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Ride Report: 03-14-2010 Turnbull Canyon with The Path Bike Shop Group

Posted by Moe Ramirez On March - 15 - 2010

As soon as it was announced that The Path Bike Shop group ride would be hitting Turnbull Canyon in Whittier, Tony and I were stoked. Located in Whittier, CA Turnbull Canyon is Tony and Kim’s home trail and serves as our Tuesday after-work ride. So to say we’re familiar with the trail would be an understatement.

The Path Crew Arrives

Kim, Tony and I were among the first to reach Turnbull Canyon and watched with anticipation as vehicle after vehicle arrived with bikes aboard and when all was said and done we had 18 riders for a Tour-de-Turnbull.

Beautiful weather and weeds as Kim leads Steve and Tony up a climb

It was an amazing day for a ride with the temperatures staying in the 70s and clear skies overhead. Maxwell and Brian W were representing The Path Bike shop and Maxwell’s friend Brian (didn’t catch his last name) served as ride lead and set up the ride plan. Up the fire road, 7th ave loop, down Rattlesnake, Cow Trail loop and finally descend A-side.

The Graffiti Tower

What a ride it turned out to be! With such a large group, usually there are several mechanicals and a diverse set of rider skills and abilities , leading to compromises on the route ridden. But today, everyone was of similar skill and ability and the only mechanicals were a derailleur adjustment and a broken chain. The chain even broke at a powerlink, meaning we didn’t have to pull out a chain breaker to fix it. All said and told, it was an amazing ride with grueling climbs for the XC crowd, jumps and tech lines for the all-mountain/free-riders and a great time for everyone.

Single-Track

Thanks goes out to Brian for setting up the ride, The Path Bike Shop in Tustin for hosting and sending Brian W and Maxwell. Oh, and watch out if you’re at The Path, for some reason I always end up buying a bike if Brian W is there, so be leery of him!

Check out the video I was able to capture with the Vholdr Contour HD 1080p camera and edit with Windows Movie Maker (because it’s free!). Please go to Youtube to view these videos larger and in higher quality (up to 720p). [Just click on the video a second time - 1st click begins playing, 2nd click takes you to the video on Youtube.]

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Race Report – SRC Winter Series XC Race #1 Jan 9th 2010

Posted by Moe Ramirez On January - 13 - 2010

The winter holidays came and went all too quickly for me. I had dreams of a 3 month off-season but the 1st race of the 2010 winter series was approaching quickly and I decided to treat this as training for the bigger races from March to May. It was a beautiful day with temps in the 70s and as usual Don Jackson and his crew at Southridge Racing do an excellent job in providing a fun race environment. I noticed more entrants in the younger categories, it’s great to see more kids getting into this sport!

For Sport, the course was the same as November’s Southridge Challenge – three, 5.5mile laps. This was gonna be a challenge as I do better on the longer courses at Southridge, they have more singletrack and downhill that suit my riding style and help me make up time on the stellar climbers in my category (Sport 27-34). Climbing is my weakness, I have a gut and at 185lbs (5’8″) I’m heavy/stocky for an XC racer. I even have a habit of blowing up in races by sprinting from the start line for too long! After about 6 weeks without training, I knew that I couldn’t hold a sprint very long. So when Donny counted us down and we took off, I dropped into third and planned to keep the leaders in site. We climbed to the water tower and the leaders gradually pulled away and I fell back a few more positions leaving me a panting, sweaty mess as I mushed my way up the hill. I recovered in the single track sections to regain third and moved into second on one of the long downhill sections. My strategy became clear.

On the way to the asphalt road for the water tower climb

I held second to start the next lap and as we climbed to the water tower I was passed again, but I kept my competitors in sight this time. Through the single track I was flowing and managed to close the gap as we approached the downhill where I previously passed. We start heading downhill and I’m cranking hard, building speed to shoot past #2 and eventually the race leader. Next is a short uphill I desperately climb and barely manage to keep the wolves at bay into the next downhill singletrack section where I can build a gap. I finish lap two and begin lap three. I don’t see anyone as I begin to grind my way up to the water tower, my right knee burning in protest as I try to put some power down. After negotiating some of the rolling hills near the water tower as I grit my way up the last climb before the single track, I look back and see 2nd place 10 yards back and attacking! I attack, he knows he is close and is trying to catch me. I sprint, my legs grow thick and heavy with lactic acid, my lungs burn as I sink into oxygen debt my pulse fills my ears, I can only hold this pace for a moment more. I put about thirty yards between us as crest the hill and bomb into the single track. I pedal all the downhills and by the end I enjoy a 2 min victory! Before you think that I was lying about not being in shape, I finished in 1:12:51, in November I finished in 4th with a 1:10:52, so that means that the fast guys just didn’t show up for this race and I’ve got some work to do.

1st XC race win, Sport 27-34

I’ve got to thank the team sponsors for their help, Evomo and Hoss for the cool clothes, IceToolz for the tools and Serfas for the glasses and Ergon for the comfort.

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Race Report – SRC Winter Series DH Race #1 Jan 10th 2010

Posted by Moe Ramirez On January - 12 - 2010

On Jan 10th I headed out to Fontana for one last practice run and my first DH race in the sport category. After a few mishaps in my first couple races, I managed to finish out 2009 with some success in the beginner group and decided it was time to move into sport.

The DH course was a mix of previous Southridge Racing Co courses. With the upper 1/4 from November’s Southridge Challenge and the next 1/4 from July’s Fontana City Nationals. This meant a couple cool lines in the upper section with some berms and fast sections. A rocky chute into soft sand that took out many riders followed by some of the dustiest, loosest S-turns in SoCal! This was followed by a nice g-out hip and then a long pedal to cross the fire road into the usual rock garden and the dreaded wall!

