Southern California Cyclocross is now through its second weekend of the season and dual events as CX met MX in San Diego, CA. It was another mountain bike (mtb) and cyclocross back-to-back weekend as San Diego’s rising cross scene piggybacked the Racers and Chasers mtb event Saturday to start the first race of the San Diego cyclocross series season Sunday morning. Overall, it was the most motocross like race experience cross fanatics have seen as the hot temps and twenty-foot doubles seemed to push racers off their bikes, the course, or to fear the course and not show.
The racing heated up with the skies Sunday morning as the temps reached 100 degrees by midday. Competitors who thought last weekend was hot were begging for the cooler conditions. The amount of sand and jumps on course were not kind with allowing riders areas of rest as it was a non stop suffer fest. However, those who had the right descending skills were definitely using them to their advantage as they smoothly pumped through the many transitions.
The early morning competitors showed with a more prominent force and commitment than the later. The women and juniors for the second week brought out the best in So Cal… comprising 35% of the day’s participants! In the Elite Women’s field it was Dorothy Wong (Team SoCalCross-CICLE) taking the win as she hashed it out with Team Duke’s Jill Sisamis. In her first season of cross Sisamis looked strong as she started the pace for the group and continued strong finishing in second with Annette Padilla (Celo Pacific) in third.
The Elite Men’s race brought another weekend of hot action as temps were at a high 102degrees at race time. It was Gary Douville (Platinum) who took the hole shot to lead the group through the first set of sandy switchbacks and into the first lap. John Bailey (Bailey Bikes) and Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific/B&L) followed Douville as the three set a strong pace, opening a gap on the rest of the field. On the second lap, Prenzlow took the lead and opened a gap to take a comfortable win on the day. In second it was Bailey who had a powerful finish even with a rough crash in one of the gravelly dirt sections. And, rounding out the top three was early race leader Douville of Team Platinum in the last race on the day.
As usual thank you to everyone who came. We look forward to seeing you at the next race, October 4th, which should be exciting. The guys from the Velocity cycling club have been working hard for their second annual cross race when not working, racing, riding, and or occasionally pulling a B.O.B. full of beer. The race was a great success last year with much accolade from the racers and spectators alike. This year, they are making it better.
They have improved the course, eliminating a few of the tight twistys, and will be once again making the effort to build the much applauded hillside stairs. Along side the course improvements this year’s kids race will be a standout. And, again as is standard with Velocity club leader Mike McMahon’s involvement with an event, be it mowing the lawn or racing, there will be beer available.
The racing will be fast and furious and the fun will be plentiful.
It’s a local event, for most SoCal riders, at a great venue with easy access, held in the private parks behind Irvine Lake just off of Santiago Canyon.
Come on out, bring the kids and enjoy the day.
Pre-register at SportsbaseOnline and save $$$ 5 and 10 race series passes available. More info at: www.SoCalCross.org
On my way to work I heard a story on NPR about a non-profit called Freiker. (FREquent bIKER, rhymes with biker)
Freiker is a program that encourages elementary school children to ride their bikes to school instead of getting a ride from their parents. The coolest part of the program is the RFID and solar technology that Freiker is using to give kids points for riding to school, its called the Freikometer. Check the video above.
The Freiker program began at Crest View Elementary in Boulder, Colorado in the spring of 2004. The founder, Rob Nagler, couldn’t convince his children to ride their bikes to Crest View, less than one mile away. However, once Rob offered them small prizes, he found his kids regularly pedaling to school. And they were having fun doing it. Rob realized he had stumbled upon a great way to motivate other kids to also ride, and soon Rob and his newly minted deputy, Tim Carlin, were standing out at the Crest View bike racks every day handing out punchcards and prizes to a growing number of kids.
Rock Racing rider joins forces with Colorado Premier Training. Rock Racing’s Rahsaan Bahati finished off his week at the Interbike trade show by announcing his company, RAHA Sports Management, would launch a new North American International Cycling Union (UCI) squad in 2010. Despite the new venture, Bahati is hopeful his own contract to ride with Michael Ball’s team will be renewed for next season.
In Part 2 of this 6 part series I want to share with you some helpful information about energy sources that may help you adjust your diet to enhance your athletic endurance during training and racing. “Fat” Awhile back I wrote an article called “Pass the Fat!” To quickly summarize:
• “Good fat” is good for you (olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, animal fat)
• Carbohydrates have their place in our diets, but not as much as you think
• We need to train our bodies to burn fat as a primary fuel source, which can be done through training and nutrition
Cadel Evans erased a career of close calls with a daring attack on the final climb to drop a super-star group of riders to win the 2009 world road cycling championships. The Aussie climbed out of the saddle in the closing kilometers of the 259km epic battle to win the most important victory of his career. No one can say Evans doesn’t attack anymore. “This is for all the critics I’ve had this season,” Evans said. “I have seven worlds medals from mountain biking at home, but none of them are gold. This course suits me a lot better than the worlds course next year in Geelong, which is my real hometown.”
The Seventh Presentation of the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay sold out Friday, nearly two months ahead of the November 15 race day.
“This event continues to increase in popularity,” said race director Wally Kastner. We’ve grown the field every year, and we keep selling out earlier.” This year’s cap is 6,000 for the Half Marathon and an additional 1,000 for the 10-Miler. Kastner advises that runners sign up for the 10-Miler which follows the same course, but turns around a bit sooner. The 10-Miler is a timed, yet non-competitive event, open to both runners and walkers.
