Congrats STP!

[FFW]

STP (new STR member) got 2nd at Big Bear this last weekend in Sport 45+ XC which put him 2nd overall for the state XC series!


His SO Deb won her race and came in 1st overall in her class for the state XC series

[mntbiker12]

Congrats STP! Being familiar with his inspiring race recaps on another site, I can't wait for the blow-by-blow account!!

[El Salt]

[FONT=Arial]I haven’t had the pleasure (yet) to meet Mr. STP in person, but if you’ve been around the boards (MTBR, etc.), then STP is a name you’ve seen for years. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial]Knowing what I do know of STP, this news does not surprise me a bit. Congratulations STP! [/FONT]

[papisimo11]

You mean this guy?

[mottmcfly]

Originally Posted by FFW

STP (new STR member) got 2nd at Big Bear this last weekend in Sport 45+ XC which put him 2nd overall for the state XC series!


His SO Deb won her race and came in 1st overall in her class for the state XC series

Congrats to both STP and Deb!!

Mott

[ocrider]

nice job! way to go

[Pain Freak]

Yeah, I think I've heard of him...

Congrats to you both, Reg. Awesome job!!!

[STP]

Please accept my gracious thanks for the warm and kind kudos! You guys (and gals are great)! The race season this year was tough as I ever had it. Racing both series (TBB and Rim Nordic) was hard. But how can I pass up racing Rim Nordic?

It was so cool seeing the main Rim Nordic crew of Bev, Kerry and Rusty from RN at the TBB finals! It was like having family there, cheering you on. Bev gave me the big thumbs up at the start line and man, did that make me feel good.

Thank Gawd, the temps were pretty nice last Sunday. They lined up our Sport 45-49 class with the 50-53 year olds and a couple of other classes. So it was a big bunch that took off on the first long fireroad climb. For the first time this season, I was actually calm. No pre-race freek, no stress. I pulled ahead for the lead and kept a lid on it. Within a few minutes, I got caught by Bruce Wilson, who I had no idea of who he was, but he was in my class.

I relaxed and made him work at it. We traded the spot back and forth for quite awhile, and I could see him pumping his body up and down on the handlebars. We continued the climb and I worked on relaxing, while I watched him pull away. I figured I would catch him later on. Passed my good bud Patrick Eldridge, who is one fierce racer in the Sport 50-54 class and his competition, Dee Folse (super nice-guy too). They were duking it out, side-by-side.

Most of this course is fireroad, except for the Plantation Loop ST in the middle of the course and the final route on Fall Line. I pounded along for most of the way and on the final long fireroad climb, that they call the "Five Beyatches" (or something like that...), I maintained what I could. That meant pushing for all you're worth, up that continous, steep bastRd of a climb.

The pro's started to pass at that point, as we neared the summit and as I crested the summit, one of them conveniently passed by and started the long downhill fireroad bomb run. Man, who better to jump in behind, than one of those fierce XC warriors? This guy was friggin' screaming down that fireroad! I was slamming through the wide turns, digging a leg hard into the pedal and just barely hanging on for dear life! But I still hadn't been caught by anybody in my group either.

The turn onto the Fall Line ST was way too abrubt and I lost time in not making the turn. This time, I put the Fox rear shock into plush, unlike last time, where I got caught at the bottom, because I was so wasted from having the bike careen off the rocks like some kind of hardtail.

I was unprepared last time for Fall Line and geeked most of it at the last race, but this time, I did pretty well and ragdolled the rough spots. Only got into minor trouble once, on the roughest steepest section, when I got unclipped out of my Speedplay pedals with one leg. It was too steep to even try and you'd lose a bunch of time trying to balance, so I just tripoded the downhill with my left leg, while I balanced on the seat. Actually, it wasn't much slower than working it.

