Race Report - Santa Teresa

Race Report by Scott Schlachter

Congrats to all you XCers for surviving that heat. Lot's of TWWers on the results list, but unfortunately there were a lot of tiny classes too - maybe we should try to help them get the word out better next year or something...

The TWW women posted some great times, but didn't have any competition! I'm pretty proud of Rich "Papi" Davis for taking 2nd, and Mr. Walden for taking 3rd in Mens Sport combined - both of them in the 40+ age cat. Rich just turned 46 last week; he was the only Exp Men 40+ guy at the DH today, and they ended up grouping all of the DH Experts together - he pulled a 4:51 and took 4th out of 6 of us (he raced both the XC and DH on his Blur). Also, big kudos to the nutballs Isaias and Streetly for doing the 3 lap thing in that heat (shudder). Another very noteworthy XC finish was Max Zinsman, friend of TWWer and future ROMP Race Team coordinator, who I think was the only 50+ guy in the combined Sports class, and still pulled a 9th/17! Good job to all who raced and didn't collapse from heat exhaustion. A lot of fast times in that Sport class this year.

Thanks for taking pics today Bob, and sorry to hear about that pesky metal wire that plagued you yesterday! I managed to beat my time last year by 5 seconds, for a 4:40 run which got me 2nd - very stoked about that. My throat is still sore and I've been coughing all day just from that one run...

Cheers,

-Schlachter

Race Report by Brenton Hamilton

This race will stay with me for a long time.

Had a great start and climbed the fireroad in good time. The Rocky Ridge decent was uneventful but I dropped the chain cranking up for the small climb after the bridge. After I put it back on, I felt the chain skipping every revolution. I looked down to see a large kink/bend. Great! I start the climb up Stiles Ranch and the chain keeps dropping. To make it worse, when I leaned over to put it back on, I popped my shoulder. Now I am in a world of pain as Alan and David go by asking if i'm okay. I tell them I'm good, pop my shoulder back in an start running the bike because I was sure the chain was about to break at the first hint of any real pressure. I jump back on at the top Stiles Ranch, find a gear that seems to work and cruise on down to the start/finish line.

Off on the second lap I catch Alan and David on the climb preying that my chain holds together until the top. It does and I fly down Rocky Ridge feeling a lot better. I was expecting the chain to break climbing Stiles so I planned to just run up the hill and roll the rest of the way home. Sure enough it broke soon as I started the climb but it broke after getting wedged behind the cassette. I tried to pull it out but I could not free it completely. Not wanting to lose any time I just started running up the hill. Every so often the wheel would lock up and I would have to back spin it to free the chain. During one of these adjustments the shoulder pops again. This was beginning to get miserable. I finally make the top and start to roll down the hill. I see P-Ster ready to snap a picture of me coming over the drop off but I was in no mood for an endo so I just cyclo-crossed it. Just after I cleared the bridge the back wheel locks and this time I could not clear it. So now I am forced to run the bike with a locked out back wheel about a mile to the finish. Still managed to salvage 10th out of 24 starters in the combined 30+ sport category.

Congrats to Frank (great time) and all the other TWWers who braved the heat.

Bham

Race Report by David Ambrose

Like B-Ham, this race will definitely stay with me for a while.

As the start time approached and the day started to really heat up I was starting to feel anxious because I know I don't ride well on really hot days. I knew it was going to be a scorcher so the night before I made sure to hydrate before bed, then more of the same throughout the morning leading up to the race. Endurolytes, energy gels, hydration drinks, water and Odwalla juices were the mornings diet. I hate cramping.

From the start I was feeling pretty good. I rushed to get towards the front as quickly as possible since I knew the first climb in that heat would slow me down. Sure enough... a third of the way up I started getting passed left and right until we made the Rocky Ridge descent where I caught back up and approaching Stiles Ranch [very briefly] passed Allan, Brenton, Paul and a few others. That didn't last long. Around and up we went. Seems most people walked most of Stiles. It was just too durned hot to deal with, especially for me. At this point I started to burn out.. I could feel the beginnings of heat exhaustion and it was getting worse the further on I went. It got to the point where the only thing I was looking forward to was the log drop and finishing the race.

