2004 News

October 11th, 2004
CA State Series #8/Finals at Snow Summit

The Platinum Team had a great sunday with consistently strong finishes and results for the series final event. The course we raced was 18 miles of mostly sandy doubletrack with 3 sections of singletrack which proved decisive for me in the race.

After suffering at Mammoth and Tahoe, not sure whether illness, altitude, mechanicals or all the above was hampering my efforts, I pre-rode the course, then the first 5 miles again, to find a good tempo I could sustain. My main competition, Chuck,  was climbing better and beat me the last two races. Just prior to the start my rear derailleur was shifting poorly and I had to deal with it during the race, no way around it. Chuck passed me at about mile 2, and said "hello John......." which was my signal to go, so I re-passed and picked up the pace pulling in with Don and another guy who both eventually got 2nd and 3rd. I wanted to get to the singletrack ahead of slower riders knowing a couple of obstacles would cause a pileup. Almost got into trouble in two sections as a few beginners figured if the race says beginner it means you can stop and chat in the middle of the trail. Racing for final series standings was my goal and I was able to get through unscathed. A paved climb, then dirt road followed to the summit. The descent brought us to Lower Fall Line which considering the rocks was pretty smooth if you just rode it fast and stayed on line. I lucked out, making a decisive pass on the final rock section, off line, to move me up a spot in the end.

With race finishing at about 2pm it was a long afternoon with 2 award ceremonies. Overall results were really good and showed a very consistent group of racers. Amy Bowen, Jamie Goldtsein, Todd Booth, Bob Nisbet, Terry Dahl, Steve Silva, Sam Masson, Ron Takeda, Roger Moore Steve Boelter and JRG. I'm needing a few days to relax before starting all over again for 2005.

Report by John R. Goodman

photos & results

September 26, 2004
2004 NORBA Nationals at Mammoth

The weather was perfect up in Mammoth, sunny skies in the mid 70's. The altitude was hard to get used to, especially for us at sea level. I believe the race reached 10,0000 feet!

The course was fun, with lots of single track through the pine trees. The was a climb on this fire road that had to be a 13%+ grade for about a quarter to half a mile long. You were definitely in granny gear for this one! I watched Amy, Jamie and Roger suffer up it and knew I was in for a long day, especially since we had to do it twice.

In my race, the field was only about twenty to thirty riders. Most of the guys I recognized from the Cal State Series. Some were from as far as back east. I didn't know what to expect from the out of state boys. The start of the race took us straight up a road, than onto a dirt fire road for about a mile. That was a painful start! Your heart went from sixty to hundred and fifty plus beats a minute, all in two minutes of the start of the race..... I had a guy from Colorado and Georgia push the pace up the climb in the head wind. I was blown by the top of the climb, but managed to take the lead in the single track at the top of the climb. It paid off... I slowly recovered and gapped the guy from Georgia. I held the lead the whole race. Unknown to me, the guy from Colorado was slowly reeling me back in. I won, but not by much.

The team as a whole kicked butt this weekend, with Jamie getting 4th in a very competitive field, Bob N got 2nd in one of the largest fields, Amy getting 5th, Kim with a strong 4th, Steve S taking a 6th, Sam M. 8th, John G. with mechanical problems in 20th and Roger M. in 21st with a flat. Way to go team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Report by Todd

photos

September 13, 2004
CA State Series #7 at Northstar

This was the race I was dreading the most! I knew I had to do the whole 7+ hour (each way) trip in two days. I also knew this was the start to a long race month- three in a row! Tahoe, Big Bear than Mammoth all back to back. I was fortunite enough to have Steve S as a co-pilot. The drive turned out not to be the problem.

Overall the weekend was a big success! This was the first real launch of the team that I witnessed, I was out of town for Big Bear. We had a great turn out for the team. There were 10 riders to represent the Platinum team. That is impressive considering we have a total of 24 riders and the distance to Tahoe. The other team riders I spoke with were also impressed with how a new a team like this had so many strong riders, in the same town. And I'm not making that last statement up.... The Platinum racers who represented were Sam, Kim, Bob, Ryan, John G, Steve, Luke, J_____e, A_y, and myself. A huge thanks to Amber, Ryan's girlfriend for organized the condo arrangements and made a tasty pasta bowl!

Now, to the problem I mentioned before about the race, MY LUNGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never seen so much dust in my life. Plus, racing at 8 thousand feet doesn't help either. I must say, I did like the course. I finally saw some technical single tract, thank you Team Big Bear. My lungs shut down as soon as the dust kicked up. Well, I guess that was in the first mile of the race. My goal was to beat a guy in my cat named Doug U. So far he has won every race this year, except Sea Otter. I stayed with him up half the first lap, than I went into respiratory arrest. I could hardly breath! My asthma really got the best of me. Thanks to Sam's strong riding efforts, he pulled me to the finish line for second place. The race cost me a little change with TWO broken pedals (Xpedos only a week old!) and a taco rear wheel. I was wondering why my tire was totally f! lat just after the race. It was all worth it in the end. Nothing beats seeing my fellow Platinum riders kicking ass in person!!!!!!!!!

Report by Todd

September 5, 2004
2004 NORBA National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS)
XC in Durango

Last weekend was the final race of the NORBA national series in Durango. This race was really a do or die situation for me, as I needed a first or second place finish to ensure the National title. To make things interesting, I had sustained a pretty good muscle strain in my right thigh the weekend before at the Big Bear state series race. The day I was to leave, I still hadn't been on my bike to test the leg, but I decided I was committed at this point and I wasn't going to give in.

