SBR #3 Henry Coe Race Report - By Mike Urbina

This race was at Henry Coe Park which is right down the road from me so I couldn't miss it. Arriving at the venue it was bloody ass cold! After the sun came over the mountain it warmed up quite nicely.
I've lived in Morgan hill for 4 years and still have never ridden at Coe. Many years ago someone told me that most of the terrain was either straight up or straight down. They weren't far off the mark.

The start of the race was a little over 2 miles up the road from the parking/sign-up area which made for a good, much needed warm up.
They started all the sport racers together so it was a mass start. Again I got a crappy spot on the grid....gotta stop doing that. So as we're waiting to go I'm noticing we are already sitting on an uphill grade and the trail keeps going up. When the green flag dropped I was way in the back and it took about 15 seconds before I or anyone around me could start moving. Up up we go, doing nothing but climbing. On the fire road before the singletrack I managed to get in contact with the front sport guys. Great, but I'm working pretty hard. Into the singletrack I looked up ahead only to see everyone in front of me in a serpentine line still going up with no end in sight. We started hitting some really rocky, slippery, technical uphill stuff that was causing some riders to tip over, walk, etc. I got over most of it, making some passes in the process. I was thinking "wow this hurts like a mother but it's nice to see some technical stuff for a change, you usually don't see alot of this on a race course anymore". And there was reason for that. We were no longer on the race course.
Racers started coming back down the hill announcing we'd taken a wrong turn! After debating for a couple of moments whether to follow suit, I turned around and joined the conga line back down the mine field we'd just climbed. Ok, let's get back in this!
BUT we kept going down, down, down. When we finally got back on the course I'd estimate we'd gone about 2 miles out of our way. Not good.
Now we are on fire road and climbing again. And climbing more. Near the top I started to slowly get dropped by the main pack until they were out of my sight. All I could do was keep plugging along and hope for the best. After the summit we finally got some up/down action that included a few mud bogs that would just sap your energy. After the middle portion of the race I got a second wind and started passing people. Up ahead I see most of the group that dropped me earlier and that was all the motivation I needed. I could feel myself getting stronger on the last part of the climbing before we entered what would be about 2 miles of mostly downhill singletrack. I passed a couple guys in the group of around 7 riders ahead of me before we hit the the downhill. As we started the descent, everybody was definitely going for it and I was just biding my time until I could find a spot to get around someone. I got around one guy, then another. Now the trail gets steep, FAST and sketchy with some ruts thrown in for good measure. I was behind about 4 guys and saw there was a narrow line on the left that no one was using. I called out "on your left" and passed 3 of them one after the other. The next guy I came up on was actually an expert single speeder (they had a longer course) and he let me go by (thanks dude). After that I let go of the brakes and put a gap on the pack I'd just passed. I must say though, that downhill was pretty high on the pucker scale. I was doing probably 35-40mph and down the trail I'd see a slippery, off chamber turn. Whoa racerboy, better get your braking done before you get there cause if you try to do it IN the turn you're gonna be on your a$$.
When I got to the bottom I was treated to 4 really good creek crossings, 1 of them very deep! This went on for about a mile before crossing the finish line.
Since I had caught and passed most of the group from the start, I thought there may be a chance that I'd podium'd but the wrong turn was too much to overcome.
Looking at the sport results you could definitely see a pattern; 1st and 2nd would be fairly close in time, then 3rd place was 8-9 minutes behind. My theory is that the lead group opened a gap at the start, went the wrong way, then the group behind us went the right way and opened a gap of their own.
No excuses though, the course was marked well enough and it was my (our) own fault for not paying attention and just following the guy in front of us. That's racing.

--Mike U. 5/16 @2:12:18

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Big Sandy Race Report By Jeff Hecox

A month ago I had no idea this race existed, after watching a video on mtbr.com showing this single track downhill at a race in Fresno called Big Sandy it caught my eye. Well after doing the SF Enduro II last weekend with my buddy Justin and hearing that 10 of the Sheila Moon riders planned on going down, Justin said lets go.

