Southern California Prestige Series of Cyclocross, presented by Spy Optic
SCPS 17: Santa Cross Weekend

Photos: Kenneth Hill

Griffith Park hosted the 2-day cross-centric-bicycle festival the Southern California Prestige Series, (SCPS) called Santa Cross. With many years of Santa Cross events nothing came close to this two-day weekend of fantastic racing, advocacy, family (pets included), fun, and friends.

The course was a challenging bringing the longest climb the series has ever seen. It was a one-minute plus pulse pounding grind from the road of the start finish to the top of the park where racers made a long sweeping left back down through the winding grass/dirt sections of the park. And, along this path racers twisted back up punchy climbs that included multiple small six-inch barriers, risky twisting woodchip sections, and the man made Spy Optic, SPY Pit.

Day 1, Saturday, brought early morning rains but it dried out for some perfect cross racing. The grass seemed to have some slick sections that challenged riders but the Hero Dirt was so gripping riders were carving turns like super bike racers, or maybe that was just the Bostrom brothers. The competitors’ battles were exciting all day but, especially the Fixed Gear Championship of SoCal, with the expected winner tattoo on the line. This was a special race brought by Orange 20 and Team Cadence who came out in force to help set up a fun course full of obstacles.

Fixed Gear Championships:Brian Comer (Acua AL2/SDBC) could have raced the some super master’s event but instead brought out his fixed machine to brave the hilly Griffith Park course, showing the crowds and competitors that we are never too old to have fun. While Comer was off the start first with his senior head start discount, it was Austin Horse (Redbull/Oakley) and Hernan Montenegro (Mash) who crushed the first climb ahead of the field to descend into the park.

There was a lot of fantastic riding going on from all competitors whether they decided to ride with or without brakes and actual cross tires or other forms of fixed specialties. Regardless, the skids on course were enough to make people cheer, along with the spring loaded pedal dismounts.

By the second lap Horse had shown who was going to win as he rode himself away from the competition. In second it was Montenegro who controlled the course without brakes and third was Peter Brandenburg.

Elite Women:Turner, Turner Turner! Christine Probert-Turner (The Team SoCalCross) crushed the race from the start showing her form as she continues to get stronger this season. The chase was the Cynergy Bicycles women Julia LaFranchise and Jenna Jammer Kowalski. The two worked hard and separated themselves with Turner away from the field but by the end of lap two it was obvious Turner was going to ride away with the win.

LaFranchise and Jammer went back and forth but towards the end some mistakes allowed LaFranchise to ride in for 2nd. Jammer was a solid 3rd, with Nicole Brandt (LA Velocity) 4th, and Kate Wilson (Connie Cycling) to grab the final podium spot.

Elite Men:The men shot up the hill with Ted Willard (SGD/Felt p.b. iRT) taking the holeshot and leading into the descent. Three turns in Willard crashed in the slick grass where his teammate Jason Siegle took the lead for the remainder of the descent and into the small barrier section. There Siegle bobbled hopping the barriers and riders instantly shot ahead. Gary Douville SGD/Felt p.b. iRT) and Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific/Focus) came around Siegle to take the lead. Douville was quick to snap around the corner and continued the teams control through lap one.

Siegle had to work his way back to the front group with Gareth Feldstein (Ritte Racing) and others in the chase. The pace was hard and riders were falling apart quickly with the crushing climb. On the third lap Douville went down on the slick grass descent and Prenzlow was away solo with a small gap back to the chase. He was ridding strong and the chase was changing riders as they were getting closer to the leader.

Then with three to go Ben Bostrom (Sho-Air) started to close the gap leaving the chase group and continuing to gain on Prenzlow. Douville and teammate Anton Petrov were close to Bostrom and rode themselves away from others, also looking for the leader.

With two laps to go Bostrom was on Prenzlow’s wheel and still riding hard. Douville and Petrov were back about 15 seconds then the leaders attacked the climbs again to open more ground. After the Spy Pit Prenzlow lead into the mulchy woodchip section but then Bostrom came around with his two wheel handling skills sneaking by to lead into the final lap.

The last lap the Prenzlow and Bostrom punished eachother up the climb and through the lap and it was Bostrom who rode to his first win of the season. 3rd was Douville, with Petrov 4th, and the winners brother Eric Bostrom (Sho-Air) who continued to move up in the group all day for 5th.

Day 2, Sunday, brought more overnight showers and then the skies took a break to present nothing but sun. It was another perfectly cool SoCal winter race with more epic course conditions. The fixed gear championships were done which left the team gift relay race, K9 costume extravaganza, along with a lot more fantastic Santa Cross racing, thanks to the help of Universal Cycles.

