RR: fontana nationals

[BFloFoxRider.]

Looked like fun..

[BFloFoxRider.]

Originally Posted by Sharky

Very impressive skills here are
Pro & Semi-pro from the Nationals on Sunday.
http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/i...20semi%203-30/

Sharky i think the one you have listed as Ian Odom is Mat Medore...

[allison]

Originally Posted by BFloFoxRider.

Sharky i think the one you have listed as Ian Odom is Mat Medore...

Not sure who it is, but not Odom. He wears a brown/bright green kit and rides a sea foam green Brodie.

Killer shots, though Sharky!

[BFloFoxRider.]

Matt Medore is the Nicolai owner of the US portion or soemthing like that...
The reason i said his name is because 've seen him wear a nicolai jersey just like that.. but i cant tell if it says nicolai

I wish i could shoot like Sharky

[allison]

Originally Posted by BFloFoxRider.

Matt Medore is the Nicolai owner of the US portion or soemthing like that...
The reason i said his name is because 've seen him wear a nicolai jersey just like that.. but i cant tell if it says nicolai

I wish i could shoot like Sharky

Mebbe?

The only Nikolai rider I know by seeing them is Albert Rodriguez. He rides a black frame, I believe, and is Expert. Talented guy and he hasn't been riding long! We met him in Mammoth last summer (he was riding with Nancy and Roger).

[project_d]

Wow, I wish I was there.................

[Trizz]

I see some really good photography work on this thread, do any of you actually try to sell your work, do you market at the meet, hand out cards with links to where people can view their photos,

or do you do it just for fun?

[Rockinthecasbah]

sold a little enough to make it worth it last race , diditn get that many cards out this weekend but I already had some buzz from the last race, I havent been that happy with my shots from this weekend so far but havent gotten through everything

Originally Posted by Trizz

I see some really good photography work on this thread, do any of you actually try to sell your work, do you market at the meet, hand out cards with links to where people can view their photos,

or do you do it just for fun?

[BFloFoxRider.]

Originally Posted by Rockinthecasbah

sold a little enough to make it worth it last race , diditn get that many cards out this weekend but I already had some buzz from the last race, I havent been that happy with my shots from this weekend so far but havent gotten through everything

Next race if im there ill help you hand out cards

[Rockinthecasbah]

Some stuff from the friends folder
socal rider



DONT YOU TAKE MY PICTURE

[socal ridur]

sweet pic of me ricky! i like that shot of nancy and roger...the look on nancy's face

[allison]

Dupe post from my blog. Sorry 'bout the length, but it covers everything. Mostly XC yesterday.

The last weekend of March would start the Mann's out on a journey of weekend firsts. While we competed in the 20th Annual Keyesville Classic, part of the USAC AMBC national calendar, it wasn't really a huge national event. Keyesville has "Classic" status because it's been around so long. But, the real start of the national race season began 3/27-3/28 at Fontana.

Despite the fact that I don't see NMBS #1 Fontana listed on the USAC NMBS Gravity Calendar, it was a big one for gravity and XC.

We got there a bit before 3 and for future reference, don't expect anything to be similar to a normal Southridge event. There really wasn't any information provided as to parking, etc.

We first parked in the lot by the school/park, but since that was a bit out of the way, we wound up pulling into the grass field for basically a park where you want sort of deal (don't expect that to be the same Saturday either).

We got suited up, picked up our registration packets and number plates and headed over to the shuttle line. There were quite a few people in line, but we figured we'd head up for one run, and then hike back up the hill to redo the top section again. Which we did.

It was sandy and loose. Breezy, also, and warm. I didn't feel overly comfortable. I didn't see the good lines since we didn't stop and look at anything. We just rode right through twice. We rode the lower section (almost the same as the last two races, with a minor re-route) and headed down.

Justin's mom got there and he was going to hike up with her. I waited in the shuttle line. Nancy and Roger wound up on the next shuttle, but I wanted to wait for them so I could follow them down. Justin was just hiking up so I waited for him. We got up top and he wanted to do a quick run. Well, before he got back up there Nancy and Roger were there and ready to go, so down we went. We stopped about halfway and Justin tore by again. He came back up and I wound up trying to follow him.

I got a few of the lines down after following Nancy and Roger and felt slightly more comfortable, but not much. I think we wound up with about 3.5-4 runs or something. I forget. The hill was pretty crowded. Lots of people were riding the XC and Super D course.

I saw the very end of the amateur 4X stuff and then we all got changed and headed out to Jose's for dinner.