Saturday afternoon we headed down to Fresno, we stayed in a hotel 25 minutes from the start. At sign up on Sunday morning I found, to get all of the sweet single track on the long course, (23 miles) I had only three class options, under 35 years of age or over 35 years of age or Single Speed class. Damn no 45+ class!

At 10 am they started by sending off the first race groups on the short course in 5 minute intervals, Then the Pro/Expert and single speed riders for the long course took off 10:10 am and the rest of the long course riders at 10:15 am.

The race started with a 300 yard road climb and then a right turn into some single track and I don’t think we saw more then 400 yards of fire road for the next 23 miles, all single track!, some double track for passing but not much.

The first part of the long course was the 8 mile Squaw Leap Loop, it started with a down hill to the river. After the bridge was a steep rocky hike a bike section that everybody was running with their bike. Then the loop opened up with some steep rocky technical single track climbs, about 1,400 ft to the summit in 2 ½ miles. I kept thinking the climb needed to go higher since the web site said 2,500 ft of climb for this loop. But down we started, 2 1/2 miles back to the river, fast narrow and rocky. I had the Superfly today and kept thinking the MOJO would be nice right about now. We must have crossed 5 or 6 small creeks on this loop with more to come for the day.


We crossed the river at the bridge and started climbing back to the start area, it was getting hot and I was beginning to think I didn't have enough water to last the race. Once we got back up to a parking lot we crossed the road and entered the River Trail for the next 15 miles to the finish. Things opened up on the River Trail, for the next 11 miles it was fast and bumpy, with 300 foot climbs and descents, there were some cows grazing about and more creek crossing. I passed a few people hear and there on the climbs. I passed two Sheila Moon riders in this section and then came across a local rider that I just could not drop! We ended up trading places 5 or 6 times over the next 10 miles, I was faster on the climbs and he would catch me on the down hills. The last climb before the finish was grinder, 800ft in a mile. I came across Isaias walking with his chain less single speed in this climb. I ran out of water with about 8 miles to go and was beginning to feel dehydrated, I had a dull headache but no cramping. This local rider was right there with me and we hit the last summit together. On the down hill to the finish he had me, with his full suspension bike and local knowledge of the downhill. Come to find out we were in the same class, damn!

12th out 19 in the Long Course Cat 2 35+ Big Sandy 03/28/10

Jeff Hecox

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SF Enduro II By Jeff Hecox

Having done the first SF Enduro a little over a year ago, I really wanted to make the second running of this race (I use the term race loosely for me since I just wanted to finish after making all the check points)

The Start was 9 am in Golden Gate Park at the William McKinley statue. About 70 riders signed up for this day of pain. I saw my other Wrong Way team mate Erik Trauschke a few minutes before the start and he was planning to latch on to Isaias Job wheel and not let go for the day. There’s no way I can ride at Erik’s pace, so no thought entered my mind of ever riding with him. My plan was to pace myself and ride with a group of friends for the day. No classes for this race and Murphy announced two bonus sections out on the course, the first one would be a loop in Tamarancho of all single track for a 1.5 hour time reduction off your overall time and a second bonus, a climb up Loma Alta to the top of Big Rock to the Radio Towers, for a 2 hour time reduction. At this point at the rider's meeting, no one new where the ride was going yet, no maps of the course had been posted, we had all been told no matter what bike you bring it will be the wrong bike at some point!



Last year I rode my Salsa Cross Bike and cross bikes dominated that race, I had a feeling Murphy would make this race a little tougher on the Cross bikes so I set up my 29er Fisher Superfly full rigid with some fast rolling tires this time.



We were told to put all our bikes on one corner of the lawn about 100 yards away and come back to the Statue for a quick riders meeting. The first maps where set down by our bikes on the lawn and we were told that a second map would be at the first Check Point for the rest of the race course. After a quick briefing on the race we had a Le Mans Start with a run around the McKinley Statue and off on the bikes.



