the winner, as the others in the class (45+ Expert) were 8 or 10 or more seconds behind as each came in one after another.

And then, I learned that some other guy - Brian Hughes, a Trailhead sponsored rider - had bested me by 2 seconds. None of us old guys knew of him before that day - Dang! Turns out he just moved up from the Expert 35-44 class, his 2007 racing age now 45. Darn upstart, gol' dang whipper-snapper! Although he had been in the top 5 in the 2006 Central Coast DH series, I had actually beaten his time at the October race, so I know I can beat him again. He's my new mark, although I still don't know who he is - he didn't show at the awards!

One down and 4 to go.

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CCCX DH #1: Kathleen Meyer

Our only experience (Patrick and mine) would have to be the GGG in years gone by and watching some of the Sea Otter. Not really sure what to expect...Patrick was excited to go. The only disappointment was not having a couple of his friends to join him. We were hoping to pack the car and get some of these kids out to check into something new. We haven't given up and will continue working on it for next time!

As we were told, there were a lot of juniors there. No shuttle so we started riding to the top in the mist of many people pushing their 40 to 50 pound rigs. The hills in Toro Park, while only a short distance from those at Fort Ord, have climbs reminiscent of Henry Coe State Park...steep! Even Patrick felt the need to walk but he still managed to catch up to me.

Folks were really cool, especially helpful as neither one of us knew what to expect. We met Brett at the top of one practice run. He lives at the VA hospital in Palo Alto. On paper he is just a number among the casualties from Iraq in August 2005. He took up biking as part of his recovery and now is an active on the downhill circuit. Later we happened across the "Brett Miller support team", friends from the VA, they were there to cheer him on.

While watching we witnessed one guy who didn't quite make the last left/right zig past a tree and its' roots. The guy slammed his front wheel into the base of the tree. Physics took over as his body followed and didn't stop until it folded over the front of his bike. It looked painful but the crowd started shouting for him to go on. With that kind of pressure (or support?) he didn't look back as he straightened out the bike and took off for the finish with the cheers pushing him on!

The Miller support team was happy to report it wasn't Brett!

Patrick managed to get in two practice runs before we ran into Scott Seery going up for his. By the time Patrick started up for his race run, the sun was hot just past noon. Patrick didn't have a good run, his time 5 minutes compared to the 4 or less of the others in his group. He was disappointed to have chain suck but as Seery noted, his brakes were rubbing. Still, Patrick had a blast. Enjoyed working on his bike for 6 hours this past week to get it ready and of course there weren't many there racing on a Bontrager Racelite (hardtail). For next time, we will get the Sugar repaired (I finally figured out when to replace the rear shock - when the kids crashes on the bike and it breaks!) and set it up for him.

...having the kid look at over at you on the drive home and say "thanks alot for taking me to the race today"...... priceless.
:)

Special thanks to the guy from TWW who delivered $25 to my door to help me take Patrick's friends to the race. I will be returning the money (and still trying to get the kids out there) but the gesture is a true measure of the kind of guys you are. It's a pleasure to be associated with people that care about kids like that.

Ride on...Kat

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CCCX XC #2: Matt Leonard

Alright, first race of the year! I showed up at around 9:15 and ran in to Rich. We got our stuff together and went out for a warm up lap. Unfortunately, Thursday night I found out that my middle chainring was worn. During our warm up, every time I even tried to use my middle ring, it just slipped like crazy. But the course seemed flat enough that I could just use my big ring the entire race. We goofed around for a little and then I went to the S/F line about 10 minutes before race time.

I lined up with the other 13 people in my category and we took off. I guess I got used to cross where everyone takes off at the fastest speed possible. When we hit the dirt I was in 2nd behind one of the high school kids sporting his norcal mtbing league jersey. He held me up a little on the downhill, but it was early, no rush. Once we hit the first and only real climb in the first lap, a couple of people just went right by us. But I managed to keep up, maybe in 4th or something. Once we hit the road climb, 4 guys were in front, but I was in another group of about 4 or 5 and we caught right up. I entered the dirt in about 3rd and we just kept the paceline going. It kinda sucked, just a bunch of roadies doing their roady stuff. We kept it like that for most of the first lap.

Coming across the line, I was in 7th. As the second lap went on, I kept the front 4 or so within 25 ft or so. They would take off for awhile, but then I would catch up to them on some of the more flowy singletrack. I was sort of bouncing around between 5th to 7th place. But I started to blow up a little on lap 3. I've been working pretty hard on the week nights, but not for any significant length of time. I tried to keep it up, but was really struggling. The little climbs in my big ring were really taking their toll and my legs were starting to cramp up a little. I ended up having to shift down to my little ring for the climb on the last 2 laps.

On the last lap, I caught up to this guy from Columbia and we tried to work together to catch the lead group. We took turns taking pulls on the road, but by the top of the hill, I just couldn't keep up. The last half of the lap, there were a good amount of people passing me. But mostly leaders from different groups. It was much different than last year. With the 30 second start intervals, people were catching me on the first lap last year. Yesterday, I don't think people caught me until the 3rd or 4th lap.