I wound up not sleeping well at the hotel from freeway noise. We got up kinda early and wound up at the venue around 7:15. The parking situation was fairly rediculous. They filled up the close corner, and then instead of rewarding people that got there early, but not before they started enforcing parking, made everyone park right off of Live Oak basically. Literally it was really far away from the venue itself. I was pretty upset about the whole situation (stupid or not, they still had about 4 rows worth of parking available right up front that they weren't filling in).

We walked around a bit, and eventually came back to two empty spots near the front. I nicely asked the parking guys if we could move. They weren't really sure (I don't know why moving our truck was an issue, especially considering multiple groups were celebrating 4:20 throughout the weekend there), but eventually said it was okay. So, we moved up and were pretty close to just riding up the hill and being at the normal staging area. Way better than a few minutes worth of DH bike pedaling time to get back and forth.

We saw some of the Expert XC race and after walking the DH course saw the Pro Women take off for XC. Decent sized group. The line of racers going along the ridges was crazy. We cheered them on up the first little climb before they get to the pavement, and then down we went to get ready for our DH practice and then race.

We suited up, and went over to get in line about 45 mins early. We put our bikes down right after the last Pro practice shuttle took off so we'd be first up.

They had a little motorcycle show right there for about 20 minutes, and then Steve started loading us up for practice.

We got in one run from the top, hiked up, went all the way down, and I think we actually got in a 2nd full shuttle run? We stopped by the truck for last minute stuff, and then I went over and loaded up for my race run on the first shuttle.

They ran Sport/Beginner/Expert 40+ women before everyone else, so I was set to go down 4th! Nancy was first.

I had sort of seen my competition practicing. I knew from looking at the online listings it was a female that raced for Specialized, so when I saw a girl in Specialized gear on a Specy bike I figured that was her, and turned out it was.

I don't think she practiced other than right before the race. I don't know how people do that! I was just finally feeling comfortable on the course.

She was set to go before me. I saw her kind of bobble the first few turns (loose, loose, loose), and then off I went. I focused on racing my own race and wasn't at all concerned with how she was doing. I don't remember if I saw her on the fire road through the cul-de-sac or not. I made it down clean, though I felt slow up top, and wound up seeing her pedaling down the wall. Mind you, she was on an SX Trail. Not as slack or suspended as my Demo 7 with the 40 up front. But, it should've pedaled a lot better. Lighter, single crown 6" fork, and she was clipped in. I half considered (in the space of about 3 seconds) just following her down the wall (I'd already made up plenty of time on her) so that I could save that much energy and leg strength for Sunday's XC race. Then I must've thought "To hell with that" since I exploded in a pedaling frenzy and passed her up toward the end. I went through the final turn, over the hump, and pedaled to the finish.

As usual, I felt like my lungs were going to explode from the effort. I slowly pedaled around a bit, said "Good job" and headed down to pedal and find Nancy. I left my bike with her (she was nice enough to lock it up for me so I could go watch Justin) and off I went to remove the pressure suit and helmet. Then I got a water and my camera and headed up the hill to cheer on Justin.

I didn't have to wait too long before he came around the corner of the lower rock garden. I then ran back down to meet him. I twisted my foot a bit, and while it was thoroughly irritated Saturday evening, it's been fine since.

We waited around for results. I won! My first #1 at a big national race. Justin won also. Yay!

We wound up waiting around for awards for ever. It was nearly dark when Justin finally got his. We ate the BBQ at the venue. It was good, but not at all healthy So after awards we went straight back to the hotel. I took a Tylenol PM, showered, looked at my photos from the day, put in ear plugs and went to bed. I slept much better.

Of course the 5 am alarm went off early. Everyone said they would be getting their "early". We were literally the first to arrive. We pulled in and got a spot right up front in the grass. We sat in the truck for awhile. I had to hit up the rest room briefly, and Justin got my bike off the truck and did some minor stuff to it. Eventually I got out of the truck and made up my Cytomax and Elete water, got my Gel situated. I stayed in warm-ups and a sweat shirt and rode down the street slowly with him to get some blood flowing. We went back to the truck and I tried to figure out what to wear. I settled on my jersey (no base woolies), and my half fleece lined knickers. I figured even if I was slightly warm, I'd be *way* more comfortable.

I took off to do the new initial steep climb so I could test it out in granny gear. Glad I did, since it is really steep and really sandy. I realized a bit after that that I did not have sunglasses, and I had to pee (again).

Rode back to the truck at the sound of "6 minutes until race start, all racers be at staging". I was starting at 8:18, but didn't want to miss out on anything either.

