NorCal High School Cycling League, Granite Bay Challenge, 3/13/2011

By Kevin Giberson

This past weekend was the first NorCal High School Cycling League cross country mountain biking race with all teams and riders in the same race. There are 750+ registered racers, with 27 teams in our division which usually has the faster riders since we have all the independent racers and composite teams too. We traveled to Granite Bay which is just east of Sacramento for this race, attended the pre-race ride on Saturday afternoon and then had the races on Sunday.

The conditions were very sloppy, with water on the course in many areas, slippery granite slabs, and mud several inches deep across the trail in many areas. The course was fairly flat overall which is not typical of a true cross country course, with some short quick hills, quite a bit of singletrack that made passing difficult, and some very technical areas where riders got backed up and had to slow or even wait when someone ahead of them had trouble. The advantage was to those riders who do not do well on hills and for those with less endurance who could catch up when the trail got backed up by a slower racer.

Despite this unusual course and set of conditions, our team still had very good results for our first full race. The team finished 4th in points out of the 27 teams in our division, and just a few points behind the third place team.

In the Varsity Boys race (combining both Division 1 and 2 for 40 racers) our sophomore racer Jacob Albrecht took 3rd place behind two senior racers. In the JV Boys race Curren Giberson took 2nd place (with the second fastest time of the 107 racers in both Division 1 and 2), and Chase Cummings took 5th place. In the JV Girls race our top female Dominique van den Dries, a sophomore, took 10th place despite a hard crash in the middle of her race in a thick area of sand where she had handlebars into her ribs and broke a wood post into which she fell... ouch. In the Sophomore Boys race Josh Krisman took 4th place, one second behind the finisher ahead of him. New racer Jose Reynado finished 13th in JV Boys in his first ever NorCal race. The team had four podiums out of 11 racers, on a course that was not our favorite and knowing all the remaining courses have plenty of hills on which we excel as a team.

Next up will be the NorCal race at Laguna Seca on March 27, with one very long uphill that our riders are already smiling about. Hopefully we can get out to the course this coming weekend despite all the rain, and worst case we just come back with lots of mud on our bodies and kits. Thanks again to our sponsors, as none of this would be possible without your generosity and support.



You can view more pictures on the Home page of our team website at www.santacruzjcc.com, and better pictures will be posted soon once received from our photographers with higher quality cameras.

Thanks,
Kevin Giberson, Team Director
Santa Cruz Junior Cycling Composite

Mammoth Mtn XC Race Expert 43-50

California Golden State Championships Expert 43-50
Steve Heaton

This is the first time for me to be the youngest guy in my category. I went to this race thinking I was going to have tough competition and was prepared for a battle royal. 9000ft starting elevation, climbing approx 2400ft over 18 miles. A short race of around 1hr 30mins? I usually race 2hr 30mins. I knew it was going to be a ball buster of a start, 8am, windy high sierra cold, 50 deg. I pre-rode to the course a couple a days before and knew what to expect on course and did a simulation warm up as well. Anyway, I got up, took a hot shower then lathered my body with tiger balm (stay away from the crotch! and the crack). By the time I got on my bike I was cozy and warm with legs warmers, base layer and arm warmers. Rode a 35min climb to start with some rolling around. I felt great and ready to goooooo. The race starts on a climb to a descent (a series of 6 double jumps), then a 10 min climb to a lake with a couple of fairly short power fire road climbs into some sweet single track (O/A 80% single track 20% fire roads) and a bunch more of the same to the finish line for 3 laps in all. I crested the beginning climb in the lead. I pushed my thumb shifter for the big ring and the whole pod was gone??? My shifter was dangling by my front wheel headed into a bunch of double jumps.......I stopped and wrapped it around my handlebar while a couple of guys passed. I was on a 29er with only the small front chainring 27T (I put my spinning technique to the test). I ended up passing them within 10 mins and held the lead all the way to the finish. The course was soooo fun I think they designed it for my pleasure. I finished 1:25 for the victory! Got a Championship Jersey(although I don't think it means anything) that looks and fits nice. What I learned? Even when racing gets frustrating and all the chips seem down (a challenging year for me with my shoulder injury) it ain't over until the fat lady sings.

ride picks are from day afters ride in Rock Creek

Geoff races CCCX #1

On Thursday night I logged on to discover an e-mail from Dennis: “Racing CCCX #1 at Fort Ord this Sunday!” At that point it wasn’t even a consideration, but I quickly contemplated the upside: the race was just a half hour away, and I could carpool with Dennis. Then I considered the down side: I had not ridden my mountain bike for two months, and had not raced mountain bikes for the better part of a decade. My off-road skills were at an all-time low ebb.

Clearly, my preparation was perfect!

