nobody better change my blog (mo) (amon)
Peace everybody!
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Return On The Jedi
My wife Anna and I headed North after work on Friday to participate in the "Return on the Jedi Bike Festival" outside of Merlin OR. There was a short track and super D on Saturday and an XC race on Sunday. I have done this race before(06) and it turns out that Tsering and I both remember racing each other that year even though we did not know each other. The short track was fun. The course was similar to the Santa Rosa dirt crit I got spanked at earlier in the week so I was hungry for some revenge. Evan Plews (Oregon State Champion ) was there and made the pace hard from the start. I dropped to third, then fifth after leading the first lap. I thought to myself "man I really suck", but I dug deep and clawed my way back to third midway through the race with attacks every lap at the top of the climb...MAN.
..I really like short track. I built a gap on the other chasers and held on for my first pro podium this season. I skipped the super D to catch up on some rest and spend some time with friends. Sundays xc race was good. I stayed with the leaders at the start then settled into my rhythm sitting in 5th. The course was 27 miles with 5600 feet of climbing with a large majority of that elevation being gained on the last single track climb back up to the Jedi trail. Anyone who has done this race knows what I am talking about...it is hard. I rode too hard too early in 06 and paid a dear price on that last climb so it was in my head all day. I caught my buddy Steve on the first climb after he slowed to recover from the pace being set by the leaders. We worked together and kept the pace high. After cresting the first climb at the top of Onion Mountain we headed down the back side of the sketchy, loose and rocky decent. Then my rear tire went soft...I think I had a P.R. on my tube change..and we were back on track after loosing only a couple of minutes. We descended back down to the base of the single track climb and grinded it out with Steve allowing 
me to set the pace. I still do not have the intensity I need to stay with the leaders but I could definitely feel my endurance working. Multiple 8+ hr rides this winter are to thank for that. Steve and I stayed together all the way to the top of the Jedi. I told him I was not going to sprint at the finish but that didn't mean I was going to take it easy on the decent. I pushed the pace on the rollers and opened up a gap on the final downhill section. There was about a 200 yard paved section leading to the finish and I pushed like hell to keep my gap on Steve but that dude is STRONG! He caught me as we pulled into the finish and we both sat up to finish 4th and 5th respectively. I am taking my lumps getting back to the fitness needed to hang with the big boys, but I enjoy getting thrashed...it only makes us better right? On a more positive note...my wife Anna won here beginner woman's race by 15 minutes!!! Sounds like its time for her to cat up. All in all we had a great weekend. Awesome training for Downieville and a couple more medals for the "Wall of Fame" here in the Huber household. Thanks to Marin for supporting my efforts. The Nail Trail gets better every time I ride it! Happy trails....Geoff.
Fairfax Invitational
Well here was an interesting race weekend. Tsering and I both found out about the race on Wednesday...so there was not a lot of preparation....and it showed. So we get a late start on Saturday (my fault...work, work, work.). The plan was to get to the trails with enough time to get a lap in before dark. Well, we did make it to Fairfax before dark...but not much before. We jumped on our bikes and headed off. Tsering was familiar with the area and we headed up the trail to the start/finish area. We got about half a lap in before calling it quits. As we headed back down to the car Tsering notices he has a front flat, but we get back before his tire is completely dead. It was definitely DARK when we finished. We headed into S.F. to hook up with Pete (big, BIG thanks to Pete for hooking us up with lodging last minute...those Marin guys and gals are sooooo helpful!) We roll in about 10:30 p.m. and jump on-line to get registered. The website says "registration closed!" WTF! NOOOOOOOOO! We can't believe it....but wait! Pete quickly contacts Mark V and POOF! with a wave of the Marin magic wand we get the name of a contact to get us onto the race in the a.m. Tsering and I get a little sleep and then its up and out early. The race web page says the pro start time is 11:00...Mark says 10:00...aaaaahhhh, better get out early just in case. Pete throws Tsering a spare tube and he fixes his flat before we leave. We grab a cup of coffee and bolt. We pull into Fairfax and jump into our kits and start riding up to the start/finish. As we are climbing....Tsering gets another flat. I, being the experienced bike mechanic ask "Tsering, did you check your tire before putting in the new tube?" "No" is the reply....nuff said. He rides the flat to the start/finish (no time to dilly-dally) and we get registered and Tsering starts to work on getting the flat fixed. Many minutes later Tsering is still trying to get his tire to seat. After doing so he starts to