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Ride DH Series #1 Wow, big turnout for this first race, especially for a weekend forecasted with so much rain! It always gets my juice pumpin' to pull into a parking lot filled with racers, banners, and killer bikes! Well, first the bad news: Ron, after committing to the whole series, had neck problems flare up and wasn't able to make it :-(. Wes, struggled with not 1, but 2 flats! The first on his practice run, and the second on his race run. (Mechanicals suck!) While I was kickin' it at the finish line after my run, I witnessed at least 4 flats cross the finish line, 1 broken chain, and 1 chain that wrapped around the BB shell twice! Now for the good news: We had great weather! The overcast kept temperatures cool, but not too cold, and the rain the night before and drizzle in the morning made for great ground conditions! Most of the corners were loose from so many people practicing, but the course was in great shape overall. We had great results! (in my not-so humble opinion): Beg 35-44:
Jon Heim (who joined us on 1/9): 1st/12 (his 2nd DH race! Rumored
to have cleaned the climb to the top too!) Sport 25-34: Me 7th/20 Sport 35-44:
Rich Davis (a friend) 5th/12 I've taken a few parking lot pictures, and plan on doing some more on the same roll as the series progresses. It sounds like Grace got a few action shots yesterday. Rumor had it that there was a photographer from Bicycle mag there... That's it. If anyone is interested in joining us for the next one, it's a fun course, and I think a great one for early-season introductions to Downhilling... Some of the fastest times were on hardtails: I talked with a guy who used to be in my cat, who is now in Expert, and he did a 4:17 on his hardtail! (which got him a 2nd place in Expert 25-34!).
-Scott
Ride DH Series #2 Race Report by Ron Chai Hey Y'all!! Sunday February 13th Hollister DH Series Race #2. A miserable wet, WET day for a race. Did I mention that it rained the whole freakn' day... I've been drier swimming in my pool. But as most mountain biking adventures go, it was a great time with the guys. Myself, Wes, Scott, Tom and the guy whose name I can never remember but I think it's Jon. My day started out at 5am, got on the road at 5:30 and was at Wes's house by 6:00. Why did we leave so early??? Read on and you will see. We rolled into the parking at about 8:30 ish (I forget, I was too sleepy). We stood around for while talking to other guys and getting our race registration stuff completed. During this period, I was bitchn' about the rainy weather(which is very unusual for me). Wes and I agreed to gear up an get a practice run in. Since there are no shuttle rides available, you have to walk or if you're running tripple rings up front, you might be able to ride up. It takes about 40 to 50 minutes to hike to the top, and yes a pain in the arse!!! They close all practice sessions at 10am, that's when the racing begins. Thus, the reason for leaving early in the morning. My race began at 2:17pm. So, what did I do to pass the time? Bitched and moan about the rain, what else(what again??). I took it easy on the practice run. My goal was to check out the course conditions. That way for the main event, I can open up a can of wup-ass!! Most of the course drains well because of the sandy soil conditions. But, there were some sections that were very soupy and slick. The course: The course itself is a great course. Fast single track, technical deccents, double jump at the top, a jump over a creek, and whole lotta of fun. The race starts off with a fast meandering single track. A rain rut runs down the center of it, so you're finding yourself hopping to either side of it. Not too bad, there is a line to take. You then come up to a steep, very rutted section into a hard right. Very slippery and no good line to take that I know of, I just stay to the far left hand side and hope for the best. A short gentle rise comes after and is the only real peddling section. The sections after this I always seem to forget the details. I know it includes the double jump and some of the fastest twisty single track. More rain ruts down the center, but you use these to your advantage in the corners. They act as little birms, you drop in and hold on. Some of the corners are blind, so if you stray to wide watch out, I know there is most likely a lengthy drop off on the other side. This is an important section that makes up the bulk of the course, I think. I'm sure I scrub off