Platinum Performance Cycling Team

The Santa Cross course at Pierce College in Woodland Hills had to be one of the best of the year, it included more climbing than other courses this year and had plenty of technical sections to challenge even the most proficient of the riders. Platinum Performance was represented well at the event; starting with Steve Weixel who would be entering his first ever ‘cross event in the Cat 4 class.

Steve’s group got the whistle just after 10:15 and the massive class took off like rabbits down the front straight. Steve started the event near the back of the field and showed incredible patience getting through the first lap of mayhem. Each lap Weixel worked his way by riders demonstrating excellent handling skills along with a good helping of fitness. By races end, Steve found himself well up in the field finishing 17th in a huge field and in his first cyclocross event. Great job Steve!

Next on the agenda was the 45+ Masters where Platinum fielded two riders. Bud Donatoni and Bobby Langin Sr were ready to throw down for Platinum Performance not to mention having their own individual goals for the event. Prior to the race they had agreed to keep things civil for the first couple of laps and then it was “each man for himself”; this race would get interesting.

At the start Langin (who snuck his way into the front row) forgot to shift his machine into a good starting gear but rather left if in the highest gear possible causing a complete mess as the riders who had lined up behind him bottled up in a mass of humanity…whoops. After finally getting going, Sr (who has been rumored to support the IRA) went into turn one like a madman screaming something about the great potato famine. In spite of his antics, he was somehow able to get through the corner without taking other riders out and with the lead to boot (there may have been a couple of English folks who were stunned by the potato famine remarks). Donatoni (not English) also faired well in turn one showing his excellent mountain biking skills moving his way into third place behind Charley Morris who had already secured the series championship. Confused about Langin’s first turn outburst, Donatoni later asked if they used potatoes to make pasta.

After nearly two laps of the lactate threshold bonanza, Bud got around Charlie who soon cracked and then he disbursed with the ever likeable Johnny Dalton. Donatoni kept a horrendous pace throughout the event hoping to catch Langin who was able to get away from the madness early in the event. Langin seemed to have things well in control as he entered the bell lap even taking time to watch the flower child from Woodstock (the original) getting her swerve on to the music of Snotty Scotty and the Hankies (that’s a whole other story). However it was not to be. As Sr entered the last corner before the start finish straight, he bonked hard and had trouble pushing himself towards the close, yet so far away, finish line. Bud knew, if he could keep the revs up, the race would be his. The two sprinted hard for the line; snarling at one another, talking about each others mothers, (it was really out of line for the family atmosphere) but Donatoni came out on top looking back and giving Langin the “what’s up.” He was so “hood”. Langin claimed to have something in his eye but everyone knew he was merely crying over the loss. He then went to Linda for comfort but she called him a sissy and told him he should ride home because he’s obviously not in shape. Langin drank beer instead.

While Sr was drowning in his sorrows, the younger Langin took to the line to race with the elite men. Bobby Jr had a decent start and as the group entered the first climb of lap one he seemed to look fresh ready to do battle. As the race progressed many spectators started collecting at the run/ride up section leaving dollars in the tops of beer bottles and cans for those willing to give up a little time by reaching down to pocket the funds. Bobby Jr, who is not one to pass on an easy buck, took every opportunity to line his skin-suit with the precious cash. A couple laps in, he found that his need for green would get the better of him and (quite unfortunately) the guy who has been loaning him bikes this year, John Bailey of Bailey Bikes, as he fell over while reaching for the coveted greenbacks and took out John Bailey with him. Oh the shame... Bailey wisely got away from Junior and left the youngster to fend for himself. Langin continued to pick up cash and still had enough to finish a strong 7th place winning some of the prize money for the event along with the $19 he picked up on the hill. A good day for Junior indeed.

The cross bikes will be put away for a year but the Platinum Performance crossers will look forward to the next year and (hopefully) more of their teammates joining in the fun in 2009.

Bobby Langin Sr. finished 5th among the 84 entries at the Cyclcross National Championships in Kansas City, Mo. The 45-minute slugfest included last year’s champion Ned Overend (AKA “The Lung”) who is also a multi-time world mountain bike champion. Sr. started the race in the 6th row and needed to figure out how to get up with the front runners during the critical first lap if there were any hopes of a podium finish; the unfortunate part was the other 83 riders had similar visions.

When the whistle blew everyone was jockeying for position, elbows thrown, expletives vocalized but Langin found a nice line in the first turn that helped get him into the top twenty. After a couple more turns and short climbs, he moved up to 10th . As the race completed longest climb of the first lap, he found himself in 5th place. At this point, he also found that he may have used a bit more energy than he should have; uh-oh. His only saving grace was that after the long climb came a tacky, fun and fast downhill section where he could use the moto-skills to hang on to his position.

Lap two of the anaerobic pain-fest caused Sr. to loose a few positions doing his best to recover from that first lap and settle into a pace battling with Robert Downs (Planet Bike) and Randall Root (Evolution Cycling) each rider attacking the others—a few times each circuit (those “so and sos”). Downs and Langin eventually cracked Root with two laps to go and started reeling in Randy Shields (Carolina Masters) who was in fifth place at the time. On the last lap Downs lost a few seconds to Langin who at the top of the climb, caught Shields and the two entered into a battle of their own for the next few minutes.

Across the top of the hill, in a tricky run-up stair—back down and up again section, Langin elected to not remount after the stairs and instead portaged his bike down and back up which netted him a handful of seconds keeping Shields from using the draft across the remainder of the top, heading into the downhill. Once again the moto-skills came to play giving Langin enough room to avoid a sprint finish and collecting the final podium-spot a mere two minutes behind “The Lung.” Although he was completely spent, Langin had enough energy to ask Ned for his autograph and a picture (Sr’s kind of a “cycling groupie” all the sudden).

Bobby Jr. was the last of the Platinum Performance riders to enjoy the nice weather in Kansas. He had a poor starting position even though he finished in the top eight last year because of something about the UCI and single speed bikes. How unfortunate… Not one to get too upset about things, Junior instead looked forward to using his motocrossing skills and a whole lot of calories moving through the speedy pack. He did so and by the top of the climb, found himself in 2nd place; a really impressive piece of work! At this point the crowd noticed some sort of mushroom cloud above Bobby Jr. as he totally grenaded. His next couple of laps the spectators could tell the younger Langin was hurting as he dropped back into about 10th place. Rounding lap 3, Junior made an unusual mistake falling down and slamming his knee into a post (only “uncommon” because he wasn’t attempting to bunny hop the extremely high barriers). This slowed him further and by the end of lap 4 (of 6) he was relegated to 22nd place—or thereabouts. With two laps to go, Junior was able to recover and put on a show by slamming the pedals and working his way back up into the top 20 passing competitors up through the last lap showing the “never give up” attitude and finishing 16th. Although this wasn’t his best race, he didn’t throw up and showed a really good effort on the last two, painful laps. Not long after the completion of his race the temperature dropped nearly 25 degrees in less than five minutes! The Southern California contingent was reeling from the blistery temps but we then broke out “The Secret Weapon”, Gary Douville.

Gary, having grown up on the east coast, was not affected by the cold winds like his teammates and was all smiles before the premiere race of the weekend. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I get nervous before a race; Gary, on the other hand, seems to enjoy the pre-race activities and merely seemed focused. I need to see how he does that… Okay, back to the story.

The crowds were enormous and the vibe was absolutely compelling. People were running about looking for the best spot to spectate and cheer from. Michelle Langin was buying up every cowbell that could be had at the venue to cheer on her favorite rider (I think she said his name was Nancy-boy). As the starter sent the elite group off, Gary was well back in the massive field doing his best to matriculate smoothly around the course and have enough power to get through a whole hour of a course that included a lot of climbing (not all that common among cyclocross courses). By the end of the first lap things were settling out and Douville was well up in the field. The crowd seemed to get louder and crazier as the race progressed through the halfway point. Gary used excellent descending skills (note: Gary used to race motocross too) meandering through the crowd-lined, downhill sections back to the start/finish area looking like he had something to prove. He had fans from both the east and west coasts cheering him on as he worked his way all the way up to finish a strong 47th against nothing but hammer heads. Well done Mr. Douville.

Team Platinum Performance was well represented with two teams at the California Bike Festival’s Cyclocross Four Man Relay Race on Saturday December 6th in Ventura. The course was a flat fast loop with four sets of barriers, one mud hole, and a run through transition area. The “young kids” team consisted of Bobby Langin Jr., Chase Schoen, Bud Donatoni, and Colby Weber. The “old guys” toeing the line were Bobby Langin Sr., Mark Luke, Steve Silva, and Steve Bertrand.

This was a classic race where the “young guys” were able to take an early lead and never look back. The “old guys” resorted to racing smart, which in cross means hiding the opposing team’s beer and heckling in the transition area. Congrats to both teams for finishing 1- 2.

Bobby Langin Jr. was the first to show at the Irvine, Oak Park venue from the Platinum Performance Cycling Team supporting his good buddy Kolbe Weber in the Cat 4, complete nut-job class (I added the “nut job” part). There wasn’t a contestant among the group who did not intend to be in first place coming out of turn one. Note: Kolbe’s father, Mike, raced wearing our colors (a kind of honorary member) at the last Elings Mtb race winning the 50-54 Sport class-hence the relevance in said write up. While encouraging the younger Weber, Junior thought it a good idea to pack some carbos via partaking in some free beer (this is very "crossy" behavior and is accepted practice amongst most participants). Note: I’ve taught Junior how to manage his funds well. Kolbe, even though he had trouble keeping away from the trees on the side of the course, had a great time finishing well up in the packed field at around 13th saying later “this was the most fun I’ve had all year.” This group cut the groves for the next set of classes; 45-49, 50-54, and 55-60 Masters’ Division in a massive, mass start (that sounds redundant).

In the multiple class start, somehow Bobby Sr. got a call up after missing most of the season while milking that virus thing for all it’s worth (what a wuss). Being at the front at the start would be critical as the course headed across a gravel section, into a grass corner that turned into sand and then traversed into a gravel run-up a short distance later.

Senior went into turn one in second place with Bertrand hot on his heels but, unfortunately for Bertrand, he got hung up in some first turn, sand madness (someone said it was Langin's fault...). First into the first turn was the ever likeable Charlie Morris from the Bike Religion team. Charlie hit the corner a little hot, however, carrying him wide into the soft stuff on the outside allowing Langin an opportunity to slip by like a mayonnaise sandwich (and who was I to argue--I like mayonnaise). Charlie is no dummy and allowed Langin to do the work for the first half of a lap sticking to his wheel like a duck on a junebug. The course had many corners that reminded some of the ex motocrossers of the early days at the Shadow Glen course at Indian Dunes Raceway. Langin used this to his advantage and gained enough space between Charlie and he by the end of the first lap keeping Charlie from using his wheel for yet another lap. Senior turned himself inside out to stay in front of the aggressive Morris finishing in front with Morris a short distance back and Larry Longo in third (yea, Larry Longo at a cross race; who’d a thought…) and Platinum’s Steve Bertrand smiling while coming across the line in 11th in a massive field of entrants, a respectable finish for sure. He’s damn cute to boot!

Gary, G-Dizzle, Douville got a call up to the front row while Bobby, “is that free beer” Langin Jr. lined up in row two of the elite class hoping for strong starts and a good finishes for the Platinum Elites. Gary’s freakish strength and junior’s carbo-loading techniques would be imperative to a successful outing. Gary looked good to us race fans but later told us he wasn’t having a good day; it was, by far, a worse day for Junior. Junior raced well on Saturday leading the elite class for a couple of laps and finished in the top ten but a couple laps into Sunday’s event, decided he had packed too many carbos and needed to let a few go. In this vein he chucked (blew chunks, puked, Ralphed, sold Buicks from the porcelain lectern, did the Technicolor yawn, okay, that’s enough…) but still continued to pursue the field up until he encountered round two of the chuck-fest; he then wisely pulled off, chucked some more and leaving Gary to fend off the likes of Ned Overend (yea, Gary and Junior got to race with Ned!). Tough man G-Dizzle Douville fought hard and finished well in a star-studded field.

