Race Report

Race Report by Dave McCrimmon

Boy was TWW out in force! Way to get out there!

It was great to be back on the MTB for a race. 2003 is a year that I would rather forget. I only competed in two races for various reasons. So all a new in '04.

Arrive at Glory Hole and there is Isaias will all the new gear. My race can be summed up in one sentence: You might as well look good if your going to be at the back.

The race started out and I was quickly shown the back. On the first climb I took a peak behind me and there was no one to be seen. Hmmm this could be a long day. Well my HR was okay and I was catching people, so I thought all is not lost. Somewhere during the first lap I tried to shift into the big ring and nothing. From than on out it was watching people quickly vanish from my sight when it was a fast big ring section. I felt good and road strong, my result might not show it but I am happy but not satisfied. I wish I could fire my mechanic but he's cheap!

Result: 21/29

See you all out there for Fox Cup #2 on 3/28 @ CCX#3.

Dave

Race Report by David "DNF" Ambrose

What a weekend!

Paul, Jenny, Erin and I hooked up with Isaias on our way to Gin's house to pick up some new TWW duds on our way up to Julie's cabin. The jerseys look frickin' awesome! Thanks Mike for your hard work! And the cabin is sweet! What a perfect place to hang out for the weekend! Julie ROCKS for letting us soil her family cabin. What a blast we had. There was a ton of room for everyone (Julie, Sheryl (sp?), Allan, Frank, Annie, Paul, Jenny, Isaias, Erin and myself. Everyone else - you missed out!

After all cabin-goers had arrived we took off for a race course pre-ride. Allan and Jenny had an idea of the route (the course was unmarked at this point) and we had a fun time blasting out on the fast, rolling singletrack... until the flats started. Our first flat was Erin's. She ended up with 3 thorns in her rear (tire). While we were fixing that, Frank noticed both of his own tires losing pressure. Then I noticed my own slow leak. Then we found another 4 thorns in Erins front tire. I think Jenny was next with another slow leak.

Saturday night after some totally delicious home made lasagna and garlic bread that Annie and Frank brought up (you two are awesome! Thanks!), then a painfully long UNO/smack talk marathon, most of us migrated up to the loft and played "Boy or Girl Fart?" until we fell into a blissful sleep. I played too, but I don't think anyone except for Erin knew it.

The next morning we went downstairs to some freshly home roasted coffee. Now that was some tasty brew! We all packed up our stuff, cleaned up around the cabin and headed out to the race.

We showed up to the race parking lot to a sea of TWW'ers. What a turn-out! We had probably around 20 of us there? Dayang! We all got ready to race, then those of us not racing, or racing expert, watched the sport class start. At the start line Bob had flatted right from the get-go. Suck!!! A lap later, I found Allan with a flat too. It's good thing there was a free tube with registration.

Finally, it was time for Isaias, JT, John Hillstrom and myself to line up. Before we knew it, without any sort of countdown, we were off! We blasted from the start line at a fast pace and the lead group quickly started to form a gap. I hammered up the paved climb to the singletrack - mistake. By the time I reached the top, my already sprained wrist was spiked with pain from standing up in the saddle and yanking on the bars.Right then and there I knew my race was over. My pace slowed to a crawl and I started to let people pass without a fight, just waving them by. Isaias and Hillstrom were both looking strong when they went by. About a quarter mile later I found Isaias again, at the top of a small rise with a broken chain. I finished the first lap and circled around the parking lot for a minute undecided on whether to continue on but dang it! I hate DNF's! So on I went - another mistake. One more lap was all I had in me, my wrist was killin' me to the point where I had to ride most of the lap one handed just so I could save my wrist for the descents. By the time I reached the top of the paved climb for the third time it just wasn't worth it anymore. With my tail tucked between my legs I rolled slowly back down the hill and into the parking lot where I was promptly handed an icepack, ibuprofen, a beer, and Erin... so things weren't so bad afterall. ;)

Despite the bad race I had, the entire weekend was just a total blast! I'm a little frustrated at myself for not completing the race but, from chillin' at the cabin with a bunch of awesome friends, to the rippin' fun singletrack course of the Iron Angels race - what a great weekend! I love TWW race weekend road trips!

