2016 Sea Otter Classic – 2nd Place Cat 1 XC – by Ron Shevock
Thank you for letting me sleep with you last night. It’s always warmer and cozier for me that way when you just fall asleep with your headphones on and don’t bother to take me out. I can never hear what you’re listening to, but whatever it was, it must have been good. You don’t often dream of being young again, but last night you did and I got to see people from your past that I hadn’t seen before. I’m not sure what they were saying to you, but I could feel it make you warmer. Sponge Dog was in there too, I think he was standing watch over something, or someone, but he was keeping an eye on you like always does. There were shadows of other dogs running all around him, and they eventually lay down beside him and watched you too.
When you close your eyes, you project your thoughts and memories onto your eyelids like a movie screen and I have front row seats. As you drifted toward sleep, it was fun replaying the course over and over again that you took me to see the other day; I couldn’t wait for you to ride it faster, full gas, like all those other rides you’ve taken me on. Those rides where everything except for the trail becomes a blur. Those rides where you stare right through me with even more focus and vigor than you usually do. Those rides where your green iris’s supernova, let it all in, and I can look back and see the fire burning bright as ever behind your eyes.
These past few days here have been sweet. That chill ride along the coast you took me on Saturday was something special. You were taking it all in.
When you blink you’re snapping pictures into memory and I can look back through your eyes and see them get piled up in the corner with all of the others. You placed these on right on top. And then watching Tofor do so well in his race today was killer. It was a bummer that he flatted, but hey that’s racing. Even I know that. Hopefully people saw what he’s capable of before that happened. Hopefully he saw it too. That was a great sunset out there today too…maybe the best one you’ve shown me yet.
It’s almost like you knew it would be my last one.
You probably didn’t see it coming, but today was my last day. I had it planned for awhile. We were together what, like three months, and I knew it was just my time to go. I’ve gotten a little rough around the edges; and was doing you no favors with all of this springtime pollen around right now, and I could tell you’ve been a little irritated with me.
You’ve been wearing your glasses so much these days.
From how much I’ve watched you think about these trails, I’m thinking that today’s race might be important and maybe it’s not the best day for me to jump ship like this. But I know you can handle it. And it’s not like I’m going very far, I’ll still be right there watching. I just need to go out on my own terms and this is the best way I know how. I’ve watched you consider such things yourself so I know you’ll understand.
Yet you always seemed to just look right through me.
I probably could have picked a better place to jump off, but I had to wait until things got moving…at least until you got off the paved racetrack and onto the dirt. When I knew you would just react and leave me be, and keep on rolling. Besides, from watching you stare at the trail maps, I knew that fast rutted dirt road descent was called Lookout Canyon Rd, and I just love the obscure irony in that. I be all like “Ha! LOOKOUT!”.
When I jumped and landed perfectly on the inside of your sunglasses, I looked back at you and boy did you look surprised! It was FUNNY! I had to do it in a spot where you wouldn’t be able to take your hands off of the bars. Your eyes got so wide I could still look back through them and I saw connections firing that you didn’t even know you had. But I knew you had them. I’ve seen them fire before.
But then I saw all those other guys pass you and I felt kind of bad. For a while there it really seemed to affect you. You just stayed behind that one guy on all of that fun looking singletrack! You weren’t even riding it much faster than you rode it the other day! And that group of five other guys just took off! Like they were gone in a real hurry! I kept waiting for you to chase them but saw that you needed a moment to yourself. It wasn’t long before even I couldn’t see them up ahead anymore and believe me; I can see a lot better than you.
I kind of wanted you to stop again at those cool looking rock formations that you took me to the last time we were here, but I knew you couldn’t.
That was where you finally moved around that one guy you were following and I started to really feel the wind through my pores. This is what I was waiting for! I looked back and saw that you said something to that guy, but he just stared back and I watched him slowly disappear. I looked up into your eyes and they were full blast.
I wondered if you knew I was still there watching.
I didn’t know if you could see it or not, but I started to see a dust cloud just ahead from that lead group. You seemed too busy to notice; you were trying to straighten out the turns in the trail and were just bashing your arms and bars through the overgrown branches like they weren’t even there and I’m really glad you didn’t go down. Did you even see all those erosion ruts all over the trail? That got a little intense there. The dust cloud ahead billowed bigger, closer, thicker; and then there they were.
Your eyes filled with soft relief when you saw them but you stayed on it. I saw you thinking about how you could potentially make up a little time on the sandy run-up and sure enough you were able to pass that one guy and it seemed that was when all the other guys realized you had reattached yourself. That was cool, glad I was there for that. Those two guys who wouldn’t let you pass on the singletrack while the front three powered away was a little worrisome but holy crap, when the trail opened back up you sure did start smashing! Just like those loopy neighborhood lunch rides you’ve taken me on. That fire in your eyes now was FRIGGING BRIGHT. I thought you were going to let up after passing those two, but then you bridged up to the lead three and snuck in front of them too just before the next singletrack started. That made me smile.
I looked back and saw that it made you smile too.
It was pretty sick being on the front for that. Even closer to the action than I normally would have been. You were moving pretty well but I did get a little worried when you eventually waved the other two around. Your face relaxed a bit when you were following their tires on the downhill stuff. The way you relax when you take me out.
You probably needed to relax a little anyway.
When you guys merged with all those other riders, things sure kicked up a notch and that dust was intense. I really don’t know how you were able to see. I could barely see a thing, and that’s saying something. That one guy riding the black hard tail really seemed to pour it on here. I think I saw fire in HIS eyes. I kept waiting for you to climb back to him but you never did. The fire was still in your eyes, but now more crackling campfire than funeral pyre. The third rider behind you slowly disappeared.
As you pedaled off the dirt and returned onto the racetrack, I looked back up into your eyes and saw you replaying the terrible crash that you had here last year over and over. I don’t think I had seen that memory yet. The one that cracked your helmet and broke off your saddle. The little room where you kept that memory has always been a bit smoky, but it seemed to be clearing out a bit now; as if someone finally opened a window. You took your hands off the bars and soft pedaled the entire home stretch. I saw you replaying all the rides we did together this year. The fast ones. The hard ones. The lonely ones. The long ones that brought you here. The ones we both know you really don’t have the time for.
You were smiling.
And now my last memory: You finally take off your glasses and see me still sitting there. YES I’M STILL HERE! I’m cold, dusty, and brittle; I’m done. But the soft glowing coals in your eyes warm me one last time.
I think now for the first time,
instead of looking right through me,
you are finally noticing me.
2015 Tahoe-Sierra 100 Mile MTB Race – 1st Place Overall
Only a few days have passed since the 2015 edition of the Tahoe-Sierra 100 MTB race, and I’ve already lost track of how many times I’ve opened up my laptop, fully intending to write this race report, only to stare at a blank screen struggling with where to start. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind for me since the race ended this past Saturday. After an all too brief pit stop at home for the night after the race, my post-race recovery sleep was interrupted by the sound of my alarm at 4:30 AM Sunday so I could catch an early morning flight out to Boston for a few days of business travel.
Even still, I’ve tried several times to pop open this laptop and start writing, only to stare at a blank screen with empty thoughts. I thought writing this race report would be easy. Easy, because I won. Easy, because everything finally went right for me in this race. Easy, because my race wasn’t affected by my contact lens popping out like it has at the Annual Cool MTB Race in March. Easy, because my race wasn’t ruined by a malfunctioning clutch derailleur like it had in the Napa Valley Dirt Classic in April. Easy, because I didn’t go from 2nd place to 5th by crashing so bad at the Sea Otter Classic that I broke myself saddle off, cracked my helmet, gave myself a slight concussion and had to finish the race standing up the whole way. Easy, because I didn’t taco my wheel in a crash like what happened at the Lost and Found 100 Miler in May. And easy, because I didn’t get completely crushed by the high altitude like what happened to me at USAC XC Nationals in Mammoth in July.
I guess trials and tribulations give better material to write about.
I also find it kind of hard to write about a win without coming off sounding like a jerk. When in reality, the way I feel is best summed up here by one of my favorite bands/songwriters lately, James Snyder from Beach Slang where he says at the beginning of this acoustic recording: “I feel like a kid who got invited to a party that he has nooo business being at”…Somthing like that….
Anyway, here at the Tahoe-Sierra, things just went smooth. We lined up at the start behind the Summit Restaurant in Soda Springs for our 6 AM start and the pavement start toward Ice Lakes Lodge starting calm and well enough. Racers chit chatting about what is to come and spinning lightly in the cold early morning light. And then just 50 yards or so before we hit the dirt, two Team Chico riders, Rich Thurman and Aren Timmel (both former Tahoe-Sierra 100 winners themselves) picked up the pace and separated themselves a bit. So naturally I bridged up and grabbed their wheels and just like that the three of us were off together down the first decent of Soda Springs Rd.
Rich and Aren held pace down the decent with me following their lines closely being careful not to flat on the many hidden rocks buried in the moon dust. I choose a risky tire combination this year and wanted to be extra careful here at the beginning. Normally, I’d go with some solid, durable trail worthy tires as the course is known to destroy rubber…but this year, I took a risk and went with a Schwalbe Rocket Ron in front and a Thunder Burt in the rear. Both pure XC tires. The Rocket Ron certainly has grip for loose conditions but it’s sidewalls are very thin. Same with the Burt. Pure XC lightweight, pinner tires. I carried 3 tubes with me expecting many flats, but hoping for the best.
We got to the bottom of the descent all together and then I rolled to the front setting pace, glancing down at my power meter from time to make sure I wasn’t going anywhere near the “too hard” mark. Then a few minutes later, as the grade began to kick up I looked back expecting to see Aren and Rich right on my wheel but they were already a few hundred yards back. “Huh….am I going too hard to early?”, I thought, then glanced down at my wattage numbers and confirmed it was a manageable pace and saw no need to back off.
And then just like that, they were gone and I was off the front.
Alone, just 30 minutes in.