It was mayhem and confusion, after getting our first map, we had to ride to a Check Point at the Legion of Honor and pick up a new set of maps for the rest of the ride. Hopping on our bikes and heading out into the street of San Francisco. Once rolling I tried to get together with my group that I planned to ride with for the day. Our group of 6 quickly became 4 with Justin, John, Craig and I. Craig was our navigator since he knew San Francisco and Marin well. After the Check point at the Legion of Honor and a new set of maps, we headed over the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin for a climb up Mt. Tam on Old Railroad grade.



Water management was a key for me since I was only using two bottles to keep the weight down. After we made the summit of Mt. Tam we all topped off our bottles at the look out and had a quick bite to eat before headed down Eldridge grade. Craig quickly flatted in the first 1/2 mile and was fully prepared to deal with it. Eldridge grade was littered with cross bikes and MTB with flat tires. About 2/3 of the way down Eldridge we stopped to regroup and wait for Craig with some Roaring Mouse riders on cross bikes waiting for one of their team mates that flatted. They were not roaring about their cross bikes at this point, they were eyeing our MTB 29er's with envy.

Just past Lake Lagunitas we were now a group of 10-12 with the 4 Roaring Mouse riders and our new navigator Moab Johnny, who lives in Fairfax and knew all the local trails.



Johnny knew where all the hidden water spots where and kept us on track for the rest of the day.(we owe this guy big time) We all headed off for the climb up Pine Mt with Johnny leading the way to the next check point.



Just past the Check Point 2 on Pine Mt, Johnny took some of us on a little side single track called Paradigm, the top 1/3 was great, but the next 2/3 had suffered in this winters storms , there were about 30 trees blown down, that turned into hike a bikes, we lost some time here but it was single track!



We climb out of the canyon up to Check Point 3 at White hill fire road and then headed off to check point 4 for the Tamarancho extra time loop. At check point 4 we came across Erik and Isaias, they had just finished their loop in Tamarancho. Erik gave me a few words of encouragement and I was off for my bonus loop in Tamarancho.



After Tamarancho we headed to Check Point 5 with a stop under the bridge at Sir Francis Drake Blvd. before the climb up Gun Shot. Murphy was there with cold beers, cokes, Water, and popsicles, wow how nice was that at mile 45. All I can say is the climb up Gun Shot SUCKS, but Check Point 5 was at the top and the out and back extra time bonus to Big Rock started there. I made it to the top of Gun Shot about 5:10pm and missed the 5pm cut off for the extra time bonus. I was pretty beat at this point anyway so no great loss for me. My buddy Justin and Moab Johnny went for the bonus anyway. Out of the 70 riders, only 9 made this extra bonus climb, (Team Wrong Way rider Erik Trauschke being one of them).



From Check Point 5 I now had a 25 mile ride back to San Francisco, I was on my own now since Justin and Johnny where going for gold. I did take a wrong turn going back down Gun Shot and ended up on Sir Francis Drake Blvd., for the long road ride back to San Francisco and the Party at Murphy's place.



My stats where 9,940 feet of climb 81.82 miles, I made all 5 check points for the Enduro and the Tamarancho bonus loop.



Can't wait for the next one.



Jeff Hecox



.

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Riley's First Race - by Scott and Riley Schlachter

Riley and I went to the Santa Clara BMX Track yesterday and tried our hands in BMX Racing. I recently bought an older, used Mini BMX bike for Riley that needed a bunch of work - spent the weekend fixing it up, and got the final adjustments made on Sunday morning

The weather was perfect, the course in good shape, and we both had a blast. Since it was our second time to the track (first time was just a practice day), I had to sign us both up for ABA licenses - but at $85 for both, it wasn't too bad. I entered in the "Cruiser" class, and Riley in the 5-and-under amatuer class. We decided to just do the practice session and see how it went. When it came time for the qualifiers, Riley said he didn't want to race, but wanted me to (with him watching from the bleachers). Then after the first two qualifier rounds he rode up to the start entrance with his helmet on and said "I want to race Daddy". We got there just in time for the third and final qualifier. I went first and barely made the cut - on my 26" wheeled dirt jumper mountain bike (they were calling me the "mountain bike guy" on the PA system). Then Riley went - with all the lanes full (I think there are 8 total). He took 2nd place in his qualifier! Then, in our respective final races, we both took 3rd. I think there were 5 people total in my race - two older guys who were really fast, a 10 year old kid, and I think a woman. Riley, on the other hand, had a full set of lanes again, and managed to do really well with the third placing. I was so proud. He's hooked, and wants to go again next weekend. I just picked up a real cruiser frame from craigslist... :-)

