The Satake Duo at Sea Otter

Satake Duo Strong at Sea Otter

by Den Satake

I'm sure that others will write up race reports for the more serious races
but I thought I would report on the most fun I've ever had racing.

As most of you know my son Brenden (9) and I raced the open class Tandem
Cross Country race at Sea Otter on Saturday 4/14. According to the results,
there were 11 teams that finished. It seemed like there were a couple of
other teams on the start, but we didn't count. There was one other
father-son team but the son was quite a bit older and already a racer on
single bikes. All the other teams were all grown up. Needless to say, our
goals were to A) finish and B) try not to come in last!

For some reason the race organizers decided that we should be the first wave
to go off that morning. That means that there were 100 Beginner/Sport
singlespeeds 2 minutes behind us! The race started out climbing on the
paved track then dropped down a paved road for a couple of miles. At the
bottom of the hill there was a T and we followed the teams in front of us to
the left. After a short while we figured out that this was probably a wrong
turn and turned around. This proved to be the right thing when we ran right
into the back of the single-speed pack going the right way. This worked
nicely because it saved us getting passed by the most agro of the singles.
It turns out we climbed at about the same pace as the mid pack singles so
the first extended climb in the single track had us dicing with guys mostly
going our speed.

The course was tailor-made for a tandem team of our experience. Tight
enough to be fun and interesting, not so technical that it scared the
stoker. Towards the end of the first climb we passed two other teams and
didn't realize it but we had moved into first (the other teams that kept
going in the wrong direction ended up cutting back onto the course and
substantially shortening their race). First place was short lived though
when we approached the first stand of Porta-Potties and I heard "Dad! I
have to go to the bathroom!" and I did something I have never done before.
Stopped for a bathroom! Not to worry though. On the next extended climb we
saw the other tandem team, caught and dropped them. A few miles later
though came what would become a familiar sound "Dad! I have to go to the
bathroom!" This one we managed to pull off without getting passed though.
Things were looking good. Then on a relatively tight section of singletrack
just before the mid-course feed station we passed a low lying Manzanita bush
and it ripped the timing chip off of Brenden's ankle. We had to stop and
send him back to look for it. This actually took a while and "guess who"
passed us again.

After the feed zone, we again caught and passed "first" place and put some
nice time on them in the steep technical sandy sections. However, on the
long rolling climb to the finish we got passed one last time by our
nemesis, but no fear, we were pretty sure we could hold onto them for the
sprint, then.... "Dad! I have to go to the bathroom!" NO!!! Not now, we
can almost see the finish line! Can you hold it? Then I remembered my
mantra of the last few weeks. "Keep it fun!" So, we pulled over for our
THIRD potty break and watched "first" place ride off to glory.

Like I said, this was truly the most fun I have ever had racing. I hope all
of you get to do something like this with your kids someday. Just don't
fill the Camelbak so full!

ps We ended up 7th officially, but 2nd of the teams that raced the whole
course.

Downhill Dominators

TK and DGadow rip it up at the Cow Hollow Downhill!

Tim Koehler took 7 th expert men 30 - 34 @ 2:22.... 2 seconds off the podium

Doug Gadow tied for 2nd sport men 35 - 39 @ 2:33....

Says Tam's TK: So epic... Perfect traction... BURLY top section!!!! Into super fast
hell bent for leather hold on let it ride, launch, land, let it ride,
launch, land, let it ride, G -out section ( top pro clocked @ 48mph !!!
) berm, pedal, pedal, pedal, launch gap, pump transition, pedal, pedal,
launch, land, pedal, launch, let it ride..... Done... Beer 30 please.. I
love DH

Tam Cycling Strong at Napa Dirt Classic

Tam Cyclists were out in force at the Napa Valley Dirt Classic. An incredibly hilly 22 mile course of wild single track and extreme climbs couldn't hold back Tam's racers. Results below:

Expert Men 30-39
Jon Ardell 7th
Ryan Booth 10th
Krage Olrich (i didn't see you in the results..)

Expert men 40-49
Den Satake 2nd (lost by 3 secs!)

Expert women 30-49
Julia Violich 1st

Sport men 30-39
Alex MacSwain 4th!

Sport men 40-49
James Puckett 1st
Tom Rosencrantz 2nd

Nick Agate wins Wente Road Race!

On a stormy saturday morning in Livermore, Nick Agate took a strong victory in the Wente Road Race. Agate, racing Cat 3, stayed with the lead pack for the entire race. Playing it smart, he took ques from other riders, watching tactics from the start. The race, notorious for it's uphill finish, belonged to Agate, as he waited for the perfect moment to explode from 6 wheel lengths back to take the victory.

Lessons from "The Roast"

by Jon Ardell

I know many people have a great memory of a hill that once challenged
them only later to seem a breeze. Do others feel that way about
certain rides as I do about the Roast?

I can't speak to the effort at Copperopolis without acknowledging The
Roast and what its meant for my road racing. I'm pretty sure Krage
feels the same way.

This 9 am Saturday morning ride officially was called "the coffee
roastery ride" but "The Roast" has taken on a second meaning in that
its an apt description of the way you feel during and after the ride
(if not before)- roasted! On an average day I'd say about 50 people
start the ride and about 5 to 10 are usually left by the time we
return and hit White's Hill with abandon.