I ended up losing one more spot with about a mile to go and came in at 8th of 14. I was really expecting to do better, but thats the breaks I guess. Allan didn't catch me, so thats good. I think he caught me at every CCCX race last year. I don't know, I felt a lot faster. My new Fox fork was amazing. It felt like I was just gliding over the rough stuff, a huge improvement over my old Duke Race. Looking at some of the results from last year, I was right in it with guys that were beating me by a considerable amount last year. Crap, just checked the results. I was over 5 minutes behind the leader. Well, I was right with them for most of the race, I really must have blown up that last lap. The Columbian dude put 2 minutes on me in a half of a lap. Next time I guess I'll remember my hammer gel and try to pace myself a little better.

Matt Leonard
Sport 19-34
8/14

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CCCX #1: Schlachter

The rain helped create pretty good traction on this nice day down at
the old Fort Ord property, but there were a few mud puddles to help
get the sandy mud all over bike+rider. Drive trains were making
loud, painful noises all over the place.

The good news was that the
sun came out for us, and the day ended up really nice down there.
The bad news for Rich Davis and I was that we both ended up with
HUGE slices of Humble Pie. So much for me being in about the best
XC shape of my life... 18th/25 in Mens Sport 35-44...

During my first lap, I was doing OK, probaby a little better than
mid-pack, when mid-course, 2 guys crashed into each other and went
down right in front me, HARD. I mostly avoided the crash, but did
get a little tangled in my bike as I ran over one of the guys feet.
The other guy hopped up and asked "are you allright?" to the other
guy. When he didn't answer, the guy got on his bike and road off.
Nice. I repeated the question. The guy still didn't answer (just
wincing in pain and staring off in the other direction). I asked
him two more times if he wanted me to get help. Meanwhile people
are flying by us. He finally said "yeah, I think so." I hopped on
my bike and went off. Luckily, we weren't too far from the finish
line, and I told them as I was riding by to send someone for a rider
down. Later I found that they did indeed find him, and he ended up
getting treated by the EMTs - never heard how he was, and I hope he
was OK.

Back in the race, my biggest problem was my back - it was screaming
for the first two laps, and finally near the beginning of the third
lap, when I was contemplating pulling out of the whole damn race, I
finally pulled off and stretched for a few minutes, while what
seemed like loads of racers flew by. After that I was good to go
though - which was nice. I actually got a second wind in the 4th
lap, and passed a few folks that had passed me earlier.

My only hope is that only the hard-core hammerheads come out for
these early races...

-Schlachter
PS - Charles Price was there, and walked away with a 4th place
medal. Thank you to Allan for the cheers, and a few other folks
that cheered the TWW jersey...

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Pilarcitos #5: Matt Leonard

Well, again, I had some goals that didn't get met. But I had a great weekend. Saturday Katie and I went for a nearly 40 mile ride around Woodside and Portola Valley. I think its only her 2nd or third ride since the AIDS/LifeCycle. I didn't think that would affect my race Sunday, but when I told Kyle about the ride, he thought I was nuts, of course it would hinder my performance. Oh well, it was worth it.

So Katie and I showed up around 10:45 and cruised around and got my stuff set up. As I rode around, checking the course out, my parents rolled up with my grandma, and my brother and his family showed up. So already, a good day.

As I warmed up, I kept goofing around, and got 2 flats bunny hopping curbs. Guess I need some practice with that. Once I was done goofing around and riding the course, I went over to the start line and who do I see, Schlachter. The race wasn't even close to starting and he is lined up. Whats going on with this guy? Both he and his bikes have lost a lot of weight. He rolled up on Bob's old redline (I think) cross bike, built up with odds and ends from his garage, and he was early. He said he was up until 4 am putting it together, yikes.

So we chatted it up with Rob, I guy I've met a few times throughout the year sporting the TWW jersey. One of these days he says he'll join up for a wednesday night ride. The guy said start and I felt like I got off to a good start. Everyone bottled up at the hill before the upper parking lot, but I saw it coming and was off my bike pretty quick and running. I think I was in maybe 15th to 20th at that point, which was fine with me. As I came down the hill, I had to be patient and wait for the silly roadies to make there way down, but passed where I could.

I bombed down the hill to the pavement, tight little u-turn off the curb and hammered towards the sand pit. During my warm up, I road it twice, feeling really good. But when I hit it this time, the sand had dried out and gotten more soft. So I just got off and ran with everyone else. When I hopped on my bike, I notice my chain was off. Its time to get a little third eye thingy or something, this has been killing me all year. I probably watched about 15 people go by me, including Scott. I got back on and hit the gas. I was passing people left and right, which was surprising since it was a long road stretch.

