Archive for April 2009
Holy cow, check this out
8. If you don't feel like a star yourself then you can go see a real star fish at Point Lobos State Reserve.
7. Have rooty tooty fresh and fruity wars with your bunk mates after eating Katie's pesto pasta.
6. You might see Christopher Walken on the side lines of the circuit race shouting "Girls! I need more cow bell".
5. You can make a date with Skip Barber, be fast, aggressive and throttle his stick shift and have it be a tax right off.
4. Podium girls are giving away free sugar, tan and papaya scented gratuitous cleavage shots and trinkets. But only if you place your race.
3. You will be among friends upon declaring "Straight rectum" when someone asks how you want your chamois butter.
2. Watch a grudge match between friends that rivals 1998's smack down between Dennis Rodman and RuPaul. Classic!
1. Enjoy the beautiful nearby Carmel Valley. Naked. On your bike.
If these are not convincing enough then maybe you are more the racer type. Yeah I know you. When you bite into a York Peppermint Pattie you feel the cool breeze of mountain air rushing through your hair like your racing down the Tourmalet . Ohhhhhhh Weeeeee!!! Well then check out these race reports from some of the team.
Rick Reynolds
This was my first time to the Sea Otter extravaganza and upon arriving my thought is Holly &*%$. My first race is the 47 mile Road Race starting at 3:40. It was a day of racing on rough pavement and my Mavic Wheel Set held up great. To bad the legs didnt! I stayed with the pack but couldnt contest the uphill finish sprint. I ended up 9th. That gives me about 200 miles for the year and 100 of em are racing. Ill take it.
ent is so smooth it should be illegal. You come over the top of the climb and youre shifting from your easiest gear into your hardest gear as fast as you can. My Sram Red Group was superb! Next, you drop into the cork screw looking for as much speed as you can deliver. If you like bike racing put this Circuit Race on the Bucket List its a must. On the last lap I attacked about half way up the climb, hesitated for 2 guys before we dropped into the cork screw and on the bottom its just the 3 of us. About 500 meters out I attacked again and took the win! That was the most fun Ive ever had on a bike..regardless of the win. Ill be racing at the Sea Otter Classic again next year.
Ben Ragains
After finally cracking a decent time in the Sea Otter Semi Pro XC last year I went into this year's event opptimistic I'd kicked the "Sea Slaughter" curse that haunts so many. Well, the Otter Monster came back to bite me with a vengengence on the second 20 mile lap this year. Hello cramps! Why, it's nice to finally see you again Sun,, thank you very much for the 85 degree heat! Aw, flat tire- you always come at the most oppertune moment! Goodbye top 5, peace out top 10! Anyways, excuses are like quite a few things everyone has- and in bike racing we've all listened to them. Shoot, the Junior who smoked everyone else out on the course that day probably could've gone faster had he not Flatted!
I had fun sneaking down for my fifth year in a row at Sea Otter and hanging out with all my new teammates. We had some great results, but more importantly, we all had fun. Tons of laughs! I also finally got to rock my skinsuit! I'm fairly certain it aided me in winning the sprint for 20th (insert laughs here). Sprinting is awesome, no matter what place it is for.
Nate Freed
P/1/2 Road Race
P/1/2 Circuit Race
Rich Blanco
Every year I look forward to racing the killer Laguna Seca cross country course as the event combines a super talented field with some serious body pounding. The 2009 singlespeed edition offered up both in spades. During our warmup, Glenn, Matt, Conrad, and I rode the top section of the final climb followed by the re-entry section onto the raceway (slight change ... but I felt for the better than last year ... a more flowing line). At the top of the climb, Glenn found out he had to head home, so we were all a bit bummed as he and Conrad both had really good legs and looked super focused. As expected, he waved off the disappointment and refocused us b
y suggesting a start strategy ... essentially he was going to go to the front and lay it down all the way to the exit off the raceway ... all we had to do was stay on his wheel. If you have ever looked into Glenn's eyes when he says he is going to "bury himself," you will know you have glimpsed into the heart of a true cyclist ... scary. Knowing the pain was going to happen from the gun made the suffering much more enjoyable and sure enough by the time we hit the dirt the field was decimated leaving the Cyclepath boyz all with really good positioning. It may be worth chipping in for a rabbit like this every year!