--

David Ambrose

Race Report by Keith White

Nothing like that feeling when you roll over and see the clock set to 6:25am and thinking to yourself 'What the hell am I doing getting up this early to go hurt?'.

As I drove down the road to meet at Scott's house I had high hopes of actually finishing this race, unlike my performance(or lack thereof) at Santa Teresa.

After a pleasant 2.5 hour drive we arrived at the race venue. A gorgeous day and beautiful place. Lot's of TWW folks around and more coming. We were certainly the best represented team at the race. Always good to see the gang.

As 12:00 approached we crowded near the start. 20 seconds before we take off Bob L. gets a flat, bummer. And we're off. The sprint on the asphalt always freaks me out. Too many testosterone filled nuts packed into a small space is not my sceen. I like to swing free. So, I fall back and let the jockstraps move up. As we hit the climb I look back and see about 3 people behind me. Hmmm, not my best start. We get on the single track and start the line. I pass one or two, but it's not easy when you have no clue of the course. Mostly just hang with the crowd. I can see Sterlacci, Henthorn, Schlachter, Olerich, Sherlock at least. No one is making much movement. The pace is good so I hang and pass when easy.

There's a 5 foot "steep" climb where everyone stops. I see it coming and use the hole to pass at least one. Scott is still going well and leading most of us. At about the 1/2 way point on the lap I finally get an opening and pass Rich Davis and Scott. Henthorn is 1 ahead and Olerich is about 2 or 3 up. This is a fun course. Mostly flat and fast and mostly singletrack. Love the railing curves and hardpack. As we loop around the back side I end up on Rich's tail. We cross the street and he gets on another guys tail. Not passing I'm wondering why. So, I decide to go by both. Down through the jumps(I only do the one) and back to the hill. Rich is close behind. After the start hill I back off a bit and Rich takes the lead. We power through the swoopy stuff and at one point I feel like my rear tire is acting funny. I look down and it seems fine so I stow the thought. As we move further Rich is starting to out pace me slowly. Still only about 30 yards up and I feel like I'll be able to pick up the pace soon. I an see Paul just up from that so I'm feeling like I'm in good shape. On the back side in one of the nice rail turns I feel my rear tire fold over. ShEEt. It is going down. As I cross the street I'm looking for a shady place to change it. First tree I see I pull over....

Long story short(too late?), I pull all my stuff out and begin the change when I think...hmmm that is one slow leak, probably faster if I just put more air in. So, I pump it up hard, reload all my stuff and take off. I ride only moderately hard, but reel people in whenever I get the chance. At about the same point of the course the tire is very low again, but I lean forward and ride out the finish.

22/28. Not spectacular, but I finished. Definitely the best race course for my first race of the year. Read that as no hard climbs.

I'll be back,

Keith

Race Report by Scott Schlachter

Cool shot - thanks Frank! That's the one that I was telling people about - it was at the end of my first lap - that guy in front went so slow over the jump that I thought neither one of us were going to make it! What a fun time - I'm personally stoked with how I did (14/29 - just barely getting into the top half - exactly what my goal was!) That might be the best I've ever done at an XC race since moving up to Sport class years ago. I wasn't even considering racing until I heard: 1) no big climbs (yeay!), and 2) there might be jumps involved. Sounded like my kinda course!

The big TWW showing was cool. I know we had some excellent finishes with Frank (with a cold!), Paul, and Rich H. in our class - not sure how you guys did, but I know it was up there. So, what were all the TWW podium spots anyhow? Ambrose... Holy cow - Rich D., Keith and I stuck around long enough to watch you pass through twice - both times looking like you were in total agony, arm dangling on your side... dude - you da man! Sorry to hear about all the mechanicals that everyone had - we were starting to worry about Isaias! I counted my blessings when I finally crossed the finish line without a flat...

ps - Awesome jerseys once again Mike... I think this is my favorite yet.