I kept on the gas and found my self reeling people in. I was feeling good so I just kept on the gas hard. But about halfway through my 3rd lap, my quadriceps started to twinge. I backed off a hair, but I was headed in to the trees and all of the uphill. I stood almost the whole way, just trying to make up lost ground. But by the end of that lap, I couldn't fight the cramping. I could barely stand on my bike, and was paranoid about the barriers. I was worried I wouldn't be able to bend my legs and get over them. I managed to make it through with out tripping, but on the 4th lap, people started to pass me and Scott had made up ground on me. By the start of the last lap, he was maybe 25 yards behind me heading in the the trees. By the time we ran through the sand and hit the pavement, he was right with me. Even pushing me, literally.

I tried to fight him and a few others off, but after the second set of barriers, he and 2 other guys went right around me at the last paved section. I kept with them, hoping something miraculous would happen with my legs. Scott and Dave from the Ritchey/Lapierre team started to leave me and the guy in front of me, and I couldn't get around the guy until too late. So Scott ended up 2 spots ahead of me, on a bike he pieced together at 4 am the night before. Man, I really had hoped to get in to the top 20, but that will have to wait until next year. Time to start thinking about the 2007 MTB season. The Peak Season races in Santa Cruz are the last races I'll be able to make, and hopefully I can pull out a little better result before I hang the rock lobster up for awhile.

Anyway, It was great having my family there, riding with Katie Saturday, and having a beer with Scott after the race. After my sister-in-law joked about how she was telling me how good my beer tasted as I was racing (they only left me 2 beers out of my 6!), my parents took off and I told them I'd see them at my grandmas. My dad replied something along the line of well, we might see you, but as soon as you get there, we're taking off, kidding as if he didn't want to hang out with us. Scott laughed and commented that its nice to see that the TWW crew doesn't treat me any worse than my own family. Anyway, it was definitely cool to have my grandma out there. Usually its tough to drag her out of the house, so that made my day, regardless of the fact that I didn't get the result I was looking for.

Matt
Cat B Men 34/45 5 laps 48:17

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Pilarcitos #4-Golden Gate Park by Matt Leonard

Well, I kind of threw this race out the window Friday night. Isaias and Ty talked me in to going out in the city to a place called the Element Lounge. Now, I heard lounge and thought that sounded cool. When we showed up, I don't think there was a single person sitting down, lounging, kicking back or anything like that. Everyone was dancing and thats just not my style. However, with the proper BAC, you can get me out on the dance floor. And thats just what happened. So a few too many beers and up till 2:30 or so and I figured my race Sunday morning was all over.

I woke up at 9:30 on Sunday to my phone ringing, still groggy even after a full days rest on Saturday. Ty called to let me know he was too scared to race me in the B's, and he was going to stay home and do laundry or something, maybe wash his hair, I'm not sure. (kidding of course, he would have kicked me "arse" as Isaias would say.) I pulled my self together and got over to GGP around 11:15 and hopped on my bike for a real easy warm up lap, mostly to just check out the course. Man, I was already pretty beat. I came back and rehydrated, and then back out for another lap at a little faster pace. Came back, hydrated, and repeated that one or two more times. The course was nice, really tacky and just enough technical stuff to keep me happy.

So 1:10 rolls around and I'm standing in a pack of 60 or so riders, ready to roll up to the start line. After the callups, everybody moves up, except the guy right in front of me. I probably lost 3 rows just because he sort of sat there and let everyone cram in front of him. DOH! Oh well, I wasn't planning on anything spectacular yesterday anyways. So the guy says go and we're off. I passed maybe 5 or 10 people before the dirt, and continued to do so for the next 1/4 of a lap or so. I knew I was midpack, and pretty content with that. I hit the first set of barriers, and when I went to jump, my legs just yelled at me and told me to stop it. I made it over, but knew I needed to pay close attention throughout the race and not get lazy.

As the race went on, I felt better and started to catch some guys that I've been chasing since the first CX race of the year. That sort of got me going and I began to chase. I was feeling pretty good, but still just having fun. So when Isaias offered up his beer coming to the start/finish with 1 to go, I said why not. Got a good cheer from the crowd and then took off. I ended up passing 3 or 4 of Isaias's Ritchey buddies on the last lap. This has been my goal for the season. I thought I could get up in to the top 10, but I think that will have to wait till next year. So for now, I still have one guy thats within reach, and I hope he shows up at the Pilarcitos finale. He and the Soulcraft guy are the two I'm gunning for. If I can take them in two weeks, I'll consider my first CX season successful.

Well, I ended up getting passed by a Sycip guy with like a minute left in the race, and couldn't catch him. Oh well, I still had a good time. It was fun having Lloyd, Isaias, Mo and some others yelling at me. I kept trying to hand my bike off to Lloyd, but he just wouldn't take my place. Thanks again to Julie for the water feed. I owe her some beer or something. Thats like the 3rd time shes helped me out. Maybe a Big Sky assortment pack of beers. So, 36 out of 61 with 5 of the 7 Ritchey guys behind me. Not too shabby considering my Friday night.

Matt

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CCX DH #4-Bob Lofland

Hard choices, Cyclocross or Downhill, Downhill was the choice. I
figured a couple hours of climbing would be good exercise and I need
it. And Toro Park was only about an hour drive.