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SBR Series #2 By Mike Urbina

I had Saturday slated for a long road ride but instead I made a spur of the moment decision to do this race (South Bay Racing series #2).
I looked outside and saw that it was only 42 degrees and asked myself "do you want to spend 3 hours in the cold or go and race and possibly have some fun. The latter won out. Standing in the garage looking at all the bikes my head was going "eenie, meenie, minee moe" and I stopped on ....the single speed! Yea, let's change things up this week.

Warming up at Fort Ord I could tell that I was a little under geared but whatever. The course was a mix of the old and new Sea Otter course.

Off the start we had about a mile of flat, then slightly downhill fire road. I quickly spun out and watched as most of the pack pulled away. I only saw one other single speed rider at that point. After the fire road we turned back onto pavement and started a short, steep climb. Now the pack is coming back to me as I pass those who sprinted out too quickly. Here I started to lose the other single speeder I saw on the fire road. Now we're into some twisty, sandy uphill terrain and I'm stuck behind slower riders. They lose traction on some of the steep sections and have to dismount. Since I'm at their mercy I end up doing the same. As we're pushing our bikes I see a spot to get around so I sprint around 3 guys, more importantly getting around the one that's causing most of the bottleneck. I then took off after the main pack. Around the middle of the race we hit the long fire road climb that is the end of the Sea Otter course. Now I'm passing lot's of people including another single speeder. When we get to the top we take a left (as opposed to right and to the track like the Sea Otter). More twistys and down to a straight single track valley then back up to the Three Sisters. I'm running with a pack of about 5 geared bikes and I must admit it was fun giving them fits. They'd pass me on the flats and downhills and I'd get 'em back when we hit the hills. I would l latch onto their wheel and draft wherever I could, saving precious energy. It took my a while but I finally managed to gap them before the last, long twisty berm section. Man, that was fun! I had a photo finish with a guy on a geared bike but didn't quite get around him.
Didn't know exactly where I finished but I found out later that I'd won. Not bad for what started out as a casual just-get-out-there-and-ride day.


Mike U. 1/5 @1:25'44

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CCCX #2 at Fort Ord report - By Mike Urbina

I'm almost hesitant to reveal all the details of this race day in that some of you may start to question my mental capacity (if you haven't already).

So, it's Friday night and I'm knockin' back a few beers but I'm not over indulging because according to my calendar I have a race on Sunday. Around 11pm I decide to go
to bed but first I check my e-mail. There I see a post from Hane asking who is showing up for tomorrow' s race. I'm thinking "for chrissakes Hane get it right, the race is on Sunday". Out of curiousity I check the CCCX website and see the race is
indeed on Saturday. D'OH!
My bike is on the work stand right where I left it 2 weeks ago after CCCX#1 where it was making all kinds of terrible noises. Oh well, I'll get up a little early, give it a quick tune up and I'll be good to go.
Saturday morning: Get up still feeling kinda sore from Thursday's road ride (I
thought I'd have 2 days to recover), eat breakfast, work on bike, get all gear laid out and packed, load truck. I roll out of Morgan Hill with just enough time to get to the race and still have decent time to suit/warm up. I get about 15 minutes from the house and my mind starts to wander as it often does (insert swirling dream sequence music here) "wow, good thing I checked my e-mail last night, and I did get a good night's sleep, I wish I'd packed everything last night instead of this morning, you know how you always forget things when you wait till the day of the race". It was at that moment a small light bulb went on over my head and I realized I'd forgotten my FRONT WHEEL! I'm way too committed so I go back and get it. I know exactly how long it takes me to get to Fort Ord and now if I'm lucky I'll get there with enough time to get suited up and maybe make my start. My prediction is exactly correct as I get there right as the sport class is all lined up and getting ready to go.

