RR: Rim Nordic XC #1

[lukewiens]

Sorry for the lack of pics....I was too busy bustin' my butt in the race! Maybe somebody else can chime in with some cool race pics.

Herber and I carpooled up this morning making the drive from Temecula to Rim Nordic in about an hour fifteen. It was already steamin here in Temecula when we left at 8am. We got to the venue and registered, the temps were pretty nice up there and we had a little breeze goin.

I noticed a STR ez-up in the parking lot....no idea who it was, weren't home...they were probably racing beginner or sport who took of at 9 and 10 respectively. I must say, it was kinda cool hangin out with a pro pre-race as we got set up. About 11 we everyone was doing laps in the parking lot to get warmed up. The heat was crankin' up a little bit, but still nothing like what the IE has been experiencing lately. We staged up and I watched the pro class rip out of the start area, Robert jumped in the front pack from the get.

As the 20-24 and 25-29 expert class rolled up, I noticed there were only five of us. We joked around as we would all make podium as long as we finished. I had no idea what to expect never riding out there, but the group shot out and I decided to sit back and watch for a bit. I wasn't sure how the legs would respond after the 10 long hours I spent on the bike at last weeks race. Of the three guys in my class were two BVB riders. Me and Dan, the faster of the BVB guys mixed it up for the first lap....man that guy can descend!!

I would pass on the climbs and he would fly by me like I was standing still on the descents...a feeling I definitely was not used to. Now I know how people feel when they come out to Vail lake (my home course). After lap two I had managed to get a gap on 2nd and lapped the 3rd place guy shortly into the 3rd lap. I ran the rest of the race scared looking over my shoulder for him to re-appear. As I made the final descent, he never came...thank god! I ran a 2:22 and took 1st in my first expert XC race.

The course reminded me a lot of the Idyllwild trails...decomposed granite, lots of ups and downs. The main descent was loose powder switchbacks....a little sketch. We had to kind of surf down em as the wrong line choice had severe consequences. Fun course overall though....I am looking forward to the other course options they run out there.

Per Robert....Sean Donovan took off the front early in the pro race. Robert Herber and Manny Prado duked it out for a while. Robert ended up having some nutritional/cramping problems in the second lap and dropped to 4th as a rider from the Costa Rican team moved into 3rd. Sean (Cytomax dude won the race, Manny 2nd, Costa Rican dude 3rd, Robert 4th, Can't remember 5th.

Stage race July 12th - 13th.....hope to run into some of you out there!!

[Blue Rat]

Great job Luke ...

[Zippy]

Nice job, man. Sorry I couldn't make it. Holly says nice job too.

[speckledtrout]

first place!? that's terrific!

[grant]

I also saw the STR ez-up in the parking lot, someone was sitting in a chair when a drove in, but after parking and strolling back no-one was there anymore.

I also saw your bike, resting outside the resort restrooms, easy to spot since everybody has their names on their plates.

I really enjoyed the course, I started a little too quickly, but managed not to suffer too much for it.

Well done on 1st place.

[m210]

how was the attendance in general? may/june have been pretty intense months and we chose to sit this one out, get in some solid training and do a little home shopping. looking forward to the next one.

[maxwell]

Nice job on the first 1ST!!

Thanks for the RR too!

This was the first one I've missed in three years.
I'll be out there chasing around the Sport Clydes at the next race!

[lukewiens]

Originally Posted by m210

how was the attendance in general? may/june have been pretty intense months and we chose to sit this one out, get in some solid training and do a little home shopping. looking forward to the next one.

robert said it was light compared to races in the past. i thought it was a decent turnout though. guessing 100 - 150 riders or so.

[surlygal]

Great job Luke! 1st anytime is awesome, 1st in elevation and your 1st time at Rim Nordic is incrediable!!!!!

BTW: STR tent = ghixon

[ghixon]

Race 1 is in the books and it was a good day. Temps in the low 80's and not a cloud in the sky. I accidentally signed up to run the Beginner 30-34 catagory instead of Sport. I must have looked like such a sandbagger to the other two guy's that were running in the catagory. Honestly, it was a mistake, but too late to change it now.