Second time around and it was just about all over for me. With waves of vertigo and nausea hitting me, I walked most of the fireroad climb, almost turning back several times before finally making it to Rocky Ridge again. The guy with the super-soaker was a life-saver.

Rocky Ridge is such a fun trail to bomb and on the second lap, the separation had me almost all alone there to play. Unfortunately, I was still getting hit by the occasional dizzy spell from being on the verge of bonking. I shook my head to try and clear away some of the disorientation and WHAM, it all came crashing down. Next thing I knew, I was in the air and off the side of the trail with my bike laying next to me. I jumped up and grabbed the bike only to realize that the bars and front wheel were no longer aligned so out come the tools. Max and few others passed me by while I worked on the bike and asked if I was ok.

After a few minutes the bike was good to go again but I was hurtin' both from the heat and the fall. I lost any competitive edge I may have been clinging to and just wanted to get the heck off the trail. I was feeling miserable. As I continued on, I came so close to taking a side road and giving up. But NO! NO fricking DNF'S! I was still conscious.. so I had to finish it.

Up Stiles Ranch I rode. Er... I mean walked. By this point the bottlenecks were gone and no one was in front of me to hold me up. But it didn't matter. I just couldn't get up the energy. I walked almost the entirety of Stiles Ranch. The only things that kept me going were A) I knew the end was near. B) I knew the log drop was even nearer. So on I went.

Peter was at the log drop for the photo-ops (hey, I wanna see those, man!) and from there it was just a short distance to the finish and lots of water. I can't believe I didn't come in DFL. I came in just behind BHam for an 11th place finish. I was amazed.

All in all it was not an enjoyable race for me and if it's scheduled for the afternoon again next year there's no way I'll race it. It's not worth it. I hope they can schedule it earlier because it really is a fun course.

Congrats to everyone who finished the race, that was harsh!

--

David Ambrose

Race Report by Mike Urbina

OR: "How To Spend $75 To Race 3 1/2 Miles and Break Your Frame In The Process"

I got in at about 3 am. the night before this race (band commitments) and decided about 2 hours before the race to actually go and race it. No bike prep, no training, no sleep, I've been remodeling my house, I have a baby now*, (whine, cry), etc. etc.

The race was too close to my house not to go.

Anyway, threw the bike in the truck and off I went.

My NORBA license was expired ($50!!) and entry fee was $25- ouch. Oh well I just wanna ride- haven't been on a mountain bike since Lake Sonoma 8 Hr.

As I made my way to the staging area (I was heading to the rear of the line) Keith yelled "Hey Urbina, what are you doing"? I just assumed he meant "what are you doing here, you don't race or ride anymore!" When the first group (experts) took off alone, I realized he probably meant why am I lining up at the back of the sport class when I'm racing expert-- you see, from the info I saw on the web site, I thought it was just going to be a mass start- I was wrong. I walked to the front and took off about a minute behind everyone. It didn't matter because as soon as I started climbing my legs were yelling "uh, what the hell do you think you're doing, we don't remember how to do this!" Soon all the sport guys were coming by and I was completely helpless. I just remember Nick coming by and everything was a blur (and I don't mean the Santa Cruz kind) after that. Oh well, I just came to ride and see friends, right? I rested down rocky ridge and was almost to the bottom where the DH course ends when I threw my chain. I pulled off the trail to put it on, but when I took off again it felt like I had another couple of inches of rear wheel travel- which I actually did. My rear triangle had broken on the drive side. I was disappointed and relieved all at the same time- I doubt very much my legs would have lasted 3 laps. I'd like to say it broke because of the massive power I was putting to the pedals, but it probably had more to do with my recently expanded waistline........(baby fat?*)

I spent the rest of the race hanging with Dave Mcrimmon, his daughter (what a cutie) and Pete S's wife whom I never thought really existed.

It was good to see that a couple of the smack talkers actually had the huevoes to step up to expert- John Street and Isais Job, I believe. All you others (smack talkers) couldn't carry their sweaty shorts!

Mike U.