I got into the beautiful town of Durango on Thursday and headed right up to the resort to attempt a pre-ride of the course. Riding around in the parking lot, the leg feels ok, although I wrapped it so tight with an ACE bandage, that I think I had lost feeling in it completely. I start off on the course and to make things really interesting, I realize that this will be the steepest most difficult start to a race that I have ever experienced. The first 30 minutes is a granny gear gut wrenching climb straight up the mountain. On top of that, the top layer of dirt is so loose that traction is almost impossible. Needless to say, after the pre-ride I decide that this course will be very challenging. While the course is difficult, it is also short at about 13 miles. However, at a starting point of 8,500 feet, oxygen deprivation will definitely be an issue.

That night, lying in bed awake at 2 in the morning (as is usual for me the night before a race), I make a definitive race plan up in my head. For the first time ever, I am going to go out from the start gun and race for second place! Heck, second will be enough to secure the overall victory, and I will be less likely to injure my leg further if I am racing for second place.

The next morning I am confident with my strategy, but feel very nauseous which is also customary for me before a big race. I call my husband Jamie for words of encouragement and then head off for my warm-up. The leg feels pretty good, I'm ready to go!

At the starting line I pick out the other gals in my age group and get ready to go. They start us in a gravel pit, which I somehow got the worst of. The gun goes off and my front wheel moves about an inch in the deep gravel. Damn! Now I am looking at catching up to the rest of the field. As the climb starts, I start to slowly pass other riders, keeping a close eye on the numbers on their legs as this tells me which age group they are in. I've made my way up to the second place girl as I can see the first place gal has already formed a small gap ahead of us. Ok, now I will sit with this racer until the agonizing climb is over. Race for second I tell myself.

About 40 minutes into the race I make my move and start to slowly creep away from the now third place rider. Now I am feeling pretty confident, the leg doesn't hurt, and the best part of the course is to come; the downhill. We actually get to ride down the bottom half of the Super D course, and what a blast! With tight switchbacks, drop-offs, log crossings, this section is fun. The grin is also starting to appear on my face, as I know I am just minutes away from my first National Championship title. I look back several more times before the finish line to ensure no one is coming to steal my glory. I am over the finish line with a loud "Whooooooo!" I'm sure others are wondering why the excitement as I was no-where near the leaders, but they didn't know I had just captured the National Championship! Sometimes racing for second place isn't so bad.

Report by Amy Bowen

August 22, 2004
Snow Summit CA Series Race #6

The California State Series resumed action this weekend, August 22, after a break of nearly 2 months with the second State Series race up at Big Bear of the season. Am Cup #3 is traditionally a shorter course so to do well team members relied on explosive speed and tactical skills rather than pure endurance.

Overall, the team did well, with three riders on the podium in the Expert field and one rider on the podium in the Sport field. In addition, some team members learned valuable lessons, which include:

Mistake #1: Believe that since you got a flat in the previous race, it couldn't possibly happen twice in a row!

Mistake #2: In spite of strong advice from Jamie that you should go tubeless after getting the first flat, procrastinate and do not make the change to tubeless before the race (see mistake #1).

Mistake #3: Only bring one CO2 cartridge with you so that you only get about 25-30 psi into the tube to finish the remaining 16 miles of the race (got the flat in the second mile of the race)

Mistake #4: begin filling CO2 before installing tire back on rim thereby losing another 5 psi!!! (and time)

Mistake #5: Pout about the fact that you got a flat for the rest of race saying over and over again in your head that "life is not fair"

Mistake #6: Drink a couple of beers on the way home after the race to drown your sorrows only to get a dehydrated and a stomach ache!

Report by Jamie Goldstein

July 18, 2004
Exciting Racing at Semana Nautica

The Team was out in full force for the 2004 Semana Nautica Short Course X/C Event in Santa Barbara...........Full report to follow shortly. Click here for photos.

July 18, 2004
Women's Only Downhill and X/C at Big Bear

After an exciting Women's Only Weekend at Snow Summit in Big Bear, Kim Lyons came home with sixth place in cross country and second in downhill. Sondra Williamson added a second place in cross country and a third in downhill to her wins for 2004. These events were not sanctioned, but were good training for upcoming races.

The cross country race was a short one, approximately nine miles in length. The first half included a short section of fireroad that led into a steady climb on singletrack. The last half was a fast fireroad leading downhill to the finish. At the start of the race Sondra knew she needed to get a quick start, because of the short distance. As the race began, she, along with the first place finisher, took off smokin'. Never looking back, Sondra and the leader dropped the remaining fourteen riders and didn't see them again until the race was over.

The downhill event took place on Westridge Trail and each rider had only one run to show their speed and skills. After doing many practice runs during the skills clinic the day before, every rider knew what to expect and were well prepared to battle the clock. At the race start, each contender was let loose down the mountain at thirty second intervals. Sondra, riding a Specialized Demo 9, was number four out of the gate and therefore did not have to worry about passing up slower riders ahead. This ended up being a problem for many of the riders further back in the lineup. When it came to Kim’s turn, she made a flawless run on her Specialized Stumpjumper FSR.

The adrenalin rush of screaming down the mountain as fast as you can while jumping off rocks and tree

stumps, maneuvering through technical rocky sections and getting air off the table top jumps, has both Kim and Sondra looking forward to continuing racing downhill in the future.

Report by Sondra Williamson

Click here for photos.