Elite women:The women flew up the start and were eying each other for position as the previous days top winner was not in the field. And, leading down the descent it was the birthday girl Hannah Rae Finchamp (The Team SoCalCross) with Amanda Schaper (Ritte Racing) and the rest of the chase in tow.

Finchamp looked strong was excited about her lead because the girl was not slowing down. Schaper worked hard but the junior having her sweet sixteen was dancing up the hills away from the women. As Schaper and Nicole Brandt (The Team SoCalCross) could not close the gap Finchamp continued to open they faded back. Then Dorothy Wong (The Team SoCalCross) moved her way up in the group to eventually take control of the chase.

Finchamp in the end rolled in for her best birthday ever and first elite win. Her teammates Wong and Brandt were 2nd and 3rd, with Schaper just behind in 4th. And, 5th it was Mandy Melcher who took the final podium spot.

Elite men:The men finally hit the course for the last race of the weekend. The fresh legs of the Gritter’s brothers Brandon and Kyle (Rock N’ Road) took a commanding lead around the top of the course and into lap one. Quickly, the brothers and Jason Siegle gapped themselves off the chase leading into lap two.

It was John Bailey (Bailey Bikes) and Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific/Focus) who controlled the chase. On lap two the brothers lead through the descent and a small mistake by Brandon Gritters allowed Siegle to sneak up to second wheel. Then by the time the riders hit the small barriers Siegle pulled the move used on him the day before and he attacked hopping past Kyle Gritters to take the lead. Coming through the start finish and into the climb of lap three he held a eight-second gap on the brothers.

The whole field was chasing hard and it seemed like a matter of time until things would reform and settle in for different tactics later in the race. However, Siegle was holding his gap and in some sections of the course continuing to gain room. Halfway through it was the same, the brothers charging hard after Siegle and Bailey leading the chase of Prenzlow and now Anton Petrov (SDG/Felt p.b. iRT) as others had faded back from the pace.

With one to go Siegle was still off the front with a gap that was between 15-20 seconds most of the lap as he happily took his second win of the season and an early gift from Santa. 2nd was Brandon Gritters with his work horse Kyle Gritters 3rd. Prenzlow and Petrov eventually came around Bailey to take 4th and 5th and finishing another strong day of racing.

It was a fun weekend for rounds 17 and 18 of the SoCal Prestige Series with lots of action and shenanigans. The series takes a break with the approaching holidays and will resume December 31, New Years Eve for round 19 in Irvine, California.

For more information go to: www.socalcross.org

OC Chili Winter Trail Run Series
info: http://www.bookthatevent.com/Trail_Run/Home.html

4.52 mile trail course in O’Neill Regional Park

Don’t forget. This Saturday, February 7, 2009 we will be running the OC Chili Winter Trail Run. This is the first in the three race series. If you have already slacked off on your New Year’s resolution or decided that running alone was super boring. Which it can be on a beautiful Saturday morning. Be sure and check out their site and join us.

Matt S.
Outside All Day

While traveling in Albuquerque this week I picked up a magazine that is right up our alley. Breathe Magazine is published in Canada and here is a quick review.

Content: The issue I picked up was volume 4, issue 2. My favorite article was titled “Two Regular Guys” by Ted McLeod and was about two friends that took up the TransRockies Challenge. This story alone is worth picking up the mag and putting down the $4.99. I enjoyed the stage by stage review of the event. Now I want to put together an OAD team event. Lot’s of good writing and interesting takes on things outside. One article gave a review of the Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 that is an internally geared hub with 14 speeds. Mind blowing concept.

Graphic Design: The ads in the magazine should not outshine the design within. There were a few good pages that created a good look but by and large the mag needs a redesign. I didn’t take the time to count how many font changes the mag made from cover to cover – but at least 20. That’s OK the content is good. Check it out.

My buddy Capt. Adam B. forwarded me a Craigslist post from a guy in Montana trying to sell his Xterra. It has since been flagged but this is phenomenal. Check it out:

OK, let me start off by saying this Xterra is only available for purchase by the manliest of men (or women). My friend, if it was possible for a vehicle to sprout chest hair and a five o’clock shadow, this Nissan would look like Tom Selleck. It is just that manly.

It was never intended to drive to the mall so you can pick up that adorable shirt at Abercrombie & Fitch that you had your eye on. It wasn’t meant to transport you to yoga class or Linens & Things. No, that’s what your Prius is for. If that’s the kind of car you’re looking for, then just do us all a favor and stop reading right now. I mean it. Just stop.

