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CBR State 40K Time Trial
CBR State 40K Time trial
Written by Platinum rider Tom Anhalt
Bill Lupo and I traveled bright and early out to the high desert of Lancaster, CA yesterday to participate in the CBR (California Bicycle Racing) State 40K TT. We were both entered in the Masters 45-49 class and Bill ended up in 2nd with a time of 54:53 (winning time was 54:24) while I snagged 3rd place with a time of 55:07. Both of us averaged over 27mph on the course.
Results:
Bill Lupo — 2nd masters 45-49
Tom Anhalt — 3rd Master 45-49
Sea Otter Classic
Sea Otter Classic
Monterey, CA
April 16, 2010
On the night before the event seemingly the whole Platinum Performance team was out cleaning their bikes. Our fearless leader made sure to take “cleaning” to a whole new level and team supporter, Linda Langin, got it on film (see picture). Dude, did you really use Armor All on your tires…
Being one who tends to get a little “jacked up” before races, getting to the starting line at Sea Otter was more than a little difficult for me as the field included some of the strongest 50-54 year old participants within in the confines of our great nation (note the hint of nationalism for my fellow patriots). The nervousness was so bad I nearly turned the car around on the way to the venue because my stomach was so messed up, no doubt, due to NNS, or more commonly referred to as “nervous-nelly syndrome” most often affecting our newer competitors. Nonetheless the whistle blew and we were off.
Platinum Performance team members included last year’s bronze medal winner Steve Silva, John Biron and yours truly Bobby Langin Sr and we were reluctant to do any work up front while we were still navigating the mile or so of asphalt. The pace was slow so eventually Steve and Bobby took a couple of short, low energy pulls. As the pack got close to hitting the dirt the race started in earnest. Russell Kappius (Littleton CO) and another gentlemen who I think was Thomas Gaberhart punched the pace and hit the dirt first with our Platinum Performance representatives on their heels. I tried to settle into a “let’s just finish this sucker” pace and after a 100 yards of climbing I was in front. My ho-hum mood was quickly set aside and I started pushing the pace getting a small gap on Mr. Kappius. My teammate John Biron did a really honorable thing and sat on Kappius making sure not to help him bridge the gap (thanks John!). With John’s help I entered the single track descent with plenty of room and by the time we hit the next climb I could hear or see no one.
From that point the race was fairly uneventful up until about mile 14 where the course put us through a bit of a mud-hole. In talking with a pal prior to the event I had planned on hitting the obstacle dead center while maintaining speed. What I hadn’t planned for was coming up on a couple riders in classes who started a little earlier who had different plans for crossing said impediment and, what’s more, decided that at the last minute. In brief what happened was the rider just in front of me hit the brakes just before and then turned hard right in order to go around the mud. In doing so he forced me to slow and also clipped my front tire causing a dramatic line adjustment that set me up for the picture-perfect endo into the mud. One of my “things” is to have good, clean equipment and clothes so this didn’t bode well for either.
Meanwhile John B. is still sitting on Russell Kappius just before the mud section and unfortunately John came out of the encounter with a similar experience. What also happened that due to the facial mud plant, John also lost the wheel of Kappius while digging himself out and was not able to reel him back in. In spite of the troubles with the mud, John and I both have really soft, supple skin right now so remember that before you think of making fun of us.
I ended up with first with Russell Kappius just over three minutes back while John Biron finished just behind Kappius for third. Steve finished strong with a top ten in a field packed with talent making for great Platinum Performance Team results. The weather couldn’t have been better and the course was extremely fun as usual. I’m going around the mud next year…
Chasing Dreams….
Written by Platinum rider Todd Booth
The Sea Otter Classic is in the top three for cycling events in north America based on participation, vendor and spectator attendance and caliber of riding talent in one place. To do well in Monterey you need to have a special day… Over the twenty years of competing in various disciplines I can only think of less than a handful of times that I had a really special day. I’ve had moments in the sun with some memorable wins but nothing this rewarding. It’s rare when all the pieces fit together. Having a race of this caliber, with a stacked field who many I respect dearly, being fit enough not only to survive a 38 mile race but also to feel good during it, and not to have a mechanical in the process. The Cat 1 40-44 XC field was full of talent. With the current National Champ Dario Fredrick, Norcal fastmen Chuck Ross, Steve Heaton , and Brain Rouse. Neveda’s “Mr consistent” Mike Hileman. Specialized rider Ben Capron and the list goes on…. I frequently race against many of these riders but fall short. On a good day I may out kick one of these motors, but never all of them in a single day.
