Tam Cycling News

Travis Duro: Conquers Fremont Peak

2009-10-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Travis Duro has been competing in cycling, running, and triathlons for almost 20 years and just achieved his first victory. Duro says "Working with John Hunt of Whole Athlete really has helped refine my training".

The picture of Duro leading 2 other guys was taken at mile 8.5 of the 10 mile course on a 14% pitch. Evidently, at this point in the race Duro was " going as hard as I could."

His time was 47:13 and his margin of victory was only 2 seconds because he didn't realize where the finish line was and coasted along over the last 1/2 kilometer: "Almost the biggest mistake of my racing career."

Downville Thunder & Lightening favors Marin Boys

2009-07-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Two accounts of the Marin Boys Monopoly of D'ville

Sam Lueck:
It was a battle of the bay area boys in the expert 35+ all mountain category. Ryan Booth threw down with a 4 minute lead after the cross county run with me in second and krage about 20 sec back in third. Day two's downhill run should have favored Krage and I on bigger bikes (longer travel) while Ryan was rolling a Hewit hardtail special niner. But Ryan's run wrote a different story, yielding only 45 seconds to Krage's winning time, and earning the All Mountain podium! Ryan with a first, krage second and me third...but the race of the day was the DH battle between Rachel and Katarina Nash, both setting course records, while the latter won by a heartbreaking margin of 2 seconds.

TK: It was definitely a D-ville that you didn't want to miss... the pro field was off the charts!!!! I must say I was intimidated lining up with all of these legends.... Den Satake, Chris Urban, Sam Lueck, "Da Kezar", Ron Bolds, Ryan Booth( hard tail Niner 23 lbs ), Paradigm Cory.... oh and all the others who now come to our local stomping ground... Ex national champs and world champs... Sweet!!!

The train up the climb seemed like a single file line from top to bottom. I think 150 people passed me on the pavement! Regardless I kept my head down, tunes on, and stuck to the wheel in front of me on my 31.5 pound ransom. When I did look up I realized I was on Brian lopes wheel!!!

Cool.. I let him go. I pulled a record time for myself 1:15 to the top...ripped sunrise, only to have the cramps from HELL attack on the traverse over to Pauley... dismount... scream, cry, try to ride, scream, get passed by Cory.. cry some more!!!! It was bad!!!! Finally over came that and
rallied down the mountain passing everyone in sight... Battled with Urban on first divide where we both caught Cory who had suffered a flat! 2:41 for me on the XC... my best time!!!

As you can see below the other fellas dominated! It was just too bad the rest of the Tam crew wasn't there to clean up! Ardel, Mann chicken, Shady, Mclure, Mule, Moab... there would have been some serious Tuesday night crew fireworks!!!!

So the chattered started for the downhill run the next day..... hmmmm can Booth hold of a charging Kezar...?!?!? Hard tail niner vs double bounce stumpy with a mad dog possessed pilot!!!! And Sam lurking on his Nomad!!! Only 3 minutes needed to take the overall from the booth man.

It was classic... all the scenarios playing out! Do I take it conservitave? Do I pin it? Will the kezar go nuts and crash? What pressure do I run? Save it for first divide? Tip toe
butcher??? All I said was... "smooth lines and pin it when you can" And that is exactly what the Booth Man did. And he was able to hold off a charging Kezar!

I had my fastest DH run ever.... flying down sunrise and butcher creek, super smooth and fast... legs feeling good... I caught the 2 in front of me so I knew I was having a very good run!!!! I had an ok climb up from the bridge, buried it the whole way... no water after third divide onto the road hurt me... could of used some for the first divide TT... big ringed it the whole way but was pretty faded.. I'm sure that is where the raging kezar did some damage to me! I dumped it on lower first divide on the shaly white sand hairpin right as well... conceded seconds there too. But I'll take second to Krage any day!

Dynamic Duo: Road v. MTB

2009-06-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

Pescadero RR & Skyline MTB by TK
Day 1 pescadero raod race….

I know the rules of engagement of this course. Our group was full online but many didn’t show due to weather so the wait listers all got in. The elite 5’s seemed to be made up of about 10 guys that were ready for the 3’s, 10 guys that shouldn’t be on road bikes, and the rest middle of the road joes…. Although the dude in front of me was sporting a Alp D’Huez jersey…. I thought he must be pretty serious!!!!
Casual start, my favorite part about road racing. I made it over the first climb mid pack using a little bit more effort than anticipated… all good no worries, towards the back over the top…. I look to my right and see this lanky young guy in a team Taleo kit reach down for his bootle as we start to descend…. The guy in front of him is braking and I watch in slow motion as Teleo man proceeds to ride right into the guy in front of him….. He crashes hard and his bike flips in the air, his back tire grazing my back!!!! Whoa!!!! Looked back, he seemed somewhat ok….. down the hill up the next climb and again find myself is a little spot of bother mid pack….
Heart rate is up, again sitting in… make it over this roller into the next DH.. this is where the warned us of gravel on the road.. there were these 5 x 10 gravel patches you had to keep your eyes peeled for…. I rolled many of the patches knowing the rule of thumb is not to touch the brakes!!!! I came up behind a Davis rider who freaked and grabbed all brake before a patch…. I looped around him to the left and found the next wheel up the road… still in the DH and into a Eucalyptus grove…. Wet greasy road right hand corner!!!! NO front brake, a touch of rear… Dicey…. Davis man behind me freaked again and dumped it!!!! Carbon and lycra sliding off the road into the bushes!!!! Total carnage!!!
So there I was on hwy 84 sitting in the group feeling pretty good….. we ride all the way to the uphill feed zone where I almost get dropped… WTF!!! The climb coming I worked my way to the front and hit the climb in perfect position!!!! Settle in, find the rythym…. Ok.. stay calm…. Pedal, settle, hurts, heart rate waaaay toooo high…. Regroup… at the back… hang on… keep them in sight… hammer to hang on.. blow out, regroup, still in sight… 30 yrds, 40 yrds… 500 M to go!!!!!! DROPPED!!!!!!

That sucks…… DNF after the first loop 19 mph ave speed!!!! I’m not built to climb! But was good training.

Day 2 skyline park mnt bike race

New course!!! Almost all single track which is good and bad!!! Legends Den Satake and Ryan Booth are in attendance along with many other local legends…. Its hot.. and the new single track climb is longer and more brutal than the year before!!!!
The start was good and I was about 15th in line going up the hill…. Keeping everyone in sight most of the way…. The bottle necks were rough and that is the down fall of an all single track course…. The gaps are formed by the bottle necks… so a lot of it comes down to luck… I would let 7 guys go by me up the hill just to be on there tail a little bit down the line… no need to blow energy chasing when I can catch them when it gets flat or we go down. I made many passes on the DH!!!! Basically forcing people to pull over by rubbing there tires….. that is where I form my gaps.
All the people I passed on the first loop DH I never saw again!!! Maintain on the climb and start reeling em in again on the second DH… never really sure where I was in my class I just hammered and finished strong…. Ending up 4 th…. Booth and Den were both on the podiums in there classes!!!!!!