This car was engineered by 3rd degree ninja super-warriors in the highest mountains of Japan to serve the needs of the man that cheats death on a daily basis. They didn’t even consider superfluous nancy boy amenities like navigation systems (real men don’t get lost), heated leather seats (a real man doesn’t let anything warm his butt), or On Star (real men don’t even know what the hell On Star is).

No, this brute comes with the things us testosterone-fueled super action junkies need. It has a 265 HP engine to outrun the cops. It’s got special blood/gore resistant upholstery. It even has a first-aid kit in the back. You know what the first aid kit has in it? A pint of whiskey, a stitch-your-own-wound kit and a hunk of leather to bite down on when you’re operating on yourself. The Xterra also has an automatic transmission so if you’re being chased by Libyan terrorists, you’ll still be able to shoot your machine gun out the window and drive at the same time. It’s saved my bacon more than once.

It has room for you and the four hotties you picked up on the way to the gym to blast your pecs and hammer your glutes. There’s a tow hitch to pull your 50 caliber anti-Taliban, self cooling machine gun. I also just put in a new windshield to replace the one that got shot out by The Man.

My price on this bad boy is an incredibly low $12,900, but I’ll entertain reasonable offers. And by reasonable, I mean don’t walk up and tell me you’ll give me $5,000 for it. That’s liable to earn you a Burmese-roundhouse-sphincter-kick with a follow up three fingered eye-jab. Would it hurt? Hell yeah. Let’s just say you won’t be the prettiest guy at the Coldplay concert anymore.

There’s only 69,000 miles on this four-wheeled hellcat from Planet Kickass. Trust me, it will outlive you and the offspring that will carry your name. It will live on as a monument to your machismo.

Now, go look in the mirror and tell me what you see. If it’s a rugged, no holds barred, super brute he-man macho Chuck Norris stunt double, then contact me. I might be out hang-gliding or BASE jumping or just chilling with my ladies, but I’ll get back to you. And when I do, we’ll talk about a price over a nice glass of Schmidt while we listen to Johnny Cash.

To sweeten the deal a little, I’m throwing in this pair of MC Hammer pants for the man with rippling quads that can’t fit into regular pants. Yeah, you heard me. FREE MC Hammer pants.

Rock on.

Matt S.
Outside All Day

I found an old file folder last week that held results from my first 5K race – back in 1986.

My most recent race was last weekend up in Monterey for the Big Sur Half Marathon. Of all the run races, in all the years, this one stands at the top.

The pre-race expo had vendors that actually had a reason to be there and not just to get our attention and hand us some worthless trinket to remember their brand by. The staff was dressed in sport coats with the venerable Big Sur logo. The race – with a little rain before and a little rain after – was amazing. I have gone for workouts near the ocean in dozens of places here and abroad and I was mesmerized by the coastline on Sunday.

I would highly recommend you put this race on you calendar for next year. If you have a good training regimen in place consider the full which runs from Big Sur into Monterey. Sunday went so smooth I left the Central Coast with a profound respect for the organizers. I saw a lot of staffers that loved what they were doing. The start had all the pomp and circumstance one might expect of an older race. In the early miles the race heads into a long highway tunnel and at the end stood a bag pipe player that filled the tunnel with fantastic music. Brilliant. Energy drinks and water were placed in wise positions and staffed well. The turnaround area had so much energy from the water bottle filling gang that I gained momentum out of it. And after all of these high notes there was the finish. Unlike the LA Marathon family and friends can actually watch runners finish the race. And after you wave to friends, pickup your small children and carry them across the finish line you are met by race staffers there to help – not just push you through the funnel. I know I am excited but I was speechless when my wife and I walked thorough the food line. There was so much fresh fare I could barely stand it, muffins, apples, strawberries, cookies and even pineapple juice. Many thanks are owed by all of us to the race organizers for serving up a great race.
I think the advertisers in this race owe a lot to the organizers as well. Saab didn’t rename the race or graffiti the event shirt with their logo – but they did have cars on display, did have the pace car and did get a lot of positive attention. Kudos to all parties for having class.

And now for a recap of the LA South Bay crew in Monterey:
C. Daniels 1:36:43
M. Smart 1:51:39
B. Smart 1:53:20
D. Michaelis 1:53:15
K. Hart 1:53:50
J. Miller 1:55:55
N. Smith 2:10:16
A. Pregizer 2:20:11

M. Smart
Outside All Day

The Big Sur Half Marathon is less than a month away so training is in motion – but tonight we just had fun.