And it stayed that way for the next 8 hours.
My tires rolled fast and didn’t flat. I blasted through the first aid station without stopping (just checked in my number and out), and then I rolled into Aid 2 at Robinson Flat in just a smidge under 2 hours and basically just rolled right through that as well. Then blasted down Cavanaugh Ridge as quickly as I could, and onto Aid 3 at Dusty Corners. Here the helpful volunteers cleaned and lubed my chain while I took a leak, then grabbed a PB&J square and wolfed that down before the single track of Pucker Point.
Pucker Point went fine except for the COWS. I rounded a corner and came face to face with a small herd of four cows standing right in the middle of the singletrack and I skidded to a stop and we all just stood there staring at each other no more than 20 feet away. I rang my bell. They shook their heads and stamped their feet and rang the bells around their necks but they didn’t move. It was really funny and wanted to take my camera out, but I really had no idea how much of a gap I had to any chasers so I just wanted to keep moving. I basically had to get off my bike and run around the cows and eventually they ran away too and it probably only cost me a minute of stoppage time at most.
The loose singletrack of Pucker Point soon ended and I found myself on a dirt road looping back toward the Dusty Corners aid station again which pulled double duty as aid 4. I quickly came upon them, rang my bell to get their attention and shouted my number out, and then just continued on up what I thought ended up being one of the toughest sections of the course…a big long 10-ish mile climb through deep dust on torn up logging roads. This slowed my pace down considerably, but I was still able to make it to the half way mark, back at Robinson Flat Aid station at mile 51 in just a little bit over 4 hours.
It was here I ran into my buddy Jeff Barker who graciously took a few pics, and then cleaned and lubed my chain while I refilled some bottles and slugged down a bottle of coke.
Rolling into Robinson Flat half way aid station
No one seemed sure what my gap was to the chasers so I rolled out as quickly as I could and began the rough descent down the Western States singletrack toward Duncan Canyon, and the Poppy Trail singletrack that hugged the northern edge of French Meadows Reservoir.
I didn’t think I was riding these parts very fast, and I thought FOR SURE I was going to get caught here, but I saw no one as I exited the last bit of trail and into the campgrounds at the far end of the lake. From there I rolled down to the Aid Station 6 at the bottom of Red Star (mile 64) and I finally got my first time split to the chasers that I had heard all day. They said “well, we think you’ve been holding about 15 minutes on 2nd place since the first aid station”. That was a surprise and a relief. I was starting to get a little tired, and knew that I had some big climbs right in front of me, but I knew that I was climbing well lately and the last 30 or so miles of the course would suit me just fine.
So from there it was literally just put my head down, pedal, and try not to screw anything up. Luckily I was able to do just that, and rolled into the finish in about 8 hours and 29 minutes total time according to my Garmin to take the win.
Rich Thurman from Chico ended up rolling in some time after to hold down 2nd place, and then I think it was Alex Work from Rock Lobster for 3rd. Someone else I didn’t know snuck in for 4th. And Aren Timmel rolled in for 5th…I think…results are not up yet, so can’t double check. (EDIT: Results are now up here: http://northlanderevents.com/results-tahoe-sierra/4588066079)
At the end of the day it is a bitter sweet victory. I’m glad that my name can be added to the list of Tahoe-Sierra 100 winners. And I guess I’m now the only rider to take wins in both the Single Speed category (2012), as well as an overall win, but unfortunately, this is the last edition of this race in it’s current form. For next year, this race is moving to a new different location in a slightly different format (i.e. 3 x 33 mile giant loops). I won’t get into the reasons why here, but I sure am going to miss the remoteness and ruggedness of the Tahoe-Sierra 100 in the form that it’s existed in since 2008. But change can be good, and knowing Jim Northey inclination for “hard” races, I’m sure the new format won’t be…..easy.
Thanks for reading –
Ron Shevock
2015-05-20 California State Championships Race Report by Tofor Lewis
This last weekend I made my final trip of the year down to SoCal to race my bike. The high school racing series which began in February was coming to a close with one last race. The California State Championship! A battle between the northern conference and the southern conference. A race which always hosts the fastest high school riders in the state and the competition never fails to impress. This year the race was to be held in Los Olivos, on a course I was foreign to.
Typical of the Lewis family we left the house an hour later than originally planned on Saturday morning and began the 7 hour drive down. We arrived slightly later but still with enough to time for me to get a couple laps in and study the course. I had a quick meeting with my coach to talk strategy and then grabbed some dinner and headed to the hotel to rest up.
I woke up well rested, motivated, and ready to go! I lined up at the start 15 min prior to the race and began to get my self ready mentally for the battle ahead. Glancing around at the familiar faces, I knew that this race would not be easily won, I also knew I had what it takes to win it. I was lined up around 45-50 places back since I had missed some of the races throughout the year. This meant that I needed a very fast start in order to catch the front 10 guys before the first climb. The race went off and I immediately began mashing the pedals.
I worked my way to the outside and started working my way up the pack, picking guys off one by one. About half way to the climb I glanced down at my Garmin and noticed my screaming heart rate. Knowing the race wasn’t going to be won in the first lap, I decided to slide into the group. I hit the climb in about 20th place. The first major climb consisted of 4 steep switchbacks followed by a gradual 100 meter climb to the summit. Being that the group was so close together, the climb was pretty slow. The rest of the first lap I just focused on inching my way closer and closer to the front pack of about 12 who were starting to pull away but still giving my legs some quick rest time on the descents.
In the last kilometer of the race I made a strong effort and bridged the 15 second gap between the couple guys I was stuck behind and the lead pack…I had made it. This was a relief to me, I now just had to settle in and wait for guys to start popping off. As we made our way through the second lap the pace began to pick up and like I had thought guys began dropping like flies. By the beginning of the third lap there was just 4 of us. The pace was defnitley strong and I was starting to feel my legs but I knew the rest of the group was in the same position so I told them to “shut up” kept pushing on. This group was strong. I had raced all but one of them before and it had been so close every time so I knew that this race may come down to a sprint.
The last lap we all tried breaking each other but none of us would give in. I sat in around third most of the lap and waited for the right time to attack. With about a kilometer to go I made the pass into first and hammered the pedals. I made the last descent into the straightaway and gave it all I had maintaining first place. I could see the finish line and taste victory. However, the race was not over. I came into the very last turn slightly too fast and lost traction hitting the ground hard. I scrambled to my feet only to watch my three competitors pass me up. I rolled into the finish in fourth place and extremely disappointed. I was seconds away from being the state champion and I let it slip from my grasp. Huge props to the other 3 guys though, they are animals and it was anybody’s race. Now its time to rest up and get some road racing in before heading up to Canada with USA Cycling in June. Thank you all for your continuous support! God Bless!
2015-05 Boggs MTB Race Report by Debby Sullivan
Oh Boggs, where do I begin? This race had been on my list of bike races since moving out here. I actually decided to do it last year but I was a day late in the decision because the race had sold out. Well, this year I planned on it and got registered right away.
Apparently I am a special kind of crazy because I not only decided to do the 8-hour solo but I figured if I am doing that I might as well throw in a hill climb on Fri and a Super D on Saturday and race in the whole Funduro. Yeah! My better half decided to split it with a friend and go the 2-man team route. We hooked up with some Folsom bike teammates who so graciously saved us a spot to lay our tent and provide some good info and good times camping.
We made it out Fri afternoon and by the time we set up camp and got things figured out I had to head over and race the hill climb. At some point I had hoped to take a lap of the course beforehand as a warm-up but there was no time for that. So, I got right down to the nitty gritty hill climb. Ouch. Those just hurt. After burning my lungs out, I hacked my way back down to the camp area and jumped on the podium in 2nd place for Pro women. I figured I would hang out with the family and take it easy after that and not even try to get a lap on the course.
Our pit crew of kids, still an hour til start.
The main race day came and we all got ready to get out there. We had a great set up with the Folsom Bike tent and pit area right at our campsite. It was just past the main area where you came through the laps and worked great! All our kids playing and cheering and people hanging in our own area. Well, I got to the line and started somewhere in the middle of the mass. I didn’t really want to start right on the line. While it would have been nice to get out in front of a lot of people, I also wanted to just sit tight on that lap and take it easy. I knew I would go too hard if I was on the front. My plan was a nice easy lap and then to do my second lap as a race lap and then just try to ride strong the rest of the race. For the Funduro they add your fastest lap to your hill climb and Super D times, so I needed a fast lap. So, that is what I did. Worked well since the whole first lap was just a train and I got to see the course. Second lap I went for it, blowing by alot of guys along the way. That was the only lap I didn’t take bacon. After that I refueled and settled in for the long haul. Ashlyn gave me some encouraging cheers each time I came through. Around lap 5 I was stopped eating something and she just asked me what I was doing. Why I was standing there? Love that girl.
The end of lap three and the beginning of 4 were really a bit painful but I just kept trucking. Laps continued to get a bit slower and slower.
Oh, but bacon!! I lived for that bacon each lap, and everytime I went past the sign that said “8.9 miles to more bacon” I wanted to rip it out! I love bacon and I loved my Osmo. I don’t think I have ever loved it more.
Finally, I was at lap 6. Now, I knew I had till 5 o’clock to finish but I was thinking that was 8 hours. So in my delirium of lap 6, only looking at my Garmin time and not at time of day I thought I was done. There was no way I could complete another lap (I thought). What I wasn’t thinking about was that I actually had 9 hours to ride to finish the lap. It just had to be started by the 8 hr mark. I had told myself I would need a good 1:15 to make it safely around another lap.
So, I just settled in and plodded through that 6th lap thinking how tired, done, and maybe slightly relieved that I wouldn’t need to go around again. Well, I came through the lap and there was Drew yelling an update.
“You have the fastest lap of the day, and you will be down by less than 1 minute if you can complete your 7th lap! You have 1:12! You gotta go!!” Until this point in time I really had no idea where I was at all so it was all news.