On Saturday I pulled my mountain bike off the hooks in the garage and applied my highly advanced form of bicycle mechanics, which involves liberally spraying everything with lube, wiping off the excess, and lighting small votive candles. I also swapped out the front tire, which was quite bald and dated from the dawn of mountain biking.

At the start, I sucked up to the leaders and hung on in order to learn the course. It was pretty fun, with lots of woops and even some man-made berms. Before long I found myself in second, behind Billy Hall of VOS. At one point he turned around and said, “Want to work together?” I was just about to answer when my chain was violently subsumed into some nether region of the crankset. I dismounted, pulled the chain out, and resumed chase. This grim situation repeated itself a few times, and Billy finally said, “I think you have a cable tension problem.” That would be a monumental understatement, Billy!

Apparently there was contagion involved, because I soon saw Dennis, off in the bushes with the same malady, a choice string of expletives emanating from the poison oak. Soon after, I thought I had gone off course, and was turning around to ride backward toward civilization when Dennis came zinging past. “No, it’s this way!” he said. It’s great when teammates can function like such a well-oiled machine!

Prior to the race, Mark had sent me one of his exquisitely detailed e-mails telling me how to pace myself, whom to watch, etc. I had re-read this about 10 times prior to the race, and was following it faithfully. But now, due to my mechanical mishaps, it was clearly time to improvise. He had recommended waiting until the fifth lap to try something. I considered this, but when I extrapolated my current frequency of mechanical disasters over the remainder of the race, I didn’t think a last-lap attack would give me enough of a margin to conduct further trailside repairs. So with two laps to go, I attacked as hard as I could and managed to get a gap. At this point I just tried to maintain a steady pace, intoning quiet prayers to the mechanical dieties. On the final climb, I just thought, “Please, please, don’t suck the chain, please please…then…CRUNCH!” The previous episodes of chain suck were impressive, but this one was colossal, a virtuoso affair of splintering carbon and warped aluminum. I stood to one side of the bike and jumped on the pedal in a counterclockwise direction as hard as I could. Voila! On to the finish!

I wouldn’t call it a graceful or elegant win, but it was a win.

Dennis came in soon after, taking third. The Bike Trip had dominated the podium with style and panache. Or not!

Geoff Drake

CCCX Cross-Country Race #1, Fort Ord, 2/10/2008

My first race of 2008, and Geoff Drake's first mountain-bike race in 10 years! Yes, both of us entered this fun cross-country race held on the dirt trails of the former army base just north of Monterey. Later we learned that Tim Sawyer was now racing Expert too, after winning the overall series in Sport last year (Jose Hernandez raced too, but in Sport 35-44). So we had three men from Team Bicycle Trip entered in the Expert 45-54 race!

The Beginner and Sport races were all in the morning, but the Expert and Pro races started at 1:00 p.m. which meant that Margaret and I had time to have breakfast out at the Capitola Wharf House (I had their "Tugboat" which is pancakes with eggs and bacon; yummy!). Geoff was even kind enough to pick me up at my house so we could carpool down the coast, which was great because I got a chance to describe the course to him. I was convinced he'd be a favorite to win, based on how strong he climbs during our training rides. But he was worried about his back giving out which is a major concern on these long and bumpy trails. Even I get a sore back there!

The weather was absolutely perfect for racing. Geoff and I registered, got suited up in our brand-new Bicycle Trip kits and warmed up a little with Tim. I made sure both of my large water bottles had energy drink in them... two hours of hard racing demands that we refuel, and the bumpy course makes it difficult to try to eat anything solid.

As always, the start was on a short section of paved road that then led us onto the dirt trails for a total of five full laps. At the start line we scoped out our competition. I felt sure the three racers from VOS, including Billy Hall who beat me last year, were the ones to watch out for. There were about 12 racers in our group, and we joked around while nervously awaiting our delayed start.

As we started, some of the VOS guys pulled up front, with Geoff following and Brad Williamson (Family Cycling Center) on his wheel, literally; Brad ended up scrubbing Geoff's rear tire, though without crashing! Tim quickly shot ahead and took the lead onto the start of the dirt trail, and I was sixth or so, right behind Geoff and Brad. The sandy soil was dry, but the previous rains gave us great traction. I thought the pace really picked up here, but Geoff felt it didn't turn nasty until later.

We hit the first "big" climb (relatively; none are that big) without much change in our positions, and I tried to draft as there was a headwind too. We then rode along the ridge to the east edge of the reserve, where they are building a new development, and found that the trail they added there last year now has cool banked turns! We passed the finish line with 5 to go, dropped down the other side of the ridge and hit the rutted climb back toward the top of the ridge. Suddenly Brad lost his chain just as the climb started... I went around him and tried to stay behind Geoff. This climb is tough, and a bit windy, and the VOS racers passed Tim, followed by Geoff.

