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I woke up Sunday morning with a bit of excitement flowing through my blood. Joe and I had been texting each other all night about racing the tandem and now that the day has come, it was show time!

After the Cat1/2 races, Joe and I suited up and gathered by the staging area to wait for our turn to race. While we were waiting, we quickly made new friends and even met one of our readers, Ken Choi who happen to be racing in the same category as we were. Not sure if I mentioned this, but the race organizers from SC Velo, granted us access to the race as long as we did so within the normal category that I would have participated in. That meant we’d be in the Beginner Men 27-34.

Not sure if you noticed but Joe and I are matching from head to toe. White helmet, MtnBikeRiders.com XC Jersey, Spenco Gloves, Camelback hydration packs,Serfas Hydra eyewear, black crew socks and white-ish shoes.

Prior to the race, we had a person come up to us who just raced in Cat 1-2 to ask me this question…”Do you have enough bike handling skills to do this on a tandem?” I looked at him and responded, “Psssh, dude, I’m BAD ASS!” Nuff said.

We were lucky enough to be graced with the presence of The Moe who helped out with the cheering and photographs. Check us out, were Serfas (eye wear) Triplets!

When the race officially started, Joe and I started from the back and meandered through the pack. On the flats, we were going at a pretty good clip. Then we hit the first climb then onto the first descent. I had just swapped out the brake pads the night before and this was my first opportunity to to really test them. As I applied the rear brakes to make the turn, they seem to be working, yet very anemic.

We made our way towards the first single track…ugh, what a disaster. We tried to muscle through it, but the off-camber trail kept pushing us off the trail. Eventually we had to pull off to let the other riders through then run the rest of it. There was a new set of switch backs that was cut into the hillside that we tried to go up on. Unfortunately, that too was unsuccessful, instead we hiked-a-bike it straight up. Once we got to the top, we had to go down. There was a bit of a bottleneck on the switchbacks with riders stopping. At this point, Joe jumped off the tandem, and ran down the trail to meet me on the bottom. While he waited, I put my bike handling skills to use. I rode every single portion of those switchbacks without a problem. Joe jumped back on and off we were towards another climb and a short descent in which we were met with encouraging cheers from our fans…Moe, Priscilla and Joe’s fiance, Kym and his son Jake.

Near the feed zone, Moe greeted us with more encouragement. I was hoping Priscilla would have passed me a turkey sandwich, but no dice. Joe and I made our way up the steep switch back climbs, as we were doing so, we kept giving each other pep talks to make sure we kept focused on our cadence.

One section that Joe and I had some anxiety about was the long downhill in which all the spectators will gather at to watch. At first we had thought about just letting me ride down while Joe would run down. But after tackling some technical portions of the course, we felt pretty confident in our tandem skills, so we went for it!

Now that we had completed 1 of 2 laps, we headed back out for some more. By the way, the Ergon GC3 grips were excellent in providing the extra leverage I needed to control the tandem.

Joe and I had such a blast racing the course. But I’m not going to lie, it was TOUGH! I have to give Joe some major props in being a great stoker. He kept the pep talks going and was my second set of eyes and legs on the course. I’d like to take this time to thank the folks of SC Velo for organizing a fantastic event. I also want to thank our Team Sponsors, Evomo Clothing, Ergon, Ice Toolz, VIP Energy,Dirty Dog MTB and Serfas

I do want to mention that I won the Granny Gear Race! I earned myself a cool $50! Below is the video from the race and if you watch it towards the end, you’ll see footage from the Granny Gear Race, good times!

Photo credit: Ken Choi, Robert Medina, Joe Roberto and JS3 Images.
Video Credit: MtnBikeRiders.com

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Repeat after me, “Speed is your friend. Speed is your friend.”

7 out of 11 in my category. 2 laps, 6 miles/lap = 12 miles with a time of 1:14 minutes. The winner of the sport class, our friend Ryan, won his class with 3 laps in 1:05. Ouch! That dude is a machine.

This was my first race ever and like any newb, I was in for a surprise. Thankfully, I had my mtnbikeriders.com buddies to address my myriad of questions. How does the start work? How many hills? How long is the course? How do I pass someone on the singletrack? Is there anything I should know about the route? I’m sure they were all sick of me by the time the race was on. Thanks all for being patient.