De la and D-ville are next

Koehler's Kokopelli Adventure

2009-05-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Timmy K and Peter Berridge on their way to Colorado for a Mountain Bike Tour. Last year, the explored the Lost Coast...This year:

"The rig is ready and the bags are packed for the self supported mission of the kokopelli trail.... Amtrak to grand junction Saturday... meeting Whit.... pedal to moab via the kokopelli... then back.

The rig is ready... The pilot?! We shall see!!!!"

LIGHTING UP THE LEMURIAN

2009-04-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

By TK:
The usual cast of characters made there annual migration to the Lemurian Classic again this year… Jon “ the legend “ Ardel, Krage “ DA KEZAR “ Olrich, Ryan “ my bike is lighter than yours “ Booth, Doug “ off the couch “ Gadow, Kevin “ closet trainer, I’m an x pro “ McClure, Tim “ all my friends beat me “ Koehler, and a special appearance from our local shop sponsor, Cory “ I own a shop have a kid and will still kick your ass” Farrer…….

This band of riders all had there own lofty goals for this classic 26 mile mountain bike race. Some wanted to just survive, others wanted to dominate!!!!! Me… I wanted to beat my last time of 3:01.

The morning was early with a 9 am start. A good warm up was had which actual lead to my best start, keeping the front 20 within sight till we hit the dirt and continued to climb, climb, and climb…… at that point I just need to run my own race, feel good, not blow up and hope for the best….. All the fellas were doing the same… battling with themselves, and picking battles with others along the trail…. Jon, Krage, Booth were all of the front…. McClure was hunting them and actually caught Krage, I was drifting in the middle with Cory hunting me.. and Doug was hanging out having a blast!!!!! Cory caught me at the bottom of the last climb…. I was hoping to ride with him….. But couldn’t! Knowing the course and my tendency to cramp I thought it was best to do my own thing. Surviving all the way to the end with minor cramps I ended up beating my time by 15 minutes over last year!!!!

Many in the clan found the podium!!!! Jon “ the legend “ Ardel 3rd in his class, Ryan”my bike is lighter than yours “ Booth captured 1st in his class with a smoking 2:21, and Kevin “ closet trainer, I’m an x pro” McClure, 2nd in his class!!!!!!!

All others had great races!!!!! ( results not posted yet )And will be back to hunt Lemurians again next year!!!!

Sea Otter: Classic Again

2009-04-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

Sea Otter was different this year. No rain, no wind, no sleet, no snow....Instead heat, and lots of it. However, some things never change on that course- like the intensity and the difficulty. On the mountain especially, it is always a classic mountain bike race, pushing folks to the edge.

Several Tam Cyclists were at the event and on the podium. On the mountain completing one 20 mile loop, James Puckett raced the XC Cat 2 (45-49) taking 3rd place with a time of 1:33:29, Heather McKenzie won the XC Cat 2 (30-39) finishing in 1:44:12, and Julia Violich won XC Cat 1 (40-49) with a time of 1:35:27. Friend of Tam Cycling, Nikole Denton, in her first ever MTB race, finished 9 seconds after Heather McKenzie in the Cat 2 race for a solid 2nd place. And the newest junior member of the race team, Clayton Hutchins, age 13, in the 13/14 boys race, a 10 mile loop, got 16th out of 31 racers!

On the road, Tam reporting is still waiting on Mark Volkmann's results. Julia Violich got 2nd place finish in the Cat 4 circuit race.

Up and coming, Luke Violich Czinczoll got his first taste of racing in the age 6 category. He is sporting a custom Scott Spark Dual Suspension that had been overhauled by Paradigm Cycles.
With custom White Industries/Velocity rim wheels, carbon bars, and XTR Front and Rear Derailleurs, the bike weighs in at a mere 21.5lb, down from 27lb out of the box.

Napa Dirt Classic is kind

2009-04-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend the Napa Valley Dirt Classic, typically a wet and muddy race with April showers, was hot and dry. "Friend of Tam" rider, Ryan Booth, captured a podium place coming in third in the 35-44 CAT 1 category. Tam racer, Jon Ardell, "smoked" the course pulling an 11th place just minutes behind Booth. Krage "the rage" Olrich finished on Ardell's wheel.

"Timmy K" Koehler repeated last year's success with another podium in the 35-44 CAT 2 category with a time of 1:45:53. There were whispers of "bagging sand" at the finish line from his competitors, but Koehler claims he hasn't touched the likes of sand, or shells, or even dirt for that matter. The only thing he's been bagging is pow pow.
Fellow Tamer, Chris "Mann Chicken" wearing the prize Team "Whoop Whoop" Jersey of old (sleeveless no less), posted a solid 1:53!

Travis Duro: Inclined to Climb

2009-02-17T10:55:00.000-08:00

On February 14th, local rider, Travis Duro of San Anselmo, was down in San Jose to conquer the SJ King-of-the-mountain race. More than 100 riders, facing a fierce headwind and cold temperatures, rode up the steep incline of the famous Sierra Road. Travis, racing Cat 4, placed 7th of 58th in his category.

A RACE BROKE OUT- TAM'S TRIPLE CROWN

2008-09-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

By Den Satake
So I was having a giant cup of coffee Saturday morning, munching on a
nice fatty pastry and Julia walks in...
Julia: Hey Den, are you doing the Hill Climb?
Den: What Hill Climb?
Julia: The Triple Crown. It starts in 15 minutes.
Den: No. I was planning on a long, poach on my squishy 5" travel trail
bike. See, I have an 8 lb Camelbak ready for a nice long hot 3 hr ride.
Julia: You should do it.
Den: Uh, okay. Well I'll go watch the start at least.

So I watched the start and decided to follow the race up Summit. The
pace wasn't too bad, so I started moving up. But I still wasn't racing. I
could pull out whenever I wanted. Dario, Steve Cherry and Greg Allen were all
on road bikes weighing about 10 lbs less then my Spider, with 0.0000" of
travel. They jumped on Tamalpais and I never saw them again. But since
I wasn't racing, I could just put down a hardish effort and see where I
would have finished. I got past Julia and reminded her that I still wasn't
racing. Then a few more guys fell. By the time we hit the upper part
of RR grade, I was racing. By the time I hit the West Point Inn, I was
thinking about my leisurely morning ride and cursing Julia. When I saw
a couple of guys within catching distance I laid it all out and cursed
Julia some more. I ended up 7th a mere 8 minutes behind Dario. Tom
Rosencrantz was 4th and the first mtn bike. Julia won the women's race going away.
Since I raced, I decided to register after the fact. No one had change,
so my twenty covered the entry fee for the day's race as well as the next
day's race - the road race up the mtn...

