October 10, 2005
2005 CA State Finals/Fall Classic

The Fall Clasic at Snow Summit was the stage for the California State Series finals. This was the final race of the season and where Platinum Performance concluded it's long season of success. The weather was perfect, sunny and 70 degrees. The course is a classic. A nineteen mile loop filled with long steep fire roads and technical descents. The expert and pros added an extra half a lap, making it a painful 28 mile course.

Todd

September 19, 2005
NORBA Nationals Mammoth 2005

Mammoth Mtn hosted the 05' National Champiuonships last weekend. The cross country course was new this year. A six mile loop with 1400 feet of climbing per lap. Top elevation was at 90000 feet. Pro/expert men raced four laps and the sport/beginners raced two laps. The weather was sunny, cool, and windy. The course was very dusty with a tough one mile fire road climb and technical descents. Overall it was a great course that tested everyone's skills.

The superstar award goes out to Andy Osburn (cancer survivor in Dec 05'), who placed 2nd out of fifty sport 40-49 racers. He missed 1st by under 10 seconds!

Sondra Williamson kicked butt in the downhill mountain x race, with a 1st place finish. Another great comeback was from Sam Masson, with a 6th place finish, after coming back from a broken leg earlier this season. Ian Mcfarland, Nick Davis, and Herb Wright had high finishes with respective 3rds. My brother, Ryan Booth rode a tough race to finish 4th in a very competitve sport 30-34 class. I placed 9th in the expert 35-39 class, just 2 seconds off 8th. I was happy with that after seeing the competion. I respect the Altitude! Platinum Performance had a strong showing with seventeen riders taking on the nations best.

Todd

September 1, 2005
NORBA National Mountain Bike Finals / Mt. Snow VT

Twelve hour plane rides are almost never fun. Maybe if the destination is some tropical isle in a secluded corner of the Pacific Ocean, but otherwise, it is just a long time to be traveling.

In all fairness, I can not really complain about the length of the flight since a) I wasn't actually on a plane for 12-hours, and 2) my personal Black Beauty was stowed in a plastic box buried deep in the plane's baggage hold - 21 speeds worth of pure anodized fury, my black Specialized Epic.

I was on an internet-special 3-leg journey to the NORBA National Mountain Bike Finals in Mt. Snow VT, and while it did take more than 12-hours to get from Santa Barbara to Mt. Snow, a fair amount of that time was spent in the Dulles airport carefully examining what people who live on the east coast do while spending 4-hours in an airport.

I was met late Wednesday night at the Albany airport by Jeff Schalk, a fellow semi-pro mountain bike racer, and his flashy white Ford Focus rental car. Jeff and I shared a place at Mt. Snow with a third semi-pro, Robert, who, being 20-years old, made me feel like an old guy every 30-seconds, like clockwork.

I had heard a lot about how difficult the Mt. Snow course was, and while the tales of slick roots, mud, and rocks gave me pause, I hadn't really given the actual race much thought. Mostly because, in general, mountain bike race courses are just never that interesting. I mean sure you can crash, but I can crash just about anywhere. Usually crashing in a mountain bike race is simply caused by trying to go downhill like an elephant on 5 cups of coffee - not because the course is littered with slick wet rocks, roots, and mud.

But after a pre-ride on Thursday morning I had a whole new set of issues to worry about. Not only did I have a hard time keeping up with Jeff, on the pre-ride climbs (which isn't too surprising, since Jeff is now the NORBA National Series Semi Pro Champion, and, while I can't actually prove it, I believe he has installed a hybrid electric engine in his left quad), but I couldn't stay with Jeff on the down hills. In fact, I could barely stay on the course.

One of the nice things about staying with a 20-year old racer, is that as freaked out as I was after my pre-ride, I got to watch Robert and think about how much worse it could be. I'm not sure at exactly how he did it, but amazingly, Robert was essentially able to rebuild his frame with 3 hours to spare before the start of the race, then take a good hour long nap, on the floor of the hotel room. I think it my grips had started to slip the day before the race, I would have had a coronary and keeled over on the spot.

The race on Friday was 4 laps. After my pre-ride took 45 minutes, I knew it would be a long race. My strategy was to get a good start, settle into an easy pace for the first 2 laps, then turn it on for the last 2 laps. Everything went according to plan for the first two laps, I had no trouble with an easy pace for two laps. Problems just seemed to crop up when I "went hard' over the last two laps.

Truth be told, while I was going as hard as I could, by the end of the race, but I was barely racing. More surviving. My back would seize-up on every up-hill, my legs felt like someone had permanently attached red-hot pokers to my quads, and to make matters worse, I was going embarrassingly slow, so the agony was prolonged for what felt like an eternity.

Amazingly, even though that final lap was 1 minute *slower* that my pre-ride time, no one passed me. I think everyone else was suffering too. 2 hours 49 minutes after I started, I finished - 24th out of about 55 starters and 42 finishers. Not the top 20 result I was hoping for, but everyone says you learn more from a hard race than an easy one. Guess I must have learned a lot, since that might have been the hardest race I've ever done.