Ugh! My mind began to reel a bit as I started riding again. Do I go for it? I don’t know if I can make it around that fast. As, I began, the course guy yelled to me me “If you’re gonna go, you gotta GO!” Ooof what to do? I rode to our pit, no way I could go without another Osmo! I looked at Ron and said something about what am I doing?? He jumped in and grabbed me a full bottle as I stood there reeling and confused and said “Yes, Drew was just here and you have to GO!”
So, I tried to wrap my mind around it and get going knowing I would have to go hard now. I had to walk the technical spot as I have no skills at this point and then I was just trying to get moving and I crashed on a loose corner. I picked myself up. It was not a bad crash, but I thought to myself “Really, you should just turn around now and go back, no way you can make it”. Then I got back on my bike and I went for it. I pushed and pushed and tried to ride smooth. I was thinking man, this will really suck if I don’t make it and this lap doesn’t count. I gave it all I had and pushed over the last climb. Once I got over I looked at my watch and knew it would be close but it was all downhill. So, I let it rip. I came up behind one guy on my way down “I gotta go!” I yelled and flew by. He yelled encouragements to me “you got it!” I came through the last tight switchbacks and I could hear a loud roar at the finish I only hoped I was making it, I came around the corner and the roar died…. Silence, or so it seemed in my head, as I looked up at the clock just past5:00.
I missed it by 3 seconds. Really?? Unbelievable.
I rode 80.5 miles and 11,400 in vertical with 8:45 of moving time but that last 11 doesn’t count because I was 3 seconds too slow 🙂
The look of filthy disbelief.
I was second overall and sat just a couple minutes back in the overall All mountain. I was so grateful to have some good food a beer and some rest sitting and enjoying the evening around the campfire with great people.
Oh, but I still had to ride back up the hill and do the Super D on Sun! That was fun. There was way too much pedaling in that super D!
Turns out that last lap didn’t matter at all! It would have given me a minute on the competition so I would have been less than a minute down overall. But she beat me in the Super D anyway!!
Drew kept asking if I was mad at him for making me do another lap. The answer was definitely not. Despite how badly I did not want to do another lap, I learned that I had more left in me than I thought. I don’t think either of us actually thought I would even come that close to getting it. So, while it was crushing at the time I am glad I had the perseverance to push through one more lap, and to push hard. Never give up.
Photo credit: Culture Pop http://culturepop.smugmug.com/MountainBiking/Boggs-2015
Photo credit: Culture Pop http://culturepop.smugmug.com/MountainBiking/Boggs-2015
2015-13-04 – Napa Valley Dirt Classic – Race Report by Ron Shevock
There is an indie pop-punk band from my former hometown of Philadelphia, PA called Beach Slang that I have been listening to a ton lately. They came across my radar as I’ve listened to each of the band members respective previous bands going back 15 years or so now to my college days (edit: um, possibly 20 years….). So it was interesting to hear what these guys are up too lately and even with a grand total of just two 7″ releases to date, these eight songs are so have found regular rotation on my playlists lately with their raw un-produced sound, catchy hooks, and heart-on-sleeve lyrics.
So at races, I tend to always get a song stuck in my head that sort of becomes my mantra during the race and this year’s version of the Napa Valley Dirt Classic was no different. These songs serve the conflicting roles of both calming my nerves and also firing up and motivating me. The song for me for this year was Beach Slang’s “Punk or Lust” off of their Who Could Ever Want Anything so Broken 7″.
Specifically, there is an infectious anthemic, line at the 1 minute mark that goes: “THIS MACHINE. LET IT BLEED. LET IT EXPLODE!”.
(link directly to lyric at 1 minute mark)
Anyway, having a mantra of “This machine. Let it bleed. Let it explode” sung in my head over and over again may have been a poor choice for this race as I have suffered extremely bad luck each and every time I have done this race. For example, let’s look at my Strava titles for all of the Napa Valley races I’ve ever done:
2011 – “NVDC MTB Race – Made Wrong Turn, Rode in Circles, Doubled Back a Few Miles UGH”
(2012 – skipped race, was probably still lost riding in circles)
2013 – “NVDC MTB Race – 2nd Pro SS (Broken Chain Cost Me First UGH)”
2014 – “NVDC MTB Race – Mechanicals and Speeding Tickets, Not My Day UGH”
2015 – “Napa Valley Mechanical Classic UGH”
So each time I have done this race, I have had a mechanical that negatively impacted my race, or even when I didn’t have a mechanical, I made a wrong turn and got lost…..
Bit of a broken record. UGH.
So singing “This Machine. Let it Bleed. Let it Explode!”….was a great mantra to shout it my head as the gun went off and our Cat 1 class hit the gas up the start line pavement and I got impatient as no one out of our group of 40 or so REALLY seemed to want to hit it so I exploded to the front, took the holeshot, and led the charge onto the dirt and up the first climb stretching the field out until the mandatory run-up climb where I slowed then and allowed for a group of 6 or 7 of us to come back together so I had other riders to work with through the next flat and fast sections.
“This Machine. Let it Bleed. Let it EXPLODE!”…was a great anthem to shout at myself as our group bled watts, poured sweat, and shed a few more riders off our backs and we were down to myself, Curtis Smith from BP, Cole Davis from Limitless Cycling/Folsom Bike, and two other riders that I did not know. I believe just Curtis and myself were in the same Cat 1 35-44 age group, so I was stoked that we were leaving others in our wake and so I just kept on shouting…..
“This Machine. Let it Bleed. Let it EXPLODE!”….and kept pushing. kept smashing as my quads flared in pain soaring up hills and singletrack to stay with the group, and push the pace over the whoops section and through all the super fun shady leafy singletrack on this classic MTB’ers course.
“This Machine. Let it Bleed. Let it EXPLODE!”….while on the edge of control, drifting turns fast with tires hooking up in just the last seconds before disaster. Hurting, but feeling good knowing that everyone else here is hurting too…we’re in this together. Smash, smash, smash.
“This Machine. Let it Bleed. Let it……”….ah #$@! it DID explode! On a choppy high speed straightway, about an hour into the race, I was downshifting and smashing pedals chasing Curtis’s wheel when the chain went flying off.
UGH
“This Machine…”…..”it is bleeding, it has exploded” I said to myself as I looked closer and noticed that the chain was not just off, but it was kinked 4x’s around itself and the derailleur was out of whack.
“This damn machine”, I quietly muttered to myself as I burnt 7 – 8 minutes or so un-kinking, re-kinking, and finally untangling for good the chain and then got the derailleur back in line and in functioning order. I’m not sure how many people passed me by on the trail. A lot. Curtis would go on to win our age category and Cole just edged him up putting up the fastest Cat 1 time of the day.
UGH.
So for my next mantra, the Beach Slang song stuck in my head, for the remainder of my “race” was:
“This city sleeps in a pattern of broken junk, but nights like this, it don’t matter. All this dirty fun”
(link directly to lyric at 20 second mark)
Roughly translated paraphrased and interpreted into: “These races sleep in a pattern of broken junk, but rides like this, it don’t matter. All this is just dirty fun”
Ended up 9th out of 18th after all of that.
UGH.
Next up, Sea Otter Classic.
EDIT: Bonus, more Beach Slang tunes. Intimate acoustic set via NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts:
http://www.npr.org/event/music/398529066/beach-slang-tiny-desk-concert
2015-03-29 – TBF MTB Celebration Race Report – 1st Place Pro Open by Ron Shevock
Yesterday, TBF Racing held it’s 5th (!) and final MTB race of the Winter/Spring series. Since these races start so early in the year (first race occurs in mid-January), and I needed a little bit of a break following a long cyclocross season that also stretched into January, I’ve only attempted to show up to the last two races to see how the legs are feeling.
The first race I showed up for a few weeks ago wasn’t a good indicator as I burped a tire on lap 2 and basically DNF’d, so with this one I was just hoping to put in a strong training effort, and finish the race.
Bike Setup:
Giant XTC Advanced SL 29’er
SRAM XX1 Drivetrain with a a 36T front chainring matted to a Quarq powermeter
RockShox SID XX World Cup front fork (100mm boosted to 120mm)
Nox Composites XCR-29 wheelset
Continental Mtn King front tire
Maxxis Ikon EXO 2.2 rear
Link to my Strava File:
https://www.strava.com/activities/276061912
Lap 1:
The race was 4 laps of a 6.5 mile singletrack circuit with a long gravel start and finish sprint from the timing arch along the shores of Folsom Lake. As usual I got a bad start and in the first few hundred meters of gravel found myself mid-pack and boxed in but I wanted to get to end of this gravel in the lead so I could be first into the singletrack. Halfway down I was able to break outside and hit the gas to launch to the front and create some separation before the singletrack.
After settling down a few moments later, I noticed that it was already just myself and two other racers peeling away off the front with the other two being the brotherly duo of Curtis and David Duncan. Satisfied with that separation, I let up a little and the 3 of us rode up to the bench and then down through the next few miles of rolling singletrack towards the Beek’s Bight parking lot.
As we hit the parking lot, I knew I didn’t want to be responsible for pulling all 3 of us around all morning so having a hunch that one of the two Duncan’s would gladly accept a pass if I swung wide in the parking lot to forego the curbside bunnyhop jump back onto the trail, I did just that and rolled back onto the dirt via the slighly longer route through the boulders. Sure enough, just I’m doing that both Curtis and David both take the faster line popping the curb and then hit the gas. Perfect 🙂 I then jumped on their tires, let them set the pace a bit and watched their lines. For the remainder of this first lap, we stayed together and Curtis was at the front setting a pretty high pace.
Lap 2:
The three of us rounded the corner beginning the second lap all together and it was here that David moved to the front. Then it was Curtis, then me. We rolled through some flat singletrack twisters and my sixth sense began barking at me that these two guys, being brothers, could possibly try to work together to drop me. So just as I’m thinking this, whether intentional or not, it seemed as though Curtis left off the gas a little and David was pulling away. Not wanting any part of those (potential) tactics, I kind of forced a pass around Curtis and then jumped right back on David’s tire to avoid any blocking.