This time I brought a road bike and spared the large coffee and bear
claw. The cast of characters was mostly the same. We started from Old Mill
Park, but headed the opposite direction from the day before. Cascade, Marion,
Edgewood, Walsh, Panoramic etc. The neutral ended once we turned up
Marion.
There were about 7 or 8 guys in the front when Dario just rode off to a
25' gap. I felt fine, so I bridged up and sat on his wheel. I wasn't sure
what was going on behind us, but I kept thinking "man it would be nice
to still be on this wheel at the top of Bay View." The problem was I was
getting a decent draft, but when we hit the short dirt section at the
top of Walsh Drive, the speed slowed and I lost the draft. So of all places, I
got gapped on the dirt, and Dario was gone for good. In about a mile, we
were going to hit the flat spot on Panoramic. This wasn't really the place
to be hanging between 1st and the chase group. So I backed off a little
and got caught at the top of the last climb before Mtn Home. With 6 of us,
we worked a pretty dysfunctional pace line through the flat. Steve Cherry
was trying to get the group to work together, but most everyone had figured
out that we were in a race for 2nd - so why make the sacrifice? At the end
of the flat I rolled off the front again and was joined by a guy from SF
named Mark. His breathing didn't sound too good and I wasn't sure how long he
would be there - but some guys just sound like that - Shady - and can
keep it going. As it turned out Mark and I worked together all the way to
the T at Rock Springs then I was on my own. I was afraid to turn back, but I
think I was only 15 to 20 seconds ahead of the chasers at that point. I
decided to ride a hard tempo (Damn it Julia!) and see where I stood at
the top of West Peak. When I got there, I was still too afraid to look, so
I kept the hammer down (Damnit Julia!) until Middle Peak. I turned around
and saw that I had lost a little bit of the lead, but unless someone had a
truly heroic effort in them, I was going to hold 2nd, and I did. Tom
was about 10 seconds behind me in 3rd. Steve, Greg and the rest of the
chasers were just seconds behind him. Dario won in 44:30. I was happy to only
be 2 minutes behind vs the 8 from the day before. Julia again won the
women's race by a lot.

Since I had done the first two days, I felt obliged to do the run on
Monday.
It was all up hill so I figured it wasn't too different from biking.
Yeah right. There we a lot more runners for this. 103 to be exact. I
finished 37th, somewhere behind Rachel Lloyd, who only showed for the run??? I
am pretty sure Julia won the women's triple crown - she started the day
with an 18 minute lead. Greg Allen, started the day with a 4 minute lead
(Dario don't run), but lost 5 minutes on the run. There was ranger danger all
over the upper part of the mtn and apparently Greg - and a lot of others -
had to take a much less direct route to the top than the winner. So Greg lost
the men's Triple crown in heartbreaking fashion.

Not exactly the way I had planned to spend the Labor Day weekend, but it
was a lot of fun. Everyone should do this next year.

TK(iller) and KO rage at Howell Mountain

2008-08-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Tam Racers, Tim Koehler and Krage Olrich took second place in their respective races at the Howell Mountain Challege in Napa. Krage raced in the Expert Men category with a time of 2:39 minutes. The 40-44 year category was 8 strong. Tam friend, Tom Rosencrantz, got 4th place with a time of 2:41.

Tim Koehler, racing off the couch, pulled a second in the Sport Men category with a time of 1:47. His field was 18 strong. Tim has been a roadie most of the season, and hasn't hit the dirt in months (or at least that is his claim).

Pescadero is all about the hills

2008-06-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

by Jon Ardell
I love the Pescadero road race. Its twisty, rolling terrain sports some awesome views as well as sick descents, and the 4 substantial hills are long enough to drop many of the strong riders that may not be the strongest climbers off the back of the pack, making it a race of attrition more than anything else.

I felt great all day.

I had hoped to race the Elite 3 category to get some revenge on some of those that bested me at Hamilton plus I believe the teams are less organized than in the Master 1-3 Cat but alas, the 3 Cat was full so I went w/the old Pros. I must say I really enjoyed the classiness and friendliness of these Pro racers, everyone communicates without any of the rancor and stress of the less established classes, and I really appreciated just being able to hang with them all morning...

Other than the first lap where I lost touch briefly with the lead pack on the descent when I cautiously went around a nasty crash I felt I did a really good job staying tucked in with the leaders when they surged.

I would characterize the day as a series of surges followed by a relaxation of the pace by the 2 lead teams- Maguire/Spine and Specialized. I know that riders were able to come back after being dropped- sometimes more than once in the case of my buddy Gabe, but the toll that takes on the legs make it impossible to do this and still be a factor in the end.

As it turns out even after riding a strategically near flawless race I still didn't have what it took to go with the big boys on the last hill, which I guess is a little discouraging but I'm looking at it as a glass half full- inspired to train just a little harder. The teams also knew exactly what they were doing, ratcheting up the pace on the lead up to that final hill which itself is about 2 miles long. They essentially did a long lead out for their top climbers that put me in a deficit before we even got to the hill, and all I could do was watch from the back of the 25 strong Peloton as those leaders were sprung off the front at an amazing clip. Blink and they were gone and it was clear they weren't coming back!

In hindsight I should have fought harder to get closer to the front prior to that last climb, and marking Chris Phipps would have been smart because it was clear all day that he was being saved by the Maguire team as their man. It likely wouldn't have mattered too much- after 80 miles on the bike I am simply unable to climb at 30 miles an hour! Instead I paced myself up that last 2 miles Downieville style- without regard to those around me! I managed to get past about half the pack for a decent 13th finish. Better than last year, and next year I'll have an even better idea of what I'll need to do.

MT. Hamilton -This race is Tough - Version 2

2008-05-28T08:11:00.000-07:00

By Jon Ardell
I raced w/ the Steve dude in the 3's and hung w/the lead group of about 13 until 500 yards from the Summit when the acceleration blew me out. I'd been doing all the mental calisthenics necessary for the preceding 2 miles at least, willing my body not to lose the group as one by one people dropped like flies. Ultimately that may have been a mistake but I wasn't fighting for top 20- i wanted podium!

The sick thing is I caught back up on the descent, passing an ugly fresh crash on my way down, and also had to fight to get past a lagging moto that was fucking my shit up.

Got in a chase group that closed the gap on the leaders, but I got thrown out because my legs were totally shot and threatening to sieze and I was still like 40 miles from home. It was over for me at that point, I was both emotionally and physically devastated.

About an hour after getting dropped by the chase group your boy and a few others went by me. I finished in a rag tag group of 5 and made a point of letting them all go by me at the finish. I simply didn't see the point of sprinting for 25th instead of 30th since either result was lame. I realize now this wasn't a very good attitude, but what the fuck I had to make SOME kind of statement.

This is the Downieville of road racing. It should be my race. I'm so close. I will try again next year.

MT. Hamilton -This race is Tough - Version 1

2008-05-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

By Katie Kelly

Included on this e-mail list is Dave Waco, who won
this race in 1961. I needed to race this course first
hand before I could do an honest interview with him,
to quiz him about the training techniques of yore, and
their racing tactics. Now I know the stuff he is made
of.

The course is very simple: it starts in San Jose near
the Alum Rock exit off of I-680, and proceeds straight
up almost without relief to the observatory, before
dropping down towards Livermore, by way of rolling
hills, and some very tight, off-camber turns. Added
obstacles include skittish wild squirrels, snakes, and
roaming helicopters looming overhead, waiting like
vultures to carry away people who ride off the road,
likely to avoid the squirrels.

My main competition, among other people, was Suzy
Pryde, an Australian Olympic silver medalist, and her
professional Jazz Apple Cycling Team, along with
several other teams that have an acual race presence.
I was there in my Team Mako shark uniform, because I
know it is intimidating. Teams with actual mascots
look the most fierce. That is a little racing tip
probably most people don't know.

