Sheila Moon / Big Swingin' Cycles Team

Do Not Look Here Any More

2010-09-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

We have moved to a new location, with our very own domain.

Please see SheilaMoonRacing.com. More content! Better design!

Moonies on the internets...plus beer!

2010-09-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

We're heading into what looks to be the final weekend of mountain bike racing for the year. Morgan and Carrie are heading to the Tahoe-Sierra 100 while Krishna, Chris, Derrick and maybe some others are hitting Santa Rosa for the inaugural Annadel race.

Although she's in her Clark Kent roadie gear here, Lina was profiled in the Examiner.

“It was a really rainy and terrible race, very cold. I would’ve skipped it, but my parents were here from Sweden,” Martensson said. “I knew that I wasn’t going to win it, but I had to put on a show for my parents.”

My mildly silly fixed gear cyclocross article appeared on Cyclocross Magazine's website.

After the awards I head home, empty handed, dirty and bruised, but satisfied that I achieved something very few other people would be silly enough to try. Which is as good a description of cyclocross as any, isn’t it?

And Velominati has an excellent article about beer.

Your beer should not make your ride casual; rather, it should demonstrate your confidence that you are a fucking badass who is not afraid to put a little bit of depressant in his body while tackling Mont Ventoux in the rain. When you feel the hurt, your beer will help you hurt the hurt back. As a general rule, beer should not accompany rides under an hour unless they are uphill time trials, in which case they should be shotgunned at the starting line, the empties handed nonchalantly to the starter when he begins his countdown.

SoNoMas race report, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the hardtail

2010-09-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

Garmin record for the race

This has been the slacker year. I've raced three times this year, not counting the 1st Grasshopper. I guess four times. All have been long, steady distance kinda races; Old Caz Grasshopper, 1st Boggs 8hr, 2nd Boggs 8hr, now SoNoMas. I'm registered for Tahoe-Sierra 100 so it all sort of fits, and it's been a stressful year off the bike (work) so I'm just riding for pleasure. Haven't done an interval since 2009. Cyclocross season will be interesting.

The week before SoNoMas we were at Northstar, and I got a really fun Rose-Armstrong 12hr ride in with my friend Hyland and some other people. It was a relaxing week otherwise, and I think it made me faster somehow.

The morning of the race I set my alarm for 4:30AM. I woke up, panicky at 5. I guess I turned it off in my sleep. Threw my stuff together, food and coffee in me and I was on the road at 6AM. The race is 1:40 from my house, and there was a "mandatory racer's meeting" at 7AM. #%*(! I drove too fast, got a speeding ticket for 80 in a 65 one exit before the 101 -> Dry Creek Rd exit, but I got there at 7:30 and I was on the line at 8 when we were off.

I am not fast, just steady. I lined up at the middle-back, next to Jan Ludwig. Will I ever get that right? I could see my friend and teammate Carrie ahead of me. The funny thing is that Krishna wrote of the front group riding at a "talking pace" up the road climb to the bridge. I was in the 2nd group, not quite on the rivet, but holding myself just below threshold! No talking for me. I caught and passed Carrie, which was surprising. She's fast, but I think she had a hangover. :) Once on the singletrack, it really was a case of position-is-destiny. There was some nervous riding and some iffy bike handling, but luckily most people know that, when walking the trail, to get out of the way if someone calls out "rider" behind them. I was able to make up some spots where people walked steep ups and steep downs. Otherwise I was pretty much fixed in position between people.

The terrain around Lake Sonoma is somewhat reminiscent of Henry Coe; dry chaparral, narrow, side-hill singletrack and steep grades made before the days of IMBA. But that's where the similarities stop, becase Coe also has flow, and the Lake Sonoma trails rarely develop flow. They are either steep, granny-gear climbs or loose, steep, twisty descents. Or maybe it's just me, I've only ever ridden there twice, and both times were races. This time I was on my lightweight hardtail. It's a 22.7lb Niner AIR 9, and I had my tires just a little too hard. They measured 28-29psi on my Park pump, which I think reads low (i.e. they had more psi than that in them), and for the terrain I was on, they were too slidey. FWIW the tires were 29x2.25 Schwalbe Racing Ralph Snakeskin tires set up tubeless on Edge Composites (now Enve Composites) XC rims with Stans tubeless rim strips. I could have let 2-4psi out and had a much better ride, but I didn't want to stop and take the time. Once the first long series of climbs were over and we hit a ridge top, quite a few guys passed me, including some I'd already passed. This is ironic because I'm 215lbs, I think I'm a decent bike handler, and I am usually the one doing the passing when it flattens out or goes downhill! I was braking way too much. Skiddy tires. I am thinking about running this bike & wheels in the Tahoe-Sierra 100, but I am leery of losing a bead. These tires were hard to set up tubeless. Maybe I'll try a test ride with some meatier tires, less air and some rocks and see how it goes, before 9/11/10. Tubes are just not an option at my weight.

I held it very steady for the entire race. I'm a diesel. After the single speeds got in front of me, I didn't let more than 2 or 3 people pass me, and I steadily caught riders. I never had cramps and I did my best to eat and drink. This is a two-hands course, so it was hard to drink and eat enough, and I ran dry for the last 7 or so miles. I should have taken a third bottle at the third, Camelbak station (where Murphy & Arena were) but I didn't think to do it. Next time I think I'll bring a hydration pack, or maybe a third bottle.

In the last half of the race I'd gathered a little train, following me, including some who'd gotten ahead of me earlier with FS and grippier tires. I did not dare let them get in front of me, because I might not get them behind me again. If anyone wanted to pass, I let them but otherwise we all seemed content with the status quo. The thing is, they were all old guys, maybe 4 or 5 of them behind me. I was racing Men 40+ and they were most likely in my cat. I am not a good climber, but the Niner was giving me wings on the steep climbs. I didn't offer to give up my position for fear of upsetting the status quo, even though I had them all right behind me for miles and miles. So I pulled those guys along for at least 8 miles like that. Gradually, steep, loose climbs and cramps tailed a few of them off, until with maybe 7 miles to go it was me and two guys behind me. One, in an orange "+3" jersey was really chatty. I was definitely out of breath, so I let him carry the commentary, acknowledging with monosyllables most of the time, or letting the conversation die. He just wanted to talk. The guy behind him in a Roaring Mouse kit was silent. I couldn't contain it any longer, so I said "I'm 40+. What are you guys?" The orange guy said "I'm 55. I'd give my left nut to be 40+ again!" That was funny, impressive, and a relief. The Roaring Mouse guy was quiet. The orange guy then told me "He's 40+."

Well, OK then.

About a mile later, the Roaring Mouse guy said, in a British accent, "OK if I go by gents?" (Maybe I'm embellishing.) I moved over and he quickly moved up the road. He looked like a climber. Orange told me "Don't let him get a gap!" but I was happy to let him have the spot. I could pedal for hours at this steady state, but this year I have no ability or desire to go above threshold. He distanced us, to the point of disappearing around corners for minutes at a time. Orange stayed put. He liked my pace. I would get glimpses of the Roaring Mouse guy, then he seemed to falter and I was right on him again. We were getting close to the bridge, and the end, I could tell. I recognized the terrain from last year's SoNoMas. It was leveling out and it was rocky. Roaring Mouse seemed to be running out of steam, and I still felt pretty chipper. "Can I go by?" I said, and he let me by, orange +3 tucked right in behind me. I was able to go up three gears and motor through. My bottles were dry, my throat was dry and I saw a guy with a cooler at the dam. I said "Do you have water?" and thought about stopping, but he said "It's all downhill from here!", so I skipped that stop, shifted into the big ring and started dropping. There was a motorcycle cop waving us through the stop sign onto the main road - Awesome! - so I put it into my biggest gear (39-11, big enough on a 29er) and proceeded to descend. Orange got in front of me, I think he meant to help but at my size, no one is helping me on downhills by being in front of me! I let him take a pull, then got back on front and let gravity continue its love affair with me. We passed maybe 5 more people on the descent. I could tell they weren't in our cat, so when they'd look back at us (orange was in my slipstream) I'd say "Don't worry, we're old."

I distanced Orange by the finish and rolled in. I was sure it was mid-pack for me as usual, but Roaring Mouse came up to me later and said "I got 3rd, you got 2nd!" I was really surprised, but I guess most of the fast old guys stayed home, or raced pro/expert. The guy who beat me is definitely fast, (I googled him.) he finished 20 minutes in front of me. Turns out the Roaring Mouse guy, Paul and I knew each other, or knew of each other. He's a nice guy. Orange +3 turned out to be Jeff, and he won the 50+ category. The Fastest Dentist in the World is also 50-something, but he raced pro, just beating Krishna.

The free food and beer were nice, after the race. Carlos' races always have a great vibe, and I always make sure to thank him. Got to see Krishna, Stephanie, Griffin and meet Krishna's mom. They are a happy family. I am looking forward to seeing Stephanie race and ride more! I remember those days. Krishna amazes me, he is blessed with some amazing talent and a great disposition. Carrie CRUSHED BITCHES, winning the women's pro/expert field. Yeah Carrie! It wasn't easy either, I think she was in second for much of the race, caught and passed the woman in first place and rode hard to keep her in second. I had the familiar experience of introducing myself to someone at a bike event - one of the women Carrie was racing, Allison - and hearing "Oh, you're Lauren's husband." Everyone who read Lauren's blog misses it. I keep asking her to post some new stuff on it, but she's "over it."

Second place is a nice ego booster. It also means all top-tens for my races this season - barring Grasshopper - even tho the 2nd Boggs race was a disaster. I'm still debating whether to bring the Niner hard-tail 29er to Tahoe-Sierra, which will help me climb, or bring the Turner Sultan FS 29er with the light Edge wheels and some meaty tires, which would help me descend and be more comfortable. It might be 28lbs with those wheels. Hm...

SoNoMas 2010

2010-09-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

Carrie Edwards on her way to winning the Pro/Expert field. Photo by Nick Gaetano.

Bike Monkey provides us with a steady stream of fun grassroots events, but SoNoMas adds some new ingredients: national-caliber competition, a large prize purse, and a wild, memorable course.

The competition: you probably already know Levi Leipheimer won it, but it is worth pointing out that Levi crushed both the current and previous national XC champions at Leadville a few weeks ago. Also present was Christopher Jones, a national-caliber road and cyclocross pro, and our local boy-wonder Menso de Jong.

The course: riding a single 30-something mile loop around the south arm of the lake was really neat, and the terrain on the back stretch is wild and beautiful. The course is not particularly rocky, but the endless succession of loose corners meant that bike handling was still key. The start/finish was on the immense lawn near the visitor center, and was a great place to hang out and enjoy the free beer post-race. It didn't hurt that the weather was perfect.

I don't know why Carlos didn't publicize the prize money more, but he put up a total of $4,500, with equal amounts for men and women. Levi donated his entire $750 to the Friends of Lake Sonoma. Fast ladies take note: there were significant cash payouts all the way to 10th place, but there weren't even that many women in the Pro/Expert field. You could have gotten paid just to show up!

My race:

For a lot of the summer I've only been riding 2-3 times a week, and rarely for longer than two hours. Because of this my endurance is terrible: in longer races I'll start well, only to disintegrate after the two-hour mark as people swarm past me. So I was approaching this event with a certain amount of dread and a "damage control" mentality.

I lined up a few rows back, and was happy that Levi started at an easy pace up the road. By the time we neared the bridge we were still at a talking pace, but a gap had opened to the main group behind us. Miguel made a signature attack just after the bridge, which of course triggered the heavy hitters to stretch things out and establish position. We hit the dirt in a polite conga line, with me sitting around 11th. From there it was a wild roller-coaster of pain: up and down, up and down. I traded places with Clint a few times before he hammered off to eventually finish 4th. I had quite a few white-knuckle moments during the first third of the race as I picked bad lines on rutted downhills and unexpected technical bits, but came through OK after some ungraceful high-speed dabs. At that point I still had Shane in sight for a while, but he was well away by the time I dropped down to the lake. I rode alone for perhaps the next hour, but finally passed another rider around nine miles from the finish.

A little while later I saw Roger (a.k.a. The Godfather, a.k.a. The 50-Year-Old Who Always Beats Me) just 30 seconds up the trail. I was convinced I would reel him in, but he was feeling chipper and I was carefully coaxing my legs above an abyss of cramps at that point, so he vanished into the distance.

The last stretch of dirt seemed to go on forever, but finally it was onto the pavement, where CHP and a course marshall where stopping traffic so we could blow through the stop sign at the blind left turn. Down the main descent I tried the 'sit on the top-tube' technique, which seems to be pretty aero. It puts your knees close to the front tire though, and I discovered it is easy to loose a little skin if you aren't careful. Thankfully that little tire-kiss was my worst injury of the race.

I finished 9th, which I was happy with given my recent performances. Carrie Edwards put in an awesome ride to win the Pro/Expert women, and Morgan placed second in his age group.

Carrie has Crushed

2010-08-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

Third place at TR3. Amazing.

Carrie Edwards grabbed fourth on stage three to confirm third place in the overall standings, holding off a hard-charging Heidi Volpe

Totally bad ass.

More crushin' by Carrie

2010-08-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

After Stage 2 of 3 of the TR3 stage race, Carrie's clawed her way up to 3rd place. Awesome.

Looks like 2nd place is within reach, too. Go Carrie!

A successful Sunday

2010-08-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked the kickoff of the Transrockies Challenge stage race, as well as its little sister, the TR3. Our own Carrie Edwards is racing the TR3, and turned in a more-than-respectable 5th in the opening day's time trial, garnering her first UCI points!

Congratulations Carrie!

Yesterday was also the annual Howell Mountain Challenge in Angwin, run by the same folks who put on the Napa Valley Dirt Classic. Perhaps because the latter race was such a tough event this year (pouring rain, biting cold), the turnout for Howell Mountain was somewhat thin. Only two Moonies, Chris K and myself, turned out for the race.

Chris was doing the race for the first time, and turned in a respectable 5th in his division. I took advantage of Carrie being out of town and borrowed her fancy titanium singlespeed, and managed a repeat of last year's 3rd in the Sport Single Speed class.

I realized that I've now raced 6 different bikes this mountain bike season. Perhaps it's not surprising that I've only had one race with truly dialed-in equipment.

Epic Stupidity

2010-08-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

While we Moonies have typically refrained from political commentary here on our blog, recent developments in the Denver gubernatorial primary have forced my hand.

Behold quantum stupidity from the tea party candidate that simultaneously exists in an uncollapsed state that will make you both laugh and cry.

Yeah sure, on the surface cycling looks like a great way to get exercise, reduce emissions, ease congestion and more importantly, have fun, but NO!!11!1! Below the candy coating lies a liquid center of caramel like evil - an insidious plot to erase our American freedoms and kow-tow to the despots at the UN!

In future UN controlled America, bicycle rides you!

Soil Saloon

2010-07-29T19:54:00.000-07:00

July's traditionally a slow month in Norcal mountain bike racing. Other than Downieville, there are very few official races. Fortunately, for the last couple years a local band of miscreants has organized some unofficial races in parks around the city.

These races, which have a cowboy vs dinosaur theme, are called Soil Saloon. We've talked about them before, I think, but this July's series was quite excellent.

Three races in Golden Gate Park, followed by a finale in McLaren meant a great chance to flex our competitive muscles and drink some beer.

Congratulations to Krishna, who won two of the races, and to Moonies including Murphy, Mark, Marko, Xton, Derrick, Ted, May, and probably others I'm forgetting for participating.

Derrick won an award for breaking his derailleur (which I compounded by smacking right into him as he tried to fix it), and Marko's photo contest entry won an honorable mention.

Pamela Palma managed to catch a few pics of various Moonies in the series. Her sets from the series can be seen here and here.

All in all, a damn fun series, even if I continued my 2+ year streak of never even winning a consolation award.

Downieville: Classic for some

2010-07-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

Early July sees one of the highlights of the summer: the Downieville Classic mountain bike race.

There are two parts, Saturday's cross country race and the downhill on Sunday. Mosty of us just do the cross country course, but a select few put together both days to challenge for the All Mountain title.

I did not have a classic Downieville. I managed to get sick in the days before the race, and went to bed Friday night convinced I was not going to race. On Saturday morning, however I woke up feeling somewhat less terrible, and figured. "to hell with it. I'm racing!" Racing might have been an overly dignified way to put what I ended up doing, but so it goes.

I started the big climb taking it easy. I was lined up pretty far back to start, so even at a very moderate pace I was passing quite a few people on the first segment. Any time I crossed the 85% effort threshold, though, I could feel my sickness lurking. So I continued to moderate my effort as I ground on up.

Maybe it was that I was not pushing it, or maybe it was the slightly cooler weather, or maybe I'm just in much better shape than last year, but the climb didn't seem as brutal this time as it has before. I got to the top in pretty good shape, having ridden every bit of the climb except when I was blocked by people walking.

Murphy and crew put together a pretty spectacular aid station at the top. I grabbed a margarita and some electrolyte drink and just headed on. As I left, Mat was pulling up to the top, and he'd shortly pass me on the way down the first stretch of trail. He and I diced back and forth until we hit the top of the Babyheads section of Pauly Creek pretty much simultaneously. I know where I stand with Mat on the downhills, so I got out of his way. He was out of sight within seconds, and I'd not see him again until the race was done.

In the meantime I was riding like I was drunk. Flailing all over, sliding around like crazy, I was pretty sure my two sips of margarita weren't enough to totally defeat my sense of balance, as dubious as it is in general. I was riding Carrie's dual-suspension bike rather than my trusty Pine Mountain, but I'd done enough miles on the former to know I could handle it better than that. Finally, after the creek crossing I went straight when I was trying to turn and finally realized that my front wheel was going flat. I hoped I'd just burped it, and not finding any obvious cuts, just dumped a CO2 cartridge in it and hoped it would hold. Pretty clearly, it wasn't working.

I then shoved a tube into it. Unfortunately, the tube I grabbed was apparently already holed. Fortunately, I'd brought two, so I was able to get a decent one in there and head on.

I had lost something like 50 places while changing my tire, so I was able to pass quite a few people over the next few miles. Everything went smoothly until Third Divide, when I came up on the Wall, a marginally ridable steep rock face that I've only ever cleared once before. I knew that I was risking another flat if I attacked the rock hard enough to make it over, so I dismounted (I've ridden enough cross now, that even in the offseason I can show some skills), and ran up the face of the rock. As I did, though, I heard "Pssssst." Dammit! Somehow my tire went flat as I was running! This time it was the rear, though, and I was out of tubes. I managed to bum a tube from someone coming by, and told him to find the Sheila Moon team after, and we'd feed him beer. I changed the tire and headed out, being pretty ginger, since I was out of tubes, out of cartridges, and generally pretty fed up.

When I finally got to the top of the very last climb on First Divide, I breathed a sigh of relief. Home free, it's all downhill from here!

Needless to say, roughly 45 seconds later, I flatted the front tire again.

At this point, I figured that since I was about a mile from the end of the course, I might as well just run it out. I started to run, and kind of slowed down to more of a walk once I hit the paved streets. Once I got almost within sight of the finish, though, I picked up the pace, and jogged in, crossing the finish line at 3:59:50.

Pretty clearly not the race I wanted, but I got to spend the rest of the weekend hanging out, drinking beer, and generally raising mayhem with the rest of the Moonie crew and our Mouse friends.

The team's best performance was by Carrie, who was just edged out for victory in Expert Women. Special mention should go to May and Ted, both of whom improved their times by over half an hour from last year. Mark Wheeler also improved by 15 minutes.

“I’ve Fallen and I Can’t Get Up”

2010-07-20T16:48:00.000-07:00

Every cyclist at some point falls victim to the Scylla and Charybdis of bike racing: bonking and cramping. I was no different and soon became wise to dipped Mojo bars, shot blox, endurolytes, electrolyte powder and other examples of better living through chemistry.* But as in the ancient myths, sailors would steer clear of one danger only to face another and so to it was with me at Downieville.

I did not bonk but I cramped like… well… like a very bad word. How about mother fucker?

Early in the morning Derrick drove me, Matt, Caitlin, Chris and Wheeler into town so we could pick up our race packs and numbers. To pass the time Matt asked who had ridden Downieville before - turns out that Caitlin, Dustin and I were the only ones going in blind. When Chris hears this, he gets all concerned, Matt on the other hand is jealous that we are about to pop our Downieville cherries. As you can imagine, I found these diametrically opposed viewpoints both terrifying and exciting.

After collecting our packets we stood around a course map while Chris, Matt and Wheeler pointed out various parts of the course. Names were tossed out and favorite portions of the course were mentioned but it was a little like when friends start yakking on and on about people you’ve never met - none of it stuck. And little black lines on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper, no matter how graphically described, fail to do justice to the wonders and horrors that awaited. Sometimes you need to see it for yourself and as we headed back to the car, Matt pointed out the start line and then to the top of the mountain “the climb ends up there”. Yikes!

Back at camp and resplendant in my team jersey and new pink lightning socks (color matched to the team kit and my bike!) I made last minute adjustments to my beloved Specialized hardtail 29’er (admittedly not the right weapon for the job). Since I had finally broken down and bought a camelbak I decided to save some weight by removing my bottle cages (I probably would have saved more weight by burping or farting - I'll admit, this was crazy behavior). Chris saw me engaged in this insanity and cautioned me to keep at least one since running out of water would be pretty easy. I was at first dubious thinking that my 2L Camelbak would save my bacon but in the end caution won out and I put one back on.

At the Skyline race (link) I had hit upon a new strategy for consuming electrolyte pills - I would pre-open my shot blox packages and smoosh a capsule into the first piece. That way, as I ate up the blox I could also get dosed at the same time. As an added bonus, you don't have to struggle to open the packages and you are less likely to litter the results on the course, an act of such lazy carelessness that it never ceases to vex me. Some poor schmuck has to pick all that crap up kids.

After a quick nosh I downed 3 bottles of water and rode over to the start with Derek. Since I was early I took the opportunity to warm up on the highway. I can not stress how much better I feel when I get the chance to do this before a race - highly recommended.

Time was running out so I headed back over to the start and started pushing my way through the beginners and inject myself into the tail of the sport mob. Our start is at 9:35 but it is already at least 85 degrees and it is forecast to go over 90 - uh oh. And then without much fanfare - we’re off! What followed was just reams of the most embarassing form of half pedalled half walked bicycle locomotion as the pack struggles to get moving. May Woo is next to me at the start and I try hard not to smash into her as people stop and start with reckless abandon.