Jamie

August 14, 2005
State Series 8 at Snow Summit

Snow Summit held California State Series #8 and the Am Cup #2 race sunday. The weather was perfect, sunny in the mid 70s with a few surprising rain sprinkles. The course sent the riders down the Bristlecone road to the Fern Trail. This was a technical singletrack climb up to a steep in sections fireroad. This 3.5 mile climb brought you up to the summit at 8100'. Than a long rocky fireroad with some spotty singletrack. The downhill was long enough to make time on the climbers. I took advantage of the down hill by coming from 4th to 2nd in the final descent in the Expert 35-39 class. Thanks to Bruce Gustafson (Amgen rider) who pulled me up to Mick Taras (Bicycle John's rider) on the last fireroad climb, I was able to make time on the downhill to finish 2nd. That sealed my overall points by 35 over second place rider Rusty Sena (Helen's rider). Glen Stanton won the Expert 35-39 class. He went out fast ! and was never seen. Unlike the benefit the descent gave me, it left many with flat tires. With the many rocks and high speed, tire took a pounding. Steve Silva (Platinum Performance rider) went from 2nd to 5th in the Sport 45-49 class after his flat. Andy Osburn (Platinum Performance rider) also hurt his chances in the overall series win by flatting on the last descent. He was in the lead and dropped to 4th after riding in on his rim. Team Platinum Performance was in the lead of the co-ed team division with 378 points over Team Back Alley prior to this race.

Todd

July10, 2005
Northstar / Lake Tahoe
see MBAction.com

What a drive......8+ hrs later we were in beautiful Lake Tahoe. The course was the same as last year.... technical downhill (for state series races), single track climbs, altitude and very, very dusty.

The start is an uphill fireroad that funnels into a long singletrack climb with many switchbacks. I love that climbing and it really throws the "roadies" off without allowing them to get into a groove or tempo.

I had a very good start. I was in 4th with three riders from the 30-34 class just ahead. The riders were started with expert 30-44 yr old categories group as one. The individual age group results are by 5yr groups, but the new trend is to start everyone together. That makes it tough because you get drawn into going out very hard against riders you don't need to compete with (different age group). The pace, especially in the begining is very fast due to this. I had two riders in my age class 35-39 pass me on the first climb.

I staying within 100 feet of the second place guy, but the first place rider took off. We caught the first place rider on the second lap, and he was spent. The second, now first place rider, was from Nevada and he was very fast on the descents. I got by him on the fireroad climb just before the long downhill single track to the rock garden. I underestimated a rutted turn and crashed hard. I flipped over my bike and twisted my handlebars off to the right. The Nevada rider was on me in seconds, so I didn't have time to fix them. I rode the second lap with my bars aiming to the left. He had a small gap on me by the end of the downhill, but I knew it was an uphill finish and I had been winning the climbing war thoughout the race. I passed him on the singletrack climb and put a 50-100' gap on him just enough for the last little downhill to the finish. Not only did I take a very important win, point and a half race, but my main rival who was in first by 20 points, took a 6th.

I'm now back in first by only 8 points! With only 2 races left and the last one counts for 1.5 points, it is coming down to the wire! Overall, the team did great. With five 1st place finishes, one 2nd, and a 3rd for the top six riders, we should have a bigger gap for the team points race.

Todd

June 23, 2005
Bigfoot 2005

"This course is diabolical," said the Sasquatch Man. He had long scraggily hair and a missing tooth. But his grin was infectious. "Shows you how sick and twisted is Vic," the guy who designed the course.

Rain had fallen for three days straight and the downpoor just kept on comming. I was standing in line to register in the freezing rain. Where the heck was Bob Nisbet? No where to be found. Only one Platinum jersey.

I had worked 12 days straight before the weekend. A change in the schedule had threatened the trip, forcing me to work Friday as well. There was no way to drive to Arcata in time for the race. Then my buddy John Caldwell stepped up and we loaded his plane and flew to Redding. Three hours in a rented truck brought us to Arcata by 11:30 PM.

The Sasquatch Man took us down a wet fire road for the start of the race. His long black coat looked like something out of an old western, except it had a big Fox icon on the back. All of the bikers where attempting to organize into their perspective classes. Suddenly the Sasquatch Man yells, "OK are you ready? Go!" No pomp or circumstance, just a huge mass start. This was like the mountain bike races of old.

Straight up hill in the rain and mud, the road soon turned to unrideable trail covered in "snot" as the locals would describe. Then dodge into the forest for some off camber mud. Splat! I crashed onto my side for the first of about 20 times.

After about only 15 minutes the racers were spread out over the course. For the rest of the storm I would ride with only one or two riders in sight. And I had no idea who was in what class or in what position I was riding. Any significant up hill section had to be walked. Run? Yeah, right. Gooey sticky mud all over and inside your shoes ready to ooze out once you could again step on the padals.

This is real mountain bike racing! The downhill sections were a scream...literally. Like skiing out of control not knowing what drop-off hides around the next corner. The sport riders had to do 21 miles in a lap and half. And of course I had not preridden the course. There were puddles and ponds everwhere. Some you could avoid. But others you had to risk. One sucked me in up to my knees. Eventually there was a flat fireroad section. But it was sandy and wet. I thought I could pick up some speed and use some of my conditioning. But it was just like riding through glue. I kept looking back at my wheel to see if I had a flat. No, just my weak legs.

