Beezley Burn Race Report -April 26, 2009

After a few years away from the race scene due to injury, I hit the reset button, loaded up the hippy van and ventured out to Ephrata to ride my favorite race course. Matt showed up as well to make a dash for the cash in the pro race while Gavin was in attendance to cheer us on.

I showed up Saturday night with just enough time to sneak in a pre-ride before the sun bid adieu. I'd been having trouble with my tubeless tires (Stan's No Tubes) and the pre-ride proved I still had a problem. The tires just wouldn't hold pressure and any off-camber riding (the entire course) would result in peeling the tire off the rim. It was a long pre-ride!

Shortly after dinner, Gavin showed up to camp with me at the park. After a few entertaining minutes watching him try to inflate his air mattress he abandoned all hope. He's a braver soul than I. He slept in the back of his truck on the hard bed liner exposed to the cold and violent winds that ripped across the plains all night.

Then at 3:30 in the morning it suddenly became as bright as day, as two of Ephrata's finest swarmed in on us to see what was up. Apparently there is no overnight parking where we were camping though there are sites. After a lengthy interrogation, they took pity on us and let us stay.

An hour later the sprinkler system for the park kicked in pelting the hippy van for the next 20 minutes. I can't believe Gavin stayed dry exposed in the back of his truck.

The pros took off down the irrigation access road at 9am for four of the hardest laps you'll likely ever see. Matt, the machine, proceeded to lay down insanely consistent laps. Each lap was 40 minutes almost exactly. In the end, Matt finished just out of the money at 6th place; 5th place still got $100.

Finally at 12:30 it was my turn to suffer. I haven't been riding much at all so the worry of relentless pain or worse was running rampant.

At the start, everyone took off a a seemingly lazy pace. As a result, I found myself off the front without even trying. WTF? It turned out they all just wanted some sucker to draft off of for the first mile which is all gravel road. Despite their drafting, I managed to stay in front to the start of the singletrack which let me avoid the cloud of dust. (For those that don't know, dust can occur when soil is allowed to dry out thoroughly. It's kind of like mud without the water).

Once the first hill hit, two riders rabbited ahead. My racing history has taught me that this is the point where the entire field blows by me never to be seen again. But a strange thing happened. I accelerated and tried to reel the two riders back in.

Driven by the desire to reel the two riders back in and the constant pressure of riders behind me I soldiered on. I reeled in one of the riders ahead and started to pull away from my chasers though I didn't realize I was pulling away. The entire race I was convinced not only that they were right behind me but that they were feeling a whole lot better than I was too. I never saw the the other guy who passed me again. But he's a young pup so not in my category.

Scared to death of being caught, I was able to dig deep and stay out front for my first ever victory.

As usual, the schwagg was plentiful. I walked away with the least useful prize of the bunch;a pair of Tifosi glasses. I wear nothing but Rudy Project any more!

-Troy Hopwood

Indie Series #1 Race Report

Race Report: North Seatac, April 12, 2009

Those of you who race cyclocross are probably quite familiar with this race course. Wick wove many trails used in cyclocross races into this cross country mtb course. Although the trails were fairly dry and fast the day before, race day brought lots of steady rain, which saturated sections of the course. A number of the climbs, which were possible the day before, caused all but the strongest riders and best mud tires to spin out. Consequently, many climbs required dismounting due to the mud. There were two short paved road climbs, which offered some relief (in a sick and twisted way). Also, there were at least two flat winding sections that provided riders with 6”+ of thick mud. The energy cost required to get through these muddy sections was so high that many riders began to run, rather than ride, through the muddy flats. One rider claimed that the mud sucked the tire right off his wheel. Generally speaking, the 3.5 mile course was winding, mostly flat, without any technical challenges. Lastly, I should note that even sections that might offer recovery time were difficult due to the deep mud. My bike handled a little like large boat- upper body strength was required to skate the bike through. The bike swam to the left and right with my front wheel acting more like a tiller (sailor talk for steering wheel) than a race bike. Handling for all racers was sluggish and squirrelly.

Special commendation goes to Troy and Ann who showed up only to support all the beautiful people on TAI (and Henry too). It really means a lot to all of us when teammates come out to support each other. Hurray for Ann and Troy. We love you! Troy was quite popular because he brought our Rudy Project helmets and glasses. Rudy Project products certainly improve the bling factor for our modest team. Yea for Rudy! Also, I want to say hurray for Nuun whose electrolyte tablets were key in maintaining top performance for our racers. Lastly, thanks to 661 and their excellent protective gloves. They came in handy (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Despite the challenging weather, TAI had a good turn out. Thanks to all who braved the elements to race. It was a tough one as was born out in the numerous DNF’s. I look forward to seeing everyone at South Seatac on May 3rd.