But finally pedals turn, gears mesh and the epic slog begins. For the longest time I’m feeling pretty great. In some bizarre inversion of starting order it seems that all the slowest people were in front and all the fastest people were behind me because I am passed by metric assloads of people all while passing imperial assloads of my own. Weird.

And we climb, and climb, and climb and climb and then climb some more. After that - we keep going up. This proceeds for a very long time. All the while I’m still feeling strong despite the blazing heat and I am relieved at how easy the camelbak makes it to stay hydrated.

Did I mention that after all this we are maybe only half way up? You can guess what follows: more climbing. At some point Chris K catches me and I just can’t stay with him although I gamely try. It’s soon after that we hit the first hike-a-bike as the gravel loosens up a bit and people start getting off their bikes en masse. I struggle to ride through it but like the others I too succumb and start walking.

This is when the trouble starts. One of my hamstrings starts to lock up - not badly, but it’s very disquieting this early in the race. I hydrate up, eat some food and start riding again. Hi Sasha - bye Sasha!

Up ahead I can hear some music and I think “surely this must be near the top, maybe it’s even Murphy’s aid station!”. Alas no - just a couple of red necks swillin’ budweisers and playing tunes out of their truck. I think surprisingly uncharitable thoughts and ride on.

RIght about now Matt catches up and I break down and ask him how much further - he says something like another 3 miles and I get a little disheartened. At least we are finally getting some tree coverage. Up ahead the trail steepens and I try to ride over a root I shouldn't have. I’m forced off the bike and pow - now my calves are locking up. I walk out the cramps and when the pain subsides enough I jump back on and continue the upward grind.

But mercifully the trail starts to flatten out and even dip down a bit. Yeehaw! Somehow this re-energizes me and I’m inspired to slip into the big ring and reclaim some of the positions I dropped. Oddly, most people seem to be taking it real easy here - what gives?

Up ahead I can hear cheering and hey what’s that glittery sign? Oh yeah! Murphy’s Aid station! Just seeing the sign makes me feel five pounds lighter and five years younger. I’m out of the saddle and powering up to the top. I roar by the station and grab a margarita although I sagely only drink a couple mouthfuls before I toss it aside.

Alright! Time to hit the downhill! Uh… no. There is still the final indignity of one more stretch of climbing and the years and weight pile back on. Ok - up we go. Damn it.

But finally at long last I can see the single track. It’s all rolling and smooth and it is pointed mostly down. I hit it and start working the big 29er down the awesome swoopy-licious-ness. Out of my way suckers - it’s passing time. I can’t believe I’m catching people on full suspension bikes but there’s no stopping me now.

We emerge at the bottom and hit another fire road section. More big ring, more passing - hot damn! The fire road flattens out and even starts climbing a little and this is when Wheeler catches up to me. The cramps are still with me but they’re pretty mild and I find that with judicious pedaling and trading off of leg effort I can manage them. We ride together for awhile until I ask him how far away the next downhill is. It’s just over the next rise and that’s all the motivation I need. I’m back out of the saddle over the hump and it’s back to more sweet, sweet down grade.

This part of the course, the fire road that is just sick with giant baby heads has a name, but I’m just going to call it the orphanage. It’s fast and gets increasingly steeper and I’m having an awesome time. Yet again I am passing people although now I am also getting passed by just ridiculously fast descenders. You kids is crazy!

We enter a section of steps (this is a fireroad? for what - hummers?) and two guys alongside the course yell out encouragement “totally rideable”. True enough and I emerge unscathed although at least one of the people I just passed eats it.

But the good times won’t last - on a particularly bumpy section I take a bad line and start edging towards the upper edge of the trail. My front wheel catches and I have that sick realization that in a few short seconds I’m going over the bars. 3-2-1 lift-off! But perhaps because I’m prepared I can tell it’s not going to be so bad. I’m clawing at the scraggly trees alongside the trail to break my fall and avoiding getting caught up in the bike which clatters away from me down the trail. I hit the ground and know that I haven't hit too hard - it’s just cuts, no real bruises or contusions. I made it! I stand up and start to move out of the trail to let other riders get by.

It’s at this moment that my left leg goes into full rebellion and my quad locks up so hard that my leg involuntarily straightens and I fall over. I’m so stunned that I momentarily wonder if I have actually broken my leg. But no - it’s just a cramp, an awful, awful, super painful cramp. I can see the section near my knee twitching.

Riders are flying by me asking if I’m alright and all I can do is grit my teeth and say “it’s just cramps - I’m fine”. I lay on the ground and make suffering noises not unlike the classic Family Guy bit:

Family Guy - Peter hurts his knee | Viral/Other | SPIKE.com

Eventually I am able to at least hobble over to my bike and get it out of the trail. Mercifully there’s no damage. I grit my teeth struggle back onto the bike and solider on. Hey there’s Sasha fixing what I believe was the first of the three flats he would suffer that day. Aw geez.

Up ahead the road ends and we enter what I will dub the Submarine Forest because of all of its tricky roots and slippery rocks hidden under shallow pools of water. The cramps in my legs have merely subsided so I tread really carefully through here. I make a small mistake and pow my calves cramp up so bad I have to stop again. It’s right about now that I realize that my camelbak is pretty much dead - uh oh. Good thing Chris talked me into keeping that bottle - I hope it’s enough.

Behind me I hear a voice calling my name, hey it’s Ted! We press on through the forest and I see a couple guys directing us to take the right line. Screw it - I chicken out and start running. Remember kids - running down shit is always faster than crashing down it even if it is slower than actually riding it.

We continue on through the forest through shit that is rapidly getting more and more technical. I can feel Ted breathing down my neck so when the next gnarly section pops up I eat my inner chicken and try to ride it. Below I can see some other sucker on the ground who had just crashed so I try to steer around him. My bravado is short lived - I stick the front wheel and launch over the handlebars and directly on top of him. The hilarious part is that he apologizes to ME for crashing before me. “Uh no dude, I’m apologizing to you for landing on top of you”.

He picks me and my bike up like rag dolls and we’re off again. Oh man do I hurt, but the terror and sheer determination not to go down again just barely manages to keep the pain at bay. And down and down we go. Ted sees his opportunity and scoots by - bye Ted!

Typically I find that when I am racing hard two voice compete in my head for attention. The whiney, pleady one is typically first to emerge and usually says shit like “woah, take it easy hero, it’s not like you’re going to win this” or later it might say “is this fun? this isn’t fun - why are we doing this again?” and so forth. When I am able to find moments to recover the other voice, all shrill and screechy starts up. “Why the hell did you just let that guy get by?” or echoing Murphy “for the love of god get off the brakes” and the like.

Today, it seems that the rigors of the course had beaten the second voice senseless, leaving only the first to pick apart my will to continue. We hit a smooth section of fire road and I catch back up to Ted and try to keep the whining out of my question “how much further is it Ted?”

I was hoping for a nice small number but Ted replies “6 or 7 miles - first some smooth fast stuff then some nasty pointy shit.” I immediately conjured up an image of riding singletrack from one end of San Francisco to the other. Totally doable and under normal circumstances it would have even been highly enjoyable but today this was terrible news. But the finish lies on ahead so once again it’s time to get out of the saddle and work towards the next transition. And on we go.

We enter the fast swoopy section through the forest and I can tell that I’m really starting to lose it because people are passing me like crazy. Mentally I am trying to calculate how far we’ve gone and my brain is throwing up all kinds of wild overestimations. There is still a ways to go.

Finally we reach the river and I reason that we’ve got to be getting close since Downieville is right on the water. Here the course gets real narrow and rocky and with a highly unforgiving dropoff. Realizing the peril of small mistakes being magnified into very large ones this is where I stop racing and focus on surviving. I don’t even try to ride up a big rock formation and say goodbye to Ted for the last time. Bye Ted.

Up ahead, a fire road. Ah thank the maker - surely this is the end. Nope - we scream down a hill and hit more single track. It seems like this day will never end not unlike this blog post.

But at long last I pass a couple of spectators wearing flip flops and my brain seizes on the notion that they must have hiked up from town and it can’t be far now. And at long last it’s true. I fly down the last section of fire road and before me stretches a vision of peace and serenity that is so beautiful it almost makes me cry.

Pavement. Smooth, smooth pavement.

I pull up next to a guy and ask him how much further - he guesses it’s about a mile. It’s like he flipped a switch - all of a sudden racing mode is reengaged and I drop him and his buddies without even trying. One of them gamely gets out of the saddle and tries to catch up, but I’m in the big ring and charging up the final hill like it’s not even there.

I can’t see anyone up ahead but I pull the final stretch as hard as I can - I am done letting places go. I roar into the finish lane and slalom through the hay bales as one of the organizers screams at me to slow the fuck down.

At the end is a man and next to him are huge boxes of water. He hands me one and I kill it. It tastes awesome. I crawl off my bike and ask him for another and he obliges. This one tastes even better.

I made it - I am done. OMG I have never been so happy to be done. My bib is good for a free beer. There is an open fire hose at the fire station. I kill my beer and I want another one. I go over to the grocery store and order a jalapeño burger with bacon and get a six pack of beer. I take my newly acquired treasures and join the rest of the moonies who are camped out across the street like a bunch of lycra-clad homeless people.

This indeed a very strange and almost ironic way to have a good time.

2010-06-15T19:38:00.001-07:00

Here's the start of the Skyline race. Pro men just into the deep gravel dip near the top of the fireroad climb at the start.

Skyline 2010 - The Agony and the Ecstacy

2010-06-15T01:46:00.000-07:00

Photo by Nick Gaetano

The weather forecast predicted temperatures in the 90s in Napa for Sunday June 13th, and sadly, they weren’t wrong. But even though we were destined to fry like pretty pieces of be-flowered bacon, the Sheila Moon Team was there in force to represent at the Eagle Cycling Club’s Skyline Park MTB race. Riders that day included Chris, Dirty Mike, Dustin, Krishna, Michigan Matt, Sasha, Scotty, and Yuri as well as myself.

Murphy too was on hand to proffer hand ups, mid-race hippie showers and presumably, scorn on the competition. But since I didn’t hear about any post-race fisticuffs maybe his heckles were merely set to fun?

Thanks to Sasha’s driving and pre-registration, Scotty, Yuri and I all arrived in plenty of time for the start and I enjoyed a rare opportunity to actually warm-up before the race. As I toiled part-way up the fire road that we would hit just after the start I thought “heh, this ain’t so bad”. As you can guess, I would soon be chewing and re-chewing those words like cud.

At the start line, and only after an interminable preamble, the organizers divided the herd into the crazy and the sane. Err… I mean Pros and Sport/Beginners (or if you want to be all elitist and shit, the Cat 1s from the rest of us slackers). While I have to compliment the organizers for their hard work, dedication and generally excellent race management I still have to think (and not for the first time) - couldn’t you just explain the start order before we line up? This would be a great way to avoid the inevitable reverse gear shuffle where no one wants to move backwards lest they give up a precious foot of their space at the front.

As the countdown for the elite start began I tried to prepare myself by mentally running through the course. I had mercifully pre-ridden twice before and I knew exactly where I had eaten shit (ie. rocks). Even experienced riders agreed that Skyline Park is no cakewalk and indeed there are many parts of the course that are fraught with peril. Despite Murphy’s encouragement to view brakes as a luxury or weakness, I elected to embrace my inner chicken (in GOB Bluth style) reasoning that walking is slow, but crashing is even slower.

All too soon the elites were off and perhaps because he’s just that hard-core (or more likely because he had wanted to race with them and couldn’t because of licensing issues), so too was Mike. Hilarity ensued as he was called back.

And then shazam it’s five seconds to go and boy I’m wishing I had remembered to hit the porta-pottie. Blink and it’s go-time. Instantly we are surrounded in clouds of dust and recalling lessons seared into my brain after a season of cross I hit the gas like I was being chased by the Chechens*.

Just up ahead Mike was leading us out and somewhere just behind Sasha was starting his day with a crash but I blocked out the heat and the dust and focused on turning cranks and wondering how many people I could get ahead of before the inevitable single track made passing more difficult. Damn if this plan wasn’t working!

Powering up the fire road climb I was feeling pretty good and reclaiming positions I had given up on lower portions of the climb when I finally looked ahead and saw the tail end of the conga line. “Surely it’s rideable” I silently protested as I jumped off the bike and started hiking.

Actually - no, although I saw at least one rider gamely try. And so we walked. And walked. And then walked some more. This went on for what felt like so long that I don’t even remember how or where I got back on the bike and finally hit trails I had actually ridden.

Now it’s on! I know that every climb ahead is rideable and I’m eager to stay on the bike and make up for the inevitable sections of downhill I have to chicken out on. But here comes my personal frustration with MTB racing. I am relatively new to mountain biking in general and I would be the first person to admit that my cross remounts are pretty sub-par, but it is fair to say that I am not completely without skill in getting on and off the bike. The same could not be said of many of my fellow racers that day. And more to the point, when I hear the huffing and the puffing of the faster train breathing down my ass I let them know that they just have to ask if they want to get by.

So what happened all too many times is that you’re catching some dude’s wheel when for seemingly no reason he washes out, stops, and forces you off your bike. You gamely jump back on and try to keep moving but now that they’ve robbed you of critical momentum you have to stop as well, screwing the rider behind you. And so on.

Of course it’s true that I inadvertently screwed some people in similar fashion on harder parts of the course but it would be accurate to say that I had to suck up more than I dished out. And damn now I really have to pee!

But enough complaining! When I remember to hydrate (got to get me a camelbak) I’m having a blast. Hey look - there goes Sasha!

We hit the end of the first big climb and I know there’s some sweet, sweet downhill and rollers coming up - add in a little breeze and I’m feeling great. Through the creek past the other suckers caught up in the rocks and onto the slabs - yeehaw.

All too soon I recognize the sandy trail that leads up to the sharp turns and big steps that were my downfall in the pre-rides. I don’t hesitate for a second - I’m off the bike and running down the steps in big strides. Ahead of me a rider fucks up and makes a spectacular endo - miraculously he somehow bounces off his head (or something) and is back on the bike. Although I have never seen the like, this is only one of many epic wipeouts I will see.

Another technical climb and boom - two more sections I know I can’t do. There’s a lot of traffic coming down those steps as riders gingerly weave their way down. As I run down after them I swear I pass at least three of them. Maybe some of you math-geek types can work out the formula for when RUNNING != SLOWER THAN RIDING. There can be only so many variables.

But now it’s clear sailing ahead and all too soon I’m powering up the last climb before charging down the gravel road with all the logs in it. 1 lap down, 1 to go. If I believed in a God this is where I might say a small prayer for the poor bastards out there with two more laps to go.

As I begin the torturous climb back out I pass Murphy’s handup station and decline the proffered bottle. All of a sudden there is the most awesome cascade of cold water running down my back as he runs alongside me and squirts the bottle’s contents at me. Thanks Murph!

I keep grinding up and am soon joined by Chris and Matt. Up ahead we can see Sasha toiling away in single speed hell. And so the grim slog goes on and stuff that was perfectly rideable before turns into walking nightmares. Despite the three Advil I took before the race, my back is killing me. And on we go.

Once again the climb gives way and all too soon the big technical descents await. I run through as fast as I can and because another rider is holding Sasha up, I manage to catch up to him and Chris as we hit the last descent.

Over the bridge and that’s it - one more climb. Somehow I managed to save some gas for the end and I sprint out the finish so that in typical Moonie style Sasha, Chris and I finish within seconds of each other. We collapse onto the grass and it’s over. Dustin and Mike are already home, here comes Matt, and now there’s nothing to do except wait for Carrie, Krishna and Yuri. Crazy bastards - they’re doing three laps.

Wait a second - what’s up with Scotty? Ruh-roh, he’s got an ice pack wedged on top of his shoulder. Evil trail gremlins stuck a rock under his front tire somewhere up the first climb and knocked him out early - boo hiss. The non-expert prognosis - broken collar bone. Unfortunately this experts will agree and throw in a broken scapula to boot. Damn their oily hides! On the bright side I pointed out that he will be all healed up and ready to go for cross season, so it’s not a total loss.

But he takes the injury in great stride and if there was a podium for awesome attitude Scotty would definitely win it. Chris also gets an honorable mention for driving him out to the hospital.

Soon we are rejoined by Krishna, Yuri and Carrie and our sadness for Scotty is perhaps somewhat mollified by the excellent team results.

Although Carrie was the only woman in her class and guaranteed the win, this clearly wasn’t enough to satisfy her lust for gold so she also came through to snag the fastest woman’s time of the day thoroughly wasting the competition in true Crushin’ BItchez™ style.

And the results kept coming. Yuri grabbed a third place finish, Krishna was 4th in his class as was Sasha, while Dustin and Mike scooped up 2nd and 3rd in theirs. Full results can be found here.

All that remained was to polish off some recovery beverages and scoop up some prizes at the endless raffle.

Awesome.

* If you haven’t hear about the Ride Across America racer (and sometime winner) Jure Robic, do yourself a favor and listen to this Radio Lab episode about limits.

Tamarancho Dirt Classic

2010-06-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hopefully, folks will chime in with more detailed reports, but the Tamarancho Dirt Classic was something of a success for the Sheila Moon/Big Swingin' Cycles team.

We fielded 5 riders, I think: Chris K, Dustin, Carrie, Krishna and myself. I was riding a monster cross bike I'm reviewing for Cyclocross Magazine. Alas, Tamarancho's reputation for rockiness is pretty deserved, and I was taken out of contention (for mid-pack) by a series of flats. It was a shame, because that bike was actually very well suited for the course, and the (unfortunately discontinued) MutanoRaptor 44s hooked up really well.

On the more positive side of the ledger, Carrie was victorious in Cat 1 women, and Krishna second in Cat 1 men.

All photos by Nick Gaetano.

Caitlin in Tour

2010-05-23T16:24:00.001-07:00

Efff yeah.

Bikepacking to Big Basin: Part II

2010-05-16T19:23:00.000-07:00

In Part I Stephanie and I enjoyed a leisurely and scenic ride from San Mateo on our way to camp at Big Basin. On Gazos Creek Road, a few miles short of our destination, a catastrophic rear hub failure brought us to a halt.

I was profoundly bummed. We were 55 miles from home, up a deserted dirt road. Darkness was approaching, and there were plenty of mosquitoes. We had two options: limp back towards the coast or push the bike the last few steep miles to camp, maybe stopping earlier to pitch the tent illicitly if we saw a good spot. Although this would put us further from help, being a stubborn bastard I felt it was the best course of action.

This is when I realized some of the drawbacks of a tandem: with two solo bikes one person can ride to fetch help or spare parts. If someone comes to bail you out, a solo bike can fit in most passenger cars, while a tandem requires a large vehicle or a special rack. And spare parts? Any shop anywhere would have been able to sell us a 700c rear wheel to get moving again, but good luck finding a tandem wheel, much less at a reasonable price.

Postscript on the hub failure: At the time I thought we had stripped the freewheel threads on the hub, and I cursed Phil Wood's name. I discovered later that the failure was even more spectacular: the hub core had separated from the flanges. I contacted Phil Wood about it, and they said "oh yeah, we see a few of those older hubs do that each year", but made no offer to repair or replace it.

So there we were, pushing the tandem up the dirt road, when a large flatbed pickup pulled up. The back was filled with water tanks, gas containers and power tools, while the cab was carrying a rancher and several day laborers. The rancher, Erik, was driving down from building fence on a piece of property on the ridge near Big Basin, heading back to his ranch near San Gregorio. After a little discussion we accepted his offer of a ride. We squeezed into the cab, as Erik shoved aside handfuls of this and that, including the little rubber bands used to castrate lambs.

Erik joked, told stories and teased us with boundless energy, in spite of the fact that he had been building fence since six in the morning. It turned out he and his wife run a grass-fed livestock operation, something of a nexus between traditional ranching and new-age permaculture. The truck we were riding in was a biodiesel conversion they had done themselves, but it also carried the obligatory deer rifle.

Erik suggested we camp at a private beach near San Gregorio that he owned a share in, and was even kind enough to offer his barn for storing the tandem. While riding in the truck we heard a cow bellowing, which turned out to be his ringtone: we were making him late for dinner. When we arrived at the ranch, we discovered that the barn contained Erik's motorized hang glider, and he was talking on the radio with someone in a helicopter that we could see flying overhead. Erik is a study in leading an unusual and ambitious life.

We had a nice evening on the beach, and ended up pitching our tent just below the condemned mansion of singer Chris Isaak. Who knew? The next morning Stephanie's brother and his wife drove out to rescue us, which turned out to be a fortuitous excuse for us all to have brunch in Half Moon Bay.

Bikepacking to Big Basin: Part I

2010-05-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

Stephanie and Krishna ride their tandem from San Mateo to Big Basin, whereupon disaster strikes.

Sheila Moon fields a strong presence at races, but we also pursue the many non-competitive facets of cycling, from tweed rides to mountain bike tours. The following story was my first and so far only foray into bikepacking. It took place a year and a half ago, but I'm only now getting around to posting it up. Hopefully I'll do another trip soon.

I had always been dismissive of the idea of loaded touring/bikepacking, since I figured it would entail lots of riding on unpleasant, dangerous roads. However, I recently discovered that we could reach Big Basin Redwoods State Park from our house by following scenic back roads that I would actually want to ride on. Thus the plan was hatched.

View Larger Map

Our tandem is a fillet-brazed Jack Taylor from around 1969, which has been in the family since it was new. It was built as a touring tandem, with beautiful front and rear racks painted to match the frame. In preparation for the trip I stripped all the parts, cleaning and lubricating everything. The only exception was the bottom brackets, as the old TA cranks require a different puller than standard cranks. After I was done I double-checked the torque on every bolt, and we took the bike for a 12-mile shake-down ride the Thursday before our trip. We only had one real pannier, so we also used Stephanie's rack-compatible Basil handbag.

As the trip approached, I was beset by doubt. My wife hadn't done any serious riding for several months, and a 60 mile day with more than 4,000 feet of climbing was sounding rather ambitious. The tandem's frame flexes too much for standing to be practical on climbs, and I was worried our gearing wouldn't be low enough to haul a full load of camping gear up the longer grades. Then there was the final section on steep dirt roads, which I had never seen before.