The rest of the race was typical Sea Slaughter ... take in as much fluids and sodium as possible (thanks Liam for the excellent Cliff Block feed ... opened and ready to swallow ... the new FastPak configuration is sweet). The course was hot and sandy with some super fun loose turns which forced you into two wheel slides screaming like a banshee. My legs felt great the whole time and I was psyched to finish in front of a few guys who had topped me at races earlier in the season. On each lap, after the feed zone, there is a medium length moderate fireroad climb which for some reason perfectly suited my riding form, I felt like I could do know wrong. During the ascent on the second lap, I passed a guy from my field near the top, he held on long enough to tell me that he was still recovering from the Rawlinson starting gate stinger. Classic.
The Scott Scale worked perfectly all day long. My mechanic, John Gray, had put in some serious hours to make everything come together for the race and I owe him huge for a great day of riding. Thanks to all the Cyclepaths fans out on course, you all added to the experience, and, of course, it is always easy to ride hard when every spectator is yelling at you "your guy is in the lead and killing it!" Congrats Snover. Time to recover.
Forrest Huisman
MTB XC: Cat1 SingleSpeed, DNF & Expensive Leadout
Event: Circuit, 90 minutes
Field Size: 48
Team: Glenn Rawlinson, Conrad Snover
Recap: Finally got to race as a team and lean on tactics to help guide our race plan. The goal was to watch Chris Phipps who has been ON FIRE this year. From the gun, Phipps went to the front and helped maintain a strong pace up the first climb already dangling off the front. The next three laps were similar as Conrad and I marked Phipps along with a few others and bridged on the climb 2x only the be reeled back in. The pace seemed hard from the start and guys were already starting to fatigue at threshold after 3 laps. Finally Phipps and I had a gap and worked hard for over a lap off the front but I faded off Phipps wheel on the climb but was happy to see Conrad and three other came around me, maintaining a gap, and make it up to Phipps. From that point our plan was in full play as I slipped back to the group and maintained a comfortable position at the front, not working but paying attention to any worker bees who might slip off the front.
Phipps, Conrad and two others continued to work together and build their lead. I simply stayed in the group ready to go if more than 2 guys built an
y sizable gap on the field in an effort to bridge. At 50 minutes the gap was sizable and a few failed attempts had been reeled back in as I waited for my chance--so with 2 more off the front for over a lap and a gap that was starting to creep, I made my move up the hill and bridged. We worked together but by the start/finish we had been neutralized. It seemed others had been waiting as well but with little recovery coming into the hill again, I hit it hard and attacked off the front, staying solo for another lap until a Zteam guy bridged. We worked the climb together and put the bit between our teeth. The field seemed to chase for the next 3 laps but with two laps remaining the gap opened significantly. At that point, Conrad had been on his own for a while and we were now :20 behind. So I gave up the
chase and sat on the ZTeam guy, for the next lap--granted I was pretty tired so it was nice to have an excuse to not work. We caught Conrad on the lap climb and as we went up the rise on the back stretch I attacked. Conrad latched on but Zteam gave chase and clawed his way back, now Conrad went hard and I was cooked as they set-up for the finish. I couldn't hold the wheel and watched Conrad leadout the sprint and still take 3rd. ZTeam took a well earned 4th and I came across just behind in 5th. Great race for Conrad and I and lot of fun.
Field: 45
Team: Conrad Snover, Glenn Rawlinson, Rich Blanco, Matt Chappell
Recap: I'll leave the full race recap to those who finished but I had fun for the first 5minutes or so. Life sometimes gets in the way and 20minutes before the start of the race I confirmed that I needed to attend to some family/work stuff at home and need to be back by 10am. I knew it was a possibility all weekend so I was prepared mentally but it's still tough mentally to leave after all the time, effort and money to prepare for my biggest MTB event of the year. That said, just because I couldn't finish the race, didn't mean I couldn't start it. So I played the part of Uber-Rabbit teammate. The Plan: From the gun, take the lead and hammer the road course until we hit the dirt then pull off. Teammates--fall in line behind and hold position at the front. With singlespeed--it's super high cadence. I was running 120-140rpms for 5 minutes and our plan worked like a charm. Conrad stuck to my wheel providing gentle pushes from behind (which is
actually faster then him pulling through). Matt on his wheel and Rich was close behind as well. The field was strung out from the gun and as we approached the climb and turn onto the dirt, Fuzzy came by me. Conrad asked for more but I had nothing more to give so I pulled out of the way and looked back at the carnage. Conrad easily closed the gap to Fuzzy and was on his way to 1st PLACE!!! Matt and Rich were both around top 10 and the field size had been cut in half. Beautiful. I'm sure there were guys fuming at the insane pace to start a 3hr race in the heat but it was my way of filling the void of not getting to race and helping my teammates in the process. Crazy fun. Though the ride home was quite depressing my day was brightened by the good news Conrad one and Rich and Matt both put in solid performances. Another great outing for the Team at Sea Otter.
