Race Report Knobby Time Series - Bonelli Park Race #1

The race was AWESOME!!!!!! Temps were exactly were they needed to be. Warm but not hot. Nice number of folks but not overly crowded. Everyone was spread out nicely so there were no major bottlenecks or issues with passing. Course, as all Bonelli race courses are, was perfect. I thought the long stretch of payment would have been a drag but it wasn't. Gave you just enough time to nicely recover, pick up some speed and tend to your water bottle in peace. Incorporated all of the new singletrack from the US Cup races. (Would have just added in the new singletrack from the top towards the lake, instead of the dusty right hand downhill option with the sharp left hand turn). Timing, lap counting, spacing between waves, overall organization was PERFECT! Nice trophies too (though I just missed out on one).

My race was good but not the best. Driving from Glendale to Bonelli on the 210 at 4:00PM is the worst possible nightmare you can imagine. Its an amazing study in how terrible people drive. Left the house at 4:00PM and didn't make it to Bonelli until 5:30 though it typically takes me about 20 minutes. That meant no warm-up. And I felt it! Started with the top 2 guys in my wave for the first half of the lap and then crept toward bonking. Recovered somewhere near the end of the second lap only to have my chain drop off . Took me longer to get it back on than I expected. Based upon the time I was standing still on the Garmin it took me 2 full minutes to get the chain back on!!!! 7th overall out of about 13-14. Had the chain not dropped off I probably would have podiumed, which I will work hard towards for the next Knobby Time in one week. At least I'll try to get there early enough to properly warm up.

The concept of mid-week Bonelli races is just absoutely fantastic!!!!! Omar - wish you all the best luck in making the series successful!

Looking forward to some nice pics from all the photographers that were out there. This was the first race I ever did without my Shoair kit. Wife persuaded me to wear an "Armenia" outfit she bought me (though I'm not Armenian).

 

The course was awesome, its a nice break from the OTH course, gobs of single track. This series just needs more people to join in! I ended up second, out of 3. common peeps, get out here on Thursday and do a couple laps around this one... Pics?

 

Had a great time out there despite not finishing on our tandem. We had a couple mechanicals during our first lap and truth be told, this was a super tough course. By the end of our first lap, my 9 yr old daughter who was my Stoker, was wiped out. But big thanks to Omar and all the other racers. This has been the coolest set of racers I've ever dealt with. Some of the pro/expert guys lapped us and shouted out encouragement for doing a good job.

 

This was my first XC race since April 2009 (Sage Brush 8-[) and it kicked my butt!

I LOVE the idea of a weeknight race series and am very happy Omar organized this closer to home than OTH. I hope we can continue to grow this modeled after the success of the OTH series and bring some grass roots biking out to more people.

Ended up finishing 4th out of 5 in expert men under 35 in about 1:19. First place guy was around 1:09 and top three were all under 1:12 or so. Looking at the course on paper I was expecting to be out there under an hour. Thought the singletrack was very challenging, rocky, rough, steep 20-25% grade climbs, hardly anywhere to recover except the pavement at the finish line. Had a hard time keeping my heart from exploding out there! Just when you thought you could relax, you started climbing up something else. 4 laps sounded easy but was way harder than I expected.

Had a stupid fall at the finish line, coming off the curb between laps 3 and 4. I had a bottle in hand and was looking for my buddy to hand it off. Forgot my gloves, and my hands and bars were all sweaty. Dropped off the curb while simultaneously seeing my buddy, bars slipped out of my hand, and went down right on the pavement. All alone. In front of everyone. Ha. Was a little scraped up but still able to finish my 4th lap. Knee is a bit swollen and stiff today, but no major damage and should be fine in a few days.

Thanks to the shops, sponsors, and organizers, and thanks to other racers for all being courteous and fun to ride with. Good times, looking forward to the next two races!



That's me in the back (Coates kit), lap 1 - photo credit psyclerider

 

Results are up on cec's website:

http://cycleeventscompany.com/information_links/kt1-round1.pdf

 

Missed the first one... was out doing a solo ride getting ready for Big bear. really hoping to make round two...

 

I had a few friends racing and snapped some photos of them. You can see them here.
http://www.facebook.com/gearcyclewear

 

No "pros" out there? Or was everyone lumped in as expert? Just wondering.

 

Hi Vlad it was nice seeing you out there with your "Armenia" jersey. I placed 4 in the beginner category for a first time racer. If you are riding around verdugos let me know maybe I can join you.

Garo

 

i wanna thank everyone who came out to volunteer to put this first race on. i directed the xc challenge & mt sac fat tire classic in 2009 & 2010, but this one was a monster for me because it's my first gig on my own. i lost a lot of sleep. i also want to thank all the vendors who came out to the race and made it look official & not a bootleg race. last thanks is to all the racers who came out. without you racers the park would have looked like a construction zone. i plan to be at bonelli tweaking the course a bit this sunday about 8:30am or so. i'm hoping for a larger rider number for round #2, so i hope everyone brings 1 person with them next thursday. thanks again and see all of you next thursday at bonelli park.

 

Any of the photo folks have pics up yet?