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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My day started off brewing coffee at 4:00 am, not uncommon during the work week, but probably not the best thing to do before a race. I could not sleep. I kept turning the news on checking the current
weather conditions. The night before, the news said it going to start raining at 4:00am on race day. One part of me wanted it to rain it would be like the Camp Pendleton Mud Run but only with a bike under you, and another part of me wanted my wife and baby to be at the race warm and dry. Well the rain held out long enough for our MtnBikeRiders Team to race in really nice conditions, and keep the wife happy- choose your battles wisely.

My race started at 10:00am Single Speed 34 and under. I had my work cut out for me, some of the other Single Speeders included Mark Mumea & Calvin Lefebvre both have laundry list of races under their belt.

Our course was 4 laps, 16 miles total. First lap I was going like crazy with every body else about 21 minutes for the first lap, then I settled into my groove. Knocking the hills down one at a time and before I knew the race was half way done. The SC VELO XC CHALLENGE race was a lot of fun, everybody I ran into that day was in such a great mood fellow racers included.

I had some great competition from a gearie in the middle of the race. I threw my chain off in a rough downhill section and the gearie comes zipping by and says,”I didn’t think I was going to catch you”. I
put my chain back on as fast as possible. I took a gamble and rode with the loose chain for the rest of the race instead of burning up minutes trying to set the chain tension just right. It paid off because I caught and passed the gearie. The gearie caught up with me after a few downhill sections [ I am riding a full rigid he was on full suspension] he said,”Hey single speed I’m back” . He kept the pressure on and we were passing other racers together going uphill. We had are own race within the race. I pulled away half way though the fourth lap and BAM! threw the chain one more time with 1 mile to go before the finish line. I look back as I am putting my chain on and the gearie is in sight. The race is still on. Well I finish without any more hiccup’s or positions lost to a Warm welcome at the finish from family, friends, and strangers alike.

I end up on the podium in second place, second to Mark Mumea. This was such a fun event and a great beginning to the SC Velo Triple Crown.

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Oh boy, oh boy do I have a story to share with you! I am still licking my wounds, or wiping them I should say (Road Rash Kit first impressions are coming soon) but I definitely wanted to share my racing adventures with y’all! If you don’t care to read my looonnng race recap then save yourself that bad attitude and skip to the end! And first off I have to thank my wonderful husband, aka resident mechanic, for all his hard work and race prep. He did work really hard to make sure my bike and family were ready to go on race day. Thanks babe!

This is the second race I sort of, er, well kinda, sorta, trained for. Running counts as training right? Hehe. Well it sure was pretty out here is Socal. Nice warm day. And I was super anxious about this race because I haven’t ridden as much as I would have liked to. But it was all or nothing.

A little pre race warm up~

I already paid the $48, and darnit, I was going to get my monies worth! So I lined myself up with the other female riders before the clock starts. “Hhhmm. These ladies look kinda fit,” I thought to myself. “Oh wow. These women are all wearing sponsored jerseys by some big names. Lots of spandex here. Geez. Well it’s alright Priscilla”, I thought to myself. Every race needs an underdog, don’t be intimidated. I didn’t even start the race yet and I was already feeling defeated. “Um, excuse me”, I asked the intense looking, spandex wearing female next to me. “This is the spot for the beginners, isnt’ it???”. Clock is ticking. We were the next group up to start. “No, this is the expert women” she said. WHEW!!! THAAANK GOD! That’s all I needed to hear! I was outta there quick and back to the end of the line! Oh man, what a relief! I found the correct sign and was feeling a whole lot better! Hehe.

Feeling a little intimidated….hehehe.

And so began my adventures for the day. I started the race with prayers, asking God to make it impossible for me to race if something bad were going to happen. It’s good to have the big G on your side! ;D

Lots of racers!

It doesn’t matter your age, or how long you have been riding, how many races you have done. We all are thinking the same thing. We check out the sharpie marked numbers on each others legs to see how many we are competing against. We all have the same doubts as we size each other up. For men it may be each others bikes. Women, we check out each other’s bodies. We try to gage how we’re going to compete against each other based on what we see. “Oh no, I am going to get my butt kicked! Look at her!”. It’s a good thing podiums don’t discriminate.

“THREE SECONDS AND COUNTING…THREE, TWO, ONE!!” And we were off!!! Cheering, yelling, “Honk your horn Priscilla!!!”…that’s all I heard. A surge of adrenaline and I was off. I had to leave all my worries at that starting point. I feared crashes, flat tires, and coming in last! But there’s no time to worry about that when you are mashing your pedals to get a good start.

