rim nordic super d 7/24

So we skipped the XC and just went for the Super D this weekend...And the results were great. I placed 1st in the 30-39 open class, for my second first place so far in the Super D, while Boy Mullet and his friend Kellen finished with a great time for there first race up at Rim Nordic. All in all it was a heck of a day.. Three weeks until the next one, which we will be doing both races.... See you then....

California State Series-Big Bear Shoot Out 3

Boy Mullet and myself headed up for the Bear saturday afternoon after liam's b-day party. Arrived just before 5pm and picked up our race packets. After letting Brian take a nap to shake his car sickness, we went over to Snow Summit and peddled to the top. Logged in about 10 miles and called it a day.

In the morning it was Denny's for fuel and then off to the races to do some warm up with SDBC at the race. Brian's class took off before me, which was chock full of talent (Cat2 single speed). Then about 5 min later, my class took off(Cat3 30-34), which would be my last race as a Cat3. I started out with the usual steady pace and passed the guys that took off hard toward the first climb. I was battling 4 guys for about 4 miles, then down to 3 for another couple miles, then it was just down to me and one other guy going back and forth all the way to the last mile (about 18.5 miles total).

When it came to the finish, I beat him by 30 seconds and took THIRD!! Brian placed 6th against some really FAST guys!! So another great weekend of racing up at Big Bear, just in time to hit Rim Nordic hard..

Downieville All Mountain World Championship

So Darren made it out to downieville. Here is his report on the 2 day race.

Race Report - Downieville All Mountain World Championship (2 day race) - Race Class- Category 1 – Expert Men 35-44

*Saturday, July 10. Sierra City to Downieville. 29 miles 4,413' ascent / 5,692' descent http://www.downievilleclassic.com/pages/crosscountry.html

*Sunday, July 11. Packer Saddle to Downieville. 17 miles 5,333' descent / 1,010' ascent http://www.downievilleclassic.com/pages/downhill.html

Day 1: The big race turned out much as I had expected. The initial climb was long and hard. The exposure, altitude, and high temps just made things even harder. That said, I stuck to my game plan and just kept peddling at a steady pace. It took roughly 1 hour 45 minutes to reach the highest peak (3000+ feet of climbing). From there it was another 2 hours of downhill, 6+ water crossings, and 1400 feet of climbing.

Once I crested the big climb, the real race was on. I went hard for the next 2 hours, passing many on the downhill portions and even a few more on the climbs. At exactly the 3 hour mark I was climbing the 700 foot “1st divide”. Surprisingly feeling good and passing many people pushing their bikes. All of a sudden, I cramped in my left Quad AND right Hamstring. My body literally froze and I fell off my bike unable to move my legs. Luckily, I had some Hammer Endurolytes with me and the cramps went away about 90 seconds after taking them. I rode progressively harder for the rest of the ride (in fear of cramping). Finally finishing strong with a time of 3:43.28. I felt good, but tired and the free Fat Tire pint was well appreciated.

Day2: Downieville Downhill - OK, this was a hard day psychologically. My body was beaten down and I seriously considered blowing this one off. My main concern was that I was having a lot of trouble holding onto my bike (and breaking) during the downhill the day before, and with so many exposed drop-offs, wet roots, etc. that I might seriously get hurt (or worse). Anyway, I manned up and did the race. When I reached the top of the downhill, I realized that we had forgotten my bike shoes at the hotel. Wally (my Brother in law), raced back to get them and I got a late start. They told me that there was nothing I could do about losing the time so I just raced for fun. Turns out, they did adjust my time and I did the downhill in 1:03. Not super fast, but still beat some Experts.

Thanks to darren for the race report and a ton of killer photos!

Rim Nordic Weekend

Well....This weekend at Rim Nordic was kind of a mixed bag of racing. I haven't ever raced up there before, so it was going to be all greek to me. The family and I had the cabin for the weekend and it was pretty cool.

Saturday I entered to race the Super D open 30-39, and the XC Cat 30-34 (which is the first time for me to race cat 2) The Super D went off without a hitch...I was able to get in one pre-ide lap on the course (4 miles) and then I just did some loops on a single track at the bottom. So, when it was my turn to line up (this was a Time trial race, which I didn't know until I was at the starting area), I launched out of the gate and started crankin'. They had everyone spaced out in 30 second intervals and after about 2 minutes, I had already passed the two guys that started before me! I had a solid run and ended up in 1st place!!

Sunday came and the XC started at 10am. I got a short pre ride in to loosen up a bit, and then realized that my legs weren't exited about doing all the climbing that was in this course! Off the line, I just settled in to a decent pace and just kept at it the entire race. The Cat 2's had to do two laps of 7.5 miles a lap. So in the end, no mishaps, no crashes, but damn tired! I ended up in 4th place. I sure wanted to podium, but 4th is ok this time around.

-MP

Sycamore Ride 06/26/10

The crew rolled out for a nice saturday ride at sycamore.

Mikes tire came off the bead while climbing some singletrack.

There was a rattlesnake on the side of the trail.

Right after we got done riding out of sycamore, a fire sprang up out of nowhere

Looking forward to the San Deguito race on july 3rd and we hope we see you all out there!

MP

Big Bear Shootout 06/20/10

It was quite a busy weekend up at Big Bear for sure!! We rode around 20 miles on saturday, and then race day, did about the same.

Zach ran over a nail and luckily it didn't puncture his tire and it only went through a knob!

As some of you may know, we were holding down the fort for Team Duke and had quite a setup.
Two easy ups and pretty much a front and center location made us the hit of the event.

And as for the race, we did great. Zach T. placed 2nd in Cat3 19-29, while I placed 4th in Cat3 30-34. Brian busted his cog around 11 miles into the race( Cat2 Single speed), so he had to use his bike as a scooter, but still came in under 2 hrs!!

And Damian made sure no one got sun burnt or missed the opportunity for a temporary tattoo by running the show while we were racing (thanks again!!)

So, all in all, was a great experience and a great showing for the team!!

MP