Race Report by Keith White

I'll make this short. Not as short as my race, but short just the same. I thought it was great to have such a late race start. I've been very tired and didn't want to have to get up too early to suffer. I had broken two spokes on the previous ride, so had to replace them at the course, but everything came together fine. I was on the start line hiding behind the usual bravado. I was trying not to worry about the heat even though I know heat kills me. I figured I'd take it easy since no one had really called me on my bluff.

Off we go. Coulds of dust under the seering sun. After gaining about 1/2 pound of silt in my lungs we hit the climb. I tried to settle in, but couldn't find a comfortable rythm or pace. It just hurt. I found myself wonderring, whey was Allan Sherlock behind me, why was Frank about 10 feet ahead, the leaders were only about 30 seconds up and I feel like I can't go on. Soon things changed as Frank picked up the pace, Allan passed by, most others I recognized started to move on. As I rounded the last bend on the climb, I couldn't imagine climbing stiles and doing this all over again. Mentally I was done.

Max and Dave and I got to the singletrack at about the same time. Of course we were just held up the whole way down the ridge by those college guys who are larger on lungs than they are on skills. That gave me a good long time to think about the consequences of my first ever DNF. Not only my first ever DNF, but for no reason other than I couldn't pull myself up mentally. So, as we cross the bridge rounded back toward the fire road, I just gave up.

A sad day for me, but a good lesson. Congrats to all.

Keith

P.S. Part of the lesson for me was learning how much mental energy it takes to race. I've never pushed myself to the breaking point before, but I guess I've finally found it.

Race Report by Bob Lofland

Well, I expected a hot day. I planned for it. Loaded up with liquids, and gel packs. Pumped up my tires with 55lbs of air. Did not expect much, but, I did expect to have a good time. Trying to keep up in the sport class is heck. Lots of respect for the folks that do.

Headed up the first climb as expected, back of the pack. Just put down the rhythm and kept my heart rate reasonable. I wanted some left for the 2nd lap.

Caught up with most of the pack at the bottom of Stiles Ranch. Just as I started passing people having rock problems my rear tire went low on air. I assumed a pinch flat, I have never had a thorn at ST. I checked the tire for thorn, and put in a new tube. Just as I started I notice the front tire low. Darn, no more tubes. I pumped it up and started up the hill. Had to fill it with are a couple times. Did not jump the log due to low air pressure, and I did not want to pull the pump out again. Had thoughts of calling it quits.

Made back to the parking lot just about flat, went to my car and put on another front wheel. I had an extra, not sure why, but I did. My wife showed and suggested I call it quits, it was to hot and many people had already dropped out due to the heat. However, I wanted to finish the effort. I had been monitoring my heart rate so I would last the 2 laps. In addition, I usually have a problem doing anything my wife tells me I should do, I relate to having less fun. She says it’s my 2 year old self acting out, probably, but, so be it.

I headed up the climb, and back down Rocky Ridge, passed many people. Not sure where they came from, don’t want to know, I just had fun passing them as they struggled the rocks.

I started climbing Stiles Ranch and my back tire went flat again. Drats. I pumped it up, climbed some, it was loosing fast. I ran it up the climbs, pumped it up for the down hills. I ran into Isaias finishing his last lap, he was riding hard, gave him some water, and I continued. I had hoped to finish with the Experts, well I was not far behind.

I managed to make it to the parking lot as my tire went flat again. Sat down by the car, my wife poured water over me, I had no complaints.

They posted me at 2 hours and 33 minutes I think, I do not believe them, it had to be at least 3 hours I spent out there screwing around with tires and stuff.

I checked my tubes that night, and found a thorn in the front tire, the rear tire had a metal wire that I did not feel when I put my hand around in it. The only reason I found it, was I pumped the tube and found a pin hole, not a pinch flat type hole. I looked again and turned the tire inside out. I finally found a thin small wire in the tire. Not sure why, it was a Kevlar tire. It did not look like something that I picked up riding. It was a new tire, it went flat on me Friday, and I thought it was a bad patch on the tube I had used, and put a new tube in it. I did not notice any leak, but had not ridden it. Shame on me. Tire is fine now.

Despite all the crap, I finished without much pain, and did not get sick despite the heat and extended time in the sun. Lots of fun.