I was the one with the STR Shelter over in the Snow Valley parking lot. My wife was there watching the festivities while I was riding. She might have been the one you saw. I keep trying pawn these things off, but I end up keeping them somehow... Maybe someone can take them off my hands at the STR BBQ next month. I raced in the morning and was supporting a buddy (since I goofed) that was riding Sport.

I ended up riding a 58:50. I bagged the climb and the fire road due to some serious chain skip and ghost shifting. After the race, I realized that I had installed an old cassette when I took my rear wheel apart for maintenance - DUH>>> For some reason, during warm-up, it never gave me a problem. Once I started up the first climb - it was a different story. After how bad it was skipping, I was surpsed that I didn't either break the chain or kill the cassette itself.

With all the issues that I was having, the fire road and backside ST was a bit disappointing. I couldn't really push too hard of the flats and switchbacks so it was a coast-fest after the split.

Attendance was a bit lighter than in past years. Normally, the Sport starting line-up looks like a stampede. This year was a bit of a whimper start. Too bad. I'm not sure if Downieville or some other events pulled people out or if it was just the heat down below. Whatever the reason, Rim is always a great venue run by a great group that always seems to run smoothly.

I have a bunch of Photos, but the upload function is goofed up right now. I'll try loading them in later for all to see what you missed.

[ubermensch]

Originally Posted by ghixon

I ended up riding a 58:50.

I was only able to do a 1:06 on Saturday during the pre-ride, and I decided to not race on Sunday after feeling real weak when I woke up. Good thing.

They sure don't make these dirt trails easy on road guys.

Congrats to the op for the awesome result!

[mr.hobbs]

Originally Posted by ubermensch

I was only able to do a 1:06 on Saturday during the pre-ride, and I decided to not race on Sunday after feeling real weak when I woke up. Good thing.

They sure don't make these dirt trails easy on road guys.

Congrats to the op for the awesome result!

Nice avatar Tom.

Way to go Luke, you sandbagger.

Do they have a SingleSpeed class? How would the trail be for a SS?
I've never done an XC race.

[ghixon]

Originally Posted by mr.hobbs

Nice avatar Tom.

Way to go Luke, you sandbagger.

Do they have a SingleSpeed class? How would the trail be for a SS?
I've never done an XC race.

They do have a SS catagory. I've SS'd Rim a few dozen times with a 32/19 or 32/20 29'er. It's certainly a hell of a climb - not especially long just a ton of relentless short and steep sections that seem to come one after another for the SS. The long second climb is a b!tch on an SS.

I remember meeting you a few weeks ago at Snow Summit (I was riding the Orange Kona). PM me and we can go see if you want to try it. If you have acess to Google Earth, I also have the nav files you can look at with elevations.

Greg

[lukewiens]

Originally Posted by mr.hobbs

Way to go Luke, you sandbagger.

Wait a minute....I just upgraded to Expert!!

[mr.plow]

Great day of racing. my first sport class win! and i even missed the my groups start. anyone have any photos to share or an idea of where to view photos taken during the race that were posted?

[ghixon]

Originally Posted by mr.plow

Great day of racing. my first sport class win! and i even missed the my groups start. anyone have any photos to share or an idea of where to view photos taken during the race that were posted?

Congrats! What Catagory Sport?

I have a few photos that my wife took. The upload function is goofed up right now so as soon as that's cleared up - presto. If you e-mail Bev or the staff at Rim,they can point you in the right direction for their "on-staff" photographer. I think an e-mail photo of you racing was right around $5.

[mr.plow]

sport men 30-34. i had never been in the top 50% in sport before that, so it was a fun day.

thx for the tip.

[Knuckledragger]

Any photo's of 282N? (Sport 35-?)

I also had a great time. First time racing a course w/ no pre-run for me. Make things interesting......

Cheers,

C.K.

[Knuckledragger]

Here's the two I have:

Sport Podium 35 +


My Kid rules! (Of course he demanded this and I just finished and was ready to pass out.)



Cheers,

C.K.