I was happy hear the the single track in race #2 was part of the
course. I was a little concerned with the upper freeway. It did not
feel very good in practice. And the climb was over an hour, so I was
only able to get one practice run from the top. I broke a spoke on the
second climb up, and almost called it a day. Did not want to destroy a
wheel. But Scott and crew convinced me that 31 out of 32 was not bad.
When I arrive up top I checked the wheel, no noticable wobble, so I
figured what the heck.

I set my Epic Brain totally soft. And my Terralogic F100X totally
turned out. The suspension was very soft. On my preride I was
concerned about burning up the brakes. Seemed like I was on them a
lot. During the run on the upper freeway I used brakes only twice,
once over a rolling rise and the other into a very fast and soft
corner. It was really clear and steep fireroads. I felt great on the
lower portion, and even launched a couple logs. One little slip on a
corner caused me to dab, but it was nothing. Well maybe that and a one
faster corner would have put me in 7th.

End result was 8th out 14. I was happy considering this was my 2nd DH
race and the 45+ group is not categorized, so it is all expert, sport
and beginner lumped in one. 5th, 6th , and 7th only had 6, 7, and 14
seconds on me respectively. Then the 4th place guy, Rich Davis
finished 8:58, about 30 seconds faster.

Overall I felt good about being so close to the next places. It was a
long course. If I had pushed a little harder, maybe put on real DH
tires? Next time. One more CCX DH and I plan on being there.

And no crash or damage. I think I am going to start doing a little
more DH next year. Providing the venues exist that allow me to use my
XC rig.

Bob

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Pilarcitos #3 - McClaren Park OR "Yes, I finally found my legs!"

'Cause I got's my own blizog, I'm cross posting...
Finally, finally I actually felt like I was racing and not just surviving. In otherwords, I felt like I had game. I had a stratgey, I was collected, I was efficient on the bike and the technical style of the course suited my mountain biker abilties.


http://isaiasjob.blogspot.com/

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Pilarcitos #3 - Matt Leonard

Well, I went at it again yesterday in San Francisco. Katie and I showed up around 11 or so to the 3rd Pilarcitos race of the year in McLaren Park (I think it was really Crocker Amazon park, but whatever). I went to register and ran in to Jeff as he was waiting to line up for his race. After watching him take of in the 35+As, I walked over to the Ritchey tent and said whats up to Isaias as he was warming up on his trainer. After we had scoped the scene out, I went back, changed and got my bike while Katie set up shop with her captains chair, a few water bottles for me and a book.

I went for my first warm up lap and felt like crap. But, I came around, talked to Katie for a bit and drank some water. I went out for another lap before the A men started, feeling a little better. By my third lap, I was feeling okay, but just tired. I wasn't focused and was having a hard time concentrating, which was not a good thing on this course. There was nowhere to recover and just ride. The course was either up, down, through a ton of S turns, or on the pavement sprinting.

I lined up about mid-pack and we took off. By the end of the pavement, I was probably in the top 1/3 or so. Over the first set of barriers and up the run up, I probably came out at mid-pack. But with all the climbing, I was really able to pass people. We got to the top of the hill, down the super bumpy decent, up a little pavement to a run up with a log at the end and there were about 10 of us in a line. I was somewhere in the middle. We all got back on and started riding, but at the first little hill, everyone spun out and we all lost our momentum as the top 10 or so guys just took off. DOH! Oh well. After we hit the paved decent, I said screw this and went to the side and passed about 5 guys. Only problem was, I could stop before the turn. So I sort of rode of the side of the trail and got out of everyones way and watched about 10 people go by me before the 2nd climb of the course. I passed maybe 5 more people before the end of the lap, so maybe in 15th to 20th place.

I started the second lap sort of by myself, trying to catch some people, but that wasn't going to happen. Over the first barrier before the run up, I completely ate it. I just misjudged the height of the barrier and caught my front foot. At least I got a good cheer from everyone. Back on the bike and up the run up. On the first climb, I caught a few more people. I had even caught up to Isaias's Ritchey teammates who had beat me by about 3-4 minutes at candlestick. So I was feeling good about my position. I passed a couple of those guys and was really going hard. But that didn't work out too well again. After the decent before the parking lot, there was a little tight turn and the guy in front of me went wide so I went for the pass. But my front tire slipped in to a rut I didn't see and over I went again. Again, like 5 people passed me. Damn.

I just couldn't find a rhythm. I kept on it thought for the rest of the race. There may have been one person each lap or so for the next few laps that I passed, but nothing significant. Then on the last lap, I dropped my chain and had to stop at the top of the run up to put it back on. Soon after that, a Soulcraft guy passed me, then a guy from organic athlete. I was able to pass the organic athlete guy on the first climb and keep that lead for the most part. He passed me for a second on the last climb, but mentioned he couldn't stay there. And he was right, I stepped on it and he was back behind me. The guy from Soulcraft was in my sights, but I just couldn't get him through the S turns. I popped out on to the pavement with the organic athlete guy right behind me, and the Soulcraft guy maybe 50ft ahead. With everything I had left, I stood up and sprinted, making up maybe maybe 2/3 of the distance on the Soulcraft dude, and the organic athlete guy came up right behind me at the finish line. But it just wasn't enough for him, as his front wheel was about a foot behind mine.