Many TWW shirts out there. I understand a TWW person brought a friend, and they finished 1st place? Should make them wear a TWW jersey if you expect them to win.

Bob,

Race Report by Frank Walden

I'm almost scared to say it after reading all the horror stories, but.....I had fun! Now I'm not saying it wasn't hot and miserable, but I did have a good time. Trying to keep up with B-Ham on the climbs almost killed me, glad I could make up some ground on the downhills. Other than struggling in the rocks like some kind of roadie turned dirt rider, everything went well. I played it pretty safe in all the trouble spots so I wouldn't crash or pinch flat and tried to keep from overheating everywhere else. Big props to all of you who suffered through adversity and finished the race. I'm already looking forward to the last BillyCross race, since I haven't raced there before. TWW had a great turnout and excellent results. I'm proud to wear the jersey!!

enough of this drivel, where is the cold beer? Frank

Race Report by Isaias Job

A hot blazing day in hell...

or my first expert XC race at Santa Theresa.

Like the rest, racing ST at the peak heat of the day, in the expert class no-less, will haunt me for some time to come....actually, I'm mostly recovered now except for a bashed up knee.

I'd been riding ST on the regular southbay Thursday ride and had grown familiar with the abuse that the rocky ridge and stiles ranch can impart on a soft-tail biker. I'd also gone out by myself and ridden about 18 miles in ST and so I knew that 3 laps as an expert would be tough, but not impossible. However, after I heard about the heat warning I began to grow concerned. After all, my first bad race experience was at the HMC where the hot temp's brought me to the brink of quitting the race.

Race day...I try not to focus on the fact that it's about 90 degrees and getting hotter. I also try not to focus on the fact that it's my first expert race, that I have a challenge to live up to, and that I will have to complete 3 whole laps at the peak heat of the day.

I make my way up to the front of the pack with the rest of the experts, I still can't believe I'm doing this, and try and stay cool while we wait for the whistle to blow. I blast of with the rest of the guys and can already feel the heat is going to take a toll on me. My legs are not feeling as fresh as they could, probably because I rode 18 miles at ST on Wednesday and never really recovered.

We begin our ascent to the fireroad climb and I'm already feeling the effects of the intense heat. I look down at my heartrate monitor and it's pegged at 186, which is like 10beats higher than normal. So, I begin telling myself that all I have to do is complete the race, all thoughts of trying to do well are out the window and I settle into a slow but steady pace up the fireroad to rocky ridge. I manage to pass one guy on the climb only to get caught by him on the rocky ridge downhill after I crashed like 100yds from the top. Not wanting to pinch flat in the race, I took other's advice and ran high tire pressure (50psi for me). However, not being used to the skiddishness that this high tire pressure provides I went into a turn too hot, started skidding, panicked and grabbed to much front brake sending me crashing into the harsh, rocky singletrac. I popped up and jumped right back on the bike. I was frazzled from the heat and the fall and went off the singletrac one more time before getting to the bottom of the ridge.

As I crossed the bridge and made my way up the short, steep climb I heard Dave McCrimmon and some other TWWers shouting words of encouragement. By now I've caught up to the guy that passed me and a couple more guys. I put the pedal to the metal and hammer down the fireroad to stiles ranch. I dart across the widest part of the creek crossing, as some rookie experts are trying to figure out how to get through to the other side. Splashing through the cool water was sooo refreshing. I pedal another 100 yds and now my chain seems to be stuck. Not wanting to bust my chain I hop off the bike to find that my chain has fallen of the derailleur. OK, so I fix that, attempt to turn the cranks but they won't budge. At this point, I'm cussing up a storm and yelling damn it, it can't end like this. I flip the bike over and begin fussing with stuff, soon I realize that my rear wheel is wedge against my drive side chainstay, I shout what the f*ck and just then Brenton, Allen, Paul, David, Troy and Frank come pedaling buy. Eventually, I notice that somehow the axel in my rear hub got tweaked, but I realize that if I crank down my skewer real tight everything works. So, I crank down my skewer, turn the cranks and I'm good to go...whew. I hop back on the bike and hammer on over to stiles to catch all those sport rascals.