I gave her the evil eye minutes before the start, just
so she'd know I meant business. And that's actually
pretty much the last time I saw her, because after the
first five minutes of the race, I thought it is just
not humanly possible to ride twenty miles uphill at
that this pace. They most be doping. All forty of
these women, some of them even my good friends.

I decided to press onwards, despite my distinct
disadvantage (some might call it lack of ability, but
let's not get too critical). I thought with any luck,
half of them will flat, or avoid a squirrel, and there
may be hope for me yet.

Sooner or later I did catch a few riders. They were
wearing Camelbacks. And they were on mountain bikes.
Come to think of it, I think they were stopped on the
side of the road, taking pictures. They urged me to
keep going and I did.

I'm leaving out the part where I actually really did
catch and ride with two friends of mine, Sarah
Lightfoot and Samantha Taylor. Out of the three, Sarah
was hurting the most, but she also lasted the longest
with the main peloton before blowing up, and confessed
that she was paying for it. See, if she had wimped out
when I did, she'd feel much more fresh and optimistic
about the whole thing. I was feeling great.

I only felt uneasy on the descents. For whatever
reason, even without squirrels in my way, I was all
over the road. I seriously questioned my descending
skills.

Sarah and Sam and I continued through the flats and
rollers, with very strong pulls and smooth rotations.
There was no stopping us now.

We went over a cattle grade, and it seemed a little
extra rough, so I said, with great reluctance, "Hey,
do I have a flat?"

"You're fine, Katie," said Sarah.

"Well, it looks a little low," said Sam. "But you'll
make it."

The reason why I was reluctant about verbalizing my
fear of a flat is that I did not want to have happen
what happened the last time I thought I had a flat.
Readers of my past race reports will remember my bout
with Brain Flat. It is AWFUL. Read this, if you need a
refresher:

http://tamracingreports.blogspot.com/2006/05/brain-flat-one-racers-experience-at.html

But on the other hand, what if it really was a flat.
These are borrowed carbon tubular wheels. It was not
worth risking damaging them.

I stopped, and noticed that there was, basically, no
air in the tire. I mean more or less.

And then I noticed that the back wheel was my very
heavy training wheel, with the all-purpose,
all-weather tires. Someone forgot to switch it.

I really don't want to talk about that, but no wonder
Suzy Pryde was looking at me so funny.

In fact, as it happens, she was parked next to me at
the finish line. I'm fast forwarding past hitching a
ride to Livermore, and waving at all my competitors,
which was fun.

Suzy Pryde's rent-a-car was parked next to my ride
home's car. Her team manager noticed the puncture.

"Yep," I said. "It happened right at the start, I
reckon. That was a bitch of a climb with no air in the
tire, let me tell you."

"Why do you only have one tubular wheel on your bike?"
said her team manager.

"Oh, no," said Suzy. "How'd you forget-"

I decided to fake a stomach cramp at that moment.

Suzy Pryde was very pleasant, actually. I have decided
NOT to enter the Carrera de San Rafael this year,
because no doubt she will enter it, and I can just
feel that I'll have both racing wheels on the bike and
no flats, and I am just too afraid of what my presence
in the race will do to her psychologically, especially
if I can last maybe ten laps of the race, instead of
the five I did last year.

Lake Sonoma race 3/24

2008-05-21T22:33:00.000-07:00

written by Jon Ardell
I had a good race at Lake Sonoma. Didn't get in to the first single
track in great position and that may have hurt me a bit, but was able
to motor pretty evenly the entire race and pick off all but one of the
single speeders. And I don't feel burned out after this one like I
did for most of last week, which is a very good thing.

Alex finally broke through and won his race in the Sport class. Nice
work Mcswain now its time to upgrade you sandbagger!

I actually paced behind the best pro woman Katarina Nash (is that
her name Alex?) the entire race and was satisfied with just staying in
touch w/her. She's so fast, not to mention hot!

There were a handful of top Pros at this one, even Mark Weir missed
the Podium!! A handful of expert geared riders including East Bay
Bill beat me as well. Its a technical course, one that you would
enjoy Krage.

Heat at 5/17 Grasshopper Race

2008-05-21T15:05:00.000-07:00

By Alex MacSwain
Attrition began during the last couple days of record heat. Still about 55 – 60 racers showed with a handful of Nor Cal pros and bearded hard cores out of the wood works from across the north bay up through Sonoma County.

It was your usual Grasshopper start with a road promenade that went up the back side of the Sonoma Lake dam. Just before entering the single track up a last steep road jaunt, the selection was made led by about 10 and another 14 not far behind. I was just back from this second pack and followed by about 40 other riders.

Den placed a curse on himself just before the ride saying he never gets flats. 2 miles into the single track, Den was the first victim with a flat. Shortly following, on a sharp, loose right hand turn, a rider was next to the trail with his bike down. Six feet below him in a rocky creek bed, two fast guys were were making their way back up to the trail with their bikes. Their shaken expressions and a bloody knee down in a creek made you imagine the fall. Fifteen minutes later Rick Hunter was down with a mechanical. In any other race any of these riders would have caught me in five or ten minutes. I believe they each followed up their problems with fast hard efforts, which were tackled by the heat and climbs. An hour had gone by and I was psyched no one was closing in on me.

Sweet undulating winding trails, up and down, up and down with climbs ranging from short stabs of 10 yds to .75 mi, increasing heat, a great amount of shade in the 1st half, the occasional breeze on some of the crests and a ton of exposure the second half. Passed two in creek crossings, another on a climb, another and then another for a total of about five over an hour and fifteen minutes.

The sun seemed to sear your arms. Focusing on deep bikram yoga breaths, not looking up hill on climbs, relaxing arms and shoulders coupled with an attitude of making the climb, helped me pull through. Apperciating the shade and generating as much speed as possible on the down hills to generate wind to cool you down really helped.

Just before the last climb, Cameron and another rider had just taken a dip in the lake. Cameron yelled something which didn’t register for about thirty seconds. I realized he said something like “this is it, you’re close, good job”. To finish the ride – exposed and ‘steep’ for one mile. 103 degrees. Way hotter than the 77 at the start. With a name like Bummer Peak, I knew this final climb was going to be the most heinous of the day.

Carl was hurting and walked a bit. Then another rider was not far off. Soon I saw a couple heads and then three and four and their full bodies came into view with about eight people clapping. I could not believe I got tenth! Woohooo. To land in that class was once in a lifetime! The first thing I did when I got home was read Rick Hunter’s article in Bike Mag about his 2500 mile race across the great divide.

Marin takes D-Ville by storm (and does some imbibing too!)

2007-07-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

by Ryan Booth

*McClure made podium w/ a strong second in Sport XC (but
all his loser friends were no where to be found to cheer him on)
*TK earned a medal in DH but missed the podium picture as he was boozing at the river (or something to that effect) Tim reports that he "snook into the 5th spot podium expert men all mnt DH sunday with a burp flat... Quick dismount CO2 filler and off... Stans saves the day second year in a row!!!!"
*MannChicken posed as TK and stood in his spot ... so I guess he podiumed.
*Doug Gi-DOW was MVP (drinking more beers than all of us combined)
*Olrich went MAD on the Expert XC decent and cracked his frame in half.
*Ardell was back to his old self and flew up the climb (top ten overall) only to flat at the top. Bummer.
*Shane and Moab were spotted on two Ransoms?????
*Peter B crushed it! (solid DH time of 53 and some change -16th pro)
*I laid it down a handful of times on the DH but managed to squeak out a victory.