The weather for the weekend was perfect…sunny, little wind and in the 70’s. The Sea Otter is notorious for extreme weather..freezing rains, howling winds or desert like heat like in 09′. The course for the Cat 1 racers was two 19 mile loops that incorporated every part of mountain biking. Fire-roads, sandy sketchy descents, swooping fast single-track, rocky climbs as well as descents. In general, most Cat 1 XC races are 21-27 miles in length. Sea Otter makes for smart racing. Meaning to hydrate often and eat if possible.
The race start on the Laguna Secca Speedway track and heads for a few fire-road rolling climbs which tend to break the group of forty plus riders up before the fun winding single-track sections. In our race, someone forgot to tell the first fifteen riders that it’s close to a 3 hour race….they gunned it hard over the first quarter of the course. I lost sight of them within the first two miles. Lying in 13thish?, my thoughts turned to “ride your own race”. I hooked on to Mike Hilman who had the same thoughts of “this is a long race what’s the rush?” I began to feel good and broke from Mike in search of anyone else in our class. Without the legs marked, knowing who you come across is tough. I did start to get a sense that I was catching and passing riders in my class. At the end of the first loop on the last climb out of the valley I spotted my brother Ryan who was racing in the class ahead of me. He had a 5 minute start on us, so I knew he was either feeling really bad or I was picking up the pace. Side note: he beat my time last year so this felt great! Ryan led me into the 2nd lap. My goal starting the race was to drink four bottles of Accelerade and at least half an energy bar. With a bar and two bottles down I was on pace. I road onto ex-pro, Brian Rouse’s wheel on the steep single-track ascent on mile 30. He and I traded places for the next 6 miles. We came across Chuck Ross on the road climb and he looked spent. The battle at the front took a toll on everyone’s energy levels. He mentioned to us that we were now in 2nd and 3rd place. With a long 2 mile climb out and Brian not looking tired I was glad at that point to get a top five placing. To my surprise, we came across Dario Fredrick at the base of the climb. He was happy and surprised to see us. I was still feeling good so I took the charge up the fire-road climb with a slight headwind. PS: I’m not a very smart roadie. I road as hard a pace as I could, knowing that one of these guys was going to attack me anytime now. Brian faded off the pace, which gave me a little confidence boost. Dario was right there in my slipstream. Knowing that he was a very talented pro road racer, I was waiting for him to attack and pull away. In 2008, I was in 2nd the entire race and had two riders catch me on the same climb to the finish. I ended up disappointed in 4th. Don’t get me wrong, top ten at this race is a huge accomplishment, but to race for 30 plus miles alone, thinking you have it in the bag and get caught in the last two miles was a real bummer. The organizers changed the finish of the race this year. The last half a mile looped around the hill above the venue with some short punchy ascents and slippery grassy descents. No more easy ride to the finish! At the top of the last climb I noticed Dario faded about 20′ from me. I knew I still had aways to go. I punched it like a scared rabbit. The course winded back onto itself, so you could watch where your competition was. Around the final turn I knew I had done it. I raced a race that I was really proud of. I took my pulls at the front, competed against many of the best riders in the nation, pulled off one of the fastest times, came out on top at one of the biggest events in the country, and had my friends and family at the finish line to witness it. What a weekend!
Team Platinum Performance had other great performances as well. Great job team!!!!