We left San Mateo around 10 on Saturday, making a leisurely ascent of Crystal Springs and Polhemus, then taking the bike path to Cañada Road. We stopped for a snack at Woodside, watching the usual mix of kitted-up roadies, motorcyclists, and stuffy-looking shoppers. From There it was Mountain Home, to Sand Hill and the base of Old La Honda. This was my wife's first time up this climb. I had to work a bit on the steeper parts, but managed to keep my heart rate below 170. We arrived at the top feeling strong, having climbed it in 37 minutes, which we were quite happy with.

Descending Old La Honda on the other side was spectacular as always, and we were soon flying down 84 towards the coast, with a top speed of almost 40 mph. The bike handled fine, though the frame flexed a lot under hard cornering. I was feeling parched and hungry by the time we reached San Gregorio, where I quickly demolished a chocolate milk, a fruit smoothie, a muffin, a hard boiled egg, some chips and a few other things I ate too fast to remember what they were. After a pleasant rest we headed south on scenic Stage Road.

In Pescadero we bought more snacks and a fresh bell pepper for dinner. At the end of Cloverdale we turned right to detour to the beach. It was stunning: bright sun, blue water, dozens of kite surfers. After a quick nap in the sand we turned and headed back up Gazos Creek, for the final climb of the day. We were both feeling great: strong and well rested, with plenty of fuel in the tank. The grade was gradual as we wound through redwoods next to the creek. Then the pavement ended and the dirt road climbed abruptly.

I could tell this would be a moment of truth. Would our smooth 32 mm tires have enough traction on the steep, loose dirt? I felt the bike surge forward as Stephanie began digging in. No problem. Our speed was holding. We weren't losing traction. This steep section was almost over. And then my heart sank as the cranks suddenly spun forward without moving the bike. I hoped desperately that the rear tire had slipped on the dirt, but we tried pedaling again, and this time it was unmistakable: the cogs in the back were turning, but the wheel was not.

To be continued.

Moonies in the news

2010-05-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Our fearless leader Murphy was in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (see lower left), leading Gold Sprints at Sea Otter.

And Caitlin was featured with her sister in the Women Who Bike web series.

Finally, Arena, Murphy and Jason snuck into a Bike Magazine photo on the Soil Saloon series.

Lake Sonoma #1

2010-05-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

photo by Nick Gaetano

After a cold and miserable Boggs V, I got sick. And stayed sick. I was sick for the Napa Valley Dirt Classic. I was sick for Sea Otter. Three weeks later I was finally well enough to get back on the bike, and I've been slowly rebuilding my fitness.

Having missed every XC race of the season thus far, I was quite excited about the fun singletrack of a Lake Sonoma race. And it looked to be a real race, with some intimidating competition. There were 6 of us in the Pro category, including Jason Moeschler, Brian Astell, Glenn Fant and Shane Bresnyan. We started up the paved climb at a relatively controlled pace, and an amusing dynamic emerged. No one seemed to really want the hole shot, but no one wanted to be last either. I apparently wanted point position less than anyone, so I entered the singletrack dead last. Probably not the best plan. I was surprised to see Shane (winner of the first Grasshopper this year) right in front of me, and passed him halfway through the first lap. A little while later only Brian and Jason were ahead of me, but they continued to extend their sizable lead for the rest of the race. And that's how it ended up: Brian won with Jason second, and I came in a distant third, with Glenn chasing close enough to make me nervous. Congratulations to Brian on the win!

The Lake Sonoma course was fun as always, with the trailwork put in by Carlos & volunteers making a big difference. I chatted a little with Brian, Shane and Glenn, and have to say I feel lucky to race against these guys. Of course we try to rip each others' legs off while racing, but everyone I rode with was friendly and courteous on the trail.

To end this post on an even sappier note, my 9-month-old son has reached an age where he's overjoyed to see me at the end of a race, which makes me feel like a superstar no matter how I'm riding.

Boggs 8 hour: it only hailed a little

2010-04-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the traditional season opener for the Sheila Moon/Big Swingin' Cycles team: the Bike Monkey 8-hours of Boggs.

This being an El Niño year, the weather was, um, active. Two days before the race it dropped a couple inches of snow on the course. The day before, it rained all day, replacing the snow with a couple inches of mud. By the time May Woo and I showed up on Friday afternoon, the sun was peeking through a little.

Still, it's never encouraging to wake up for an 8 o'clock race to find your bike covered in frost.

Fortunately, I had a plan: the Marin Bikes guys were there in force for the weekend, and although they resisted my encouragement to race, they were willing to lend me a Nail Trail 29er, in an almost-small-enough size.

My teammate, Retrotec's John Blackwell, was recovering from illness, and I knew he was going to show up late. When, exactly, I was not sure. He claimed by the end of my second lap, but I knew the fate of best intentions.

It was around the second lap that I started to bonk. When you're bonking on your second lap of what could potentially be an 8-hour solo effort, it's not a good sign! I figured, though, that I could finish the lap, and if Blackwell was there, I'd be fine. Otherwise, I'd keep going and stop halfway around the course, where it ran up against our campsite.

When I got to the end, I started looking around for Blackwell. In unison, Murphy, Justin, and someone else shouted "Blackwell's not here!" I put my head down and headed out on lap 3.

Over the next half lap I entertained myself by listing the ways I had screwed up the preparation for the race: Skip Breakfast? Check. Fail to bring any food? Check. Miss filling up my water bottle with electrolytes? Yep, that too. Neglect to apply chamois butter? You bet.

My lack of prepraration was only made more obvious when I got to camp, on the backside of the course halfway through the lap. I took something like 10 minutes to wolf down food, grab some grease, and generally get my head together. When I got back to the start/finish line, of course, Blackwell was finally there!

I ended up doing two more laps over the course of the day, while John did three, putting us solidly midpack (18/53) among two-man teams.

The Nail Trail was a great bike let down by tires that weren't really suited to the slippery mud we were riding. I switched to a 26" bike after lap 3, and suddenly the intermittent big rocks on the course were something I actually had to pay attention to, while the 29er swallowed them right up without me even having to notice. The latter bike, though, had WTB Exiwolfs, and they were pretty much the perfect tire for the course, particularly as it dried out over the course of the day.

The team had three podiums: Matthias won Pro Singlespeed, Krishna was second in Pro Men, and Uri and partner were first in 2-person Singlespeed.

We closed the day with a feast for 30 people, including home-smoked meat, macaroni and cheese (from scratch) and veggie skewers. We also managed to knock down a half-dozen or so cases of Spaten, along with a few bottles of more warming liquor.

Big Sandy Race, where have you been all my life?

2010-03-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Last year at Lemurian, both former Sheila Moon team rider John Blackwell and former Sheila Moon employee Barb Howe raved about a little race called the Big Sandy. These are two very different people, so when it came time to put together our Team Sheila Moon schedule, we highlighted this race.

So worth it.

It was kinda pretty,

and the riding was top-notch. There was a 15-mile short course and a 23-mile long course. The latter was advertised as 5300 feet of climbing, which turned out to be wildly overstated, but still brutal.

And we're not talking junk miles here. There was probably 200 meters of paved road, and maybe that much fire road. The rest was pure grade A singletrack.

We started out Saturday afternoon with a preride of the climby (and descendy!) stuff, which started and ended on a bridge over the Joaquin river.

This was the loop that started the long course: 2+ miles of technical ascent, followed by 5ish miles of fast, intermittently-technical descent back down to the river. The downhill was fun. Hard enough that you had to keep your mind on the job at hand, but not so hard that you wanted to stop to take a mental break.

In the race, the first loop was followed by the entire short course, which we did not preride, but which was 15 miles of rolling territory along the river. This second part was pitched as "easy", but was definitely a struggle on top of the first loop.

We had a good crowd of Moonies there.

Carrie

Sport men

Emily and me

My race went pretty well. I miscalculated my nutrition slightly, and had problems with drinking from my bottle, which had my electrolytes in it. So I fought off bonking and cramps to finish 6th of about 20 in my category.

Spot the CX racer in the MTB race...

Other people had better races,

Like Mark Wheeler,

Uri (and his sidekick Isaias)

and Carrie.

This was a great event. My only regret is that I did not take the time to take pictures!

All photos by May Woo

Grasshopper #3: Super Sweetwater

2010-03-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

Summary: was riding well, came apart like a piñata 30 minutes before the finish.

As the neutral start rolled through Graton, I was greeted by my own family cheering/heckling squad. Mom lives there, and was out blowing a conch shell for the riders, while Stephanie was yelling and doing her best to embarrass me.

Nothing exciting happened until we hit the steep section of Sweetwater, when Shane, Roger and Mysterious Roadie Guy (hereafter referred to as Mysterio) started turning the screws on us. It hurt bad but a group of 5 of us crested the climb together, with Mysterio up the road. Shane led the ripping descent, and once on the flats we rotated a little, but apparently didn't keep a strong pace, because a large group chased on when we hit River Road.

Once the Old Caz climb was underway, the predicable happened: Mysterio went up the road, the chasers went backwards, and Shane & Roger put the hurt on what was left. The Butterfly and Frog feed station was great to see, even through my fog of pain. I had taken Miguel's comment about the self-supported ideal of the Grasshoppers to heart and started the ride with four full bottles, so didn't go for a hand-up.

There was still a group of us together near the top, but then Shane and Roger attacked. I wasn't able to ride their wheel through the rollers along the top, but kept them in sight and pulled away from all the others.

Just after the gate I blew past Mysterio, who had been waiting and wondering where to go. This was the first and pretty much the only time I was happy to be riding a mountain bike. Shane and Roger were a little ways ahead and bombing the descent, but I put the CXR to work and was with them by the creek. When we reached the town of Cazadero we still had a good gap on everyone else. This was the highpoint of my race, and the time when things started to unravel.

What was it? Was my lackadaisical "training plan" of short rides two or three times a week catching up with me? Should I have eased up on the climbs, taking the gamble that I could get in a group that would chase back on? Had I not been eating enough ice cream and beer? (I don't think so; I'd been sure to have a Boont and à la mode the night before).

My legs felt leaden whenever I would pull, and hurt even while riding Shane's wheel as he dieseled us toward the coast. I was disappointed not to be able to contribute much to our group of three. The first chase finally caught us at Highway One: Mysterio, Carl, and Miguel, who had been riding strong on his road bike all day.

When we got to Willow Creek I knew I was in trouble. Mysterio attacked before we reached the dirt, taking Roger and Shane with him (not surprisingly he went on to win). I couldn't respond at all. That left Miguel, Carl and myself riding much more slowly up the climb. I can't remember the last time my legs felt this bad. It was as like being stuck in a slow-motion dream, except it wasn't a dream and I really was going in slow motion. Carl had some pep left and pulled away quickly, while Miguel and I began an epic battle, trading places repeatedly, keeping a pace worthy of two obese, drunken asthmatics. I passed him on the steep bit when he had to walk his road bike, but he motored past just before the finish. That put me in 6th place among those who did the official route, with two riders who came up Freezout ahead of me.

Riding the Grasshoppers is always humbling. Shane was hurting all of us on the climbs and pulled like a diesel truck on the flats. Roger is always an inspiration: nothing like being soundly trounced by a 50-year-old. Brian Astell wins a hardman award for riding full-size knobbies on his MTB over all those long miles of pavement. Miguel put in a great performance, validating his decision to ride a road bike.

And Mysterio? It's good to be reminded that there are people who can easily accomplish the things we struggle for, just so we don't take it all too seriously.

Enduro II: Krishna's report

2010-03-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

Summary: paced myself terribly, navigated poorly, had a good time.

Part I. Sprint, Get Lost, Repeat

Twice around the statue, grab the first map, jump on the wheel of some locals: sweet! Uh, oh: red light, major intersection. The front of the pack goes through, I don't. Interminable wait. The leaders disappear into the distance.

Go! Burn some matches! The Marin CXR really didn't help with pacing at this point: with ultralight semi-slick tires and the fork locked it feels almost like a road bike. "Stomp those pedals!" it screams. So stomp I did.

That was pretty much how it went all the way to Mt Tam: push way too hard trying to bridge up, loose more time getting off-route, and go hard again, passing the same people I had passed a few minutes earlier.

I had a small hope of getting the KOM, but Chas took that down in style. We milled around in the East Peak parking lot wondering where the checkpoint workers were, so the first 15 or so people to arrive all left together.

Part II. Rocks and Golf Courses

Eldridge was just as rocky as I remembered. I should have played it safe, but was having too much fun on the new bike, so of course I got caught by an unexpected section of knife-blade flakes and flatted. Passing the lakes was new terrain for me, and since I was mostly riding solo I was looking around and appreciating the scenery. Most of the leaders were still at the start of the Pine mountain climb, so I had company while grinding slowly up the rocks. Only DFL Brad was up the road, several minutes ahead.

Part III. The Dirt Kaiser Express

The next few hours were a wild ride on the coattails of Matthias, a.k.a. Dirt Kaiser. We quickly dropped our companions descending Pine Mountain. Tiny semi-slick tires are not the weapon of choice for fast descents on gravelly fire roads, but the new bike was loving it and I was able to hang on.

Rip the Pine Mountain descent, pass Brad fixing a flat, get passed by Brad, pass him fixing another flat. Look out for that guy this year! More beautiful, dry, rocky terrain. In Tamarancho the semi-slicks had nice traction on the tacky hardpack, and good thing, since Matthias was really killing it. On the final stretch of B-17 the rocks caught up with my little tires again, so I sat down and pulled out my second tube. As I was leaving Tamarancho the guy with the aero bars on his road bike was dropping in. That made me smile.

Sasha guided me down to the water drop under the bridge, where I picked up some much-needed liquids. To my surprise I saw Matthias again-- he had hung around at the water stop for a while. So there was a big group of us chatting and pushing our bikes slowly up Gunshot. This is when I realized something was wrong with my right cleat. One of the bolts had sheared off, leaving the cleat to pivot on the remaining bolt, making it very hard to unclip. Not good!

After some discussion, no one from our group went for the Big Rock time bonus. I could provide my long list of reasons, but they can all be summarized as general wimpiness and lack of fortitude. So we turned our backs on Big Rock, and once again Matthias was ripping the descent, leading me away from the others.

Matthias had been an amazing guide ever since Pine Mountain, so once we were back on the pavement I tried to repay this a little with some hard pulls. They felt hard anyway... I'm afraid they were probably feeble.

Now that I was finally hydrated with the water from under the bridge, I realized I hadn't peed since leaving my house in the morning, and this was rapidly becoming a problem. It was past the uncomfortable point and starting to affect my outlook on life, so I finally said goodbye to Matthias where the bike path crosses under 101 and took an extended piss. Ah! I feel human again! So much happier and faster on the bike.

Part IV. Mr. Twiggy the Impaler

My spirits were good and I was motoring along with a faint hope of catching Matthias, but the bike path had other plans: my front wheel nudged a 4-inch stick, flipping it perfectly on end, whereupon it impaled my rear tire. Instant flat. Ah well, good thing I brought patches.

I lost more time with an inefficient route through the Presidio, but finally made it back to Murphy & Emily's place, barely ahead of DFL Brad, which turned out to be third place overall.

Part V.

As expected, Murphy and Emily put on an awesome after-party, and the prizes were really impressive. A huge "thank you" to all the volunteers and sponsors!

East Bay Alleycross: Hell. Yeah.

2010-03-09T11:53:00.000-08:00

For the second year in a row, Evan put on a rippin' alleycat-style mixed terrain ride through the hills of Oakland. Last year, I wrote an interminable post about the ride. This year, I'll try to be a little more concise.

Here we are on the BART. Hmm, why is my cassette all wobbly? This is not good.
I haven't lived in Oakland in almost 20 years, but I seem to remember a bike shop near the BART. iPhone confirms it.
Hank and Frank's comes through with a quick tightening! And does not even charge me. Class act.
Roll up to the start, Wow, lotta Moonies here.

Christon.

Mark Wheeler and me, with Moonie and race co-organizer Jason.

Mike and Liza

Le Mans start: Go!

Climb Climb Climb. Holy crap this Tunnel road stuff is steep.
Here's the turnoff for the spur at the top, and there're the leaders. Only a minute back!

Marko's right close at the top. Wait for him. Now jump on Dirty Mike's wheel. He lives here.

Sleighride! Watch that guy push past me and Mike only to wipe out directly in front of us. Don't run over him. Bye!

Wait, where's Mark? Oh, look, now Mike's letting me by. OK, I'm sure you'll catch me.

Through the gate, now for the steeeep, slow grind up to Sibley. Glad I have gears. Although it turns out they don't work so well when covered in mud.

Hmm, now I've collected Surly Jon and Kathleen Hannon. We hit the next checkpoint, then grab on to Kelly's wheel. She lives here too.

Looks like I'm with the leaders! Unfortunately, it's the leaders of the women's field.

Down the scary slippery part of Pinehurst. Dude, you're in an SUV. Can we just take your manhood as assured and get you the hell out of the way? Ooh, stop sign. Done.
Paceline! Hey, I'm feeling pretty good, This drafting stuff really does work.
Hmm, there's some guy on a singlespeed cross bike. Guess he's in the race? If not, he's jumping on the train anyway.

Road goes back uphill, paceline does not survive. Singlespeed guy and I get to the top first. East Ridge!

Singlespeed guy might have only one speed, but it's faster than any of my nine.
I really wish my waterbottle cage would stop rattling. Maybe I oughtta stop and tighten it. No! Cannot stop!

Up. Down. Up, Up, down, down. Hi doggie. Nice Doggie. Up, Up, down, down, mud! Splash! Up, Down, Up, Up, Down. Ooh, I think we're getting near the end. And who's that back there? Kelly, Jon, and Kathleen!

Finally, the checkpoint.

Shawno and Jenny and Uni!

Oh, and look, a ranger bitching someone out. Perhaps lollygagging around here would be the wrong move. And here's my crew again, rolling straight through. Grab Kelly's wheel. She knows where we're going. She's muttering something about Cinderella. I dunno, I'm just chasing!

Look, there's Mike blowing by us! Oh, shit, did you just call me out? Fine. I'm on it. We're not going down Cinderella? But I thought that was the fast way? Fine, you're the local.

Down into the trees. Hmm, some of this stuff is sketchy at speed! Wait, there goes someone else. Mike: "is that the way?" Dude, you're supposed to be knowing where we're going!

Last checkpoint. What's Evan doing here? GO! Back to Lake!

Oh, yeah, traffic. Ooh, please do not pull out without looking! At last! Back to the park. Not quite tacky enough to try to sprint it out with Mike, who's been leading me around.

Hey, crap, how'd Kathleen, Kelly and Jon get here? Damn. We musta took the long way.
Mmmmm.....beer and veggie chili. 25th, it turns out.

Matthias was first singlespeed, new team mate Carol got 1st Klunker.

Kathleen and Kelly rochambeau'd for first -

Awards done. Wait, where's Scotty?
(insert half an hour of worrying)
There he is! Two flats and an extra 10 miles of getting lost later.

It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it.

Yet again, this race was great. Huge props to Evan for putting together an other great event. It's especially great that it's an event I have no problem recommending to people just trying out racing. Can't wait til the next one. I'm taking Cinderella next year.

Grasshopper '10 Chileno Valley

2010-02-22T19:19:00.000-08:00

Team roster: Murphy Mack, Matthias, Myself, Emily McLanahan, May Woo.

Murph ready to rumble

The ride started with 200-something people headed immediately up Coleman Valley road. I lost sight of Murphy in the crowd before we made an 1/8th of a mile. Coleman Valley was a fairly nice climb and despite my cold there were not too many complaints from my body (yet). After two climbs and some rolls it breaks out of any tree cover completely into beautiful coastal California rolling hills with cattle grazing and peeks at the ocean. The last 1.5 of downhill is ripping and beautiful. The sun was out and it was the warmest it would be the whole ride. I was coughing so hard at one point that it was forcing my head down and I couldn't see the road ahead while descending. It was scary.

People ebbing and flowing congealed into a small group by the time we touched down at Rt. 1 and we got a little pace line going and picked up a few people. Curtis and a teammate or two was in there so I'll call it Grouppo Inglis. Also in there was Jay (sp?) of DFL/butter lap. Just before bodega there was a touch of wheels several riders back on an uphill and I believe someone went down. By the time I could look back it was way back and people were stopped to make sure it was OK. I believe everyone caught back up, but I didn't really notice any scrapes so I hope the rider was OK. Had to take a deep breath and remember that this is (for me at least) a training ride and I don't have to perfect my rusty pacelining today, just do what I can and be safe.

Headed towards valley forge we picked up more riders and a strong group was formed. We sat up for a bite at the beginning of Valley Ford School Road. Food was not working well for me - caused more mucus and more coughing. Banana-in-mouth, I noticed the grade start to pick up again and looked up to notice I'd left a little gap. I shoved half eaten banana back into the pocket and spent the next few miles attempting to close that gap, while hacking coughs. The elastic stretched. A team car gave me a bit of a swoop but I never caught on. The elastic snapped. By Tomales grouppo Inglis was gone and my Tifosis were all Jackson Pollock with dried sweat.

I was in serious no-mans land and would ride the next 20 miles almost completely alone. Marshal Petaluma Rd was beautiful, though I would have liked some sun. My knees began hurting which really has never happened to me on the road before and I was a little worried. My feet were cold, my neck sore, by back stiff, and despite eating and drinking, I was beginning to tire. The symphony of pain was tuning their instruments waiting for the conductor's baton to drop.

Turning to the race's eponymous Chileno Valley Rd, the sun broke out but it wasn't warm. Twisted, knurled and burled California oaks dotted the roadside and fields. California IS beautiful. The sun went away. A terrible, unrelenting wind bore down on me. The conductor dropped the baton. This was suffering. There were some whitecaps on the tiny Laguna lake - a horrible wind. Within a few miles I was joined by grouppo Lynz [Freewheel] and was able to hang on and rotate for a while but eventually... well.

Low blood flow was preventing the formulation of negative thoughts. The slightest hunger pang on Fallon-Two Rock prompted me to reach for my Pro Bar rather than a maintenance shot. If you've ever reached an epiphany - transcended space, time, or the limitations of the human brain, then I can begin to explain to you what eating this pro bar was like. I was transported. Chewy crunchy vibrant fruit and nut shook loose synapses in gustatory synesthesia. Grey-green agony gave way to blueberry strawberry cashew pineapple. I wanted to linger in this other world for the rest of the ride. A splashing sound shook the illusion and the rude sight of a roadside cow heeding the call of nature tore me from my special place back in to reality. Brutal, brutal reality.