So, I've been trying to come up with a way to make up a few races this season and this idea came up....

While many of you were up at Big Bear defending our State Title this weekend, (Congratulations to all BTW), I was off riding around a course just south of Moab, for 24 hours!

I entered the race on a 4 man team as the "Platinum" team with some old riding buddies from Park City. (I finally put those extra kits to use by nominating the other 3 guys as Platinum team members for the weekend!) Which paid off as some of the event production folks recognized us (probably from all Todd's modeling photos in MBA and on the worldwide Specialized website) and gave us a shout out over the intercom. Plus one staffer was a UCSB grad and gave Bike Bob's a shout out!

So, back to the report... As we rolled into the oasis of a venue in our borrowed "Urban Assault Vehicle",(thanks again John & Amy) there was a mega desert campground with tents, trucks, people, merchandise venue, lot's of dust, smoke, and dogs running all over the place. I've never been to Burning Man, but this must be the mountain biker equivalent!

We got settled into our base camp, next to a team representing some micro-brewery from Gunnison, and began our race prep. The first 12 or so hours there was a consistent 30mph wind.(bummer for the folks in tents) Temps were in the mid 50's during the day, mid 30's at night, burrr. Fortunately, there was no precipitation that they were calling for. Those night laps were about as cold as I would have managed with the clothing I had.

The course was a stunningly beautiful 15 mile loop complete with the southern Utah slick rock and red arches. There were the typical fire road sections and loose single track (like many of our courses) plus really sandy sections, like riding across the beach, along with some crazy, toss me a rope, rocky, land of the lost, hike a bike sections. Line selection was crucial, I misjudged a few on the first lap and ended up hiking through deep sand and scaling up 4’ rock ledges! By the final lap I had the sand dialed in, big ring, full speed ahead was the key!

There were some of the usual marathon endurance Pro's in attendance. I was actually trying to keep pace with Tinker on one of my laps, loosing sight of him on one of the long climbs. He's still fast!

My S-Works Stump jumper was the bike of choice for the race and it was perfect! No mechanical issues at all. A little chain lube after each lap was it!

So, After 24 hours, 14 laps, 208 miles, and 19,000 ft. of climbing, we came away with 4th place in the Men's Vet class.

Here are some shots.

Platinum Performance was going into the 08' season with three consecutive State Team Titles. This season shaped up to be Platinum toughest challenge. Team Sho Air took over the Velo Sport club for 08' incorporating over 200 riders, putting a challenge out to all teams in both the Men's and Co-ed divisions. Team Platinum was up for the fight to defend their Co-ed title. What a battle for points.

After six months of racing, 3200 plus points earned by each team and going into the last race with only 27 points separating the two teams, this gave both teams mutual respect for each other. After the dust had settled, Team Platinum walked away with their 4th Cal State Co-ed Team Title! Team Sho Air won the men's division.

The day of the event, Big Bear was beautiful with sunny clear sky's. But don't let the views from the warm car fool you....the temperature was bone chilling, in the low 40's. Riders were scrambling for more clothing. Team Big Bear started the racers off on the 2 mile fire-road climb. Eventually, descending onto the Pine Knot single track, up Plantation and eventually down Pirates and Fall line. The single track was very loose, but the riders were treated to areas of snow, dusting the sides of the single track. Winter is coming..sooner than many want! The course covered 20 miles of the beautiful mountainside with 3000' of climbing which topped out at about 7700'.

Due to sickness, end of the season burnout and other ailments, Team Platinum showed up with only 21 riders willing to put the final nail in the coffin. Even under pressure the riders pulled through with (5) wins, (3) 2nds and (3) 3rds! Every rider on Team Platinum contributed to this win! With such a long season, riders fill in when needed. The women stepped up this race and pulled out three wins. Amanda Schaper, Stephanie Rivera and Melanie Davis walked away victorious. Terry Dahl finished his perfect season with a win in the expert 65+ class. Luke Werkhoven rounded out the winners by pulling away from the sport clyds class. Todd Booth pulled off a 2nd place finish in the expert 35-39 class.

Kuddos to Tim Sparks (Sho Air) winner and Chris Marsiguerra (Joselyn's) 3rd place finisher for putting the hammer down, making it a tough last race. Adam Poytress placed 2nd in his last sport 25-29 class before moving into the expert ranks. Harrison Davis rounded out the 2nd place finishers in the beg 18 under class. Ron Takeda (expert 45-49) pulled off a tough 3rd place finish. Steve Silva raced to a 3rd place finish in the expert 50-54 class. Byron Beck earned himself a 3rd place finish, moving him up in the ranks. Bob Nisbet (expert 40-44) and John Biron (expert 45-49) both took respectable 4th place finishes. Andy Osburn (expert 45-49) and Chase Schoen (expert 30-34) rounded out the top five.

The 08' season ended with Team Platinum representing eight Cal State Series Champions!!! Gary Douville (expert 30-34), Terry Dahl (expert 65+), Adam Poytress (sport 25-29), Chase Schoen (sport 30-34), Luke Werkhoven (sport clyds), Amanda Schaper (beg wm 19-29), Reny Takeda (beg 10 under), and Melanie Davis (beg wm 18 under) are all State Series Champions! Todd Booth (expert 35-39), Bob Nisbet (expert 40-44), Stephanie Rivera (beg wm 45-49) and Byron Beck (sport 50-54) were state Series runner ups! Ron Takeda (expert 45-49) rounded the top three in the series!

Race Theme - Shock to the system.

Ouch!! As I predicted my first 'cross race of the season was a complete suffer fest. There were about 30 P/1/2's out there and I started towards the front and was able to stay with the lead group of 7 for the first two laps. Besides teammate B.Lang.Jr I was the only guy hopping the barrier before the "run up" and even lead up that climb for the first 2 laps. The surging and accelerations out of the corners throughout the course quickly took its toll.

I haven't started my short 'cross training intervals yet (excuse numero uno) and hit a really bad place about 15mins into the 1hr race. I fell back to about 10th place then my rear derailleur got stuck in the 14 tooth cog (cable issue - excuse numero dos) and I was riding a single speed for the rest of the race! It was a tough day, but I have learned some good lessons and am motivated for next time. I know exactly what I need to do.

I think I finished around 12th which may be my worst Socal result to date. It is all good!

'Cross rocks...win or lose. Period.

Elings Park in Santa Barbara hosted the 7th race of the eight race State Series. This race was held here back in June. Since than the course has changed favoring the more technically skilled riders. Without rain and the abuse of riders all summer long, the single track has suffered. Braking ruts, loose dirt, and large cracks, gave riders a challenge. This course is also known for it's short and numerous back breaking climbs. In the end many of the riders finished with a few pounds of dirt on their jerseys.

The battle between team Sho-Air and Platinum Performance for the Co-ed title is coming to a head. Platinum came into this race with a 15 point lead. The top eight riders results are used. Platinum walked away with an impressive list of results, with 6 wins and two 2nds to round out the top eight.

I hit the road at 5AM this morning to meet up with Todd Booth for the 3 hour commute up to Big Bear with teammates Chester and S.Bertrand. I would have rather slept in a bit and arrived with less than 2 hours to spare before the race, but the opportunity to travel in Todd's environmentally friendly automobile was too hard to pass up.

With so much extra time it became my mission to find a Starbucks as soon as possible. We did. Todd passed on the pink smoothie this time probably as a result of bad memories of the motorcycle guy winking at him last time he sported the pinkie.

We arrived and did our thing and slacked off for an hour before suiting up and heading out for our warmups. The race started at 11AM and the course was the same one from earlier in the season with a long 2-3 mile double track climb followed by sections of sandy descents, rollers, sandy singletrack, hard singletrack climbing, and some good technical stuff.

The promoters elected to group Experts together so the fast groups ended up together (30-34, 35-39, 40-44, and 45-49) and we were off. The high altitude air was warm and dry and we started at ~6500 ft or so and climbed to a maximum of ~8000 ft. I started on the front row and two guys shot off the front. My plan was to ride steady at a comfortably painfully excruciating pace so I let the guys ride away, but kept them within site. The group behind me shattered, but Sho Air's hired gun from NorCal (C. Ross; 35-39 class) was sitting on my wheel for the 20 minute climb. He then took over on the descent and the subsequent flat and rolling section. He was hammering and I found myself in difficulty a few times, but mostly felt pretty comfortable. We caught one of the two guys up the road and asked what the situation was up in front. He told us that there was one guy left and that he was in my 30-34 class. I took that as my cue to do some work and took a hard turn up front as the 3 of us rode together for some time. Ross jumped ahead into the next sandy singletrack section and the other guy fought for his wheel so I gave it to him. Big mistake. Ross descends like a man possessed and he rode away from us. We excited the singletrack and I told him that he let the gap form and should work to close the gap. He wasn't going hard enough and so I surged off and bridged to Ross. Homeboy wasn't seen again. Ross and I continued to take turns and I lead through the most technical section of the course as well as up the hard and long singletrack section and ended up dropping him. I saw the lone last Expert up ahead amongst some Semi-pros and bridged up the group of 4. I passed them and surged when we exited the singletrack. I looked back momentary as my gap increased and didn't see Ross. I rode tempo up the last long climb and looked forward to the remaining doubletrack descent and the last reasonably knarly singletrack descent.

I was confident that I wouldn't again see Ross or the other Expert from my class and decided to descend conservatively and avoid flatting or an unneccesary crash. Yet Ross came flying by me on the doubletrack descent like a bat out of hell and I quickly picked up the pace and followed him to the finish as we hammered the singletrack moto style. I finished right on his wheel and subsequently spent 10 minutes trying to clear my lungs.

The sole representative from Platinum Performance Mountain Bike team was ready to go in the 45-49 Expert division; unfortunately for Bobby Langin so was Sho-Air’s Todd Stephenson. As the group left the neutral zone in the Brian Head Ski Resort parking lot and traversed onto the highway, everyone seemed content to stay on Bobby’s wheel allowing him to lead up the 2-mile plus road climb (into a headwind). As mentioned, the elder Langin was ready to go so in his infinite wisdom, he decided to hit it and gap the group early and make them work for themselves (hey, it seemed like a good idea).

However, at about 10 minutes into the climb that idea didn’t seem to pan out as the group caught Bobby and then spit him out the back like a used shop rag. By the time the group reached the dirt, Bobby was nearly a minute back and struggling to recover but was able to do just that and began reeling the group back in. However, Todd and his teammate from the 40 to 44 expert class, Tim Zandbergen, were gone. Things stayed status quo until entering the Dark Hallow downhill section (that makes the “Fall Line” at Big Bear look like a road course) where Langin fell and broke the perch for his front brake.

Bobby shoved the dangling brake lever under his number plate, remounted and was doing his best to avoid loosing more time and positions. Chris Grove, out of Flagstaff AZ was quick to pass the disabled Langin on a fast downhill section but then succumbed to Langin on the next climb. “Toughest race of the year” exclaimed Langin to his supportive wife as he yearned for his hotel room and a 12-hour nap.

For his efforts, Langin finished 3rd with Todd Stephenson winning and Steve Meyer (CO) finishing second. However, the good news is he won the TBB National Mountain Bike Series.

Pictured are Steve “Cosmic” Miller (good friend and champ of the NMBS Super D class) and Bobby.