Results:
Todd Booth– 1st Cat 1 40-44 XC
6th Cat 5 Road Circuit Race
Bobby Langin Sr — 1st Cat 1 50-54 XC
Jon Miller — 1st 55-59 Cat 1 55-59 XC
Gary Douville — 2nd Cat 1 35-39 XC
5th Cat 1/2 35+ Road Race
Amanda Schaper — 3rd Cat 1 wm 19-29 XC
John Biron — 3rd Cat 1 50-54 XC
2nd Cat 5 Road Circuit Race
Ron Takeda— 2nd 1/2 45+ Crit Race
Reny Takeda — 6th Jr Boys 11-12
Mark Luke — 7th Cat 2 50-54 XC
9th Cat 4 Road Race
7th Cat 4 Road Ciruit Race
Steve Silva — 10th Cat 1 50-54 XC
Bob Nisbet — 10th Cat 1 45-49 XC
Adam Poytress — 11th Cat 1 30-34 XC
Roger Moore — 12th Cat 1 40-44 XC
Brian Cook — 20th Cat 1,2 Road Race
Steve Bertrand — 20th Cat 1 50-54 XC
Andy Osburn — 26th Cat 1 45-49 XC
Doubling Down at Sea Otter
Written By Platinum rider John Biron
Friday afternoon was the Cat 1 50-54 XC race. I’d never done a Cat 1 race at Sea Otter and was stoked to be part of an early three man break with my Platinum teammate Bobby Langin and Tokyo Joe’s Russell Kappius. I knew I was in fast company since both were on the National’s podium last year. When Bobby made a decisive move about 10 min in, I decided to play the team card, sit on Russell’s wheel and wait to make my own move the final long climb. I was feeling really comfortable with about 30 min to go, but failed to negotiate a mud pit and went down in it, head first. I was up fairly quick and giving chase, but I was covered with mud, helmet, face, glasses, gloves, and Jersey. I could barely see and with mud everywhere couldn’t wipe my glasses clean. I had to stop and spray them down with my water bottle. I’d lost about a minute, was pissed, but rode the final climb hard. Then as soon as I entered the new, long, grass section my rear tire punctured. It took a while, but it finally sealed, and I took a chance and rode to the finish without airing up. 3rd place, 1 min behind Russell, 4 min behind Bobby, and 3 min ahead of 4th. I’m a little disappointed, since I felt I had a good shot at 2nd, but pleased to be able to be in the mix with a couple of national caliber fast guys.
Since I was spending the weekend at Sea Otter I decided to try out the Cat 5, 45+, Circuit Race on Saturday morning. I’d never done a road race of any kind before, but since acquiring my new Specialized Tarmac two months ago it’s been calling to me to race it. We started out with the Cat 5, 35+ group and I made a plan to hold the wheel of former team mate Nick Davis as much as possible. As well as being a big guy to hide from the wind behind, Nick won this race a couple of years ago, and I figured he’d sheppard me around safely to the finish. We immediately started up the circuit’s main climb and I was surprised at how easy everyone was taking it compared to a XC race. Next we hit the famous “Corkscrew” descent with speeds well above 40 mph. The field broke up a bit on the descent, but came right back together on the flats. A couple of small ups and down, several tight turns, and about six minutes later we were back at the start/finish. The next 6 laps went pretty much like this: I’d put in a little work to be one of the first over the climb and down the “Corkscrew”, then settle in somewhere between 5th and 10th, usually behind Nick. There were a couple of semi-attacks, but with several strong guys, including Platinum team mate Todd Booth, patrolling the front, no one ever got away. The big climb on the last lap was considerably faster, with several guys I hadn’t seen all race jockeying for position with familiar faces. The “Corkscrew”, which had been a mostly single file descent, became a sketchy, several riders wide free for all. I dropped back briefly, to stay out of trouble, hoping it would come together on the flats, and it did. With three turns left I was back in the top ten, right behind Nick, and only one other 45+, Marc Kirberg ahead of us. As we left the last turn with a few 100 meters to Marc started to pull away so I went around Nick. There were three 35+ guys and about 50 ft between Marc and me and I was closing fast, but missed out by a wheel for 2nd place, Nick was 4th and Platinum team mate Bob Nisbet 5th. I have to say the circuit race was really exciting. I’d never even done a big group road ride, so it was first time I’d experienced the full draft effect of a peloton. Moving along at close to 30 mph and only having to soft pedal was cool. And while I’d been in a few of one on one XC sprint finishes, being in an all out sprint with more than a dozen racers and a couple of hundred screaming spectators was a rush
Photos from Sea Otter #1
Photos from Roxanne Moore
The Platinum fans!!!!