warm up and then....psssssssssst, yes, another flat. At this point I come over and together we notice a small tack nail in his tire. We are then told that a disgruntled local citizen decided that bike racing should not be allowed in the park and to discourage the activity this individual dropped thousands of these little nails all over the course. The race promoters had swept the course with a magnet but there was no way to get them all. Tsering fixes yet another flat and gets about a 30 second warm up before the start of the race. The start was hard and fast with Mark Weir hammering the group. Tsering and I enter the single track about mid pack and work our way up towards the top five. I felt o.k. but as this was my first pro race in two years I could definitely feel my body revolting against the stress. I had two good laps...battling Chris Brown for the last of the top five spots, and then started going backwards on the last lap...finally finishing 8th. Not a great result but I was happy to be in the top ten. Did I mention Tsering got ANOTHER FLAT! Props to him for keeping a cool head and putting a smile on his face despite a very understandable DNF. The weather was great...the course was hard but really fun. The race promoters did a great job and all in all we had a great time considering all the mayhem. Looking forward to Downieville. P.S. Congradulations to Brian on his NorCal State Championship...that guy SHREDS!Cheers...Geoff.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
SKYLINE!... WHAT UP!!! CXR!!!
Where have you been all my life!? I love this course!!! This is how the affair went down! Left my phat crib at 6am and my girlfriend drove us over to the race in napa 2 and a half hours away while I passed out in the passenger seat.( She's such a trooper) I get to the race course unharmed and groggy eyed, register and get geared up. I have a little more food and change the stem on my brand new Marin CXR. I needed to run a shorter stem than what came on this badass rig. This bike is sexy! I'm talkin carbon sexy! I've had only 3 rides on this thing but I know that now that the stem is changed out we are ready. I fill a water bottle and politely ask Nicole(girl friend) if she would mind filling up the other 3 bottles. Thanks Nic and I'm off to warm up. I ride for about 20 min and head over to the start line where apparently every one but me is. I squeeze my way into the second row just behind Mark Weir. I say a friendly hello to the right and left, THEN out of no where I get stuck with a rider's home made shank, there is so much blood oh my god! Ok, Ok so it wasn't quite that exciting at the start line. I'm checking out everyones rides and it looks like the ride of choice was a light weight full suspension. I'm a little nervous cause I've never seen this course before. We get the run down and the gun goes off. I hop on Marks wheel and we rally up the first climb, he's out of the saddle trying to drop me or at least break my spirits about the pace of this thing. It eases up a bit and then its back on. We get to the down hill and I know this dudes reputation. I hear a psst. sound and think maybe he burped some air from his tire. nope I'm wrong it's the sound of his gravity dropper. I hold on tight. We rip through all kinds of rock sections drops and roots. I'm not running tubless and running way too much air so I don't flat. He is ever so slowly pulling away but the sexy carbon hard tail pushes me and tells me not to give up and says other things like I'll never let you down, ride me like you've never ridden me before. OK! I say. how does this feel! Right about now I'm thinking I'm going to need Van Helsing to catch this mystical beast! We hit some windy slightly smoother trail and I get on the gas for a few seconds. I am able to catch "the" Weir Wolf solo. I sit on Marks wheel and sexy carbon and I make a pact to never let that happen again. Mark and I go through the feed zone and start another lap. The field is no where insight. We start to climb and I take the lead. A gap opens up and its on. I take it a bit easier through the rocky stuff because flatting would bring this race to an end for me, whoops I forgot to bring a spare tube. Look back a few times and see no one and it's through the start finish for another lap and up the climb. I hear someone yell, yeah man you' ve got 10 seconds on him! WTF! Where did he come from!? I look back and Mark Weir is breathing down my neck. I decide to rage up the hill to try and open up another gap so I can hold him off on the down. It works I stomp on the pedals again at the top and look back. I take the down quicker than the second lap preying not to flat. Close to the bottom I wreck. I jump up and run back to my bike, apologize and we're off. Hard hard is the only acceptable pace for this point in the race and it is what brought me and sexy carbon over the line for a win. Now I'm the Northern California State Champion and life hasn't been the same since becoming so. The Paparazzi has been following me every where, every one seems to be calling my name every time I walk down the street and now because of this I've had to start wearing panties for when I get out of the car (I don't want croch shots on the front page of every news paper every where) AND THATS THE TRUTH!
