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RESULTS
Chai, Ron - 1/14 - 9:27 - Beginner Men 25-34
Race Report by Anthony Thaulad Just want to give a quick update on the 007 DH yesterday. There were 5 TWW'er racing in this race:
Ron Chai The weather was great on practice day but it was raining when we all start our run on race day. Result for my category - Beg Men 25-34 (14 racers) :
1st - Ron Chai Finish time: 9:27 (smokin time!!!) I'm not really sure about the results for the others. Ron you're getting faster and faster. You and the guy who took second place are the only one who broke the 10 minute mark in our category. Congratulations!!!! Anthony
Race Report by Ron Chai If you ever wondered where Bass Lake is, it's about 2.5 hrs south east from the east bay area. That's how long it took us to drive home, atleast. Also if you wondered about Bass Lake and never heard of it till now (like me), it's where they filmed The Great Outdoors with John Candy and Dan Ackroid. Attendees were Scott and Shaney, John and Grace, Wes and Trever, Anthony and myself and Susan. The 007 DH course was a totally and I mean totally sweeeeeet course!!! Those of you who missed this event missed a good one. A little over 4 miles of Mr Toads, dead camper, rockville, and Hollister all in one terrific, adrenaline filled, makes me want to cry run. And I heard from one of the locals that the section that the race was held on, was the boring part. I can't remember all of the details but the course started off with some nasty rock gardens which made it difficult to maintain any speed. One could make good time if you really do well in this section. The rock garden turns into twisty single track with a lot of rain bars which act as jumps. Towards the bottom, there were more rain bars and more twisty single track with birmed corners to rail on. The rains earlier in the week helped keep everything packed and tacky. Great traction and fun and fast. A bit vague, I can't remember all of the details but, trust me a very exhilarating course. Friday and Saturday before the race were model days and almost perfect. Of course when race day came along, it rained. I can't seem to get a break with the weather. I also had a long wait before the start of my race which seemed to drag on especially with the rain. The rain made the course a little slick. When my start time was up, the rain decided to come down a little harder (it figures). After 2 seconds of my start I wished I had taken my glasses off. I was the second person to go in my age group and I ended up passing the first person about halfway down, which was a good feeling. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside. I felt good but was sucking wind towards the end. I wanted to keep pedaling but didn't have anything left. The two Red Bulls and cliff shot before my run either came and went without me noticing or just didn't work the way I wanted them to work. As for injuries or damages to the equipment. The only injury I sustained was a bloody knuckle on a shuttle ride to the top. Three words, PINCH POINT, OOOOOUCH!! And a nice dent/flat spot on my brand spankn' new Sun Doublewide wheel set, dammmmmmmm!!!! All the TWW'ers finished in one piece, which is good. Wes got 5th in his sport class. Anthony finished 5th. I forgot what Scott finished in. John was plagued with mechanicals the whole weekend and fogged glasses. I got my first, first place finish, YAHOOOOO!!!! And no I'm not a sandbagger. And my comment that I made at dinner on saturday the night before, I meant first place at a NORBA race. Marla Streb got first for pro women at 8:58 ish. Nathan Rennie (the Brit) who also races pro for Yeti, who also had the fastest time ever at Holister, who also won at Sea Otter pulled in a 8:30 ish. Now time to clean the bike. Ron
Race Report by John Cardinalli I have to agree with everyone else. The 007 was one fun course. The race promoter said he wants to run another race maybe in Oct. (hope, hope, hope). Anyone who did not make this race and is interested in DH should make an effort to go to the next one if it happens. I'm really looking forward to going back to Bass Lake and checking out more of the trails. I had a great time, but I'm extremely disappointed in my race results. I was really hoping to finally get a respectable finish. I was starting to feel really comfortable with the course, but when race time came, I fell apart. I hit a large bolder with my fork at the top of the course twisting my front end. I had to get off the bike to pry my handlebar back to a somewhat straight position. When I got going again, I was completely blind because my glasses had fogged up from breathing hard and not moving fast enough to clear them. I had to stop again to remove my glasses (couldn't find my jersey pocket on the move). By this time I was really pissed at how things were going. The rain was coming down hard, the course was getting really slick and sloppy, and I was getting mud sprayed into my now unprotected eyes. Last but not least I dropped my back tire into a rut running down the trail and that caused me to do a lowside washout and get a nice mud bath. So much for my race. Congrats to Ron for his win! NOW MOVE UP! Congrats to Anthony for his podium finish! Not sure how Wes and Scott placed, but I know they turned in smokin times. John
Race Report by Wes Taylor 007 DH race Race notes: *Awsome course - banked corners, rock garden, jumps, ruts, tight corners. I will definitely go back up - rides or racing. *Ron continues to sandbag (congrats anyway, Ron). Somebody move him to Sport please. *excellent weather (up to my run - nasty and wet just after). *so-so operations. It was the promoters first DH and I think that it showed. He had some scoring troubles that I saw (messed up Rich's time and lost the electronic race results) and the event didn't flow as smoothly as Hollister did. *Decent raffle after the race. I walked away with a video and most everybody that stayed got something. *Summary - thumbs up. Results:
Ron "sand bagger" Chai
Anthony Thaulad
Scott Schlacter
John Cardinalli
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