Race Report Idyllwild Spring Challenge 2011

http://www.idyllwildcycling.com/

This was the full xc course from my pre-ride it's a tad off...but maps etc are on the site..... My opinion...mostly single track i did the shorter course...but man is it beautiful and so worth just going to ride....

 

Very nice photos!

 

Yesterday was a heckuva day. Willie and I left home in Calabasas at ten to six in the morning headed for Idy, and arrived back home at the end of the day at… ten to six in the evening! In between, a lot went down. Here's our tale.

When we arrived up the hill we went to the reg table where Angie got Willie signed in and dealt with. Turned out there were no other riders in his 15-18 Cat 2, so rather than have him walk home with a meaningless 1st place medal, I petitioned to have him moved into Men's Cat 2. Katie the race organizer was not around to approve, so off we went, not knowing if he had any competition or not for the race.

I drove Willie up to the top of the hill so he could do a pre-ride of the course. I got all the way up there, then got lost because there was no one up there (everyone was over at the TT on the other side of town when we got up there at 9AM), and I ended up driving my truck all the way down to the beginning of the Tres Hombres, Uno ST, about a third of the way into the course! Ha! So, I turned around and drove back up to the top, noting how rutted and wet the FR was. Well, at least we got a good view of it before his pre-ride.

There was still no one around, so I just stopped long enough to drop the kid off…



…and away he went!



Willie got a pinch flat on some sharps during that ride, but fortunately I'd packed a tube and a couple of CO2s for him. Whew. unfortunately, both CO2s were bad (WTF?!?!). One of the Sho-Air folks riding the course helped him out with a good cartridge (THANK YOU!!) and he finally made it back to camp.

We heard the SD start was going to be delayed for some time, so they said we could ride up on the bus for another pre-ride, so a few of us hanging out got on the bus:



Not exactly a packed bus, but that was about right considering the delay. On the way up, one of the race organizer folk on the bus said the SD was going to be delayed by 2 hours. Holy crap! But, okay -- that would make for a nice easy pre-ride, getting used to the lay of the land, etc.

Disembarking up top:



We rode around the corner to the race start, and tons of folks were there now. I saw whybother, and talked with him for a few minutes, during which they sent the first Pro in the Stage Race bunch out onto the course. WTF?!?! What happened to the two hour delay!?!?! I didn't even bring along all my cam stuff as there was going to be plenty of time to roll the course, choose a good spot, get back to camp, figure out which lens I wanted to use, get back to the top and roll to my chosen spot and set up, etc. That was all out the window now. I couldn't even get on course because the race had already started. Bummer! So, no shots of the Stage folks (sorry!).

Off to the races!



Eventually I figured out there would be a 16 minute gap between the Stage racers and the next wave, so figured I'd head out then. Nothing to do but hang out for a while. Ran into jonathan_sykes81 and said hello -- haven't seen Darryl since 12 Hours of Temecula at least 2 years ago! Willie and Darryl:



I then wandered up to the only other person in chic STR garb and it turned out to be Laggdawg. That was cool as we've never met, and I use a quote of his in my sig(!!). Here's b-man626, yogi rider, Laggdawg and my xXP00L$hReDDaXx:



Always good to run into some STR folk out there. Right about then simonmtb joined the fray. I've never met Simon either, so that was really cool.

I saw Dan McCormack getting ready to race, so said hello and grabbed a pre-race shot:



And then it was time to see whybother off at the gate:



Justin had a great weekend -- he won all three races in the Stage Race series in Men's Cat 1! Congrats!!! (Time: 16:10)

Next up, Darryl headed out for his ride (Time: 16:42, 1st Place Open Men):



And finally, Dan made his way onto the course with Willie watching his start in the b/g there (Time: 17:29, 2nd Place Open Men):



Once they sent out the last Stage Racer (a little kid riding a 24 incher! -- riding with his dad), I hit the course. I wound my way down to a primo spot at the lower end of Tres Hombres, Uno where there was a little jump on a long straight piece of the ST with a long rollout. Folks could see it a long ways in front, so I thought they'd be able to hit it hard! I was not disappointed.