-S

Race Report by Bob Lofland

Well, I was up about 5AM and driving to meet Rich Henthorne about 6:00AM Had an assume view of the sunrise. What a way to start the day. I need to do this more often. We had a nice ride up to Iron Angels and arrived before anyone else. Even had our preride done when the groups of TWWrs started to arrive.

Rich had a flat tire when we returned from the pre-ride. My tire was fine until about 30 seconds from the start. I was locking out my rear shock and could not figure out why it was still bouncing, well, about 20 pounds of air in the tire was the answer. Bummer, I was set to kick some butt on the first dash for the climb and single track.

Isaias and Dave helped get the tube change and I started off with the hopes of catching someone. I have to say, I have never had such a fun ride. No one was in my way until the second lap, and that did not take long to resolve. I could see the rest of the guys about a mile ahead when we passed by the lake, but that mile was not getting any shorter fast.

Best part of the day was the new Fox front shock on my bike. I put on the F100X with Terralogic. What an incredible shock, all I have to do is stand up and power pedal, the front suspension locks out, however, if you ride over a bump the suspension goes slightly active. I dived off drops, hit curbs and holes, it worked like a champ. I had more confidence in the new fork after about a 1/2 hour then I did in my old fork after riding it for a couple years. I cannot wait until I have it really tweaked.

Yeah, bummer about the flat tire. But, I did time my effort, if they post times with the finishers, could be fun to compare.

Kidding aside, I have to say, If I had gotten off the line with the rest of them, I think some would have spent the race in a cloud of "Bob Dust".

Race Report by Isaias Job

The Weekend:

Just to reiterate a little bit of what Dave already mentioned....A big thanks to Julie Brown for being so kind as to share her family's cabin with us. Julie, please thank Cheryl(sp?) for being such a sweetheart and tending to our food needs. Frank, please thank Annie for the wonderful lasagna, for helping to feed us and for putting up with all our moutain bike talk and Paul's schmack-talk.

TWW had an awesome showing at the race. It was cool to see the new jersey flying around the race course. We also sported the new TWW banners on the Easy-up tent, where we setup up some chairs and a couple bike trainers.

The Race:

My strategy for this race was to warm up properly. I've never been good at fast race starts, which are absolutley critical in the expert ranks. So, for this race I warmed up on a trainer, hidden away from the sun. By the time I got off the trainer I was drenched in sweat and my legs felt ready to go. I slipped out of my now sweaty jersey and put on my pimp, new sleeveless TWW jersey, and headed over to the starting line.

No sooner had we lined up and we were off. I burst off the line feeling pretty good, within about 100 yards we hit a pavement climb up to the first single track. I knew there would be a huge bottle neck at the single track, so I stayed in the big ring and hammered up the climb. I jumped onto the single track about 8 people back from the start, with Dave Ambrose, 1 rider a head of me. The peloton moved in a single file line quickly through the flat single track. Soon we hit a couple of rollers and there was a few opportunities to pass and be passed. One or 2 riders made there way passed me and Dave and then I made my way passed Dave with somebody hot on my tail.

We hammered down some more single track and I actually put a gap between myself and the guys in back of me. Just then the trail cut to the right and headed steeply uphill. I was still in my big ring and realized, too late, that I wouldn't make it up this steep in the big ring. I quickly clicked to shift down, but nothing happened until I hammered down on the pedals and the I heard a CRACK, PING and my chain flew apart. I let out a couple of profanities and then settled down to fix my chain. In a matter of minutes the entire field came flying by. I managed to fix my chain only to find that I had routed the chain outside of my front derailleur....doooh! I let a few more profantities fly and proceeded to break and fix the chain again!!. Total time to fix, break and fix the chain was 14 minutes. I though for sure the leaders would be coming by me soon.

At this point I figured my placing would be totally screwed up, but I'd continue the race and then subtract my repair time just to see how I would have placed. Plus, it was a pretty darn fun course and at this stage in the expert game I am really only competing against my own expectations.