Submitted by Your Humble Servant in the Quest for Speed and Health,

Henry Shaw

Recap of Placings:

Jr Boys Beg 11-14 (2 laps)
3 Harry Shaw - (54:19.4 and 2nd place rode 53:55.1)
4 Aaron Agudo - (First MTB race for 2009!)

Jr Boys Beg 10 and younger (2 laps)
3 Daniel McGee

Jr Boys Sports <18 (4 laps)
2 Mitch Davis

Sport Women 35+ (4 laps)
7 Jenn

Sport Men 35-44 (5 laps)
6 Henry Shaw
13 Bob McGee
16 Chris Liebsch
DNF Jeff Osborne (Finished 3 laps, says he did not have the fitness level yet…recent surgery has kept him off the bike. I suspect that losing braking ability played a part on him not finishing. On the steep hill he could not slow enough that he had to crash into the scotch broom at the bottom. Later when he checked his brakes the pads were totally toast)

Sport Men 45+ (5 laps)
8 Francisco Pons

Expert Men 35-44 (8 laps)
3 Mike Gile (only 34 seconds out of first place)

Expert Men 45+ (7 laps)
DNF Vince Haag (Has been using tubeless tires. Did a short preride found the back tire did not offer enough traction. Changed tire right before race which meant he had to use tubes. Rear tire flatted on lap 3, lost a few places (apparently he is really fast at changing flats), caught some riders, just to have it flat on lap 5 again. Vince says the creek crossing was over 12” deep in his race-compared to the couple of inches depth flowing during the first race of the day).

Open Men (8 laps)
DNF Matt Lynch (1st Open race? From what I could tell he was riding strong as usual, but then came back over to the tent after lap 4 and said he had had enough of trashing his bike. He and his bike were literally covered head to toe in mud just like Mike and Vince.)

Cookin' in the Kettles 4/05/09 race report

Singletrack Cycles, West Side Mountain Bike Series, Race 5.
A.K.A. Cookin' in the Kettles.

Please forgive me for taking so long to publish this race report. It's taken this long to recover. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The race took place on Sunday, April 5th at Fort Ebey State Park, on Whidbey Island. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. It is a great venue. I highly recommend attending this race in the future.

Each lap had 1,500' of short climbs, swoopy descents, tight switchbacks and fast straightaways. I don't recall a flat spot on the course. Trail conditions were pretty dry, it was nice finishing with a clean bike for a change. The distances were Beginners-7 miles, Sport-14 miles and Expert-21 miles. It was a tough course. There were only a couple of spots on the course that would allow any recovery.

Beginners, Sport and Single Speed riders started at 10:00. Expert riders started at noon.

Team TAI had seven riders turn out for the race.

It sounds like Matt had a good day. He finished with a win in the Expert Men's 40+ category. I heard that he was looking for a middle chainring before the start of his race. I'm not sure if he found one or not. That guy is amazing.

Henry finished in the second place spot in the Sport Men's 40+ category. Way to go Henry!

Chris L. had a good race; he seemed pretty cheerful when he passed me a couple hundred yards from the finish.

Francisco did well with a 15th place finish in Sport, Men's 40+. Francisco is a great guy and a lot of fun to race with. I didn't get a chance to talk to him after the race. I'll explain later.

Jenn had been fighting an illness for the week prior to the race. She completed the first lap but did not feel well enough to continue.

Daniel wasn't able to complete his lap in time to get a finish. His mother was ready to call in the Coast Guard for a Search and Rescue mission by the time he came back. He did manage to find a machete that was lost the day before by one of the crew laying out the course. I was afraid to ask Dan how many trees he cut down with it while he was out there. His mother and I are happy that he still has all of his fingers and toes.

For myself...I felt great and was doing well until about a mile and a half from the finish. I could feel that I was starting to run out of energy. What I would have done for a GU Energy product! About half a mile from the finish, is the start to a pretty tough climb. It took everything I had to make it up the climb and back to the finish line. The thing that kept me going was knowing that there was a box of doughnuts sitting on the table at the finish line and that I would be able to have one when I got there. The last half mile seemed to drag on forever as rider after rider passed me. Finally I made it and crossed the finish line. As soon as I was in a spot where I would not get run over by other riders finishing, I fell over and laid in the bushes. When Kim came over to see if I was still conscious, I asked her to grab me a doughnut. I lucked out, there were two left. I felt like I was in heaven after the first bite.

Anyway, if this race report seems like it is lacking in content, now you know why.