Chester and Seth drove up to the big city of San Ardo for the race on Saturday. The event saw 60 riders take on 3 laps of the 23 mile course. Both riders were told that over the past ten years the 3s race has come down to a field sprint and that a break had little chance for success.

Lap one was rather mellow with several riders launching unsuccessful attacks. Two thirds of the way into lap two five riders got about a quarter mile up the road. After analyzing the situation Seth jumped out of the field and started the bridge. He looked back after 10 seconds and saw Chester had also made the move. The two of them laid down a huge effort working together to catch the breakaway. They immediately started working through the rotation, and in the process dropped two of the riders in the break.

Several additional riders bridged to the breakaway through the section of rollers on lap three. The breakaway was slowed upon passing a masters field, but reformed and started working together once they reached the flats. The break was holding the field off by roughly 45 seconds by rotating smoothly on their way back into San Ardo. Chester began to sit out pulls in order to be well rested for the sprint. With about 3 miles to go Seth looked back, and Chester was gone. He fell victim to the road conditions with a flat front tire and as a result DNFed.

Seth continued to pull through the rotation up until about three quarters of a mile to go. He then waited for the inevitable attacks, matched the accelerations, and found himself 5th wheel of 10 going into the last corner. Coming out of the corner everyone seemed to sit up so Seth jumped and held onto the lead until about 10 meters to go. Seth was passed by one racer, but held on for second.

Sundays race saw Chester, Seth, and Steve Smith toe the line with 72 others to climb up a 400ft hill 15 times at University Road Race. The race was truly one of attrition that saw the field shrink in size every lap. Several attacks were made, but nothing was able to stick due to the length of the decent.

The climb was short enough that racers could fully recover on the decent, which permitted a multitude of surges on the climb every lap. These surges served as a lot of work for the field to match, and eventually took their toll on the Professor (Steve) who lost contact with 3 laps to go. With one lap to go the field was forced to move to the left side of the road in order to let a masters field come by for their finish. In the midst of this confusion a Cal Poly rider snuck off the front of the field with the help of one of his teammates. Many racers including Seth didn?t realize this move was made, and as a result their was no response.

Coming into the last corner Chester moved his way into second wheel and Seth was roughly seventh. The line was half way up the climb, and about 600 meters away at this point. Seth marked a few riders to watch, but got gapped from them as a result of a bad wheel selection. He jumped, but was unable to close the gap and ended up forth across the line, about a bike length behind 2nd and 3rd. Chester made his move early, got passed by a few riders, but was able to finish strong and overtake several riders before the line for 10th place. Steve hung in there and finished in the top 25. Seth was able to secure enough points this weekend to request his Category 2 upgrade.

I drove up to San Ardo today for the flat 60-something mile road race, one of the last of the season. I’m a climber so I wasn’t even planning on doing it but my teammates insisted that I can’t waste my current form. It turned out that there was a 4% climb to the finishing road, and I figured that I could use that to my advantage. Unfortunately, we were two riders over the field limit, and the official decided to split the field by bib number. I ended up in the "B" field of only 11 riders, cut off from the others from Santa Barbara in the first field that I was hoping to be able to race with.

The first lap was fairly uneventful. With such a small group the pace was initially slower than I was used to in a cat 4 race. I felt like I could have gone faster but of course didn’t want to pull the whole race and burn myself out. Once we left the initial hilly part and entered into the endless flats and rollers, the pace picked up quite a bit as the big guys pushed things along. Somewhere along the first lap I realized that I was in a good situation and could win the race if I played my cards right.

At the start of the second lap, we popped 3 riders going up the “climb” before we were neutralized by the Masters 1/2/3 field when they came by. I spent time this lap testing people for weaknesses. I charged up the rollers and also took some hard pulls on the flats to see if anybody was just hanging on by a thread. The result was that there were several people that seemed ripe to be popped if pushed hard enough.

The third lap was about trying to whittle the field down. We hit the hill hard to try to pop some people, but it wasn’t long enough to do sufficient damage. Partway into the lap, I attacked and got a good bit up the road, and went into TT mode holding at a bridgeable distance off the front. I was hoping that somebody would come across but nobody did. After a few minutes of that I decided there was no point in burning myself out, eased up and fell back to the field. Later I tried a few times to get something going again but either nobody would go with me or we would get swallowed up quickly.

Approaching town it was clear nothing was going to stick so I stopped trying, instead conserving energy for the inevitable sprint finish. Coming through town I wanted to be near the front but up to this point I had shown a little too much of my hand and I was marked by everyone, and they pretty much kept me in front. It was a game of cat and mouse all through town, swerving all over the road, looking back, etc. We were going pretty slow; I figured If I was going to be in the front, it was going to be on my terms. A few times someone would made a move and I would sit on their wheel. Going into the feed zone at the start of the climb, I ramped up my effort and pushed hard toward the turn to the finish. I took the corner on the inside neck-and-neck with one other rider, but immediately I was out of the saddle and hit full afterburned to the line. I could tell that nobody was near me as I approached so I looked back and considered a victory salute. I thought better of it and crossed the line with both hands on my bars, but “punched the air” immediately after and held up both hands in victory after I passed the gathered crowd. I won by a very convincing margin.

While internet hunting for local group (road) rides or good mountain biking trails I stumbled on a local mountain bike race flyer. Although I didn't feel race ready I definitely wanted to race. Heck, what were the chances of Bobby Sr., Johnny O, Dermot, Sully, or Stephenson being there? None! Vacation legs or not, I was going to rip this thing up!

So I followed my Magellan's directions out of town and up into the foothills of Mt Rainier. From the scenery all the way up I knew it was going to be a beautiful course. The venue was a little runway clearing in the middle of thick forest and the style was much like Rim Nordic, low key, friendly, and local feeling. I was told the two laps were 28 miles with 3900' of climbing.

There were only 11 in the Expert 45. I figured that nobody here could hurt me so I'd just go with anybody who went. To my surprise the start was ballistic. Everybody went and I was off the back! I was balls out into a dark forest I've never seen. The terrain was awesome and the only thing I've ridden close to it was in Vermont. The forest was thick and dark and the dirt was rich and moist.

After some lung busting single track climbing I was in forth when we hit the fire road climb (which I was told climbed for 6 miles). The first two had a gap and I was trying to stay with third. We had a gap but suddenly the remainder of our field came by like a peloton. I couldn't believe how everyone was so fast. I backed off before I detonated so I could finish decently and enjoy the ride. I wasn't sure but I thought I was in last place.

At the top of the fire road climb the course turned to the most awesome single track downhill I've ever been on. I was on fire thinking I was going to reel these guys in but I never saw anybody - these guys can climb and descend!

The second lap was a little lonely as I passed single riders here and there and not knowing who they were (no leg markings). After getting used to the terrain I felt a little faster and for some reason even faster on the fire road. I saw some of my field 75 yards up but couldn't close the gap. On the descent I could only reel in one for a pass. I finished the race with too much left in the tank but totally stoked on a fun ride.

To my surprise I ended up 5th. At the results board people congratulated me on a good race saying I was in a tough field and beat some fast guys. The first two were 2nd and 3rd in the National Championships in Vermont and the third place guy was a previous national champion, which all makes me feel better. But what a surprise, to come all the way up to Washington to get the same 'ol beating.

Ron

Steve Bertrand's race report:
Team Platinum Performance ventured to Rim Nordic Mt. Bike race on Sunday with one thing in mind, to maintain our team lead in the California State Series. With over 22 riders making the trip we managed to take home five first places finishes, one second, and three thirds. While team points are still being calculated, we should be able to hold our lead over Team Sho-Air.

Rim Nordic is by far the toughest course we have raced on this year. With lots of steep short climbs, technical loose down hills, a few narrow bridges and cliffs, it certainly challenged even the best of our racers. This was also the best after race venue to hang out afterwards, with good food, plenty of shaded picnic tables, and great race volunteers.

The team stud awards goes to Luke Werkhoven for being able to hold off a charging Chicken Rancher for the win in the Clydesdaleʼs division but also Reny Takeda for not only winning the under ten division but then being able to ride his off rode unicycle for two hours around the venue after the race, how many of you could do that?

Byron Beck's race report:
Rim Nordic, #6 stop on the So Cal State Cross country and Super D series. We arrived with 1 and half hours to spare before the race. We all got our rides together for the start of our races. The field was full, the temp in the 70s, and the track was ready. I started with a field of probably 25 riders. Off the line Steve Bertrand and I rode together for the first mile or two and then things got tight. Steep single track up to 7500 from 6500 ft. Good up hill bursts to level and downhill short rests. Perfect for recovery? You got to be kidding. I never seem to recover on these races. There is always someone else to pass or beat. Mile 4 gave us some open flat areas to pass until the single track downhill section at mile 6. That was when the fun began. I love technical downhill, the Epic keeping the line. I passed the 4th place guy at this point and kept crankin. Got to the start finish at mile 8 for lap two to hear Jeff Mc Farlane yell, he is just 45 seconds ahead.

Next lap was more of the same except I tried to turn myself inside out to catch the guy in third and just about bonked. Hitting the last downhill section faster than the first, but not enough to take third.

So took home a fourth for team. Platinum had a great showing, and everyone agreed, what a great track. Next stop Ellings.

Goodman and Langin get holeshots and Dahl takes home the Stars and Stripes. The Platinum Team showed up to the sleepy hillside known as Mt. Snow this week for the USA Cycling MTB National Championships. By most riders metrics the "mountains" of Vermont don't look too taxing but the sustained climbs definitely showed who had the power to medal.

The Team finished strong and Terry made us proud raising the tent a bit with the cheers from the crowds admiring the sexy and youthful gent atop the podium.

Friday's oppressive heat and humidity at noon greeted me for my race start in 50+ sport. Gaining the holeshot my strategy was to go out with some power to spare for the sustained climbs further up the course. The first sequence of climbs were relentless. Steep, steady grinders that would tax you over the upcoming roots and rocks. I had to try and keep some power in reserve to tackle a few sections or I'de be off the bike. Lap one was going according to plan.

Two prior runs in practice showed me the preferred lines to navigate the downhill which became slicker as the dry soil was displaced uncovering the mud just below. A few off camber roots were slick but otherwise I just let it roll. I rode the technical parts effectively and in good time. I felt confident here but the second lap sapped my power more and more on the climbs. I was fighting to hold position but I also knew there was nobody close behind me. The last time through the woods was faster and seemed easy though at the finish a 13th place hadn't been what I had hoped for. In the end though this was a success for me after two mediocre seasons of racing. It's been a busy race season so far and I felt well prepared at least for the technical aspects of this course.

I was photographer for the Team on saturday for the experts, Gary, Todd, Bobby and Terry who each had very competitive fields. The first laps showed very bunched riders coming through the trees through roots and rocks. Many riders crashed on the slippery roots and fresh mud after friday night storm.

By lap 3 Todd was by Gary, who had a flat on the climb but managed to replace a tube and get under way without losing too much time or risking DNF. Terry had won at the end of lap two in his class with a surprising lead over the next finisher. A bit of disappointment by the the team but overall I think we did well at the National Championships.

Most important is a thanks to our support staff, Rosa, Skyler, Joyce and Linda who really helped us all focus on racing. Something great about suffering through laps and hearing the cheers from the crowd and then more as you tough out the steep climbs and a smooth bottle handoff or a dose of cold water over your shoulders in the heat.

Saturday afternoon brought more storms throughout New England as we each went in different directions. Next week we are back on schedule for Rim Nordic to continue the CA Series. The Mt. Snow National Championships was a great event and the course challenging and fun.

The Sisquoc Road Race was held last Saturday just south of Santa Maria. The 11-mile course has a bit of everything--wind, small hills, fast flats--and so it favors an all-around rider. Best of all, it's practically local!