"Booth is the legend dropping a 2:14 in the XC and winning the expert DH w/ 53 min", said fellow racer, Tim "the crusher" Koehler

The Ross' Challenge Hillclimb - Ardell gets 4th!

2007-06-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

By Jon Ardell:
I moved up to the Masters 1-3 class and despite feeling pretty good I
still got more or less smoked on the Hamilton climb by about 10 guys.
It was a wake up call to something I already knew- this is a tough
class!!

That was 2 weekends ago. I went in to my 2nd race last weekend with
less lofty goals than a podium finish- I was thinking about top 10 or
20...

I didn't catch his name but a Pro rider from the Scott team had a
killer trick he shared with me- he glue sprayed his # to his jersey
with some 3M product (duh, I can't remember the name of the crap). He
needed me to pat it in to place and in return we repeated the trick on
my jersey. I think it may have helped me move up a spot or two if not
because of the wind factor then because it must have earned me some
cred with the Peloton...

Speaking of which a shout out goes to the Z Team which put about 15
guys in front of the race for the first 7 miles of flats (they
combined the 4/5 masters w/the 1/3 masters), and they put the hurt on
the group a bit, which probrably helped me. I did a few pulls to do
my part and in return I think they were ok with me rotating in among
them. Their best rider wasn't doing any pulls though, and in
hindsight I might have been smarter to catch a free ride, its hard to
say. Their rider (i think his name is Chris Phipps) wound up smoking
me up the hill by a lot, and in fact he had by far the best time of
the day and the new course record.

Anyway the race was only 18 miles but the last 11 climb up about 3500
feet, and the last mile is by far the steepest. Think Bayview trail
to Nike Site above China Camp, but much longer. Had I known what
lay in wait I may not have paced up the first 10 miles of hill as fast
as I did, it was the hardest last mile I can ever recall (although the
Lemurian was close). I led out at the bottom of the hill hoping to
shake loose some challengers and this seemed like a great tactic until
Roger Bartels from Gianni and 3 other guys including Z Team Chris
ripped past me. My only hope was to pace up as hard as I could, and I
was stoked to be able to overtake first Roger and then another dude
right before it got steep. On the steep section it was all I could do
to stay on the bike, but somehow I managed to keep it ticking over and
thankfully the #4 rider never made any real attempt to bridge.

The race was not only fun but the vibe was great (band and barbecue
included) it was a benefit for a young man's rehab from a near fatal
car mauling and I think we all need to support and enjoy this race
next year. It was in Geyserville, only an hour away.

Tam Tri Gals show their strength at "Escape"

2007-06-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

Tam Cycling beauties, Kim Ford and Carolyn Hutchins, blew out the rock at "Escape from Alcatraz" this weekend in San Francisco. The triathlon, in it 25th year, includes a 1.5 mile swim from "the Rock", a hilly 18 mile bike ride along Ocean Beach and Golden Gate Park, and a 8 mile run along the water.

Kim Ford got 3rd of 62 in her age group, just minutes behind the leaders with an overall time of 2:28:20. Her swim, bike and run time were: 34:41, 59:50, and 1:05:16.

Carolyn, recovering from a debilitating back injury, won her age group division against 37 other women with an overall time os 2:50:00. Her splits were: 43:22, 1:00:23 and 1:06:24.

Both of their bike legs were competitive with the top pro women triathletes!

Honorable mention also goes to Tom Guerin who took 14th of 68 in his age group for his first race of the season! Tom's swim leg was one of the fastest at 32:58. His bike and run splits were 59:32 and 1:05:41. Great job Tom.

Ripping it up at Skyline

2007-05-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Play by play by Alex MacSwain

I’d say it started Saturday at Den’s BDay – only because he was carried from the Bocce ball court (not literally) and didn’t remember getting home after the Flat Iron and of course still made the race and was blessed with a flat on the 2nd lap which might have been more of a blessing if it happened on the 1st lap. The usual suspects didn’t actually make the race – MIA were Olrich, Ardell, Rosencrantz and last years 1st place sport podiumer – TK. Which left a spot for me to possibly take this spot.

There were two mass starts – one was all expert and pro men doing 3 laps and the 2nd was all sport and women doing 2. Booth was ripping it up (I think in 8th spot over all) among a crew of Weir, Moeschler, Shady (6th over all and who said felt like shit), Hewitt and more. He then became contained by a flat and I believe still managed to finish decent.

In sport, so TK was MIA and I was stoked. And McClure, who took 1st at Tamarancho, was MIA as well. So my odds seemed good. Pucket and I started about 60 people back and fought our way through for the climb. We did pretty well together to the top of the 1st climb and etc etc etc for two laps. It was a super fun course (we should ride up there). I managed to drop the 2nd place guy in the last 400 yds and took 2nd in sport and 5th over all (in sport) out of 58. Pucket - he got 1st in his group!! I have your medal. It was lots of fun. won four bottles of wine in the raffle.

Pro Men
1 7 Mark Weir WTB 1:58:52
2 10 Jason Moeschler WTB 1:58:52
3 9 Roger Bartel Gianni 2:04:01
4 29 Jim Hewet Content 2:04:01
5 3 Robert Anderson AMD 2:06:09
6 28 Shane Deal Jamis 2:08:47

Sport Men 35-44
2 230 Alex MacSwain 1:34:55

Sport Men 45-54
1 153 James Puckett 1:40:20

Tam strong at Fairfax Fat Tire Festival

2007-05-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

by Den Satake

For you MOMMA'S boys (and girls) that missed yesterday's Tamarancho race I thought I would give you a quick write up on how the rest of us defended the home turf. Unlike the last couple of years the conditions were just about perfect, which means it was about 20 degrees cooler this year. What a difference! Alex MacSwain took 2nd in Sport 35+, Kevin McClure WON his division (sport 19 -34), Julia Violich took 4th of 15 in the MEN'S Pro/Expert Singlespeed (3rd woman overall just seconds behind Barb Howe) and I took 3rd overall behind Mark Weir and Roger Bartels and just seconds ahead of Shane Deal in a mixed Pro Expert
field.

After the rider's meeting where Chris Lang explained that the only passing in the first half of the course would be in the first half mile of slightly downhill fire road, the pro/expert field shot off the line with everyone wanting to be first heading into the split fire road (no-passing) section. Shady got a great jump (that would later come back to cost him) and got into the single track in 3rd behind Weir and Bartels. I went in 6th. Rob Anderson was a few guys further back but started charging through until he was on my wheel. I jumped into 5th at a slightly widened section and RA followed me through, then started verbally working on Shady to let the train through. Shady, having fought a bit too hard to get on the singletrack in good position was having a hard time finding a rhythm and pulled over to let 4th place, me then Rob through. Rob must have gotten a bit tangled up because he fell back for a while while I had some clear track.