Of course, as always, it takes me a few clicks to sort out my shooting…



Oops. #-o

And sometimes I get too close to the trail -- almost got taken out by this non-racer coming down the track!



As I was still dialing things in and looking for good angles, Laggdawg flew by:



And then one of the guys we rode up on the bus with (still dialing… not quite there yet):



And then, I think I found my shot!



Yeah... that's it!



Some folks stayed pretty compact as they went over the bump…



While some guys surprised me with the lift they got off that little log!…



yogi rider shot past so I knew Willie would not be far behind.



And then, there he was! Man, he hit that thing hard! I wasn't prepared for that and lost a bit of him out of the frame. Them's the breaks (Time: 22:36, 20th of 26 in Men's Cat 2):



And another Ellsworth rider (SuperDKim and her big fork!):



And here's one I got from in the bushes of b-man626 as he made his way down the line:



I then made my way down the course, and was stuck behind the unicyclists on Exfoliator. Great. I let them have it and then passed them on the FR at the bottom. It was a really fun course.

Willie got 20th place out of 26 riders in Men's Cat 2. I thought that was pretty good for a 15 year old, and far better than getting a free first place medal in his original Cat.

We hung out at the bottom for a short while after the race talking with Justin and allison (who is looking forward to getting her new nifty 50 prime lens soon!!) and all the rest of the bunch, but then booked it out pretty quickly. There was no food at the venue (WTF?!?!?) and I had to get some food in me. I was beat. Only 150 more miles to go…

Enjoy!

- shud

 

Great pics Shudder. That was me standing by the start at SuperD in the blue shirt and black cap. I was waiting around to sweep the end of the race. I guess I was too shy to come over and introduce myself. I knew I had seen some STR peoples in your jersys up there. See ya around!

 

Next time say hi, Carl. We don't get to make contact very often in person, so you gotta take advantage at races, rides, or whatever. Until next time...

- shud

 

This is the only race in SoCal that I try to make... it is such an awesome course. Unfortunately it conflicted with the Whiskey 50 this year... so I missed it. Hopefully they will take place on separate weekends next year.

 

Couple more racers.

Some artistic license taken with less than stellar pics...





I have more. I'll post when I can.

- shud

 

Only made it for the Super D race and have to say it was a lot of fun! I wish I could say I finished top of Cat 2 Women but had a blast! Nice to see so many ladies out and racing! I have never been to this event before or location and will look forward to the next adventure here. Everyone there was great and enjoyable bunch of people!

 

Thanks for the pics, I was the Lady in Black on the Moment!!

 

Did you get your glass of wine after the race? My friend and I were walking by you (or at least I think it was you) after the SD race and you mentioned it was time for the wine!!
Craig

 

Thanks Shud for the pic!!..its was great meeting the other str folks out here!..

 

...AND #666!! Oooooooooo! :bang:

Willie told me he said hello to you up top at the start -- talkin' chummy Ellsworth talk!

- shud

 

I prefer to think the race was so hard all the others DNF'd.

 

That's exactly what happened! I like your thinking....and BTW it was hard! But ya know when you finish something and or while your doing it "your like never again"...then when it's done...your like "next time i'll do...."

 

Race Results for download:

2011 Stage Race Results
2011 Cross Country Results
2011 Time Trial Results
2011 Super D Results

 

i posted my full race report on the blahg for anyone that wants to read all my ramblings....

http://themannadventure.blogspot.com/2011/05/idyllwild-spring-challenge-2011.html

 

awesome write up!

 

Yes Craig I did get my wine!! It is my reward..like having a beer for most guys!!! LOL

 

Eloquent as always.....

 

Yes we were! Great kid..will chat Ellsworth all day!!! LOL