The category 4 race fielded the largest group (100+ riders) and Platinum had Tom, Chester, Mark L., Steve W., and Doug Urbach. They all rode well and were poised for some top finishes when a dramatic crash happened in the finale, taking down our own Chester, and interfering with the others. Doug was the top finisher in 11th.

Seth and Steve raced Sisquoc in the cat 3s. Here's Seth's report:
Sisquoc was manned in the the 3s by Steve Smith and myself. The race was 6 laps and had around 50 participants. The pace was kept high by riders from various teams, and one unsuccessful break formed on the second lap. I rode off the front three times; on lap five the third attempt was successful and I was able to get a few second gap. One rider from SC Velo to bridge to me, and we worked together for about 7 miles. I dropped him on the climb, and looked back to see a 4 man chase group. I eased up on the climb a little to let the group catch me, and we started working together. Half way through the 6th lap we dropped one of the riders, but the rest of us continued to work till about 1 km to go. At this point we jockeyed for position and I waited for a rider to jump. The SC Velo rider that was with us jumped first and I hesitated a second too long and he gapped me by a bike length. He won and I held on for second.

Brian, Ben, and Mark rode the pro/1/2 event. We missed a couple early breaks, but contributed to the chase and helped catch the escapees. With two laps to go, a single SuccessfulLiving rider got away and built a surprisingly large gap. Then on the final lap, Ben attacked and drew out two others. A few miles later another chase formed and bridged up to Ben's group. The solo rider won, followed by Ben's group, followed by Mark's group. Brian contributed some hard chasing but called it a day with a couple laps to go.

San Luis Obispo Crit 7/20
The San Luis Obispo Criterium was the next day. This is an exciting downtown race that brings out a large and enthusiastic crowd. Chester and Steve W. rode the cat 4 event and factored in the action. Like most crits, this one came down to a bunch finish and Chester used his positioning and sprinting skills to grab 2nd place. Steve finished comfortably in the group.

Then Seth, Steve, and newly-upgraded Chester rode the cat 3 race. Chester didn't wait long to jump into the action and soon he was away in a three-man break away. They pushed hard for quite a few laps, but the active field wouldn't give up. By the end the field was all together, and our three Platinum riders finished safely in the group, with Seth taking 8th.

Here is Seth's report:
SLO had 3 Platinum riders a a newly upgraded Chester , Steve Smith, and myself. Santa Barbara had a good showing with three or four riders from other teams showing up for the race. The race started out fast and the pace seemed to be driven on as more spectators flooded the downtown streets. Several attacks were launched by Steve Smith and Chester , but the field was motivated, and didn't let anything stay away. The last few laps saw a big change in positioning, and I'm told there was lots of bumping and pushing going into the final turn. I was about 9th wheel going into the final turn, which is where I wanted to be given the length of the finish straight. A SC Velo rider jumped first and the rest of the group followed. I missed the wheel I was looking for and ended up out in the wind for an 8th place finish. Chester and Steve played it safe going into the final turn and finished with the pack.

Next, Mark and Chris Brown raced in a mixed field of Masters 45+ and 55+ riders. Chris did a great job staying up front and riding aggressively. A crash caused a late-race stop to allow an ambulance on the course, so we restarted with only 10-minutes to go. Naturally, it finished in a bunch sprint, and Mark and Chris finished 6th and 7th.

Steve Smith wanted more action so he raced again with the fast and active Masters 35+ field. He finished comfortably in the field.

Another wild one in Downieville. Where do I start … the good, the bad or the ugly? As with every year there were a number of ugly crashes. Not a hot topic of mine so I’ll leave out the details and but emphasize the risk. Platinum’s own Krage Olrich went off a treacherous 40 ft. cliff. For those that know the course- this happened at “The Wall” on Third Divide. Yea, that cliff … Miraculously Krage SOMEHOW climbed out without serious injury and went on to finish 7th in the Expert 40 -44 division. You’ll have to ask him as I’m still scratching my head. Glad your ok Krage.

Racing Single Speed at Downieville for the first time- I didn’t know what to expect. To add to the unknown, there also seems to be a competitive buzz in the Open SS Class because of the Worlds taking place in Napa next month. Out of the 40 riders, I recognized enough Pro/Semi Pro and ‘other’ fast guys to determine that a “Top 10” would be a successful finish. The start was more like the beginning of a marathon than a mountain bike race. For the first time, the XC race sold out at 800. Pro / Expert / and Single Speeds all started the 8 mile climb up the face of the Sierra Buttes together. Much of this in single file with passing difficult and a big risk of expending lots of energy. Fortunately for me it was hot (I like the heat) and not the best air quality (fires). I say fortunate because maybe the conditions would make some of the fast guys suffer. Sure enough as we started getting into higher altitude that thought came to reality.

Matt Chaney (2007 24 Hours Single Speed World Champion) didn't look good and started to crack. Catching and passing him was extremely motivating based on how well he's been racing this season. John Ardell, a close friend was also in eyesight. Being the great climber his is, he wasn’t that far ahead either. Another positive sign. When we reached Packer Saddle at 8,000ft, I was told that Ardell was just over a minute ahead. We had lots of racing left and 85% of it was fast, technical single track (dropping over 5,000 ft.). I ride here too much not to head into the decent with the highest levels of confidence. My trusty hardtail added lots of flavor as I started to reel in guys on 5” and 6” travel bikes. My plan was to let Ardell stay out ahead for a bit. I would wait for him to make a mistake, then attack.

Shortly after these thoughts, he got caught up in a root section and it was on. Once he confirmed he was ok I threw down the hammer. I pedaled as hard as I could to put a big gap between us. Seeing a few geared racers ahead, I pushed even harder to catch and pass them. Now I had a few bikes between us. At this point I was having so much fun I just kept hammering. And I must admit, I was really getting a kick out of dropping people on my hardtail. The secret (and don’t tell anyone) being my 29” wheels. Yes, they are faster. By the time I reached the finish safe and sound, I earned a podium spot - 4th place. The 3 that finished ahead of me (Conrad, Dez Wilder, and Yuri) are respected Semi Pro/Pros. It was an honor to be up there with those guys at my favorite race of the year.

Byron beck's report:Downieville is a very unique race. As Ryan wrote in his, this race is a hard climb up to 8300 ft or so. it was hot and i hadn't prepared my water out go for this one. I experienced cramping like none other. on the first water crossing, i ran into some traffic and had to get off to start running up the other side. When i went to stand on my legs, I couldn't even stand up, I had to get down on my hantches. When I went to stand up, there they were again, cramps in every possible leg muscle. I stretched and stretched, and started drinking water and eating goo. after a few minutes i got back on but couldn't get my stride for another few minutes. Darn it. When I finally get cranking again I think I lost about 3 minutes. I returned to my rhythm once again and hammered out the last 15 miles. My goal was to get 3 hours flat or less, and I think I ended with 3:01. The photos speak for themselves. 29 miles of dust, mud, rock drops, creekcrossing, foot bridges, and cliff hangers. But I would agree, some of the most fun riding I do all year long.

Four Platinum racers competed yesterday at the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix, an event with a rich and wild history in SoCal bike racing. (See http://mbgp.com/ for more info) The highlight of this fast 1.4 mile course is its sweeping 180-degree turns, one of which lies just before the finish line. That always adds some excitement on the final lap and this year was no exception.

Chester raced in full 120-man cat-4 field at 7:00 in the morning. He wisely stayed right up front in the big mob and avoided two nasty crashes on the last lap and sprinted for 4th place, an excellent result in this race. (See attached pictures of Chester in the cat-4 race ...not John Goodman quality, but hey...)

Brian and I raced in the Pro/1 NRC event which had 100+ riders, including some top US pros like Fast Freddy Rodriguez and Tony Cruz (both veterans of big-time Euro racing). The relentless pace popped quite a few guys off the back but Brian and I stayed comfortably in the field while the strongest team (Rock Racing) controlled the action at the front. Unfortunately, crashes at Manhattan Beach aren't just limited to the cat-4 field and with 1 lap to go, I skidded to a stop to avoid running over a downed rider. That ruined any chance I had to get near the front and I cruised in at the back of the field. Brian was in great position (top-25) going into the final sprint but he was forced out of the action by TWO crashes on the final corner, including one with Fast Freddy doing a complete flip in the air! Alas, Brian and I should have taken lessons from Chester and stayed up front, but in the end we were happy to have finished with all our skin and bones intact.

Three Platinum road riders showed their grit this weekend in two rough-and-tumble grand-prix races in the LA area. While many road racers in Southern California have burnt out by June, Platinum is still going strong and posting impressive results.

On Saturday, Chester Gillmore, Seth Zaleski, and Brian Cook raced at the La Mirada Grand Prix where temperatures on the pavement topped 100 degrees. The two-mile rectangular course had one up-hill leg to test the riders' fitness and a fast final corner to test their bravery. Chester survived a big pile-up in the cat-4 race and placed 7th, continuing his string of top-10 finishes. You won't find a rider with more heart and raw enthusiasm than Chester and now that he's figured out how to focus his energy, he won't be long for the cat-4 world.

Seth rode aggressively in his first-ever cat 3 event. Not one to be
intimidated by the faster riders, he attempted to break free from the pack
but the stifling heat made it difficult to keep a high pace alone. In the
end Seth recovered and finished 14th.

Brian rode the P/1/2 event that featured some of SoCal's best professional riders. An early break with a couple of Rock Racing guys looked threatening but they melted in the heat and were eventually caught. Soon another group of three escaped including Santa Barbara's Chris Walker. Brian rode intelligently in the heat and finished 7th, right in the midst of SoCal's top field sprinters.

Sunday's race, the San Pedro Grand Prix was on the waterfront and a much more pleasant 80 degrees. This course had some sharp technical turns to test the riders skills, and appropriately it served as the Elite criterium championship for Southern California.

Chester took a couple more steps up the ladder and finished 4th.

Seth was feeling good in the ultra-competitive Cat-3 field and was ready to attack in the closing laps when he got caught up in a huge crash that split
the field. Fortunately he wasn't hurt and after untangling his bike from the
pile-up, he continued on and finished in the middle of the group.

Brian demonstrated the wisdom that comes with age and decided to skip the San Pedro race, which proved wise because the final lap of the P/1/2 event had two catastrophic crashes, including one that took down Santa Barbara's Cody O'Reilly.

This weekend was filled with two Criteriums, San Fernando and Bicycle John’s. Chester and I were both there to represent Platinum.

San Fernando was listed as an “Exciting P shaped course”. As it turns out, this means there was a 180 degree turn that riders had to navigate. The course proved to be technical and enjoyable, and as I’m told was a great course to watch a race on. Chester and I tried hard to get a break going, but each time we were reeled back in. Chester did manage to rack up a few premes, and was even nice enough to give one to a Junior who was working with us. The race came down to a sprint finish and due to the 180 degree turn being 300 meters before the finish was a game of positioning. I spun it up to a 4th place finish and Chester finished around 15th.

Bicycle John’s was a 4 turn fast crit with a 10-15 MPH headwind on the back straight. The race was filled with at least 12 PAA riders 40 odd others, Chester, and myself. The race started with a few attacks and a lot of hard pulls at the front from PAA riders. About 10 minutes in PAA launched a rider off the front and he gapped the field by about 10-15 seconds. I waited, nobody was going across, so I jumped and got up to him by myself. A few others bridged to us and the break was on. After about 8 laps I heard a familiar voice call out my name and looked back to see Chester. At that point the break was about 7 strong, and we kept on working together.