On the climb up to Serpentine that starts the second section of the course I passed the guy in front of me and moved into 3rd where I stayed until the second time through the first singletrack section. Rob Anderson caught back up and passed me about halfway up, then Shady came back to within 5 to 10 seconds. For the next lap and a half I would see Shady about 30 to 40 feet from each switchback as I was riding out and he was heading in. Every time I thought I had put a bit of a gap on him, I would head into a switchback and see him on my way out. On the last lap I passed Rob with a flat tire as I was heading into the last "big" climb on up to Serpentine. Shady as always was a few seconds back. I hit the shallow end of the hill pretty hard but "rewarded" myself with the granny gear on the last steep pitch section before the singletrack. Shady, having practiced this hill in his middle ring, tried to jump the gap here and almost made it. However, I got to the singletrack first and seemed to put a few extra seconds on him so that I again had about 10 seconds heading into the last little climb out to the finish. Shady said he knew I had him at this point, but I wish he had told me. It would have made for a much more pleasant finish. Instead, I suffered all the way up the climb before looking back at the top and relaxing a bit on the cruise to the finish line. I ended up at 1:17 and 48 seconds I think, which is 35 minutes faster than the last time I did this race. Did we do 4 laps? Was the course longer? Was I that out of shape 2 years ago? Or does 20 degrees make that much of a difference?

Billington takes a win in Santa Rosa

2007-05-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

Move over Levi. Pete Billington, aka The Machine, took first in the Tuesday night Crit up in Santa Rosa. Team mate Adam Waskow finished just behind him in 4th place. The two of them dominated the race according to spectators. Colivita and Bobatars had 5-6 riders each....and as Billington said after the victory "we smoked 'em."

The Satake Duo at Sea Otter

2007-04-25T21:14:00.000-07:00

Satake Duo Strong at Sea Otter

2007-04-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-24T22:16:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-04-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

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"

2007-04-24T22:05:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

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.

Cobbles, Baby!

2006-10-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

The NorCal High School Mountain Bike Racing League presents Cobbles, Baby! Scott Coady's Paris-Roubaix Adventure.

Showing at 6 locations in the Bay Area this November!

Larkspur - Thursday, 11/16 - Lark Theatre - 7pm
Oakland - Thursday, 11/16 - Grand Lake Theatre - 8pm
Santa Cruz - Friday 11/17 - Rio Theatre - 7pm
San Francisco - Saturday, 11/18 - Randall Museum - 7pm
San Jose - Sunday, 11/19 - Camera 12 Downtown - 7pm
Orinda - Tuesday, 11/21 - Orinda Theater - 7pm

Tickets will be mailed for all purchases made by Thursday, November 9th. Otherwise, tickets will be held at the door.

Sold out shows are expected, please purchase in advance.
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT DOOR unless otherwise stated (check day of event).

Meet "Cobbles, Baby!" Director Scott Coady, and other special guests.

Great Raffle Prizes!

Come to the Bike Blast Reception!

2006-10-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

Celebrate Sausalito
Host City for Stage One
of this internationally acclaimed
professional bike race

Help launch the cycling event of the year
Join us at the official
Bike Blast Reception
Sunday, October 22, 2006
2:00 – 4:00pm
Gaylord’s Restaurant
201 Bridgeway
Sausalito
Donation: $10.00

Exciting information & volunteer opportunities for the 2007 Amgen Tour of California (ATOC); support this local event; be part of the largest sporting event in the State of California.

RSVP to Susan Roe at sroe@gordonrees.com
Or at (415) 331-3126

Cammie Urban Gets 4th at MTB Masters World Championships

2006-09-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Tam Cycling News - Race and Ride Reports

My husband and I just returned from the MTB Masters Worlds in Canada - what a world class experience!! Let's just say that it was the most insanely technical thing I've ever seen in my entire life, with grueling uphill sections in between all of the technical sections. There was no place to rest on the course, either mentally or physically, so it was a very strange experience.

I decided that the key to the race was to stay on the bike; there was no chance of riding the technical stuff fast. It proved to be a somewhat decent strategy: I've never seen such carnage on a course, with bikes and bloody, muddy women cartwheeling everywhere! With about a mile of the race left, I Iet my mind wander in shock to the fact that I was in 4th in my age group (40+) (after the ladies from Holland, Switzerland, and Brazil), ahead of the 2 US women who were supposed to leave me in the dust. Bad idea. I zigged when I should've zagged, leaned my shoulder into the oh-so-supportive 2" yellow plastic tape blocking off a cliff in order to avoid a tree, and went somersaulting off the edge with my bike flying overhead. Somehow, I got myself back on track and rolled over the finish with crooked brakes and a sexy shin hematoma - but I was still in 4th!

Devyani Kamdar Reports from the World Xterra Scene

2006-09-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

Local Xterra SuperStar Devyani Kamdar recently returned from her World Xterra Tour which included stops in Italy, the Czech Republic and then the gran finale in Temecula, CA. With podium finishes and first places in every attempt, she has claimed the Regional Champion title. She brings us this special report.

Tom Rosencrantz is in Cycling News!

2006-08-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

Scroll down to the results.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road.php?id=road/USA/2006/aug06/aug10infineon

Downieville Classic Mountain Bike Festival

2006-08-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

Congrats to all who raced at Downieville last weekend! Here are some of the team's top results:

Krage Olrich (pictured above) finished 3rd in the Men's 34-44 Expert race.

Tim Koelher was also third in the Expert Downhill race.

More results to come!

Albany Crit versus the Beach

2006-08-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

by Robyn Berry

July 23, Albany, CA -- Beach day. That’s what the weather, my family and my legs were telling me. Sunday was definitely going to be a beach day. Then, like always, I get an annoying little e-mail...

We're in the IJ!

2006-07-21T12:45:00.000-07:00

Nearly every race at the USA Mountain Bike national championships and the Cougar Mountain Classic features at least one rider raised or currently living in Marin. Many races have more than one person from Marin, and many of those riders have finished well...

Big Foot Classic, Saturday, July 1, 2006

2006-07-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

Jim Puckett, Krage Olrich, Doug Gadow and Tim Koelher enjoy a post-race Bud Light (?!) at the Big Foot Classic.

Super D
Doug Gadow, 1st place, Men's Open 30-39
Olivier Bock (MotionBased), 2nd place, Pro

Cross Country
Krage Olrich, 3rd, Expert Men 40-44
Tom Rosencrantz, 4th, Expert Men 40-44
Alex MacSwain, 3rd, Sport 35-39
Doug Gadow, 5th, Sport 35-39
Tim Koehler, 4th, Sport 30-34
Jim Puckett, 2nd, Sport 40-44

Krage Olrich Takes 7th at Pescadero

2006-06-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

Photo of Krage Olrich (left) by Kieran Sherlock.

Pescadero, CA -- Tam Cycling sent out a contingent of four racers to the Pescadero Road Race last Saturday. Krage Olrich was our fearless leader, taking the only Tam Cycling top ten of the weekend in the Elite Cat 4 division. But what is this? Your friendly Pack Fill Reporter is starting to sound like top tens are normal! Fortunately, she was shaken back to reality with her own 13th place finish in the Women's 4 race. Still, this was still a great improvement over last year, when she was dropped on every climb and yelled at by racers on the descent to stay on the sidewalk. That's pretty sad considering there was no sidewalk. Report to come.

