Race Report: Mt. Sac Fat Tire Classic 2008

I was a little nervous with the rain the previous night but conditions were almost perfect for the beginner races. The Pros and Sport classes packed the surface enough for us racing later in the day to have great traction and the temperature was ideal for racing. I entered beginner men 35-44 and kept a decent pace but running a 32x19 slowed me down on the flats and some descents. The really bumpy section through the field though was a real bitch. I lost my water bottle from all the bouncing around and had to stop and run back after it. I lost 3 positions because of that. I ended up placing around 15th out of 30(?) in my category but I have to admit I get more of a kick messing with other riders heads as I'm passing on my Schwinn SS and aloha shirt. :lol:

Neil was awesome yesterday. Even though he didn't ride, he was a one man cheering squad yelling to everyone at different sections of the track to keep pushing and even went out on the course to personally motivate Lety. :clap:

Congratulations to all racers, especially the podium winners and all the first timers.

Yes, I'll be back next year.

 

Thank You!!!!

I would like to say Thank You Very Much to those who cheered and supported us first time racers. It was a memorable experience, the atmosphere, the venue and the weather is just perfect.

I was having doubt whether should i go race or not at all. Work and personal stuff caused me to have little to no saddle time at all the last two weeks. I decided to go the night before after getting tired of playing guitar hero. My thought is, if i dont go, then i have to wait a year for the mt sac experience.

My favorite part during the race: mechmann cheering and chasing me with the cow bell it felt really good and an absolute moral booster :bang: and I just started hammering it!

Overall, I had fun and thank you for your support!! its a good learning and memorable STR experience.

Special thanks goes to: mechmann, allison, 1x1clyde, Traci, 1FG rider, and davidB.

See you again next year!

 

newbie mistake, check your bolts

Few things that flawed my race, finding out that my handle bar is a little loose.. I have to make a decision whether to stop (loose some position) or keep going. Some of you probably saw me on the side. For safety reason, i stopped and tightened it. Not pre-riding the course, made it hard for me when/how to pace myself. And of course, a little more saddle time would have been beneficial. :wave::clap:

 

I had a lot of fun doing this race, and even though the 32x19 kicked my ass I'm still glad I gave racing another try. I really felt like quitting during the first lap, but with everyone cheering me on I got over that real quick. I had to walk a lot of the climbs due to my gearing, but hey it was a lesson learned!

BIG thank yous go to Neil and Traci for cheering me on (and for Neil instructing me to "UNLEASH THE BEAST"), Allison for her words of encouragement, and everyone who gave support and took pictures. Oh yes, and especially to Jason for being my race mechanic and for making me race even though I was whining that I didn't want to.

Oh yes, and I'm especially proud of Grace, Tara, Kay, and Lety. All you ladies were awesome and you should all be very proud of yourselves! :clap: I want to see a rematch between Grace and Kay!

 

were you fixing your bars right past the little sketchy section where if you fell to your right you would be hurt. its like a little 1 foot trail cut out of the side of the mountain.

 

Thanks for the pics! My buddy shot some yesterday. Just waiting for him to put them up.

 

I had a blast riding with Lety on her 2nd lap.
I can't remember the last time I was at a race and got to spectate, that was refreshing!!
I saw Lety rolling in from her 1st lap, told Nancy, Willie and Traci someone should go with her...keep her rolling, get her to quit smiling:lol: etc. so Nancy sent me out.
I figured why not.
Threw on the cleats and went out for a lap in a t shirt and dickies shorts, rather strange:lol:
Lety did awesome, cleared all but the last little uphill before the final descent. Reeled in 3 other racers on her 2nd lap and never got passed!!
She did killer and was glad she let me tag along, thanks Lety!

Good job to all the newb racers yesterday, you guys and gals destroyed it!

 

I have a a lot of pictures to sort through.
I will have Willie post them as soon as I have them ready.

 

oh and i found a bike after everyone left thanks im going to take it apart and give it to friends we started takeing it apart before it got home lol

 

I must echo the sentiment that the cheering was AWESOME!!!!!!! I was having a really hard time yesterday but all you cheering on the sidelines made it hard to have a hard time!!! All in all I am glad I did it. Now it's just time for all the homework. I have a year! Unless I decide to do Fontana to finish the series :?: I don't really want to but there's only 3 of us in my class who raced the first two... I dunno we shall see.