It wasn't until the last 7 miles that I began to feel like I was in a "zone." Then, I began to real in a few riders. In the last 15 minutes of the race I passed three guys. One I recognized from Big Bear and he had seriously cracked. He ended up second.

John has finished by now. He was the first to hit the line in the beginner class. "Sick Vic" was telling him to take another lap. John said, "But I'm beginner. I only do 14 miles." One of the other officials grabbed the tag on his shoulder and anounced, "He IS beginner!" "F*&^ man!" said the Sasquatch Man, "You won!"

At the end of the race I was covered from head to toes with mud. Four layers of clothing had mud interspersed and there was mud in most of my crevaces. "Sick Vic" told me I had won creating a perfect ending. An hour later we had cleaned up and eaten. Only a few more finishers had emerged from the forest. Vic gave us our plaques shaped like a bigfoot. It didn't look like there would be any podium presentations today.

Vic and the Sasquatch man were going to have to sweep the course on a rescue mission. He said half the racers were still out there...somewhere.

Well, it is bigfoot country!?

Andy Osburn

June 21, 2005
NORBA Deer Valley

What a venue! The base lodge at Deer Valley had quite the rockin’ atmosphere happening with all the factory trucks and tents set up in the “pit” area and all sorts of vendors etc. Definitely the coolest race venue to date. All kinds of pre and post-race support needs were there for any rider to take advantage of. Very nice perk.

My race was Sunday morning, so I flew in Friday afternoon to hook up with some friends and go pre-ride of the course that evening. Very much a ski area race course plus the fact that the Wasatch mountain range had gotten a lot of late snow and rain this spring, so everything was really lush and green. There was a lot of really tight single track through Aspen trees and elbow rubbing, overgrown sage brush with tons of switch backs.

Saturday there was a lot of racing going on with the pros etc., so getting there Friday turned out to be a good plan.

Plus, I got to cheer Amy on as she mixed it up with all the top pros Saturday afternoon. Jamie was all over the place. He seemed to be having some kind of marathon weekend racing anything and everything he could!

So, for being a grand and festive national NORBA event, expecting a big field I was a bit surprised once I got to the staging. Much smaller field than our normal Cal State events. They ran the 30-35 & 35-39 together, which put me in the “2nd”half of the starting group of maybe 25 guys total.

My first thoughts were to get through as many of the 30-35 guys as I could before the getting over the first climb. I knew once we got into the single track it would be a wagon train with limited passing opportunities, which could be really good or really bad, depending how I could have been feeling at that point... Keeping in mind the race was at around 8500’ of altitude.

The start was kind of like Big Bear’s, going up the ski run from the line then a fairly short uphill single track to a long & steep fire road climb. I went pretty hard out of the start, my HR was peaking out and the altitude was putting the hurt on.

I was in the lead group heading up and over the first section of climbs. I recovered a bit and it got much more fun from then on out. Diving straight into the shady single track and crossing over some of the ski runs throughout the almost 9 mile loop. Much of it was pretty high speed roller stuff dodging through the trees with a lot of switchbacks, some were pretty loose. The last mile or so descending back to the start/finish area was similar to our local riding with steep loose rocky stuff.

I managed to have a great first lap, getting out in front about halfway around. Going back through the start/finish into the second and final lap I seemed to have a pretty solid lead on the competition. (did I mention the venue also had a great PA system, as I rode by announcing “The race leader coming through... and it looks like a Platinum rider out of California”- always a good announcement to hear!) . I felt good and kept the pace going, had a good second lap, and brought home the victory for Team Platinum!!!

Aaron

June 12, 2005
SB Bike Festival at Elings Park

On June 11, the Platinum Performance Mountain Bike Team made a strong showing on the new cross country race course at Elings Park in the first annual Santa Barbara Bike Festival. The event featured a bike expo, a downhill event, BMX races as well as the XC race. The course, at almost 5 miles in length, has nearly 1,000 ft. of climbing per lap. With it's combination of road, fire road and single track climbing, coupled with steep bermed descents, the course has all the makings of a perfect mountain bike racing venue. And the long paved climb through the start finsih line gave fans plenty of opportunities to cheer for their favorite racer.

The pro/semi pro and experts had a challenging race which included the likes of Johnny O'Mara, last year's California State pro champion, Cameron Brenneman, and runner up, Charles Jenkins, in the mens field and Marla Streb in the womens. Jamie Goldstein who ended up 5th in pro/semi pro field put it this way.......

"The pro/semi pro field at the Elings Park Bike Festival was stacked. Throw a few dollars on the table, and southern California's fastest pros are sure to show. The field was small, but with 4 pros, a last place finish seemed like certain destiny. Thankfully, at the last minute, another semi pro rolled up to the starting line - he and I could duel it out for the Lanterne Rouge.

I hung with a couple of the pros for most of the first lap, but I can only climb over my head for so long. After that it was a solo ride to the finish, which was broken up by a flat tire on lap 3."

