Racing at the Ranch in Gilroy

Pure Juice Productions puts on another race. This time they venture in the brave new world of XC racing. A new venue and a great new event: the Giant Slalom.

Race reports follow the photo gallery

Just the facts...

• Downhill Results
• Cross Country Results

Bob.jpg	Eve1.jpg	Eve2.jpg	Keith1.jpg
Keith2.jpg	Keith3.jpg	Linda1.jpg	Mark1.jpg
Mark2.jpg	Mark3.jpg	Peter1.jpg	Peter2.jpg
Peter3.jpg	Susann1.jpg	Susann2.jpg	Susann3.jpg
Susann4.jpg	allie.jpg	blaise.jpg	chinpoko.jpg
chinpoko2.jpg	encouraging.jpg	eve_and_janis.jpg	eve_and_mark.jpg
eve_dh.jpg	eve_dh2.jpg	eve_dh3.jpg	eve_podium.jpg
jeff_b.jpg	keith.jpg	mark_and_keith.jpg	mark_dh.jpg
mark_dh2.jpg	mark_dh3.jpg	mark_podium.jpg	nick_dh.jpg
nick_dh10.jpg	nick_dh2.jpg	nick_dh3.jpg	nick_dh4.jpg
nick_dh5.jpg	nick_dh6.jpg	nick_dh7.jpg	nick_dh8.jpg
nick_dh9.jpg	pro_women.jpg	ron_dh.jpg	ron_dh2.jpg
ron_dh3.jpg	ron_dh4.jpg	ron_dh5.jpg	ron_dh6.jpg
ron_podium.jpg	scott_dh.jpg	scott_dh2.jpg	scott_dh3.jpg
scott_dh4.jpg	scott_dh5.jpg	scott_podium.jpg	slacker.jpg
slacker_dh.jpg	slacker_dh2.jpg	slacker_dh3.jpg

Keith White

It's great having a race start time at 11:40 and the course only being an hour away. I take off from home at 10. Of course there is plenty of traffic in the 101 to morgan hill corridor. So, after a very long hour I arrive at the J/L ranch. Noticing the helicopter I think I hate those things. What are the news crews doing here any way. Must have heard I was comming. But, as I enterred I was stopped by the attendand and told not to enter while the chopper airlifted out an injurred rider. Bummer. I changed in the car while I waited. Fortunately they delayed the starts by 20 minutes and I had plenty of time. Soon I was parked had the bike off and was headed over to the registration area. On the way over to register my right grip starts to slip like it's lubed with White Lightning. I left the bike on the car over night and the dew had worked under the grip and man was it slipping. I looked for someone with hair spray, but couldn't find any. A guy came up with some alcohol and with Nicks quick help it was back on and stuck like glue. So I warmed up with Nick and headed back over to the start line to wait for my sentence.

The cool part was lining up with Mark and Eve. Never get to line up with chicks and it's good to see Mark back on the line again. Me, trying not to be nervous I don't line up in front. 3rd row is good enough. Soon enough we are off. The part I hate the most, the start. But, away we go. Cows can really due a number on a non suspended back side. I strugle to keep going up the first climb as sooooo many slow pokes are in front and crowding. No biggie, I didn't want to hammer and blow up. But, I feel good, not pushing too hard and still relatively close to the front. The leaders are only about 30 seconds ahead as we hit the first fire road. Mark is just over my shoulder. I can see him on every turn.

The course winds and turns back on itself all the time so you have a good view of everyone in front and behind for quite a while. In and out, of little valleys and over small crests only to double back again. As we approach the top and onto the GS course I finally get to see what everyone was talking about. Hike a friggin bike. I rode all the way to the mud, jumped off and crossed and got right back on after about 40 feet. Rode almost the rest of the way up, but still had to hike a bit. Then more down/crossing little dry creeks and one major downhill fire road. Back to the bumpy cow trails looping over to the start. Nice to see Mrs. Sterlacci rooting us on. That really helps.