Conrad Snover
Sea Otter has kicked-off my season for years and is a great, albeit painful, way to shock the system into fitness and to remember the fun of racing bikes. Due to schedule constraints, I was only able to do 2 races this year: the masters road circuit race and the singlespeed mtb cross country race. These are two of my favorite races of the entire year.
o much for me and I dropped off the pace. A few laps later, the 2 leaders broke apart. I put my head down and rode as hard as I could for the remaining 40 minutes by myself, buoyed by our HUGE cheering section (equipped with custom cow-bells). I didnt catch back up, but I wasnt caught by the field. On the last lap, a z-team rider bridged up to me, towing Glenn behind him. As soon as they caught me, Glenn attacked. I got on Glenns wheel, and we gapped z-team. As soon as Glenn flamed out and I went around him, but z-team caught onto my wheel. About 300m from the finish, I didnt wait and just went for it, thrilled to be able to hold onto 3rd place. Now THAT was a fun race!
Ive been trying to win this singlespeed mountain bike race for 4 years, but have finished 2nd twice, and 7th once, with 2x Olympian and World Champion Travis Brown taking the podium every time. This year I was amped to go. Be sure you read Glenns report of his start, which completely demolished the field before we even hit the dirt. By the time we hit the first descent, I was off the front with Fuzzy John, and we had a sizeable gap on the field. I dove into the descent and opened up a gap on Fuzzy, which he closed when I shot into the bushes and had to jump off my bike to get back on the trail. Over the next few miles, he would pass me, then slow down slightly. I didnt mind, since it was giving me a chance to recover, but I knew this meant he was trying to slow me down. I was able to open a gap on a technical climb that took everything I had, then slowly extend it to the point where I was out of sight. While our field was relatively small with only 30 riders, it was stacked with some of the biggest names in regional singlespeed racing. However, many of them are longer-distance specialists, so I knew my best chance was to hit them with a pace they couldnt maintain; I just had to be careful I could maintain it.
Since we were the first group to go and I was at the front, I was the first rider on the trail that morning and had a chance to see all sorts of small wildlife: mostly birds and squirrels. Coming around a corner, I heard squeaking in the bushes, then a bobcat jumped in front of me, ran down the trail, then leapt off the trail and watched me ride by. I took this as a sign I would win!
Paul McKenzie
At Sea Otter I spend my time doing three things:
1. Hanging out with my CWC mates and S/O's at our secret hideout
2. Shooting Photos
3. Riding and Racing my bike
I honestly could not be happier spending my time doing these things I love. Since I have tons of photos, a photo essay format will work best here
We arrived Wednesday night at the aforementioned hideout. 10:30 P.M. and everyone was asleep. Some early racing in the morning. Chowed on some left over vittles and hit the hay.
Thursday morning went to the venue and caught the end of the Crit with Andy, Ramsey and Matt. Caught Ramsey afterward with his Dr. Seuss Hat:
Then back to the secret hideout for some team photos. We did portraits, casual team shot, and riding team shot. Here is a ph
oto of our most handsome team member, (aside from me), and the other mentioned photos:
Sea Otter is wonderful. Our team is fun. It's good to hang out with cool people, take pictures, and ride bicycles.
...to ride your bike " have I got a ride for you! Last year, a group of CWC racers hung out in Murphys after the Copperopolis race and we rode Sunday with the S/O's. It was an epic day complete with sighting of the Easter Bunny. Read that blog here:
Beyond Copperopolis...Lies Murphys
As good as our post-Copper ride was last year, we didn't have any takers this year. So it was an opportunity for me to try to fashion the ultimate, killer, Murphys/Sheep Ranch ride on my own. And by golly, I think I've done it!
