Today is “The Moe’s” Birthday!
We celebrated his bday at the race yesterday with some cupcakes. We also gave him a nice present!
Happy Birthday Buddy!
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Archive for November, 2008
RL the “Team Manager’s” Race Report: Mt Sac Fat Tire Classic
On November - 3 - 2008
The Mt Sac Fat Tire Classic has to be one of the most fun races here in SoCal. It literally brings riders from all over the place in all riding levels the opportunity to try mountain bike racing.
The first race of the day for our riders was at 8:45 am. The next race wasn’t due to start until 11:45am. So that meant that I had to make sure that we had everything we needed such as food, canopy, gels, and family packed and ready to go just so we can be at the venue bright and early to cheer on Eric and Joe.
What made this race interesting was the rain that came down the night before. That morning Eric had called me from the venue, while I was still at home getting ready, to let me know that it was “misting hard.” When we got there, the rain was starting to come down a bit harder but it eventually cleared by the first race.
We set up our RAD Redline Bicycles Tent (thanks gOrK!) and got things ready for the day. We wanted to make sure our racers and family members were taken care of, so we had a BBQ for them. Our menu included flame broiled hamburgers and hot dogs, Salmon, and Mahi Mahi. We also had cup cakes and a pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.
Around 8:40am the racers lined up and at exactly 8:45am, they all took off. Eric had a great start and showed his strength when he started mashing up the first hill. Joe, the Ninja that he is, easily snuck by and with his cat like reflexes, clawed his way through the other riders.
Here’s Eric and Joe coming by the Feed Zone. The feed transitions were almost perfect with the guys…except one time when I handed off the bottle to Joe and it either slipped out of his hands or his cage. But luckily one of the other feeders from another team grabbed his water bottle and ran it over to Joe…nice guy eh!
Ok I’m going to move on to the next race. I’ll go back and talk about Joe and Eric’s race results along with the rest of the team.
So now we move onto the next race in which Priscilla, Kim, Moe and our friends Val and Ner participating in. The beginner’s group is a large one…the organizers said that they must have had at least 100 racers in there.
In Priscilla’s category, Beginner Women, 34 and under she had about 6 in her field. Kim also had about 6 in her field of Beginner Women, 34 and over. The girls did a phenomenal job during this race and you can see them methodically planning their attacks through out the course. In one instance, after a big climb, the girl that was currently in 2nd place (Priscilla’s group) slowed down after the descent and decided to relax, but it was at this time Priscilla took advantage of the situation and hammered it.
Here’s what I was talking about, the girl in the red took it easy as soon as she got down. Priscilla went wide and passed her.
Kim used what she knows from years of riding XC into practice on the competition. She held her position during the race and never let anyone in her group pass her.
Then there was Ner and Val. We’ve ridden with these guys so many times and we knew that Val has the ability to mash it, but what we were all blown away with was Ner’s ability to ride. In all of our group rides, Ner sand bags it…He literally is a humble rider and doesn’t let on that he can mash. At the race, he held a good position and finished strong.
Ner and Val
Then there was THE MOE. You have to understand his mentality on this race. TM had no plans on winning the Beginner 35 and up class, nope. He had a personal vendetta he had to settle. This race was to redeem himself from the Bonelli Race in which he had mechanical problems that caused him to stop. This time he took care of all the bike problems, trained hard and rode with heart.
TM wasn’t concerned about other riders, all he did was “RIDE HIS RIDE.”
TM was pretty determined and only took a shot of MotoTabs during the feed station, the first time he passed by, he simply said, “no thanks…” TM had this calm but eerie confidence during the ride. He wasn’t loud, he wasn’t screaming, he just rode…by the way, Nice Jersey!
Ok now for the results…The girls did an AWESOME Job in bringing home the goods! Kim placed 3rd and Priscilla 2nd!
Eric came in at a respectable 5th place. Good Job Animal! Is that a Coke and Rum in your hands?
For the rest of the fellas, though they didn’t place. They all had a level of satisfaction being able to finish strong and having a great time. I’d like to thank all of the racers for making it out, and a big thanks to Redline Bicycles for the tent, KHS Bicycles for the Hammer Gels and Water Bottles, to Evomo Clothing for your stylish clothes, Hoss MTB for the awesome gear you guys make, ERGON USA for the fantastic grips!
I’ve compiled a small video of the race. The other riders will be posting their own reports, but in the mean time enjoy!
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Mt. SAC Pre-Ride, Part II
On November - 1 - 2008
Ner and I met RL, Priscilla and Eric at the Mt. SAC parking lot just a little after 7AM this morning. As RL stated on the previous post, many parts of the course were not marked yet. Prior to running into the Incycle guys, we took a stab at the course and rode approx 3 miles until we were diverted back towards the parking lot.
From the parking lot we can see the Incycle guys marking the trail. We fiddled with our bikes for a bit and installed our new gear from Ergon. After giving the SC Velo guys some time, we headed back to the course. This time around they opened up a singletrack with in the 1st three miles. Un-groomed, it was very bumpy and a little difficult going through it.
Making our way to the last cut-off (that diverted us back to the car) new signs were up towards another singletrack. This led us towards the back section of “the farm” and Mt. SAC. Reaching the tunnel towards the farm, the gate was closed so we just headed towards the end of the course via last hill, which appears to be the dreaded hill. On the other side would be the final descent.
Enjoy the video, it should capture majority of the course.
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Training Day-Mt Sac Pre-Ride
On November - 1 - 2008
This morning the MtnBikeRiders.com crew headed out to the Mt Sac trail to pre-ride the course for tomorrow’s race. When we got there the trail wasn’t marked and since this venue is actually at a college, most of the access to the rest of the trails were closed.
We eventually caught up with the SC Velo guys who were marking up the path. We followed them like a shadow to get a feel for what the racers will have to deal with tomorrow. As usual, I brought out the camera to take shots of our riders.
We also just got our gear from Ergon USA. They provided the Team a set of BD-1 Team back packs and grips. Here’s Eric (single speed phenom) and Priscilla with their new goods.
Here’s Priscilla’s new GX1 Ergon Grips.
Here’s the first climb.
It was kinda frustrating dealing with some of the ungroomed single track…
Eric, Joe and Ner.
Check out this picture that was next to the trail…
Tomorrow should be a great race, the whole team will be there. We’ll post our race reports soon enough, wish us luck!
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