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US National Mountain Bike Championships
US National Mountain Bike Championships, Ganby Colorado
Written by Platinum rider Gary Douville
John and I both raced this morning. We did two laps of a 9 mile course
that climbed 1800ft per lap up to just under 10,000ft. Lots of
climbing and tough technical descending.
Like last year I started strong and lead for the the first part of the
race, but I started to fade earlier this year and had difficulty
matching the pace of the top few guys and my breathing was as bad as
Contadors when Schleck attacks him or he is exposed to a little
pollen. The altitude was awful and I never felt as though I could
fully open the throttle. I expected a much better result but hung in
for a top 10 finish.
John was riding in the top 10 in his field and also struggled with the
altitude. The trecherous terrain on the mountain did him in, though,
and he limped back to the finish with his derailleur torn off.
We’ll be back fighting again, for sure. Next year Nationals will be in
Bend, OR at a more moderate altitude. And I will be there gunning for
a good result.
Results:
Gary Douville – 8th Cat 1 35-39
John Biron — 15th Cat 1 50-54
Platinum heads to the far North….
Downieville Classic, Downieville Ca 7/10/10
written by Platinum rider Todd Booth
The Downieville Classic cross country race is one of the last remaining point-to-point bicycle races in the United States. The 29 mile course follows a rugged “Gold Rush” era route that departs the mountain town of Sierra City (elevation 4,100′), climbs to the crest of the Sierra Nevada (elevation 7,100′), and then plunges 5,200 vertical feet into downtown Downieville. A golden pathway, selected as a tribute to the mountains, the rivers, the big trees and the fresh mountain air. And to the hard men that carved these trails through the river canyons in search of gold and prosperity.
The adventure begins with an 8 mile, 3,000′ climb up the face of the Sierra Buttes, a metamorphic crown that stretches 8,600′ towards the wide-open sky. This legendary climb is known to many as the “Trail of Tears”. It starts with pavement, turns to dirt, and then gradually steepens and narrows to a loose, exposed, shaly double track. We try to make things more comfortable by providing an overhead water mister at the 2 mile point, and Clif Bar supported aid stations at the 4 and 7 mile markers.
After cresting the saddle, the route follows a rolling jeep road to the east rim of Gold Valley and the top of “Baby Heads” – a fast, loose, rocky descent that is responsible for numerous flat tires, get-offs and lead changes. At the bottom of this anarchy awaits Gold Valley and the Pauley Creek crossing. This 30′ wide crossing can be as deep as 3′ during the race, often making it difficult to navigate across at high-speed.
Once across, the route turns to single-track on the Pauley Creek Trail, a 17 mile creek side plunge that blends flowing turns and rolling jumps with jagged rocks and slippery roots. After descending 2,000′ and crossing three foot-bridges, the trail climbs from the Pauley Creek Canyon to the Lavezzola Creek Canyon, and to the trail-head of the world famous Third Divide Trail. Third Divide is known for it’s Star Wars like speeds, magic carpet tread, bermed corners and lofty airs.
After a thrilling 3 miles, Third Divide Trail dumps out onto Lavezzola Road, which descends to the upper First Divide trail, a 150 year-old water flume built to provide water to a nearby hydraulic mining site. This stretch of trail requires a ton of pedaling as it winds its way downstream through the Lavezzola Creek Canyon, across a saddle, and into the Pauley Creek Canyon to the long awaited streets of downtown Downieville for the finish.