Back around for one more time. This time it's much more open and much less dust and I try to catch people. Set my sights on the next person ahead of me and reel. Then another one...finally at the hike a bike I pass 3 as I attempt to jog up(more like fast walk). After that, no one else was either in front or behind. So I relaxed and cruzed to the finish. Damn it's good to finish.

I got to see a lot of the TWW crowd again which is always good. I'll be back for more races if we have any more this year. Congrats to everyone who raced either XC or GS. I'll take my 6th for being fat, old, tired and just plain grumpy...

Mark Davidson

XC

The great story of the XC race goes to Blaise Hamel. He's a great kid who does regular rides on Saturday with MBOSC and a regular on the Friday morning Wilder ride. The Ranch XC was his first race so he entered as a beginner. He turned in a fast lap and easily took first and beat the second place rider by 12 minutes. He's young, fast and has a great future ahead of him. Congratulations Blaise!

On the other hand, I totally sucked on the XC. My first lap was Ok, but I had the worst cramping of my racing career on the second lap. Just about every muscle in my lower body cramped up - on many separate occasions. I was also suffering from heat stroke, ran out of water and food. This was also my first XC race of the year and I didn't train and forgot how to prepare for XC racing (hmmmm... perhaps I should pack some Clif Shot?). Yea, yea, excuses, excuses, I just plain suck! I can't even blame it on the bike since the Rocky Mountain/Race Face combination worked flawlesly. At least I didn't finish last and at least I entered the race.

Bob Lofland finished first in his category. Time to move up to sport Bob! Keith White finished 6th - very good in a competitive field. Eve, Linda Palmer and Susan Novalis had great races in their categories as well. Sterlacci had a good race. He pre-rode the course with his singlespeed and he's glad that he raced on a light weight fully suspended geared bike.

Poor Nick! He was a little too sick to participate in the XC but stuck around and encouraged the rest of us. He rode with Eve to encourage her on for part of the course. Thanks to Dave McCrimmon for showing up, taking pictures and cheering us on despite his wickedly bruised knee and sleep deprived, cross country flight schedule over the past week.

Giant Slalom

The course was a lot of fun. There were several sets of doubles, triples and a rhythm section at the top combined with banked corners. Then somewhere after that there were a lot of slalom gates with off camber turns. The course was pretty slippery and it was really easy to lose traction and slide out. It finished with a monster tabletop at the bottom to the finish line.

Once again, the regular DH folks show up and it's the same ones on the podium. Scott Seery takes first in his category. Ron Chai took second, just behind Jeff Brousard and ahead of Rich Davis. Great competition guys. Eve finished first in her category and Scott Schlachter did his first expert race and had the fastest time in Team Wrong Way but not fast enough for a podium. I can't remember his placement but he was only 4 seconds behind the winner. The competition was really intense in his category.

Nick (still getting over his cold) raced and had a respectable time. If he wouldn't have slid out on one of the last off camber turns them he might of been on the podium as well. True had an off run. He flew over the first set of doubles at the top but came off the course (very common) on the next triple. Oh well that's racing.

There was some serious competition on the field in the pro women's category. Their times were really close: 3:13, 3:14, 3:15. Off the field they are a great bunch to hang out with and have a really great attitude to the sport and each over. The pro men's times were in the 2:30 range. Those guys were fast!

I had a good, clean run without any washouts and I finished 4th - which was good enough for the podium and my best DH placement to date. I was quite happy with my run and that result. Thanks to Jeff Brousard and Nick for moving up from my category since Holister. Thinking back, I realized that I could have gone a lot faster. I'll go faster next time. Oh well, that's racing.