The final 15 miles was unmemorable, possibly because remaining brain function was limited to motor skill and reptilian survival. I vaguely remember Joy Rd. They saved the steepest climb for last. Something about hurting.

Old Cazadero Grasshopper, Krishna's Report

2010-02-05T14:02:00.001-08:00

I started near the front, but was well within the body of the giant
dragon that rolled out of Occidental, accompanied by the mesmerizing
sound of hundreds of knobbies buzzing the pavement. I'm still nervous
riding inside a pack, and twice I cringed when I saw tires touch ahead
of me.

Once we hit Moscow I was watching for breakaways, and bridged up to
one containing Levi and Miguel, but it was swallowed by the pack
before we crossed the river. I had let myself fade too far back by the
time we hit Duncan Grade, and red-lined pretty hard passing an endless
clot of people. I barely connected with the lead group by the time we
started heading downhill, and was glad to be on a mountain bike for
the rocky and rutted sections.

There were six of us at the base of Old Caz: Levi, Shane Bresnyan, Jim
Hewett, Roger Bartels, Aren Timmel, and myself, desperately clutching
their coattails. No one else was in sight. Aside from Shane, I knew
all of these riders by reputation. Aren and Jim are among the usual
suspects for the top step of the Pro podium at races like the Napa
Valley Dirt Classic, and Aren won the overall Grasshopper series last
year. Roger is 50 years old and still races XC at the front of the Pro
category. He is known in Sonoma County as The Godfather. And me? I was
trying to keep from cramping and throwing up.

Levi started pulling away soon enough, and Shane went with him. Jim
pulled ahead on the descent trying to bridge up, and got close enough
to see Levi and Shane in the distance at the creek crossing, but
shortly after we were four again. From there we worked together, with
Aren organizing us into an efficient pace-line along the river and
patiently coaching me into a smooth rhythm.

When we reached Bridge Haven we saw other riders for the first time: a
half dozen or so were closing in on us. They caught us just as Willow
Creek began climbing, but this is when the pace quickened again. As
soon as the climbing began in earnest it was clear Jim was in charge.
Things started to get quieter behind us, and to my surprise even Aren
faded back. It was a strange sensation: Jim and I were talking to each
other, just riding a solid tempo but not really pushing it, yet
everyone else was gone.

At this point I could have made an attack, but there were two
problems: first, I didn't know where I was going, and second, Jim was
looking solid and would likely be faster than me on the descent as
well. So I ended up working with Jim on the descent and trailing him
to the finish, about 3 minutes behind Shane and Levi. I'm pretty sure
Levi was riding just fast enough to stay warm the whole time-- someone
who can drop the peloton in major stage races would have had no
trouble sinking us like stones.

On Sunday I was planning to do another race, but barely managed to get
out of bed.

Old Cazadero Grasshopper, Slonie's Report

2010-02-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

Note: This entry was originally posted to my own blog, and May suggested (shamelessly) re-posting it here. Great idea!

So here it is, my not-so-triumphant "Race Report" from my first-ever Grasshopper Adventure Series not-a-race! If you want triumph, talk to Krishna, who crushed in his characteristic fashion to an amazing fourth-place finish, three minutes behind Levi Leipheimer. Holy crap! And the team was well-represented, with Morgan, Evan, Christon, Liza, Derrick, Michigan Mat, Marko, Caitlin, and May rounding out the field.

Stay tuned after this for Krishna's report, featuring much more success!

• Most photos are in the flickr set
• See my GPS shame in Garmin Connect
• Results and more pics, from everyone, here

Normally I wouldn't consider a day like today to be incomplete in any way. I got to ride 25 miles over dirt and pavement through an absolutely beautiful area while hanging out with my friends. But after the way I built up the idea of this ride in my head, it's hard to avoid feeling unfulfilled at how my first Grasshopper went down.

The day started at 5:45 for me, when my "secondary" alarm on the iPhone woke me up. It turns out that I set my primary alarm for 5:30pm. That, along with a nagging sore throat, were omens that this day wasn't going to go quite as I expected. Michigan Mat graciously drove John and I up to Occidental, and we arrived with enough time to absorb yet more pastries and coffee drinks before the big ride to ensue. I figured I'd be out for four or five hours (using the Slonie Rule: Take the Fast Guys' time and multiply by two). And, since Derrick had warned me of how badly he and others had bonked last year, I came loaded for bear on the provisions. Extra tubes, Full Camelbak bladder, two bottles, and more Clif bars/bloks/roks than I've ever carried. (Of course, those Fast Guys were likely carrying one bottle and a couple of Gu's)

After registering and performing some brake adjustments in the parking lot, we all rolled to the start...

And we were underway...

(Photos by Nick Gaetano)

The mass of riders looked a whole lot like Levi's Gran Fondo (right down to Levi at the front, not that I saw him), but unlike the GranFondo, the whole pack took off in quite a hurry. Before I knew it, I was working decently hard just to stay on, and even John had moved up the road on me. I was keeping to a casual pace though, because I knew the hard part was yet to come. Once we turned left on Duncan, the pain train did indeed arrive, smashing us with a 20% grade at the outset, mellowing out to just mostly sucky further up the road. I truly appreciated the mountain cassette fitted to the Axis (of Evil) as I worked my way up the hill.

At the top, I stopped for nature and to hang out with the always affable Team Crash.

And I appeared in a weird photo as well:

As a side note, while we stopped and regrouped there, at the top of the climb, in the video, Kabush and company hauled ass right through there and straight into the descent. Surprising nobody, I was quite a bit slower on the descent than in the video. There were also several more fallen trees across the road, including one that required a full dismount to get over. Then, right before a sharp upkick in the road that even the pros had to dismount for, the path turned down steeply, into a series of rutted, slick bumps. Not being able to stop for it even if I wanted to , I rolled right through the sketchy part with only minor drama, then climbed up the other side and stopped to wait for John.

While I was waiting, I met three dudes, two of whom were waiting for the third, who was engaged in tried-and-true methods of fixing an untrue wheel, trailside. For those that don't know, that means smacking it against the ground if it's too far gone for spoke adjustment.

Before it had totally dawned on me that the taco'd wheel was due to a crash, John came barreling down the hill, cleared the first part of the sketchy section, then passed behind some trees. And didn't come out the other side. At this point I started to feel really bad for yelling "Ride it!" just moments before he endo'd. (turns out he couldn't hear me, so even "careful!" wouldn't have helped).

So John was down. And rather badly too, or so it seemed at first. But nothing was broken... As our newly-assembled group of "People who crashed, and those that ride with them" tended to John and his bike, I considered taking a photo of him down at the site of the impact. But I thought it seemed crass. Later, John was extremely disappointed that I didn't get that shot, so I told him I'd definitely get it next time. He said he preferred that there wouldn't be a next time...

John shows some leg to Dan, Dan, and Andrew:

So there we were. We had a nice little slow-moving group of five. Call it "People who crashed, and their friends that ride with them." Or if you prefer, "The Brotherhood of Failure"

Before we got moving again, John posed with the section of doom. Thanks to the magic of photography, it doesn't look steep or tricky at all.

So, back on the road, we had one crippled rider, and one rider with no front brake due to his taco'd wheel. Fantastic. We hobbled back to town, with navigation "helpfully" provided by my new Edge 705. It kept telling us to get off the highway and head back into the hills. I guess I should disable the "avoid highways" setting when riding in areas where there are no actual freeways. But it wasn't very far back to Occidental, and at least the Edge gave me the Distance to Objective indicator that's been sorely missing from from my non-videogame life.

I should quit it with making everyday occurrences sound more dramatic than they are, so here we go: I flatted on the way back. Then I punctured two tubes trying to wrestle the damn Vittoria Cross XG back onto the rim with a tire lever (yeah, I know). I can't even write anything clever about that level of failure, but it delayed us further. And hey, Dan got a photo!

After we got underway, the skies opened up on us. There are no photos of that because my camera isn't waterproof. Suffice to say, the rainfall was enough to check off that checkbox for the ride. And of course, my rain jacket was in my backpack, so I didn't want to put it on unless the rain got really bad. As soon as I decided to, I announced my intention to the group. Not more than ten seconds later, an oncoming car sped through a giant puddle, sending a huge wave of water into the group, and soaking me pretty thoroughly. Not my favorite moment, but all I could do was laugh (after yelling something unprintable). At least it made for a good story!

In the end, our group rolled back into Occidental with 1:44 of riding time on my clock, and 1:46 of waiting time. Naturally, this means most people had already finished their actual rides. But hey, we had still ridden 25 miles, though missing the best (and toughest) bits of the course. And I had come out of it with some new friends, which isn't something to scoff at. But I was pretty wrecked.

Food and stories with my friends and teammates went a long way towards bringing me back to life, but at the same time left me feeling sad that I missed out on the "best day on the bike" that seemingly everybody experienced (except maybe Xton, glad you're okay!). We missed the most beautiful (and toughest?) parts of the course, so the total distance (50% of the real thing) doesn't really tell the story.

Who's up for a make-up/rematch ride? We can even wait till the weather gets better!

Addendum: You know, I got to "Ride with Levi" just as much as at his GranFondo, and it cost a LOT less. Score!

After finishing, I found out that Krishna came in 4th, behind Levi, a Bissell dude, and... Wait holy shit, did I just say that? Hell yeah, Krishna!

cross season wrapup

2010-02-03T11:34:00.000-08:00

Apologies to our reader(s) for going dark for the last month or so of cross season. I managed to crash out of third place at the Golden Gate Park race, breaking my collarbone and ending my season. My motivation, correspondingly, suffered.

The team, however, soldiered on!

Evan locked up his series win in Singlespeed B at Coyote Point.

Krishna also performed on the day with his first Pilarcitos podium

(Photo by Paul Doran)

In a slightly out-of-season foray into mountain biking, the Moonies cleaned up at the final Lake Sonoma race of the year (apparently the least-photographed race in Northern Califiornia in the 21st century), with Derrick winning beginner men, Arena winning sport women, Angel taking Expert women, and Krishna continuing his dominance with a win in Pro men.

Krishna started 2010 out right with the Men's A/Single Speed A double victory at CXSR #3, and May had her best finish ever (I think) at second in women's B, while Emily was 5th.

Finally, over the course of the year, Lee clawed his way up to 3rd in C men at Surf City. He'll have to move up to B's next year, so it's a good thing he won a brand new bike at the final Coyote Point race!

(Photo by Tony Ballard)

Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships 2009

2009-11-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

For the second year in a row, we sent a contingent of our ~~silliest~~top riders to the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships (a/k/a SSCXWC) in Portland. This year, the actual race was perhaps overshadowed by a Seattle/San Francisco contest to see who will host the race next year. As the biggest contingent of riders from San Francisco, we played something of a role.

I am not going to attempt to describe the experience. Mike and Liza posted a report on their blog, which, I think, accurately conveys the spirit of the event, if not the actual details with any fidelity.

The race ended and the true battle was underway, a statuesque ape appeared at the far end of the Thunderdome ready to through down to bring the race to his barbarian Northern City. In a bold move of cowardice and alcohol inspired reverse psychology, Liza was nominated to battle this insidious swine. His vibrations were getting nasty. But why? Had we deteriorated to the level of dumb beasts? No matter, it was time to fight.

In addition, local rider Paul Guerra was there, and he graciously supplied us with these images of Moonies at the race.

Finally, I don't want to be churlish, but the actual championship race was only 30 minutes long, due to a late start and encroaching darkness. If I had not raced a Cross Crusade race earlier in the day, and so gotten a taste of an actual race in those conditions, I'd be a little cranky about the experience. As it was, though, fun!

Rider Profiles: Arena Reed

2009-11-19T11:21:00.000-08:00

Arena's in her second year with the club, and seems to alternate between battling at the front and lollygagging at the back, showing off her dollar grab and handup skills, for which she's widely known.

1. Name:
Arena Reed

2. What do you do for a living:
User Experience Designer

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been racing?
This is my second season racing cyclocross, I race with the B category.

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud of?
I picked up 7 dollar grabs in one race (no missed dollars) last season.

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
"Safety third!"

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
Recovery Beer

7. What else should your fans know about you?
Motto: "Brakes just slow you down (don't use them)."

Rider Profiles: Brian Kemler

2009-11-19T11:20:00.000-08:00

Brian's new to the team, but is part of the tough group that stays in shape by commuting by bike down the Peninsula to Google in the morning. That's what, a 40 mile bike commute?

1. Name:
Brian Kemler
2. What do you do for a living?
Systems Engineer, Google
3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been
racing?
I race sport mtn and c cross racing since '91
4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud
of?
I completed La Ruta de Los Conquistadores
6. What's your favorite post-race beverage?
IPA

CX Santa Rosa #1

2009-11-17T07:40:00.000-08:00

(photo by Nick Gaetano)

Everybody's still processing Single speed worlds, but the folks who didn't go to SSCXWC went to the first Santa Rosa race of the year. Here are some of their reports.

Scott:

I heard it was cold & rainy in portland, true?

couldn't have been nicer in santa rosa, where it was sunny & warm, we got savage tans, drank a keg of new belgium 2°, and crushed, well, you know.

results included krishna's 2nd in As, morgan's something solid in masters As, ted/derrick/kemler's unknown-but-pretty-sweet placing in Bs, and my rather impressive 7th in Cs.

emily had a mechanical and came in for a wheel change/brake adjustment and beer partway thru her race, so i'm not sure if the free lap was in effect.

Ted:

It was an extremely short course (A's took 3 minutes per lap). Not much in terms of climbing either. One fun whoop-de-doo. One sketchy log before a short sharp descent and turn onto a bridge caused a few endos.

Derrick and I battled it out for mid-pack for a while until my chain snapped on an uphill. I ran almost a full lap and waited around for a minute before the finish for the leader to finish so I didn't have to run a second lap to complete the race. Then I realized I'd never put my number on so it didn't matter anyway.

Morgan:

Drove up with Sam. Did a pre-ride with him, then warmed up with Ducky, Mark, Evan, Rob. Course was tacky, grassy, twisty and fun with long straights on the back side, mostly singletrack, some really testing tight corners with steep ups following each 180 and a fun root to hop right before a 90-degree turn to a damp bridge. There were three tall barriers near the s/f. The lap was really short, so there'd definitely be lapped riders. It was sunny, crisp and cool. Men's A, 35+ A and 45+ A all raced at 9:45. Race was supposed to be an hour but I think it went about 53-55 minutes. My race was 53:40, I think the race started exactly 3:00 late because the first lap was 3:00 longer than all other laps in the results, and the total time was off from my time by 3:05.

Anyway.

Got a decent start, lined up at the back as usual, but with 14 guys that meant 2nd row, so not too bad. Drilled it as best I could to get decent position and then began my customary battle with Dane Grant (Roaring Mouse, 45+A, not in my category but still a nemesis) and Ducky. (dfL, 45+A) I'm usually being chased by Jason Benford, but this time I was able to keep him behind me and out of sight. Dane's kid would call out my position and say stuff like "Don't let Morgan beat you!" and "Morgan's right behind you!" Grr. Dane works with my buddy Patrick, and they are both keeping keen tabs on who beats who. I knew someone was on my wheel most of the race, aside from Dane, and it turned out to be Ducky, he thanked me for the ride after the race. Dane and I swapped the lead in our little group a couple times. I got him behind me and tried to attack hard with 4 laps to go but couldn't shake him. Sam was giving me water, which helped. Ducky finally attacked hard with two to go, Dane followed him and I couldn't follow either one, which didn't matter so much because they're in a different cat. Turns out the guy in front of me - Phillip Hynes from Mako - was 30s ahead. I don't remember seeing him in the race. I ran Tufo Flexus (tubular) tires and had them as low as I could get away with, which for me is about 32psi front and 35psi rear. They were a little squirmy on corners and occasionally would fold a little with a "brraap!" sound, and I was touching the rim, but they stuck really well on the tacky stuff and grass. They rocked.

Someone kept cheering for me at the top of one of the steep little 180s after the s/f, saying "Go Curtis!" I took it as a complement but after three laps of it I had to say "I'm not Curtis."

My goal this season is the same as last; top half in a M35+ A race. I'm really too slow for this cat and this goal seems almost unattainable, but I was 8/14 yesterday, 30s from my goal! So I know it's possible. This is a motivator for me. So is beating Dane. It's gonna happen. I think he's faster than me, so you'll know that if I beat him it's all heart.

Murphy said he had a big food spread and that I should bust out the cooker and warm it up. Emily was racing after me. Scott Crosby and his girlfriend were there and Scott handed me a beer. Thank you, Scott! Thank you, Murphy and Emily! Thank you, Sam!

I can't promise top half at Sierra Point but I'll continue to giv'er. Sam and I now have a deal; whoever races and gets the better placing in their category gets to pick where we go for treats after the race. It's a lose-win situation for me.

Emily:

as has been said it 'twas a lovely warm and sunny day in santa rosa. murphy, justin (new one race only team member who rocked his first dirt ride ever on a borrowed Marin CX bike and last year's pink kit) and i arrived early as murphy was mc'ing.

we had a slimmed down team set up complete with pulled pork and broiled chicken. the tent next to us provided the kegs. ted and derrick augmented our stash with some extra rolls and a 12 pack of tecate (thanks!).

my bike behaved wonderfully during the warm-up; yet, as soon as the gun went off my rear wheel popped out of alignment. i made it into the first hilly chicane and could go no further. i pulled over, some guys helped me get it back on correctly, gave me a push and i was off (everyone had passed by then). then a couple of hundred yards further just over the first narrow bridge, the wheel popped out again. i couldn't get it righted so i ran back to the start and the marin guys put me back in action. and scott provided the beer while i waited! off i went, the wheel held and i ended up around 4th. although it is hard to say what with the bungled first lap. the results show me as last (but not DNF!)

i had a good race though and actually passed a couple of people and stayed away. i was quite proud of myself when kathleen boyle from roaring mouse put a foot down right in front of me on the root drop and i readjusted and took the sketchier inside line, passed her and she never caught back up. Oh yeah -- I got three bucks too from the dollar grabs.

murphy dominated the mic. super funny announcing! and then murphy, justin and i hung out and had dinner with carlos and crew. zoe, his new baby girl, rivals griffin in the cuteness category! fun day!

Brian:

Super fun times - the best part was getting my name announced by Murphy every time I came through the start-finish area! What a blast! Emily was totally there for us with waterbottles on every lap! So awesome! In case it wasn't mentioned, I was the dollar-grab winner (I think) with $3 to my name! I enjoyed racing B's - the longer course was nice, as was the later start time. I think my days as a C are done :) Great having the support of the crew and racin' with y'all!

Krishna:

Stephanie got to race for the first time since having Griffin (and second time ever). She was embarrassed about not being faster, but I
was really proud of her and I think she enjoyed it. She even rode the
log before the bridge on most laps.

My race was fairly uneventful. Four seconds after the start I was in second place, and that is where I stayed for the next hour. The guy who won was able to put 1 or 2 seconds on me every lap, and finished 24 seconds ahead. On the bell lap I saw Yuri Hauswald, who was lapped at that point, a little ways up the course. I closed the gap and tried to come around him in a sprint for the line, but got forced off into a curb and narrowly avoided crashing.

Scott Crosby greeted me after the finish with a beer. What a teammate!

surf city halloween weekend report

2009-11-05T11:43:00.000-08:00

We dominated.

OK, admittedly we only dominated the costume race (best costume for Mark, Lee, and myself for the pink dinosaurs, most inappropriate for Kathryn's pregnant brownie outfit). Still, we showed those other folks who's who!

Plus: candy!

Racing went pretty well for some folks, too.

Lee had a breakthrough weekend, with a 2nd and 3rd in the Cs to go with his costume victory. Every spot on the podium!

Caitlin brought the power, as usual, and finished 5th and 3rd in the B women.

Arena made the podium in her first masters race.

Lina had a nasty crash. She was ok, though.

The rest of had races of varying degrees of success, but we all had fun.

(Photo by Steven Woo)

(Photo by Steven Woo)

and hecked!

True, true...

2009-11-04T10:45:00.001-08:00

Lina's Coyote Point Race Report

2009-10-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

Our newest rider Lina files this report from her very firstest cross race:

hat was AWESOME. my first cx race. my 4th or so time riding on dirt.
(east bayway doesn't count.) i don't even have a bike yet, but Ariel
let me use his! (thanks Ariel!)

i was recruited to the sheila moon team shortly before the race - i
believe the official approval of my joining the team was a text
message reading "crush bitches!". being on the sheila moon team means
being donned up in the hottest attire!

so in a pink skinsuit i lined up at the start line and off we went. up
some hill, ride ride ride, oh this is going fine, i'm hanging onto the
front so far despite riding on dirt, ride ride ride, hop off the bike!
carry it over the barriers, ride... no ride? DAMMIT! the chain fell
off! fiddle fiddle fiddle, oh crap, like half of the field rode past
me... it took me a good half or whole minute to get that back on. i'd
practiced remounts the day before but despite this fine practice i
still didn't do a single proper remount during the race, so that
didn't help - next time i'll practice getting the chain back on
instead! :P

alright, ride ride ride, uh-oh, get off, run up a hill, fail at
remounting again, ride! sand! run run run, ungracefully hop back on,
then some descent with roots and shit but hey! the girl who's scared
of dirt can actually deal with this, as it turns out.

uh-oh, some little boy falls right in front of me, no space left,
CRASH! haha, falling on grass doesn't hurt! ok WOW this is awesome but
is it gonna end soon? ok, passed some more people but still not nearly
as many as passed me while i was fiddling with the chain, ride over
the roots again, hey, this is going alright! whooooa totally losing my
balance, will fall, oh what happened, i'm still upright, figuring out
i have better balance than i think is great!

ok, ride ride ride, hey there's mariska on a mountain bike yelling her
race is all about beating ME! that's what i get for heckling her
during the cx class we took a month back. alright, some more riding,
some more falling, haha, falling doesn't hurt at all! but dammit,
mariska got ahead when i fell, alright, but gnat isn't going to beat
me! ride run ride ride ride RUN ride ride FINISH! 30 minutes later
with an average HR at 91% of my max.

and then beer with my new team followed. sweet! spent the rest of the
day drinking beer, watching the other races, cheering and heckling.
feeding beer to the racers. oh and some water too.

so, everyone should do cyclocross. it's fucking awesome and insane
amounts of fun.