If you had told me that I’d come in 7 out of 11 in my class before the race, I would have been happy with my result. After all this was my first time and the race was just a chance to have some fun. As long as my family had a good time hanging around for the race/ awards ceremony and I didn’t come in last or DNF then I was cool with my time and where I’d place. Of course, that’s not how I felt after the race.

No full suspension here. Just a rigid Redline 29er

Have you ever gotten done with something and thought to yourself: “I could have done soooo much better?� Well, that’s kind of how I felt. And I guess that’s what I’m going to use to motivate me to do better next time.

I really have no defining moments of the race for me, but I did have some quick thoughts on it. So here we go.

- The start of the race was anticlimactic for me. I expected a rush of adrenaline or something like that, but nothing. I just clipped in and started riding. I knew I didn’t have the stamina to go all out at the beginning and ride at that pace throughout the race, so I held back on the start. And anyways, it is always nicer to catch and pass people than to feel like you’re being chased the whole race… at least that’s what I convinced myself of!

Outta the way, CLYDESDALE is coming through!

- I never knew there were so many different ways to climb 2 hills. Unbelievable! Climb up on the east side, descend down the west side. Climb the south side and descend the north side. All of this on the same hill. After finishing the race, I had a new appreciation for trail design.

- 29ers make great XC race bikes. I found myself passing a lot of people on the flat sections because I could keep my momentum better then they could. I also cleared some climbs when other riders walked due to a 29ers different contact patch. (You didn’t think you could get through a post of mine without hearing about some 29er advantages now could you?)

Uh-oh! Rider down

- Speed is your friend. The last section of the race is a nice downhill section. It isn’t too gnarly, but enough that it can throw a scare into you. As I rode down it, I sort of let go of the brakes for a good portion because I thought I could control it. I did end up controlling the descent fine and I think it mainly has to do with speed. The more speed you have the easier it is to get through the more difficult sections of that downhill.

Our pop up tent was set up right below descent and we could see people coming down that hill. Those that were going slow were having a much more difficult time with the descent than those going fast. In fact the only guy I saw fall on that descent was going way too slowly. Speed is your friend.

I too want to thank Khoa for all the great shots. Thanks for coming out, hanging with us and taking the great shots. Thanks also for helping lug some of our gear around. I’m really glad that you came out to support us and the photos turned out great.

Also, thanks to the rest of the mtnbikeriders crew. My family had a great time hanging out with you all.

More pictures here.

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As you’ve already read, Priscilla mentioned that the MtnBikeRiders crew raced yesterday’s Mt. Sac Fat Tire Classic. My daughter Breanna and I raced in the tandem category.

Here we are heading up to the starting line.

Did you notice our streamers…that’s to psych out the competition and if we needed to, we can take them off to whip the riders next to us so they don’t pass, you know a little Ben Hur action.

Here we are right when they said go. You can see Priscilla behind me all serious. She eventually passed us and a bunch of other riders.

Being in the tandem category, we had to ride 12 miles, basically 2 of the 6 mile loops. As much as Priscilla says it wasn’t a tough trail, I’m going to have to say that this was one of the most brutal courses out there…especially on a tandem. This trail had single track, steep climbs and descents, sand, ruts and cow patties…nasty!

We did race against another tandem couple. These two were riding an impressive Ventana with 8″ brake rotor, dual suspension…and basically a tandem made for mountain biking. Breanna and I were on our KHS Alite…it originally came with a rigid fork and we’re using v-brakes to stop us, plus its a hard tail.

This is our competition…

Before the race, Breanna and I talked about our goals for the event. For one thing we wanted to have tons of fun. Another goal was to finish the race. So for the fun factor, had had blast! We kept saying hi to people that we were riding next to, waving to the other tandem riders, and enjoying the scenery. As far as finishing the race…I have to tell you it was hard. At one point we stopped to rest and Breanna says to me, “Why am I doing this! It’s so hard!” But she knew that we agreed to finish the race so she never mentioned giving up.

There were a few times when I would ask her if she needed to rest, you know so she can let her legs feel better from all the climbing…she passed on the opportunity to rest and suggested we keep going.