The last lap came and Chester and I were in position for a good leadout. Prior to turn 3 of 4 a rider attacked went into the corner hard and rolled his tire. He kept things upright, but all of us had to dodge him and it really broke the things apart. I found a wheel and I was in good position for 3rd, but let the junior from the day before take it. He told Chester and I before the race that he needed upgrade points. Chester wound up in 5th, with me in 4th. I took home enough upgrade points on Saturday to request my Cat 3 upgrade, and I look forward to racing with Steve, Jason, and Ron in the near future.

Beautiful Elings Park in Santa Barbara was the host for the 5th stop on the California State Series. The racers were treated to new sections of single track that were cut over the winter. Thanks in part to Ed Brown, Dave Phreaner, Tom Speigel and the many volunteers that made this fun weekend happen.

On Saturday, the park held Downhill and Super D events. Sunday, was the X-Country and Dual Slalom events. The bicycle festival and expo area was situated on the ocean side of the park this year. This brought all the racing together in the same area. The weather was sunny, 70 degrees and perfect. The X-Country racers tackled a 6 mile loop that covered the entire park. The Expert/ Pros took on 4 laps, the Sports raced 3 and the Beginners competed on 2 laps.

The climbs were short but steep and lots of them. The riders had little rest on this course with tons of bermy turns, soft technical descents and the majority of the course single track. Surprising enough, passing wasn't that much of a problem. The course flowed, giving no advantage to a climber or descender. Bike handling skills were tested to the max. I saw more jerseys covered dirt due to crashes than any other race I entered this season. That's a sign of the "true" mtn bike race course.

The Platinum Performance Mtn Bike Team was out in force. Not surprising due to the race is situated in our own backyard. Home field advantage worked out in our favor. The team walked away with 10 wins! Team Sho Air was heavily present as well. Team standings will be posted later this week. The Co-ed team division is heating up with only 20 points separating Platinum and Sho Air (before Elings) with just three races left.

Big Bear Lake was the host to the 4th round of the California State Series for XC mountain bike racing. The weather was beautiful, sunny in the mid 70's with little to no wind. I highly recommend in taking a weekend off and spend it up in Big Bear. The lake was full and beautiful after a bountiful snow season. Tom Spiegel and the TBB crew set up a challenging course with lots of climbing and added technical descents. The start of the race was at around 7000' which topped out at 8200'.

Those coastline racers always have to give a little more in that altitude. The racers took off on a 2 mile fire road climb right from the gun. This always puts a shock to the system. The course was a large loop which was shorten for the beginners and sport riders. The beginners raced a 16 mile loop, the sports were led on a 21 mile loop and the expert/pros continued on a 24 mile loop. The 24 mile loop totaled 3300' of climbing. The fire roads were loose with sand and rock obstacles. It's always a treat dropping Fall Line, Pirates, Fern Trail and Plantation. The single track was tricky. Very sandy in sections with rock out coppings. Great areas for those with technical abilities to gain time on those who favor the road. It was also nice to see water in the creek crossings. In the end, all the riders were treated with a couple of tacos at the Cantina. Great way of wrapping up a day of racing.

Team Sho Air was out in force with large numbers in each of the fields. Team Platinum Performance was coming off a very successful showing at the San Ynez Classic a couple of weeks ago. Team Platinum had a showing of twenty riders which seemed to be dwarf by Team Sho Airs numbers. In the end, both teams brought home lots of hardware. Team Platinum Performance walked away with four 1st place finishes and four 2nd place finishes with the majority of the riders finishing in the top ten. Way to step up Platinum! Kudos to Team Sho Air and the rest of the teams in the fight for the team titles. Next stop on the Series with be in Santa Barbara June 8th at Elings park.

There are just a few road events in California that qualify as true classics, but the Mt. Hamilton RR in NorCal is certainly one of them. For a leisurely ride, the course would be beautiful; but for a race... brutal and epic. The riders depart San Jose and immediately begin an 18-mile climb up the tallest mountain in the Bay Area (4,200 ft. Mt. Hamilton) before dropping precipitously down a twisty descent that claims a few victims every year. Then, after surviving the mountain, the riders face another 40 miles of rolling terrain with an ever-present headwind as they slog their way to the finish in Livermore. It's only 63 miles total, but it feels more like 100!

Steve Smith and I made the trek up to San Jose this year to represent
Platinum Performance. I rode the Masters 45+ cat 1,2,3 race, a mere 30 years after first racing the Mt. Hamilton as a 17-year-old junior in 1978! My goal was to win the KOM prize and then try to hold on for the overall victory if possible. Three of us broke away on the lower slopes but when my two partners stopped pulling, I attacked them and rode to the top solo to claim the KOM. As an added bonus of being alone, I took the descent at my own pace with no worries about any competitors. Once down in the valley, and facing an annoying headwind, I knew I couldn't hold off the others for 40 miles so I eased up and got caught by a group of four. We worked well together to keep our gap over the rest of the field. Entering the sprint, I knew the key was to wait as late as possible and so I didn't react when two of our group started too early. Sure enough, another rider went after them so I hopped onto his wheel and when the time was right, I jumped around him and passed the other two and pulled away for the win.

Steve rode in the ultra-competitive Category 3 race (over 70 riders) and
went over the top of the mountain in a select group of riders behind the
break-away. Steve did a substantial amount of work to keep the break close and hold off the chasing field, and he finished 17th.

45-49 Expert...
At the start of the 45-to-49 Expert event, the Platinum Performance Mountain Bike Team was well represented with no less than five riders in the field. The competitors were greeted with the announcement that the race would be shortened to two laps instead of three; some of us really wanted to do three. By “us” I am referring to someone else ‘cause I was elated with two!

Langin, who likes to take off a little hot, jumped…before the whistle blew (apparently he’s a little anxious--oops). At the first climb it was Langin with Takeda hot on his heels, Sho-Air’s David Sullivan, and the rest of the Platinum crew ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. While Langin, Takeda and Sullivan battled, John Biron, starting in eighth, snuck up into the fourth position while Andy Osbourn and Nick Davis were digging well into the top 10. Sullivan eventually got around Takeda (have you seen Ron’s calves? -for sure he should be a leg-model—yet I digress…) to finish second with Takeda and Biron finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. The ever-tough Andy Osbourn rounded out the top five by finishing 5th with Nick Davis showing a supper strong performance in 7th. That’s right; all five of our guys finished in the top 10 and four of them were on the podium where the paparazzi swarmed to get a close up of Ron’s legs. Okay, perhaps it wasn’t quite a swarm, but Linda Langin was seen knocking over other photographers to get the coveted shot which, by the way, is now selling on Ebay to the highest bidder.

Sunday Beginner and Sport races....
Hot, dusty, and strong competition would best describe the Santa Ynez Valley National, Presented by Platinum Performance this weekend. Team Platinum had a strong showing of 19 riders on Sunday for the Sport and Beginner XC races. The beginner's race was one loop of the 11 mile course, while the sport class did one lap plus a quarter to complete their race.

Some very interesting quotes were heard around the race results area after the race. "Can you believe that girl called me a Bi%$#", "I'm getting a new all Carbon bike next year", "I think my wife got lost on the course", "where's the beer tent", and my favorite, "where's Hecker".

45+ Masters....
Two 30-mile laps of a mostly flat course with one gradual stair-steppy climb about half way around. We had around 40 starters, including 6 or 7 from Amgen (Thurlow, Meeker, KK, Peter, Bob, Malcolm, and ?) plus a handful of other teams with 3-4 riders. I was solo again. KK and an Edge rider took off relatively early but never got more than a minute or two, and I was confident a couple of us could bring them back on the second lap if necessary. The problem, of course, was that we'd be working and the strongest guys in the race (Meeker and Thurlow) would be snickering at our stupidity as they rested for inevitable counter. KK's duet got caught just before the line on lap 1, and immediately on cue Amgen's Peter Sullivan took off solo. Textbook.

No offense to Pete, but it was hot and windy so again I was pretty sure we'd bring him back (or go up to him) the second time up the climb ...which is exactly what happened. I started drilling it part way up, caught Peter, looked back to see only Meeker on my wheel. I kept going hard and he came through tentatively, because back 100 meters or so, Thurlow was winding up the big diesel and about to join us. Oh great, this is gonna hurt. I tried to be conservative knowing the punches were about to be thrown. First Meeker went, and I was able to respond. Then Thurlow went, and again I was locked on. Then he eased up and Meeker went again. I tried to stay steady and keep the gap small, but when Thurlow attacked again and bridged up, I knew I was probably hosed. Big Mike Haluza from Edge came up and we tried to get back on terms, but went over the top of the climb about 10 seconds down. Any thought of a crazy hairball descent to catch up was dashed when we rounded one turn to see a big oil truck heading right toward us. From then on, we took it conservatively, and Thurlow and Rich slowly pulled away.

Back down in the valley, with about 10 miles to go, we eased up to let another couple of riders join us. Maybe we'd do better four-vs.-two, and at first we rolled pretty good. But then guys stopped pulling, so it became a race for 3rd.

I felt confident going into the sprint, but it's better to not count your medals before they hatch because when I started to sprint, both quads cramped. Joe Wenninger from Cynergy came by me and got the bronze.

Pro1/2....
In 2007 I got into the early break and despite getting popped eventually, I still managed a 10th-place finish. The effort probably took a year off my life. Worst cramps in memory and untold cell damage from rampant free radicals!

I wanted something more enjoyable for 2008, so both Cookie and I opted to play it conservative and sit in the group for the early going. And a good sized group it was, with about 75 starters rolling out for three laps (93 miles). As per my pre-race comments yesterday, the All-Star Green Giants and the LaGrangian Nation were by far the biggest teams represented, and they quickly established the early break. Now, I can't give you accurate information because I was so ensconced in the shelter of the pack that I didn't even see who went up the road. Eventually I heard it included Jorge Alvarado (LaGrange) and Adam Livingston (Green Veggie Oil). From that point forward, the remaining 15-20 guys from those two teams did an outstanding job of marking attacks and disrupting any meaningful chase. Got to give them due credit. Some strong dudes gave solid efforts (Rigo, C-Walk, Eli, Nat Faulkner, Marco Rios) but nobody ever got far.

Going into the last lap, the 3-man break had 2.5 minutes, but it might as well have been an hour. The field conceded that we were racing for 4th. By now Cookie and I both realized we'd survive the day, so we started putting out some efforts. All for naught as it turned out, and about 30 guys were left for the field sprint. I had an advantage, having done the sprint yesterday, and I knew it was a deceptively long drag slightly up-hill with some head-wind. Best for a waif like me to wait a bit. The fast guys like DeMarchi and Marco Rios didn't even notice the wind, but a lot of others did, and I passed guys left and right as they sputtered out a couple hundred meters early. Miraculously, I managed to once again get 10th place, last money spot, and with significantly less pain than last year. The difference, of course, is that this year I can't even pretend I was in the hunt for a win, whereas in 2007 at least I gave it a go. Oh well, sometimes you don't race to win, but rather just to survive.

Fennell Photo

The riders took on a hilly 11.6 miles course down in Carlsbad, Ca. The roads were well paved but the winds gave the riders another challenge. Without the protection of the peloton, breakaways would be tough. The Pro 1/2 field raced 81 miles with 6650' of total climbing. The rest of the categories competed with 46 miles and 3800' of climbing. The course suited Platinum's climbers Seth Zaleski who won the Cat 4 race and Mark Fennell who was runner up in the Master 45+ class.

San Luis Rey was today, the weather was amiable and the field was full at 100. About 30 of these riders were divided between three teams, Swami, So Cal Velo, and Lagrange. Platinum had two, Steve Weixel and myself. The course was four 11.6 mile laps with around 900’ of climbing per lap.

The first two laps were the usual nobody want to work on the flats followed by guys blowing up on the climbs. I guess the field thinned out at some point, but every time I looked back it seemed like there were still 100 people in the field. I rode of the front after the decent on the 3rd lap with some guy from a team I can’t remember. He looked back at me after about a mile and said “We’ll never make it into this wind” well we didn’t thanks to that attitude and we were quickly swallowed up by the field.