Todd Booth 1st Cat 1 40-44
Bob Nisbet 10th Cat 1 45-49
Gary Douville 2nd Cat 1 35-39
Bobby Langin Sr 1st Cat 1 50-54
Reny Takeda grinding it out for 6th in JR Boys 11-12
Photos from Sea Otter #2
Photos from Roxanne Moore
Andy Osburn 26th Cat 1 45-49
Roger 007 Moore 12th Cat 1 40-44
Adam Poytress 11th Cat 1 30-34
The gang ……. ”post circuit race”
Steve Silva 10th Cat 1 50-54
Jon Miller 1st Cat 1 55-59
Santa Ynez photos #1
Photos by Roxanne Moore
Steve Silva — 3rd Cat 1 50-54
Todd Booth — 4th Cat 1 40-44
Gary Douville — 1st Cat 1 35-39
Bobby Langin Sr — 1st Cat 1 50-54
John Reveles — 8th Cat 2 40-44
Reny Takeda — 2nd Jr Boys 11-12
Santa Ynez photos #2
Photos by Roxanne Moore
Roger Moore – 6th Cat 1 40-44
Bob Nisbet — 5th Cat 1 45-49
Ron Takeda — 3rd Cat 1 45-49
John Biron — 2nd Cat 1 50-54
Mike Weber — 2nd Cat 1 55-59
Darin Takeda — 4th Jr Boys 8-10
US Cup#4 Santa Ynez Classic
Santa Ynez Classic, 4/11/2010
Written by Todd Booth
Stop number four of the US Cup Series was held in the beautiful Santa Ynez valley. The beauty was short lived, Mother Nature had another plan for the riders that day. The riders were faced with bone chilling temps, high winds, a little rain and a course that was very rutty. Many were describing the conditions similar to the famous Belgium classic road race the Paris Roubaix. The Cat 1 racers took on a 27 mile course with over 3,500′ of climbing. The Cat 2 racers rode an 18 mile course.
The Platinum Performance team had nineteen riders competing in various age groups. Gary Douville(Cat 1 35-39) and Bobby Langin Sr(Cat 1 50-54) put theirstamps of authority with another win for the season. Mike Weber (Cat 1 55-59), John Biron (Cat 1 50-54), Amanda Schaper(Cat 1 wm 19-29), and Reny Takeda (JR boys 11-12) all took silver for the day. Ron Takeda(Cat 1 45-49) and Steve Silva (Cat 1 50-54) rode strong for third place finishes. Todd Booth (Cat 1 40-44), Mark Luke(Cat 2 50-54), and Darin “little man” Takeda (Jr boys 8-10) pulled off 4th place finishes. Bob Nisbet (Cat 1 45-49) rounded out the top five. The strong showings on the podium should keep Platinum’s strong hold on the team’s #1 position in the team competition. Next stop is the Sea otter Classic next weekend for both the road and moutnain bike teams.
Full Results:
Bobby Langin Sr – 1st Cat 1 50-54
Gary Douville — 1st Cat 1 35-39
John Biron — 2nd Cat 1 50-54
Mike Weber — 2nd Cat 1 55-59
Amanda Schaper –2nd Cat 1 19-29
Reny takeda — 2nd Jr Boys 11-12
Ron takeda — 3rd Cat 1 45-49
Steve Silva — 3rd Cat 1 50-54
Todd Booth — 4th Cat 1 40-44
Mark Luke — 4th Cat 2 50-54
Darin Takeda — 4th Jr Boys 8-10
Bob Nisbet — 5th Cat 1 45-49
Roger Moore — 6th Cat 1 40-44
Adam Poytress – 8th Cat 1 30-34
Steve Bertrand – 8th Cat 1 50-54
John Reveles — 8th Cat 1 40-44
Andy Osburn — 9th Cat 1 45-49
Luke Werkhoven — 9th Cat 2 Clyds 35-39
Chris Brown — 13th Cat 2 45-49
- Santa Barbara Triathlon 8/28/10
- San Ardo Road Race Cat 3 8/21/10
- San Ardo Road Race Cat 1,2 35+ 8/21/10
- America’s Finest Cities Half Marathon
- High Casade 100 Race, Bend Oregon
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