RR: Fontana Race/SouthRidge Races

[cbHarping]

Great photos Dino!!!

[cbHarping]

Last minute I decided not to race...but all is not lost, I got some photos to share by being a spectator!

Here's one of Allison from the day before - XC race:


Race Day - The STR Peanut Gallery at the lower rock garden:


Tani:


& Keith:


Caught this rider right before the carnage:


I moved up to the first rock garden and ran into Dino, CC, and Sharkey (not pictured):


A little mood music, please...


And the riders come down - Justin:


Sarah:



Allison:


Auk:


Winston:


Eric:


I was poised and ready to get a shot of Maxwell coming down when my camera battery DIED! So sorry, so that ends my race report photos...

Congrats to all who participated! You've all inspired me. I'm already gearing up for January, see you all there!

[1x1clyde]

Originally Posted by mechmann

not really. allison raced expert class. there were 4 people in her class. i think she should stay in expert for the next year. i don't know if she will race expert XC though. i don't think she is ready for 3 laps of the XC course at fontana, 2 was pretty hard.

i raced sport in both. the XC result is not really indicative of where i was at. there were 4 guys racing sport XC in my age group, and one of them DNF'd, so i got 3rd by default. in DH i wasn't amazingly fast either. i think i will stay in sport for the winter series. i was 4 seconds off the top of the podium, that is quite a gap IMO.

Congrats you two!!
I have to say I am stoked how you two are doing and are embracing suffering

A podium is a podium but its cool that you recognize the rest of the "field". When I first started racing SS there were only a few of us so quite a few times I could sneak on the podium by gutting it out and when I tried clydesdale it was the same thing....4 or 5 of us so just beat 2 guys and you are on.

Check your times against the rest of the racers, which I am I sure you did already, and I am sure you will see you did fine plus I always like to program the fastest guy's lap in my polar and count it down as I go so I know how slow I am going!

Nice job Justin and Allison!
See you 2 on turkey day at San Juan...2:1 right???

[denmother]

Originally Posted by CC

Congrats to all the winners and participants at South Ridge Races today!

Where to start....I guess with the Women.

Pro rider - Nancy - denmother came in 3rd today
Expert - Sarah 1st place finish, Allison 2nd
Beginner - Lacy 1st, Pualene 2nd

The races were very exciting and it was great seeing everyone out there.

I'll let everyone chime in on their race results!

I'm in the process of uploading pix.

Thanks! Actually Stephanie was 3rd and I was 5th in Pro Women!!!

[sdyeti]

Okay, I have to send props out to everyone who raced AND everyone who came to spectate. Thanks for making my first race back a memorable one.

Man blong Gaua (Dan) - I am so impressed that you took that Brooklyn and worked it, despite having some frustrations in practice. Nicely done

Jeff - I know that it takes guts to enter your first race. I am proud that you did it, and I think you did an awesome job!

Denmother and Roger - you performed as seasoned veterans, with style and confidence. Thanks for the air mattress and the ice cream!

Allison - I am proud of you, girl! Nice job this weekend

Justin - despite being injured, you did a great job!

Sauce - awesome job girl! You did it with style

Lacey and Paulina - way to go girls! Hope you are hooked on riding and that you will keep coming out to the races.

Maxwell - I was impressed by your will...nicely done.

Winston - Great job this weekend...it was good to see you again.

Auk - great to finally meet you

Brendan - great job....will be looking out for you in Sport class next year.

Ann, Andy, CC, Dino, Tani, CB, Sharky, Keith, and all the other spectators...you rule!!!

Anyone else that I missed: there have been so many people in my life since I started racing...if I missed you, I apologize. You are all super important and make racing the fun that it really is.

[Winston]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]I just want to take a second to give some props to Sauce. She went from looking like a total rookie in June at the Cal State Fontucky race to looking like a seasoned pro at The Challenge. Congrats Sarah on your 1st place in the expert class. Awesome!!![/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman]PS – I want your white lowers. [/FONT][/SIZE]
[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]PPS - Results are posted[/SIZE][/FONT]

[Dino Brown]

Winston- Good to see you racing. You did a great job of navigating the rocky section that ruined so many peoples times!

A few podium shots....







Roger Smiling--- YET AGAIN! Can't believe my eyes!


The Man (Tani) The Myth (ChumbaJason) The Hottie (Willie)


As soon as my Brother's (digital SLR) pics arrive..... I will post them!

[Winston]

Check out Heather and Orven's pictures on Ridemonkey. I always look forward to their pictures come Monday.

[queenwilhelmina]

[FONT=Verdana]Congrats to all who raced, podium or not! Everyone looked awesome out there. I had a great time cheering everyone on with CC, Dino, and Sharky (and the other kid – sorry I forgot your name!). All the ladies were outstanding (Steph, Nancy, Allison, Sarah, Lacey, and Paulina), and I know Maxwell and Tani were especially proud of their girls. That was great to see! Jeff (J Sims) and Jason both did great on their first DH race and I’m proud of both you guys for gettin’ your butts out there!! There were only about 2 seconds between you guys and about 5-6 seconds from the 1st place guy. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]Justin and Curtis both did well in Sport class – there are some FAST guys in Sport and you guys did great. I know Curtis was happier with his 2nd place for Super D, but he still got a great time in DH. And Roger is the rockinest old dude alive! He was about half a second apart from 1st.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]It was great to see everyone out there today. See you all again soon…[/FONT]

[allison]

I've got photos as well, will post below.

Thanks so much to everyone that came out and cheered and took photos! I don't think I would have enjoyed the weekend nearly as much had you guys not been around.