Platinum Performance's top experts in 19-39 were Todd Booth 1st, Roger Moore 3rd and Matt Benko 4th. In over 40, John Martin was 3rd and Bob Nisbet 4th. The womens field was dominated by Marla Streb with Platinum's Amy Bowen in second place.

In the sport class Aaron Transki led the 19-39 age group from the start and stayed away to win with a huge lead. Ryan Booth finished 9th and Herb Wright 13th. In the 40+ race, starting two minutes back, Ron Takeda, Steve Silva and Robert Ramirez worked their way through the earlier field. Ron led from the start to win with the fastest sport time with Steve finishing second and Robert 9th. Luke Werkhoven took 1st in the sport clydesdales. Mike Sinyard owner/founder of Specialized Bicycles was also spotted, making a strong showing in the over 40 sport field.

The beginner under 18 race was won by Harrison Davis with his dad Nick taking first in the over 40 class. Following Nick was Brad Jellison. Sue Fish handily won the womens beginner XC. The beginners raced two laps and the sports raced 3 while experts, pro and semi pro raced 4.

This was a great event and sure to be a success in years to come. A big thanks to our own Dave Phreaner for his efforts in developing the trail network with the Santa Barbara Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers and Elings Park for hosting the event.

John

June 6, 2005
Am Cup #2 at Snow Summit

Yesterday we've passed the halfway point of the Cal State Series. It has been a long season for all the riders. As of the 4th race our team is leading the team points by 85. As of yesterday, I don't expect much change. With such a strong team, when one rider isn't in top form another steps up to to take top positions. That's exactly what happened at Big Bear yesterday. In my race, I felt tired on the hills which was 2/3s the race. Matt B had a good race, but Roger Moore steped it up and placed 3rd. Only seconds out of 2nd place. He was climbing like a "bat out of hell".

Nick also picked up the slack in the beginners class with Robert Ramirez going to the sport class. He placed 1st. Another surprise was John Martin not winning the sport 40-44 class, due to feeling sick. And having Andy Osburn, the cancer surviver, winning a very tough class. Only months after chemo and radiation!!!!! Amy Bowen did a great effort in the pro womens class by placing 3rd. Overall, the team recieved two 1st, a 2nd and threee 3rds for the team points. Just another day at the office. The season is long and at such a competitive level of racing any rider in the top ten ranks can beat anyone at any given day. NO ONE DOMINATES! except for our team as a whole......great job Platinum!

Todd

May 15, 2005
Motivation at Bonelli

Motivation may come from multiple sources even if you are not paying attention. The week before Bonelli I developed a strange neuropathy no one could adequately explain. When I flex my neck forward, I get a shooting sensation of numbness in my low back extending into my butt and legs. It feels like my legs will give out but they don't. Of course I immediately focus on the word, "metastasis." Then during a routine training ride in the pelaton I am dropped hard on the first hill. This never happens. What is going on? Fear begins to creep into my mind.

The race location is relatively close to my hometown Fullerton. Soon there is a crowd of friends and family collecting to cheer my on. What a thrill! Little nieces and nephews holding up signs that say "Go Andy" and "Live Strong." Another old friend shows up with about nine of his family members including his mother-in-law with metastatic breast carcinoma. Even an old friend from high school that I haven't seen in years shows up to watch.

Well, if I have a recurrence now, this race is going to show it. Time to perform like no other.

I started the race easy this time, learning from my mistake at Castaic. I was in about tenth place going up the first hill. The plan was to follow Steve Boelter for a while and then see how I feel, but I didn't see him around. Around the first sharp corner there was a pile up and I was sent sailing into the weeds, collecting only a few scratches. But down the first long fast hill I slammed across a rut and bottomed out the back wheel. I felt the rim kiss rock and waited for the flat, but it never came. Somehow the Stan's tubeless system held on, (thanks Sam), and I lost no tire pressure. I could feel the brake shoes fighting with the rim so I knew I had a nice ding. Well, I just kept pushing on the pedals and the bike kept working.

By the end of the first lap I didn't feel too bad. And surprisingly I had even passed a few Platinum riders. The second time up the long hill of momentum eating rock was painful and I was dying in the heat. I had to get off the bike a few times. How embarrassing! Down the next hill I caught a guy in the class before me and we began to work together. After sharing the work for a while I began to pull away and he yelled, "You are third." So I knew he had bonked and lost his mind. But when I crossed the finish line my family et al were no where to be found. Based on John Martin's finish (congrats) they hadn't expected cancer boy for another twenty minutes. And as it turns out, I WAS actually third. Inconceivable! Maybe the motivation came from the fear of recurrence or the unexpected support of my hometown or both. In any case, I am very thankful for the outcome. Too bad Ron could not be there for the triple.

Andy

April 24, 2005
Firestone

Firestone had some changes this year with the addition of the downhill course to the cross country course. It added 6 miles to the total distance for sports and experts and an additional 1500ft of climbing overall. The initial climb paralelled the "wall" and included a number of switchbacks with one lefthander that required some to get off and run if they couldn't clear it.

The weather this year was cool to warm and sport races ran at mid-morning so not the horrible heat that was last year. The course involved a couple of stream crossings and a short-cut where a lake had formed due to the rain this winter.