I poured over the maps and came up with a plan. Estimating the ride, or underestimating as it were, at around 60 miles and 7,000 feet, I hit the road in Murphys at 8:30 AM on Easter morning hoping for another Easter Bunny sighting. Sheep Ranch Road out of Murphys could easily be mistaken for a driveway. It's so narrow between the old town's buildings that it's one way at the bottom near the town. The cyclist begins climbing immediately and repeatedly as there are three stiff climbs before arriving in the lovely town of Sheep Ranch.
The town's gas station appeared to be closed for Easter. Probably since Easter in the 1940's!
After Sheep Ranch, I passed the site of last year's Easter Bunny encounter. Nothing happening. Either I was too early or it just didn't happen this year. Too bad. On to Railroad Flat road where a resident created what might be called "Little Africa."
Next to Jesus Maria Road, maybe one of the best cycling roads in Calaveras County. Tons of climbing, quiet, and lots of variety. Mostly wooded, the road then opens up on a huge descent heading toward Mokelumne Hill, a town with a surprisingly low population of just 328!
There are some steep climbing sections on Jesus Maria and one arrives in 'Mok Hill' with nearly 5,000' of climbing in just 33 miles or so. But then the rider gets a break. After Mok Hill, it's more or less a cruise to San Andreas. Riding smooth pavement with a nice shoulder, it's easy to cruise the mostly downhill at 25-30 mph, a welcome relief after all the climbing!
The rider then leaves Hwy 49 via Gold Strike Road, a back way to San Andreas. I took a brief break in San Andreas at a picnic area to study the map and get some nutrition.
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From San Andreas the cyclist then heads toward the little sleepy town of Calaveritas on a beautiful one lane road.
I saw this fixer-upper there...
Now on to Fricot City Road. This road traverses a ridge top and has splendid views. And tons of climbing. The easy middle part of the ride is over now, and it's hard all the way back to Murphys.
The road eventually turns to dirt, but very smooth dirt this time of year. The rains pack the clay soil in such a way that it's smoother than some of the rough pavement, and there is no dust due to the moisture. I can't speak to how it would be later in the season, but in April it's perfect. This dirt lasts for 5.5 miles.
Fricot City Road brings the rider back to Sheep Ranch. From there we trace our route back to Murphys. This, of course, means we have to do the three climbs in reverse, so we still have another 1500' more to climb.
The ride stats? 67 miles and 9,040'. Not bad for an after race day spin!
On the way home, in Lathrop, CA, we ran into Trent Stewart and his custom '57 Chevy bicycle. Nice work, Trent!
Beyond Copperopolis...Lies Murphys
As good as our post-Copper ride was last year, we didn't have any takers this year. So it was an opportunity for me to try to fashion the ultimate, killer, Murphys/Sheep Ranch ride on my own. And by golly, I think I've done it!
I poured over the maps and came up with a plan. Estimating the ride, or underestimating as it were, at around 60 miles and 7,000 feet, I hit the road in Murphys at 8:30 AM on Easter morning hoping for another Easter Bunny sighting. Sheep Ranch Road out of Murphys could easily be mistaken for a driveway. It's so narrow between the old town's buildings that it's one way at the bottom near the town. The cyclist begins climbing immediately and repeatedly as there are three stiff climbs before arriving in the lovely town of Sheep Ranch.
The rider then leaves Hwy 49 via Gold Strike Road, a back way to San Andreas. I took a brief break in San Andreas at a picnic area to study the map and get some nutrition.
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The ride stats? 67 miles and 9,040'. Not bad for an after race day spin!
On the way home, in Lathrop, CA, we ran into Trent Stewart and his custom '57 Chevy bicycle. Nice work, Trent!
Nick Schaffner P 1,2 - DNF
Glenn Rawlinson 35+ 1,2,3 - 9th
Paul McKenzie 55+ 1,2,3,4 - 12th
Ben Ragains 4 - 45th
Rick Reynolds 45+ 4,5 - 3rd
This year's Copperopolis, or Crapperopolis, or Coppercrapolis, or whatever you want to call it, was its usual, brutal self. The "Paris Roubaix of California" certainly has some rough pavement, but comparing it to the "Hell of the North" is a bit of a stretch. Nonetheless, the rough pavement does give a feel for what our Paris Roubaix heroes might be going through!