(The course description is by the Downieville Classic Race organization)
With that said…here’s my interpretation of the race. In many ways you could call this “Hell of the North”. This was one of the toughest courses I’ve raced on in twenty years, but very enjoyable. The Northern California style of racing is mass starts…which means all the Pro’s and Cat 1’s start together. With a total of 800 racers chomping at the bit to get a good start it was a lung burning pace from the gun. We started on a steep road climb that turned into a very long (8 mile) fire-road grunt that only became steeper and looser as you made your way to the top. Did I mention that it topped out at 8,000 plus feet! This is Nor-Cal style…no leg markings and no divided age categories which made it impossible to know who you are racing against. I did see the familiar studs of my age group Chuck Ross, Don Myrah, and Guy Sutton. My brother, Ryan was the defending “All Mtn Champion” the last two years and he knew the course like the back of his hand. In fact, he was smoking me on the downhill the day before in practice. So getting to the top in front of Ryan and in sight of the other three was my plan. That plan blew after the first mile or so. The altitude drained me from the day before and I was left with a feeling of no energy…I was spent and I had a long climb ahead. I was in survival mode and had no idea where the climb ended. This was my first time here and I pre-rode the descent but never the climb. Ryan climbed conservatively knowing that he would make up his time on the descent. I struggled just behind Ryan and teammate Bob Nisbet.
Knowing that the course was 29 miles long and anything could happen I didn’t give up. In fact, before the race I was very concerned that I was under prepared. This downhill was like no other that I have raced on before. With 16 miles of technical, fast, rocky and tricky cliff dropping single-track..my main goal was to not break my bike, get a flat and stay upright. I love technically challenging courses, but this was a handful especially on a XC bike. Almost all of the riders were on large dual suspension bikes. The prior day I saw two downhill bikes with broken frames!!! These bikes are built to blast down the hill. I was also surprised over how many Nor-Cal riders could fly down the very tricky descents. I was tasting a lot of dust this weekend.
Once I reached the top I knew I had nothing to loose..just go as fast as possible! I caught Bob on the top of the first single-track section and that gave me some motivation. I knew that at least fifty riders (all classes included) were ahead of me. I was riding a very smooth race having only a handful of riders passing me on the way down and I passing over twenty riders as well. The descent is deceiving, there is 1000′ of climbing over the 16 miles. Mixed into the “white-knuckle” thrill ride was little punchy climbs and cold water crossings that sapped any left over energy from your legs. Just passed the halfway point on the descent I saw my brother Ryan pulled over on the side of the trail with a sidewall tear. That dropped all aspirations of his chances of a third straight title. The last part of the course everyone is in survival mode. Fatigue and cramping become very common, especially if you don’t get enough fluids down. The race finishes off on just under a mile long road leg with a short punchy climb just before the finish. I was racing three riders through that section and won the sprint. That was the only time I though my 29er came in handy throughout the entire race. Don’t get me wrong, my 29er is the best race bike out there but for this race the Specialized S-Works 5 inch travel Stumpjumper took top podium. To my surprise, I ended up 3rd in the XC race and 8th in the combined XC and All Mtn (with 80 riders). This is one race every mountain biker must do at least once. For the guys from So-Cal, the 9 hour drive is part of the journey. I had a great time with my teammates Terry Dalh, John Reveles, Andy Osburn, Bob Nisbet and brother Ryan.
Results:
Todd Booth 3rd Cat 1 XC 35-44
Bob Nisbet 8th Cat 1 XC 45+ (Tire Flat)
Andy Osburn 9th Cat 1 XC 45+
John Reveles 18th Cat 2 XC 35-44
Ryan Booth 24th Cat 1 XC 35-44 (Tire Flat) …… 5th Cat 1 35-44 DH
2010 Downieville Classic images….
Beautiful scenery…..
Pre-ride meeting
Post race celebration
Home sweet home!!!
River jump contest
Smitty Wins in Chico!!!!!