a lot of time here. Next is a hard left that I can never seem to hit right. I ended coming to a complete stop here. Down to another fast steep rutted section, hard right, straight and fast to a sweeping left, pass all the spectators, stay to the left to hit the bump that launches you over the creek. Then the home stretch, peddle, peddle, peddle... Completely exhausted and drenched too the bone. But, what a RUSH!!! I don't know all the times that everyone got, unfortunately. I think Scott will send those out. The beginners times weren't posted due to trying to operate electrical equipment in the rain. This mishap will probably reflect in next years fees. I'll give them a call during the week to get my time and send it out. I'm going to sleep good tonight!! Ron "nappy" Chai
Ride report by Jon Heim Wow, that was fun. Not much different than paddling out in a 3-4 wetsuit in a 4 foot swell, except we were on two wheels instead of two fins. Yes, rain all day, everywhere. Amazingly though the course does not get too affected by it. There was a lot of standing water, but due to the sandy decomposed granite soil it doesn't get real muddy. Last time I went off course at the first sharp left hand turn ignoring all the sage advice to stay on the inside line. This time I actually crashed at the same turn and derailed the chain after again ignoring the consensus of what to do there. I tried to salvage as much momentum as possible by keeping one hand gripped to the bike as I rolled over and past it. It must have looked like some sick and twisted square dance move. Once I got spinning again I realized I had dechained and was having trouble gripless shifting it back into place. Moral of this story - the chain guide and tensioner go back on for race day. Somehow the chain found its home just in time for the rollercoaster up and over rise by the tree(?)/rock(?) before the freeway section. Pissed about crashing, I went for broke from there on. I nailed the spectator corner and cleared the creek, which had swollen to twice its size. The section from there to the finish is fun and fast and not too rutted, but there is a cruel little rise right at the end, just as you are going back into oxygen debt. Somehow I ended up first out of 13, beg 35-44. My self timed time was about 5 min flat. Surprisingly, most of the classes were actually bigger at this race the first race. A very good time was had by all once again. See you at the next one. Jon Heim
Ride report by Scott Schlachter Great job Jon! Thanks for posting the course description. I personally felt I could have done a better time if I only used a kayak instead of my Karpiel, but oh well (how's that for taking the excuse wagon to a whole new level?)... One very valuable lesson was learned - only stupid people use sunglasses in a rainy DH race, especially if they have goggles in their truck that they could have used instead. It was funny how there were actually more people out there enduring that foul weather this time. It simply contributes more to my theory that cyclists in general are a masochistic bunch... Personally, even though I struggled to see all of the objects in front of me, racing down the middle of a river while it's raining was actually fun as hell. I managed a 5.09.something, which somehow got me 18th out of 26 - which was cool since I was expecting a DFL by the time I made it to the bottom of that blurry thing... -Scott
Ride report by Tom Kramer It rained NON-STOP. But that can't stop DH'ers. There were a record 215 entrants yesterday, topping the 185 at the sunny Hollister #1 race. Most courses would be unacceptable after so much rain (Sizzler), but this wasn't really that bad. Very good run-off, and only a few puddles. I satisfied my two goals: stay on the bike, and, keep my wet grips on. My grips were spinning, so they were somewhat a distraction. I would have blamed all this for my 7th out of 13, but last race I got 6th of 12. Oh well, I guess I need to get a little crazier. This is a fast, fun course. Ever ride a luge? Got a couple nice comments on the BMX jerseys - good job Mike. I was running my WTB Laser DH Moto Raptors, which are low profile, but double thick to prevent pinch flatting. I've been running these on my Intense since Downieville and have been extremely pleased with them - no flats yet. I have them inflated to about 25 psi. I was concerned they may be a little slippery yesterday, but they did great. I would strongly recommend these tires for dh'ing (they're toooooo heavy for xc).