The beginner class was won by Robert Ramirez, with Nick and Brad close behind. Herb came in 3rd in his race and the sports saw lot's of excitement with John Martin beating everyone, in his age group and in sports altogether. Ron Takeda won the brave soldier of the day award after attempting a double loop over the jumps on the downhill possibly breaking a rib, remounting and finishing 4th. What a stud! Jim Garwood took second, Sondra 3rd and well .....check the reults page for all the scores.

Experts saw Todd fading unexpectedly and most attributed it to not taking his Platinum. All in all a fun event this year. I'm a bit worn out after 28 miles considering it's my longest race to date and my win last year was 11 miles as a beginner. I'm sure Mike Hecker will make the course more challenging again next year with another climb, a few more miles and a few more obstacles.

On to Bonelli Park

John

More Firestone .....

I was on the starting line with Ron only a few minutes before start. We talked about tactics like drafting to keep conservative for the first half of the race. five minutes into the race, I had all tactics behind me. By the time we started climbing the single track, we caught the first group, there were alot of them strung out along the whole climb. It was like threading the needle, calling out "pass right," "pass left", about every bike length while still managing to keep breathing. After the last hard switch back I called out "pass left," and the dude told me "you can't pass on single track, wait for the DH!" I quickly dismounted and ran around him to avoid any hang ups; Ron followed my lead. When I approached the top, I was feeling pretty good and couldn't wait to throw it in the big ring and pedal my ass off down the hill. However, I only found another cluster of riders from the group in front. They were everywhere! I tried to stay focused as I passed, but I still clipped someone's handle bar mid air off of a jump, and was send off into the weeds. On the fire road climb, I pushed hard, built a huge gap on my group, and spent the rest of the first lap passing people.

By the second lap, I had the whole DH section to myself, and had a blast the rest of the second lap. It was a peaceful ride just passing a couple of people who were probably the leaders in the classes in front of me. When I entered the vinyards and caught the first place sport rider 19-24, I know there must have been at least a 5 minute lead, so I shifted into a nice easy spin and cruised the last few miles with a cold crisp Firestone beer on my mind.

Suddenly from nowhere the second place guy in my class was only 15 or 20 seconds behind me (he must of been hiding in the vineyards after the first lap waiting for me), however, I just dropped a couple of gears and threw down some legs to hold the gap and finish first.

Johnny Martin Sport Class 40-44

April 18, 2005
2005 Sea Otter Classic

Our start was like Hildago. Everyone rushed off for the benefit of the cheering fans, but as soon as we rounded the first corner, the pace slowed to a wobbly climb.

Brad seemed comfortable in the lead and took us through the tires and onto the dirt. In second place was Bob Weir, a good rider from Chicago Park, CA whom I had befriended last year, when I beat him in a sprint finish for 14th place. Rob and I made up third and fourth.

Things started to unravel pretty quickly for me. The mud patch at the very beginning of the dirt section took me by surprise. I had not pre-ridden it, and couldn’t find a good line, squishing and sliding from one side to the other, before finally making it through. By then I had dropped a couple of places.

It seems like it took hardly any time to catch the group in front of us. We had barely started to descend into Couch Canyon and the leaders were already weaving in and out of slow-moving 35-year olds.

I panicked when I saw Brad, Robert and Mr. Weir make some good passes up ahead in front of me, and tried to catch up by taking some risks. Two falls later, and having entertained said group of slow-moving 35-year olds to the point where they were literally giggling at my attempts to pass them, I finally settled down and waited for Hurl Hill. I’d have the last laugh there.

Over Hurl Hill and bombing down the sandy fire road, the field started to spread out a little. I was happy to be ‘off the couch’, and I was running in fourth behind Robert. But Brad and Mr. Weir had slipped out of sight...

The descent down Goat Trail to the pond was a conga line. I’m a slow descender and even I was getting held up. I know the trail quite well, and I tried coaching the riders in front of me, yelling out bends and obstacles as we approached them, like a rally car navigator. This seemed to work pretty well, as the pace picked up quite a bit on the bottom section.

As we came out of Goat Trail and through the feed zone, I realized that Brad had been held up even more than I, as he was only a hundred yards ahead. I caught up with him and Robert on the fire road and we rode together in second, third and fourth place up Boy Scout and over the hike-a-bike.

Mr. Weir was still nowhere to be seen, and I was growing concerned that he was a considerable distance off the front. Brad kept assuring me that he had caught glimpses of him, and that he wasn’t far ahead, which helped settle me somewhat.

The three of us ran into some traffic on the sandy plateau after the hike-a-bike, and I got bumped into a sand pit one time. As I was remounting, Robert tried to pass me and I accidentally (honest!) bumped him into the sand, forcing him to clip out (sorry!). That was the last I saw of Robert.

Brad and I played cat and mouse, down the new paved section, up the fire road, over the Three Bitches and down Ewok Trail, with him gapping me on the descents and me catching up on the climbs.

Coming out of Ewok and starting up the Grind home, Brad was about 100 yards ahead of me, and Mr Weir still wasn’t in sight. I dumped the remaining contents of one of my bottles over my head and went to work.