David kept up the pace as we went through the neutral water station on the pavement and I looked back and noticed that Curtis was beginning to drift backwards. So what I thought earlier could have been team tactics, was more of Curtis just backing off the pace a bit. From there on out, our gap grew and it was just David and I racing together for the remainder of the race.
Lap 3:
This lap was fairly uneventful. David and I stuck together, trading places here and there. The only meaningful event that occurred to me on this lap was during our climb back up to the bench. The middle of this climb tips downward for just a bit through a pretty fun rock garden. It’s nothing crazy technical, but if you hit it just right you can create a small gap causing other riders to burn a match to catch back up and I was able to do exactly just that here.
For those of you on the team that attended our little MTB clinic at Granite Bay back in February, this is the first section that we stopped at to spend some time practicing on and discussing lines. Here is an example of when practicing on the MTB really did help!
After riding through this rock garden I glanced back and noticed that I had created a bit of a gap between us (#foreshadowing). For a second, I toyed with the idea of just gunning it right there trying to drop David. But with another lap and a half to go, I thought I’d wait, and settle for David having to burn some energy to catch back up.
Lap 4:
So now on the last lap, we started the climb to the bench one more time with David in the lead setting the pace. With what I learned by going through the upcoming rock garden section at the front of mind, I snuck around David and made the pass just before we started the short descent into the rock garden and then tried to fly through this section as quick as I could.
After the rocks I glanced over my shoulder and saw that I may have had an even bigger gap this time then I did on the previous lap, and so NOW it was go time. I stepped up the pace a bit and started to put some distance between us.
For the remainder of lap 4 I just tried to keep the pace high, and not make any mistakes. Working smoothly around lapped traffic without delay and being careful not to totally blow myself out just in case I needed something in reserve for the end if David happened to catch back up. But luckily I was able to maintain that gap to the finish and hold on for the win. David cruised in behind me just 40 seconds or so back so it was good that I didn’t let up the pace too much as I would have been upon me in an instant. David is super fun to race against and is getting faster and faster so he’ll be threat to keep an eye on for the remainder of the year!
Next up…..some good ol’fashioned mid-week Prairie City racing starting Wednesday and then some USAC races in April with Napa Valley Dirt Classic and the Sea Otter Classic where I want to try and qualify for XC Nationals in July.
23rd Annual Cool MTB Race Report by Ron Shevock
23rd Annual Cool MTB Race – 2nd Place Pro
2015-02-08 TBF MTB Classic Race Report by Tofor Lewis
TBF MTB Classic Race Report
By: Tofor Lewis
I have always loved racing the TBF MTB series. They are some of my first mountain bike races of the season and are a perfect guide to show how my training is going so far and what I need to improve on or focus more on. Also, who doesn’t enjoy going out and ripping granite bay with some of the fastest guys around? Well, it was safe to say I went into this first TBF race without really knowing what to expect out of myself. I have been training really hard and diligently for the past 3-4 months but with goals of doing well much later in the season, so this race was just a test on my body. Like normal I rolled into the Granite Bay parking lot much later than I was expecting and began rushing to throw my new Folsom Bike kit on (which looks SICK) and hop on my bike for a quick warm-up. After spinning around for a whopping 10 min I worked my way to the starting line and settled into the pack, my race would go off in 3 min. As I glanced around at the field of riders I was slightly surprised that none of the local rippers showed up. I didn’t have to worry about Ronanimal (Ron Schevock) or the human highlighter (Clint Claasen) that normally show up to rip my legs off. I still had no idea what kind of shape these riders were in and decided I would just kind of sit in for a while and get a feel for the group. The race started and like normal a couple of my high school teammates took off at a crazy pace. Not wanting to immediately destroy myself I grabbed a wheel and sat in around 4th place. I slowly moved up into the second position by the time we reached the first climb up to park bench. I took a quick look over my shoulder and was surprised to see the bright orange helmet and kit of Jason Perez. I wasn’t sure how I missed him at the start because he has always been one of the guys that battles with me at most local races. As we climbed the hill up to the bench I could tell that the pace was slowing down. I took another look over my shoulder and saw the group splitting apart. At that moment I made a conscious decision to go for it. Right before the downhill rock garden I slipped in front of the leader and ripped down the hill. I glanced back at the bottom and saw that I had opened up a slight gap. With eyes narrowed on the trail ahead I took off. The whole race I felt very strong and just kept pushing forward and increasing the time gap. Although I wasn’t necessarily battling it out with anyone, this was one of the toughest races I have done. It started raining on the second lap and turned into the sloppiest mud fest I have ever ridden in. People were literally scattered across the course either with broken down bikes or just face planted in the mud trying to find the will power to pick themselves up and finish. Despite the terrible conditions my new Trek Superfly worked flawlessly which I was super impressed with. Covered head to toe with mud I finished the race with an 8 min gap on second place (Jason). It was safe to say that my training was beginning make a huge difference. It took me two days to finish picking dirt out of my ears, eyes, and hair but despite the rough conditions I am very happy with my results and am beyond excited to get this season underway.
2014-07-05 MTB Marathon Nationals SS Open Race Report by Ron Shevock
2014-05-31 Lost and Found 100 Coverage on CX Magazine
Congrats to top spot winner Jared Kessler and Ron Shevock for competing in the Lost and Found 100! They were both interviewed by CX Magazine, and you can read all about their experiences here (http://www.cxmagazine.com/2014-lost-and-found-gravel-bike-ride-race-results-kessler-young) and here (http://www.cxmagazine.com/ron-shevock-felt-f1x-gravel-singlespeed-lost-and-found)
2014-05-17 Ashland Spring Thaw Cross Country
Congratulations to Jared Kessler for defending his title at the Spring Thaw Cross Country Mountain Bike Race in Ashland Oregon this past weekend with Billy Damon placing second!
The Ashland Mountain Spring Thaw Festival has been a “must go” event for me since 2010, always a favorite and always drawing a very tough field of competition. The event has evolved slightly with a few different courses for the XC and now changing the DH day into a two run “enduro” style format. Also adding an additional King of the Mountain competition, mimicking that of the Downieville All Mountain format of running the same bike unchanged for both days and taking a combined points tally from both days of racing to settle the winner. Last year was the first year of this and I am quite pleased to say that I took the overall! With a little help admittedly from the organizers who on the first year favored the XC results which is uncommon, in any case…i won last year having won the XC event.
Moving forward to 2014 and things are much, much different. I now find myself without a mountain bike of my own. Haven’t had one since December or so…Picking up a stressful workload on the road bike with a new team I have been kept busy and off the dirt. Not having much of any of a winter in Norcal, I was never hugely tempted to get out onto fresh tacky dirt, we never had any…so this not having a bike dilemma hadn’t presented much of an issue. I did however race one time, back in January on a borrowed bike only having ridden it 15 minutes from the shop to the start line before the race. Now traveling up to Ashland for a big boy’s mountain bike race with some fierce competition had me a little nervous as I drove up with yet another borrowed bike in tow that I had not yet ridden.
Not even knowing if this trip could be pulled off until the Wednesday before the weekend it was all a bit jumbled and last minute, held together tightly however by the glue that is my wonderful girlfriend and better half, Shasta McMillen. She prepared a meal plan for us, cooked in advance and shopped for the weekend so that I could concentrate on the task at hand. Thank you! Friday morning we hit the road and enjoyed a flow of great music as we made our way up the I5. In an effort to repay her in some way for her efforts, upon her request to stop for us to make our lunch I decided I would take a small detour and drive out to the Base of her namesake and prepare our lunch at the bottom of Mt. Shasta and have a picnic in the afternoon sun! After lunch we finished the drive and made it to town with time to spare, quickly meeting up with my good friend and more than likely closest competition Billy “The Champ” Damon. Shasta shuttled us up for a run on the DH courses where we arranged a rendezvous with the legendary Kenny Burt of WTB/Ibis. It was there, on that first run, on an unfamiliar bike, on unforgivingly dry trails I thought “wow! i’m out of my league” and figured I had might as well just go home! Although stubborn as I am I went up for another crack at it and sure enough that old familiar feeling came right back as I got a very slight bit of confidence. This journey took me into the early hours of the evening when Shasta and I needed to meet up with our gracious hosts for the weekend of which we had only met a few weeks prior through a random circumstance that led to us living together in the woods for 9 days through a natural home building workshop.
That evening was magical! They invited us to hang out with them and some friends on a private vineyard up in the hills overlooking the valley below, absolutely awesome and very much centering for my weary mind that was fighting itself and many thoughts of doubt concerning my fight to hold onto the XC pro title from last year. Moving into race morning I just let the pressure roll off as best as possible and aimed to just have some fun with it and see what happened. Rolling up to the start line was refreshing, or at least as refreshing as that situation could be. Being greeted by many old friends that I used to see regularly throughout the season and haven’t for some time now feeling like I have abandoned them for someone else that is road racing. With that…boom! we are off and running! As usual I stayed near the front but not on it, letting others set the pace for the first few minutes. Mountain Bikers are not a patient breed of individuals, everyone wants to go hard now! Letting my now roadie brain hold me back for a few minutes I just relaxed until there was a bit of a lull in the pace right after the first steep pitch. Pretty sure I didn’t even go harder, more just held the same pace we were previously doing and that was enough to open a gap. Sure enough Billy came with me as we motored away from the group, trailing still behind one guy who made a huge effort previously and was riding just seconds in front of us for the first 20 minutes of the hour long climb. Not too concerned with this as i knew how relentless the climb could be I was content to just ride tempo for awhile behind this guy and sure enough, he blew up and we easily pedaled past him. Approaching the halfway point of the climb Billy and I had established a big enough gap that nobody was in sight and we took turns pacing each other up the rest of the climb to the summit.