Ride report by Wes Taylor What? Weather problems at Holister? I thought the weather was great (quack, quack, quack). Great day. The course was super soupy, but hey, those are the races that you remember. Ah well, even if I didn't take first, I wasn't DFL, no mechanicals, and I won a jersey in the raffle after the race. The thought for the day - check the rain gear before the next race. Wes
1/11 - Heim, Jon - Beginner Men Senior 35-44 - 4.58.13
Ride DH Series #3 Where do I begin?? Let me see....it rained, then it rained some more, then sprinkled a bit, then rained and when it was finally time to go home, it stopped raining and the sun came out. That pretty much sums it up. It felt like deja vous from race #2 except this time, factor in the cold. There seemed to be a bite in the air. It was myself, Wes, his son Trevor, Scott Schlachter and two guys who's names I can never remember and Jon Heim. Tom Kramer was nowhere to be found. The attendance seemed to be lower this time than the last, probably because of the freakn' RAIN!! Wes and I got there early again to squeeze in a practice run before the race. The key items I wanted to work on in practice, if you remember from my race #2 report, was the sharp right hander at the top, the sharp left hander where the course intersects with the trail that leads to the top and the trail that goes AROUND the double jump. Last race I came to a complete stop in these turns and I was always hard on the brakes before the jump so I could role the doubles. The course, I noticed, is getting really rutted and I was concerned about my run later in the day. The two turns seemed to work fine if I held my lines and the jump by-pass was a blessing, as I didn't have to slow down. Aside from the rain and the cold, I was ready. Come race time, I came into these corners way too hot and lost my line, typical of me. And guess what, came to a complete stop AGAIN!! The real thrill was being able to keep my speed and blow by the doubles, I think that alone definitely saved me some time. About 50 feet before the finish, I flatted but I managed to finish the race before it really impacted me. I didn't get my time but I placed a kick ass 2nd!! Wes finished 6th but I didn't get his time, I don't know what Scott or those two guys got, and Jon got 3rd after loosing his chain, flatting and having to run it in, amazing! To top it off, I won something in the raffle that was worth something. Marla Streb was fist place pro women at 4:32ish and I heard the top pro men was a 4:06ish, WOW!! It was miserable at the time but reflecting back right now, it was a great time and no one got hurt. Ron
15/25 - Schlachter, Scott - Sport Men Senior 25-34 - 4.51.04
Ride DH Series #4
No wetsuit required this time. Lets see, Ron had a great time at 4:41 for 2nd, Scott looked real smooth coming through Hollywood corner and ran a 4:38, Tom biffed and had to bust out the arc welder and bridgeport mill, perform some trailside repairs and still got a 5:30ish. Not sure what Wes ran. I finally had a crash- and mechanical-free run with a 4:35. Won the race and the overall series. My time would have have won the sport class in my age group, but before you go screaming s-bagger, I asked if I could move up, but my series points wouldn't transfer blah blah blah. Mark and Eve were taking action shots. Big fun once again! Race Report by Ron Chai
One small correction, I wish I came in second but it was 4th, unless you
know something that I don't. But, 4th still isn't bad, it was my fastest
time yet. The first place in my group had a 4:38, second was a 4:39, third
was a 4:40 then me. We were all really close together. I don't know what I
finished overall but I was 7th overall going into the race, missing the
first race really did me in. Top pro man got somewhere in the 3:58ish.
Race Report by Scott Schlachter
Great job Ron - You just about kicked my butt again. Big thanks goes to
Mark and Eve for providing cheering and taking pictures - sounds like we
might be convincing Eve that DH isn't so scary afterall... Wes, I think I
got a good picture of you, but I have to wait and develop my film - it just
kept going after 27... I must have gotten a 36 roll... Race Report by Tom Kramer Despite crashing (I managed a time of 5:29) I probably had my best run of the series. My best course time was 5:08, so I'm sure I would have bettered that. Most memorable, was "Going for it!" on the rock jump near the end of the race. This is an alternate path that I haven't taken before (too intimidating if you look at it too long), but caught major (for me) air. Oh, what a feeling! Couldn't really ask for better weather. Congrats to Jon and Ron; we all had WrongWay fun.
1/11 - Heim, Jon - Beginner Men Senior 35-44 - 4.35.00 |