Once I was back in the field I looked up as we rolled at 17 MPH and saw 4 Swami guys at the front. I decided that I’d ride off the front to get the pace going, and I quickly found myself with a 20-30 second gap. There was 17 miles left so I decided I’d tempo it out and see how long I could last. Well they never caught me, and I ended up winning by about 10 seconds.

Marco finished 2nd in the 45 plus, I'm not sure on his finish in the Pro/1/2. Steve Weixel who fought back after a dropped chain and finished strong at 53rd. Brian Cook and Steve smith were there, but I'm not sure how they finished up.

The Platinum riders were racing throughout California again last weekend. The NorCal boys were hitting up Whiskeytown, Ca for the 21st annual Lemurian Classic. This is a 26 mile very technical course. Plenty of single-track, tricky descents, bike breaking drops, and tough climbs. The temps were heated as well in the mid 80's. Ryan Booth went back to basics and competed in the Expert Singlespeed division. Ryan dug deep and pulled off a fast time to place him 2nd. Krage Olrich took on the Expert 40-44 class. He too raced to a 2nd place finish. Great job boys on this classic race!

On the road, Pearblossom, east of Palmdale was the host of the infamous "Devil's Punch Bowl" road race. This is a 16 mile loop with 1500"of climbing lap. Fast descents with an uphill finish. The riders were challenged with high temps. The Pro 1/2 race was 80 miles. The Cat 3 and Cat 4 race was 48 miles. Gary Douville raced tough but the long season finally caught up with him. He faded to 16th place. Very respectable finish against full-time pros. Platinum success of the day came from new rider Seth Zaleski in the Cat 4 race. He showed his climbing ability and tolerance for the heat to earn himself a 2nd place finish. Steve Smith climbed strong and finished 13th in the Cat 3's. The race lived up to it's name!

Ron Takeda's road race report:
The circuit race was pretty straight forward with no surprises. I had envisioned the race over and over and had so much practice in my mind I was confident in a good finish. No matter what practice variables I threw at myself I won the race.

The actual race went 95% as envisioned. My only contemplation was if someone went off the front – what to do, but that was an easy decision once it happened. It was windy and I really didn’t think anyone was staying off the front because there wasn’t much of any one team or organization of others. There were a couple of flyers but the pack didn’t even flinch. The flyers were left dangling only to come back. My race plan (energy conservation) was going well until about the tenth time up the hill. There was an attack on the hill and I started to feel my legs more than I wanted to so I went deeper into conservation mode.

It came down to the last lap as I imagined. One the last hill I felt good and was able to place myself anywhere I wanted. I placed myself about 4th or 5th wheel over the top into the corkscrew. After the corkscrew it didn’t stay as fast as I had hoped for so there was more battling for the front as I planned. I battle well and kept good position into the final straight. Coming into the final straight I think I was 4th or 5th wheel with Matt in front of me.

About 200 meters out I was bumped and got hung up with a guy. I got pushed out of line and since I was further out than I wanted to jump I battled to get back in. Before I got in everyone in front of me jumped so I had to jump. My legs had no acceleration so I was desperately trying to maintain position. I went from 4th or 5th to 8th in the last few feet. Matt Benko came around a couple of guys for 2nd. For some reason the results now say that Matt won and I got 7th.

Here’s what not to do after a race… (Breakfast at 6 am):
Immediately after the race I changed out of my skinsuit and met Todd and company for a XC pre ride starting at 11. The first few pedals on the dirt told me it wasn’t a good idea but for some stupid reason I kept going. On the far side of the coarse my body quit so I took a shortcut home. At least the shortcut took me up my next days road race finish. Once back to the venue I met my family as they just arrived. We went for a quick hotel check-in and then headed for the aquarium. I tried to pretend to be alive but didn’t do a good job. As everyone was watching the sea otters being fed, I found the nearest bench to lie down. I woke up to my wife saying “come on let’s take you back”. I looked around my once empty area was swarmed with people and kids walking around me.

The next morning, Saturday, my legs were in trouble. They weren’t just tired, they were sore. The slow climb up the neutral road race start already had my legs talking to me. The following race was a complete suffer-fest. There wasn’t a lap where I didn’t think I might be off the back. I spent the whole race in survival mode with a motorcycle on my wheel. Somehow I always managed to bridge the gap as the rubber bands broke in front of me and my own was stretched white the entire race. On the second suffer up the alternate wall Steve Smith was sliding back towards me and was looking out of character. I asked him if he felt OK and he gave me a definite “NO”. The attrition was high and every time I bridged a painful gap I looked back to see only the motorcycle. Somehow I managed to stay-in the whole race. On the descent to the final finishing climb I moved up for better position. I was hoping for miracle legs but it didn’t happen. Surprisingly though I moved my way through a lot of riders as they were popping left and right and ended up 26th.

I aborted the plan to race the cross country Sunday and instead walked the venue with my family. As I cheered on teammates and others as they lapped through the raceway I was bummed and mad at my decision. However, a couple of steps up the Yokohama bridge brought me back to reality.

I congratulated from far as I heard Terry’s and Gary’s names being blasted through the venue for their victories.

Byron Beck Report:
The Sport class, young age of 50-55, start went as planned. Steve Bertrand, John Goodman and I went out hard. We took the leadout for the pavement section and drove hard all the way to the dirt entry. The field came on hard as we all spread out to our own paces. I marked a couple of riders who I had talked to in the lineup and they said that this was their only race they train for, so I figured that they would be riding hard to win.

We diced it to the downhill areas and then bunched up behind the younger racers at the single track. I passed where I could and noticed that I was actually recovering, something I had not yet done in any race yet. When I realized that, I started pushing guys to move over so that I wouldn’t get “too recovered”. Then we hit the sandy downhill, guys were falling all over the place. All my riding on the SB single track paid off. I sat back on the saddle and “floated” down the left side passing rider after rider. At the bottom of the runs I realized I had made up some of the time lost on the slow single track.

Then came the paved uphill and this is where I met Steve Boelter, thanks Steve for pulling me up this section only to blow up at the top, what a stud. 3 to 4 miles of climbing and high, frigid winds. Then all of the sudden on a tight section, a guy says to me, "hey can I pass? I am not in your class"... yeah right. Well I let him go by on one of the more steeper sections and low and behold he was in my age group at the end. (never again).

At the top of the last climb I cranked it out and diced it across the bridge with two riders to the lower part of the finish to beat one and lose by seconds to the other. I told myself that I wanted to finish my first Sea Otter in the top 10, and got a 9th place. Would’ve been 8th, oh well, what a great venue to race at. At the finish John Goodman, Steve Bertrand, Steve Boelter, and Mike Roberts, stood for a great photo. Thanks to my wife, who endured the cold wind and dust, to see us come across the finish line. cheers.

Todd Booth's mtn bike report:
Days prior to the race the weather reports were positive on predicting the first year of no rain at this venue. What I didn't expect was freezing wind and overcast sky on Friday and Saturday. Sunday turned out to be a beautiful race day. The expert and pro course was a 39.3 mile marathon that incorporated everything to test a riders skills. Long fire road climbs, twisty single track through trees and desert like fields. Short grunty power climbs. And super fast fire road descents. This course has it all. With a total elevation gain of over 7700' over the 39 mile course, I knew preparation was crucial. This race always eluded me. I have placed 6th (just off the podium) for the last three years. I came into this race very prepared. But, a slow start of the 08' season with my results....I was happy to get another 6th again. My goal was a 4th.

The start of the race is always crucial at the Otter due to the large field funneling into the long twisty single track about 3 miles into the race. To get stuck in the back here, a rider can loose minutes due to not being able to pass. I was in perfect position in second wheel coming off the track with my teammate Peter Gilberd leading the charge. The fire road climb just before the single track is where the attacks were launched. I knew to try to stick with Trevor Hopkins from Whistler,BC. He dominated the short track race in the expert 30-39 class on Friday.

My plan went perfectly for the first 8-9 miles. I stuck with him putting a gap on our field. I was surprised by my performance due to my slower starts in prior races this season. The hours of road training was starting to show. Trevor slowly pulled away from me and was on his way to a solo ride to victory. On the 1st lap, I was caught on the last 3 mile fire road climb heading to the racetrack. Doug Philippone from Monterey, Ca rode the climb with power which I couldn't match. My descending skills pulled me right back on his wheel.

Eventually, I was able to pass him on the twisty single track. We worked together for part of the 2nd lap. I knew he had a road background and couldn't descend, but could ride away from me on the fire road climbs. My goal was to put enough of a gap on him before the last 3 mile climb. Keeping him within a few hundred yards of me on the climb would allow me to catch him on the last descent to the finish. The plan was working perfect. I was on the base of the climb with a gap. I couldn't believe I was still in 2nd place with about 3 miles to go in this 39 mile marathon. A huge surprise was looming....a rider passed me on the climb. I shouted "What class are you racing?" He shouted back "Yours!!" I didn't see that coming. Mike Rolicik from Kirkland, Wa raced a perfect race. He was marking Doug and I and attacked on the last climb. Doug and Mike worked together on the climb to put a good distance on me. I watched my 2nd place fade up the hill. I still put out a hard effort to catch the two on the last descent. Unfortunately, I ran out off downhill. The effort put me within a minute of 2nd and third place. I have no regrets on my training, the race efforts or my goals going into the race.

To podium at this world class event is a huge honor at any level or discipline. I can't wait until next year!

Last weekend saw lots of racing from NorCal to SoCal. On Sat, The Island View Crit was held in Goleta, Ca. This was stacked due to the Ojai race on Sunday. Many of the nations top domestic Pros were visiting the Santa Barbara area for these to events. The Platinum road team was on duty suffering in the 90 degree temps. Sunday was no change in the temperatures with another hot day in the saddle. The Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix in Ojai, Ca was held on Sunday. Once again the fields were full of the top riders in the western region. Gary Douville pulled out an impressive 3rd place in the Cat 2 race. Ron Takeda sprinted for a respectable 4th place finish in the Cat 3's.

On the dirt, two Platinum riders raced the Castaic Lake Off road Triathlon in Southern California. The temps were once again scorching in the valley. Shigy Suzuki pulled off a win in the men's 50-54 class. Mariann Thomas and Romy Suzuki won the team relay.

Ryan Booth (expert 35-39) raced for a 3rd place finish in the Napa Dirt Crit held up in Angwin, Ca. Peter Gilberd came in just behind Ryan for a 4th place finish in the expert 35-39 class.

Ian Mcfarlane pulled off the fastest downhill time of the day, beating all the pros in the Stump Grinder Downhill Race on Sunday in Santa Ynez Valley.

The three-day stage race started Friday with what they called a “Super D” -although it was much more like a 6-mile dirt time trial without a lot of downhill than the more generic Super D courses. In the 45 to 49 Expert Class Platinum Performance’s Bobby Langin was the last of the group to go. The leader had set the pace with an 18:56 time so the Senior Langin knew he had his work cut out. He navigated the course without too many bobbles and crossed the line at 18:02.

Day two was a cross country short track that came with a nifty run-up; a very cyclocross-esque course, (Gary Douville would have loved it). It was a combined start with all over 40 Experts. Langin was overheard complaining about “having to race with the kids.” As the group started Bobby jumped out front but may have over-extended himself a little as with just a few laps to go a group of riders started reeling the old-guy in. Senior was able to hold on with TSA’s Tim Zandbergen right on his heels for second.