Chico Stage Race 6/26-27
Written by Platinum rider Steve Smith
The race couldn’t have been any hotter unless it was held on the surface of the sun. The RR was 90 miles, rolling hills, with a four mile stretch of gravel. My Garmin read a temperature of 108 at one point. We had a really small field and a break of three quickly went after only five miles or so. I bridged up with one other guy after 10 miles. Various combinations of riders came and went in our little group, but with 15 miles to go, there were six of us left. In the rollers before the gravel, I attacked and took two with me. We dropped one in the gravel section and as soon as we hit the pavement in the final five mile run-in to the finish, I dropped the last guy for a long solo slog to the finish. I finished 90 seconds up on 2nd place and 3:20 up on 3rd. I also won the 5sec time bonus at the end of the first lap and took another 20sec bonus for the win.
Stage 2 was 10mi flat TT. 2nd place guy is known as a good TT’er and I’m not, so I was nervous about losing my lead. Despite a really horrible ride, I finished with the exact same time as he did, so my lead was pretty secure. However, the 3rd place guy won the TT and bested my time by 1:40. This narrowed the gap between 2nd and 3rd to only 19 seconds.
With time bonuses of 20 and 10 seconds in the crit for 1st an 2nd, there was a fun battle between those two guys in the 6-corner downtown crit. My job was to sit on wheels and not crash, which I managed to do successfully. The whole thing turned into a snooze when 2nd place guy’s two teammates attacked and lapped the field thereby neutralizing the finish time bonuses. I think I rolled across the line in last place because that’s the kind of classy guy I am. After the race, it was so hot that we all went and stood in a fountain while they tallied the results.
Despite the really low turnout across all categories, it was a great race. They should have a better spot on the calendar next season and it would be worth a trip to a really pretty part of the state.
Results:
Steve Smith 1st GC Cat 3
Images from Big Bear
Jon Miller Cat 1 55-59
Todd Booth Cat 1 40-44
John Reveles Cat 2 40-44
Roger Moore Cat 1 40-44
Reny Takeda Boys 11-12
Photos taken by Roxanne Moore
More photos from Big Bear…..
Adam Poytress Cat 1 30-34
Ron Takeda Cat 1 45-49
Mike Weber Cat 1 55-59
Steve Silva Cat 1 50-54
John Biron Cat 1 50-54
Photos taken by Roxanne Moore
US Cup #6 Big Bear, Ca 6/20/10
Written By Platinum rider: Todd Booth
The US Cup West Coast Series ended in the beautiful mountains of Big Bear, Ca. The weather was perfect in the mid 70’s with clear blue skys. The course for the Pros and Cat 1 racers was the original “Fall Classic” course. Starting at over 7100′ and heading straight up a 3 mile+ fireroad climb had the riders in the “red zone” early. After surviving the long climb and a few short descents the fire road turned onto the “Wet dream” singletrack trail. The single track in Big Bear is a lot of fun with smooth sweeping sections and flowing stream crossings. From there more fireroad climbing onto a singletrack climb called “Cabin 89″ which climbed endlessly and steeper up a tight winding singletrack through the forest. The back pain was evident at this point. More fireroad climbing that finally lead up to the descent on the ”Upper Fall Line” trail. This trail really challenged the rider’s technical skills with a very sandy and rocky descent. Leading into the “Fern” trail and the “Bristle Cone” trails to the finish. In all, the course was 24 miles, but the climbing made it seem a whole lot more!
Team Platinum Performance had a handful for riders fighting for a top podium position for the overall. Gary Douville had locked up the top spot in the Cat 1 35-39 with four wins this season. Todd Booth (Cat 1 40-44) was only a few points from 1st in the overall with the need to win the Big Bear race and have the leader John Saliamonas place fourth or lower. John rode to a fourth for the day but Todd was unable to beat Mike Heliman for first. Todd took a 2nd for the day and runner up the the US Cup. Platinum stacked the podium in the Cat 1 50-54 class. John Biron took home a 1st and was crowned US Cup Champion. Bobby Langin Sr was sitting in second for the series but opted out due to preparing for the up coming National Championships in Colorado. This left the door open for Steve Silva to become the runner up in the 50-54 class. Bobby was dropped to third overall. Jon Miller was the runner up in the Cat 1 55-59 class. Amanda Schaper ended up 2nd overall in the Cat 1 wm 19-29 field. Reny Takeda was crowned the US Cup Boys 11-12 Champion.