I quickly begin passing many folks stumbling up the rocky terrain of stiles ranch. I caught up with my fellow TWWers one at a time. I never saw any of the guys again, except for frank who caught up to me on second lap near the fireroad down to the finish area.(You rock the house Frank!!) Anyhow, from here on out I passed as many people as I could and was already dreading the second lap up the fireroad to Rocky Ridge. At some point I caught Street, I think I found him walking up the fireroad to Rocky Ridge on the second lap and he looked as beat as I felt. I uttered some words of encouragement and trudged on up hill. The rest of the second lap was pretty fast and lonely on the downhills and tough on the uphills. I honestly don't remember too much of the second lap....probably due to fatigue from the heat.

By the 3rd lap, John had caught up to me and we road up to the fireroad climb together. As we passed through the corral Erin, David's wife, was nice enough to hand me a water bottle which I didn't drink from, but used to pour down the back of my neck....ahhh, that was refreshing. I handed the bottle to Street and said pour some down your back it feels great and then off we went up the fireroad. I was in the granny gear, spinning at a good cadence, but really feeling like crap. As I inched away from John on the climb and yelled out focus on your breathing as I forced myself to regulate my own breathing. I looked up the climb and spotted a Sycip jersey. As I approached I came to realize that it was Kenny walking his bike up the hill. I was quite surprised that I caught up with him, apparently being sick and racing in the heat don't mix well...ouch!

I got to the top of Rocky ridge, took a deep breath in, collected myself and bombed down. I sware it must have been my fastest most fluid run despite the pain and fatigue. On my way over to stiles ranch I passed Patrick and yelled out good job! As I made my way up to the stiles climb I caught a few more riders, I think I must have been passing beginners by now, because although my legs were beginning to cramp and I was quickly loosing focus I was still passing people. Near the top of Stiles I saw Bob, stopped and asked him for a sip of water. I was so dehydrated at this point that I was getting delirious and talking to myself and stuff. After that little refresher I knew the end was near and so I just focused on my breathing and picked up the pace. As I crested the last little climb before the fireroad descent to the finish line I passed by Jeff who offered encouragement. At this point I shifted into my largest gears and hammered away and even sprinted across the finish line.

Delirious and dehydrated I rode straight to the bathroom where I stuck my head under the water and cooled down for a while. Man, I couldn't believe the pain and suffering was finally over...whew.

I will never do a race in that kind of heat again. Not such a great experience for my first expert race, but I refused to be discouraged as I knew things would have been much different if it wasn't soo hot! In any case, out of the 8 Norba experts only 5 finished and I came in 3rd place. Only me and some other guy in my category and he didn't finish so I won 1st in my age group. I compared my time to the colligate Men A's time and in that field I came in 13th place out of 18 riders, which is more realistic of where I expected to place as an expert. However, the real victory for me was just finishing the race and beating John the sandbagger. I'm sure we'll have a re-match under better weather conditions.

Last but not least, I really want thank all the TWWers for the encouragement along the course. I sware there were almost as many TWWers offering encouragement as raced that day. Kuddos to Jenny who also took the expert challenge!

Now if you all excuse me, I'm taking a week off the bike to get that experience out of my system.

Cheers,

Isaias

TECHNICAL SECTIONS,,,,,,,,, UM WHERE?????????

Those were the the words I uttered a few weeks ago and I've been eating since. My excruciating Sunday started in the morning where I felt a warm 80degree wind,,,, IN DALY CITY. This ain't right, it's gonna be hot as hell in Santa Teresa. I had an hour before I left to convince myself not to race. Gigi said, let's go, I want to sit out in the sun. Yeah, easy for her to say. So we loaded up the WRX and headed down. Well, it wasn't that hot but everyone warned me it was gonna get hotter. While warming up, there was a sea of TWW jersies, we even beat out the numbers of college teams. It was awesome to see you all and it made this race well worth the pain. I always start off slow knowing the big hill is comin' around the corner. I felt good climbing up and passed a few folks, but the climb, high heart rate and heat packed a wollup. Rocky Ridge was fun but a few riders had their chocolate starfish in a bunch and I had to yell out to pull over to let the group go by, once they pulled over, it was a superhighway for a group of us that some decent skillz. We get down to the bottom and cross the bridge and I see Sterlacci and McCrimmon cheerleading, damn we gotta get some skirt sponsors next year! The singletrack to Styles Ranch was awesome and felt great going through with a fast group. Styles climb,,,,,, the first climb was HOT, rocky as hell and mucho technical. I'm glad David Ambrose posted that ride the week before so I wouldn't get shocked by how hard this climb has become from the last years. I actually cleared most of the climb with only 1 dab but was totally zapped by the time I reached the top, the welcome short downhill ended way too soon. BAM! Another rocky climb, this time a bit shorter, then came the log drop which I cleaned no problem. A few more steep climbs and here comes the fire road to finish up the first loop.