After completely cooling down while fixing the chain, my muscles ached and screamed at me as I went completely aneorobic within a matter of seconds. From this point on my heart rate never went below about 175bpm. Finally, I made my way back around to the starting\finishing area and was happy to hit the dirt jump as I headed back up the hill to complete my first lap. Thanks to all TWWers for the support.

The rest of the race was pretty much the same, although, by the 2nd, 3rd and 4th laps I felt much more fluid as I made my way through the single track. In the 3rd lap, close to the finish the 1st place expert made his way buy me and a few minutes later so did the 2nd place guy, but that was it! Nobody else every passed me, I actually passed a few people myself in the 4th lap, a couple guys and a couple women.

I finished with a time of 1:53. Which put me at 17\20. However, if I subtracted the time it took to repair my chain, twice, this put me at 1:39. Which would place me just above mid-pack, which was my goal.

Overall I learned the importance of a good pre-race warm up and the need to learn how to actually use my chaintool. I think we have two new events for the TWW Olympics.....tire changing and chain repair.

Cheers,

Isaias

Race Report by Frank Walden

First off a big Thank You goes out to Julie for letting us all stay at the cabin. What an awesome place! We did talk about the idea of having the 04 TWW Olympics up there, I think it would be super fun.

After everyone arrived and got settled in we took off to do the pre-ride. What a fun area to ride, fast twisty single track, great views, and did I say thorns?…yes thorns, meaning flat tires. I’m not sure where we picked them up at but ended up with 4 or 5 flats.

Saturday night was spent hanging out in the cabin eating, drinking, and a Uno game from hell. You know those agonizing climbs that never seem to end? This Uno game was like that! Amidst all the fun and smack talk, along with an entertaining rendition of “You’re a Bitch, No you’re a Bitch” by Paul and Jenny, who by the way, entertained us all with their coed bathroom giggling and odd sounds effects (just what was going on in there?) we enjoyed some lasagna, a few cold beers, and more than a laugh or two. When Jenny FINALLY got us out of Uno hell, we retreated to the loft for the night. The “Boy or Girl fart” game was entertaining, especially since Isaias farts like a girl, thoroughly confusing the judges. We laid down to the symphony of the frogs croaking on the pond. Now while everyone was sleeping peacefully, I myself laid there all freakin night without sleeping a wink! Even after taking sleeping pills at 1:00 AM I still couldn’t get to sleep. I knew I was screwed when the duck started quacking and the sun was coming up. I had been fighting a cold all week and with the lack of sleep I’m sure I was the most pleasant person to be around that morning. After a cup or two of Isaias’s great coffee and little breakfast the rest of the morning was spent fixing flat tires and getting ready for the race.

We showed up to the race to see the rest of the TWW’ers in the parking lot. It was great to see everyone make it up there. I got signed in for the Sport 35+ class and prepared for the race. Thanks to Isaias for the trainer all setup under the EZ-Up. Warmed up and ready I got to the start line with the intention of going hard from the start and see how long I would last. I was in 2nd place going into the singletrack, and after following the lead guy for a while I passed him when he bobbled on a section. We ended up swapping positions back and forth throughout the first lap and I was still in 1st coming through the parking lot at the end of lap one. Lap two was spent dicing back and forth between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and 3rd is where I ended up on lap two. The last lap was agonizing, I couldn’t breath good anymore and my head was pounding. I got passed halfway through the last lap by someone that I thought was in another class, but unfortunately I was wrong. Ended up 4th of 29. I was glad to see all the rest of the TWW crew finishing good, awesome turnout and a great time! I love these kind of trips and can’t wait to do another one.

Frank

Race Report by "Downtown" Julie Brown

Gotta keep this short and sweet...still digging through my 170 emails from taking yesterday off!

We did indeed have an awesome time! Great company, great weather, great surroundings and awesome racing. Oh, and great new TWW apparel. Isaias looks particularly stunning in his arm warmers and sleeveless jersey...just needs some fishnet stockings to complete his ensemble.