The final stage was three, 10-mile loops around the spectacularly beautiful Arizona desert. Along with that beauty, everything off the trail had consequence. There were sharp rocks, bushes that cut your arms when getting too close, giant Saguaro cactus, and the fabled jumping cactus—YIKES! Bud Donatoni, representing Platinum Performance’s 40-44 Expert Class, was feeling well as the whistle blew. He was rounding the course for the third and final lap in the top five and was able to hook up with his Platinum teammate Langin and work together bringing in the front-runners. Langin, however, made a mistake attempting to get by a slower rider falling down and causing Bud to stop to avoid the carnage (sorry Bud). The two remounted and worked for the next half a lap until disaster struck in the way of cati-trail-idus that punctured Donatoni’s front tire. The usually dependable slime didn’t work too well at sealing the leak so Bud used all his CO2 in completing his race crossing the line with only a couple pounds of air in front. A great effort in an 8th place finish!

What a race. Steve Bertrand and I arrived after a drive through steady rain south of Ventura. Neither of use prepped for rain though we would not have done anything differently except limit the warmup a bit. Was dark when we arrived at 6am so plenty of time to get prepared and registered.

Mike mentioned a couple of course changes so we each warmed up on the initial climb to check out the changes. Our 50+ division was about 19 deep, more than usual and we started with the 45-49 Sports. Right off the start a few feeble folks who just seemed too giddy for their own good crashed in the first turn, then a few more. Geez folks...only two at a time through there and relax until we spread out on the climb. As it was a number of folks simply tipped over on the first climb from brain lock and no power in the legs.

I have to admit while I did climb well today I think I have the record for crashes in one event. I stopped counting at 5 and am thinking 7 might be right. The sand on some of the downhill turns and one culvert was aweful. Anyway wasn't major or at high speeds just tipped over in a few places. That much sand I'de rather see at Rincon.

Now the real racing was done by Chase, Luke, Amanda and Adam. Chase apparently wasn't feeling great and lost some air from his front tire the first lap but toughed it out for a solid first. Amanda just seems dialed in and true to form won another first....her second at Fontana this year. Adam has been really consistent this season and came in with strong 3rd.

I warned Stephanie about the course at Fontana while we raced at Keyesville as bad things could happen if not careful. Well she tackled the course without issue finishing strong wondering what was so tough about Fontana.

Back to the old grey haired and hairless division..... Steve was the first of our group up the climb and then myself, Shigy and Mike. I could hear Shigy behind me the whole way up and at the top I assumed he would pass but let me stay ahead. The next few minutes I alternated riding and surfing the dunes giving up a few spots. Mike got by and then Luke, who was witness to my strange method of getting down the course. Jon Luckett raced just ahead in the 40-44 group.

Anyway the next lap was better, faster and more consistent. We all came in looking a little dirty from playing in the sand but a fun and challenging event. Now it's just 2 weeks to Sea Otter. Can't wait.

The Platinum experts that showed today put out a valiant effort. Terry Dalh pulled off his winning streak today. Bobby Langin Sr was on fire with a 2nd place in a super fast class. Ron Takeda pulled out a 6th and John Biron took a 8th. I placed 4th in the expert 35-39 class. My time was 2 minutes faster than my last race there in better conditions. The nationals bring out the best riders and faster times. Bud Donatoni took a 7th in the 40-44 class. With Doug Urbach pulling off a 12th place finish after two flats. Steve Silva just missed the podium with a 6th place finish in the expert 50-54 class. Mark Luke took a 9th in that class. Tough day at the office for the Platinum squad.

The Keysville Classic in Lake Isabella, Ca was the kick off to the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National XC calender for the 08' season. This 20yr classic is also part of the AMBC series. This 9 mile course offers some of the best flowing single track in California. The climbs are short and brutally steep. The twisty descents kept the riders attention levels high. The weather was perfect, cold, but no snow.....at least on Sunday for the XC race.

The Platinum Performance team had 14 riders competing in the XC events. Bud Donatoni's expert debut was highlighted with a win in the expert 40-49 class. A battle pursued behind Bud's dust between Ron Takeda, Matt Benko (Team Chicken Ranch) and Bob Nisbet. Matt beat Ron at the line for 2nd. Ron pulled off the 3rd with Bob rolling in 4th. Nick Davis finished in 11th in that tough 40-49 class. The Davis kids, Harrison and Melanie made their father proud by pulling off victories in the beginner 15-16 and wm's 15-18 classes.

Ian Mcfarlane continues to dominate the 18 under expert class by pulling out another victory after winning last weekend in Bonelli. Roger Moore took a 1st in the "frigid" short track race on Saturday in the expert 40-49 class. The following day he raced to an 8th place finish in the XC event. Stephanie Rivera continues to build on her racing skills by pulling out a 3rd place finish in the beginner wm's 40-49 class.

Steve Bertrand had a rock solid race in the sport 50-59 class with a 3rd place finish. Todd Booth walked away with a 4th place finish in a super fast expert 30-39 class. John Goodman pulled off a 5th place finish in the sport 50-59 class even after experiencing mechanical issues. Jamie Goldstein competing in the deepest, fastest field seen in years for the Keysville Classic. Jamie raced to a very respectable 15th place in the Pro field. Steve Silva had a lead with a win in his sight, but had to drop out after his crank arm came loose off his bike. The ups and downs of racing!!!

Bonelli Park in San Dimas, Ca was the first stop on the California State Series calendar. It was the kick off to an eight race series to crown the So-Cal State XC Champion. The course was a 9 mile loop with about 1000' of climbing per lap. The Bonelli course has a little bit for everyone....fast fire road descents, numerous single tracks, technical ascents and long firewood "back breaking" climbs. The finish has a super fast fire road descent with an area to sprint in the last 200 yds. The heat was present making many riders suffer even more!

The Platinum Performance team was out in force. The team's goal this season is to defend the XC Co-Ed title for the fourth straight year. Team Sho-Air also showed a large presence to bring that title to their camp this season. It should be an interesting title race this season.

The Platinum Performance team had 30 riders is various divisions battling it out for their individual titles. After the dust cleared and the last car left the park, Team Platinum was standing with ten 1st place wins, two 2nd place finishes and two 3rd place finish.

Jason Hannon showed that his skills on the road carry over onto the dirt with a 1st place victory in the very competitive expert men 40-44 class. New riders Amanda Schaper, Chase Schoen and Adam Poytress showed why they are hot pick for the Platinum roster with wins in their respective fields. New comer mtn biker, veteran road star Mark Fannell won his first race in the Cal State Series. 9yr old Renny Takeda showed why he is tough as nails by completing a nine mile loop w/ lots of climbing and 85 degree temps! He won the 10 under class. Terry Dalh is on track for winning another State Champion title with his first win in the series. Ian Mcfarlane won the expert 18 under class even after missing the turn for the finish on the last lap. He ended up riding an extra mile into the course before realizing the mistake! "New father, by only days", Luke Werkhoven won the clyds under 34 class with ease! Gary Douville showed that he can win at any discipline on two wheels. He pulled off a win in the expert 30-34 class even after a chain break!

New comer, Stephanie Rivera pulled of a 2nd place finish in the beginner women 45-49 class. Todd Booth pulled off a come from behind 2nd place finish in another very competitive expert 35-39 class. At one point in the race he was in 6th place with the 5th place rider out of sight. Doug Ulback had a battle in the tough expert 40-44 class. He pulled out a solid 3rd place victory.

Ron Takeda pulled off a time to win most classes, but in the highly competitive expert 45-49 class it only gave him a 4th place standing. This class is stacked with riders such as Johnny O'Mara, Dermot Carroll, and David Sullivan. I hate to be 46yrs old! Shigy Suzuki moved up to the sport division and still pulled out a respectable 3rd place finish in the 50-54 class. Out of retirement, Jonathon Luckett came back to place 4th in the sport 40-44 class. Another first timer on a mtn bike, Mariann Thomas showed that her running background carried through in the endurance department with a 4th place finish in the beginner women's 45-49 class. Downhill skills are next on her learning curve! Mark Luke pulled off a respectable 4th place finish in the expert 50-54 class.

We did 40 laps and 32 miles in the Cat 2 race around a technical course with 3 sweeping corners and tight S-turn section. Unfortunately I was without a teammate since Cookie came down with the flu on Saturday morning and went to stay the rest of the weekend with his mother who picked him up. Poor guy!! Not knowing how I would stack up against almost 100 other guys, my admittedly aggressive goals were ride at the front, avoid crashes and try to place in the top 5.

I stayed in the middle of the pack for the first handful of laps and hated being there so worked my way to the front and stayed there for the remainder of the race. It is always more work being in or towards the front in a crit, but you are positioned to counter any attacks and also are less likely to go down in any big pileups. There were two big crashes and I avoided them both. My third goal would be more elusive.

With 3 laps to go the pace picked up as usual and I was at the front with Gunn-Wilkinson from 5 Star fish (who placed well at SNSR and Valley of Sun) and Nick from UCSB who was racking up $50 primes like it was his job. The finishing straight had a gnarly head wind and I don't put out peak power like the big boys so hoped to grab a good wheel towards the front of the field and jump late. I was 4th wheel on the second to last corner and missed the surge to my right which placed me about 12th in the last corner. I was able to accelerate and pick up a few places and finish 8th. Nick got first and Gunn-Wilkinson 4th. My power was 1000W which is what I put out at the crit at the Southern Nevada Stage Race. Pretty pathetic.

The road race would take us 4 times around a 24 mile loop for a fast 96 miler. The course had some tough rollers, wind and bad pavement. I was motivated to go good and figured that Tom Githens (LaGrange) and Gunn-Wilkinson (5-star) who are both on the verge of upgrading would be the guys to beat. Speculating that these two wouldn't want a bunch sprint I set a goal of riding towards the front where they would inevitably be and get into a successful break with them. Goals and tactics in races are easy to dream up but are always hard to execute. After 2 fast ass laps of attacks and counter attacks I decided at the beginning of lap 3 that I was ready to join in on the fun.

I had been marking Githens and Gunn-W but hadn't put in any digs of my own yet. I put in two attacks early in the lap and got a gap at one point hoping Githens and Gunn-W would bridge to no avail. The teams with representation weren't letting anything get away and I feared a bunch sprint at the end. Half way into the 3rd lap on a windy downhill of all places I was pulling at the front and Gunn-W said "we have a gap". I looked around and found that there were 8 of us with a gap including Githens and Gunn-W and I said "this is the right mix, let's go". There was also a Sho-Air guy, a UC Davis guy, a Swamis guy, a Now guy and one other dude so only Metromint and a few other teams weren't represented. We put in a big effort for a few minutes and quickly had a 1 minute gap.

Of the 8 in the break only 5 of us were working and we were yelling at the other guys to come through. When they did they slowed us down so we forced them out of the rotation. Githens, Sho-Air, Gunn-W and I were doing all of the work and were maintaining a pace of ~26-27mph. I kept talking to the guys and wanted to go harder (I felt great) but I was reassured that we were going hard enough. I wasn't taking longer pulls but picked up the pace when it was my turn and only Gunn-W seemed to be doing the same. I was somewhat concerned that I would burn myself out and lose out in the final sprint but I wanted to make it stick more than anything.

With 9km to go we had 55 seconds on the field and we picked up the pace and were able to hold 'em off. We dropped one of the guys on the second to last climb and were still rotating with only 5 of the remaining 7. I looked back at 5km to go and told the 2 clingers that they better not sprint and we tried to no avail on the last remaining climb to drop them. The cat and mouse game started with 1 mile to go and we continued to rotate through but took slower pulls. I planned on jumping at 200 meters but big man Sho Air guy went first. I jumped after he already had 3 bike lengths and I couldn't close the gap. I finished 2nd, NOW guy (clinger #1) finished 3rd, Gunn-W 4th, UC Davis 5th, Githens 6th and Clinger #2 7th. Finishing sprint power ~960W. Average speed 25.6mph.