I picked up Brad after a minute or so, who had been waiting for me, hooked onto a thirty-something year old’s wheel, and I pulled hard, still looking for Mr. Weir. Ah, there he is, moving slower than me about 200 yards up. That was my very first inclination that I might actually have a chance at winning this race.

I crept up on Mr. Weir and sat on his wheel. After about 30 seconds, he must’ve seen or heard me, because he literally jumped, and started thrashing on his pedals and immediately opened up a 20 yard gap. I reeled him back in slowly and pulled alongside.

“How’s it going, Bob”.

“Aw, not too bad, Nick, but I’m not too happy to see you. Do you mind pulling for a while”.

“Well, OK, Bob, but let’s ride side-by-side for a while first”.

We rode side-by-side for a minute or so. He asked me how far back my Platinum teammates were. I told him about 30 seconds, and he seemed to be resolving himself to hanging on for second place.

At that point, we came up on the first of two steep pitches on the Grind. I had thought that I might be in a cat fight with my teammates at this point (we’ve been exchanging podium positions the last few races), and I had decided ahead of time to make a move at this point.

Even though I was in a two horse race, with a guy that I knew I could beat in a sprint finish, I decided to stick with the plan and go, and turned on the jets and never looked back…until the final bend.

Coming around that final bend, looking back and seeing that I was alone, then seeing my family and friends cheering for me, I experienced what I can only describe as pure euphoria. I crossed the line, arms pumping in the air. Matt came running over to me, and I garbled something pathetically soppy to him, like ‘thanks for the burritos’.

What followed next was an emotional roller coaster. When the results were posted, they showed a rider had finished 16 minutes ahead of me. That can’t be! He must have taken a shortcut!!! The entire podium recorded a protest, but the officials couldn’t seem to get it resolved. Finally, after about 2 hours of protesting, we covered the podium in Platinum.

Thanks to all family and friends for a memorable weekend. Go Platinum!!!

Nick

More from Sea Otter and Jamie.....

This is my 4th Sea Otter, or my 3 year anniversery of racing. And the nice thing about this anniversery, is that if I forget, and don't buy flowers, it's still kinda okay. And if not exactly okay at least I don't have to sleep on the couch.

The other way I can tell I've been to 4 Sea Otters is that I've got 4 Clif bar stickers on my car. Not sure how those things get there - they always seem to just show up... And oh yeah, while on the subject, seriously, thanks for the water bottle Kev. And your father in law's hospitality has become part of the Sea Otter tradition. Tell Jaclyn and Loren thanks, they are both awesome.

After 3 years of racing a lot has changed. I've dropped nearly 20 lbs. I eat like some kind of cross between a nerotic ballerina and a vegan health nut. I chat with other guys about what type of lotion is best for razer burn. And I sort of consider my tan lines a badge of honor.

What has happened to me?

The race start was something else. Hundreds of people on either side of the course yelling. I know, we started 3 minutes after the pro men, and 7 minutes before the pro women, so not every single one of those TV cameras lining the start, or the fans where there for me. But hey, it was the closest thing I've ever had to fan support for a bike race.

The start was incredibly brutal. A 0.5 mile uphill to the single track. End up at the back of the pack, and you are chasing for the next 38 miles. I literally gave it everything I had up that first start, and ended up squarely in the middle of the pack. Just about 30 out of 60 starters. And my legs felt like jelly and I couldn't really see out of my right eye. Otherwise, great start.

From there, I just tried to hang on. I didn't want to push too hard on the steep early climbs, knowing I had a long race. But at the same time, the 30 mph winds made riding solo brutal, so I didn't want to get dropped from a fast group. Nevertheless, I got dropped from lot's of fast groups.

But over the course of the first lap I managed to reintegrate with other riders on the downhills. In fact, in the middle of the first lap, I found myself riding with Nigel and about 8 other fast riders. But, as I am not really all that fast uphill, I was quickly dropped off the back of pack as the incline turned steep.

I found myself solo on the long climb out, and solo on the track, until I caught a pro right before the single track started. And since he was practicing his start for next year, and he wanted to hold onto 151st place in the pro field, he sprinted to get in front of me before the downhill, whereupon he jammed on his front brake and began to wobble down the hill. And amazingly, I let the guy do the same thing to me on the next decent to. I'm a slow learner, and that guy... Well, whatever.

At the neutral feed, at the back end of the course, I caught back up to, who else, Nigel. Together with a 2 other riders, the 4 of us formed a fast pack up the long climbs back out. We were catching other semi-pros, some of them strong riders, and dropping them. Toward the top of the final climb our group split in two, Nigel and one other guy in our group pulled about 4 seconds ahead of me and a guy named Wes. I gave it everything I had - even a primal yell at the top. But Nigel didn't wait up. When we got to the track, Wes got out in front to try to catch Nigel, and I held Wes' wheel, until, like an idiot, I tried to pull through. I did get just about even with him, then he looked over at me, and saw some tiny clue (like the glazed eyes, and tounge hanging down to my chin) that I might be on the rivets.

With that Wes gave it the smallest surge, and dropped me. I was left to watch their sprint finish. To Wes' credit, he caught Nigel's wheel in the end, but wasn't able to pass him. Anyway, I was 18th. Next year is the 4th anniversy. Guess that mean's I'm suppose to get books, flowers and fruit for Sea Otter.