I did learn a valuable lesson, I'll make sure that I get enough to eat before a race and carry some GU Energy Gel with me.

-Bob McGee



Beginner Boys U-18
DNF Daniel McGee (was having too much fun)

Sport Women 30-39
-1 lap Jenn Sinclair (not feeling well)

Sport Men 30-39
5 Chris Liebsch

Sport Men 40+
2 Henry Shaw
14 Bob McGee
15 Francisco Pons

Expert Men 40+
1 Matt Lynch

Indie Series #1 North SeaTac 04/12/09

I never meant to cause you any sorrow
I never meant to cause you any pain
I only wanted to one time see you laughing
I only wanted to see you laughing in the EASTER Rain
EASTER Rain EASTER Rain
EASTER Rain EASTER Rain
EASTER Rain EASTER Rain....



It's me....Mike Gile

Fluidride Cup #1 4/5/09

Rain was the topic of choice during the entire week leading up to the race. Will it ever stop? Saturday, day for pre-rides arrives and we had our answer, YES! The weekend mornings in Port Angeles were a brisk 37, but with all the body armor on it wasn't bad at all and by the early afternoons it was actually sunny and warm out. The 5 of us Team TAI riders out for some downhill action, had to contend with a superficial layer of tacky mud on most of the course, but still felt it was ideal riding conditions. Of the 410 racers out there, Team TAI made the podium a remarkable 4 times, and this was even without Chris Bentley being at the race.

It was Mitch's first exposure to a DH course and I could sense he was a bit stressed, not that he would admit it. I hooked him up with TJ and Cheyenne, 2 "veteran" junior riders, and after some practice time getting used to the the bike on a slalom course, Mitch was ready to tackle the shuttle and negotiate the beginner course.We are not sure how it happened, but Laurie DeYoung (Derek's mom) was surprised to see Mitch finishing up on the Pro/Expert course on his first run.
He claims he had "tunnel vision" and did not realize that once White Knuckles (the starting course shared by all racers) ended he needed to take a left turn to reach the sport and beginner courses. He took a small tumble on the largest step-down on the Expert course, but fortunately for me I did not realize he had ridden the course or taken a tumble until Sunday. Mitch ended up riding 6 more practice runs on the day, wisely staying with Cheyenne on the relatively more benign beginner course. Mitch had a great first experience at the race and ended up with a Gold medal to boot.

This weekend I learned how focused of a rider 14 year old Derek is. This was only Derek's second DH race, and like his first race at Mt. Hood last year, he opted to race the Sport course to give him more of a challenge. Derek rode the course several times testing and analyzing which lines would provide him with the quickest elapsed time. Once he even offered advice on how I should approach the log drop on Motoguzzi,the Sport course trail, where my riding buddy, Bob H., had just crashed and was sprawled across the trail, causing a short log jam in riders while Bob picked himself up. Yeah, right, like I am going to launch myself off the log!

And challenge it was for Derek...there are a number of racers in his age category but his riding talent and focus paid off, and he walked away with a bronze medal for his efforts!

Erik is now taller than his dad and needed a dh bike for the race. This is where it is great to have a teammate who is willing to lend a bike. Thanks Jim Albright for providing Erik with an opportunity to race in his 2nd ever DH race. Erik, like Derek, also opted to race the Sport course. Erik's race category had a whopping total of 25 riders. By the time I was off the hill, Erik and Allan were gone, so I don't yet know how his race went.

Allan normally will race the DH Expert category, but opted to race the Sport category since it had been quite a while since he rode on a dh course. On Sunday before our races Allan, Mitch, Erik and I walked up the expert course to check out the pros racing and to help Allan scope it out for future races. Allan is really good at analyzing other riders and determining the most expeditious line to take and I am sure he will put it to use later when he rides that course. Allan ended up taking the silver medal in his category. Congrats!

So how does it end up that Team TAI had 5 riders at the race? Up until 3 weeks ago, I had never even sat on a dh/freeride bike let alone ridden on a super steep descent. Jenn Sinclair and I took a dh clinic 3 weeks ago at Port Angeles. At the beginning of the clinic I went from being scared witless in 2 sections, that I had to dismount my bike and slide down the hill, to actually having FUN riding them. I had no intention of racing this weekend and was just out to support Mitch who was using my bike. My friend Bob, had a different idea. He brought a bike for me to use, that even though it was too large, I felt okay riding. I was able to overcome my (illogical?) fear of the elevated starting gate on the second run down and decided that since the cost of the shuttle included a race entry I may as well race on Sunday.

