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SCPS Turkey Trot Cross

December 1, 2009 · Posted in Uncategorized 

Glendale, CA November 29, 2009

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Multitudes of Platinum Performance competitors showed up at the SCPS “Turkey Trot-Cross” event on Sunday, November 29. Maybe “multitudes” was a little strong; let’s adjust that to “a gaggle”…well okay, four of us showed but nonetheless we had “the man on fire” Gary Douville who’s been tearing it up lately and is the Cat 1/Elite District Champion crowned just last weekend.

Our first event, 45+ and 55+ Masters sported the majority of our contestants consisting of Mark “Godfather of cycling” Luke; Mike “elbows” Weber (more on that nickname later); and Bobby Langin Sr. (the author of write up has full discretion on not using any silly nicknames when referring to himself—OH SNAP!)

The promoters ran both 45+ and 55+ together so in the mass start Sr’s lack of experience this year showed as the whistle blew and he promptly fell out of his pedals causing quite the traffic jamb (sorry fellas). Mark (AKA the Godfather) settled in choosing to avoid early race mischief using his litany of experience to allow the race to develop.

In the 55+ group who had lined up just behind the 45+-ers, Mike (AKA Elbows) decided early it was time to make a move and ram our Specialized rep, Bob Meeker, to gain position in an effort to not let Jon Miller and John Rubiac get too far away. We may need to discuss the finer points of being nice to our bicycle reps with Elbows in the near future. Miller did eventually gap John and Elbows but Elbows held on for a strong third at the finish.

Meanwhile the 45+ guys hit it hard in the beginning making for a difficult first lap. Charley Morris and Langin Sr followed a group of five for the first lap and then Sr attacked on the start/finish straight starting lap 2 gaining a small gap on the six man string. The move worked and aside from a small mishap and fall with 3 laps to go, the race was fairly uneventful with Langin winning and Charley crossing the line a half a minute back and the Godfather finishing in a respectable 17th (in a field of nearly 50 riders).

Sr in one of the sand sections Sr in one of the sand sections

Next we waited anxiously for the start of the premier event of the day where our own Gary Douville lined up (and currently 2nd in the SCPS series) for the start of the Cat 1, 2, 3/Elites. The anxiety was palpable among the competitors after last week’s ridiculously rapid pace; Brent Preslow was visibly nervous as well as the majority of the other front runners. Gary looked composed however and seemed ready for the hour long adventure on a very technical course. As the race began, sure enough the pace was obscene as the top 10-12 men were slamming the pedals. The air quality was atrocious as ash from the fires that occurred earlier in the year were stirred up by the Santa Anna winds combined with the dust from the course made for difficult breathing. After a few laps of ingesting the ash and dust we saw something rarely seen (I’ve never seen it) and that was Gary Douville pulling out of a race. I was with Gary at the MTB Nationals when he was coming down with pneumonia and the sound coming from the man was unfortunately very similar. Sid Taberlay went on to win by a big margin. Let’s hope Gary’s episode was caused by the ash and dust and not a respiratory infection of some sort so close to the ‘cross nationals in a couple of weeks.

Douville at the whistle Douville at the whistle
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