When I first started doing this 40 mile ride it was all I could do to
hang on to the Peloton. I pretty much hated it. I've learned to not
get dropped in the past couple years, but now for the past couple
months I've managed to finish in the top 5 every time. Its true I'm
stronger now, but I'm convinced that my tactics have been a large part
of the change as well. Krage and I are knocking at the door and have
come sooooo close to taking the outright win- I am convinced its only
a matter of time now before that happens.

So here are my top 5 lessons from The Roast:

1-get in the front. this is so critical because you not only avoid
the accordion effect of all the surges that take place you also don't
get stuck in a gap and you can anticipate the surges much better
because you see them develop a few crucial seconds sooner. It also
helps you to figure out who the instigators are and develop a healthy
relationship w/them. Alliances are absolutely necessary for victory
when riding with the big boys in the Cat 1 and 2 category. This leads
to item 2:

2- Be friendly. Being in the front helps you to learn who the leaders
are. Emulate the good ones. Take their criticism constructively if
possible (but if its all negativity return it to sender)--- yes
Roadies compared to Mountain Bikers are an arrogant and unfriendly
bunch, but from an anthropological perspective it makes sense to me
that a much greater amount of trust needs to be developed due to the
high speeds on skinny wheels and close proximity to other riders.
Getting rid of the "i hate roadies" mentality can only help, and I
know because its taken me years to get there. Now when I attack them
on the hills the best insult they can come up with is "f'ing mountain
bikers. I now see this type of comment for what it is- a compliment
and an admission of weakness.

3- Repetition repetition repetition. Simply put the only way for me
to get in to race shape is to race. What better way to do it than for
free and against many of the same people on a weekly basis. Hard
riding under race-like conditions on Saturday and Tuesday nights means
the rest of my rides are easy, breezy and fun. There is just no way
to work this hard on a training ride. Also doing the same ride every
week allows you to see progress and I swear there is a weird
subconscious "muscle memory" thing that happens where your body simply
knows what it has to do and when and the mental uncertainty and stress
disappears.

4- Know your strengths. Being 6 ft 1 in and 140 pounds has about 3
benefits in this world- i can eat anything without fear of weight
gain, I can sneak under and through small cracks (so far this has had
limited usefulness but if it gets me out of Abu Ghraib even once it
will be worth it) and I can go extremely fast uphill. I've worked
hard to get great at what I'm naturally good at and I'm at the point
in my training now where I can hardly wait for the Tam Hill Climb and
Hamilton races. I pray I haven't peaked too soon. The lesson of the
Roast is that by going in front on the climbs I put pain in the legs
of my competitors, I earn their respect and it encourages breakaways.
I no longer bother wasting energy on the sprint at the halfway point,
and its also become obvious that to get the victory its best if i get
away from my competition before the final sprint; come to think of it
its pretty much essential.

Copperopolis '07 Report- Jon Ardell

In Copperopolis I attacked the first big hill and got a solo gap. A
group of 7 including Krage caught me on the flats and we worked
together until the same hill on the 2nd and final lap. I attacked
again and got a gap with one other guy and that gap was bridged by
Krage but again we got caught by the other 5. The 3rd and final
attack was initiated by Krage on the flats with about 15 miles to go.
I bridged it right away and it was on, 2 against 5!! In the end it
wasn't close. With 10 miles to go on a straightway we saw them
gaining on us and we decided to pour it on until we were out of view
and I think that may have crushed their spirits.

With 5 miles left on a small hill after a particularly strong pull
Krage asked me to slow it down a little bit. At this point I was
thinking of the finish and how it suited him more than me so I just
flat out asked him-- "i don't mind slowing up but will you give me the
victory if I do?" He didn't say a word but when he came around to
pull I knew that it wouldn't be a gift from my teammate on this day, I
was going to have to earn it. In typical Krage fashion he spoke about
a minute later to the topic- "i really want this one", he said.

Perhaps its best that we will never know what might have happened for
next came the unbelievable, Krage pulled over to fix a flat with about
a mile to go!! I yelled at him to ride the goddamn rim if necessary
but he wasn't having it. I got aero and decided I needed to finish
strong and get the win for the both of us, which I did by a large
margin. I still sprinted the finish just to get used to it...

Miraculously Krage managed to pump up his tire enough to finish the
race without getting passed by rider #3, but he finished just a few
feet ahead to keep it very exciting indeed.

Another highlight of Copperopolis was being congratulated by the
legendary Rob Anderson (who won last years Canadian National and the
World Mountain Biking Championships last year) and his teammates in
the Master 1-3 category who Krage and I passed during our breakaway
(they were slower because they were doing 3 laps). Rob and his buddy
Mick actually yelled my name as we passed them which was an
inspiration at the time. Also the 5 that had been in our lead group
much of the day all took a minute to congratulate me, and a couple of
them said the words we all want to hear- "you were the strongest man
today, Dude". Nice.

With this victory Krage and I are both looking forward to upgrading
and racing with the big boys in the 1-3 class! Yikes.