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Pro XCT #3: Bump 'N Grind, Alabama
On May 31 Maureen competed in the 3rd event of the 2009 Pro XCT Series near Birmingham. Here is her race report:I first went to this race in 2004 as a neophyte mountain biker (still living in Kentucky). It was so much fun that I returned in 2005, 2006, and 2007. The venue is awesome; there is a beautiful lake right next to the course for the perfect post-race cool-down and there is even a BMX track down the road.
The course is usually a really fun 17-mile loop with lots of singletrack, a single long climb, and a technical rocky descent ("Blood Rock") followed by flowing fast twisty singletrack to the finish. Because the race was to be included in the new Pro XCT this year, they did some serious modifications to the course. The usual race course (2 laps of the 17-mile loop) was replaced by a short 6-mile circuit that was about 1/3 paved road. At first I was bummed to learn I wouldn't be riding Blood Rock or the awesome Seven Bridges trail, but I definitely understand the organizers' point of view. USA Cycling is trying to prepare US Mountain Bikers for the international race scene, which, like it or not, features short circuits that demand power and speed. Those racer-types longing for the traditional US cross country racing scene of massive loops requiring rugged individualism should find solace in the NUE Series--if they can find the time to train for 100-mile events!
We did four laps and the men did five. Even though the course was 1/3 paved and only had 500 feet of climbing per lap, it was still freaking hard. Most of the singletrack was very pedal-y and twisty, requiring the utmost concentration despite my inability to see clearly from the hard effort. There were 2 climbs, one singletrack and one paved. There was a rocky staircase that we rode UP; it had two steps and was fairly technical. I was proud to ride it every time!
We sang Happy Birthday to Heather Irmiger and then did a parade lap around the expo area. The start was a drag race on a 1-mile section of road with a slight incline before dropping into a twisty fast singletrack section. On the first lap I was riding pretty well, just pushing as hard as I could and feeling fast on the descents. On the paved climb I put in a massive effort and rode my way into 11th place. I hoped to recover on the road back to the start/finish line by drafting off some other girls, but I didn’t recover fast enough and got dropped in the woods at the start of Lap 2. On my second lap I battled with Chloe and finally dropped her on the paved climb. At the end of my second lap I started feeling really bad, getting goosebumps despite the 90+ temps. By my third lap I felt super-bad in the muggy heat. Chloe passed me back and I started hating my life. I had a little talk with myself and tried to get back in the game. On Lap 4 I started feeling better and focused on having fun on the trail.
I crossed the line in 15th place. I definitely lost several positions and I should’ve fought a little harder. It’s a good lesson though: I better give my all despite how much it hurts, or face lingering regrets.
The crowd at the race was AMAZING! There were friendly people cheering me on EVERYWHERE along the course. It was awesome. I enjoyed being back on the terrain where I learned to mountain bike. If you get a chance to ride here, do it!
I crossed the line in 15th place. I definitely lost several positions and I should’ve fought a little harder. It’s a good lesson though: I better give my all despite how much it hurts, or face lingering regrets.
The crowd at the race was AMAZING! There were friendly people cheering me on EVERYWHERE along the course. It was awesome. I enjoyed being back on the terrain where I learned to mountain bike. If you get a chance to ride here, do it!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Weaverville Super-d
The Weaverville super-d is one of the last true mountain bike races. The only difference is instead of getting an ounce of weed for winning, you get a little medal still wrapped in cellophane, and a pat on the back. This year was as no different and as haphazard as old days; there were 5 too many people for the shuttle, the "timing guy" got stuck at the bottom, and the timing computer was run off of a car battery with an inverter duct aped to the top. By the time we 5 got to the top of the race most racers were down, just a hand full left. I got a start one minute behind Chuck Ross (former coach and current carrot). It was great, we started out on a gnarly loose rutted fireroadish downhill that had my bike bouncing all over! There was a sharp left turn at the bottom of the hill, but I was too excited about navigating the ruts on the road that I neglected to turn and went right on by. it wasn't until i saw the big x in the road that I looked left and saw the trail with some dust in the air from the previous rider. Quickly I dismounted and returned to the correct section of sick single track where I was to spend the next 18 minutes hoping that Chris T wasn't making up time, and that racers that my competition did not have to pass let everyone by without making them wait too long, all while totally cross eyed anaerobic. Most of these scenario's happened flawlessly, and others, well, the word cluster comes to mind. When it was all said and done Chuck (Carrot) and I passed 5 riders, and managed to win both of our classes. It was time to go unwrap the cellophane, and open that beer with just a little bit bigger grin than anyone there.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Show No Mas!... (course markings?)