Miguel Mestayer finished strong to finish midpack in the same race as Krage.

And lastly, but not leastly, Pat Bush sends us this report from Pescadero. Your Pack Fill Reporter was stuck behind the same car!

BurlinGame of Death

2006-06-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

by Pete Billington

Burlingame, CA -- At first I thought it was the 7am start that kept most of the CAT4 Tam Cycling riders from making an appearance at the 19th Annual Downtown Burlingame Criterium. Nick Agate and I arrived by 6am in order to warm up and recon the course. At least the recent hot weather would not be an issue. In fact, I had to put on my leg...

First Win for Rosencrantz

2006-06-09T14:31:00.000-07:00

Climbing the Alps of San Jose is certain to make anyone stronger. Tom Rosencrantz (left) converted that painful experience into a victory, taking first in his Expert/Pro category at the Bogg's Mountain Cross Country Race last Sunday. Well done, Tom!

Meanwhile, at the Peavine Challenge in Reno, NV, that same weekend, both Cammie Urban (below, left) - in her first race this season! - and Jim Puckett (below, right) took second place in the the Women's Expert 40+ and Men's Sport 40+ categories respectively.

Jim's teammate Jack Pesso finished 4th, less than four minutes behind in this 19-mile race.

Team Tam Takes On Mount Ham

2006-06-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

Livermore, CA -- Tam Cycling sent five racers to the Five Wire, Inc. Mt. Hamilton Classic last Sunday. All survived and two even ended up on the podium! Tom Rosencrantz reports.

Dork from Ork Visits Mt. Hamilton

2006-05-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

A sneak preview of the results is here.

Devyani Kamdar Qualifies for Worlds

2006-05-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

Temecula, CA -- Tam Cycling's Devyani Kamdar took a convincing win in the Women 45-49 category over C. Jane Harman of Los Angeles at last Sunday's Nissan EXterra West Championships.

XTerra races are like triathlons, but in the dirt, consisting of a 1.5K swim, 30K mountain bike ride and 10K trail run.

Harman was first out of the water followed by Linda Kessman of Trabuco Canyon, but it was Kamdar who set the pace with the fastest bike leg by over 13 minutes. Kamdar finished the race in 3:51:44, over twenty minutes in front of Harman.

This result qualifies her for the EXterra World Championships.

Kambar's next race is the EXterra Italy Championships coming up this June 2 in Sardinia, Italy.

Jacob "Jake" West Violich Mecklenburg

2006-05-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

This just in from Julia:

Another cyclist (verified since I had to deal with his kicking over the last five months) has been brought into the world.

Otherwise known as Jake the Snake or "Hollywood", born May 23rd via C-section at 8lb, 6 oz (that means big for little Mama Vee).

Mom and baby are great and hanging at home in the garden (I broke free from the hospital after two days). Jake is eating and pooping well; Mom is a size D (and digging it).

Thanks for all your support.

Timmy K. is Back!

2006-05-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

From our Tam Cycling newswire:

Napa, CA -- Timmy K. is back... and he is bad. After a disappointing Lemurian race last month, Timmy Koehler has redeemed himself... BIG TIME! He crushed his opponents at last Sunday's Skyline Park Mountain Bike Race, taking 1st in Sport Men 27-34 (and 2nd overall for the entire Sport class).

In the Sport Men 35-44 division, James Puckett raced to third, narrowly escaping fourth place finisher Yohann Smit.

Back from Bakersfield

2006-05-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

Bakersfield, CA -- A total of one Tam Cyclist made the trek down to the lush yellow and hot hills outside of Bakersfield last weekend for the Kern County Women's Stage Race hosted by VeloPromo for its tenth year.

The race consists of four stages in three days: a time trial and hill climb on day one; a hilly road race north of Oildale on day two; and then on Sunday, day three, a circuit roadrace around a cemetery in the Tehachapi Hills, just north of Caliente, CA, population 1091.

A full report is scheduled to appear as soon as our Pack Fill Reporter Katie Kelly regains consciousness. So far, we know that she finished 9th overall in the General Classification, four seconds behind California Road Club's Bridgette Lery. Her weekend's best was a 6th place in Sunday's Cemetery Road Race.

However, it was during Stage Three, the Iron Mountain Road Race, that Kelly discovered her sprinters' legs, not from a courageous sprint finish but to dodge a lost and frightened cow.

More to come, maybe.

Many thanks to Bridgette and all the gals from Squadra Ovest for all the laughs and the leadout that never was (but it was fun talking about it!)
Photos provided by Bridgette Lery and Olaf Vanderhoot.

CAT'Stastrophy

2006-05-17T09:34:00.000-07:00

Los Gatos, CA -- Only the brilliant result of Joaquim Neto at Berkeley Hills could have washed away the disappointment that was the 2006 CAT's Hill Classic last Saturday. Three out of four DNF's were the numbers of the day with Tom Rosencrantz pulling through with a top twenty finish in the Men's 35+ 4/5 race. Tom overcame his car being broken into, his mountain being stolen and an unruly race official that would not let him start the Elite 4 race. Pete Billington reports.

Neto Wins Berkeley Hills!

2006-05-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

Photo of Joachuim Neto courtesy of steephill.tv.

San Pablo Reservoir, CA -- Men's team captain Joaquim Neto delivered his 2nd victory of 2006 to Tam Cycling by winning the 71 mile, Cat 3, Berkeley Hills road race on Sunday. Read on!

In the Women's 4 race, Paula Bock climbed to a well-earned 12th place. Meanwhile, her teammate Katie Kelly suffered from an affliction very few people are willing to talk about in public. Read our up close and personal exposé of this terribly embarassing syndrome.

We now turn to Pete Billington's account of the EMC2 Criterium held last May 7th in Pleasanton.

Nicole Freedman Retires: A Tam Cycling News Special Report

2006-05-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

Fort Cronkhite, CA -- It was a bittersweet day yesterday as former Olympian and two-time National Champion Nicole Freedman made her announcement of retirement from the sport of cycling. Newly joined Tam Cyclist Melissa Mooney hosted her retirement party yesterday on the beach at Fort Cronkhite. Tam Cycling News was there.

Olivier Bock Takes Podium at NMBS #1

2006-05-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Fontana, CA -- Friend of Tam Cycling Olivier Bock (Motion Based)took third overall in the Semi-Pro Category at the NORBA National Mountain Bike Series #1 last Friday. The series consists of seven races in all, culminating in the Finals to be held in Snowmass Village, CO, this August.

By earning this podium spot, Olivier has now qualified to race in the pro ranks.

The course was gruelling. Says Olivier:

It was one of the hardest races I've ever done. Hot, dry, no shade, dusty, windy. The course was technical and it took me two laps just to figure out the lines. Mandatory, steep ruts on the descents were uncomfortable on every lap but I managed to stay upright.

Despite an ill-fated flat on lap three (out of four), Olivier managed to finish only two minutes and thirty seconds behind overall winner Manuel Prado (Sho-Air).