I saw my wife grab her running bag as she headed out the door this morning. I gave her a call at 4:30 to see if I could join her and an hour later we were making our way under PCH down the chip trail towards Hermosa. The last quarter mile she picked up the pace and we finished in a flurry but stride for stride. What a blast to run with my favorite running partner. Big Sur will be amazing.

Matt Smart
Outside All Day

PERCENTAGE FULL:
Half Marathon 90%
10-Mile Walk 82%

The Sixth Presentation of the Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay will be held on November 9, 2008. Please join us for a run or walk along the “Edge of the Western World.” Come for the run and then take some time to enjoy the many pleasures of the world-renowned Monterey Peninsula. The Half Marathon offers…

* A gently rolling fast course that winds through historic downtown Monterey, along Cannery Row, and proceeds along Pacific Grove’s coastline with incredible views of the Monterey Bay.
* An unparalleled race destination weekend. After the race, take some time to enjoy world-class golf, a Spa afternoon, whale watching, world-class dining, shopping, wine tasting, a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and more.
* A walker friendly course that features a separate Half Marathon Walk division as well as a 10-Mile Walk. Other weekend events include Saturday’s Run Forrest Run 5K and the JUST RUN!® Just Kids 3K fun run.

Join us Sunday, November 9, 2008 for the Half Marathon experience of a lifetime.

Matt Smart
Outside All Day

Half-way through this morning’s swim workout with the El Segundo Slugs I looked over and saw the man, the myth, the legend Craig Hummer putting in the laps. Naturally I was not on the same pace. For those who have only seen him behind the camera at the Tour de France or other sporting events he can hold his own with many of the same athletes he interviews and discusses. Diane Graner, our coach and legend in her own right, headed out to the rising sun and left us under his direction for the ab workout. Mine still burn. A great way to start the week off. Hope you had a similar day.

Matt Smart
Outside All Day

Our first lengthy break was at 10:35 when we encountered our first of many green, flowery meadows. We crossed a creek at 11:10 with crystal clear water and a fallen log bridge or a rock-to-rock alternative. At 12:05, we stopped for lunch just after another stream crossing. Beside the stream it was nicely shaded. Beef jerky, Odwalla bars, crackers, Velveeta “cheese”, peanut butter and trail mix. (We didn’t laugh at the cheese. It keeps well at high altitude and in the heat.) We lunched for about 45 minutes, then Mark said he wanted to take a nap since none of us really had slept on the six-hour drive. The nap was the best I ever had in the Sierra. We were on our way again, refreshed, after about an hour. We hiked another hour before a break at 1:45. Matt totally surprised us with a quarter each of a delicious fresh peach.

We left the national forest, entered the Golden Trout Wilderness Area, and after a while the John Muir Wilderness. We all seemed to be tiring, and Marvin seemed to know exactly when to stop, rest, and often to take in the beauty. We inspected the topo map many times to check our progress and where we had to go. Cirque Lake lost out as our destination when we heard there were three parties already camping there. Muir Lake was considered, but it was over 1,000 feet higher than we were. Finally we settled on South Fork Lake. We saw light at the top of a ridge which indicated a possible lake. It was indeed a lake at the head of a large meadow which eventually will replace the lake. We got there at 5:30 and we were at 10,300 feet, ready to crash. A small steam led out of the lake about 75 feet from our selected campsite. Water was filtered to refill our bottles and we began heating water for dinner.

Marvin’s menu included sweet and sour shrimp casserole, navy bean soup, dark chocolate, and trail mix, accompanied by another of Matt’s surprises, a nice Cabernet. Delicious!

After dinner, there was a cleaning-up period, more visiting, and appreciation of a moonless sky which made stargazing much more rewarding. It was a mild night, windless, and mostly free of mosquitoes. The forecast was for a minimum temperature of 50 degrees. We thought that was accurate. Marvin produced a bottle of brandy to induce or assist sleep.

Doug Buckmaster
Outside All Day Contributor

Rummaging through my MTB gear bag at the trail head Thursday night my phone buzzed with a text message. I had awaken at 5:30 AM for an hour swim with the Slugs and Diane Graner-Gallas’ training program was leaving me tired. I was struggling to ready myself for my evening ride with Rob up Del Cerro. The text was from James and now I was going to run along the strand in Manhattan after the ride. By 9 PM Thursday I had put in 3 hours of workouts all before 9 and after 5. I’m glad that the day before Andy B had handed me Fluid Recovery – Tropical Escape. Before Wednesday I had used Endurox as a recovery drink in a number of exertions over the three hour mark. Being familiar with the protein/carbo replacement/recovery drink concept I was excited to try Fluid. Having grown up on Champion Nutrition’s Cytomax and moved on to GU20 I had already replaced them with MotorTabs. This week I replaced Endurox with Fluid. Fluid has a great taste and tastes good even after the water bottle warms up….unlike its Endurox friend. And being a Cal Poly alum makes it even easier to love Fluid.