======Intermission======Piss Break Here========

I have never dreaded any second lap more than this one I was about to enter myself into. I downed a Clif Shot and said a prayer. I started climbing in my granny gear, a few college kids were in front and I passed one of them. I was into some deep thinking about turning around and quitting, stomach turning, heat soaked and I was only able to muster up a granny gear effort. What the hell am I doing here??? Why the hell am I abusing myself and no one's around me? I'm not gonna finish this race on the podium so why bother? What are my fans gonna say? What is my wife gonna say? What are my teammates gonna say? Well the last three questions I asked myself,,,,, well actually the last two, was all I needed to keep going. As soon as I answered those questions, I never thought about quitting the race again. I think this is the feeling everyone gets and it was a mental mind fuck for all racers that day. I was fortunate and made it through. I rode up the whole hill with Max and we did great pal! Damn supersoaker guy was reloading his water when I passed by him. I saw Dave walking his bike towards the top of the hill and I hope that him seeing me caused him to jump on his bike and haul ass down Rocky Ridge. I made it down Rocky Ridge with no sweat and saw Dave McCrimmon and Mike Urbina after the short steep hillclimb.

Stiles Ranch AGAIN?????? Ok, I suffered through this once, I'll do it again dammit! This time there were a few sections that I said, I don't have the strentgth to pedal over and hike past them. It was like a death march for everyone that I saw around me. Once over the top and towards the log drop, I see Peter Sterlaccipokemon, camera in hand, I yelled out to him, ' You just want to see me crash, huh!' Well, I dropped off the log, landed ok but in the rut, I tried to jump out of the rut but zilch, zip, nada, I couldn't lift the bars and fell off to the side, Peter laughing and so was I. I knew there were only a few more hills and I was home free. So I made the hills and down the fireroad with a sense of accomplishment that I seldom feel. I finished a hard and hot as hell race and never thought about quitting after my questions were answered!!!!! That was a GREAT race!

I sat down with the crew after the race and felt my back spasm up like never before.

So they posted the results and without those old as hell 40+ farts, I placed 6th!!!!

Big Props to those who had the balls to get out there and race,,,,,, and take pictures.

Nick

PS, I'd like to thank my sponsors, FOX Racing Shox, Chris King, WTB, Clif Bar and Easton for great racing products,,,,,,,and the Union 76 Station on Serramonte Blvd because for them I wouldn't have the gas to get down to San Jose.

Hey! The 40+ guys were in their own class,right? So that means I came in 5th!

Sport Men 30+       24 riders   2 laps       
Place   Name            Team            Time
1   Kevin Kirks         Summit Chutters 1:21:25 * 40+   
2   Rich Davis          Willow Glen Cyc 1:32:21 * 40+       
3   Frank Walden        Team Wrong Way  1:32:52 * 40+
4   Victor Furr         Tropa           1:36:11
5   Paul Oellerich      Team Wrong Way  1:36:17 
6   Allan Sherlock      Team Wrong Way  1:38:13
7   Kevin Crouch        unatt           1:39:58
8   Nick Relampagos     Team Wrong Way  1:44:38
9   Max Zinsman         unatt           1:45:02 * 50+   
10  Brenton Hamilton    Team Wrong Way  1:45:25 * 40+
11  David Ambrose       Team Wrong Way  1:45:48
12  Scott Lukes         unatt           1:47:52
13  Brian Denina        unatt           1:48:02
14  Rob Soderbery       unatt           1:48:28
15  Matt Dunstan        unatt           1:49:13 * 40+
16  Jonathan Mitchell   unatt           2:14:01
17  Bob Lofland         Team Wrong Way  2:32:30 * 40+

Race Report by Julie Brown

My race report is quite dull in comparison to those who had major mechanicals, gnarled and bleeding knees, and popping shoulders!