My race category only had 2 women in it, and true to many of my mtb races, I was the oldest. This meant I went second; I was pleased with the starting schedule as it meant there was no chances that she would be barreling down on me if she makes up the 30 seconds delay time. I headed down the course and was SHOCKED as a rounded the corner on the approach of the rooty section of White Knuckles to learn that it was ME barreling down on her. I took the inside line on the corner and whizzed by. At that moment I realized that as long as I finished I will have won my first DH race and tried to get a hold of my ever skyrocketing adrenaline. On the next trail, Cakewalk, I ended up behind TJ trying to decide whether to also pass him or just sit behind him to the finish. TJ ended up washing out on a high banked corner and I slipped by him, but first making sure that he was okay, not that I could have stopped my momentum...yes, Joel I did talk during the race. Who would have thought a 4 minutes 8 seconds race could raise my heart rate so much and cause my breathing to sound like a steam engine. The challenge to push myself to ride outside of my comfort zone was exhilarating!

No race report goes without an explanation on the shuttle as that was quite the experience this xc rider had never witnessed. They would load up to 25 riders in the back of a 26' U-Haul moving truck. We would lean with our backs against the wall, our front bike tires sandwiched between our legs, facing the other riders on the other side of the truck; think sardines. Once we were situated, they would roll down the back door and off we went for a 14 minutes ride in the dark up the hillside. Erik said it reminded him of the Space Mountain ride and I thought it was more reminiscent of a scene from Charlie and Chocolate Factory. We knew we were nearing the top when the truck would tilt to the right from hitting a pot hole then about 1 minute later some tree branches would scrape the sides. The shuttle ride as unnerving as it is, was a blessing from having to endure a hike & bike up the hill with these heavy bikes. ..trust me I stupidly did that on my first run, before I gladly forked over the cash for the ability to ride the shuttle.

Recap of Race Results:
Cat II Men 50+
2 Allan

Cat II Men 15-18
? Erik

Cat II Men 0-14
3 Derek

Cat III Men 15-18
1 Mitch

Cat III Women Open:
1 Ann

Meet the Team - Russ Moul

Hometown: Kent, WA

Racing category: Sport 40+

Years racing: 3

Years on Black Diamond Racing: 2

Why join the team?: "Because Ann Davis harassed me endlessly until I joined."

Goal for 2009: Over Memorial weekend Russ is going to race the 24 hours Round the Clock in Spokane. It will be his first 24 hour solo race. Russ is also targeting "to do well" in the Indie Series.

Long term goal: To be happy, stay healthy and have fun!

Racing highlight: It has to be the 2008 BC Bike Race. "Playin' Dirty", a team comprised of Russ and Vince, finished 9th out of 44 teams in their Veterans 80+ category. This was Russ' first experience with a multi-stage mtb race. Russ especially enjoyed the challenge of racing over 335 miles during those 7 days on 7 different courses and spending some rest time in the "fun, festival-type atmosphere" once the race day was over.

Support crew: That would have to be Vince Haag since he is the person he rides with most.

First bike: Schwinn Stingray that he repainted in a green metal fleck that was oh so popular at the time. He doesn't think he can locate a photo of it, but if he could more likely than not the picture would be of it lying down in the front yard...so uncharacteristic of how well he treats all his current bikes.

Favorite racing venue: Russ likes the Indie Series for the fact that each of the races are different. If he had to pick just one, it would be the one at Greenwater.
Location most likely to be riding: Black Diamond. He also likes the trails at Skookum Flats, Suntop and Palisades.

Giving back to the biking community: On Thursday evenings Russ leads a road ride, targeted towards 1 day STP riders, for Cascade Bicycle Club. Check out the event calendar at www.cascade.org for more details on how to join Russ on the strenuous training ride.

Time spent off the bike: "Is there time off the bike?" Besides work and cycling, Russ somehow finds enough time to teach a Java programing course at the UW Extension 2 times a week for 9 months of the year.

Worse cycling crash: Even though Russ was hit by a car 2 years ago, resulting in several scrapes and bruises and totaling his carbon road bike, his "worse accident didn't involve a car." It was last year when he went down to Southern California for 4 days of road riding. About 8 miles into the ride on day 1, he hit a patch of loose gravel while traveling at high speed, causing him to go down HARD resulting in lots of abrasions, a shredded team jersey, but fortunately no broken bones.

Interesting fact most people don't know: "As a teenager I had a pet falcon." First Russ had to obtain a license and then he was allowed to trap a falcon. Once he captured the falcon he trained it to fly back to him and to hunt.

Dream vacation: "That would have to be a bike tour of New Zealand" but he has yet to convince his wife Jeanne to agree.

Shout out to our sponsors: "Obviously that would be Black Diamond Bikes!"