Well this race will definitely be talked about for ages. What can I say about So No Mas? Just kidding sorry to start out sounding so negative. This race rocked! I am really bummbed out for Carlos the promoter who spent countless hours thinking up and organizing this event only to be undermined by some freaking trail marker sabatour (equestrian?)! This is how it went down.
The race started out @ 9 am. it was already warm and we did two short laps above the parking lot to thin out the group. We got the line up and headed out for our first long 30 mile lap. Glen Fant led me, Barry Wicks and Matt (sorry matt I don't know your last name but your fast and you live in arcata). We rode for about 8 miles and glen dropped his seat bag he caught back up and then something else happened because that was the last we saw of him for a while. matt took the lead and I sat in behind barry. We cruised for a while. Then during a routine water crossing Barry launched his attack. I jumped up around matt who had just been passed by barry and we took off. I looked back once and matt was gone. Barry held his pace and with a heart rate of 175 I decided there wasn't anyway I could hold this pace for another 48 miles and 9000 feet of climbing especially with the heat of the day rising! I yelled to Barry "why do you want to hurt me Barry?!" he kind of laughed and rode on. I turned on my ipod which was set to pennywise and rode on. I climbed descended and climbed some more. The course was killer! I hit the exposed climb on the north side of liberty glenn and powered on I was feeling great! I had been planning out this race for some time and was prepared even though I didn't know the course. I was very happy with the pace I was riding and felt like a super hero, too bad there were no buildings out there I could leap in a single bound to test out my super hero theory! oh well, I needed to stay focused anyway. I made it out of liberty glenn and crossed to road stopped at the feed zone grabbed some water and moved on. I rode until the trail dead ended I circled around the water tower and rode back to the feed zone asked the volunteer what I had missed and where the trail went he had no clue I rode back to the water tower and then back to the feed zone. I saw a trail down to the left but it didn't look like it had been ridden. It wasn't marked and it had a fat spiderweb across it. I rode back to the tower once more and on the way back to the feed I saw matt coming up. We decided to go down the spiderweb trail. We descended and descended and descended all the way to the lake where the trail dead ended again. matt and I talked and I was really bummed because by no barry was long gone. About 4 min later look who it is Barry! We all ask each other what any lost racer asks them self. WHAT THE F&*k! Just then maybe another 2-3 min later Glenn rolls up and asks the question of the day really loud. I walk down to the water and asked a cowboy for some directions. He said we needed to head all the way back to the top and there was a trail to left just before the top. His directions were much longer than this and included many unclear landmarks like moss and trees that looked like mystical creatures. The four of us started our long and pissed off climb back up wen all of a sudden Shane rolled down. Shane joined the group and we climbed. Then another racer came down on our way up. We started to build up our numbers as we climbed our numbers grew we were up to about 12 or 14 people. I looked back and felt like Forrest Gump. I just felt like ridinnngggg.(needs to be read with a slow southern drawl) Maureen I bet you'll get it on the first try! Any way this is getting way too long. Everyone rode up to the feed zone got water and rode the pavement back cause no one could decide on the real course. We all got back the the start parking lot and stopped while no one was looking I jumped on my bike sprinted through the start finish cupped my hands together and shook them over my head to fake an amazing win! No one got my picture and there were no podium girls or champagne or any autographing, but it was a sweet race while it lasted and I am definitely doing it next year and you should too. I will be imagining what it will be like to finish this race for the next year. The course was mainly single track it got up to 102 degrees that day and the only one to complete one full lap was Amon Pease and Pete the singlespeeder who took a random turnoff and ended up finding the course markers again and completed one full one. They should probably be the real winners but since I had already fake won well before they got back (cause they did the whole thing) That title was already taken. THE END!