Not knowing exactly where the top was at this point I perhaps got lucky that my last pull led us straight to the last bit of the climb funneling into single track and allowing me a clean line of sight for the long decent back into town. Billy seemed almost content to just be there at the top and let me ride away on the decent, we both rode smooth and a bit restrained but still I was able to hold him off and grab the win for a second year in a row!! Very happy to have somehow pulled that off it was time to celebrate and go ride some more trails for the afternoon.
Sunday’s DH stages I knew were going to be much different than my experience on Saturday, with being so out of practice and still on a strange feeling bike and with such a competitive field for the DH stages I was just riding for fun at this point. The fun got less and less however as the rain came down and temperatures dropped, massively different from nearly 80 degrees the day before! Finding myself at the top of the mountain now with no glasses of goggles to protect my eyes from the gritty Ashland sandy soil I knew I was in for it…To no surprise I lost some time on the two runs, couldn’t see anything and am still currently flushing sand from my eyeballs. Unfortunately I did lose my shot at defending the overall title but I had a tremendous time in doing so and a truly magical weekend of traveling with my favorite person in the world! We met great people, ate fantastic food and I still did win a race out of the deal… I’ll take it!
2014-05-01 Boggs Mountain Bike Race Report By Tofor Lewis
NorCal #4 Varsity Boggs Race Report
This last Saturday was my last NorCal race before the state championships and one I’ve been looking forward to for a while. The location of this showdown…Boggs. Boggs is home to some of the most fun singletrack in the state and was the perfect location for a high school mountain bike race.
I came into this race with very high expectations. I felt strong, and knew exactly what I had to do in order to get on the box. However, when does a race ever go exactly as you plan it. There will always be challenges that come up that you weren’t expecting and have to face.
We lined up on the start at 1:30 PM, twenty minutes later than they originally had said, which meant that my warmup was wearing off. I quickly ate a Gu and settled in at the line. Then glancing around I began to realize how terrible my position really was. When I moved up from JV to Varsity earlier in the year all my points went away. This meant that I had to start in nearly dead last every race and fight my way through the field to catch the front pack. I knew it was going to be a rough start but there was nothing I could do, so I pushed it out of my head and tried to focus. The race started and as usual everyone blew their brains out in a complete sprint. I immediately saw an opening to my left and pushed for it. I got passed the kid in front of me only to get stuck behind the rest of the field. Frustrated I fought for the outside to try to pass the whole field but was cut off. I sat
down and began to push forward realizing that this was going to be a very tough race. When we got to the single track I was in about 25th place and in a terrible position. Slowly I picked guys off one by one and began to move up in the field. About half way through the single track I caught a group of about 8 guys that were pushing at a pretty decent pace. Jumping on to the back of the group I decided to let my heart rate lower a bit. I sat on this group until the first real fire road climb where I surged passed the whole group and really began gunning for the front pack. Finally, on the last single track climb on the first lap I spotted a couple of guys. I caught them at the crest of the hill and was able to squeeze by right before the decent. knowing this would be a perfect time to pull a slight gap I let my fingers off the breaks and let it rip. I reached the bottom of the hill and began my next lap in third place and about a minute behind first. The start had set me back more than I had thought and I knew I had to close the gap. About half way through my second lap I passed second place and kept my attack on full throttle. I rounded out the second lap and was still 45 seconds behind the leader. I kept my attack on strong and was slowly catching him according to the splits being yelled at me at different points of the course. By the beginning of the fourth lap I was only 30 seconds off the leader and was starting to catch glimpses of him on more open sections of the course. By the time I rounded the corner and began the long fire road climb I had him in my sites. He was only 15 seconds ahead however I could tell that I would not be able to hold the pace I had previously been pushing for that much longer. Midway through the climb, Bryce (first place) glanced over his shoulder and took off. I pushed to get on his wheel but there was nothing left. By the end of the fourth lap I had dropped back 30 seconds and did not have another attack in me. My pace quickly slowed and I could not figure out what was wrong with me. My legs began to cramp some on the hills, which I have never had problems with, and it was all I could do to push a decent pace. I realized the problem half way through my last lap when I glanced down at my Garmin. I was 1 hour 45 minutes into my race and had not had anything to eat the whole time. I could not believe it. How had I forgotten to eat? I finished the race in 2nd place and had dropped back a bit more from the leader since my last lap was more than a minute slower than my previous ones. At first I felt frustrated but quickly brushed this aside knowing that second in the Varsity field is no easy task.
Overall, Boggs was an amazing weekend. I had so much fun ripping the course and learned a ton. However, there is no way I could have raced as well as I did without all the support from my coaches, family, and Folsom Bike. I cant believe the season is already winding down. Wow, it went by fast. I have a week and a half left of training and preparation before the State Championships in Monterey. So excited to battle it out with the fastest kids around and give it my all. Lets Gooo!!!
2014-04-26 Shasta Lemurian Race Report by Debby Sullivan
I had heard good things about this race and that it was definitely one I should do. As it got closer I actually debated whether we should actually go up there this time. Well, we did decide to go and camp and a have a fun family adventure. So glad we did!
Got up and ready and made it over to the other side of the lake where it was much colder with winds at the race start! It was chilly and then I realized I didn’t even bring my arm warmers! I knew I probably wouldn’t need them once going, but before the race I was downright cold. Also, we somehow managed to be running a little late even though I thought we had plenty of time. Mostly because of the racer meeting 30 minutes before start. Anyway, I didn’t get much of a warmup and just got over onto the massive start. Kind of crazy, I didn’t hear anybody saying anything just some clicking pedals in the front and the whole pack started going. I guess that is how we roll here!
I really didn’t know much of anything of the course except that we started with a long climb and there was going to be another big climb later with a bunch of fun singletrack in between! We started the climb and teammate, Craig told me to settle in because it went for a ways. I took his advice and got into a good climbing pace. I knew there was at least a couple girls up ahead, one I recognized from Big Sandy and another that passed and was climbing just in front of me. Soon we came down and raced on the road across the damn and onto the first singletrack, this is where it got fun! I passed the girl that was right in front of me off that first single track and then heard reports that I was the second female. I soon caught Tracie and passed around mile 9 when she bobbled and had to come off on a climb. This was right before a fun flume section of the course where my new 27.5s really shine. I was able to put in a little gap there! I love the speedy acceleration of the my Obsess 27.5 in the corners and punchy climbs! Somewhere along the way, a guy I passed told me there was one more girl up ahead. I was confused but figured I needed to catch her if he was right. So I kept pushing. I have to say all the guys I was riding by were great gentlemen, even calling up to the others to let the lead female through. I have to note this because that is not always the case when passing men. Soon, the one who told me there was another girl caught me again and informed me that he gave me bad information, it was actually a guy and I already passed him 🙂
Then we hit the really long climb. Not knowing the course, I had no idea how long this went. I was good for a long ways pushing a good pace and then it just kept going and then finally got steeper with dry pine needles and we had to come off. I wasn’t sure I wanted to use these different muscles! Soon, though we finally finished and were rewarded with a great trail that descended through the forest. There were some great little sections through the end of the race.
I crossed the line as the first female by over 3 minutes. I really enjoyed the course even though I had very little idea what to expect. The race experience was made even better by an awesome post race meal, huge burritos! We made our family trade and Ashlyn and I hung out for burritos and awards while Drew headed out to try and ride at least some of the course!
We finished out the weekend enjoying the afternoon at our campsite and one more night of camping.
I am definitely glad we didn’t miss out on this one. That was some great riding and the rain the day before made the track perfect!
2014-04-13 Sea Otter Classic MTB Race Report by Tofor Lewis
This last weekend was my favorite race/event of the year… the Sea Otter Classic. For months I have been looking forward to and training for this race. As one of my “A” races of the year, I was really hoping for a good result! The weekend went really well and came Sunday I felt very prepared both mentally and physically. The day started off early, 4:30 AM to be exact. After a breakfast of eggs and a bagel I propped my legs up and popped my ear buds in to get my mind off the race. I got to the race track at around 6:30 and began to warmup. I met up with teammate (Ron Shevock) and spun around behind the start line.
Ten minutes before the start I worked my way to the line and settled in. I was sitting in the second row and began looking at my competition…never a good thing! I noticed nearly 70 people and a number of very fast competitors from all over the country and I knew then that this was not going to be an easy race; I had my work cut out for me.
“5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” The pack surged forward and we were off! From the start I knew I had to get into the top position before the fire road or I would get caught up in all the dust and lose time. Within the first few seconds I was able to maneuver around a few guys and get in with the front group. However, people began riding up along side us and I soon found myself in the “middle.” There is nothing scarier than people bumping your bars and wheels while going 25mph and not being able to do anything about it.
Finally a gap opened up and I lunged for it and broke away from the crowd trying to avoid a crash at any cost. By the time we got off the racetrack and onto the fire road I was in second position. A couple guys jumped in front of us and I felt comfortable sitting in this top group. Unfortunately I ran into trouble at the top of the climb. A kid next to me bumped into the track marker post on the side of the trail with his bars and veered into me. I got pushed sideways and had to hop off the bike and sprint the next 15 feet to the top of the hill. This really set me back since I got passed by nearly 10 other kids and was now sitting in about 16th place. I really pushed down the next fire road but I could not see anything through the wall of dust in front of me and it was all I could do to hold my line.
After passing a few guys in the next fire road climb I was able to get into the top 12 by the single track. Our whole group seemed to surge together single file on the trail which made passing nearly impossible. Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to gain any time/ positions I settled in and let my heart rate lower. We made it through the single track and out onto a long road decent. This section ruined me! I hadn’t noticed this during my preride since my speed was much slower but the 32 tooth chainring I had in the front was doing nothing but “spinnnnin.” Without being able to pedal I tucked into the most aerodynamic position I could and watched as 6-7 guys passed me. I tried not to get to frustrated and made up for it on the single track by passing all of them and catching up to the front group. We soon came to another road section however it was much more flat so I had more pedaling power. I jumped onto what I thought were the top 10 guys who had slowed the pace a bit. I didn’t know that there were 3 kids who had broken off of the group and were out of sight. A few more guys came up behind me and settled in.