I couldn't find my sunglasses. I wasn't sure if Justin had taken them or what. I grabbed his and immediately was dissatisfied, but I had to wear something due to all of the dust.

Off I went up to the staging area. There were quite a few women! We all had our shins marked with our class # so we knew who was and who was not actually in our age group (so you weren't off chasing someone that wasn't your competition, and you don't have to memorize kits/bikes). Matter of fact, I'm sure my marking is still there. I forgot to take Dawn soap and a brillo pad to it last night.

At any rate, I knew it was me and Steph, and there were 4 other women in our 19-29 age group. One was the girl I'd raced (actually traded spots with for nearly the entire time) at Bonelli. I think she had been at Mt. SAC also, but I passed her on lap 2 or so? Not sure if she wound up starting late or what happened there. I knew she climbed pretty fast, and had done Bonelli already this year.

We slowly walked up closer to the starting line, and then we were off. I had a bit of trouble clipping in initially, but kept pedaling my gear. I knew I'd go down to middle/big for the big climb, but I knew I couldn't afford to granny up it. Stephanie and the 30-39 women XC winner had the hole shot(s) and I just tried to hang on to them. I wound up literally *right* on Steph's wheel for the big climb and as we both struggled up it I thought she might slip a wheel and have to dab, so I yelled to keep pedaling! Bad place to dab.

We made it up and over the top, a short flat section, then we were up the really short rocky-ish climb. I think I passed Stephanie shortly thereafter and just cranked my best up the next singletrack-ish climb, and tried to hammer as fast as I could up the pavement.

They wound up routing us on the singletrack that is normally a DH course descent on lap 1 (instead of keeping us on the pavement). It was tiring, but I kept it in the middle ring, and actually wound up catching up to the men stragglers that had started 2 mins ahead of us.

I tried to pass where I could, and Justin was up at the road/dirt transition cheering me on. I did okay on the rolling climbs (no one in my way) and I passed where I could. I think I passed 2 guys at the top of the wider climb right after the DH start but my singletrack descent was quickly stifled by slower riders. I may or may not have passed a few, and then wound up behind one guy who was behind the 30-39 women's winner. I tried to cajole them on and into pedaling and not braking. So much for that. The trail widened, so naturally they sped up so I couldn't pass. I caught up to both of them again after a cement culvert that ends in a mess of sand. While I was not going any faster than they were, I didn't have to hop off or back on my bike, so I wound up passing the guy and being right behind the girl. I don't think I passed her at all, but I did follow behind her through more sand, more sand, and then up the short rise before the big climb in the middle of the course. She took off. Very strong climber.

I kept up my speed where I could, even jumping back into the middle ring on a flat part of the big climb for a few pedal strokes, before going back into granny +1 or +2. I tried to pass other people. I wound up noticing David in the weeds and briefly asked if he was okay as I flew by.

I had long since noticed the course was in terrible shape. It gets sandy anyway, but even last October when we hadn't had rain at all in a looong time the course wasn't this bad. But, 300+ people hadn't ridden on it in the 2 days prior to that. There was loose sand and ruts everywhere.

I made it down okay and passed one guy through the trees/urban jungle section, and continued up the switchback fire road climb. I kept it in the middle ring until the steep rocky section, but I was in granny +3. I passed on the right and still wound up behind slower people on the next descent.

Made it down the cement culvert, then tried to crank where I could on the flats/descents. Steph is really powerful, so I always figure she is pedaling a harder gear than I am whenever she is on flats/small ascents. That means she is going faster, so no matter how much my legs burn I need to keep pedaling. Of course I go into an easier gear where the trails nearly meet up before the really short steep-ish climb. That and the rocky climb at the end I have never made. I set out to give them both a go. Any time I am off my bike is seconds I'm losing to whoever is behind me. I made it up the steep short climb! Woohoo! Unfortunately I almost passed a guy on the little decline following, but he apparently thought he would speed match me, and I wound up almost hitting someone else. Freaking ego maniac males.

Up the next little rise I went. Justin saw me and started cheering me on! I attempted to tell him about my climbing feat, but he was talking too much so didn't hear me. I have video. It is interesting to see how much I can barely speak. I'm working that hard. He managed to talk me into passing 3-4 riders before a descent (that takes a surprising amount of energy, but I did it), and then I wound up kind of endoing on the next singletrack descent. I got up, attempted to get out of the weeds. My helmet was askew and my knee hurt. Pretty badly. I turned my handlebar around the right way and got back on the bike. Ouch. I wasn't sure my knee would hold up, but I knew that I had just lost somewhere around 10-20 seconds in crashing, so I had to make it all back up. Steph turns on the after burners on lap 2 and I am usually slowing down. So I couldn't afford to give up any time at all.