I hung out a bit before the race with Truckee friends Martha Bellisle and Peter Taylor (Peter raced in my group and won the race! Not bad for a nordic skier). Nick and Glenn were already out on the course.
My second race with the 55+ 1,2,3,4 boyz. Race started off pretty brisk on the gradual downhill after the start. I figured I'd better move up as something could happen early. It did. Up the first climb, it was a brutal pace. About 40 guys in the field. I was dangling off the back of the lead group of 12 over the top. Just a few miles into the race, two thirds of the field already had been shattered! One guy took a flier, and individuals took turns trying to bridge, making for repeated surges.
Hellish headwind on the back side of the course made the solo breakaway futile. We went over the back side climb together, same group of 12 or so. I knew I had burned a lot of matches on the first lap. My only hope was that the lead guys would take it easy the second time up the climb. They didn't. I just couldn't hang and was dropped. They had 30 seconds going over the top. I fought to get back on as they eased up a bit, but leg cramps and lack of watts made it impossible.
We finally got it together, started working to help each other, and reeled the pack to within about 30 seconds. But it was right before the last climb a few miles prior to the finish. The lead group started attacking each other and opened up the gap again. I forced my tired legs into a push for the finish. Dropped both of my mates and finished solo, fighting for the crumbs and holding my 12th place. The field never caught me, and that's about the only good thing I can say about the day other than the weather and the course were absolutely beautiful.
I rode straight through the finish, went to my car, grabbed a drink, and my camera, and took another lap to cool down (in more ways than one). When I returned the place was a ghost town. I suffered badly on my cool down lap. I could only think of Nick having to do 5 laps, err actually 4 (read below), chasing Levi, who showed up to race! Brutal.
Had a great day. Great course. Really glad to be on the Scott Addict with the Ritchie carbon fiber bars! Spent most of the race up front setting the pace. On the second lap, 3 of us got away and I ended up taking 3rd. Good day for me pretty much off the couch. Now..... get ready for Sea Otter!
Skiing was fantastic today!
Ben Ragains:
My race was no bueno- let a gap open in a decisive split on lap 3 and after working hard for most of lap 2, had no gas left. Not really sure why- it just hit like an atomic bomb. Literally limped home, finishing by myself. Wanted to drop due to super violent cramps (never an issue) and small child syndrome, but finished anyway in the name of miles for next weekends bigger event.
Little explanation for my detonation (I'm certain my most painful day on the bike, ever), but it was painful, glorious and oddly inspiring.
After many hard weeks of races and intense training I will be resting my arse off this week. Hopefully hard work pays off for the big event. I will unfortunately be in Sat and out directly following the Cat 1 XC Sunday for my 5th year at Sea Otter, as it is Shan's 25 b-day weekend and I have husband duties to attend to.
I think Glenn came blowing by me on the 3rd lap while he was in what looked to be a charging breakaway chase group. Nice work!
Glenn Rawlinson:
Race: Copperopolis
Cat: 35+123
Result: 9th
It's the Masters, it's Paris Roubaix--it's...Copperopolis. Oh Yeah. A Northern California Cycling Classic for almost 30 years that is humbling and hard. This year, I went with my CX wheels glued up with some new tires. Strong and light. I played is smart and started at the front leading the group with good friend Bill Sans as we rolled down the hill through the feed and up the climb. With a sizable group, I didn't want to find myself lingering midpack fighting for room and blind to unseen holes. I rolled off the front slightly and felt great. The climb was steady and well in control. As we begin to roll around the lake, I slid back to 20th or so when whammo, a hole and a guy flipped up in front of me take two more with him. Just a little reminder that we're at Copper. The small 2nd climb was steady and the field began to string out on the fast descent. My cornering felt a little off and at the bottom of the descent I noticed a noise in my
rear wheel but didn't give it much thought thinking perhaps it was bearing or some other small issue...this while watching three more guys roll tubulars and fly off the course at high speed. After the race, I noticed this noise was from a broken
spoken. Luckily it didn't cause a puncture and so much for "strong Cross wheels".