Nancy and Roger - thank you for the floor space, spa, and breakfast!! Awesome. Consider my reservation confirmed for the winter series

Congrats to everyone that raced and rocked it! Justin, Jeff, Sarah, Lacey, Paulina, Eric, Auk, Winston, Crash, Nancy, Roger, Steph, Dan, Jason, and everyone else I've missed Had a blast cheering on those that went after me.

Looking forward to the Winter Series, and I hope that we can recruit a few more out there for XC, Super D, or DH!! Only jfromlv, Justin, and I had on our STR jerseys on Saturday. We need some more out there!!

I'm somewhat enjoying XC racing, but if I want to really do well in DH, I'm not sure I can do both the entire series. By my DH race run on Sunday I was pretty thrashed. I'd done 14 miles on Saturday morning, avg HR was 175 (FWIW, that's working hard). I think I got in about 2.5 DH runs on Saturday afternoon, after lunch, awards, and the raffle. We did two DH runs Sunday morning, and then I just chilled. But, I was totally wasted on pedaling in my run. My legs were super sore already. I'd taken Sport Legs, which I think helped out quite a bit.

So, we'll see if I continue with XC and DH, or just choose one to focus on.

I pulled up to the start line Saturday for XC and saw Jen, who is normally an Expert DH racer lined up. She said she wasn't there to race really, just wanted the training. I guess I could've gone a bit easier, but I really think the speed/HR training is good for me and for my run at VQ (um, just to finish, not to win). It's really difficult to actually go race pace unless you are racing. It's a different mindset, at least for me. I pushed it pretty hard throughout the race.

It was weird, though. After passing through where the DHers were in the middle of the XC course too often (getting in the way of riding/racing) I didn't see many people. It was weird not seeing anyone else on the course. Brandon passed me at the first really sandy loose turn and I didn't see him again after that.

When I came in for my second lap there was Nancy, Roger, Dan, and Steph all ready for the bottle hand off (thank you SO much!!). It was awesome having them cheer me on. I turned the corner up above and there was Jeff cheering me! I high fived him and kept going. Left the area totally smiling and laughing. You guys are awesome.

It was really quiet on the second lap. I didn't feel like quitting at all, which I had at Bonelli, but wasn't really racing against anyone either, which at times makes it difficult. I had to yell at myself to clean the entire longish/steep climb before the jungle area.

Came in to the finish area where Justin was cheering me on, and I saw Sharky getting some photos. Felt good about my race.

We took a long break so Justin could kind of recover. Had some lunch, did the award's thing. Then got ready for DH shuttles. We took one shuttle, rode all the way down, took the shuttle up again, rode half way down, then hiked back up and rode the whole thing. I felt somewhat comfortable with my last run, and decided to call it quits before it got too dark or I hurt myself.

Sunday we showed up bright and early for the first shuttle, and made it on. We did a full run, and Justin humored me with a few photos. We went back up for our second run, and re did a section, which really helped me out in the end cause I was way off on the line to take.

I felt aight, so went and chilled by the truck.

Saw Carla, Dino, Sarah, eventually Keith showed up, then Ann and Andy.

Sarah and I hopped on the shuttle truck the first time they called K, and up we went. Justin pushed my bike the last 50 feet or so up the hill. We sat around for awhile. I sat on some rocks to enjoy the breeze and go over the course in my head. Made sure to breathe.

Eventually they called me to line up, and from there it went pretty quickly. I briefly met Auk from the Path, cheered Roger on his take-off, and then Laura/Sunny was up, and next up was me.

The only thing I really remember from my race run was the family of 5-6 walking side by side down the wall coming toward me. I yelled to get out of the way, which they barely did. I tried to not hit them, ended up slipping a pedal, and naturally this was the only place on the Wall there is a huge rock to the right of the trail. I was headed right for it. Grabbed a handful of brake so as not to crash, then I had to stand up and pedal some more. I was so completely wasted by the time I got to the little jump on the right (which I didn't hit) that I could hardly pedal.

I was totally surprised when Joy came up to where I was spectating with Ann and Andy and said I got 2nd!!

On to some photos:

Saturday morning. Danny, Danny, and Steph (who is dating Dan):



Brandon after his Super D race (all scarred up) and Justin



ChubaJason enjoying an O'Douls



Sunday morning, me after going through the rut at the top



The rock bump near the top



Going through the mini-rock garden



Dan, Steph, and Nancy, cheering on the crew along the wall



Unfortunately I didn't make it back up in time to get a photo of Justin, other than this



Random photos (PM me your race # if you raced Sport older than 37 and any of beginner. I may have a photo)





Winston



Auk



Eric



Crash, while still on his bike



Look further down by the wall. Notice the guy dusting himself off? Yup. That's Maxwell



Lots of riders close together in this section





I think this kid raced XC at Mt. SAC?



Oof



Taco'd wheel. His taco'd buddy behind him



Can someone find me this shirt? I'll gladly pay you back Sm/Md



The second person to crash into Winston and his gf



Lots 'o dust





Taking a sovenir home





cont.

[allison]

He was in a suit (pants included)



J_Sims



Rockin' the F4



Paulina



Lacey



Part of the crew at the awards/raffle



The man, the myth...



Pro podium



Pro Women



Expert Women



Sport Men 27-34



Barry aka mcgyver0302- 3rd



Congrats to all that raced. Thanks again to all of our supporters!! It would NOT be the same without you!

[cbHarping]

BTW, it was great to finally meet CC, sdyeti, queenwilhelmina, and ChumbaJason! Great to put a face to the name(s).