Established in 2003, the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay has grown to attract runners from throughout the U.S. and abroad. Participants this year hail from 45 states and 12 countries.
The 13.1 mile course travels through historic Monterey, down Steinbeck’s Cannery Row and along the scenic Monterey Bay coastline through the town Pacific Grove. The out and back route finishes at Monterey’s Fisherman’s Wharf and Custom House Plaza.
More than 25 elite runners are scheduled to compete for the $8,000 prize purse. Cash awards are presented to the top eight male and female finishers and the top three male and female Masters (40 years and over) finishers. Additional awards go five deep in five year ages divisions after 12-15 and 16-19 years.
On the day prior to the Half Marathon and 10-Miler, smaller distance events will be held including the Run Forrest Run 5K presented by Bubba Gump Shrimp Company and the JUST RUN! Just Kids 3K presented by Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Registration will remain open for these events through race day.
A two-day Health & Fitness Expo featuring more than 50 vendors will be held at the Monterey Conference Center on Friday and Saturday, November 13 and 14.
For more information and to register for the 10-Miler, 5K and 3K events, visit www.bigsurhalfmarathon.org.
Southern California pedaled into the 2009-10 cyclocross season with the C-X-C unification weekend. It was cyclocross races Saturday as the Southern California Prestige Series set way and mountain bike races on Sunday with U.S. Cup Unification race. It was a great start to the cyclocross season that really brought some unexpected events.
The races started early Saturday morning and even with the heat reaching the mid 90’s there were large numbers of racers and spectators alike who flocked to Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimas, California. Competitors thought they were going to start the season with a more simplistic course but promoters and course designers threw competitors for a loop with a long technical course that was almost three kilometers in length. The topic heard time-and-time again on the day was the course was fun but definitely demanding as many riders discussed their struggles with the heat and technical aspects the course delivered. If anyone ever wanted a miracle diet all they had to do was compete this weekend as they could have easily lost pounds in water weight at the Bonelli sweat factory.
The early morning numbers brought strong groups of competitors and battles going on in the fields. Record numbers of women and juniors brought out the best in So Cal… comprising 35% of the day’s participants! In the Elite Women’s field it was the Coryn Rivera of the Proman team who came out for the first race of the season after an amazing road season to win first race of the year. The women’s field started strong and stayed close for the first few laps. It looked like the ladies of the CICLE team were going to stay together and dominate the field. But, it was the two young power houses of Kendall Ryan (Team SoCalCross-CICLE) and Coryn Rivera who pushed the pace and began opening gaps on the field. The chase was lead by Tonya Bray (YOR) as her teammates Alexis Ryan and Dorothy Wong followed working together to real in the two Juniors who were off the front. Unfortunately, they never regained the leaders. It looked like Kendall Ryan had control but in the end Rivera found her way to the front for the win.
The Elite Men’s race was another unexpected event as mountain bikers preparing for Sunday’s race came out to throw down a few hard laps on the technical course. It was confusion from the beginning as pro super-d rider Waylon Smith (Mongoose) sprinted off the front with his full suspension bike into the first turn with more speed than needed as the almost 180 degree turn threw him into a bit of a fish tale as he slid from the inside corner to the outer bottling up the field. But, it was Sho-Air/Specialized’s Sid Taberlay who was also on a mountain bike and his skills allowed him to see the un-deliberate chaos and respond with an immediate attack as he was the first around Smith and Taberlay hit the course hard. The pack saw Taberlay take off and did not respond with a huge push as they regained form as most thought the mountain bike would be a disadvantage on the cross course. Announcer, Larry Longo, even declared the brilliance of Taberlay’s push off the front but was explaining to the crowd that unfortunately he would not hold onto his lead long because of the disadvantages of the mountain bike.
As Taberlay was attacking the course lap after lap the chase group began to pick up the pace and the battles really began. It was young Morgan Ryan (Team SoCalCross-CICLE) and Rock N’ Road’s Ted Willard and Chance Noble (Giant Berry Farms) who were leading the group through the first barrier and over the muddy grass run up. But the group shifted fast as Chance had not one but two unexpected flats in the race and the heat seemed to melt the power from the rest of the riders’ legs early in the race. By the third lap it was Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific) and Brandon Gritters (Rock N’ Road) who were working to get back up to Taberlay as he rode around in Aussie fash ion springing over barriers like a kangaroo, never dismounting, to maintain his lead. In the end it was Taberlay who unexpectedly won with at least a 30 second gap on second place finisher Prenzlow. It was Gritters who was able to hold onto third Jason Siegle of Bike Religion who put in one last hard effort for fourth to beat out Mark Noble who rounded out the top five.
Thank you to everyone for a great first event and remember to remind your USA Cycling officials that you would all like to be scored. See you at the next race September 27th with Racers and Chasers in Anza, CA.
Professional snowboarder Louie Vito shredding it up on the dance floor!
ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” premiered last night and yes, Louie Vito officially killed it! He may have received a little flack from the judges for his long hair and short stature, but in the end Louie and Chelsea out scored half the competition by receiving the scores of a 6, 7 and a 6. We thought he should have received a few more points, something like 6, 8, 6. That sounds better! If you missed it, click “Read More” below for a video recap.