I'm happy to report that, despite what my doc and physical therapist may think, one can race at Santa Theresa after a collarbone break. Though I couldn't get their warnings out of my head so it wasn't the quickest one lap I've ever raced.

I was going to race Beginner women since I've been off the bike a long time and my last cross country race was back in June. But after reading a seething email from Haneous about people sandbagging in Beginners, I thought it would be less punishing to race Sport than face the wrath of Jeff.

Us one-lappers had to wait till 3:00ish to start, which was a drag because there's not much shade and it was hard not getting overheated just waiting around. Plus the start wasn't real organized so I wasn't clipped in or ready to hit it when they decided to start. I ended up in the back of the pack, which was not in the game plan! Then I proceeded to drop my chain at the start of the fire road climb, which was also not part of the game plan. Bound and determined not to be the last chick out there, I set my sights on someone who looked like easy pickings...the chick with the granny panties showing out the back of her shorts. The fact that I NEVER caught her was pretty humiliating. This race was not turning out to be one of those races where you do better than expected.

Rocky Ridge was kick ass fun...even though there was a smattering of college guys on their 2nd or 3rd laps dying out there, it was good for me because it made me appear to have mad downhilling skills which, anyone who's ridden with me knows, is far from the truth! So I was feeling pretty good coming down Rocky Ridge and had a blast on the fire road sprint to Stiles.

Stiles was the great equalizer...I seemed to have the advantage over people who had much greater skills and endurance since I was fresh as a daisy compared to the hell they'd already endured. So it was kind of fun to still be riding sections where a lot of folks were just trying to get through...of course that was a false illusion of greatness because I ended up falling off the trail and almost into a huge rock (I could hear my damn orthopedist surgeon's "I told ya so..")and was able to get up in one piece. The best part of Stiles is hitting the top and bombing down the other side.

All in all, it was a fun race for me...but I never did catch Granny Panties...who finished right ahead of me.

I want to thank Max and Isaias for getting me out there beforehand -- greatly appreciated! Also, kudos to Jenny for kicking ass and doing two laps and also Patrick for a strong podium finish!

Race Report by Troy Wenski

There's a common theme among these reports; pain, suffering and hell! I was considering joining Street and Isaias in the expert class out of pure stupidity (and encouragement from Street.) Allan Sherlock and I discussed this idea and decided to flip his "lucky" coin to help us make the decision. Fate decided for us to race in the sport class. During that first climb up the fire road I thanked that lucky coin for its ultimate decision allowing me to live to see another day. A third lap certainly would have killed me.

My only notable experience during the race was my "yard sale" near the log drop. I approached it with speed and jumped over the log with full knowledge of the rut running along the trail on the other side. These ruts have a certain gravity that attracts only bike tires (especially when there's an audience with a camera - Peter Sterlacci.) I believe that Nick's tires are made of the same material. Once inside the gravitational well of the rut the only way out is of course over the bars leaving me in the alternate universe of pain.

As I collected my yard sale of bike gear a racer rode by and said "excuse me." Coincidentally that racer was Allan Sherlock. I moved a few lifeless limbs and allowed him to pass by. Then I slowly regained full bodily function. I began hearing a voice in my head saying, "excuse me, excuse me, excuse me...." The voice drove me to pedal harder, and harder, and harder...until I caught up with Alan and a third rider.

The scene was set for a full sprint to the finish. Three riders in an elbow-rubbing, sprinting pack soon became two; Allan and I. We rounded the last corner where I attempted to pass on the narrow inside lane. A small tree reached out and touched me pulling me back with only 100 yards to go. I hit the pedals with everything I had and crossed the finish line just a few milliseconds in the lead.

I was so tired that I did not concern myself with race officials and record keeping. I just kept riding in a delirious haze to the parking lot where my memory of the event begins to fade. The lesson I have learned from this event is that I must train harder so that I will not be so stupid at the end of the next race.

Cheers,

Troy

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