Here are the times of the DH finishers that we know:

• 2:55 Scott Schlachter (1st place was 2:51)
• 2:58 Scott Seery 1st
• 3:01 Jeff Brousard 1st
• 3:05 Ron Chai 2nd
• 3:14 Ali Rau 2nd
• 3:15 Joanna (sp?) 3rd
• 3:18 Rich Davis 3rd
• 3:24 Mark 4th (1st place was 3:05)
• 3:31 Nick
• 3:59 True (1st place was 3:13)
• 4:00 Eve 1st

Whew! Now I can sleep for a week.

Peter Sterlacci

About 3/4 of the way through the 2nd lap a couple of guys caught up to me and I asked what class they were in. "Phew, they are Expert racers!!!" No need to worry about them. I came in to the final decent feeling good and fast. On the last stretch to the finish line I pass 1 more guy in my class. I finished 13th out of 22. I am happy with the result considering that on the 1st lap it was looking like I was going to come in 19th!!! Also, I managed to barely keep Keith White from passing me like he usually does in every race we are in!! Overall, it was a fun day and a fun course (minus the hike-a-bikes!!!)

Scott Seery

Chai and I (what is that, and new drink concoction?) drove down on Saturday to check out the course. We were feeling a little rusty since Whistler, and had heard about all the jumps on this course. We were more than a bit nervous.

Once at the venue, we finally found out where the shuttles were actually picking up the riders for the rather thrilling ride to the top, after aimlessly hanging with the Cal Bears DH team in the wrong location for a while. I caught the first flatbed, while Ron and Nick and others had to wait for the second. Once on top, it became clear that this was a big BMX course on top. Damn! A steep set of doubles, followed by a ramped table top, and then a set of triples. Gulp....

I spent about an hour just doing the upper section, time after time after time, slowly ramping up the speed a bit each run. Smart move. After a while I was able to clear the first doubles fairly regularly, although it was never a pretty sight. Now and again an expert or junior expert freak would run down the course, cleanly sailing everything, both with flair and tremendous speed. I sure wish I had the guts to do that. Incredible.

Jon Heim, once again, proved that he has guts. His first run down the upper course was at 10/10ths from the get go. He sailed the first double, and then something went wrong. Terribly wrong. There was an explosion of dirt and elbows and _ss holes in the gap before the table top. Jon stacked hard, face first. The Medical team was quick to his aid. It looked to me (and to them) that he fractured his right wrist, and his face and lip was a little torn up, too. His full face helmet took a severe hit. He was pretty shaken up, but his race season this year has mentally toughened him for this. But that was the end of his day. (I spoke to Jon later that night, and he had yet to get X-rays.)

The remaining survivors all eventually made a couple runs down the course and called it a day.

Come race day Ron and I arrived early to head up for a couple more practice runs before the race. After my 3rd, and planned last, run down the upper section of the course, my rear wheel self-destructed after landing the double. I lost 4 spokes in sequence on the drive side. Aaaahhh! I decided to ride down the course to 1) see how it felt and gauge if I could ride the race that way, and 2) hopefully find a way to repair the wheel.

The bike was all over the place as I went down the course, the wheel a bit like a wet noodle, particularly through the loose off camber stuff under the trees in the lower part of the course. I went down pretty hard just before the bottom on one of those turns, as my (bike's) rear end went south as the rest of it was still going west. Fortunately, I was wearing my Azonic padded under shorts under my Azonic DH shorts (cheap sponsor plug) and came out OK. My rear end (not the bike's) is a little sore this morning, but that's it.

I sped directly to Trailhead Cyclery's tent once off the course, where Lars set me up with tools and spokes. Once I dismantled the rear wheel, Ron was able to lace them up, with Nick giving it a final true. The job was completed under 30 minutes. Awesome! All these guys were a great help, and without them, I would have been hosed. Teamwork at its best. And a BIG thanks to Lars for turning me on to the goods to do the job.