The ideal of getting caught still weighed on my mind, when I was able to clip back in and I just started to let that rather vintage 02' Specialized S-Works just fly down the rest of the S/T. We bounced and clattered over hundreds of loose rocks, slammed through ruts, squeaked through narrow rock gaps and just let the velocity build up as we approached the bottom. The intermittent Pro would sail by me, in all this and I could only watch in amazement and ask myself 'howtheydodat?!?

The trail was slowly easing up on roughness, which meant 'add more speed' and I did. We're down to the final mile and I can hear someone on my tail. I don't know who it is. It could be my competitor, or it might not, but I can't look as I'm going too fast. It's not all downhill to the finish line and there are some short, but small hills to hammer over and I slammed cranks through this.

No way was I going to get caught. I wasn't going to allow the hard pass on either side. I'd be ready to respond with whatever it took to keep the spot. The last turn and whoever it is, is still on my tail. I nail it and sweep through the turn, accelerating hard out of it and just take it at the line. I look behind and look at who's behind me, coming in and it's not one of my competitors. I didn't catch first place, but I did OK and I put over a minute on the guys who have put it to me, all season long. They're all good buds, but this dog had his day and it felt good.

My girlfriend Deb, put in an excellent effort in Beg. Women 50+ and even though she was the lone competitor, she chopped ten minutes off've her previous time and best of all, she middle-ringed the whole course! Man, I even had trouble middle-ringing some of those hills (admittedly, I did drop it into granny, just once, but that didn't last long). She got first overall and the series win. While she only had competitors a couple of times in the season, it's not like she came out and sat on a lawn chair to get it either. Any of those race courses are a tough deal, as any XC racer will tell you, so just showing up and rolling your bike up to the start line, is significant!

Papo, we miss ya out there! Congrats too, to James Cross for his Second Overall in his class, he worked hard at it. And maybe I'll have the pleasure of racing against my good bud FFW, who when he is fine form, is one great competitor!

Thanks!

[mntbiker12]

I knew it was comin'! Great write up as always! Thanks for letting us experience racing like that up close and personal!

Once again great job on the win!

[OMR]

Congrats... I spent 5 years racing Masters Expert against some of the gnarliest guys I've ever met... but had some of the best times possible. Of course the better suspension and lighter bikes means you just go faster these days... and crash harder and hurt longer...

[CC]

Niiiiice RR. Thanks for sharing and Congrats!!

[CeeDubb]

Congrats Regis!!

Where's my Guinness?

[Wrecker]

Congrat! You both did a great job
What a great RR, too! Thanks for sharing.

[jbiron]

Congrats to STP on a great season. You whipped me good last weekend. It's been a pleasure racing against you in both the TBB and Rim Nordic series. So, see you next year in Expert?

[STP]

Originally Posted by jbiron

Congrats to STP on a great season. You whipped me good last weekend. It's been a pleasure racing against you in both the TBB and Rim Nordic series. So, see you next year in Expert?

John, a hearty congrats to you as well and it was my pleasure too, to race against you. You're a great competitor and a good bud, so I'll be thinking of that jump to Expert as well (and what a jump it is!).

The Rim Nordic and TBB series, were both great this year! Autumn Cup is coming up at Rim Nordic 10/21.

[JoeTruth]

[SIZE=3]Way to go, Regis!

Damn, that meth up in the high desert must be some good stuff. It's putting you on the podium always so some thing's working.
[/SIZE]

[jbiron]

Thanks Regis. I won't be at the Autum Cup as I'll traveling North to compete in the State Chapionship That weekend. It's a long haul and an unfamiliar course, but as the Socal Champ I figure it's my duty to represent my Socal brothers and show those Norcal guys what were all about. Plus with the move to the insanely competitive Expert 45-49 class this is probably my only chance for a state title. Good luck at Rim Nordic.

[DDB@OCR]

Originally Posted by STP

. Passed my good bud Patrick Eldridge, who is one fierce racer in the Sport 50-54 class

Dood- good job!

Way to put my team-mate in his place....

Congrats on the results.