With about 200 feet till the next single track section I heard a terrible scraping sound behind me and a yell. I turned my head in time to see a “specialized epic” flipping through the air and parts flying in every direction. I didn’t get a chance to see who the rider was but later found out he was hauled off in an ambulance. Much of the middle of my race was spent in a group of about 5 guys including Bryce Lewis, Alec pascaleni, and a few kids from the Canadian pivot team. The final part of the race and the part I was dreading the most came quick. With 5 miles to go I had a 3 mile fire road climb and a couple miles of single track left.
The climb was nothing less than painful. My group of five pushed hard on the climb with the next group in sight. After a few attacks on the steepest parts of the climb I bridged the gap solo and jumped onto the back. With a few major climbs to go the group really started to push. Two kids jumped out front and broke away from the group. I gave a couple hard pedal strokes and decided I didn’t have it in me to stay with them. By the time we got to the single track I had been passed by a few guys and decided to really push it to make up time. I got passed this little bit of trail and was surprised how much time I had made up. I was on a long stretch of fire road and could see a group of about six guys not too far in front of me. After a few more hard attacks on the hills I had caught up to the group right before the last section of single track. This was my last chance to push and I had to give it my all! I made a couple of sketchy passes on the downhill and was feeling strong. As soon as we hit the last mile of climbing I made my move. I surged passed the whole group and laid down the power. After a little ways I glanced over my shoulder and was surprised to see that only one guy had jumped on my tail. I kept this power on and was happy to see I was catching a few more guys. Bryce Lewis jumped in front of me on the last steep climb and I sat on his wheel. The climb ended and I knew I had only a couple more turns till the line. With a burst of power I squeezed by Bryce and pushed through the last few turns to the line. I crossed the finish proud and relieved. At that point I had no idea what my position was but knew that I had given it my all. I soon found out I had gotten 5th place in a very stacked and competitive field of category 1 17-18 year olds.
Looking back now, there were a few things I know I could have done to save time and most likely position better but there’s no such thing as a perfect race and I am happy with my results!
Napa Valley Dirt Classic – Tofor Lewis – 1st Place Cat 1 18 & Under (and Fastest OVERALL Cat 1 !)
Congratulations to Folsom Bike Elite MTB Team Member Tofor Lewis, who recently placed first in the Cat 1 18 & Under category at the 2014 Napa Valley Dirt Classic MTB Race.
In addition to the Cat 1 18 & Under victory, Tofor also posted the fastest time from ANY Cat 1 age group. Congratulations Tofor!
The Big(ger) Sandy Race Report – 1st Place Pro Single Speed – Ron Shevock
The Big Sandy MTB Race has for the past few years been one of those “hidden gems” of the NorCal scene. It’s on a course tucked out of the way in the foothills Northeast of Fresno, and seems to be off the radar of the majority of MTB racers. Attendance is always good, but I always wonder why it isn’t better, because the course has everything a MTB’er could want (i.e. big climbs, big descents, 99% singletrack, smooth stuff, technical stuff, and great views the entire way). The organizers are top notch, always seem to run the even without a hitch, and provide free hot post-race meal for racers along with free beer as well by a local brewery. AND for the Pro’s out there, there is prize money for Pro Men, Pro Women, AND Pro Singlespeed. What is not to like?
The Big Sandy has traditionally always been a point-to-point race with long course and short course options. This year however, the organizers upped the ante for the Pro’s & Experts by making the course longer as an out-and-back. With this new addition, the stats for the Pro / Expert course were 38 miles and 6,800 vert of climbing (stats from my Strava account). Big numbers for sure….
I have been trying this year to have good race form for the months of April and May, so I knew that this new long course would be a good test to see where I’m at as we head into the “meat” of the Spring MTB race season. I had originally signed up for Pro Men, but when I heard that there were equal cash payouts for Pro Singlespeed as well, I decided to switch my entry since single speeding is my first love.
When I pulled into the parking lot in the morning, I knew it was going to be a hard race as I parked next to the Ibis / Buy-Cell single speed wrecking crew from the Bay Area (i.e. Cesar Chavez, Tim Cannard, etc.). Plus there were some guys rolling around singles that I did not know so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
I have to admit my eyes were on Cesar Chavez at the start line as he always seems to be on top of his game, so when we started off as the second group of the day (1 minute behind the Pro Men field), Cesar jumped out in front and I was happy to just follow his wheel on to the first steep climb and see what happens.
As we started the first climb (just a few hundred yards from the start), I already noticed that Cesar’s pedaling cadence had dropped and he seemed to be pushing a fairly large gear. As this was a long climb, I figured it could be to my advantage to create a gap now in the event that his larger gear becomes an advantage for him on the more rolling parts of the climb. So I wouldn’t say I “attacked”, but I made the pass, and just increased the tempo a bit to see what emerged.
Several minutes later at the top of the climb, and looked back and didn’t see anyone, and I had already caught two of the Pro geared men and I was feeling good, so sensing that I was out of sight I figured NOW was the time to attack on the descent and try to reel in more of the Pro geared guys.
There was a cash prime for the first Pro Single Speeder to complete the first 15 miles of trail so I put my head down and gave it a really good hard effort. In this stretch, I made up the minute deficit I had to most of the Pro Men and caught up with the train of the 3rd through 5th place Pro riders. We chased each other for a bit, then on a steep bunch section where they all had to downshift, I made a move to pass all of them in one swoop and made my way around and stepped on the gas. I was still thinking of Cesar chasing me with his larger gear and wanted to put as much real estate in between us now before the first checkpoint.
At the first checkpoint at mile 15, I successfully won the cash prime I was gunning for and the volunteers told me that I was 3rd overall to come through with just two pro men ahead of me (last year’s winner Ryan Chandler and Menso de Jong). I thought that was great, but it also worried me a little wondering if I was going a little hard too early with still have the race to go. So with that in mind, I decided to play it safe on the big 15 minute climb to Squaw Leap and the descent back down. On the climb up, 3 of the Pro geared guys that I had passed earlier caught back up and began to ride away from me, but I was ok with that. I was now in more of my “maintenance” race mode…i.e. just don’t do anything stupid, don’t crash, stay hydrated and keep the calories coming in so I wouldn’t bonk.
Luckily, even with 15 miles of rolling hard terrain back to the finish, my “maintain” strategy worked and I was able to cross the finish line as the Pro Single Speed winner and I immediately headed over to the Tioga-Sequoia Beer Garden and claimed my recovery pilsner.
So all in all a great day! It was also made even better when I learned that my two Folsom Bike / Giant team mates who also raced did really well too. Debby Sullivan ended up in 3rd Place Pro Women, and Bob Delp ended up in 3rd Place for Pro Men as well.
Many many thanks to Folsom Bike for the race support and everything that they do, and to Giant Bicycles….my XTC Advanced SL race rig is getting the job done and I couldn’t be happier with it.
Next up, Napa Valley Dirt Classic in two weeks and the Sea Otter Classic following that.
22nd Annual Cool MTB Race – 1st Place Single Speed 36 – 99
Ron Shevock wins the “old guy” (heh) Single Speed Division at the 22nd Annual Cool MTB Race on his converted Giant XTC Advanced SL 29’er.
‘Cross Season Ending, MTB Season Beginning….
‘Twas a good weekend…
On Saturday, after riding & coaching with the local high school mountain bike teams, I headed on over to Folsom Bike and to my surprise my new 2014 MTB race frame was waiting for me in the delivery room: An XTC Advanced SL hardtail frameset. Last year I split my MTB races between a full-suspension Anthem and a XTC Composite 29’er that I converted into a single speed with the use of a tensioner. I loved ’em both, and since the majority of the races that I focus on are very much suited for a hardtail, I decided to race with the Advanced SL version of the XTC Composite in 2014.
Here she is (and will eventually be built up with a selection of components, wheels, and drivetrain from SRAM, Truvativ, and Rockshox)
What are the differences between Giant’s Advanced SL and XTC Composite 29’ers? On the surface, it seems like not much, as they are both carbon 29’er hardtails that are both very light, stiff, and “race-able”, but the devil is in the details.
For one, the Advanced SL uses a higher grade of carbon than the Composite 29’er. The XTC Composite 29er, uses T-600 carbon fiber to create a frame that is extremely stiff, but yet lighter than an aluminum frame. The Advanced SL however uses Giant’s highest grade of carbon fiber manufacturing technology (i.e. Advanced SL) to create a frame that is even lighter and stiffer (where needed) than their other carbon technologies, but can also be built up with more vertical compliance (say in the seat stays) to lend a bit smoother of a ride (smooth is fast!). Also the manufacturing process of Advanced SL layups allow Giant to build these frames with larger sections of carbon fiber, which reduces the amount of junctions, resulting in a lighter frame. You can read way way more on the differences between the layups on Giant’s website here: Giant Composite Technology
There are some other differences between the XTC Advanced SL and the XTC Composite such as internal cable routing on the SL and their new seatpost system which does away with a traditional seatpost clamp in favor of a more integrated clamping system. But they both share Giant’s OverDrive 2 tapered headtube, PowerCore bottom bracket, and MegaDrive downtube.
I’ll probably race this in both geared and single speed configurations again this year depending on the particular race….
Speaking of single speed…..