The race started out @ 9 am. it was already warm and we did two short laps above the parking lot to thin out the group. We got the line up and headed out for our first long 30 mile lap. Glen Fant led me, Barry Wicks and Matt (sorry matt I don't know your last name but your fast and you live in arcata). We rode for about 8 miles and glen dropped his seat bag he caught back up and then something else happened because that was the last we saw of him for a while. matt took the lead and I sat in behind barry. We cruised for a while. Then during a routine water crossing Barry launched his attack. I jumped up around matt who had just been passed by barry and we took off. I looked back once and matt was gone. Barry held his pace and with a heart rate of 175 I decided there wasn't anyway I could hold this pace for another 48 miles and 9000 feet of climbing especially with the heat of the day rising! I yelled to Barry "why do you want to hurt me Barry?!" he kind of laughed and rode on. I turned on my ipod which was set to pennywise and rode on. I climbed descended and climbed some more. The course was killer! I hit the exposed climb on the north side of liberty glenn and powered on I was feeling great! I had been planning out this race for some time and was prepared even though I didn't know the course. I was very happy with the pace I was riding and felt like a super hero, too bad there were no buildings out there I could leap in a single bound to test out my super hero theory! oh well, I needed to stay focused anyway. I made it out of liberty glenn and crossed to road stopped at the feed zone grabbed some water and moved on. I rode until the trail dead ended I circled around the water tower and rode back to the feed zone asked the volunteer what I had missed and where the trail went he had no clue I rode back to the water tower and then back to the feed zone. I saw a trail down to the left but it didn't look like it had been ridden. It wasn't marked and it had a fat spiderweb across it. I rode back to the tower once more and on the way back to the feed I saw matt coming up. We decided to go down the spiderweb trail. We descended and descended and descended all the way to the lake where the trail dead ended again. matt and I talked and I was really bummed because by no barry was long gone. About 4 min later look who it is Barry! We all ask each other what any lost racer asks them self. WHAT THE F&*k! Just then maybe another 2-3 min later Glenn rolls up and asks the question of the day really loud. I walk down to the water and asked a cowboy for some directions. He said we needed to head all the way back to the top and there was a trail to left just before the top. His directions were much longer than this and included many unclear landmarks like moss and trees that looked like mystical creatures. The four of us started our long and pissed off climb back up wen all of a sudden Shane rolled down. Shane joined the group and we climbed. Then another racer came down on our way up. We started to build up our numbers as we climbed our numbers grew we were up to about 12 or 14 people. I looked back and felt like Forrest Gump. I just felt like ridinnngggg.(needs to be read with a slow southern drawl) Maureen I bet you'll get it on the first try! Any way this is getting way too long. Everyone rode up to the feed zone got water and rode the pavement back cause no one could decide on the real course. We all got back the the start parking lot and stopped while no one was looking I jumped on my bike sprinted through the start finish cupped my hands together and shook them over my head to fake an amazing win! No one got my picture and there were no podium girls or champagne or any autographing, but it was a sweet race while it lasted and I am definitely doing it next year and you should too. I will be imagining what it will be like to finish this race for the next year. The course was mainly single track it got up to 102 degrees that day and the only one to complete one full lap was Amon Pease and Pete the singlespeeder who took a random turnoff and ended up finding the course markers again and completed one full one. They should probably be the real winners but since I had already fake won well before they got back (cause they did the whole thing) That title was already taken. THE END!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Spring Thaw XC, Ashland, OR
This weekend several of us headed up to Matt's neck of the woods for the Ashland Spring Thaw. Emma, Geoff, and Maureen joined Matt for the XC race on Saturday.
He
re is Maureen's XC race report:
I knew very little about the course today--I heard there was a long climb, a flattish section at the top, and a long singletrack descent. At the starting line I lamented that I didn't know more about the starting climb.
The men and women started together, which meant the pace would be high. From the gun I went all-out, following a bunch of guys and taking the early lead for the women. The course started with a paved road and quickly turned to massively-wide, beautifully-groomed fire road with a very gentle grade (but we were definitely going up!). I played some roadie games, working on my wheel-sucking (definitely a tactic that I generally loathe). After 25 minutes of pushing myself, a train of 3 women came up beside me. I jumped aboard and felt fairly comfortable holding their pace.
