Travis Duro: Conquers Fremont Peak

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!