Jamie

April 13, 2005
CA State #2 - Castaic Lake

The race had just begun and I was in fifth place feeling great. But once the hills began, one after another of the riders passed me by at an alarming pace. I soon realized that I really had been a cancer patient a couple of months ago. I could still fly down a hill but the uphill sections were murder. At the end of the first lap I strongly considered giving up and quiting the race. I was not in any shape to be out here. What was I thinking? Then I swung around off the hill into the feed station and saw half the team (the other half was on the course racing), all friends screaming and ringing the cow bells for encouragement. I could hardly see through the beads of sweat (or maybe they were tears). So I summoned a smile and kept pedaling one stroke at a time, though the feed zone, and on to the next lap. Even though I had to use "granny gear" occasionally an! d even walk some of the course, I eventually crossed the finish line.

This may be a boring mundane story for some, but not for me. I could not have been happier at that moment. Chocolate Gu all over my mouth, dehydrated and staggering, I was alive and living well. 18th out of 23 finishers, I was not even in last place. This racing stuff is fantastic!

Andy

April 5, 2005
CA State #1 - Sagebrush Safari

The California State series opened on April 3rd with the 17th annual Sagebrush Safari. Sagebrush is considered one of the best mountain bike race courses in southern California, and this year was certainly no exception. Heavy winter rains introduced new technical elements to this years course including deep water-carved ruts, mud bogs, and more exposed rock. Overall, the course was a real mountain bike race course that would reward a strong bike handler, and expose any weakness earlier than one of Todd's famous 5 AM rides...

Amy and I met up with a cadre of Platinum Team members to camp on Saturday night, including Brad and his 90' long motor home. Saturday night, with its tri-tip, pasta feed, and DVDs in the motor home was roughing it in style.

In my semi-pro field, I was once again shocked at how fast the field is. Starting with the pros means that the first 30 minutes of racing is brutally fast. Again my top end speed just isn't there, and I was quickly dropped from the lead semi-pro group on the first climb. At the top of the climb, I was probably sitting around 12th overall in the semi-pro field.

Through the rolling single track, and the following downhill, I passed two other riders from my field who were stopped with mechanicals (including Nigel), and caught up with several riders who had dropped me. I was able to pass on one of the slick rock sections, and then caught a couple more riders (one pro, one semipro) as we began the hike-a-bike. With my HR pegged, I had to watch these two other riders I'd caught actually *pedal* up most of the hike-a-bike. I guess being all of 120 lbs, and be able to pedal perfect circles at 120 rpm has its advantages. Needless to say, I walked.

I rode with those two other riders until around we began the climb back up to 4-corners. At that point, Nigel caught me. I pushed hard to stay with him, and dropped the 120 lbs racers I'd been with since the hike-a-bike. But I couldn't hold Nigels' pace, and lost him on the long climb up to the peak, but in the process passed a one more semi pro racer. It looked like Nigel was about 60-90 seconds up on me at the top of the climb, so I thought I might be able to catch him with a fast decent. But when we got to a short climb, after the decent from the peak, where the trail looped back on itself, I could see Nigel was still at least 90 seconds up.

From there I got a first row seat in the unfolding all-Platinum battle in the 40-44 year old beginner field when I got to ride with Robert, Nick and Brad on the final downhill. In addition, I got a great look at John Steinberger's lycra clad heinie as he was doubled up with cramps about 300 meters from the finish. I had not idea it was John at the time, so I did the the proper thing and kicked as much dust as I could in his face. Next time I'll look out for that jersey, and I can toss some pickle juice instead! ; )

I ended up in 6th, one spot off the podium. But Nigel beat me by 2 minutes (actually 2 minutes + time he spent fixing his mechanical). I need to get faster off the start.

See you all next weekend.

Jamie

More Sagebrush....

Well Sunday was the beginning my first full mountain bike racing season and it proved not to be disappointing. After an adventurous morning fight with my stationary trainer in the parking lot of the hotel were Todd B., Ron T., and Steve Silva and myself were staying we finally made our way to the venue. Upon arrival I spent a good 15 min having to explain the cuts and bandages on my face that were given to me by my trainer. Having survived that, I knew the day could only get better.

The start of the race went well for me and I was leading my group after passing through the last water crossing. I pulled the group along for a while but started to tire as I pulled off Aaron T. passed me and helped to get out of the wind. I tried to stay on his wheel but at that point my heart rate was increasing and I wanted to not blow up. After passing some riders from the earlier class John martin ripped by me as well as Ron T. That first big climb was painful!!. I couldn't wait to hit the dirt section.

It was there were I started to pass some people and make up some ground from my falling back on the hill. Unfortunately I got taken out by a guy in front of me and went down pretty hard. I got back up quickly and started once again to try and make up some ground. This part of the course I felt was really the most fun.

For the most of the race I managed to keep a couple of guys from my group in site but just didn't have the gas to catch them. I started to fatigue within the last few miles and chose the wrong line on a short downhill section and went down again. This cost me as I was passed buy a guy in my class. I did manage to catch him though on the pavement back.