The leader of the train, Amber from Reno, was climbing like a beast! She led the entire climb and seemed content to hold her blistering pace for days. She casually accelerated a few times, and dropped us all for a bit. I played yet more roadie games, using a guy's passing wheel as a bridge back to her. It worked, but I was feeling a little unsure if I would be able to hold the pace, which had elevated my heartrate up to a scary 190 bpm. The climbing continued as the route turned into a fun singletrack that had several steep pitches. Amber was STILL killing it, and I was barely holding on. Finally we saw some officials on the trail, which meant we had reached the top of the climb! Hurray, I thought.
But to my dismay, the roadie-ness continued as a big group of guys convened at the top of the climb. Amber joined the fray and they all started motoring on the flattish road that was so nicely maintained I can't call it a fire road. I tried to stay with them, but I couldn't quite bridge the gap because my HR had reached 192 and I thought I was going to implode. I was bummed when they sped away, leaving me in no-man's land to ride with only my own two legs. I didn't want to get caught by the #3 woman! Eventually someone came up behind me and said "Hey Mo, do you have a GU??" It was Geoff to t
he rescue! I saved him with a GU, and got on his wheel. He was leading the singlespeed race. He rode impressively fast for only having one gear. I took a few pulls but Geoff did the lion's share of the work--he is my hero. It was really fun to have a teammate out there to work with on the endless road from hell.
After 45 mintues on this road, we FINALLY hit the descent. FINALLY we hit some singletrack, some actual mountain biking! We descended a beautiful trail on a steep, forested hillside. About 1/2 mile into the 6-mile descent I caught Amber!! I couldn't believe it. She let me by and I worked to keep my head together as I descended this trail for the first time. Geoff knew the trail very well; I followed him until we hit the lower part that had a lot of jumps and rutted switchbacks...we were now on the downhill course. I slowed down a bit since I haven't yet mastered the jumping thing. But I safely made it through to the bottom and rolled in for 1st place in the Women's Overall!! It was a dramatic finale to an epic fitness test!
Geoff took 1st in the singlespeed division, Emma got 9th overall, and Matt got 14th in Pro Men.
Congrats team!
He
re is Maureen's XC race report:I knew very little about the course today--I heard there was a long climb, a flattish section at the top, and a long singletrack descent. At the starting line I lamented that I didn't know more about the starting climb.
The men and women started together, which meant the pace would be high. From the gun I went all-out, following a bunch of guys and taking the early lead for the women. The course started with a paved road and quickly turned to massively-wide, beautifully-groomed fire road with a very gentle grade (but we were definitely going up!). I played some roadie games, working on my wheel-sucking (definitely a tactic that I generally loathe). After 25 minutes of pushing myself, a train of 3 women came up beside me. I jumped aboard and felt fairly comfortable holding their pace.
The leader of the train, Amber from Reno, was climbing like a beast! She led the entire climb and seemed content to hold her blistering pace for days. She casually accelerated a few times, and dropped us all for a bit. I played yet more roadie games, using a guy's passing wheel as a bridge back to her. It worked, but I was feeling a little unsure if I would be able to hold the pace, which had elevated my heartrate up to a scary 190 bpm. The climbing continued as the route turned into a fun singletrack that had several steep pitches. Amber was STILL killing it, and I was barely holding on. Finally we saw some officials on the trail, which meant we had reached the top of the climb! Hurray, I thought.But to my dismay, the roadie-ness continued as a big group of guys convened at the top of the climb. Amber joined the fray and they all started motoring on the flattish road that was so nicely maintained I can't call it a fire road. I tried to stay with them, but I couldn't quite bridge the gap because my HR had reached 192 and I thought I was going to implode. I was bummed when they sped away, leaving me in no-man's land to ride with only my own two legs. I didn't want to get caught by the #3 woman! Eventually someone came up behind me and said "Hey Mo, do you have a GU??" It was Geoff to t
he rescue! I saved him with a GU, and got on his wheel. He was leading the singlespeed race. He rode impressively fast for only having one gear. I took a few pulls but Geoff did the lion's share of the work--he is my hero. It was really fun to have a teammate out there to work with on the endless road from hell.After 45 mintues on this road, we FINALLY hit the descent. FINALLY we hit some singletrack, some actual mountain biking! We descended a beautiful trail on a steep, forested hillside. About 1/2 mile into the 6-mile descent I caught Amber!! I couldn't believe it. She let me by and I worked to keep my head together as I descended this trail for the first time. Geoff knew the trail very well; I followed him until we hit the lower part that had a lot of jumps and rutted switchbacks...we were now on the downhill course. I slowed down a bit since I haven't yet mastered the jumping thing. But I safely made it through to the bottom and rolled in for 1st place in the Women's Overall!! It was a dramatic finale to an epic fitness test!