On Sunday, was the season finale of the Sacramento Cyclocross series where I was able to secure the overall season title in the Single Speed A division. It’s been awesome racing with everyone and it was great to share the podium with Jay Sturges in 2nd and Clint Claassen in 3rd…definitely going to miss good times that Sacramento Cyclocross has been this year. I’ve now been able to grab this overall single speed title in 2010, 2012, and now 2013….maybe next year I will switch to gears. One last cyclocross race to go with the NCNCA District Championships in Monterey in just a week and a half. Although I have a bit of Achilles Tendinitis flaring up right now, so I may have to skip that one…we will see… -Ron
Race Report: Single Speed A’s at Sacramento Cyclocross Race #4 – Lange Twins Winery
Since this is my first race report of the 2013 cyclocross season, I’ll quickly rewind two months to the beginning and start off with this nugget of wisdom: a separated shoulder and a concussion that knocks you out for over a full minute is not the best way to start off a cyclocross campaign, and can put you in a pretty deep hole:
Then trying to race just one week later, in the first Sacramento Cyclocross race of the season at Lagoon Valley in Vacaville, is an even better way to dig that hole for yourself deeper. Why I even attempted that race, when during the week I could barely even keep myself awake during the day as my foggy brain tried to reconnect its jumbled neurons, is a case study in block-headed stubbornness. But I timidly showed up, cautiously toed that line, then promptly pulled out after just 3 laps while solidly in dead last, just trying not to crash and protect my head and shoulder, yelling at myself for even trying to get out there again so early.
Fast forward two months and we’re now at the 4th race in the Sacramento ‘Cross Series at a long time favorite venue, Lange Twins Winery. I’ve been able to rebound from that disastrous start to the season taking wins in the Single Speed A category in both the 2nd and 3rd races of the series at Orangevale Park and Lembi Park, Folsom respectively.
The last few times I’ve raced at Lange Twins winery it has been a total mudfest. Deep water crossings, power sucking grass soup, mud lines that would change every lap, and cold wind. This year however was dry as a bone and warm, with loose roller-ball turns, and dust clouds encircling the fields of racers. People were describing it as a power course, but it was riding extremely bumpy making it difficult to lay down that power.
About a dozen single speeders lined up behind the Elite Men and Master A’s and it looked to be a competitive field: Dan Sovereign and Jay Sturges who are in the points hunt for the overall series; 2012 Elite Men Overall champion, Pete Knudsen from TBB.CX; former National level crusher, Rich Maile; and Pro Mountain Biker, Clint Claassen dabbling in SSCX during his off season and a host of others that I didn’t quite recognize.
I haven’t been too concerned this year with getting the holeshot at recent races, but I wanted it at this one. The geared A fields ahead of us looked deep, and since we always catch up to them by the second lap, I knew that getting around traffic smoothly could possibly be a factor in our race. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a very smooth launch, and could only manage 4th wheel as we blasted off the pavement and into the dustbowl. Dan Sovereign and Rich Maile were trading places at the front for the 1st lap and setting a pretty hard pace, and slotting in just behind them was Dylan McReynolds who normally races in the BASP series. As we raced over the flyover at the end of lap 1, I looked down and saw that indeed we would be on top of a line of Masters geared racers in no time, so I quickly moved around Dylan and slotted in behind Dan and Rich.
The next two laps was a complete blur of dust, wheels, and somewhat sketchy passes around lapped geared riders as I tried to keep Dan and Rich within a 5 – 8 second gap as they made their way around the Masters fields. I think at one point they may have gapped me by nearly 10 seconds on the 3rd lap as I got held up behind a cluster of lapped riders that they were able to quickly move around. But as we finished off the 3rd lap, I was able to bridge back up just before the fly over, make them both simultaneously, and move into 1st as we begin that 4th lap.
3rd or 4th lap, Rich Maile just behind at my wheel
Ahh, now I was feeling more comfortable. Being in front as we continued to make our way through the clusters of geared riders made life easier as I could set my pace and not have to worry about passing lanes closing up on me at the last second and then having to stomp back on the gas to bridge back up. Despite the bumpy course, my race became smoother.
With each passing lap, Dan was still hot on my heels, but I could tell each lap I’d pick up 2 seconds here, another second or two there. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but in a 60 minute cyclocross race, it begins to add up quickly and by the time 45 minutes elapsed, my gap was approaching 15 seconds or so.
Luckily, the remainder of my laps went by smoothly, and I was able to hold onto the win. Dan Sovereign came in not too far behind at all in 2nd, followed up by Jay Sturges for 3rd.
With all of us on the podium once again, the overall Single Speed standings remain tight, but I can virtually seal the overall series win if I can get on the top step again at the next race in Condon Park in two weeks. If I do that, then I’ll have the season finale race as a freebie and maybe I’ll jump into one of the geared fields on the SSCX for fun for the last race of the season and see how that goes. Looking forward to the next one….
2013-07-27: Hallelujah Trail Nevada City Dirt Classic
Congratulations to our Jared for placing 1st at the Nevada City Dirt Classic!! Way to go!
Mendocino 100 Mile MTB Race Report – Ron Shevock 2nd Place
Way back in January or February NorCal based race promoter Murphy Mack announced that he was planning a 100 mile MTB race in the Jackson State Demonstration Forest vicinity between Mendocino and Fort Bragg on the coast on July 21st. Immediately I circled the date on the calender and mentally signed up right then and there. Riding & racing sinewy and loam covered coastal singletrack under a Jurassic Park-like forest canopy, in 50 – 60 degree temperatures at time when the valley here is normally baking under 100 degree temps? Sign me the hell up! Plus, it was my birthday weekend so not a bad place to ride and “celebrate” as well.
Oh and this little gem of a stoker video played a bit of roll in getting me to sign up as well (protip: turn up your speakers and watch it in full HD to get the full effect!):
The night before at registration we all got our first look and description of what the course would entail. Being that this was a first year event, there weren’t many people (if any?) who had linked all these trails together in one single serving, so final mileage, final elevation gain, and estimates on finishing times was mainly educated guess work….which only added to the excitement as many of us were riding these trails for the first time, and the “unknown” adventure factor was high. Due to so many unknowns regarding the race course, I decided to race my full suspension Giant Anthem 29’er X 0, with a grippy Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.35 in front, and faster rolling Continental RaceKing 2.2 Protection in the year (both tubeless).
Murphy explained that this year the “100” would actually more likely be 90-ish miles due to a lasts minute request from CalFire to alter the route a bit due to some logging activity that was going on.
For a first year event, I was very glad to see that there was a decent number of riders who showed up. It seemed as though 70-ish folks signed up for a mix of either the 100 mile option, a 60 mile option, and also a 40 mile option. And I’d say about half toed the line for the 100 mile version.
The race started at a comfortable “fun fast” kinda pace with local guide and long time pro Brian Astell from Lost Coast Brewery / Marin Bikes leading the way with about 4 of us on his heels. The initial singletrack was loamy twisty and fun and set the tone for the rest of the day. This trail spit us out onto some rutted fireroads and some gravel grinding climbing up to the first checkpoint at about mile 19. One of the riders burped and flatted a tire in a rut, and Brian and I steadily pulled away from the others on the fireroad climbing on the way to the first checkpoint which we reached together at about 1 hour 30 minutes into the race. We didn’t bother stopping, and just shouted out our number plates to the smiling volunteers.
We crossed Route 20 and onto a “bonus” loop on the north side of the road that only the 100 mile riders would be doing. We’d complete about a 20 mile loop and then return back to the same Checkpoint #1. This section had some extremely steep singletrack switchback descending that seems to rarely see any traffic…Brian got a little ahead of me here and if it weren’t for his tire tracks in the loam it would have been pretty tough to see where the trail went so kudos to him for blazing the trail!. After the descending there was another long fire road grinder where I caught back up to Brian, then we road nearly all of it together, but near the top he gapped by about 10 seconds then started descending like a madman and he was gone. I continued on, made a wrong turn that cost me a minute or two then began a long singletrack climb back up to that checkpoint on Route 20. I was about halfway up this climb when I was surprised to hear another rider coming down towards me. It was Brian and he was saying that he thought he made a wrong turn as he topped out on the climb and wasn’t quite sure which way to go so he thought he made a mistake and came back down. I was 99% sure we were on the right route, so he flipped it around and started climbing back up. I felt pretty bad for him that he had to do this climb again! Anyway, both of our wrong turns seemed to cancel each other out here and we finished off this bonus loop together and returned back to the original Checkpoint #1 (which was now our 2nd checkpoint) in a total time of around 3.5 hours to this point. We stopped here a bit and refueled, then continued on towards an area called the Woodlands.
From the Checkpoint on Route 20 over to the Woodlands was some fast big ring gravel road smashing, then led to some even faster twisty gravel road descending. Brian was absolutely destroying the loose gravelly turns in this part and I was happier to tap the brakes a few more times into the turns than he would so he put a gap on me here. But then at about mile 40, we turned off the fireroad and into the Woodlands singletrack. We immediately hit a climb (“Climb to Big Tree” is what I believe it is called) and I began gunning it to catch back up to Brian. I kept it in my big ring and grinded my way to the top until I caught backup to him. When I caught back up we were nearly at the top, but unknown to me, this upper part got extremely STEEP and my legs were already burning too much from going full gas on the lower part. For one of these steep upper bits, I actually hopped off the bike and hiked about 20 yards and Brian got another 15 – 20 seconds on me again….but then that would pretty much be the last I would see of him for the rest of the race. As we started descending the insanely fun singletrack back down (Big Tree descent), Brian disappeared and I was alone in the forest.