Bay Area Superprestige #2, Coyote Point

2009-10-28T22:45:00.000-07:00

The Pilarcitos Bay Area SuperPrestige Series came to Coyote Point this week. Traditionally the site of the season finale (as it will be this year), Coyote Point offers plenty of course possibilities beyond the Beach Run of Doom for which it's known.

The organizers are saving the Beach Run and the flat parts of the park for the finale, and so carved out a pretty brutal up-and-down sleigh ride that combined some off-camber loose stretches with lots of soul-sucking grass and a nasty little sandbox run.

As is often the case, I got there late, so I missed the debut of our newest member, Lina, who raced the women's Cs. She jumped right in to her first cross race, rocking last year's skinsuit and a borrowed bike.

Lina's first race (by Veronika Lenzi)

I also missed the Superprestige debut of Sam Fletcher, who battled the bigger kids in the Junior 10-14 field, punching way above his weight for a respectable 6th.

Sam's got Skillz (by Lauren Haughey)

Cruisin' (by Lauren Haughey)

The Men's Cs was the biggest field ever at a Bay Area Superprestige race: Over 140 starters! Included in those 140 starters were Moonies Ted Ketai, Lee Slone, Derrick Chao and Mark Wheeler. Derrick and Lee had excellent races, finishing 32nd and 35th, respectively.

Derrick (by Veronika Lenzi)

Lee comes around (by Veronika Lenzi)

Ted started strong, only to run into trouble (more or less literally) with his lack of running training. This was a runner's course, with a set of barriers, one unridable runup, one long marginally ridable section that was often quicker to run, and the sandpit, which was ridable at the extremes, but for most of us mortals was much smarter to run. Still, Ted continued his gradual climb up the results, easily finishing in the top half.

Running is not Ted's strong point (by Veronika Lenzi)

This was, I think, Mark's first race of the year, and he's almost certainly the only one racing with a 6-speed bike*. Plus, he totally trumped my tired striped socks with his diamond tights.

Mark wins the fashion award for the day (by Veronika Lenzi)

(*Mark informs me that his derailleur doesn't quite reach one of the sprockets in back, so technically he's on a 5-speed)

I was the only one around to show the flowers for the Masters B race. Fortunately, they're calling up the top 20 in the masters field, and since I got 20th at the first race, I got the final callup slot. Despite my good start position, my race was pretty undistinguished. I clawed my way up to probably 10th or so in the first couple laps, only to slowly slide back to 16th as my lack of warmup took its toll, where I finished.

Mount or dismount? (by Steven Woo)
Still, last year at this time I would have been ecstatic with a 16th of 60-something placing, so hooray for progress.

Team Sponsor Brian Bruckner also raced the 35+ Bs, but he had the temerity to race in the colors of his bike shop, Big Swingin' Cycles, not the Moon pink, so we don't have any pictures of him putting in a really good result.

Oddly, we also only had one rider in the Master A race, Morgan Fletcher. Morgan moved up a category last year when he was training all the time, and has had trouble finding his legs in the Master A field. He had what I think was his best race of the year, though, staying solidly on the lead lap, and battling for position with several other folks.

Morgan battles (by Steven Woo)

Any concerns about lack of representation were very much put to bed by our showing in the women's race. As has been the case all year, we fielded a huge crowd of moonie women. Representing in the As were Liza Hartlaub and Carrie "Crusher" Edwards. Lauren Haughey flew the flowered flag in the 35+ class, and we brought five women to the Bs, including Caitlin Trahan (fresh off her win last week at Lion of Fairfax), Kathryn Aaker (fresh off the plane from New Zealand), Jenny Oh (fresh off her wedding last week), May Woo (just fresh), and Emily Mclanahan (I seem to have run out of fresh jokes). Somehow I ended up being the only one handing out water at the top of the climb to our riders, and was kept pretty busy.

Moonie women lined up for the start (by Matthew Blain)

Liza flat out crushed it. In her second A race, she made it into the top half of a stacked A field. Sometimes it's hard to believe that Liza's only in her second year of racing cross.

Liza (by Ted Ketai)

Carrie, in contrast, didn't have such a great race, cutting a tire and bowing out with a lap or two to go.

Carrie's race did not end well (by Steven Woo)

We also showed a range of results in the Bs, with Kathryn--who returned from a two-week trip to New Zealand the day before--overcoming a slow start to finish on the podium in fifth place.

Kathryn on the Podium (by Jenny Oh Hatfield)

It would be a mistake to believe, though, that she pulled it together through sheer force of will. She had help. And it was tasty!

Mmm... tasty! (by Ted Ketai)

A quick midrace cider break perked her right up, and she overtook two other riders in the last quarter lap to grab her podium position.

Kathryn glides over the barriers (by Jenny Oh Hatfield)

Caitlin, too, rode a good race, and although she didn't match her success of the week before, she cruised into the top 10, putting on a good show for her dad and sister (who were in attendance) by powering through the sand pit.

Caitlin powers through the sand pit (by Steven Woo)

Jenny is quickly gaining experience and confidence, and supplied the following report:

Today was a truly fun day of racing for me. With each race, I'm becoming more comfortable on dirt and I think this course suited me much more than McLaren and Surf City #1. I think I prefer a soft and loose course rather than a hard, bumpy and dusty one, so after pre-riding the course yesterday I actually felt more confident than I had in the past - which is a huge psychological boost! It's a great feeling to just focus on moving faster and not worrying about whether you're going to crash.

And so no crashes for me and I felt technically comfortable on the course. Lap 1 I felt energized, Lap 2 I was started to wear thin and by Lap 3 I was really feeling the burn. Laps 4 and 5 I started to recover and so this race was definitely a battle of fitness for me rather than the terrain. Hopefully with my training regimen I'll be able to get more oxygen into my system. :) But I'm inching my way up slowly and cracked the top 20!

I never thought I'd be running with my bike... (by Shawn Hatfield)

And I appreciate when the leaders / A's women are encouraging and ask us to move out of the way nicely, or cheer us on from behind. One racer said, "Go, go, go, you got it!" when I was negotiating the sketchy gravel section. Super cool. Than there are some women who are wenches and totally mean and practically knock you off the trail. Whatevs.

While I pretty much tune out the world around me and my facial expression looks like I'm giving birth on every lap, Team Beer Jon's comment made me laugh, "My life sucks now too!"

"my facial expression looks like I'm giving birth on every lap" (by Veronika Lenzi)

In addition to taking the lead on organizing the team infrastructure for the day, Emily had a decent race.

Emily (by Jon Suzuki)

May, unfortunately, did not have such a solid race, with a couple crashes and a mechanical. Her bad day didn't show on her face, though, as she fed her reputation as the cheeriest-looking racer around.

Even on a bad day, May's smiling (by Jenny Oh Hatfield)

Another racer who did not have an ideal race was Lauren, who had a disappointing result in the 35+ women.

Lauren (by Jon Suzuki)

In the Elite men, in what was probably the Moonie performance of the day, Krishna Dole took advantage of a start position better than the last row he had last time, and cranked out a stunning 7th place finish.

Krishna uses his tires' grip (by Jon Suzuki)

As with Liza, it's always surprising to remember that Krishna, too, is only in his second year of racing cross.

Most of the team, at this point, had finished their racing and were deep into their ~~cups~~spectating. One crowd posted up at the top of the climb, and handed out encouragement and water when we needed it most. Another big crew took it upon themselves to monitor the action (and the surface) at the sand pit.

It's not hard enough! (by Jenny Oh Hatfield)

Lina, Murphy and crew groom the sand pit (by Veronika Lenzi)

The final race of the day was the Men's Open B/Single Speed B race. As has been the case all year, we fielded quite a few folks in the Open Bs, and two of us in the Single Speed Bs. Before we raced this event, our teammates made a point of getting our hydration handup requests: water or beer? I opted for water, but reserved the right to change my mind should my race go badly.

Uri Friedman--often our B leader--flatted far from the pits, and spent half a lap working on his running fitness.

Uri (by May Woo)

Mike Hartlaub ran his spectacular crash streak to two races, ruining the grooming work Murphy and crew had done. Fortunately, it was caught on video. And even more fortunately, Mike was OK and managed to finish the race.

Jason Ferrier rode a solid race, finishing mid-pack, solidly on the lead lap, even finding time for a beer grab.

Off-screen beer grab (by Jenny Oh Hatfield)

Ryan Henbest and Mat Davidson also followed what seems to be becoming a Moonie B Men tradition, by finishing one right after the other, with Mat, particularly, improving on his rough previous Superprestige race.

Ryan over the barriers (by Veronika Lenzi)

Michigan Mat remounts (by Veronika Lenzi)

Run simultaneously with the B men is the Single Speed B race. The scoring snafus of the McLaren Park race blunted the news a little, but we started this race with 2 racers on the front row, Evan Sarna and myself. Evan was coming off a second place at McLaren park, as well as a win at the previous week's CCCX Single Speed B race at Toro Park.

Sasha gets a good start (by Jon Suzuki)

One minute after the open Bs, our whistle blew. I had a good start, ending up in second slot, with Evan grabbing fourth and snaking the inside line to end up third at the first turn. As we hit the grass chicanes at the top of the course, we ran across the tail end of the open B field. I failed to anticipate that the guy ahead of me would not ride one small rise, and didn't dismount in time. Evan took the opportunity to sneak into the lead, and didn't look back.

Evan (by Ted Ketai)

Now that my teammate was in the lead, I resolved to fight for every place. after the first lap or so, I started to feel the effects of my first race. Over the next few laps, three more guys got by me. The final guy to get by me was Denis, from Peninsula Velo. He never managed to get much gap, and by the second-to-last lap, I closed back to his wheel. For an entire half a lap I tried to figure out a way to go by him, but he did an excellent job of closing the door every time I tried to get by. As we hit the bell for the last lap, the effort started to tell on me, and he built a gap of 8 or 10 seconds back up. By the time we hit the sandpit on the last lap, I was pretty cooked. This time, when I passed the peanut gallery and they offered me a beer, I took it.

Why Yes, I will have some beer (by May Woo)

Furthermore, I took it in step.

Whether it was the magic of the beer or what, I do not know, but within a minute, I was right on the tail of my nemesis Denis again. This time, I was resolved not to be denied. At the last turn into the finishing stretch I dove underneath him and sprinted to beat him by a wheel.

It turned out, that much to my surprise I had just snatched away the final podium spot. Evan, meanwhile, had gone ahead and won the race.

Evan! (by Jenny Oh Hatfield)

So we put two moonies on the podium!

Sasha and Evan on SSB podium! (by Kathryn Aaker)

Overall, it was another great day for the Moon Machine, highlighted by Liza and Krishna's great showings in the As, Evan's win in the SS Bs and some truly epic heckling.

Liza post race (by Jon Suzuki)

Krishna & Griffin (future cx krusher) (by May Woo)

Thanks to Friends of the Moon team Veronika Lenzi, Steven Woo, and Jon Suzuki for permission to use their photos.

Video from Sunday's race

2009-10-28T10:31:00.001-07:00

I am still working on what's turning into an epic-length race report from this weekend, but in the meantime, here's a video that shows the strength of the Moonie women's posse and the quality of heckling, if not riding, we bring to the sport.

Rider Profiles: Joe Taylor

2009-10-26T13:57:00.000-07:00

Joe's in his second year with the team. He's unfailingly cheerful, even faced with team mates like me. He is also the possessor of an incredible sense of humor about himself, as his profile shows.

1. Name:
Joe Taylor

2. What do you do for a living?
I'm a Mechanical Engineer

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been
racing?
I used to race junior races in the mid/late 90's, took a sabbatical, and started again last year. You can usually find me in the back of the pack of the mens B field, racing the guys with mechanical problems & hangovers for DFL.

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud
of?
Winning the LeMans start of the team relay CX race in Santa Cruz last year, only to endo spectacularly 30 seconds later. Hats off to Jeremy Wright for sharing my defeat with my 15,000 closest friends on YouTube :)

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
Don't yell at me, harass the guy behind me for getting passed by a dude in a pink floral skinsuit.

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage?
Same as my pre-race beverage. PBR + Whisky = victory. Whatever it takes to kill the part of my nervous system that connects my legs to my brain.

7. What else should your fans know about you?
Fans? What fans?

Rider Profiles: May Woo

2009-10-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

May's the smallest person on our team, but casts maybe the biggest shadow. After being forced to struggle along with a kids' bike last year, she's on bike that's actually designed for adults! Well, one adult, anyway: May Woo. May's also been chronicling some of the team's (mis)adventures in video, which we'll be featuring on the site.

1. Name:
May Woo

2. What do you do for a living?
user interface & interaction design (my mom doesn't know what this is either)

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been racing?
I started racing cyclocross last year and MTB this summer. I'd never raced before then. I didn't even know what a full-suspension bike was until last year.

I'll be in Women's Bs this year for cyclocross and Sport next year for mountain biking.

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud of?
hmmm...still working on that one. I'd like to bunny-hop something bigger than a twig one day in a race! I totally love this video of Danny MacAskill for Inspired Bicycles. I don't ever hope to do what he does, but I figure if he can do backflips off a tree, I can at least aim for something bigger than a twig, right? :-)

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
go go go!!! she's ON YOUR TAIL!!!

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
Ice cream! okay that's not a beverage but I always feel like I deserve ice cream after a race. I like ginger beer and root beer too.

7. What else should your fans know about you?
I'm always happy if I do better in a race than before. My actual placement (first, last, or somewhere in between) doesn't matter as long as I'm getting better! Even if I didn't do better (we all have bad days), I'm happy if I pushed myself harder than I normally would because that can only mean I'll *eventually* get better.

The Lion of Fairfax

2009-10-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, October 17th saw the running of the 4th annual Lion of Fairfax cyclo-cross race in sunny (and hot - sheesh!) Fairfax and the Sheila Moon team was there along with over 300 other riders to pound some dirt, ring some bells and serve up some burgers.*

A benefit for the White Hill Middle School in Fairfax, the race was organized and run by our very own team sponsor, Brian Bruckner of Big Swingin’ Cycles. Big ups to Brian and his team for putting on a fantastic race!

Although our numbers were cut a little short by Jenny Oh’s wedding (congratulations Jenny and Shawn!) we still managed to field 11 racers and a strong volunteer effort headed up by Murphy and Lauren.

Although the course was flatter and less technical than I would have liked (or relied upon), the organizers made great use of the terrain on hand. After starting off in the sports field and throwing up a couple barriers it led up into the surrounding hills with a short climb and a long steep run-up before crashing back down into a grassy field. After a few twists and turns there was a drop followed by a tight turn with the most delicious berm that led down to a nasty, little, sharp climb that required judicious gearing. After following a gnarly path alongside the road riders got a nice stretch of pavement to speed them back down to the campus. Finally, the course snaked itself thoroughly through and around the school buildings before a gravel road returned you to the start.

So how did we do? Lee Slone started off the day with a solid 18th place finish in Cs. Way to go Lee!

Next up was me in 35+Bs. I was a little late arriving Saturday morning so I barely had time to throw on my kit and grab a number before heading over the end of the mob lining up for the masters’ B race. Mercifully the organizers (and racers) saw fit to separate the 45+s from the 35+s or I would have been forced to claw my way through them too. I didn’t get a chance to pre-ride the course but fortunately I had helped set up the course on Friday afternoon and had some idea of what to expect. Volunteerism isn’t just a way to build your community, learn new skills and meet people - it can totally save your ass!

Although I had a great start and managed to claw my way up to the top half of the field on the first lap, grinding through the long stretches in the blazing heat took its toll and pretty soon people were passing me all over the place. Although a dropped chain and a small spill on the sidewalk knocked me even further down, I managed to save enough gas for the last lap to scoop up a few more places and eventually finish 31st.

After the masters race most of the team gathered at the top of the run-up to watch (and heckle) the As. Unbeknownst to me, we were in the presence of cycling royalty as the 54 years-young and former world MTB champion Ned Overend crushed a field of riders who were mostly half his age. He eventually placed third - they don’t nickname him “the Lung” for nothing. Go Ned!

Moving on to our bitch crushing™ posse, our ladies proved once again that they are more than just pretty in pink. Caitlan Trahan saw her second podium finish this year by snagging first in Bs (and scoring a bottle of vodka to boot) while May Woo finished in 9th.

Carrie Edwards also staked out some podium territory by placing 5th in the open As edging out the chick in the “Go Vegan“ jersey. Go vegan - pshaw... go bacon!

Later in the afternoon the men’s B squad, perhaps inspired by synchronized swimming, saw fit to finish in tight formation. Matt Davidson placed 32nd, Ryan Henbest 33rd, Derrick Chao 35th and Joe Taylor rounded it out in 37th. Geez guys - just because we’re all on the same team doesn’t mean you have to finish together.

Mike Hartlaub’s race got short when he was thrown from his bicycle after a rider rolled a tubular right in front of him. Fortunately he was not seriously injured. Where were you planning on placing MIke, 31st?

Finally, Morgan Fletcher finished up the day by placing 12th in the 35+As. After that there was nothing left to do but tear down the course and join Murphy and Jeremy over at Gestalt for a couple (more) post-race refreshments.

All in all, a most excellent day.

* And to surreptitiously enjoy a few refreshing beverages of course.

Miscellaneous notes

2009-10-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

We still owe you (our theoretical reader(s)) race reports from the last two weekends, but in the meantime, a couple quickies:

Mighty May Woo is officially awesome.

Local rider Cyclofiend is sort of regretful he missed the Lion of Fairfax,

In cross, there’s nothing like that time-warp of “Holy Eddy! This has been going on a looong time!” and then realizing that you are just finishing your first lap.

Unlike life, cyclocross is only painful for a specific, discreet period of time.

Very funny New England racer Colin Reuter describes exactly how helpful the crowd can be at a cross race,

When you're slogging mud it doesn't really matter what "group" you're with. Any attempt at drafting ends up with mud in your eye, anyway, so the benefit is definitely negated by the fact that YOU CAN'T SEE ANYMORE. But man, that doesn't stop the crowd (effin' crowd!) from yelling stupid stuff like "get that wheel" and "catch that group." Thanks, crowd. You're full of good ideas. Why don't you put that beer down and give me a push, huh?

That'd actually be a pretty good candidate for team slogan: "Put that beer down and give me a push". Although probably "Oh, you need a new wheel? Here, hold my beer" is probably closer to the truth.

Rider Profiles: Mike Hartlaub

2009-10-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Along with his sister Liza, Michael "Dirty Mike" Hartlaub is new to the team. Mike has the honor of having a trail (unofficially) named after him in Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland, and I think that Mike proved he'd come to the right team when he organized his co riders at the Coolest 24 hours race to prepare for their morning laps with dawn keg stands.

1. Name:
Michael Hartlaub

2. What do you do for a living?
Environmental Engineer

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been
racing?
I've been racing for ~10 years. I raced Collegiate back at the University Of Illinois, and have been getting into it again since moving to the Bay: Cat 1 Mountain XC and Short Track, B's CX, Cat 2 DH,

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud
of?
4th Place Finish Finish in the Long Course at Shasta Lemurian. It was soo damn hard. So much climbing.

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
Shred the Gnar, Work the Bike, Stop sucking, your sister is riding faster than you.

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage?
Spicy Hot V8, then beer

7. What else should your fans know about you?
I've already said too much

Rider Profiles: Krishna Dole

2009-10-19T07:12:00.000-07:00

I met Krishna a few years ago on a group mountain bike ride. I fancy myself something of a climber, but I was lucky to stay on the same side of the mountain as Krishna. In addition to being one of the fastest guys around, Krishna is a proud new father. And yes, in his family, it's dad who wears the pink flowered onesie.

(photo by Flickr user dustinj)

1. Name:
Krishna Dole

2. What do you do for a living:
Software developer, working to accelerate the discovery of new drugs
(http://www.collaborativedrug.com).

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been racing?
This is my second full season of racing, and I've been talked into racing A's in cyclocross this year, which should be a painful learning experience. In mountain biking I race Cat 1/Expert.

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud of?
Winning the last two Lake Sonoma races was nice, especially since Carlos at Bike Monkey is such a great guy.

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
Pretty much anything. If it is nice I will feel loved and go faster. If it's not I will feel pissed and go faster.

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
I want to try Ted's Hefeweizenade.

7. What else should your fans know about you?
I make my own energy gel (currently working my way through a 50 lb sack of maltodextrin). You get to choose between hot cocoa mix or Kool-Aid flavor.

Rider Profiles: Sheila Moon

2009-10-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

In addition to being the mastermind behind the bright pink skinsuits (and other clothing), Sheila has been known to turn a pretty mean crank. And hey, she has a bike team named after her!

1. Name:
Sheila Moon

2. What do you do for a living:
Design & Manufacture Athletic Apparel in San Francisco/Oakland - Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel, LLC

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been
racing?
Elite women, racing since 1994, road, mtb, cx

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud
of?
Podium (5th) National CX Championships, Portland OR (second year), Women 40-45

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
Last Lap!

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
First - Water
Next - Beer - preferably Belgian - Hoegarden is my favorite

7. What else should your fans know about you?
I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have such a fun and amazing cyclocross team! Thanks especially for Murphy for making every race a holiday!

Rider Profiles: Evan Sarna

2009-10-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Evan's new to the team this year, although it feels like I have been battling him in races for years. He put on the spectacular East Bay Alleycross last year, and is the proud possessor of a very pretty new single speed bike.

1. Name:
Evan Sarna

2. What do you do for a living:
City planner

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been racing?
This will be my third season of singlespeed cyclocross racing.

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud of?
Helping to organize the East Bay Alley CX Race last winter.

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
Allez! Allez!

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
Coconut milk. Then beer.

7. What else should your fans know about you?
What fans?

Rider Profiles: Liza Hartlaub

2009-10-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

Liza, along with her brother Mike, came to us this year in search of a better balance of riding and recreation. And in search of more dirt.

1. Name:
LIZA HARTLAUB(PROFESSIONAL GNAR SCHREDDER)
2. What do you do for a living?
Work at Mikes Bikes in Berkeley and school
3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been
racing?
I race B's but might move up to A's this year!
4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud
of?
Best bike accomplishment hmm...riding 100 miles 6 consecutive days. Touring from Seattle to Cali, and riding the Tahoe Rim Trail self supported in 2 days
5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
People should yell "crush those bitches"
6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
Anything to further impair my judgement
7. What else should your fans know about you?
Fans should know that i'm here to party!