Coming off the 1st descent the field was strung out and continued to rage as we passed through the start beginning lap 2. Through the feed it was still strung out and I was catching wheels to get up to the front for the start of the climb. What a barn burner...I was sitting 3rd wheel as the climb started and we were tapping out a serious effort already. I started to slowly slip back and by the smooth section, I was about 8th until the road kicks up and gets rough again...I continued to struggle. My legs seemed to have gone dead on me and I working hard to hold position. A small gap appeared with about 14 guys up the road gapping us by 20m or so by the top of the climb and I was in a smaller group of 10 or so. We spent the next 20min chasing that gap. I wasn't recovering very well after my pulls at the front but I held strong and stayed in the group. When we reintegrated, I sat on for the next 10min or so until the shorter 2nd climb. The pace seemed a bit more relaxed as we came down the descent and Start but kicked again a little before
the feed and the group strung out again as Kevin Metcalfe slipped off the front setting up for the final big climb.
I was sitting about 14th by the top of the climb with another split up the road with 8 guys and Kevin Metacalfe further up the road. Five of us regrouped as we hit the lake and we worked together well but just couldn't close the gap of 30-40 seconds we carried around the final short climb. We were hoping for the lead group to race tactically and slow but it didn't happen. At the start of the climb, our group of five started to get tired and I instantly found myself with a small gap as I took a pull so I just hit it hard and began the final effort that I would carry to top and down to the finish. I found a few carrots and passed two guys who had fallen off the front group. Behind me, three guys were chasing hard but I fought off the demons and held on for a solid Top 10 finish at my favorite road race of the year.
Cheers,
Glenn
Nick Schaffner (Ouch!)
DNF at Copperopolis in the Pro 1/2 race. I was Leipheimered, Nydamed, Jacques-Mayned (twice), bamboozled, horn-swallowed, pig-stuck, flipped upside-down, turned inside-out and spit out the back of the peleton like a greasy watermelon seed. Whatever I was supposed to have on the day, I didn't have it. I kept looking down to make sure my tire wasn't flat and my brakes weren't rubbing, because my legs felt like they were doing too much work for little gain. I lost contact on the 2nd lap, chased like an abandoned dog on the 3rd and quit like a gassed fat-ass on the 4th.
On a positive note, while analyzing my power files, I shattered my personal records for everything from 1 second through 120 minute max watt outputs. Strong, but not strong enough.
(Ed. note: I just spent this past evening sipping beer with some of the Clif Bar boyz and Troy Wells. Evidently the pace was off the hook with Levi attacking then the Bissell boyz chasing. Nick will be back with some good placings on the NorCal P 1,2 scene once Levi heads back to Europe! Levi was DQ'd in the race due to a centerline violation.)
Nate Freed
This race had it all: an insane .45 mile loop with 6 turns (including a 270 degree "P" turn); a strong local NorCal/Pro field, and lots of screaming people. Last year at this same race a local guy stayed away for the entire duration of the race, so I knew that it would start out fast and furious from the gun. Conrad had a decent start, mine was not so good... I spent about 99.8% of the race chasing off the back and covering the gaps of the guys that were dropping like flies. We started with approximately 70 guys, and finished with about 20-25. I was THE guy on the back for almost the whole race, but I managed to just hang on for a decent finish... somewhere top 20. If I had just a little bit more power, I would have been able to move right up to the front and contest the sprint, or even attack. I do feel like I am making some good progress though.... Thanks to LT (and Conrad) for cheering me on while I destroyed myself lap after lap. Good luck to all you suckers doing Copperopolis... especially Nick, who will be racing a brutal 100 miles, and there's a good chance that someone like Zabriskie or Levi might show up.
Conrad Snover
Wow. I guess I can NOT coast into these races with bad preparation and expect to hang! I lasted an entire 19:48 of this hour long pain-fest. Slowing down to 5 mph around the P turn, then sprinting up to 30 mph for the straightaway got real hard, real fast. The P turn was nutso, there were 5 crashes in our race. Luckily Nate and I avoided them, and luckily there weren't any serious injuries, like the race before us, where someone broke their hip. The other turns were super fun and fast with good pavement. I think about 20 people finished out of the 60-70 who started, and I wasn't the first (nor obviously the last) to get pulled.
Hell! Itdoesn't matter. I like wearing that suit. The other night I placed top ten sitting on the couch and watching Netflix. I was wearing the suit. I'm wearing it right now.