So, all in all, I'm glad I went out and punished myself. I really enjoyed walking the course with Katie during the women's race, showing here where I screwed up and where I passed people. I think a conversation between her and Isaias pretty much summed up my race. Something like this:

Katie: "Matt really doesn't look like he is having fun."
Isaias: "Fun?!? He isn't suppose to be having fun, this is cross!"
Katie: "Yeah, but all the other races, when he goes by he is smiling and laughing."
Isaias: "Well he isn't working hard enough then."

They were both right, I was really suffering. But I felt like at Watsonville, I worked just as hard, but had a blast during the race. Not so much this time, but I think it had a lot to do with just being tired, not thinking clearly and making stupid mistakes. Doing well last weekend made me overconfident and I was too aggressive which forced stupid mistakes. However, I finished 25th out of 33 with 6 guys behind me on the lead lap. At Candlestick, I was dead last on the lead lap. So I'll look at it as an improvement. And looking at the C's, if they did 6 laps, I would have been 5th out of 65. So I'm still feeling good about being in the B's. No sandbagging here. However, I may have to revise my thoughts about a top ten finish. Top 20 would make me happy.

Next week I'll be on a plane to New Hampshire, so no race. But, if the stars align just right, and flights are on time, Katie will pick me up at the airport the following sunday. The Rock Lobster and all my gear will be loaded up in the car, and its straight to Golden Gate park for Pilarcitos #4.

Congratulations to Isaias for a killer finish in the A's. Probably his best finish ever. And thanks to Meredith, Jeff and Shannon for cheering me on. It makes big difference. And of course, thanks to Tim, Julie and Paule from Roaring Mouse for heckling me throughout the entire race. Thats what its all about, making fun of your friends when they screw up. And they were there each time yesterday.

Matt
25/33 B 45:13 6 laps

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Another Surf City CX #2 report-Scott Schlachter

Sunday I brought my dad with me, and headed down to Watsonville on Sunday a.m. for another 30 minutes of suffering with company. It was really fun though - the Bellas did a really great job with the course (loved the spiral thingy), the decorations, and running another great event. Big thank you again to Matt for loaning me his bike again. I think it really paid off on this course - as it was definitely a faster course then the first one.

Not to sound too much like a chick, but I always seem to struggle with what to wear for these things. During practice, I wore a windbreaker over a longsleeve jersey over a shortsleeve jersey, and I was still cold in sections. In the end, about 5 minutes before our start I decided to go for just the TWW DH jersey - long sleeve, but not as thick as the long-sleeve TWW XC jersey that I got a few (3?) years ago. Similar to the first race, I found that if I just downed a bunch of water right before the race, I didn't need any more for the race, so no worries about not having any pockets.

I lined up about 2-3 rows back, which turned out to be fine. I find that I seem to do a lot of passing right away, but so far these courses seem to be OK for that. The course was fun, starting right off with a trip through the obstacle-graveyard and the blair witch spiral, then a little DH section to the one big climb (bigger then any from the last race). Then after that climb that one short hill that was totally rideable if you just tried. Then a lot of flats. I managed to gain ground in the flats on my first lap, and going into the 2nd lap I managed to catch the lead group. At one point in lap 2, I'm pretty sure I was in 2nd place.

I seemed to blow up a little after lap 2. Going into the flat section about half way through the third lap, suddenly I experienced something that also happened to me towards the end of the first race - some sort of asthma-like attack. Very strange. I suddenly was having a very hard time breathing, and had to consciously take slow deep breaths for about 30 seconds. After that, I brought my intensity down a little, and I was fine, but feeling like I was in survival mode. My mind drifted, and as I approached the finish line I wasn't sure if there was another lap to go! I know it sounds stupid, but I was blurring my first race lap with my practice lap... 20 yards from the finish 2 guys passed me from behind. I realized my mistake too late. I stood up, but couldn't quite catch the 2nd guy. A lesson learned for sure - keep track of your laps!

And, once again - that was about the hardest 30 minutes ever. I think I'd have really struggled with the 5 laps/45 mins that the A's and B's did. Kyle, Matt, and Jeff, you guys are studs...

All the shouts of encouragement during the race from Gin, Dawn, and others were great. It really helps mentally to have other teammates and friends present and encouraging you - for me anyway. I passed Matt’s bike back to him, changed, and stuck around long enough to shout at Hane to go faster on a couple of his laps before checking my results and taking off. I'm now not sure if I was looking at the results of the first race or not though – if not, then coincidentally I got 5th again, and one of the guys (4th place) who sprinted passed me right before the end was in my class and had apparently done the same thing to me in the first race. I guess I'll find out for sure when they post the results.