I tried to pedal as fast as I could on the flats, and around the corner there was staring at me the rocky loose climb I've never made it up. I put it in an easy gear and just started spinning. I got lots of cheers from the spectators, and somehow made it to the top! I was victorious! No time to celebrate, so off I pedaled to finish up lap 1. By the time I hit the lap button on my Garmin 305 I barely noticed my knee pain anymore.

I was getting tired. I had a quick shot of gel and water, and went up the steep climb. I think I was in granny this time around. I would NOT have enjoyed a 3rd trip up that hill.

I looked back and I think Steph was going through start/finish. I kept pedaling. I knew I could not ride any of the hills in an easier gear than I had previously. She would catch me if I let off my pace.

I climbed the pavement and the dirt reroute in the middle ring, despite having to talk myself into not going down to granny. I had the singletrack descent fairly wide open until the end. I passed a lot of guys walking. I know I walked a fair bit my first two races, but I was on a SS, and I was always out of the way. As a matter of fact, I pulled off the trail numerous times for Sport riders to go by.

At any rate, someone needs to explain to them that this is a race, and walking isn't an option. But I wasn't about to be that person while *I* was racing. I passed quite a few more walking the big climb in the middle, and tried to get past a few pedaling before the short descent. I followed one guy down the whole descent before the urban jungle and swung to the left down a wide rutted section as he went right. Up the switchback climb again. When I put it in granny ring in the front I tried to keep it at +3 on the cassette. I usually did all right. Got behind a guy that was behind a guy going slow. I kept yelling riders back. Nothing. Finally he crashed. Happy day!! I didn't even ask if he was okay. I just yelled to the guy in front of me to keep moving. He apparently didn't like that, but whatever. I had a race to win! If they were out for a Sunday stroll they should've done it elsewhere!

Down the cement culvert and off onto some flats again. One guy passed me before the short steep section and then stopped 2/3 of the way up. Idiot! I tried to go around but he took up most of the trail and I wound up in super loose powder and had to walk. I was losing time.

I hopped back on and kept pedaling. Justin was at the same place again, so I kept it in a higher gear than middle-big and cranked up the incline. Shoved the fork into full suspension mode and down I went. I picked a better line and didn't crash. yay!

Made it through and onto the flats and kept hammering. The head wind got pretty bad. I didn't make it up the rocky climb, but I tried. I ran the last little bit. The guys spectating told me I was about 40 seconds back from 1st, but since she was in a different age category I really had no desire to chase her down. I had no idea how close or far Steph was, so I kept pedaling the whole way to the finish line. Phew.

1:29:39 I believe was my finishing time. 1st place in women's XC 19-29. I felt like I had some personal demons to overcome after two poor showings in the XC events at Keyesville. I didn't have any bike problems. I didn't particularly notice that the Dos climbed any better than the Canzo had, at least not with the light-weight wheelset My pimp-fly wheelset is about one of my top 3 favorite things I own at the moment. Seriously, it is that good.

Steph came by, but wasn't happy with her performance. She, like me, has realized that 1x9 is not a good race setup. Recreational maybe. It becomes really difficult to pedal a 32-34 up steep hills. That is why I went with a 28T, but that isn't so good for the flats. I won't be getting rid of my Boone Ti, but it isn't going on a race bike any time soon.

So, we got lunch at Subway, and then came back for awards. Then it was time to head up for Pro DH, and for Justin's practice before Cal State DH.

He, despite a minor crash, won his class in Cal State as well. So, lots of 1sts for us this past weekend.

All in all, I'm really happy with how things went. I still think I can improve on speed and need to continue to do intervals and work on my climbing power. I also need to start working on DH skills if I ever want to improve there. I'm not really a sport racer, but I also am not going to be competitive at Expert DH at bigger events with the little skills that I do have, especially since I've been so focused on XC and endurance this year so far.

So, while this was many racers' first race of the year, it was actually my 6th race/event of the season. Are we done yet??

Photos to come.

[BFloFoxRider.]

Allison, honestly, i didnt read it. But i gave it a thanks because i bet its good anyways

[heatherz]

Originally Posted by Rockinthecasbah

Incycle... the team that cares

Speaking of Incycle...random Incycle rider. I'm sure y'all know who it is, but I'm pretty clueless.

[BFloFoxRider.]

Thats Ed Thanks!

[Mudman]

Danny is a rock star now on his morewood. Way to go and congrats! Finally a bike that isn't falling apart.

Looks like everyone had fun, kinda surprised Rennie was out there!