The thing that trips me out the most is going down hills on our tandem. For one thing, this bike needed some disc brakes and a rear suspension. But as much as I wanted to worry, Breanna, on the other hand was having a blast. While we’re going down, she’s yell out…”weeeeee!”

On our second lap of the course, we thought we were the last ones. But we immediately felt better when we passed two other guys on the trail. The second time around we actually did way better. Just because we knew where to make up for lost time by mashing it, and where to rest on the down hills.

So after riding the course for 1 hour and 36 minutes, Breanna and I finished!

When the results were finally posted, the awards ceremony started. We waited patiently for them to call our names. Yup sure enough the announcer says, “Beginner’s Tandem, 2nd Place…RL and Breanna Policar!”

Here we are with our new trophy!

I’m very proud of Breanna for racing with me. She was such a trooper out there and refused to give up. Not only is she strong, but she’s got heart, so much so that she wouldn’t let her dad rest…Again I’m VERY proud of my girl Breanna!

Here’s our mantle with the two trophies that the Policar family got to take home. Priscilla’s is the one on the left and ours is on the right.

I do want to say thanks to KHS Bicycles for building an awesome tandem bike. For my boys Vince C. and Vince R. for hooking us up with KHS jerseys, I can’t forget about Khoa N. for his photographic skills and ofcourse my family for encouraging us through out the race. Thanks!

By the way, if you’re interested in more pictures from the event, check out our gallery HERE.

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Wooh! I can’t believe the day came and went so fast! If you check into the site regularly then you know the mtnbikerider crew has been planning for this race for a long time now. Actually RL and Moe have been planning for this day since fat tire of 2005! But we won’t get into that right now. Haha.
Today RL, myself, Lance, and Jeremy entered the Mt Sac race. And a BIG thank you to photographer extroardinare, Khoa, who joined us just to encourage us and take some great photos. Thanks Khoa! What a nice guy – and girls he is single!!! ;D

We are smiling in this pic because we haven’t started yet. haha.

What a great race. Some gnarly climbs and a couple of fun falls..not bad. A little sandier out there than i prefer but it was all good. I wouldn’t describe it as a very technical ride but definitely a challenge.

This is my ‘OMG! What am I doing out here?!?!?’ face. hahaha. Love it!

The pic above completely captures the way I felt out there today. This race was as much of a mental race as it was physical. Complete mental and physical exertion! I can’t tell you how many times I told myself “I give up, this is it, I am not going any further.” Really tough. I can’t remember the last time I fought so hard to keep myself going. And with each negative thought I had to discipline myself with a positive thought or cry out in prayer. Every limb in my body burned. My heart felt like it was going to explode, my legs hurt so bad, and my lungs ached!!! And I was only on mile two. Uuuggghhh! Constantly I was asking myself, why am I doing this? What was I thinking? This is awful! And still I pedaled on.

There were many thoughts that kept me going today. Sometimes it was just focusing on that one man or woman ahead of me…trying to pass them up. Many times it was remembering all the different trails we conquered this summer and comparing this trail to it. This trail isn’t so bad I would think – I climbed Chino Hills and the Luge! I had to remind myself that I had goals to achieve. I just needed to pass up a couple of guys and finish this within an hour! And sometimes I would just beg God for strength. Anything and everything to finish.

These kinds of circumstances definitely push you to your physical and mental limits. I think it’s these times that define who we have become and what we are made of. I thought today that maybe I may never do another race again..but then I thought about how much I was able to overcome today and that incredible feeling of accomplishment. I heard the most negative, and ugly thoughts in my head today and I was able to overcome that. Now THAT feels good. My daughter shared a quote with me today that summed it all up “Pain is weakness leaving the body”. Great quote. I think I will do another race.

And by the way, after all that, I did end up placing 2nd place in my division! Brought home my own shiny trophy too! But that was just an added bonus. Best of all I was able to pass up a few guys out there – and in a skirt too! hehehe. I even surpassed my goal of finishing it within an hour – I finished in 38min. Nice.

Many thanks to the boys of mtnbikeriders. Thank you RL for your encouragement and to Moe, Jeremy, Lance, and Khoa for your inspiration and the swift kicks in the rear out on the trails! You guys rock! I wouldn’t ride today like I do if it weren’t for you guys.

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