This weekend, six Platinum Performance road racers ventured north for the Cantua Creek and Pine Flat Road Races near Fresno. Cantua Creek is a 78 mile road race through the farmland of Fresno County near Coalinga. The course is mostly flat with an uphill finish that was challenging after three hours in the saddle. The most stellar performance of the day was handed up by Brian Cook, who attacked the Pro1-2 field after only 11 miles. Cook managed to hold his solo ride all the way to the finish for an inspiring win.

Gary Douville helped patrol the field and won the sprint for 2nd place. The Category 3 race had a stacked field of nearly 60 racers, including two professional women’s teams. Jason Hannon was aggressive and active during the race, riding in one break that lasted nearly 20 miles only to attack again with three other riders in the final 11 mile stretch. This second break lasted, and Jason sprinted home for a close 2nd place finish. Steve Smith was also active and helped to control the pace of the race to help his teammate. He finished 13th. Chester Gillmore was the only Platinum rider in the large Category 4 field. He rode an active and aggressive race, attacking the field in the final kilometer. His efforts were thwarted by large Bay Area teams and he finished 11th.

Sunday’s race was at the beautiful Pine Flat Reservoir in Fresno County. The hilly 62-mile course offered 5,000ft of climbing, with much of this coming in the form of one 12-mile long, 1,500ft climb in the final 10 miles of the race. In the large Pro1-2 race eventually won by professional rider Ken Hanson, Brian Cook again rode strong, but suffered some mechanical issues that thwarted his efforts. In the Category 3 race, Jason Hannon rode hard to control the pace of the race and chase down attacks to help his teammate, Steve Smith. Jason’s efforts allowed Steve to conserve energy and finish in 9th place out of the 60 starters. Jason finished shortly thereafter in 13th. In the Category 4 race, Chester Gillmore again showed his strength by finishing in 7th place, despite the aggressive riding by several other large teams. Steve Weixel was also in the large Category 4 race and he finished well, despite the demands of the day.

Platinum Performance Mt. Bike Team was well represented with over 20 riders for the 2008 Stump Grinder Dirt Club Winter XC, February 16, in Los Olivos. The 11 mile loop which included 1700 feet of climbing, fast winding descents, and three water crossings, proved to be a challenging course for all. The racing included one lap for all Beginner and 50+ Sport classes, while the younger Sport class and the Experts completed two laps, with the Pros turning three.

Some of the team's top results were Reny Takeda with a first place finish in the Jr.Boys Beginners race, Adam Poytress, 1st in Men's Sport 19-34, Melanie Davis taking first in the Jr. Women's, Harrison Davis with a strong second in the Jr. Men's division, Amanda Schaper placing second in the Women's sport class, Bobbi Langin and Ron Takeda finishing 1-2 in the Expert 45+, and Bob Nisbet riding hard for a second in the Expert 19 - 44 class.

The Southridge XC #3 was my first race of the season. I heard the course was tacky from the winter rain, in the best condition ever and not the usual sandy and loose terrain. So decided to get a guage on my fitness and start the season off earlier than usual. I had no idea of the course so took it easy to check it out for myself and then pick up the pace if I could the second lap.

The race for me was going to be a training ride.....I had been sick a lot this winter and just recently was rid of that and slowly gaining some fitness. Power was down a bit so wanted to find a steady zone I could maintain through the race. The course was a lot of fun.....When it dries out I can see why a few teammates crashed over the last couple of years.

Was a great day arriving at about 7:30. As the sun rose a bit the temps shot up and must have been upper 80's on the course. Perfect mid winter day IMO.

Amanda, Mike, Jamie and I represented the team today. Amanda won her class as did Jamie and Mike got a second place. I was content with 10th for my first race this year in 45-54.

The Mothballs Criterium presented by the Echelon SB Cycling Club was held on Saturday in Goleta, Ca. The course was a .65 mile D shaped loop w. two 90 degree turns. The course was flat and fast with a straight finish. Each category raced based on time from Cat 5's (beginners) doing 35 minutes to Pro Cat 1/2's doing 75 minutes of racing.

The Platinum Performance Road team had riders racing various heats. The Platinum riders showed their aggression by each putting their time in the front of the races. In the Cat 5 race, Bobby Langin Jr, Bobby Langin Sr and Chester Gillmore put the hurt on the field with relentless attacks. In the end, all three were reeled in by the pack.

In the Cat 4 race, Steve Weixel put in some strong efforts and placed 14th. Tom Anhalt took a 18th. Chester Gillmore finished mid pack. In the Masters 45+, Mark Fannell rode tough for a 4th place finish. Mark Luke, Tom Anhalt and Chris Brown controlled the peloton for Mark Fannell's break away efforts. The three fiinished in the pack. In the Pro 1/2's Gary Douville and Mark Fannell put in some attacks, but finished mid pack.

Mark Fannell's comments:
"I got into a good breakaway in the Masters 45+ race but could only manage 4th in the end. Tom A., Chris Brown, and Mark Luke did a nice job of blocking and marking any attempts from guys in the field trying to bridge up.

Only Gary, CBrown, and I did the P/1/2 race. We were active and got in lots of short-lived breaks. With about 20 minutes to go, I got into a nice move with 7 other guys and it looked like we would stay away for the win, but we got caught with less than 2 laps to go. Gary and I ended up finishing in the pack. Cody O'Reilly from SB won."

Tom Anhalt's comments:
"I was looking good in the Cat 4 race and had even won a mid-race prime. Coming down the back straight of the final lap, I jumped to cover a move on the outside of the pack...and quickly realized my blunder. I had nothing left for the sprint and didn't really contest it for the lesser places...I think I was 18th.

In the following 45+ Masters race, the plan was to try to establish Mark Fennell in a break in the latter half of the race. So, after the halfway point, I took a flyer off the front with another racer and stayed out for just under 2 laps. As the field brought us back in, Marco counterattacked and jumped with a couple of others. There was then another small group that jumped and joined up with the breakaway. At that point, Mark Luke, Chris Brown, and myself patrolled the front of the main field and marked any efforts at trying to bring the break back. It stuck, and Marco finished 4th in a group that had some beefy sprinters in it. I ended up 23rd or so, my job done ;-)"

Steve Weixel's commments:
"I came into this race with two goals: Win a prime, and a top 10 finish. The first prime I went after was for $25 but I started too far back and wasn't even close. For the wine, one guy attacked on the backside, but I was not able to counter until after the final corner, and was not quite able to close his considerable lead. That formed a sizeable gap on the field coming into the first corner, but neither of us wanted to try to use it to make a break stick with more than 5 laps to go, much to the disappointment of another guy that had just bridged up to us. He spent that whole lap dangling ahead of us, staring back to get us to make a move with him. I considered it but knew that it would destroy me, so I backed off and got swallowed back into the pack. For the rest of the race, I stayed near the front to help Tom if needed, but I ended up stuck again and was not able to do anything when he tried to counter an attack. When I was finally able to get clear I shot up the inside and recovered many places but it was only good for 14th. After the race, someone came up to me and said "I quickly realized that you guys had a plan".

Chester did the last of his 10 cat 5s races, hammering the field with the Langins, putting the hurt on the pack and keeping the pace high all race, but in the end they were all swarmed at the finish. But by some stroke of luck, he convinced the official to upgrade him, despite having already told Jr. that he wouldn't give race-day upgrades. So newly upgraded, he jumped into the 4s race with me and Tom. He took a much more conservative approach than the 5s race, except for a few attacks."

The 08' race season has officially kicked off with mtn bike races in Fontana,Ca and a three day road stage race in Southern Nevada. Fontana, Ca is the host for the Winter SouthRidge mtn bike series. This is a six race series plus the host of the 1st National Series race in late March. The weather was perfect with 70 degree temperatures, sunny and no wind. With the abundant rain made the sandy course packed down and very fast. Many said "it was the best they have seen it".

The course took the racers on a 7 mile span with lots of windy single track. Four riders from the Platinum Performance team headed down to test their early season conditioning. Ian Mcfarlane took a 1st in the expert men 18 and under class. Amanda Schaper raced to her first 1st place finish in the beginner women 34 and under class. Bobby Langin Sr has shown he has lost no conditioning from the cyclocross season and has dominated the series so far.

He had the fasted expert time on March 12th for the Southridge opener and he did it again today with another 1st place finish in the expert men 45-54 class. He was almost 10 minutes ahead of second place rider Ed Arnet! Todd Booth raced expert 34-44 and pulled out a tough 2nd place. Tim Zandbergen from Sho Air and Scott Marcoe from Trek/VW put on a tough race in the 34-44 class. Tim pulled away on the descents and I tried to reel back on the climbs. With the help of the blazing Bobby Langin Sr catching me on the second lap. We worked together to try to launch me closer to Tim. But, Tim rode strong and held a 1 minute lead over me. Thanks Bobby!

The Platinum road team headed to Nevada for the Southern Nevada "three day" Stage Race on January 25-27. Friday was Stage 1, a 20K out and back Time Trial. The road was fairly straight with only 369' of climbing. The challenge was the wind, which was in abundance! Gary Douville (Pro 1/2) pulled out an incredible time of 23:42 which put him into 3rd place! Brian Cook (Pro 1/2) was close behind in 6th place. Jason Hannon (Cat 3) road to a 21st place finish. Steve Smith (Cat 3) was just behind in 30th place. Chester Gillmore (Cat 4) placed mid pack. Steve Weixel (Cat 4) placed mid pack.

Stage 2: The .7 mile lap criterium course which takes place in the Sam Boyd Bowl parking lot. The road surface was in great shape w/o any 90 degree turns which allows for high acceleration. There was a slight rise to the back of the course. Gary Douville wanted to prove he is ready for his first Pro Cat 1/2 race. Gary rode smart and pulled out a close win over teamate Brian Book in the Pro Cat 1/2 race! This brought Gary and Brian up the overall in the GC positions. Jason Hannon pulled off a 13th. Steve Smith placed 16th in the Cat 3 race. Steve Weixel place in the mid pack of the Cat 4 race. Chester Gillmore got taken out in the final corner of his race, but was able to roll in under a pack finish time.

Stage 3: Sunday was the final stage of the race with a 51 mile road race with about 6746' of climbing. Cold and wet conditions is what the riders awoke to Sunday morning. Gary Douville (Pro 1/2) pulled off a tough 6th place finish putting him into 6th place in the GC. Brian Cook (Pro 1/2) rode strong to a 9th place finish putting him 9th in the GC. Steve Smith had an epic finish in the Cat 3's with a 4th place finish, putting him 8th in the GC. Jason Hannon (Cat 3) had a solo break most of the day, but bonked on the last climb ending up in 8th and 11th in the GC. Chester Gillmore (Cat 4) pulled out a 9th place finish and ending up 9th in the GC. Steve Weixel (Cat 4) was riding strong, but was tampered by a tire flat. He ended up 12th.

The first race of the Southridge Winter Series included new sections on the course and the tackiest dirt known to man. Platinum Performance was represented in the 45-to-54 Expert class by Bobby Langin Sr. who was happy to be on a mountain bike again after a longish cross season.

The start was delayed (probably due to the number of folks who attended) but well worth the wait as the riders were rewarded with moist, tacky track conditions and beautiful weather to boot. The 35-44 and 45-54 classes took off together.

Quickly 35-44 year-old Iain Murray and Bobby Sr. jumped out front (after a small first turn pile up) and were able to create a gap on Mountain Bike Action’s Eddie Arnet who was leading the remainder of the group. Iain eventually dropped Bobby Sr. in the second of three laps but at the beginning of the final lap, Sr. came back and was able to pass and put a minute or so on the gritty Murray by lap’s end.

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