Geoff took 1st in the singlespeed division, Emma got 9th overall, and Matt got 14th in Pro Men.
Congrats team!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sea Otter 2009
Sea Otter 2009This years Sea Otter was a big deal for me because I missed 07 and 08. I based my training this last winter specifically to do well at Sea Otter. My wife Anna, and my good friend (a strong NORBA pro) joined me for four days of fun in the sun in Monterey. We arrived in Monterey late Thursday night and got a good night sleep to prepare for the weekend. Steve and I pre-rode the course on Friday and we were both very happy that we would be racing in dry conditions this year. The dry course this year was in stark contrast to the “Sea Slaughter” that I participated in, in 2006. Anyone who participated in that race knows that it was one of the wettest and muddiest races ever. Saturday was short track day. Anna and I excitedly watched our friends and teammates go against some of the best riders in
the biz. Anyone who competes in short track racing knows that the Sea Otter short track is on of the most competitive of the year. The race was fun to watch but also frustrating to watch because my friend Steve and fellow Lost Coast teammate Brian Astell were both pulled within the first 15 
minutes. Neither rider was pulled for lack of effort (I watch both riders move up every lap) but it’s hard to pass 75 plus riders in a time span of about 10 minutes. Next year look for the team Lost Coast riders to be at the front of the pack after call-ups!Sunday, race day…
I awoke early on Sunday in preparation for my 8 a.m. start time. I had been very relaxed all weekend but got a small case of butterflies as I ate my oatmeal. Our hotel was fairly close to the raceway and I got a perfect 40-minute warm-up ride to the start/finish line. I believe the field size was about 30 riders. The race started fast with team Cycle Path putting all five riders at the front. As we spun wildly down the smooth pavement of the raceway I moved into sixth place. I worked my way into third place by the end of the first la
p and and kept a close watch on 2nd place. Conrad Snover of team Cycle path led the entire race and eventually finished six minutes ahead of 2nd and 3rd places. A very impressive ride indeed. I felt strong the entire race but the heat started taking its toll halfway thru the second lap. Even though I consumed 5 bottles during the race I started to have leg cramps at mile 25. At this point I had a firm grasp on second place, but couldn’t put anymore then 70% effort in the pedals as anything more would cause my legs to cramp. I eased up a bit and pushed on in hopes of securing one of the top spots on the podium. As I climbed the last two miles back to the finish I was caught and passed by another rider. I tried hard to keep his wheel but the legs were having nothing of it! I fini
shed the race in 3rd, 10 seconds behind 2nd place. I was very happy with my result and the feeling of standing on the podium after the race was fantastic. I accomplished both the goals that I had set for Sea 
Otter, which were 1. Podium finish and 2. Break three hours for the 38-mile course (2:51).I really want to thank Mark and Pete at Marin for all of their support. Congratulations to Maureen for her 5th place in the pro women’s Super D and a solid finish in the long course, congratulations to Emma and Matt for battling through their first Sea Otter XC pro races and finishing strong. I want to give special recognition to Brian as he raced his heart out in the long course. Look for this guy to be in the top
20 next year without a doubt! And last but definitely not least I want to give props to Amon for battling with the big boys and smiling the whole time in the sweltering heat. Anyone 
who has ridden with Amon knows that he is one of the most talented riders around. Thanks again to Marin and WTB for their support of the team. Look for Team Lost Coast riders this summer at a podium near you!Cheers…long live, long rides…
Geoff
P.S. We all missed Tsering at Sea Otter as he was taking care on the home front. Sometimes work takes precedence over play…Oh the life of the working professional.