At the bottom of the Big Tree descent, was a little aid station checkpoint and I stopped briefly for a Gu and I asked how long ago Brian came through. They said about 2 minutes ago….ouch! He crushed that part! This was right around mile 50 and 4 hrs 15 minutes into the race. My legs were still feeling pretty good, so I began chasing again to see if I could catch back up again. This portion of the trail was so beautiful and fun that part of me wanted to stop “racing” and just slow down and enjoy the deep emerald green, fern lined, and redwood covered forest that we were riding through. I just don’t get the chance to ride terrain like this often enough living in the Sierra foothills. As I was enjoying the scenery and starting the Thompson Gulch Trail Climb, I came to a fork in the trail that had no markings. Hmmm. One trail went to the right and looked a little less used, and what seemed like the main trail kinda veered to the left…but neither of them had markings that I could see and there were no chalk arrows on the ground. I wasted some time trying to decide which way to go and choose left because it seemed to have a little more use on it. I figured that if I choose correctly I’d see a flag or something soon enough. So I continue on, begin climbing still don’t see any flagging. I approach a switchback, look up and around and still don’t see anything, so I assume that I am going the wrong way and turn around and head back down to the fork in the trail. This time I start climbing the other direction, get about 1 minute into it, and tell myself this can’t be the way because the trail is just seems so little used. I turn around AGAIN and start going the other way once more. I climb back up to the switchback where I turned around the first time, keep going, and then a short bit later round a turn and see the familiar white tape hanging from a tree that was marking the course. DANGIT! I just wasted about 7 minutes in that confusion…oh well, nothing to do but press on.
I reached Checkpoint #4 at about 5 hours and 46 minutes. I refilled my Osprey hydration pack and got a time check that Brian came through about 15 minutes ago. Ughh…not so sure I’m going to be catching back up now! But even with that thought, I was extremely happy with my time to this point, was still feeling good, and just set off to keep up a decent pace to put in a respectable finishing time. I smashed my way from Checkpoint 4 along the flat gravel roads past Checkpoint #5 to Hwy 1, enduring the Hwy 1 road portion (wasn’t that bad) and then turned back into the forest. At this point, I knew I was nearly done, didn’t think I’d be getting caught from behind so tried to turn off the racing mindset and just enjoy the last bits of trail to the finish.
I ended up crossing the line with around a 7 hours 22 minute moving time….somewhere around 15 – 20 minutes behind Brian and good for 2nd place overall. My Garmin clocked 81 miles and 11,299 feet of climbing (which isn’t 100% accurate as everyone was experience lots of “GPS drift” in the deep forest). And as happy as I was with that, I was even happier to see my wife at the finish line already all cleaned up from her 60 mile effort and telling me that she won! So it was quite the fun and successful day.
BIG Thanks to Murphy Mack and the SuperPro crew for putting this race, the Mendocino Coast cyclists for their help and all the volunteers. I will definitely be back again…this was one of the most fun races I’ve ever done.
Here is the men’s overall “100 mile” podium, with Brian on the top step and Shiloh Sowell-Kantz in 3rd.
2013 Marathon MTB Nationals Race Report – Ron Shevock
Had a great few days in Ketchum, ID (i.e. better known as Sun Valley) over the July 4th weekend to race in Marathon MTB Nationals. Earlier in the year, I wasn’t planning on going, but then I saw a preliminary course map that just looked epic…it was 70-ish miles, and around 9,000 feet of climbing with nearly all of it singletrack. Sign me up! But then after signing up, USAC officials thought that this course would be too tough and too long and shortened it to about 40 miles 6,500 vert. divided up into two complete laps on what was used at the amateur cross-country nationals course last year. So not quite the epic I was looking for, but still extremely tough.
We made the long drive from NorCal on July 3rd, spent the 4th by pre-riding the course so that I could get a feel for the trails and a make a decision on what gear I should run on my Giant XTC 29’er single speed, and get a look at the long descent so I’d know what to expect.
Our dog, Sponge, patiently awaits for our return following our course pre-riding
On paper, the course was relatively simple: after a short pavement spin on a bike path leaving the River Run base lodge area, we’d hit the main climb that ascended about 2,600 feet to the top of Baldy, and then began a long singletrack descent to the finish that was broken up by two minor climbs in the middle. The big 2,600 climb was mostly moderate climbing hardpack singletrack, with the exception of the first 1/3…which was a much steeper fireroad and would be the spot where I figured I’d know whether or not I made a good gear choice with my 36×22 (the “spinniest” gear that I had brought with me on this trip).
Many spectators lined the short bike path that led to the base of the climb
Halfway up the climb
The descending was extremely fun, although not the best for my bike set up with it’s rigid fork. It was mostly hard pack, but it was littered with sharp rocks and a lot of the turns were kind of blown up and laced with stutter bumps that were just plain jarring and not-fast on a rigid fork.
Start of descent looks smooth but is deceiving
The descent was broken up by a few intermediate climbs
After pre-riding, I knew I had to stick with the 36×22 even though I had a feeling that it would still be a bit too difficult on the climbs, and I also knew that my rigid fork would be a severe liability. My buddy Clint Classen, who was racing his full-suspension rig in the Pro field, graciously offered up his suspension fork off of his hardtail bike that he wouldn’t be using, but I decided to “run what I brung” in true single speed fashion (for better or for worse).
Race day came and the single speed field looked strong: defending champion Cary Smith from Jackson Wyoming was there, as well was AJ Linnel and Jason Betz from Louisiana amongst others. We spun together as a group down the paved bike path, and then once we hit the climb it was on. Cary and Linnel immediately surged forward, and took along Tom Flynn as well. I tried to stay on Tom’s wheel as we began to separate from the field, but as the fire road grew steeper, I knew I was in trouble. What I had easily ridden two days earlier on my pre-ride, now had me off of my bike and walking. I just couldn’t stay on top of the gear like I had in my pre-ride, and my breathing was through the roof. Immediately, I knew it wasn’t going to be my day, and slowed down into a slower more sustainable rhythm to recover as a few more SS’ers passed me on by dropping me into what I was guessing was 7th or 8th by the time we reach the top of the climb.
The descent beat the crap out of me on the rigid. There were so many times where I was hanging on for dear life as I plummeted through the stutter bump mine field and shook everything in my field of vision, rattling my wrists and lower back. Miraculously, I didn’t lose any more spots on the descent (probably because everyone was ahead of me!) and by the time I got to the bottom I was ready for the race to be over. At the very bottom of the descent, is a steep rock garden that I never bothered to pre-ride and due to my rigid fork I took the easier, wimpy cheater line that probably adds 30 – 40 seconds. At this point I couldn’t care less about the time I was losing as I was in survivable mode. However, as I cruised through the finish line my wife Jen yelled to me that I was only 3 minutes behind the single speeder in front of me and that he was also running a rigid fork and choose to run the rock garden line. Hmmm….just 3 minutes?? I can make that up…this little time gap update fired me up, and I got a much needed second wind….
Getting the time gap after Lap 1
Back on the bike path starting Lap 2 I got swarmed by a pack of about 5 or 6 geared riders so I was able to tuck into their draft and have them pull me at 25 mph along the pavement to the base of the major climb. As I hit the climb again, I was worried that I would suffer as much as I did on the first lap, but thankfully, I had finally found my legs, and I was able to clean everything this time around and maintain a much better pace. About half way up, I caught and passed another single speeder and he said that he thought he was in 6th and that the 5th place guy was maybe a minute ahead. So I kept my pace up and soon enough, saw the 5th place single speeder, Jason Betz from Baton Rouge, Lousiana come into view and I was able to make the pass just a bit before the climb topped out.
I crested the climb with a gap on Jason, but I knew that he had a suspension fork and thus would probably be descending faster than me. I was taking tons of chances and nearly crashed a number of times but I pushed the upper descent as hard as I could. Unfortunately, nearly at the bottom of this upper descent (which was the worst part for me and my rigid fork) I hear what I thought was a geared rider coming up behind me, so I moved over and it was Jason nuking down the trail and he passed me like I was standing still. It was pretty demoralizing getting passed like that and knowing that there was still a ton of descending left to the finish. I wasn’t quite sure if and how I could catch back up to him.
Luckily though the upper descent soon ended and we started the traverse climb across Mt. Baldy. Looking up I saw Jason about 20 seconds ahead of me so I punched it for all I was worth to try and catch him before he crested the top and started descending. I was able to make the pass just before the top and then rallied the fast fireroad descent as quickly as I could so that I could be first to enter the last section of singletrack.
The last singletrack descent before the finish is littered with about 15 switchbacks and minimal opportunities to pass until just before the finish line so I knew that even Jason were to catch back up to my wheel in this last 10 minutes to the finish I’d have a good chance of holding him off and it would come down to a sprint to the line. But luckily, despite catching glimpses of Jason over my shoulder as we each worked our way through the switchbacks I was able to keep my gap at what I though was around 10 – 15 seconds or so.
Seeing that the gap was that close, and I knew that Jason would be riding the last rock garden before the finish, I decided that I needed to take it. But since I didn’t pre-ride it at all, and didn’t want to risk taking a bad line in there on my rigid fork and crashing (which then I’d surely get passed), I figured I would just dismount at the top, run it as quickly as i could, then re-mount and gun the last stretch to the finish.
Running the line was slightly embarrassing (of course!) but I’d rather that than risk the crash at such a critical point in the race
Luckily my rental MTB shoes were easy to run in (yes, I had to race with cheap rental shoes…long story)
After the rock garden it was about 20 – 30 second sprint to the finish arch where I was able to hold onto my slim gap over Jason by just 5 seconds. Crazy how close we were have over 3.5 hours of racing! And even though it was only for 5th place, it made the second half of the race extremely fun and it meant I got to stick around for the podium celebration.
Next up…Mendocino 100, Downieville Classic, Tahoe-Sierra 100…and then cyclocross!
2013-07-06 MTB National Championships by Ron Shevock
Ron Shevock places fifth in the USA Cycling National Marathon Mountain Bike Championships in Sun Valley, ID. Congratulations!!!
Snuck my way onto the podium at MTB Marathon Nationals with a 5th Place in Single Speed category. 36×22 was way too hard of a gear, and a rigid fork was really dumb and hard and slow, but my goal was top 5 (they podium 5 deep here) so I am stoked. I really wanted to quit on the first lap..was like in 8th or 9th and getting pummeled in every way, but somehow found a second wind, and put in a negative split on my second lap and was able to work my way into 5th by mere seconds. Had a great back & forth battle with the 6th place guy…barely held him off on the last descent to the finish. Pretty stoked!
Folsom Bike Elite MTB Racing Team 