I must say I battled to the end, cut face and bruised ego intact . I'm pleased to say it was my first top ten finish. My personal best. I'm also very happy with how we did as a team...we kicked but! Congrats to all!

It certainly was a fun race and I had a great time with all from the team. Bring on Castaic.

John S.

March 22, 2005
NORBA #2 - NOVA Desert Classic

NOVA was, shall we say, a learning experience...

Since we didn't know my TT start time (they never posted semi pro start times online), Amy and I got about 4 hours sleep on Thursday night, only to get to the venue 6 hours early. I rode the TT in only 30 seconds faster than last year, even though this year I thought I'd drop more time with the new bike, riding the TT without mistakes (didn't have to hop off the bike this year), better fitness, etc...

Then as soon as I got off my bike from the TT, my throat started to hurt, guess that explains why I didn't go faster. By Saturday morning I had a full blown cold. I didn't get pulled from the short track, but it was close. I lined up for the short track at the back of the pack, then at the starting gun, the dude in front of me lost his pedal trying to clip in. As a result, I was literally about 50th out of 55 racers at the start. I passed 20 guys during the race, and finished 30th. Way too much work to finish that low down.

Sunday was even worse. I tried to do the XC race. Again, I was toward the back off the start, but probably closer to 30-35th. On the first downhill (only about 100' long), some dude in a Moots jersey tried to pass me and Matt Freeman. We were all still tire to tire, so I have no idea what he was thinking. So Moots dude gets by me, but runs into Freeman. The two of them lock bars, go left, go right, go left.... This goes on for about 5 seconds. Would they crash? Would they pull out of it? It was really high drama. Then finally, they decide to just go down instead of carrying on with their silly dance. I bunny hopped over Matt's arm as he lay sprawled on the course, and kept going.

I pass a couple more guys on that first lap and probaby was riding around 20 - 25th or so. As I finished up the first lap, I was thinking I could do the entire race. Then, Matt, Moots, David Yakitas, and two other dudes all passed me going through the start/finish. I tried to hold their wheels, but couldn't. I didn't have anything left.

At that point, I figured I was done, I was sick and I was going slow. So I rode a second easy lap, and called it a day. Bummer.

See you all at Sagebrush.

Report by Jamie

March 13, 2005
Keyesville Classic

The Platinum Team ruled this weekend at the Keyesville Classic MTB race. Most of the team were present and most classes from beginner to expert saw Platinum riders atop the podium. Great to see a number of new riders finshing strongly at this season opener.

I raced my first sport class event and while not being in the best form as of yet had expected to train through this race and finished 12th......Up front though, John Martin smoked the course and came in first with Ron in second, Steve Silva in third and Steve Boelter in seventh.

The beginner races were exciting as well with Herb and Brad J. both taking first place. In the expert class Dave Phreaner won with Matt Benko finishing second and Bob Nisbet in fourth. Amy, raced strong in her first pro event, taking third and Sondra Williamson as usual did well in downhill with a second place.

I know you're all wondering "what about Jamie?". From what I've heard... Jamie was tearing it up in semi-pro until..... he flatted, and without a tube, walked a good hour and a half, only to be picked up in a car for a ride to the pits. Stans is good stuff but not that good! Sam was the talk of the pits as just into his race his chain broke. Tough luck for the ace bike mechanic. Not to worry...a fresh link and Sam was off again and in the hunt.

The course was a rolling 8 miles of fun singletrack and fire roads with a number of short climbs. The afternoon brought some strong winds but they helped push the speeds on the return leg. I blasted back to SB before Amy, Bob, Matt, Dave and Jamie finshed as hunger and fatigue was setting in. With a steady drizzle on the drive home it was great to have sunny clear skies at Lake Isabella.

Photos

Report by JRG

January 29, 2005
The 05' Season Has Begun....

To sharpen my skills I dabble in a few road races. Usually the out come is always the same. I end up chasing to much or getting in a breakaway that lead me to redline way to early and having the group blow right by me before the finish. I like testing myself in the early season Los Olivos Road Race. This year the UCSB cycling team held the race on January 29th.

The sun was out, but the winds were bone chilling. The course was 17 miles out and 17 miles back. On the way out the headwinds were brutal. The group of about forty plus allowed the Amgen boys to control the pace. My biggest fear in road racing is having the rider in front of me go down. So, I tried to stay at least five riders back from the front at all times. This course had a lung burning hill climb towards the end and I knew if I wanting to do well I needed to stay fresh until than. In our group I had three other Platinum riders John Martin, Steve Silva and Sam Masson. Steve took a good pull just before the hill, which probably did him in. We had no team tactics going into this, since none of us had very much experience road racing. With Steve's strong pull, which kept the group strung out, and me out of the wind. I had the opportunity to save myself for the climb! . Myself and two other riders, one from amgen and the other in a plain blue jersey got to the top first. The rider in the plain jersey shouted "lets go". That was a risky plan at the time, but that's road racing, all strategy... With the help of the tail winds we averaged over thirty miles an hour for the last six miles. We had a sprint finish and I placed 2nd, just a half a bike length from first. I was pleased with the result, but more without getting taking out.

Report by Todd