I also chatted a little bit with Dave from Vanderkitten before taking off. It was Dave who loaned me his Ahrens Apex free-ride-hard-tail bike for the CCCX DH#2 race a while back. He and his wife own Vanderkitten (www.vanderkitten.com), pretty cool women’s clothing company - seems to fit the Bella style perfectly, and a good fit (haha) to have them be one of the race sponsors. That new Ahrens Apex that they got for Dave's wife had a sweeeeet paint job for sho.

I'm hooked on this series, so I'll see ya'll at #3 on the 11/12.

-Scott

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Surf City CX #2

So Katie and I showed up in the parking lot at about nine to find Kyle and Gin hanging out in the parking lot. We walked over to try and catch the end of Scott's sandbagging C race, but we just missed it. After chatting with him for a bit, he handed my bike back to me and I went and registered. I saw Bob finish his race up and pointed him over to where the rest of the TWW crew was hanging out.

Kyle and I went out for a quick warm up lap, only to find out people weren't kidding when they said that the long, gigantic run-up was tough. (Although, after the race, Katie was telling me it looked like this cross thing looks like a lot of fun. Then I showed her the hill. Her response was, "Well, it would be easy to go down." I looked at her like, are you crazy! Maybe its time to get her a DH bike and a CX bike! Oh, and a cute pink rock lobster road bike, she really like the pink rock lobsters.)

So Kyle fiddled with Heather's bike for a little bit while I took another warm-up lap. I headed over to the line and waited around with the rest of the roadies that work harder at getting a better starting position than they do during the entire race. Kyle and and I were sort of in the second and a half row when the whistle blew. We took off, probably in about 15th or 20th place. I feel like I kept up with the leaders and got a really good start. Over the barriers, and through the blair witch swirly I still had the leaders in my sights. But once we hit that crazy run-up, it was a different story. Kyle came charging up past me and I figured that was that. Here is where my race goes downhill and everyone starts passing me.

I kept Kyle in my sights through out the rest of the lap and managed to pass him as he was trying to put his bottle back in his jersey before the swirly on the second lap. I hit that swirly and felt really good. I started catching and passing people and just kept reeling people in. And this time, no Kyle charging past me up the hill. I have to give a big thanks to Jeff and Shannon. They kept yelling at me up the hill and it really drove me to try to catch people. Oh, and it was funny to see Jeff yelling at me as I rode up one little technical thing, "Yeah, that's how you do it, yeah Matt! Now go catch that guy!" Everyone kept dismounting it and sort of walking it, tired from the run up. Wussies.

After my third lap, I took a water hand off from Katie, and back at it. I sort of dropped the hammer and caught a few more people during the lap. But at the end of the 4th lap, I had three guys on my ass. I increased my lead a little over the barriers, and through the swirly. But on the back end of the course on the flats, two of them passed me. Luckily, they were both Junior As. I saw the big Sycip guy up ahead, so I hit the gas for the last few hundred yards. I managed to pass him, and almost catch one of the Junior As, but not quite.

Anyway, 25th out of 49. Way better than last week. I had a blast, and managed to be competitive. I wonder how I would have done if I had to do a 6th lap. My race was only 44 minutes this week, and last weeks was 51 minutes. Who cares, I'll take the solid midpack finish in the Bs. I guess my next goal is a top 10. I think its within reach by the end of the season. I'll have to wait until the results come out, but I was 4 minutes behind the leader (last week it was 6).

Thanks again to all the Bellas and everyone who helped out for another awesome race. See every at McLaren Park in SF next Sunday.

Matt

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Pilarcitos #2 Race Report by Matt Leonard

Man, what a great day. It was so nice not to have to get up super early and drive an hour and a half to a race for a change. I showed up at candlestick around 11 and ran in to Bob who had already finished his race. After I registered I went and rolled around the course to check it out.

Jeff came up behind me and chatted for awhile (weren't you supposed to be racing!) I hung around a little bit longer and ran in to Rob and Steve who bought kits at the sea otter. It was nice to have some other TWW jerseys out there in the Bs. Anyway, we went and warmed up during the mens A race for awhile then headed over to the start.

I lined up about midpack this weekend, much better than at soquel. The guy said go and I felt like I actually got a good start. I'm a little nervous in the crazy tight group like that though. I am reluctant to pass for fear of causing an accident, so I just sort of settle in until the group thins out. But once we got going, I felt like I was in a good spot. I was riding with a webcore guy and one of Isaias's Ritchey buddies for about the first lap and a half.

I ended up dropping my chain somewhere in the second lap and a huge group went by which sucked. But I got back on and caught up to most of them, even passing a few. But, that didn't last long. I dropped my chain at least 2 more times and never was able to catch up to anyone.

I figured when I came across the line, I was dead last for sure. But people kept telling me there were people behind me. Didn't feel like it. After looking at the results, I was dead last on the lead lap. So not too bad considering I had a few unplanned stops during the race. All in all, it was a good time. I feel like I'm in the right category if I'm not getting lapped. And if I can keep my chain on and not flat, I think that will get me closer to midpack. Not too bad considering to top couple guys or so are cat 1/2 roadies.