Video from BASP #1 at McLaren Park

2009-10-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Mighty May Woo shot some video of Moonies and Friends at McLaren last week.

Pilarcitos #1 McLaren Park 2009 from May Woo on Vimeo.

Rider Profiles: Derrick Chao

2009-10-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

Derrick's in his second year of racing with the team. He went through a spasm of bike wheeling and dealing this year which we hope left him with a bike that fits him!

1. Name:
Derrick Chao
2. What do you do for a living?
Strategy Analyst for a software company in Silicon Valley - in other words, a full-time nerd like most of my fellow self-respecting Moonies...
3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been
racing?
Men's B's - this is my second season racing (I've only been riding for a little over two years now). I'd consider dropping back into C's, but I wouldn't hear the end of it from Murphy! But really, I'm all about getting the most bang for buck out of my race reg fee...
4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud
of?
5 laps solo at Coolest 8 hours at Boggs, 2009. Or maybe 3 laps in torrential, miserable rain at Coolest 8 hours of Cool... look ma, no brake pads!
5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
"That old man and junior only have like 30 seconds on you!"
6. What's your favorite post-race beverage?
Lagunitas IPA, obviously!
7. What else should your fans know about you?
Racing is my long-awaited excuse to finally let myself get into bed by 10pm on Friday and Saturday nights...

Rider Profiles: Jason Ferrier

2009-10-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

Jason's in his second year with the team. He's best known for riding Single Speed Cyclocross worlds on a Surly Big Dummy a year ago.

1. Name:
Jason Lee Ferrier

2. What do you do for a living:
Currently Unemployed - specialized in Magento open source ecommerce platform deployment / web programming

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been racing?
MTB: Sport under 35
CX: B's. If i wanted to sandbag, I would race in C's but I'm afraid of all those new riders without the proper skills. The dilemma: place top 10 consistently in C's or place in bottom half of B's ....

I started mountain bike racing in 2005 at Penn State. When I was living out of a hotel near Baltimore, Maryland for my job I started racing cross there.

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud of?
Having the technical skills from learning in real rock gardens in Pennsylvania to keep up with other mountain bikers on either my cross bike or my rigid mountain bike while they are on their full suspensions.

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
You think your cross bike is pink enough?

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
Cold, strong beer. That's only after I am done feeling like puking after giving everything I have for the last sprint.

7. What else should your fans know about you?
I like pink bike accessories.

Bay Area Super Prestige #1: McLaren Park (Part 2: The Afternoon)

2009-10-07T07:44:00.001-07:00

(part 1)

The weather took a turn for the worse in the afternoon, getting colder and windier. It made it hard for the spectators, and in some cases hard for the racers.

The women's A/B/Masters race went off around noon. We didn't have an A racer, but something like a quarter of the B field was Sheila Moon racers. Kathryn and Arena are coming back for their second year of Bs, Emily and May moved up from the Cs this year, Jenny comes straight from the track to Bs, and Caitlin has come over from another team. So with 6 riders in a (vastly improved from last year) field of 23, we were set to make some noise.

Kathryn led the Moonies home and on to the podium with a 5th.

(photo by Mark Woloschuk)

Caitlin followed with a top ten.

(photo by Jon Suzuki)

Arena,

Jenny (in her first cross race),

May (on her sweet new Rock Lobster),

and Emily (of whom I cannot find a picture, dammit) all finished strong for the team. Of particular note was that May had a flat on the last lap, and chose to ride it in, rather than try to get a new wheel.

Because Lauren goes her own way, she spurned the B field to line up with the Hard Women in the Masters division.

For the first time in a couple years, we fielded two Elite Men.

Steven had a Series of Unfortunate Events, that included three bike changes (including at least one that was the slowest I've ever seen).

Krishna, in the meantime, clawed his way from the back row to 14th. I think he needs to get a better start position.

The final race of the day was the B men and Singlespeed Bs. We had three racers in the open Bs, including Joe, Jason and Mat.

The Single speed Bs gave us the best results of the day, as Evan tuned in a strong second, and I (it turns out, as I find out 5 days later) scrabbled on to the theoretical podium in 5th.

Overall, we had a great day, marred mostly by, um, overzealous park rangers cramping our refreshment style.

We served up some tasty food, though!

Surf City #1 is this weekend. We look forward to some more excellent times.

Bay Area Super Prestige #1: McLaren Park (Part 1: Morning Races)

2009-10-06T19:22:00.001-07:00

The Moonies were out in force for the first race of the year in the Bay Area Super Prestige Series. We fielded 20 racers for the day, and fed substantially more. Unfortunately, our keg was intercepted by the park rangers, so we were forced to make do with the cans we could smuggle in.

McLaren Park has a reputation as a very hard course. It includes a brutal run up, several tough climbs, and some nasty, bumpy stuff on the downhills. We were able to manage pretty well (since most of us have mountain biking roots), but the course took its toll, for sure.

The gigantic (over 100 racers!) C men went off slightly after 9am. Moonies ended up from 29th to 95th at the end.

Ted Ketai proved that the huge miles he's been putting in does matter, by posting his best cross finish ever.

Scott Crosby led the Moonie contingent.

Brian and Derrick also had good results.

and Lee fought through some mechanical issues to finish respectably

(if that chain looks dodgy, it's because it wasn't particularly acquainted with the chainring at the moment)

Next up was the Masters B race. Mark Woloschuk and I represented the Moon Machine in this race.

Unfortunately, the results from this race are not yet posted, but I think we did pretty well. As usual, the lack of a good starting position came back to haunt us. The race bottlenecked drastically just after the initial run up, and anyone who didn't hit that in the first dozen or so certainly had his work cut out for him.

Morgan Fletcher was our sole representative in the A Masters race. He was somewhat hampered by his participation in the Gran Fondo the day before: 103 miles and 15,000 feet of climbing will do that to you!

(images by Moonies Mark, May, Ted, and Lee)

Rider Profiles: Mat Davidson

2009-10-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Another in our rider profiles series. "Michigan" Mat's new to the Moon Machine this year, and is most famous for this quote from his introductory email:

I love cross almost as much as I love Death Metal, and what could be
more Metal than crushing some dreams while dressed like girl?

Indeed.

1. Name:
"Michigan" Mat Davidson

2. What do you do for a living:
Software engineer

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been
racing?
High-Cs, low B's - road and CX
Sport - MTB
Racing for 3 years

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud
of?
CCCX '08/'09 Cat C cyclocross champion

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
"is that the best you've got"?

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
Java-Monster "Mean Bean" energy drink

7. What else should your fans know about you?
I've got roots in BMX and dirt-jumping, so hang out by the barriers to see some good bunnyhops

Rider Profiles: Jenny Oh

2009-10-01T16:09:00.001-07:00

Jenny's new to our team, but is a legend in Bay Area cycling circles. We're really pleased to have her with us this year.

(Photo by Flickr user mnorri)

1. Name:
Jenny Oh

2. What do you do for a living?
Interactive Associate Producer on KQED's QUEST - a multimedia series that explores Northern California science, environment and nature.

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been racing?
This is the first season that I'll be officially racing cross! I'm a recent transplant to the Bay Area and moved here from New York City about 3 years ago. My first foray into racing was track racing at the Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose, California over 2 years ago. I'd only heard of cyclocross upon moving here, and I'd never thought I'd join the ranks of racing around on dirt, jumping over barriers, running up hills , and hopping off and on my bike; it's quite different from the NASCAR-like scenario of the track. I'll be racing with the B's women this year and hopefully my injuries will be minor and my stories will be epic!

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud of?
I'm most proud of taking my cycling passion to the next level by being competitive at a local level. It's a fantastic community here and I'm looking forward to having fun and pushing my own personal limits! Also, winning a special award for riding around in an oversized Hello Kitty outfit at this year's final DFL race was pretty sweet.

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
They're gaining on you!

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage?
Water followed by whiskey.

7. What else should your fans know about you?
I love bacon hand-ups.

Rider Profiles: Kathryn Aaker

2009-10-01T14:36:00.000-07:00

(photo by May Woo)
Another in our series of rider profiles. Kathryn's one of the original Moonies and stepped up onto the B women's podium last year.

1. Name:
Kathryn "Squishy" Aaker

2. What do you do for a living:
Self-employed nerd.

3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been racing?
This is my 3rd year racing anything, ever. I'm hoping I can stick around in Women's Bs for a bit longer. I'm pretty happy hovering on the lower steps of a podium; it's just the right balance between a bit of glory and lack of pressure!

4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud of?
I was pretty happy to ride the SSCXWC on a townie bike. The bell definitely came in handy, as did the whiskey flask.

5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
"Last lap!" (I lose count after the 2nd lap, so it's encouraging to hear that it's almost over, even if it's a lie.)

6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
Fox Craft Hard Cider

7. What else should your fans know about you?
Like much of our team, I was recruited at a bar, with my only qualification being a recently acquired cyclocross bike. I said yes somewhere between a sip of booze and a bite of sausage.

Photo by Arena Reed

Rider Profiles: Ted Ketai

2009-10-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

This post starts a series of profiles we're doing of the riders on the team. We'll post these periodically over the course of the first part of the cross season.

First up: Ted Ketai. This is Ted's second cross season with us, and probably deserves this year's Most Improved award on the mountain bike side.

(photo by Cyclocross Magazine)

1. Name?
Ted Ketai
2. What do you do for a living?
R&D Engineer, Medical Devices
3. What category or categories do you race in? How long have you been
racing?
Sport or C's
4. What's your best bike accomplishment, or the one you're most proud
of?
Finishing Downieville XC twice so far.
5. What should people yell at you to make you go faster?
"Way to persevere!" (I HATE this)
6. What's your favorite post-race beverage.
Hefeweisen mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with lemonade
7. What else should your fans know about you?
I'm trying to fill my house up with bikes.

CCCX #2: Slonie at Fort Ord

2009-09-28T17:10:00.001-07:00

(Photo by Steven Woo)

What better way to recover from (or atone for) Interbike than to start my 'cross season a little early? And what better place, than the Fort Ord Day Camp in Seaside? With many of my teammates out pre-riding McLaren park for next weekend's BASP season opener, it was up to me to represent the team alone at CCCX. I had little excuse not to show, since the race is "close" to my house. (For the record, this means 70 miles away, instead of 110 miles).

The first climb out of the starting gate led to the familiar realization that my fitness isn't where I want it to be, but I was handling myself for most of the first lap. Then the second sandy descent led to the familiar sensation of going over the bars. This was my first race on a proper CX bike (a borrowed LeMond with fresh Michelen Mud2's slapped on the night before) but I won't blame it on the unfamiliar bike – I've proven adept at crashing equally well no matter what bike I'm on.

The next realization came in the second lap, when I realized that no amount of dismount/remount practice truly simulates a race situation unless it is performed in a state of severe oxygen deprivation. But things started to seem like they were going pretty well. I was excited! My first race of the season! I hadn't even been passed (much) yet. Then, immediately after crossing the start/finish line to start my third lap, I flatted. DNF. Out. The day was starting to suck.

After a brief period of moping around in the pits, and some encouragement by Steven Woo, I changed tubes and went out for a dignity lap. That cheered me up a bit. Next, I rode out with Surly John and the heckle squad to the Sand [Heckle] Pit via some awesome berm-y singletrack that wasn't part of the course. The trails out there at Fort Ord are super-fun! Even when you stop to avoid crashing into the guy ahead, and the rider behind you crashes into you from behind. That cheered me up even more.

After a couple hours of merciless heckling, I went out for a couple more laps during the warmup for the A's. Whether it was the fact that I was following better riders, the lower tire pressure in my Michelin Mud in the front, or the two Tecates and several Belgian Waffle Cookies in my stomach, something made me ride much smoother and better than any of my previous laps. Probably faster, too. I made sure to power through the sandpit at high speed each time, in order to justify the previous heckle-sessions. I also hopped both of the log barriers, although I can't say I did a good job of it -- I biffed my rear wheel off of them hard enough to elicit an audible cringe from bystanders. Even the descent that I had crashed on earlier wasn't so bad, when I took the inside line.

After a few laps of heckling from the sandpit during the A race, our group migrated to the top of the run-up, where the world's best cyclocross racer/drummer of the Rock Lobster/HRS team had set up a full drumset.

(Photos by Steve Anderson)

Sure beats a bunch of cowbells, but just to be sure, we rang cowbells too. It was totally awesome, rivaling the Cross Crusade drum line from SSCXWC last year.

After the A race was over, I practiced dollar grabs with the leftovers at the top of the runup. After grabbing the soggy bills, I tried to give the dollars back to their owners, who then decided that I had earned them. Another realization: That was my first successful dollar grab! I'm commemorating it by taping the dollar to my toptube. Back in the pits, I chatted with race-winner Josh Snead, and he showed off his 46t Dura-Ace chainring. Bastard.

Yesterday proved that when it comes to cyclocross, you don't have to have a great race in order to have a great day*.

*But it doesn't hurt! See you all at McLaren Park next Sunday!

(photo credit: Steven Woo)

CCCX #1 Still More about Sasha! (or lessons for teh nOObs)

2009-09-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

So this is more a post for those of you who like me are new to the cult, but yes, let’s begin with a few words of praise for Sasha Magee. Silver Medal in single speed Bs? Nicely done. Driving there and back and not bitching when I totally fell asleep three times? Most gentlemanly. Loan of team kit jersey? Classy. Willingness to accept my direction when having his photo taken? Greater than expected. Patience with processing my endless stream of questions? Legendary.

I have often remarked that it is indeed a bitter irony that the best bicycling in the Bay Area requires that you drive to it and so it was with CCCX#1. Manzanita park is just south west of Gilroy which is indeed a bit of a hike requiring a pretty early departure. Personally I would not recommend my pre-race day preparation which involved a not insignificant amount of drinking at the Dolores Park movie night and a couple (one is too few and two is too many - sigh) of the ubiquitous truffle man’s truffles. At two in the morning my brain was still on fire and I tried to put it to sleep by watching the Big Lebowski but it was to no avail.

Lesson 1 - don’t party too hard or stay up too late the night before the race (this should be obvious but... you know... ).

Fortunately I had remembered to pack all my crap (clothes, snacks, tools, photo gear etc.) before we went out that night so at 6:30am, all I had to do was remember how to pour cereal and make coffee.

Lesson 2 - pack the night before the race and don’t forget to eat breakfast.

As we waited in line to register, I overheard some dudes say that the course was slow and technical. This immediately made me happy since my cardio abilities are still a work in progress and I know that time can be made up in the technical bits. As Sasha and I did a quick lap of the course I looked for the obvious good lines and danger spots but I also tried riding through some of the less ideal spots. If I had to pass or was forced out of the good line what was the next best option? This proved handy when some dude didn’t hear me repeatedly yelling “on your right“ and I had to pass him on the very edge of a downhill. Also after the long downhill the course pulled a hard right turn. Lots of people coasted through that turn but there was a soft-looking but actually pretty solid berm that you could use to pedal through the whole turn. I knew that because I had tested it out on the warmup lap before the race pressure was on.

Lesson 3 - get to the race in time to ride the course, and really study it. Look for the good, the bad and the ugly (but bearable).

I was racing in men’s 35+ Bs which had the awesome benefit of starting at 10am. Of late I’ve become a little less thrilled with birthdays, but the practical side of me loves the fact that the 35+ crowd gets to start later. There were 30ish dudes in my group and we started just after the open Bs and single speed Bs. The down side to this was that the start was a giant cluster fuck that only further dissolved into an even greater cluster fuck as we ran into the backside of the open Bs. Like Sasha I too was unexpectedly forced off my bike at the twin set of short, sharp hills.

Lesson 4 (Sasha’s first lap maxim) - be prepared to run up stuff that’s totally rideable on the first lap to avoid getting held up.

At the start I was kind of surprised by how slow most of my group was off the line. I’m not a fast rider yet by an means and it was my first sanctioned race so I had taken up a position near the back. But the start was at the bottom of short hill which is the one kind of climb I'm good at. I hit it as hard as I could and I actually had to veer off the course to pass people in my way.

Lesson 5 - hammer the start like your life depends on it and don’t shortchange yourself by choosing a poor start position - line up early.

There was only one relatively short run-up with a barrier and I was rather surprised by how early many racers got off their bikes. This was by no means a super tough slope and indeed I later saw one of the As hop the barrier and ride the whole thing.

Lesson 6 - don’t run more than you have to.

I‘m a slow runner and on my first two laps I pushed my bike up the slope. Later I remembered to shoulder my bike and was shocked at how much faster I was able to go and indeed I actually passed people doing so.

Lesson 7 - shoulder your bike when you run - pushing is slow.

Scattered throughout the course over all the different kinds of terrain (pavement, dirt, grass and gravel) were at least five sections of chicanes. No one seemed to have any idea of how to do these fast - I gained valuable seconds in almost every one as people really slowed down to navigate these.

Lesson 8 - chicanes... umm... we should totally figure out the best technique for those and practice them at the next clinic.

Having learned a painful lesson at the first DFL, I was real careful setting my bike down before remounts. At one point I even heard some spectators yelling at a guy that he had dropped his chain - he ignored them and then lost all kinds of time as he came to a rapid halt. But even though I had improved that one part, I know that I was tossing away precious seconds on every one of my slow and sloppy remounts.

Lesson 9 - smooth and fast remounts will save you seconds.

As Sasha mentioned, the slope that was his ticket to a free helicopter ride last year was changed into a downhill. At the bottom of the hill the course pulled a hard 180 before throwing a barrier at you. Most people I saw coasted through this section and started braking early. I kept pedaling as long as I could and then braked hard before bailing off the bike. I was able to makeup time and catch up with faster riders many times this way. Of course they would then just smoke me on the climb that followed but you have to take what you can get.

Lesson 10 - keep pedaling going downhill

Lesson 11 - brake late, brake hard, brake before the turn

Of course all this speed would get me all juiced up and excited so there were a couple times where I forgot to downshift far enough before the barrier. Oops. Your remount is going to be even slower if you’re not in a low enough gear. Don’t forget to downshift before turns and dismounts. Don’t forget to downshift before turns and dismounts. Don’t forget to downshift before turns and dismounts. See? Now I've said it thrice! This should be your mantra - getting caught in high gear is three kinds of stoopid.

Lesson 12 - downshift before the barrier or turn.

I‘ve been taking spin classes for the past month or so and while I can definitively say that I wouldn’t have made it through the race without them, I’ve still got a ways to go in building cardio strength. As I burned through the laps I could feel myself slowing down and getting sloppier. But then I hit the bell lap and I realized that I wasn’t totally fried. I still had some gas in the tank and I pressed hard to catch a rider I had been dueling with and just whisked by him by sprinting up the last hill to the finish line.

Lesson 13 - the last lap is not the hardest - you can always push yourself a little bit harder.

After our race we hung out so that we could watch Caitlin’s race and snag a few pix. While we waited we surreptitiously drank our booze (Sasha hid his beer in a bike bottle, I put my whiskey in my gingerale can) and this reminded me of the second rule of Butter Lap since I was drinking JD (which may actually be the worst whiskey ever made).

Lesson 14 - bring good booze.

CCCX #1: More about me!

2009-09-22T17:05:00.002-07:00

The last time I showed up at Manzanita Park to race cyclocross, I left in an air ambulance. So I can't deny that I felt somewhat nervous about this race.

As is usual for this venue, the course was excellent. the lap starts off with a big climb (broken up, this time, with a little chicane and a longer loop with a set of barriers), followed up by some techy stuff at the top and a long, fast descent to the ball field, where we were treated to a bunch of super slow speed twisty stuff. This time, they added an uphill barrier before the drop back down to the start.

More than a couple people pointed out to me that the piece of trail next to the fence I smashed into last year was an uphill, not downhill, section this time, and suggested I should feel honored by this. I told them I was holding out for a Sasha Magee Memorial Reroute, but was not holding my breath.

I signed up for Single Speed B, coincidentally starting me at the same time as Moonies Uri and Derrick (men's B) and Mark (35+ B). The organizers had some trouble trying to figure out where to put the 6 single speeders, and at the last minute lined us up behind the open Bs, in front of the 35+ Bs. We didn't really realize what this meant until about 10 seconds before the whistle, they told us "single speeders, you go with the Bs".

Then the whistle blew.

We stood there and looked at each other for a second, then took off. I got a better jump than the rest, and started to claw my way through the B field. I made the mistake of thinking I could ride the little sharp ups at the top of the course. Although they were completely rideable, on the first lap, people still screwed it up, and I was stuck.

I led the single speeders on the first lap, but Hank from Roaring Mouse came past me on the barriers halfway up the climb on the second lap (that moment memorialized here). I was a little blown at this point, and over the next two laps, he managed to get about thirty seconds on me. With 2 to go, I realized I'd closed to within about 15 seconds. unfortunately, at that point he realized I was closing in, and managed to stretch his lead out to close to :30, which is where we ended.

So second place is pretty good. But there's clearly a bunch of stuff to work on.

I got stuck behind some guy on a geared mountain bike for the last two laps. I was not able to close on the uphills enough to make up for his gapping me on the downhill. And unfortunately, I was too sloppy through the barriers to be able to make up time there. My barrier approaches, my remounts, and my bike carrying were all terrible. Still, for the first race of the season, I felt ok about it. I'm gonna miss the second CCCX race, so the next venture out is McLaren Park. I hope to do as well there!

Another great weekend for the Sheila Moon team

2009-09-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

This weekend was another pretty good one for the team. Krishna Dole put an exclamation point on his mountain bike season by winning Bike Monkey's Lake Sonoma #3 race.

The next day, at the CCCX cyclocross race at Manzanita Park, we filled out the other two steps at the top of the podium, as I took second in Single Speed B and Caitlin Trahan picked up third in women's B.

me.

Caitlin.

We were not the only ones with good days, as Uri Friedman went top 10 in men's Bs, Derrick Chao continued clawing his way up in the Bs, and Mark Woloschuk finished in the top half of the field in 35+Bs in his very first race.

It's almost cyclocross season!

2009-09-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

Oboy oboy oboy.

We had our first Sheila Moon/Big Swingin' Cycles team cyclocross clinic Tuesday night, ably led by Matthias.