And I have to say I think I got a pretty good start. I started off strong and was feeling pretty good. But then my “Yeeesss! She dropped her chain!!! Alright!! Only two ahead of me. Woo hoo!”, was quickly replaced with thoughts of “Dangit. That was a really quick recovery. Wow. She is really fast.” And so began the battles of the spirits and mind. Aye, the back and forth. It’s enough to put someone in a mental hospital. One minute I am thinking I am doing really well and feeling really strong. The next minute I am yelling at myself, putting myself down. And again the question that repeats itself in all our minds, “Why am I doing this???” Back and forth, back and forth. UUUgggghh the maadnessss!!!!!

Isn’t it truly amazing how resilient we are? I have always been fascinated with the way the body is able to heal itself and protect itself. Sometimes it is only our spirit that keeps us going physically. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. And so this leads me to my nasty spill. I was tempted to announce the team name of that that pro racing, red spandex wearing guy, but I will pass today. I was so angry when he bullied me off the path with his bicycle, even when I gave him more then enough room to pass me by.

I am even ashamed to say that I did not have nice words for him. In my anger, as my arm skidded across the asphalt, leaving a piece of my skin in the sidewalk, I wished him harm and I let him know it. As my head pounded, bounced off the ground and cracked my brand new Rudy Project Helmet, I couldn’t help but shout angry words at that meanie! But I will refrain from repeating all that ugliness. I quickly picked up my head off the ground as an almost ghostlike shadow just passed around my head. I prefer to think it was an angel caressing my face, but it was probably another pro racer guy just inches from leaving skid marks on my face. Aye.

I’ve been initiated by the pros.

I can’t lie. I was mad. I was mad every time I pedaled my left leg and my shorts pulled and reopened my raw bloody wounds. Did I mention I was only at mile 4 of a 9 1/2 mile race??? But whatever doesn’t kill you just makes you stronger, right? “Well, as long as I don’t look at it I’ll be ok”, I thought. Just keep pedaling. Don’t look. You can’t stop. And so I trekked on. The fighting spirit is amazing.

Souvenirs from the race.

And the adventures didn’t stop there. Lots of hills that were conquered, and some that were not. The steep hills do not discriminate. Grown, masculine men were left at the sidelines with broken chains, and flat tires. Some broken spirits. And still I trekked on. I wanted to prove to myself that I could finish this! I wanted to make my husband proud! I wanted to make the Mtnbikeriders team proud!

And still there’s those moments when I just wanted to throw in the towel. It just felt too hard, too hot, too long to finish. And then you here that voice. “C’mon Priscilla! Keep going!” Huh? Did I say that aloud? Oh, that wasn’t me. That was Kim Finch lending some words of encouragement as we pedaled up a nasty hill! Boy, was I encouraged to hear her words! And that’s all I needed to keep on my saddle and keep pedaling! The spirit was strong again! Another glance at my meter. Only 3 more miles!!!! Yeeeesss!!!!!!!

And then a nice ride downhill! One sweet payoff for the hard climbs. Nice. That sure feels good. Almost at the finish line. Husband cheering, kids yelling. Ah, that feels really good. “What? Go left? Not right!? Ok, Ok. Are you sure???” Keep trekking. One last nasty hill. I can FEEL the finish. I can see it now! There’s an orange spandex lady to my right. I need to beat her! (We all have that one person we are riding head to head with most of the race!). Jump that curb!!!! I made the curb. What in the world is that?!?!? Why am I not moving???? DANGIT!!! A PINCH FLAT!!! NOOOOOoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [Orange spandex lady just passed me with a smile on her face]. My world just crumbled! I moved like a tortoise across the finish line with the husband screaming “Go Priscilla, Go! What’s wrong!?? GO faaasttteeer!!!!” Aye.

One Sad Rear Flat.

And there you have it. Racing with Priscilla. I wanted you all to feel my pain and my victories! After all is said and done I managed to place 3rd in my division. Lots of pain but it made the victories all the more worthwhile. I really felt like God protected me out there despite my ugly response. That cracked helmet could have been a cracked skull. And at least I didn’t get that flat until the end! Haha. And no hard feelings Mr. Red Spandex Pro racer. Sorry for my mean words. I’ve got to take the good with the bad. It’s just part of the race. Ask me again, when my nasty wounds have stopped oozing, if I’ll race again. I am sure I will have forgotten all the pain by then. ;D

Yea!

Me and Kim.

Mmmmmm. I earned me some Chilli Relleno. Mmmmmm.

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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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