Thanks to Julie for the water, and to Jeff and Paule for yelling at me for smiling. I got a few cheers from Isaias until the recovery drinks to precedent over watching the B race. Can't wait for next week.

Matt
38/44 6 laps at 51:08

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Quick Surf City #1 race report by Matt Leonard

I suck, should've raced C's and flatted on top of it. Oh well, I'll stick to the B's since I like to sleep in. It was fun heckling Scott, unknowingly in front of his dad and uncle. I think he kicked some C butt though, even with the laughing over the barriers as I yelled "Thats not running!!"

All in all it was a fun time. I ended up hanging out with Jeff and Shannon most of the afternoon. Bob was there early also, but both he and Scott had to take off shortly after their race. So I just had Jeff running around the course yelling at me during my race. Next up, pilarcitos #2 at candlestick point.

Matt

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Surf City CX #1 by Scott Schlachter (10/16)

Good stuff - the Bellas pulled off a very efficiently run and fun
race! There was an actual DJ spinning vinyl, if you can believe that.
Results posted quick. They were smart, and had a coffee vendor too.
Good coffee. (When Bonnie goes shopping, she buys sh*t. I buy the
gourmet expensive stuff 'cause when I drink it, I wanna taste it.)

I took the time to do three warm up laps before lining up. Definitely
helped me in the race (both warming up and learning the course). I
remember telling Bob shortly before we went off that I thought that the
course was a lot easier then what I was expecting. Very little
elevation to deal with. I was thinking 30 minutes on that was going to
be cake - but it wasn't! It worked me, bigtime. By about half way
through my 3rd lap, I was fatigued. This past 2-months I've had a hard
time getting my heart-rate up to 165 during rides (even when pushing
myself), but my average for the race was 170, and at one point I know I
was over 175. I've been caughing crap outa my lungs all day today
too... The end of the fourth lap was great - I sprinted to try to
catch a guy just in front of me - couldn't close the gap, but it turned
out he was in a different class anyway. I managed 5th out of about 27
in Mens C (all ages). I'm pretty stoked with that - feel a little like
a sandbagger, but it was only my 2nd cross race, and 2nd time riding a
cross bike, and these CX folks are pretty fit mofos, blablabla. My
time wouldn't have even put me in the top half of Mens B 35-44 though.
It seems to me like B's are Expert level, and C's are like a Beg/Sport
combo.

Matt, thanks again for loaning me your bike, and also the heckling at
the barriers - that made me laugh each lap, and helped my dad and uncle
to recognize me. And, also for the offers for water - I was thinking
about that earlier, and realized that I forgot to thank you for that as
well. I'm sorry that I couldn't stick around and return the favor, but
I'm glad to hear that Jeff did.

Good to see Julie (in one piece) and Paul, and a few other Meeces, and
Dawn and Sabine (the only Bellas I recognized).

I'm sold on the value of using a real cross bike for cross - that bike
hauled @ss! Argh - now I want a free-ride hardtail, and a cross bike...
Too many bike cravings, too small of a garage...
-S

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DFL#2 Race Report by Matt Leonard (9/21)

So after spending 10 minutes adjusting my shifters on tuesday night, I felt confident I wouldn't be dropping my chain. I showed up to the parking lot at the super secret undisclosed location and started getting ready. As I was pulling my bike (err, Isaias's bike) out of my car, the guy next to me, dressed in a hideous skirt, some sequin green top, a wig and a ton of red lipstick asked me if I'd ever been beaten by a girl. My response: plenty of times. Anyway, I went and paid my $5, since I refuse to wear a dress, and got my race number.

As I went for my first warm up lap, I noticed quickly how much more of a hilly course it was compared to last week. Also, a lot less barriers. I did about 3 warm up laps and went to figure out where the start was going to be. I lined up about half way back, but by the time everyone else showed up, I was probably in that last 20% of the group 80 or so people, way in back. So we started off, with the leaders already way out in front. I passed a good amount of people right way and quickly saw a Roaring Mouse jersey. Time to and push a little harder. After about a lap and a half, I passed Paul and Tim. I kept ahead of them for about a lap or 2, but they quickly brushed me aside and kept going as I wore myself out.

Again, I have no idea where I finished. No results or anything like that posted. But I do know that it took the leaders like 3 laps to lap me, and they only did it once. Not too bad compared to last week. Of course last week I probably spent at least 5 minutes fiddling with a dropped chain and other things. Only mechanical this time was a broken seatpost. After remounting right before a steap desent, I didn't get clipped in and hit this rut. I almost ate %$&, but managed to stay on and keep going. It was funny to think that I may just take a header, but then hear the crowds oohs and aahs as they looked in anticipation me bailing. So for half the race, I had to ride with a floppy seat. It didn't seem to affect things as it stayed in place, just sort of rattled around.

I think the highlight of the evening was launching myself off of a pile of woodchips. There were two piles of woodchips about 3 ft tall, that on the first lap everyone got off and ran over. On the second lap, I said to myself, I can ride this. So I dropped down to my little ring and started spinning like crazy, anticipating bogging down in the loose stuff. Well, it had all been packed down and I hit that thing going pretty fast. I launched a couple of feet in the air, landing at the base of the next pile. Man, scared the crap out of me. But once I realized I was still upright, I just kept hammering.