Bush Bounces Back at Boggs

2006-05-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Boggs Mountain, CA -- Coming back after some might call a disappointing Wente Road Race, part-time Tam Racer Patrick Bush (Clifbar) took home first place overall by winning the Pro/Expert division at last Saturday's Bogg's Mountain cross country race. He set a course record in the process (2:22).

...it was a bit of an emotional day, knowing that this would be the last time I would race Boggs at the top of my game. I certainly made sure I enjoyed the ride regardless of the results on paper, but victory sure is sweet. Hopefully this is not my last...

You can read Pat's full report here.

Krage Olrich Shines at Shasta Lemurian

2006-05-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

This report just in from our Tam Racing newswire:

Whiskeytown Lake, CA -- Krage Olrich won one of the hardest cross country races in Northern California last Saturday, taking first place in the Expert Men 40-44 category at this year's 19th annual Shasta Lemurian cross-country mountain bike race. He finished the 26 mile course in just 2:34.

He was followed in hot pursuit by fellow Tam Cyclist Tom Rosencratz who finished second with a time of 2:48.

Jon Ardell also stepped it up with a fifth place finish in the Expert Men 35-39 category with a 2:42. In the same category was Alex McSwain earning the tenth place spot at 3:04. Chris Mann was 17th at 3:37.

In the Single Speed race, Doug Gadow rocked with a 3:21 time. And our boy Olivier Bock secured a fine fifth spot in the Pro field with a time of 2:18.

Complete results available here.

Den Satake Wins Napa Valley Dirt Classic

2006-04-25T16:20:00.000-07:00

We have just received word that Den Satake won his Expert 40-44 race at the Napa Valley Dirt Classic this Sunday. His time of 1:42 beat both the winners of the Expert Male 30-34 and 35-39 races. Nice work, Den!

Other Tam Racers turned in worthy performances as well. Alex MacSwain finished 10th of 26th in Sport Male 35-39. James Pucket was 20th in Sport Male 40-44.

Also racing were several Friends of Tam Racing:

Olivier Bock (Motionbased) 7th in Pro/Elite Men

Eric Russell (Clifbar) 1st in Expert Male 30-34

Abbie Durkee 5th in Pro/Elite Women

Paula Bock (Motionbased) 1st 35-44 Expert Women

Wente Road Race Results
The Wente Vineyards Road Race and Criterium results are now posted. We're pleased to report that our finger counting was indeed correct, and Lynette Forbes finished 8th place over all in the Women's 4/35+ race. And, after all those Wente woes, Joachim Neto still managed a 10th place finish in his Elite Category 3 race.

Congratulations to all who raced this weekend.

We now turn to this report from Paula Bock and her perspective on Copperopolis.

One last thing, I swear... Pete sends us his interactive Motionbased ride data from our ride last Sunday. This is pretty neat!

Tam Racers Take On Wente Brute!

2006-04-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

We're still awaiting official results from last Saturday's Wente Vineyards Classic Road Race. Many racers from the men's squad were seen, including Tim Koehler, Pat Bush, Shane Deal (4th in the Elite 5b field?), Joaquim Neto and Harry Hunt. On the women's side, we believe Lynette Forbes earned her second top ten finish in three races (the results from the Sea Otter Classic are wrong!) in the Women's 4/35+ race, but this was deduced by counting on our fingers. Katie Kelly finished a confirmed 6th and consumed her entire hard earned bottle of wine minutes before posting this update! Full report at 11.

Meanwhile, Tam Racer Pete Billington tells of another Levi Leipheimer sighting as the debate of to crinkle or not to crinkle continues in his lively report of our Tam Cycling Men's Team in the Elite Cat 3 race.

Photo of Lynette Forbes purchased and printed with permission from www.ronaldmariano.com.

Super Mom, Super Model Julia Violich in Marin Magazine

2006-04-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

Available at select newsstands now, this month's Marin Magazine features an interview with non-other than our own Julia Violich-Mecklenburg, owner of our favorite bike shop, Paradigm Cycles.

This issue of Marin has Mother’s Day bases covered, from a maternity wear fashion feature (“Belly Beautiful,” page 46) and an interview with eight-months-pregnant Fairfax mom Julia Violich (Lifestyle, page 48), to a selection of thoughtful gifts for the revered women in our lives (Gifts for Mom, page 50).

Speaking of Paradigm Cycles... We've got our first ride posted in our Rides section. Come on out!

Andrew Johnston Takes 6th at Menlo Park Grand Prix!

2006-04-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

While some of us suffered at Copperopolis last Saturday, Andrew Johnston was racing at the first annual Menlo Park Grand Prix and took 6th place in the Elite 5 division. Well done Andrew!

We have more Copperopolis results, too. Joachim Neto finished 6th out of 48 riders in a tough Cat 3 race.

We have a letter! Tam Racer Tricia Wallace writes:

Hey, did you know how Copperopolis got its name? Originally it was a copper mining town, then they found asbestos and mined that - then realized it was a dangerous substance and stuffed it back in the ground. Decided Asbestopolis didn't sound too good so named the town Copperopolis (but it is filled with asbestos). Think of that when you're breathing hard while racing! This insightful information is from Laura Vaughn (Geoff's wife).

Fascinating news, Trish. And to think all that wheezing was just asthma!

Let's now turn to our Pack Fill Reporter, Katie Kelly, with her views from this exciting race.

Photo of Andrew Johnston by www.sheryllrossphotography.com

Take a Look at Paula's Motionbased Dashboard

2006-04-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

Paula Bock has generously donated her MotionBased Dashboard for us of her tour of Copperopolis.

Based out of Sausalito, MotionBased is a web based application that translates GPS data into online mapping for endurance athletes. It even offers something called a Map Player with which you can not just view previously recorded routes, but watch the activity of the route, including topographical and elevation changes. Check out their Paradise Loop analysis!

Pro Tip! And Copperopolis Update!

2006-04-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

We had at least six Tam Racers at Copperopolis this Saturday, April 15, including Paula Bock and Katie Kelly racing in the Women 4 category, Joachim Neto and Harry Hunt in the Cat 3s, and rounding off our Cat 4 team were Miguel Mestayer and Nick Danmer. So far we know that Paula and Katie finished 5th and 6th in the Women's 4 race. More results and reports to follow soon!

In the meantime, we offer you this Pro Tip, offered by some dude parked next to Paula and Olivier's rig. Dissatisfied with our own number application methods, he immediately rushed over to show us his professional ways.

Notice the parallel placement of the safety pins. This allows for a closer, more streamlined number application. "Will it make me win?" asked our reporter.

"I cannot guarantee this," said our mystery panel expert. "But you will go faster."

What about crumpling up the number before hand? We see that a lot of times at the races. "Heavens, no!" said the expert. That is "wrong" and "tacky". Not to mention that the race officials don't like it, because the numbers are too hard to read.

Here we see on our model Paula Bock our own attempt at mastering this technique.

We neglected to ask Paula if this new and improved method helped her in her race, but our lonely reporter couldn't help but notice that she climbed awfully fast.

Surviving the Sea Otter

2006-04-13T17:24:00.000-07:00

Our field reporter Katie Kelly was on the scene at this year's Sea Otter Classic, and she brings us this report from the front.

While you're here, check out our (so far) one other archived report from last year's Mt. Hamilton Road Race.

More to come!