There were over a dozen Moonies and friends, ranging from A category racers to people who'd never remounted on the fly before.

This was our beginner clinic (and it also served as a refresher for people who aren't beginners). We'll be hosting an intermediate advanced clinic before the season really starts.

We closed with a little heckling training (and training in racing while people are heckling you).

(Photos by Jenny Oh)

Carrie Crushes!

2009-08-12T00:38:00.001-07:00

I've just gotten word that Carrie Edwards came in second in the Transrockies TR3 3-day race!

Awesome.

From depths to heights...and back again

2009-08-09T20:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the annual Howell Mountain Challenge. It's a race run over many of the same trails as the Napa Valley Dirt Classic, but run as a lap race, rather than one big loop. My race last year was, well, sucky. I've been riding really well these last couple weeks, though, and this is pretty much the last mountain bike race before cross season starts, so I thought I'd give it a bash. Plus, hey, Sport Singlespeed class!

In my time-honored tradition of carefully preparing for mountain bike races, I spent the day before doing trail work in San Francisco's McLaren Park. They crew I worked with created a brand new section of trail basically from virgin woodland. It was tremendously satisfying, and I can't wait to ride that piece of trail. However, digging dirt and carrying rocks around all day is not the best prep for a mountain bike race.

I woke up with a sore knee and pretty dead legs, and cast about desperately for an excuse to skip the race. None being readily at hand, I picked up my teammate Angel and headed up to Napa for the race. Angel'd never ridden the race, and I filled her in on some of the salient features of the course.

We got there in plenty good time, and spent some nervous energy spinning around the track to warm up. Morgan Fletcher and Mike Hartlaub were there to round out the Sheila Moon crew, along with plenty of our friends from Roaring Mouse and Team Wrong Way.

As usual, they started us in waves, and at the whistle my group (the Sport men categories, basically) hammered up the paved road to the singletrack bottleneck. I saw one singlespeeder get ahead, and then for the next few miles, I held my own. The first part of the lap is pretty twisty, and all the time I've been spending on the Pine Mountain paid off, as I was able to wrestle the big beast almost flawlessly through even the tightest of corners, holding my place in the conga line (and occasionally passing), even as I struggled to turn the pedals slowly enough to not whack into the guys spinning away in their grannies.

A couple miles in to the first lap the guy in front of me bobbled as someone was trying to pass, and a half dozen guys came by, including at least two single speeders, one of whom was my friend and former team mate John Blackwell. I stuck on Johns wheel for the next few miles, and eventually passed both him and the other guy who'd gotten past me.

With the exception of the one very steep section that almost everybody hiked, I was able to ride most of the rest of the lap, managing somehow to keep enough traction despite the loose conditions on a few of the climbs. I felt pretty good, considering the state of my legs, and although I'd lost track of how many folks in my class were ahead of me, I knew there were at least a half-dozen or so behind, so I was doing OK. I knew there were a couple ahead of me, though, because I could see them as we slogged up a climb that I only could think of as the Single Speed Trail of Tears: a long climb that was just gradual enough to make it hard to stand up and really stomp up the hill, but steep enough that sitting through it hurt a lot. I was at the end of a line of five or so singlespeeders (male and female), and nobody was making much headway over anyone else.

The most memorable feature of the course is the Whoops, three closely-spaced rocky gullies near the end of each lap. They are all ridable, but require a certain amount of fearlessness in the approach to maintain enough speed to get up the other side (Murphy shot a few clips of the gullies last year). As I hit these on the first lap, I realized I had not warned Angel about them, proving I'm not the best course scout around.

At the beginning of my second lap, I had my only mishap of the day. The course turned into the woods on a very loose downhill. The ground was so torn up that the riders ahead were raising huge amounts of dust. I made the mistake of trying to peer through the clouds to steer down the hill, and managed to wash out. Fortunately, I was able to unclip on the down side, and kept the bike between me and the ground.

The rest of the second lap was pretty uneventful. Again I was able to ride almost every climb, and passed a couple single speeders on the steeper ones. As I hit the Trail of Tears, I saw one of my rivals dangling twenty or thirty seconds ahead. Unfortunately, I couldn't coax any additional effort out of my legs to close the gap. As I hit the last quarter mile till the end, I could see someone closing fast behind me. I didn't know whether he was riding geared or singlespeed, but I hoped the former, since he was closing pretty damn fast on the flats.

The race ends with 3/4 of a lap of an asphalt running track, and once I rounded the first turn there, I looked back to see if I could see whether I had to worry about the guy behind me. As I looked over my right shoulder for him, he wailed past me on the left. I was relieved to see he was running gears, and was in fact Peter who I know from SF Urban Riders.

As I waited for Angel to finish the organizers posted preliminary results. I was shocked to discover that I'd not only knocked off 19 minutes from the previous year's time, but had come in third in my category!

I've never had the opportunity to stand on a podium before, so I was a little unprepared when my time came, as you can see:

My high came pretty quickly to an end, however, when my car broke down on the Bay Bridge on the way home.

Say goodbye, say hello

2009-07-28T17:19:00.001-07:00

It's not the only change in team members we've had recently (and we'll be updating our reader(s) on our new teammates as cross season approaches), but a couple notes.

The mighty Sam Bell, last year's Best New Rider, has oddly decided to put her education above amateur bike racing and has absconded to Adelaide, Australia to ~~take cute pictures~~ get a degree in underwater Archaeology.

We'll certainly miss her, of course, but wish her the best with her new furry friends...

All is not lost, however, with our recruitment of Angel Gabarino (who was Krishna's partner at So No Mas). Angel is an accomplished adventure racer, and her race reports make mine look like tweets (although, of course, her races last 72 hours, so there's a lot to write about).

Welcome Angel!

Some pictures from Downieville

2009-07-14T11:29:00.000-07:00

Carrie

Morgan

Chris (who got 4th in Beginner 35-44 Men)

Mark

Scott

Downieville Classic

2009-07-13T09:00:00.001-07:00

Short version: Mediocre, but no crashes. 58/89 in sport XC 35-44 at approximately 3:06

Long version: After blowing up spectacularly preriding two weeks before, I was hesitant. Fortunately, it was not 95 degrees out this time. As we took off, I realized that when I'd had a flat the last time I rode this bike, I'd just pumped it up enough to limp back to the car. Because I am a moron, I'd not checked the pressure before I started. I bottomed out my back tire a half-dozen times on the climb. Fortunately, I never pinch-flatted. The plus side of that was that I had awesome traction all the way up. I paced myself (perhaps too much) up the climb, but made the top in pretty good shape. Our team-only aid station at the top ran with NASCAR-like efficiency. I got my tire pumped up, a new bottle, and a lube job and was on my way in less than a minute.

As I headed down the first stretch of single track on Sunrise, I heard "hey, did you ride Napa a couple weeks ago?" When I agreed that I had, I heard "I was the guy you were duelling with the entire time." It was Dan, whom I'd beaten by 3 seconds at Skyline. Once we hit the next stretch of fire road, I left him behind.

Most of the way down was uneventful. My too-small bike started to cause my back to crunch up pretty much by the start of the extended downhill section, and the combination of that with riding a hardtail made most of the descent pretty painful. The thing about Downieville, though, is that if you're gonna do it, you've got to commit. So I rode plenty of stuff that without the mental momentum would have had me walking on many rides. I wasn't going that fast, though, being underbiked, and I ended up pulling over a half dozen times to let people go by. I did start to suffer a little cramping here, but oddly enough, it was in my arms, from wrestling with the bars trying to coax my hardtail down the rocks. I also stopped halfway down to drop off a CO2 cartridge to someone who needed one.

I was feeling pretty bad by this point

As I entered the very last section of singletrack, I heard "hey, it's my friend from Napa" behind me. Now, given where we were in the overall scheme of things it wasn't a huge deal, but I think it was still a mistake for him to have said that, because I proceeded to bury myself. The singletrack ends with two shortish climbs and then a quick downhill drop. I only remembered the first climb. I hammered up the first incline, only to turn a corner and see the last uphill section. After spending that much effort getting away from my rival, I was damned if I was gonna let him catch me. I started chanting "Must. Not. Die." as I slowly turned the pedals over working to get up that last hill.

Onto the pavement, finally, and I was feeling a little confident. There were a couple little rises which almost did me in, but I was able to struggle to the finish, beating that guy Dan by a whole 7 seconds this time. I was pretty damn wrecked, though. I lay around for more than an hour, too nauseous to do anything but sip water and hope that my body finally figured out it was done.

Various goings-on

2009-06-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

Although we'll not be out in force for a race until the Downieville Classic on July 11th, many of our team members are racing, mucking about, and generally riding bikes.

Carrie starts the BC Bike Race on Sunday.

A few of us took part in what has been called "America's hooptiest race series" this week, and our participation was highlighted by Arena outsprinting Roaring Mouse's Mo for the women's victory. Arena was awarded with serious podium boy action:

Finally, a half-dozen of us are headed to Downieville to spend a weekend preriding the course. Since I have the week off, I am heading into Tahoe Forest for a little bike camping. I hope to have a report when I return.

Coolest 24 Hour MTB at Boggs (OK, the Coolest 8 in our case...)

2009-06-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

Undeterred by what may have been one of the most punishing and brutal weather-induced debacles in 24 hour racing history last month, the good folks at Global Biorhythm events found redemption this weekend by putting on a fantastic race at everyone's favorite demonstration forest tucked away in Cobb, CA: Boggs. Moonies present included myself, Mark and Joe, Carrie and Murphy, Evan and Tristan, and Jeremy and Jenn (for moral and massage support).

Compared to the rather large turnout at Cool, the field for this race was surprisingly small at around 150 people; I suspected most people may have still had lingering trauma from the previous race, but Jim the race director acknowledged the lower turnaround and said he preferred it, as it allowed people to really get out there and race without the fear of riding all over one another - which proved to be true. Luckily, the conditions on Saturday were near perfect for a mountain bike race, despite being slightly dry and dusty starting off; a bit cloudy and overcast early on, and then clearing up by the mid-afternoon.

The course differed substantially from the BikeMonkey Boggs series - on the one hand, there was a technical rocky section at the very start that forced more than a few people to get off the bike (including myself), which Mark illustrates here:

Mark

Murphy and Evan, on the other hand, managed a little better - at least for the Kodak moment:

Murphy

Evan

Secondly, there was considerably more climbing on this course - 1400 ft. to be exact, nearly all of which was concentrated about 2/3 of the way into the course... a veritable "trail of tears," at least for myself. On my last lap, I would have to spin up this at a tortoise-like pace in order to keep the leg cramps at bay. Beyond that, there were some other routing changes but a lot of the fun singletrack was left intact. On my first lap though, I missed a right turn (that I would later see others miss as well) and ended up dropping about 300 feet down a fire road before realizing the tire tracks had all disappeared.

At one point, Carrie blew by me in a pack of about 4 or 5 with Tinker in the mix; however, I would later catch up to her as she was dealing with a flat on one of the narrow singletrack sections. She would duly fly by me minutes later.

Carrie

Joe Taylor made a fashionably late appearance and arrived after Mark had finished two of his laps already, jumping on his Cannondale and giving his raging hangover the finger:

Joe

All in all, a pretty successful and fun race for team Sheila Moon: Evan and Tristan placed 3rd in the open 2-person category, and I placed 3rd in the 18-29 yr old 8-hour bracket (albeit, out of a field of 3) on my first solo attempt. I think over the course of 8 hours, I consumed over 15 gels, 1 PBJ, half a Clif bar, and over two full Camelbaks of water. Big ups to Jeremy for pushing me to do a 5th lap when I rolled into our campsite shortly after the 6-hour mark, whining about my hands being too tired to pull the brakes. When someone with a busted shoulder who wants nothing else but to get out there and ride tells you to man the f&%# up, it carries that much more weight.

The rest of the night digressed into a blur of pork tacos, Firestone ale, an epically raging campfire, heckling 24 hour racers at midnight, and an unsuccessful visit to the Team Vanderkitten campsite. Hope I didn't leave anything out, see you guys at Downieville!

Derrick

Skyline!

2009-06-16T15:20:00.001-07:00

The annual race at Napa's Skyline Park is a real mountain bike race. Tough climbs, butt-puckering descents, and enough carnage that I can claim I was being cautious, not slow.

I am always surprised how low the turnout is for this race. Fewer than 150 people for some of the best technical racing this side of the Sierras. Still, the riding and racing are great, and we turned out in force (flowery force!).

The results sheet was highlighted by Krishna Dole's second place in Expert Men.

The field was pretty skewed toward the more experienced, wiht very light turnout in the beginner classes. Chris Kohlhardt took second in beginner men. May Woo was the class of the beginner women's field.

Carrie Edwards had an uncharacteristically undistinguished race, ending up mid-pack in Expert women.

Davin and I also competed for the most mediocre prize, finishing mid-pack in Sport 19-34 and 35-44 respectively. Morgan and Mike didn't have great races either, although Mike, at least, was funny about it.

I crashed pretty thoroughly when we prerode the course (and managed to top it off with a dose of poison oak), and managed to have myself pretty psyched out for this race. It took me something like a lap and a half (out of two) to really get my racing head in gear. Which is not a recipe for success. I did manage not to crash, though, and once I got past a guy I'd been dicing with for the last 4 miles at the top of the last climb, I finally let it all hang out, and managed to hold him off.

This is still one of my favorite courses we do, even though I was pretty mediocre this time.

(photos from George Denison McNamara)

Race report: SoNoMas without a seat

2009-05-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

Lining up.

This past weekend I raced the inaugural SoNoMas endurance event by Bike Monkey. I'd signed up before joining the Sheila Moon tribe, so I was racing in the coed relay category with my non-Moonie friend Angel.

It was great to see my new teammates out there racing and volunteering. Thanks to Sasha I even had a borrowed jersey to wear.

My race was entertaining. Fifteen minutes before the start Carlos surprised Angel and I with the new rule that teams had to stay together. I was initially bummed about this, but it ended up working out for the best: three or four miles in, Angel's seatpost broke. After determining that it was clearly non-repairable and a different size than mine, we decided to swap bikes, since the last minute rule change had made our strategy all about maximizing Angel's speed.

We are about the same size and were running the same pedals, but other than that the bike swap was comical: I had never used integrated shifters or a rapid-rise derailleur, Angel had never used sram thumb shifters, and I run my brakes euro-style (reversed). We each crashed several times on the unfamiliar rigs, at one point both on the same switchback. It sounded like Angel enjoyed the 29er though, and she was able to keep a solid pace once we got sorted.

Before swapping bikes.
Photo courtesy of Nick Gaetano

My pace for most of the race was semi-casual. At aid stations I would make sure my teammate had what she needed and was on her way quickly, then take my time getting refueled before catching back up.

The camelback guys got really excited when they saw I didn't have a seat, and made an entertainingly drunken attempt to attach an old flip-flop to the top of the frame. I let them get a picture of their rubber band and zip-tie creation before giving it back to them and proceeding.

Wrong Tim and the crew at aid station 9 were awesome. They didn't even need to ask what you needed. We felt so revived after our brief stop there.

Angel had felt pretty beat about half way through the course, but she revived before the Bummer Peak area, and our spirits lifted as we started passing other coed teams. I was stoked to see Sasha and Murphy at the Sheila Moon checkpoint, and I left with a full cup of ice down the back of my jersey and another one in my bib. The Sheila Moon volunteers have set a high standard for race support, which I'm hoping to contribute to at the FOTI race.

Once we popped back out onto the road for the last time I realized it was (past) time to take advantage of the 10-minute gap allowed between teammates, so I said bye to Angel and took off. The final pavement climb was awesomely horrible. I'm normally all about the spin, but today it was stand and hammer or get off and walk, so hammer I did. Riding a bike without a seat for 3.5 hours had turned out to be easier than I anticipated, and my legs felt pretty good all the way to the finish.

We ended up getting 2nd in the coed team category, finishing in roughly 4 hours. Afterwards we stumbled around in the scorching parking lot like zombies, trying to rehydrate and get cleaned up. The Bike Monkey crew came through as always with delicious food, but I was too hot and worked to sample the beer on tap (I may get kicked out of the team for admitting this).

Later in the day I caught myself thinking "gosh, I didn't even notice my saddle during that race, it must have been really comfortable..."

IMBA, SF Urban Riders, Mt Sutro Stewards trail building course

2009-04-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

So though I am a total gimp right now with a busted wing I refuse to sit around on my butt lamenting my inability to ride a bicycle. I figured it's about high time I took a break (no pun intended) from screwing up all these wonderful trails we have here in Norcal with my shoddy MTB skills, and focus on what it takes to make sure they will even still be there the next time I go riding. At least it may give me incentive to stay off the brakes in the turns. While on one of my very last rides at Tamarancho before my surgery we ran into a group from the Bicycle Trails Council of Marin http://www.btcmarin.org/ who were doing some trail maintenance and got to chatting a bit. It hit me like a slap in the face. These trails don't form or maintain themselves. It takes alot of seriously dedicated effort and uncomfortable physical labor by a very small group of individuals that allows us to enjoy these wonderful open spaces week after week. Out of sight out of mind right?

Cue in The IMBA (International Mountain Biking Association) http://www.imba.com/ The SF Urban Riders http://www.sfurbanriders.org/ and the Mt Sutro Stewards http://www.natureinthecity.org/mtsutro.php who were nice enough this past weekend to host a FREE! day long trail building course at the UCSF Parnasus campus and in the Mt Sutro Open Space area on Saturday the 2nd.

Not knowing exactly which conference room the event was being held in I was happy to step off the Muni bus and find myself next to some friendly faces and fellow teammates Sasha and Kalleigh. Andrew was also my guide through Skyline park some months back.

The conference room filled up fast and the draw of FREE! hot Noahs coffee and bagels was irresistable. It was estimated that over 50 people attended both the classroom session and the trail work portions of the course. The classroom session was very eye opening. Short of the hard physical labor and bureaucracy involved the basic principles of building and maintaining a fun sustainable and environmentally friendly trail are relatively simple.

After the very professional classroom presentation we all made our way up to the staging area just outside the trails of Mt Sutro. We were greeted by more of the Mt Sutro Stewards and FREE! pizza which despite the vast quantity managed to dissapear rather quickly. We were going to need all the energy we could get for what was coming next.
Jason Van Horn from IMBA gives us a crash course on safety and tool use before we hit the trails.

It was time to hit the trails. I don't think most of the attendee's knew what they were in for. IMBA and SF Urban Riders weren't going to give away all that food and beer for free. 4+ hours of heavy labor among some of the thickest poison ivy growth I've seen is what greeted us at the top.

We weren't up there doing trail maintenance. We were carving a large fresh trail out of thickly overgrown densely rooted earth with fallen trees and PO everywhere. See the jungle Kalleigh is standing in? This is how it looked when the work began...And 4 hours later a rough but distinctive trail had been cut out. My beerkalometer tells me it was at least 100 to 200 yards long.There were a few minor obstacles...It is absolutely amazing to see what the focused efforts of even a group of amateur trailbuilders can do in under 5 hours. Alot of change could be made in the local MTBing community if volunteer efforts like these were more frequent. If the hikers and equestrians saw as much of this as they do our dust clouds then the hostile environment we encounter might indeed change drastically. I intend to continue helping when I can and hope that more of us MTBers will take time out to volunteer so that we all can enjoy these trails for many years.

Though I wasn't much use physically I'm glad I was there to document this event and share in the knowledge and good times that were had. A very productive and rewarding day indeed...

Cheers!

Boggs wrapup

2009-04-03T13:31:00.000-07:00

I can't do anything like the justice that Sam did to Boggs. So I'll just provide some pictures, stats, and results.

As Sam mentioned, we got 2nd and 3rd place 3-women teams (Emily, May and Sam; Arena, Kathryn and Clare, respectively):

Our new Teammate Carrie totally tore it up and won Women's Solo Expert.

The rest of us failed to podium, but everyone enjoyed their multiple laps of the amazing Boggs trails. I think Davin's expression here pretty much sums it up:

We (or more accurately, Emily and Murphy) also coordinated a campsite hosting will over two dozen people, from our team and others.

We had a pretty extensive repair setup, as well as a well-stocked pit and plenty of folks available to massage and otherwise support the racers.

We lived up to our reputation as the funnest (sic) team around by opening our fire, our beer, and our patented spicer rum cider up to all and sundry. As the night after the race wore on, racers still up gravitated toward our roaring camp fire,

I don't have any GPS maps or powertap profiles of the weekend, but I do have the stats on what we consumed at our camp:

2 kegs of Greenflash beer (~250 pints)
2 handles of Sailor Jerry's rum w/ 4 gallons spiced cider
1 handle of Jameson
1 handle of Jim Beam
5 smoked chickens
14 lbs of smoked pork shoulder
5 lbs of smoked Italian sausage
4 lbs of bacon
150 tortillas
4 lbs of cheese
48 eggs
8 lbs tortilla chips
128 oz salsa
more tortellini than i can count

A fair amount of that was cooked by Mark:

We ended the weekend with a "recovery" ride. It was (repeatedly) pointed out that the Sheila Moon Team puts the "wreck" in "recovery". Still, we got to ride a couple trails that we only seem to ride on the post-Boggs ride, as well as some of the favorite parts of the course.

Overall, I think we got all we could out of the weekend.

Boggs or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Mountain

2009-03-31T09:18:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Boggs, presented by Bike Monkey. Boggs is an 8 hour long Mountain Bike race taking place among the beautiful trees in Cobb, CA. There were many ways that one could participate in the race: solo (the full 8 hours for the mentally insane), 2 person team (for the brutally tough), and 3 person team (for those who know their limits). The 3 person team was obviously the team of choice for me. Our all women three person team consisted of: Emily McLanahan, May Woo, and Myself (Sam Bell).

My emotions before the race was like riding the Giant Dipper in Santa Cruz. I have only been on a Mountain Bike twice before this race, and did not ride the course before the race started. Needless to say, I was going into the race with hardly any experience. However I was surrounded by our supportive Sheila Moon team and my anxiety was put at ease as I asked silly questions like what fashionable cycling outfit would be good for Boggs.

Boggs weekend finally came, Friday night was chuck full of excitement as we ate our pasta dinner and sat around the fire. I was still not sure what to expect from my first Mountain Bike race, but continued to get excited as the stories from last year's Boggs filled the air.