Soon Geoff and the VOS guys opened up a gap to Tim and I, but Tim pulled me along for the rest of the first full lap. When we got to the big climb before the start for the second time I passed him and said I was ready to take a pull into the headwind, but when I looked back he had fallen well behind. I thought he might have blown up from pulling after the start, and I was constantly on the edge too, wheezing at times, but I found out later Tim was having chain problems... more of that later!

I soon dropped down to the finish line and started my second full lap. At this point in the race we have typically split up into groups or individuals of similar ability, and I was alone most of the time. On the long descent returning us back adjacent to the paved road I passed Erik Thunstrom who had crashed hard. I found out later he had been drafting somebody closely, and didn't see a rut that flipped him off the trail and head-over-heels into the bushes, and poison oak no doubt! Those are the twin dangers out there: Drafting other riders in the wind helps a lot, but hides obstacles. And there is poison oak everywhere you look. I used Ivy Block to prevent any itchy rash, and I highly recommend it.

I passed Geoff who called out to me that his chain was sticking whenever he used the middle chainring. That "sucks." He also told me he was convinced we could catch Billy because he was tiring visibly on the steeper climbs. That motivated me, and I pushed myself hard along the ridge, back up the rutted climb and I caught Billy on the ridge heading to the west. I was stoked! So stoked that I didn't pay attention to my gear choices and crossed up my shortened chain so badly that I had to stop to fix it! Argh! That cost me almost a precious minute! We all need to fix our chains! Fortunately Geoff was able to keep the chase up, and it was great knowing that he could contest at the end in spite of his own chain problems.

I then mostly just tried to recover from the harder climbs, while pushing as hard as I could to stay close to Geoff and Billy, but they were out of sight on the twisty, overgrown trails. I passed a few racers from the younger groups, but was mostly alone with my thoughts, humming a Phil Collins song to myself ("Billy, Billy don't you lose that number, 'cause you're not anywhere that I can't find you").

I didn't know what was going on up ahead, due to the limited line-of-sight, but on the fourth lap Geoff attacked Billy all-out and opened up a gap on him. I drafted a few guys from other groups; some seemed to have totally bonked. I tried to save a little energy for the finish, and kept an eye to my rear just in case. On the fifth lap Scott Calley of VOS came in sight, but I carefully applied just enough pressure to keep him at a comfortable distance without blowing myself up. I was sore and totally drained as I cruised across the finish line. Whew, was I happy to finish, and to discover that Geoff had taken 1st while I got a 3rd place medal; my first ever as an Expert! But I was still bummed about my chain jamming, especially when I saw that Billy beat me by only 26 seconds; less than the time I lost fixing it. But Geoff probably lost more time than that with his chain, and still won... he's clearly "the man!"

You can see the official results here, and photos here and here. VOS is strong, but not invincible, and we will be seeing a lot more of them in the future, both on- and off-road. In fact, next weekend Team Bicycle Trip will be battling them at both the Cantua Creek and Pine Flat Road Races!

While we waited for the podium girls to arrive (they never did), we drank water, shared war stories and collected our medals. Geoff got cleaned up a bit after we warned him of the poison oak, and we drove homeward, proud of our Expert 1st and 3rd medals. We both checked in with our spouses, and it turned out my good friends Chuck and Stephanie were going to drop by so now I had a nice dinner out to look forward to. It may even have included a celebratory Mai-Tai!

Low-Key Hillclimbs, week 7

Going to this race came at a big personal cost to me, so my meager points haul for Team Bicycle Trip in the team competition may not have been worth it. But it was still an adventure of sorts and a great workout, so it wasn't all for naught!

This uphill-only race series is usually held on paved roads. But this time the course was to be held on a dirt fire road in the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve in the hills above Portola Valley. Their website originally said the course was just 1.6 miles long, and ended at the summit on Skyline Blvd. That's so short it is almost a sprint; yay!

Teammates Jim Langley and Melanie Dominguez expressed interest in going, but Melanie didn't show, and Jim couldn't get to the race because his van broke down while he was returning from a table tennis tournament in Sacramento. (My car only holds one bike at the moment.)

There was some online debate about whether to use a mountain bike, a road bike or a cyclocross bike. The best balance between low weight, low gearing, and the bike's handling on rough terrain would determine which was best. I was unwilling to use either of my road bikes because of the steep 8.3% grade and loose dirt trails, which would make traction difficult and the gearing too high. So I spent some time getting my mountain bike ready, including removing unnecessary weight like the water bottle cages because I would not need water for such a short race. I even cleaned off months of accumulated gunk. This brought it down to 23.1 pounds, which isn't too bad. Unfortunately I gained 2 pounds of body weight through water retention the 2 days before the race by eating out too much. Duh!