I want to give a HUGE congratulations to everyone who raced! Especially to Grace! She JUST decided to race less than a week ago, nervous as hell, and won FIRST!!! YAY GRACE! And Kay way to go also, you gave her a run (a ride?) for her money! AND they both beat out a "beginner" racer who has been racing several years in these races! I also want to congrats all the Dirty Girlz (Willie, Nancy, Lety, etc.) who came out and raced. No matter what place we got, the important thing was that we were out there and we're so gonna kick ass next year!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

 

I'll throw out a few more pics; some familiar faces, some not. Wish I could have stayed longer than I did, suffering aside, looks like most had a fun time.

 

This was my first race and it was tough! I really wanted to quit after the first lap. I also hiked a lot of the climbs. However, I am so glad I toughed it out and finished. I believe OhYEAH89 saw me crash too! I was making a left turn and the bike just slid out from under me. Best part about the race was the stuff I won. I won all those stuff in the pic plus a $50 gift certificate to Incycle.

 

Thanks bro

Anybody got # 451 now ?

 

Haha I didn't realize you were on STR!!! So as William and I are about mid-way through our second lap, I hear the announcer start rattling off raffle ticket numbers. I WAS SO FREAKIN PISSED!!! William told me he had bought 20 bucks worth of raffle tickets and that got me even more pissed that they had started the raffle. Sure most of the racers had finished long ago but there were STILL beginners on the course!!! PEOPLE WHO PAID 20 BUCKS TO BE IN THAT RAFFLE! (It didn't help that I was hurting and in a poor disposition anyway) so poor William had to listen to me ranting about the raffle as we trudged up the hills the rest of the lap! :lol::lol::lol:

I even made him promise (as a complete stranger at the time) that he go and demand his raffle money or at least some of it! Looking at that pic, he definitely did NOT need to heed my ranting! SO FUNNY! :lol::lol::lol:

Congrats on finishing your first race William, hope you had fun!

 

pick one (click them for the bigger versions)






:beer:

but RacinJason should have many more pictures and probably much better looking ones. Guy had at least 3 camera out there yesterday.

 

I had a great time. I was just scrolling through the pics and I saw your pic and I thought "hey, i remember her from the race. I can't wait to do it again next year! Congrats on finishing the race too!

 

Oh my goodness so many people to thank I don't want to miss anyone! There are 3 special thanks though that I have to write about....

1) Tara...thanks for inspiring me to try this race. You may not know it but your last Race Report made me excited to get out there for me and to have fun. Which I did and being out with you was awesome.
2) Grace....you crack me up. Your phone calls, questions, nerves, etc. And look how well you did. I knew you would kick arse but you are too humble to think it about yourself. I heard you scream at least twice on the course, it was great! I'm sure the guys around me thought I was weird because I started to crack up when I heard you.
3) Neil..my own personal motivator. Thanks for the cheering and encouragement out on the trail. I'm not sure if I would have decided to ride up most of those hills had you not been there to witness it. I'll work on my game face for next time.

And to everyone else thanks for the cheers along the way. It definately was instant energy hearing you all yell as I came by. It was also so cool to see so many of us girls out there. I hope our presence grows and grows out at the races.

Going into the race I wasn't really prepared but for me it was more about experience so that I could see what it was like and find out if this was something I would do again...IT IS! I got 5th in my 34 and under category. I didn't realize I had a medal, I cut out early because my back was stiffening up and my parents wanted to take me out to lunch. Thanks to Grace for dropping it off.

As far as how I felt about my performance I could have done better but I'm not known for taking things easy. The days leading up to the race I was out riding and running and helping someone move so there was no rest for the weary. When I woke up Sunday morning I was not feeling rested but sore and tired. My legs were definately NOT fresh. I popped 4 Motrin but it didn't help. Part of me was hoping for horrendous weather so I'd have an excuse to stay home. Then Grace shows up at my door and I knew I couldn't wuss out. AGAIN...thanks Grace...for showing up.

I had such a great time and can't wait to do it again...once I can walk straigt again. 8-[

 

Its picture time! Nancy

 

More

This may take a while.

 

more

More pictures.