I sprint to registration and as I'm frantically filling out the waiver I hear a voice to my left saying "you're late". I look over and it's Allan. I run back to the truck and he follows me with a camera, taking delight in my plight. He gets some great shots of me fumbling around, trying to pull it all together and get to the starting line.

Ok, here's the race:

I pull up to the line just as the 35-44 guys are going off. As we, 45-54 and 55+ (combined again) pull to the start line, the starter yells "2 minutes". Ok, no warm up for me but that's fine, I've been told warming up is for pansies. Off we go and I'm mired in the pack. Hane is getting through pretty good so I follow him. I didn't get a chance to check out the course so I don't know exactly where we'll be turning onto the dirt. I get to the point where I can see the cones directing us and I've got enough in my legs to surge up into the top 5. We turn left onto a gravel strewn fire road that goes up for about 150 yards and I start going anaerobic. Damn! All I can do is watch while about 7 guys pass me.
Half way through the first lap I started to calm down and find my rhythm. I was catching people but only recognized a couple from my group. At that time I settled into a battle that included Russ from Team Roaring Mouse, Bill Cleavenger (One of my competitors from last year who is now in 55+) and a guy named Dan.
As the race progressed, Russ ended up dropping out with chain suck problems. The course was nice and tacky save for 2 or 3 good size mud holes. This made for some drivetrain problems of my own later.
So now it's Me, Dan and Bill freight training the course, running into alot of traffic but doing alot of passing. I didn't know what position I was in but I kept thinking that Dan and I were probably running 5-6. This guy was stuck to me like glue, lap after lap. (see photo)
I stopped looking back because I could hear him braking right behind me, breathing right behind me. When I passed certain groups of spectators I'd go by then immediately hear them yelling "Go Dan!" When I passed the photographer he'd snap my pic then I'd hear him snapping Dan a millisecond after. You get the picture. When we'd hit the technical sections/downhills I'd gap him pretty good but as soon as we got back on a flat or a hill he'd close it right back up. On the 3rd lap (of 4) I started to lose it a bit from being pushed; I was bouncing off my anaerobic rev limiter and getting sloppy. If I wanted any chance of keeping Dan behind me I knew I had to ride smart, stay smooth, and calm down. Problem with that was, as soon as I'd let off even a little bit he'd show me a wheel. On lap 4 we're going into a short, steep uphill section. I went to down shift and my chain got all tangled up. Bill had pulled between Dan and I at that point and he pounced. He goes by and pulls right away. I could tell he had saved something for the last lap. Dan has pushed me much harder than I would have gone had he not been there and I'm tired. As we cross the paved entrance road for the last time, with about a mile to go, we begin the 150 yard fire road climb. Dan is right there and I figure this is where he'll make his move and take that last podium spot from me but....he doesn't. At that moment I realize I have a good chance of holding onto my position. We're about to head into a rutted out downhill section with a tricky turn at the bottom followed by a big mud hole. We've got 3 slower riders about 10 yards in front of us. I know if I can get around them before the section it will be a huge advantage so I go for it. Coming out of the mudhole I look back and I've gapped Dan by about 50 yards. Ok, great but I kick it up a notch because I know if I don't he'll come right back. As I entered the finish chute I dared to glance back and didn't see him. Man, did I (finally) breathe a sigh of relief.
I thought there was a chance I'd finished in a podium position but wasn't sure. I
never checked because I was so busy after the race taking with the others about the epic battle. It wasn't until I was back at the truck changing when a fellow competitor came up and told me I'd finished 2nd. No wonder it hurt so much!

Other highlights:
Allan Sherlock with a convincing WIN in the Expert SS division, Jeff Hane with a 7th in my division.

Mike U. 2/17 @1.38"47

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