Thank goodness the course was familiar because following the previous day’s XC race I just had nothing in the tank and managed just two practice runs before calling it a day due to exhaustion.

Sunday was a beautiful day and I whipped out the Vholdr Contour HD 1080p helmet cam to record my run. At 2:52 I’m neither happy nor dissatisfied with my time (7th in sport 27-34), I know I’ve got to get quicker if I want to podium, but with three total practice runs, it wasn’t a bad outing.

I’ve got to thank the team sponsors for their help, especially KHS bicycles for the demo Lucky 7 bike to use! Evomo and Hoss for the cool clothes, IceToolz for the tools and Serfas Optics and Ergon for helping us be comfortable.

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Ride: 12-28-2009 Santiago Oaks Solo Ride

Posted by Moe Ramirez On December - 28 - 2009

I’m one of those fortunate souls with the week off from Christmas to New Year’s and decided to take advantage by getting in a ride today. I hate riding alone, but I couldn’t conjure anyone up for a ride this afternoon and I’ve also been meaning to go to The Path bike shop in Tustin for a few weeks to exchange some parts. So I decided to knock a few couple things off the to do list, loaded up the truck, ran a couple errands, headed over to the shop, and finally to play at Santiago Oaks. I was hoping to capture some more video on the Vholdr ContourHD 1080p. I took some video with the point-and-shoot and hoped to edit it with the helmet camera video to make a sick video. Unfortunately, in a bone-headed move, I didn’t charge the ContourHD. Since I had some time to kill, whilst doing laundry, I decided to throw together a little video of the point and shoot footage. Santiago Oaks was in pretty good shape today, a few new ruts have formed from the rain, but for the most part, traction was excellent. The sun was shining and a slight breeze kept the sweat at bay.

I know this is just footage of an average joe, riding a typical trail, but take it for what it is, and ENJOY!

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The Story Behind the Review: KHS Lucky 7

Posted by Moe Ramirez On November - 26 - 2009

I struggled for a couple days to write the review of the KHS Lucky 7. I kept transitioning from reviewing the bike to telling stories about the bike. Finally, I’ve decided that’s exactly what I’m going to do. What follows, is the story of my time aboard this bike. The trips, the rides and the races that the KHS Lucky 7 carried me through. Watch for the review in the upcoming weeks.

The Lucky 7 has been my go to gravity bike this year. Team sponsor KHS cycles has been nice enough to grant me extended time with this demo bike, on the condition it is raced and that I share the results.

Though designed for free-ride use, the Lucky 7 is the go to bike for the KHS race team at smaller DH race courses. However a thorough resume is not a prerequisite for hopping aboard the Lucky 7 and getting the most out of the experience. I was a casual mountain biker, I owned one trail bike and rode two or three times a month. I had other hobbies and interests that split my time. From 2006 till November 2008, that was my riding experience. That’s when I met RL through this very blog and eventually the rest of the Mtnbikeriders team. Which led me into single-speeding, then XC racing and eventually DH racing. So as I, a true newbie to downhill, I began my time with the Lucky 7. The first race [Southridge Winter Series, 2/22/2009, 13th out of 14] was a disaster! I did manage to get the durability testing out of the way immediately, though!

The next race [Southridge Winter Series Finals, 3/22/2009, 10th out of 20] was a lot better! With no dirt naps in-store for me. I began to see the capabilities in the bike and the potential I had to become competitive [in Beginner Men 27-34].   Unfortunately, I would be without the Lucky 7 after this point until a shuttle session at Telonics a couple weeks before the 3rd race of the Golden State series in Fontana on 07/12/2009.

In Telonics I got to ride some real DH terrain on the Lucky 7 and it was amazing! It’s just a forgiving bike that soaks up the small and big hits.   We had a ton of fun and burned through a set of brake pads in the process! Now onto the race, with a two run format and no “wall” to pedal, this is the closest to a true DH race located in So-Cal nowadays.   With a fresh new attitude on DH riding and fresh legs (normally I race XC the day before the DH race), I was able to put together “the run of my life” I recall telling Tony at the bottom. What a rush! To have a clean DH run, one where I honestly felt I rode as fast as I possibly could, clean without any mistakes, I get excited thinking about it! The result was a 3rd place and my first DH podium.

Next up was Mammoth mountain, now this is a true DH race. On a mountain with loose pumice, a nasty rock section, a wall ride and a finish through the 4x track. Mammoth lived up to its name, with a fast race run coming in 4 minutes, the track was over a minute longer than any Fontana run.   The Lucky 7 was beautiful here, through the steep sections, over the jumps and pedaling the straights. We were a team, and we were determined to make it to the podium. Well, we did better than podium, we won!

So, now here we are near the year end. The 18th annual Southridge classic has just concluded (though I’m gonna make you wait for that story). Be sure to check out the upcoming Lucky 7 review and review the 1st impression here. It’s funny, we’re so used to reviews coming from expert and pro riders. It’s true that they can push a bike to it’s limits, but couldn’t they ride almost any bike down the Mountain? Wouldn’t a bike we (mountain bike enthusiast) consider stable and comforting seem slow and unresponsive to them? Anyways, if you don’t want to read a review from a Beginner DH racer, don’t worry. I’m moving up to sport the first race next year. I’ve got to say thanks one more time by the way to KHS Bicycles and their our Lucky 7. Don’t forget to check out the KHS SixFifty 606 too.

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