I'm happy to report that I didn't endure the Uno game from hell, but felt the pain as an innocent bystander. I'm even more relieved to report that I didn't have to endure the "contest" that night in the loft. Having spent my youth upstairs, I knew exactly what was going on up there and cracked up when I heard about it the next morning. There's something about that loft that makes you act and feel like a 10-year-old kid.

Thanks to Jenny and Paul for the giggle sessions in the bathroom. Also a HUGE thanks to Annie for the lasagna and garlic bread feast....damn! And a special huge thanks to Cheryl...best buddy from the good old days who kept all her stupid Julie stories she's accumulated over the years to herself. And for her huge support on race day.

Now to race day. Small field of only 9 women. They didn't break it up by age so I was once again racing against the whippersnappers and the dreaded Jenny. I had a feeling it would be Jenny's day and she shot out like a cannon ball at the start. First woman off the line and up the hill. Meanwhile, back at the start...I fumbled around for a very long time trying to get my foot clipped in. Wasted way too much time and energy and ended up at the back of the pack...where I stayed for the entire race. There is just no room for error in Sport and I'm finding that out. I've been pretty lucky up to this point but my luck ran out on Sunday.

The course is just rip roaring fun. Fast, swoopy and not too technical..well until you get to that first jump which I did not preride. My first time over it, I ended up letting out a very loud F-Bomb...which unfortunately was heard by the lovely family sitting next to the trail....I sheepishly apologized as I rode by. The next two times over it was done quietly.

Huge TWW turnout and congrats to Jenny for her strong finish. She came in 4th place and was ready for more...just getting warmed up! I ended up with a poor finish with 7 out of 9, but some lessons learned. Good starts, healthy knees and keeping the shifting errors to a minimum make a huge difference when the competition starts getting stiffer.

TWW Olympics at my cabin! Let's make it a weekend affair with some riding too.

Race Report by Loren Thomas

Iron Angel's Race - Sunday 3/7/04

Last year was a tough year for me. Several non-bicycle related injuries kept me out of almost every race. After not racing for so long, my feelings were mixed for this race. I was excited about getting back on the saddle, but I was also feeling I could do without it....?

I arrived Sunday morning with Jerry and registered for Sport 26-34, then Bob and Jerry talked me into pre-riding the course as a warm-up. I quickly discovered that getting a good start would be important. Finished the pre-ride with 20 minutes to spare before the start and notice that I have 3 punctures in each of my tires. I quickly swap tubes and head to the start.

The start seemed mellow. I jumped out in front then backed off to let about 4 riders lead the first straight. I effortlessly climbed ahead of everyone to the single track and didn't wait around for anyone else.

Within a minute, someone caught me and followed me for half a lap then rocketed past me. I was bummed to be passed, but the guy eventually backed off and I caught him near the end of the first lap. Suddenly he crashed in front of me, so I hiked around him and I was back in front. I looked around and there were no other riders in sight. We must have pulled several minutes ahead of everyone else.

Draftmaster got on my rear and stuck to it. I should have realized his game right away, but instead I was content to let him sit there. Halfway through the 2nd lap I began to realize that if I let him stay there he would have gobs of energy to pass me for the win. I backed way off but he stayed right on my tail. I decided to MAKE him pass me at the beginning of the third lap. Unfortunately, he used me to recover long enough to blow by me and open a 150 foot gap that I just couldn't close. I tried and tried to gain before the halfway point, but it just didn't happen. Eventually I started closing, but the rate was so slow that it would be the finish stretch before I caught him.

POP!! followed by some profanity was heard by the road crossing dude. My rear tire had exploded with about 2 miles to go. I decided to ride the rim to the finish, and Draftmaster fell out of sight. Four riders passed me before I crossed the finish, but only one was in my class. I salvaged a 3rd place and my best Sport finish ever!! I had a great time and was surprised by how well I did.

Can't wait till the OTTER!!

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