Back to the top for the race. Ron, Nick, Schlachter and I got there early enough to watch some of the expert dudes nail the jumps like it was nothing. Mark showed up a bit later, and we were able to watch him and Schlachter go down the course. Not long after, some guy body slammed hard after landing the first double. He was seriously injured, apparently, as they eventually called in the MediVac helicopter and he was flown out. This, unfortunately, delayed all of the remaining TWW folks, and a number of others, about 30 or 40 minutes, and we were forced to start at the end of the entire DH field.

The butterflies were flying thicker than ever, now, having to get mentally prepared again for our starts. I decided that the race was not going to be won at the top at the jumps. Yeah, that's right. After all the practice, I decided after all to be conservative on the jumps, and just haul _ss where a could further down the course. The goal, after witnessing all the carnage, was to make it down the course. You can't win if you stack it. So I approached the double with just enough speed to nearly clear it, landed on top of the table top, and did the first 2 of the triple. Piece of cake.

The rest of the run was clean, although the off camber slalom section in the middle of the course was really difficult for me. I could never get the entries right and so was always exiting the corners a little late each time. But through the trees I really railed, nailing my lines and maintaining speed thoughout the very difficult, off camber side-hill turns.

I was very happy it was over. I was very pleased to have won. The 2.5 hours of suspense before the results were announced made things anxious. Ron was threatening to leave. Was HE surprised to have landed in 2nd place. I imagine he's glad that we stuck around. Me, too.

True Tourtillott

Sat practice;
Decided to work on one section at a time. First the jump section at the top. I'm rolling, manualing, or taking multi's as singles. Ya can't steer when yer tires aren't on the ground. Great to see so many of the TWW gang there. Mark, Eve, Ron, Nick, Scott Seery, Jon (hope it ain't broke), and the Schlacter Factor.

Sunday, Raceday;
NERVOUS!!!!
It's only my second race of ANY kind. I decide to get there early but take my time on only one maybe two practice runs. Due to shuttle lag I only got one. Course conditions actually improved from Saturday. I think some of the loose stuff got swept away in the SRAM slalom section up top. The off-camber and loose stuff was still.....off camber and loose.

Got my ride to the top and........waited. Some poor guy hooked his rear wheel on the lip of the second ½ of the double which deposited him chest first into the tranny of the triple....on top of his bike. Oweeeeee. (With all the helo traffic this weekend the neighbors of the J&L ranch must have thought we were filming a Viet-Nam war movie instead of having a bike race) So I had the chance to hang out more with Ron, Nick, Mark, Allie and Johaunna at the top. Once the delay was over the let my class go first...."oh great, now I have to go in FRONT of everyone......no pressure."

So I got into the start gate and left my "race plan" (90% is faster than 110%, stay in control) at the top of the hill. Out of the gate, clipped in and moving fast (for me). First double still ok. Triple, whoa, big fella, keep it on the course. I screwed up and slid off the side of the jump, lost time getting back on course. Thankfully the full face helmet muffles speech and the girl I'm seeing couldn't hear me cursing. Rythym section, nice. Right/double/left, nice. Start pedaling......doing well, up on the pedals and sprinting. Bike working great! SRAM gates, I manage to keep the bike beneath me by driving in deep to the apex of the corner, stab the rear brake to pitch the rear out a bit, then pedal hard to regain traction. I dunno if that's the fast way, but it worked for me. Somewhere in there was a step-down over some rocks that was fun and kept me off the loose off camber stuff next to an unfriendly looking oak. Rock chute, SWEET! Used first big one to air over the rest of the rocks in the chute, landed right where I wanted to be for the turn. But, I didn't practice it that way. I was really moving too fast for the next off-camber right hander, washed out the front wheel and took a soil sample. DANG DANG DANG!!!!!!! Back on the bike through the slippery slalom, can't get a foot back on the pedal, over the final jump sitting down, looking like a tool.

Oh well. My goals were to have fun, not hurt myself right before my vacation, and not break the bike. Success on all three counts. Still wish Id done better.

Thanks to all the TWW gang for the words of encouragement at the top.