So good times. I got lapped by probably 10 people or so, and lapped 10 myself. So middlish of the pack I guess. What I need to think about as I start getting more in to it is realizing the race is only 45 minutes. I am pacing myself as if it were a 2 hour race. I need to stop resting on the decents and realize I only have 10 minutes left, not an hour and a half. Oh well, these first few races are just for fun, right? Starting next month, we'll see how I do in the B's. I guess I hope to just finish on the lead lap. But I also need to be more confident, start off closer to the front and push people out of the way when they are slowing me down on a run up, rather than walk behind them and rest. Its a race for cryin' out loud, get out of the way!! Can't wait for next week!

Oh, one other funny thing. It doesn't seem like Team Wrong Way is a family name in the world of cross. People comment and laugh about my jersey during the race, as if they have never heard of us. Sheesh. Well, I guess I am the poster boy for TWW SF CX. Don't know if thats a good or bad thing, but people are feeling the wrath of solid midpack finisher.

Matt

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Toro DH race #2 by Scott Schlachter (9/19)

Sorry - a bit busy yesterday and today. Heim was MIA on Sunday, but
I was very happy to see Bob out. We also had a lurker from the TWW
list, Daniel Abernathy (sorry if spelling is off) who not only came
out for what I think was his first DH race, but he was very fast,
and placed. Daniel suffered a heart attack only a few years back,
and send me a note when I was posting to the open list about my
cholesterol problems. Really nice, down-to-earth guy, and his story
is very insperational. Kathleen - you're friends with him, right?

My 5th in Exp Men 35-44 I think will still keep me in 2nd for the
points. My 3rd in the open HT class got me a medal, which is cool -
I raced on an Ahrens Apex hardtail, and whore an Ahrens jersey for
that run (Isaias helped me to get in touch with Mike Ahrens and Mike
was happy to loan me a bike for this). I must say, that he makes an
*awesome* HT frame. He got another one of his friends, Dave, to
loan the bike to me for the race. I'm hoping to do this for each of
the remaining races. 2nd place in the HT class was Menso DeJong,
the 17 yo boy wonder kid that has been joining us for our Weds rides
(he's a son of a coworker, and one of the Jr Expert XC kids on the
Santa Cruz Syndicate Jr. team). 1st in both the HT and the Mens Exp
35-44 was Keith DeFeibre, AGAIN (he swept both last race as well)...

-Scott

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DFL#1 Race Report by Matt Leonard (9/14)

So I made my CX debut last night at the first DFL race of the season. It was pretty much what I expected; a bunch of dudes in skirts kicking my ass. I got there early enough to do a warm up lap, but I realize now how important it is to actually study the course and think about which obstacles to ride over and where I actually need to get off. Also, thinking ahead to be in the right gear when I jump back on my bike.

I lined up towards the back 3rd of the pack and away we went. Oh yeah, there were probably 75 people there racing. Anyway, I started off and passed about 10 people right away, but it didn't matter too much. At the first little bit of single track, we were just stopped, waiting for people to line up and get by. After the first lap, things were going pretty well. I think I got lapped on the 2nd lap, but those guys had such a head start not having to deal with all the traffic jams. I feel like I am getting the hang of things. My big hassle was my chain fell off about 5 times. Time for a little bike maintenance. I put new cables and housings on, but I think the cables have stretched a little and I need to tighten them up and adjust the limit screw on the front derailleur. Anyway, after about 4 or 5 laps and 46 minutes, I came through and thought I heard someone say "those guys are done", but people kept going. So I figured I would just go for it and do one more lap, just in case. I think I didn't need to, since there was only one guy behind me after I came in, but oh well.

Results: Who knows, I got passed a lot, but passed a lot of people at the same time. Definitely need some more practice on my dismounts. I feel like I can only dismount with my hands on the hoods. I need to practice not having to move my hands from the drops to the hoods every time I want to get off and run.

All in all, a good time. I ran in to Paul, Julie and Tim from Roaring Mouse, Jesse from Team Ritchey and Brian Rodgers from Sycip, who I met a the Mt Sutro trail work day. Brian said he used to ride with TWW a little while back, said he knew Nick. Nick who? Oh yeah, that concrete counter top guy! (One of these days I'll get you your trainer back.) Anyway, pictures are here. There's one of me at 97 of 141. Maybe one of you will decide to come and join me next week. Should be fun again. I should be there for sure, if nothing else, I forget to by a t-shirt before I left last night. Next time I I plan on preparing a little more, and by that, I mean bring beer. Hopefully that will get some of you out there on your bikes.

Matt

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TWW Race Reports to be posted here starting now

In an effort to reduce clutter on the TeamWrongWay.com site (and to help reduce my workload), we're going to put our race reports here. Exciting stuff. Idea blatantly stolen from my friend Sabby at Velo Bella. Thanks!

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