I enjoy doing things with my wife, and she wanted to visit her dad in Cupertino anyway. So I suggested she go with me and then we'd visit him on the way home. We could even have breakfast on the way.

The organizers had changed the course just before race day, so I was a bit unsure where I would emerge at the summit. And the length was now posted as 3.6 miles on a 7.3% grade. (After the race I noticed they'd changed it again, to 2.5 miles at 7.2%.) Yeah, there was some uncertainty, but I figured it would all work out OK. I'm so stoopid.

On race day we went to El Palomar Cafe for breakfast. I had the healthy ostrich sausage scramble with fruit and coffee. After a nice drive up, we got to Portola Valley and I got signed up and suited up. I didn't even wear socks, gloves or eyewear, or bring tools, food, tubes or my cellphone in order to save weight. While Margaret could have just waited at the bottom for me to return, I worried that she'd get bored and that it would take too long. I thought she could instead meet me at the top of the climb on Skyline, with my water and recovery food in my car, thus getting a head start on our return trip instead of her waiting for me to ride all the way back down. I had printed out maps and such to make it easy, so I gave Margaret the maps and showed her roughly where I thought I'd emerge onto Skyline, and we agreed she would drive up La Honda to Skyline and cruise back and forth on Skyline until we spotted each other. Brilliant! Yeah, right. If I could turn back time...

Anyway, the organizers gathered us all together at 10:10am for a neutral ride up to the start line, which turned out to be 4 miles up Alpine Road, on a fire road named, I think, Ruolf Trail that follows what may have been the original stagecoach route that Apline Road started out as. This was a mass start, not an individually-timed time trial, and they asked us to place ourselves in the pack relative to where we thought we'd finish. We waited around for stragglers, Steven Woo, Frances Cebedo and I cracking jokes, until they finally decided that we were ready to go. I suspect we started around 10:40 or so.

Very soon after the start we hit a bunch of very loose gravel patches where trail crews had prepared the trail for the upcoming winter rains. This put a lot of the road-bike riders in bad shape, their narrow, slick tires slewing them around. I was OK even with my relatively narrow 1.8" mountain-bike tires, and happy I hadn't ridden my road bike as I passed many of them. Soon the pack spread out with the fast guys climbing ahead out of sight, and riders of like ability clumping together. I left Steven and Frances behind, but had another guy drafting me for a long time.

After the gravel patches ended, the smoother trail allowed a couple of guys, one on a road bike and the other on a cyclocross bike, to pass us. I was almost blown out, so I was unwilling and unable to follow them without risking a complete meltdown. Instead I concentrated on setting a consistent, but very hard, pace I knew I could sustain to the top. About 3/4 of the way up my caboose parted company with me and he pedalled ahead. Again, I was not about to push myself harder, and let him go too.

After 18 minutes and 3 seconds I passed the finish line at the top of the fire road, in 11th place overall out of 28 men, and emerged onto... Page Mill Road, much to my surprise! I didn't even stop but kept time-trialing up to Skyline, knowing that Margaret was up there looking for me.
Once I got to Skyline I turned north, towards La Honda, since Margaret was more likely to be looking for me around the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve parking lot on Skyline. Well, after several miles of hard riding I came to the parking lots, with no Margaret in sight. I thought I might have spotted her by then, but figured she was further north per our plan so I continued north.

As the miles faded behind me, I started to worry that perhaps she was lost somewhere, and when I got to Old La Honda I stopped to ask a group of roadies if they had seen my disctinctive car. Yes, they had, and they thought it looked like the driver was searching for somebody and was last seen driving north. "That was my wife," I told them with relief, and sped off in hot pursuit. I was getting a good workout, and thought she was probably in the La Honda area and I would soon be reunited with her.

OK, by the time I got to La Honda and still hadn't seen her, I started to worry all over again. I didn't think she would have gone further north, or west down La Honda towards the ocean, and I wouldn't follow her even if she did, so I decided my only option was to ride down La Honda to my starting point in the hope that she'd gone back there to wait for me. At least it was all downhill from there, in more ways than one it turned out.

After speeding down La Honda, with sprinkles warning me of the impending rainstorm moving in, I spotted Margaret just before I reached Portola Road. Whew, was I happy and relieved! But my joy sooned turned to pain when I saw the look on her face; she was not happy at all, and had been driving around for what seemed to her an eternity, looking for me. She thought I would have finished long before then, and couldn't understand why I hadn't appeared. After talking to a few people on Skyline, getting bad advice, she'd returned to Portola Road to see if I'd returned, before trying to go up La Honda again.

Well, during the long drive back, I could only express my regrets and hope she'd forgive me for the whole ordeal; I think she has, and hope that I will learn from this; I think I have.