Morning came and my gut clinched. Holy crap, it was about to start. My team elected the young rookie (myself) to go first. My stomach continued to churn as we listened to the pre-race instructions and as the other categories were slowly started on their way. Our category started and I had a pretty good head start, well until we hit the single track and I got scared and forgot all the things I had learned that last ride with Murphy. Brake. Brake. Brake. Riders were passing me now, lots of riders. I was getting frustrated, I wanted to do really well my first race so I could be all proud of myself. Then the uphill fire roads came, and I pushed hard to get to the top passing a few riders on the way, and seeing one of myself teammates (Arena) on the side of the road fixing a flat. It felt like with every rider I passed on my incline, five would pass me on the decent, but I hung in there. Even after turning the wrong way, and going out of my way for about ten minutes I was determined not to be defeated by the mountain. I got the finish of my first lap feeling defeated. I watched as May took off up the road on her first lap, she looked tough on that little mountain bike. Emily and I ended up having to trade off bikes between our laps because I didn't have a mountain bike, it was a great bit of awesome teamwork.

Resting between laps was not as relaxing as I would have hoped. After speaking with Emily and our friend Joie, I began to calm down and be less mad at my performance. I mean, it was my first race and I lacked the technical skills that I will learn in future rides. Joie told me to remember what it was like being a little Sam and just have fun with it. My second lap was way better, and my theme song came into my head like I was a superhero. I beat my first lap time by ten minutes, and that in itself was enough to make me feel great. The last lap was the toughest, already feeling like I had raced two cross races in one day, I was in for another lap and my stomach started cramping. It was a painful finish, but I was proud of myself for pushing through it. In the end, our teams hard work paid off and we placed second in our category with our other 3 person women's team (Kathryn, Arena, and Clare) behind us in third.

There is no better way to end a Mountain Bike race then a campfire with tacos, beer, rum cider, and stories of the race. It was truly a fun weekend, and I can't wait to ride through the trees in the dirt again.

Sam

Podium:

May and Emily:

Our Team:

This is the way you finish the race:

Rider Down

2009-03-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

Our teammate Jeremy just had his long-broken shoulder reconstructed, and has started his 6 month (or more) recovery.

He's in good spirits, though, although that could just be the painkillers.

They pulled this out of his shoulder, and replaced it with shiny new hardware.

It's hard to tell, but several of those screws are stripped. Getting them out of his shoulder was apparently pretty tough!

We are all hoping Jeremy'll be back rolling again soon!

More Grasshopper

2009-03-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

(somehow this post ended up almost as long as the ride itself. It hurt less, though)

This was probably the hardest day on a bike I've had, other than last year's Shasta Lemurian.

There were, I think, close to 200 people who started this ride. From what I hear, there were at least 3 mountain bike olympians, as well as a ton of miscellaneous fast folks. The ride started out with a big road spin. 200 people in a big pack, when many of them do not know how to ride in a group (like, me, for example) makes for a sketchy beginning.

About 20 minutes in to the ride, the pack declared a "nature break". Davin and I joined in. A little struggling with camelbaks and other kit, and by the time we were done, we were well off the back. We started rotating back and forth to try to catch the pack, since we had only a vague idea of where we were going. We picked up another rider at one point, and he slotted in nicely with us, till we hit the bottom of the first climb. This climb was surprisingly steep, but we made it up in good order nonetheless. Around the top of the first climb we went by Derrick, and on the way down managed to almost make the Cherry Road turn. We rode the next flat section in a group of about ten people, which promptly broke apart when we hit the next big climb, Old Caz.

Unfortunately, I was on the wrong end of the broken group. Davin just waltzed up out of sight, and meanwhile I struggled up the hill, getting passed by pairs of people chatting away, guys 20 years older than me, and probably people walking. I knew I was really in trouble when most of the way up, Derrick blew by me on his full-suspension mountain bike. Getting passed by someone on a duallie uphill is not usually a good sign. Fortunately, I was able to keep up with Derrick til the top of the climb, where Davin was handing out whiskey shots, and waiting with a couple other folks.

I grabbed some food out of my pack and had a quick nip or two to get in the right frame of mind, and then Davin, Derrick, Evan (the East Bay Alleycx organizer) and I started down the pretty swoopy dirt descent. Our fun was cut very short when we ran across a pretty horrifyiing sight. A dog tied in the back of a pickup had jumped out of the bed. Unfortunately, the rope was not long enough for it to actually reach the ground, and it was struggling to keep from hanging itself. We stopped, and not eager to try to handle an agitated dog struggling for its life, we started shouting for its owner, who had passed us going up the road on an ATV a minute before. Davin just started to go up the road to chase him down when a woman came from the field and tried to get it into the bed. Derrick dropped his brand new bike to help out, and between them, they wrestled the dog back into the truck, hopefully to stay.

The rest of the descent was pretty damn fun. Twisty, a little slick, and only slightly rocky. Since I was running pretty high tire pressure, though, it was pretty bumpy. But I made it to the bottom, where I was confronted by a 25-foot wide stream. I picked up my bike and waded across, in water up to my knees, to the far bank, where I saw Blake Van Knopka from Team Oakland (who'd apprently had a flat), Dustin from Touchstone, and a few other folks. Davin had apparently stopped to help someone with a screwed up chain, so I ended up waiting five or so minutes for him, while everyone else I know took off.

Eventually he showed up and we started the climb up out of the streambed with a guy in a Rock Lobster kit. He and Davin chatted about cars while I struggled grimly to stay with them. Eventually, we got to the paved road, which was a stunningly twisty downhill to a bridge and back along a road we'd already ridden the other way. We almost made the Austin Creek (?) turnoff, and only had to backtrack 25 feet or so to get to it. Austin Creek is a rolling, moderate uphill, and I was slowly starting to get my wind back, so the three of us ended up putting together a pretty good pace here. Eventually, we picked up a crew of around 5 people, including Rock Lobster guy and a guy on a Trek full-suspension bike. Davin and I each took a pull, then Trek guy took a monster pull, which dropped everybody else off the back, and then caused him to blow up spectacularly immediately after, leaving Davin and me to roll away.

As we turned onto 116, we saw a group of about half a dozen riders up ahead, and decided to catch them. Davin threw down a big effort and dragged me up to the group, which included Evan, Paul from Team Oakland, and was led by the mighty Blake Van Knopka. Earlier this month Blake spent a week with the MASH/SF guys riding the Tour of California route--on a fixed gear. So he turns out to be in pretty good shape these days. He was setting a pretty good pace, but every time he'd pull off to let someone else come through, no one would. Eventually, Davin and I (having been sitting on the back of the group for a couple minutes) started to feel bad about this, and jumped up to the front to help share the load.

I pulled first, and then when I was done, Davin stepped up, but whoever was on his wheel had left a big gap, so I dropped back just to second. Some of the guys in back missed this exchange, I think, cause about 30 seconds later someone called out "that's a huge pull, Sasha." I, of course, was not even pulling at all at that point.

Eventually Blake came through again, only to have the group shattered by a moderate climb as we hit Highway 1. On the short stretch of 1 we passed Derrick, who was valiantly barrelling along at the end of another group. As we turned back inland, our group of folks had been reduced to just Blake, Davin, and myself. The next 5 or so miles we spent trying to stay on Blake's wheel as he rolled along. I started to have a better understanding of what happened earlier, as every time I tried to take the lead, I would immediately redline, and he'd have to come drag me along more.

Eventually, we started the dirt climb. At first it was pretty moderate. We stopped for a food and nature break, and then after we started up, it became clear that we were just holding Blake back. He eventually rode off, and then the real suffering started. That climb was endless. We went up and up and up, both starting to cramp, starting to hurt in parts that rarely hurt from a bike ride. At one point, Dustin came wailing by (no idea how he'd gotten behind us) and disappeared around a switchback in pretty short order. There was one super-brutal steep section that presented a problem: how slow can you go and still turn the pedals? It was here where we were wishing for a triple chainring or mountain gearing or a motor or something. I spent what seemed like hours with a cramp just lurking in my right calf. Any exceptional effort made it seize, but it was constantly twingeing a touch, telling me it was lurking there. This section was by far the longest, most painful of the race. It felt endless, and there were parts where it seemed like millenia of geology had been somehow designed specifically to crush my spirit.

We finally made the top of the climb, and after a little milling about trying to make sure we knew where we were, we cruised down to the finish line, where we toasted the race with the rest of the whiskey, before dropping the rest of the way down to the car.

I realized from this ride that I am undertrained (and specifically, I have not done enough climbing) and that I do not understand how to eat sufficiently for a 3-4 hour race. I think I bonked several times on this ride, and given that I only ate one Mojo bar (risking salmonella, even) and one packet of clif blocks, I think I ate too little, too late. I think I am finally starting to understand the Gu thing.

Grasshopper training rides 2009... first installment...

2009-03-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

i started off behind the peeps i knew were faster than me. there were a lot of REALLY fast folks here…so I was midpack in the beginning.

we started off down the bohemian highway and the group stayed pretty well behaved. my biggest fear was inexperienced riders taking me down in the pack by overlapping wheels or not paying attention.

there was only one guy who i considered to be squirrelly, so i made sure to get clear of him. we rode for the first few miles and i was riding and chatting with dain from WTB for a bit. i was really comfortable next to him because he's rock solid in a pack (and everywhere else for that matter). it was neutral for this part so we were all just sitting in.

as we made the turn and started to head east on 116 i heard a loud BANG and saw yuri from marin bikes pull off to the side with a puncture. bummer for him. as the group rolled on i tried to stay somewhere near the front of the non-super-fast racers. i could see the leaders in the front pulling the group. then the sudden left turn up the steep side road. this came as a total surprise to me and a lot of people had to put a foot down and others got tangled up. i managed to stayed clear and rode the first climb with the woman in the red BMC kit and morgan fletcher. we made the first climb in ok time and then rode the downhill on the other side. i felt pretty good. kevin montgomery from roaring mouse materialized on my wheel.

after a ways on this road rolling up and down we overshot the turn and went downhill about 100 vertical feet back to 116 and morgan and i tried to figure out which way to go and saw the stream of riders behind us going back up the hill so we went off after them finding the turn just ahead. this is where we picked up sara piccalo(sp?) and pulled her along with us through the neighborhood there. the next climb started and i was suffering a bit dragging my ~23lb hardtail up the hill while everyone else was on a 18lb cx bike. blake from team oakland/mash joined us at this point. yuri from pedal revolution appeared here too. the five or six of us chugged up the hill and stayed together most of the way. i was at the back of the group on the climbs but could pass them for the downhills because i was running a front shock and had v brakes. i was sucking their exhaust at the very top of the climb but got by everyone on the next downhill towards the stream crossing. right as i went by blake my front wheel slipped out and i thought i was going down but i managed to save it with a two wheel drift for a couple of feet. i followed kevin down the hill to the water and ran across the cold thigh high crossing that kevin was running ahead of me, high stepping to try to maintain my footing. I felt like I looked like the funny walker from monty python. I’m sure it was completely ungraceful.

at the far side the 18 year old kid from Berkeley, walton was there waiting and looking for blake. he joined morgan and kevin and yuri and i. from here i think yuri took off and left us on the climb. we stayed together here for a long way on the rolling broken pavement and right before the end morgan and a couple of guys got away from kevin and i. i was trying to keep us all together but kevin seemed to be slowing a bit. we kept the lead group in sight but when we got to the road junction we could not see them... CRAP! which way do we go? we shot across the road straight to see if we could catch a glimpse but they were not to be seen. We looked for bike tracks and stopped to get out the map but then, through the trees back behind us, kevin spotted the group of five that had been behind us. we jetted back across the roads and tried to jump in with them but they had organized immediately into a rotating pace line and rode out of sight before we could get on board. crap. kevin and i just spun down the road and looked at the map while we were cruising alone, losing time to the organized groups ahead of us.

right as we made the right hand turn back onto 116 we say two guys bearing down hard on us. we sat up and pedaled lightly until they caught us and we jumped in with them. the lead guy was a monster and didn't want anyone else to pull... he towed the three of us into a head wind at about 24-25mph! DUDE! i just sat back there in the rocket chair and was not even pedaling half the time. i could see kevin was getting more work than me so i traded him places so he could rest more.

we got to the bridge just south of jenner and made the left hand turn and went across. then the left by the market and onto the eastbound start of the final climb. kevin fell off the back and Walton was stopped having a snack. He and i picked up a rider from soulcraft and we rode together for a good long bit until walton and I rode away from the guy. i was starting to fade at the bottom of the climb and ate my last two gels. half way up and i was really feeling bad. i was crashing and starting to burn. i told myself to ride through it but it was only getting worse. then i saw a group of riders catching us. i told walton to go for it as i was slowing him down and he took off. when i got to the really steep pitch i forced myself to get off and grabbed a bag of sport beans from my camelback and got back on the bike and got moving. i sucked down the beans as best i could making sure to get all of them and kept grinding away. i felt really bad. maybe riding only three times in the preceding two weeks was not the best training plan after all! i lost about 10 positions to peeps that were not fading and just kept chipping away it. with about a mile to go to the top it was all i could do to keep moving and my right calf was starting to cramp. i was just hoping i would not have to get off and walk. then, finally, the pavement. i got onto it and it felt soooo good to not be going uphill anymore.

i shifted into my big ring and tried to not lose any more positions. i actually reeled in two other guys that had blown up and were just trying to get to the finish. i made the final left hand turn on to the hardball road and got it going as fast as i could. i saw the group of finishers an sat up, zipped up and stuck my fingers to the sky like i had won. i hope somebody got a photo of that...

then i rode a little farther and barfed a bit off the bike but i don't think anyone saw that. the people still lingering at the finish when i got there were morgan, walton, paul, yuri and some of the dfl guys. i was SO glad it was over.

this coming weekend is the road ride. that should be just as much fun i bet.

East Bay Alleycross: Hella

2009-02-09T10:23:00.000-08:00

I think it was about when we passed the Pink Lady that I realized I was less than two miles into a 40-mile ride, and already redlined and ready to puke.

The East Bay Alleycross started with a climb straight up Tunnel Road, one of the tougher climbs in the Bay Area. Evan started the 70ish riders out with a few words about hitting the checkpoints in order, and a warning about the slipperiness of Pinehurst Road, and then sent us off.

Davin and I, not being familiar with the East Bay roads, were looking for someone to tag along with. Morgan Fletcher graciously offered to lead us around, and we jumped on the chance. Which, unfortunately, led straight uphill.

Tunnel Road is, I understand, pretty tough in the best of circumstances. Following fast riders, at the start of a race, without a warmup, was not the easiest way to learn a new climb. There was a huge scramble at the beginning, and it shook out with Davin, Murphy and me all slotted in with Morgan and a few other folks, with about a half-dozen people ahead.

The pace was high. My legs were cold. It was not the way I planned to start the day.I hung on as long as I could, but eventually I cracked, and let the rest of them get away. Fortunately, it turned out to be about 100 meters from the top, so I caught back up pretty much immediately at the first checkpoint. I was the 14th, I think, person to hit this checkpoint, which would likely be my high position for the day.

The course then took a loop through the Sibley Volcanic Preserve. The opening section was fast, muddy, and slick. Davin ended up going off the trail into a thorn bush. It was at this point that we lost Murphy, Morgan and crew for good. Once Davin got it back together, we rolled onward, joined by (among others) eventual winner Blake VK, one of my nemeses from cross season, and at the first Stamp Point (an unmanned checkpoint, basically), Alex Mouton, another cross compatriot, and apparently SFFixed den mother Adam.

Sibley was pretty rocky, but otherwise really fun, and we hit the Water Tower checkpoint in good order.

We then hit the longest road stretch of the day. Pinehurst Road rolls along the East side of the East Bay Hills, and starts out steep, sharp, and twisty, and then mellows out a little to become a nicely graded, rolling piece. We headed out around a half-dozen strong from the water tower, and picked up a couple more folks on our way. At one point, I went to the front with a guy named Ricardo (who was riding a single speed!). When I looked back, only Davin was behind us. Everybody else had dropped off the back. When we hit Pinehurst gate, though, and took the opportunity to pee and grab a quick bite, most of the rest of them caught up. We headed up the trail for a couple minutes before we realized that we had missed a stamp point. Davin and I doubled back to get our stamp, and ran into Isaias Job, who had just finished struggling up with a broken rear derailleur. He needed a multitool, so I lent him mine, while Davin went ahead. I helped Isaias switch the gear his bike was stuck in, and then he just took off as I was repacking the tool. I headed along the trail, slowly passing a few people. I eventually ran into Matthias from Sycip, who was lollygagging along with a friend, telling some incomprehensible-without-context story about some pro racers.

I saw Isaias a few hundred feet up ahead, and left Matthias and crew to try to catch him. It took me probably a mile to catch up the 250 feet. Finally, I caught him, and we rode the rest of the East Ridge Fire road together.

Davin and Alex were waiting at the end of East Ridge. As was our team mate Sam, who was manning the checkpoint, armed with a pen she was using to write two four-letter words on our knuckles.

I wanted to get "bite me", but realized, even in my haze that that wouldn't work. I settled for "pain bite", which, while not particularly coherent, was at least within the rules.

Alex needed to catch his breath some more, so Davin, Isaias and I left him there,; and headed out West Ridge toward Joaquin Miller Park. shortly after that, we ran across another racer having trouble pumping up his tire. We stopped to let him use Davin's good pump, and Isaias headed on.

This is the point at which things started to go a little pear-shaped. We made the next two turns correctly, but then started to question where we were, and whether we were going the right way. It turned out we were, but we spent almost 5 minutes trying to make sure--Davin even went back to the previous intersection to confirm. Eventually, we figured out we were going the right way, but we'd been passed by quite a few people during that time.

We pushed on, and then made what wasn't actually a mistake, but still would cost us. We dropped down Cinderella trail, a steep, stepped, muddy mess. It got us where we needed to go, but not where the map seemed to say we were going. We ended up riding around for 10 or more minutes until we ran into someone going the other way, who pointed us in the right direction. We eventually found the checkpoint, but had lost significant time doing so. Still, that time was spent riding around on some pretty cool trails, so it was pretty well spent.

The stretch after this checkpoint was the last bit of trail, but had the best views of the race.

We then dropped down through Montclair to the old fire station, which had the last stamp point of the race. Here, we ran into Ricardo again, along with his room mate Jeff, and one other guy.

We milled around in back of the building trying to find the stamp pad, and found it only after several false starts. Davin and I took the chance to pee for one last time while Jeff, Ricardo and friend took off.

As we were leaving, we ran into another racer we knew, Brooks, who'd already missed a few points, and was happy to roll back down to the finish line with us. We dropped back down to Lake Temescal, to find the party already in progress.

Arena was the second woman, and May rolled across the line in third, just as people were starting to wonder where she was.

Murphy was fourth-fastest overall, but by following Morgan the entire way (our original plan!) had missed a couple stamp points. Still, he ended up with a pound of coffee, and like all of us, had a really great time.

This was a great race. It was manageable by mortals, the directions were really good, the riding was pretty spectacular, and there was a great party at the end. Although it was hard, it never became a death march, and every dull uphill stretch was rewarded with some exciting trails, great views, or a combination.

Evan deserves major props for putting this thing on.

(All pictures by Davin, except for the one I took of him).

Only eight months

2009-02-05T09:47:00.001-08:00

till cross season starts again

"La Rentrée 2009" Movie Cyclo-Cross by arnoyo
Uploaded by arnoyo

Dates. Medjool that is...

2009-01-31T20:47:00.000-08:00

Why is Emily putting up a posting about Dates, you might ask? In a show of sisterly support (and because I like dates!), I am using this entry to enter a recipe contest my sister is hosting on her blog: http://talesofexpansion.wordpress.com

Simple though this recipe is, I think I may have hit upon a tasty little calorie bomb that might be good for a hand-up or, for example, as a featured item on our race snack table at Boggs. Powdered sugar coated date, walnut, and butter balls; look for them at a race near you!

1 cup dates
1 cup walnuts
1 tbl butter
confectioners sugar

combine dates and butter in a food processor and blend until a paste forms. add walnuts and chop some more. form balls and coat with confectioners sugar. voila!

p.s. if you have a dates recipe enter the contest -- real quick like. it closes tomorrow night!

Peak Season #4: Everybody Else

2009-01-28T10:52:00.000-08:00

OK, we finally have pictures of the B race (thanks, Jeff!), so here goes :

The B race: (I was racing during this, obviously, so I all pictures by Jeff)

Jeremy rode his first race in a couple months, and remembered that it's actually useful to warm up, as he went straight backward for the first lap or so before finally getting into gear and holding his own.

Murphy continued his long return from injury by putting together his first race without a major mechanical (although he did crash on his weak shoulder, but avoided injury).

Joe Taylor had an uneventful B race, but was the star of the relay, as we'll see.

New rider Peter stepped up from C to B, and suffered for it, as is often the case.

Derrick crashed in the first 150 meters of the race, and was put immediately out of contention by the time he took he straightening out his stem. He worked hard to get back into the race, though.

Women's race:

This was a tough one for a lot of folks. The only Sheila Moon woman who raced this one and had raced in the last couple weeks was Sam. May had been sick, Arena had been on vacation, and Kathryn had been sick while on vacation.

Nonetheless, they all stepped up to race.

Kathryn, who I think had not been on the bike in a month, had it toughest, and lasted a couple of laps.

May was able to soldier through, and even rode most of the race with her trademark smile.

Arena had a tremendously strong race, battling Sam for second most of the way before succumbing a little to her lack of racing, and ending up in third.

She didn't let second go without a fight, though, making Sam work for the pass.

Sam was able to get her eventually, though, and ended up taking second by 20 seconds or so.

Still, two of our teammates on the podium was pretty awesome.

The capper for the day was the team relay. Each relay team had four riders. At the beginning of the race, they made everyone take their back wheel off. When it was your turn, you had to first put your wheel back on before heading out on your lap.

The Sheila Moon team was Joe, Arena, Sam, and our friend Uri.

The race started with a Le Mans start, and Joe gave good account.

He was pretty quick about getting his wheel on as well. Unfortunately, once he got going, disaster struck:

The Agony of Defeat from daten on Vimeo.

He was back up right quick, though, and handed off to Sam, who was followed by Arena, with Uri finishing it off. As is typical for this kind of event, I was adamant about not riding it, but by halfway through the relay, I totally wished I was out there.

It looked pretty damn fun.