With forty-six days until Scott Tinley’s Extreme Tri I got fitted on Monday to my Bianchi road bike (training bike) and Trek mountain bike (racing bike). Outside All Day loves Rock N’ Road Cyclery. I just happen to live almost an hour and a half from the closest one. So I met up with Brian, owner of Beach Cities Cycle in Hermosa Beach, and he fitted me up to the bikes. I worked for Brian back in high school and it was great to hang and get his help. I haven’t been comfortable on either bike and he made a bunch of changes. Both pairs of shoes were adjusted, seat post height went up, seat distance changed, MTB stem changed and he coached me on knee position. We would all be wise to get ourselves fitted to our bikes. Go see your bike shop and then head to Lake Lopez to race the Eternal Timing System.

Matt Smart
Outside All Day

Running down the strand in Hermosa tonight with the Nike Training Run Crew my wife and I were passed by a gang of bikers complete with mohawks and skate shorts. Crazy thing was they were on elite road bikes – not strand cruisers. One had a sweet Lemond. As they left you could hear them laughing and carrying on. I looked over at my wife and said, “bet they are here for nationals.” We were a quarter of the way through the run and my mind quickly refocused on my breathing. The group pace was ratcheting up and my mind blocked out all competing thoughts. Finished at the Mermaid restaurant with three guys nearly reeling me in with a 39:30. Being close to my fifth hour of training this week I was pleased with my 5 mile time and wondering about tomorrow’s 27 mile road ride. Just as I caught my breath the gang reappeared. I meagerly yelled to them, “you here for nationals?” A bit surprised one of them turned saying “YES”. And they were gone. You can’t hide your shaved legs under skate shorts guys. Go see them in OC this week. They are going to rock.

matt smart
el segundo, ca
outsideallday

If you happened to pass the Portola Arby’s this morning then surely you would have heard two grown men laughing – all the way up the canyon. At six we dropped into the sand pit called Whiting Ranch and took two laps away from those who were still sleeping. Andy is getting my race tactics in shape for the Tinley Mountain Bike Tri.

I followed him through one lap of the newly minted racetrack and then he called me past him giving me ten yards. He caught me time and time again. But, I rode with reckless abandon. Now you see why we need to wake up so early. We would have bummed out the running crew. And quite frankly with all the mountain lion signs – they have more courage then I do – so we give ourselves a head start.

After two hours we headed over to Tully’s for some quality wakeup drinks. We covered Tour race tactics, OutsideAllDay, and I even got some coaching tips. Andy was in great form today – even at the coffee shop. The 100% compostable coffee cups are sweet.

Matt Smart
outsideallday contributor

I am no detective, but figuring out this last one did require a bit of tenacity. I was joyfully plodding through my latest VeloNews when I came across an ad for Origin-8. The ad displayed a beautiful urban three-speed bike called the “Cykel 3-Spd”. I love urban bikes. Especially ones in the Belgian fashion. If I had a commute I would grab one of these. But since I work from home I will stay with shoes.
I jumped on the laptop and typed in www.origin-8.com. Nothing on the site has anything about the bike. Crazy. It has images of beautiful frames for everything but the urban dweller. Now I was engaged.

Off to google typing in, “Cykel 3-spd origin 8”. One item from a terrific blog I have visited in the past: BikesForTheRestOfUs. Bingo. But they call it the “Cyckel”. Looks like Sun Bicycles makes it. Special thanks to Fritz at CommuteByBike for the final leg of info and image.

Here are the 2008 specs:
Frame: Lugged steel (52, 54, 56)
Fork: Lugged steel
Brakes: Chang Start Alloy Lever w/ resin body
Handlebar: Classic Alloy Scorcher bar
Saddle: Classic with coil springs & brass rivets
Shifter: SRAM T-3
Hub (rear): SRAM T-3 internal gear hub, 36H
Rims: Weinmann ZAC-19 Alloy rim, 700C x 36H
Tires: Kenda K-198 Eurotour 700 x 35C

Matt Smart
outsideallday.com Contributor