Twelve platinum riders took the trip up to Big Bear. John Biron (Cat 1 50-54) and Amanda Schaper (Cat 1 wm 19-29) took home the gold. Todd Booth (Cat 1 40-44) and Jon Miller (Cat 1 55-59) took home the silver. Mike Weber (Cat 1 55-59) rounded up the top three with a bronze.
Results:
John Biron — 1st Cat 1 50-54
Amanda Schaper — 1st Cat 1 wm 19-29
Todd Booth — 2nd Cat 1 40-44
Jon Miller — 2nd Cat 1 55-59
Mike Weber — 3rd Cat 1 55-59
Ron Takeda — 4th Cat 1 45-49
Steve Silva — 4th Cat 1 50-54
Reny Takeda — 4th Boy 11-12
Adam Poytress — 5th Cat 1 30-34
John Reveles — 7th Cat 2 40-44
Roger Moore — 8th Cat 1 40-44
Steve Bertrand — 9th Cat 2 50-54
Images from Elings…..
Terry Dalh Cat 1 65+ back racing….
Amanda Schaper Cat 1 19-29
Roger 007 Moore Cat 1 40-44
Andy Osburn Cat 1 45-49
Ron Takeda Cat 1 45-49
Bobby, John Biron, and Steve S Cat 1 50-54
US Cup #5 Elings Park SB 6/6/10
Chasing a Legend…..
Written by Platinum rider Todd Booth
Santa Barbara was the 5th stopon the US Cup Series as well as part of the California State Series. The SB Bike Festival had an impressive showing even with the controversy of the County shutting it down. The 6 mile loop through one of the most beautiful areas on the central coast is one of the most fun and fastest courses out there. The trails are 80% flowing, smooth single track with sometechnical sandy descents thrown in. Sunday morning started with the Cat 3 group heading out on 2 laps. The Cat 2 racers took on 3 laps mid morning. The Pros andCat 1’s competed at 1pm taking on 4 laps. The weather was perfect with morning fog turning to sunny sky’s by mid day. The temps warmed up to the mid 70’s.
I was going into Sunday witha full plate. I was starting the day off with a running event down State Street. It was only 1 mile, so I figured it would be a great warm up. Painful…I’m one to forget how painful running all out and past the pain threshold really is. I ended up running a 4:33 for the mile. I’m no sprinter…but my main goal was to beat my nemesis Eric Forte in the 40 class. He has been out kicking me routinely lately. Unfortunately, he did it again with a 4:29. Oh well… Next up the mtnbike race! This is a course that I’ve spent countless hours on. The Cat 1 40-44 class has been a challenge this season withhigh caliber riders routinely showing up to compete. My confidence on the Elings course was huge…it’s nice to have home field advantage! It would take a special someone to knock me off the top today. That “special someone” was the cycling legend Don Myrah. Are you kicking me DON MYRAH! Myrah is a 4 time Elite Cyclocross Champion, Mtn Bike Elite National Champion and a Mtn Bike Olympian. http://ncncacxnews.blogspot.com/2009/10/return-of-don-myrah.html
He retired years ago but now has reemerged in the past couple of seasons. With Myrah the “surprise carrrot” in my class, I knew I had to try to stick with him. My knowledge of the course kept me close to Myrah throughout the race. On lap 2 strongman John Saliamonas put down a hard attack on the fire-road heading into the single-track climb. That put Myrah on the defensive. I was in the “red zone” for the last mile of that lap. I caught the two riders heading into lap 3. Saliamonas dropped off the pace and I tried to stick with Myrah. He attacked on the climbs and put a gap on me. I would reel him in on the flats and descents. On the final descent I put one last effort and laid everything on the line. I ended up like many of the other riders “on the ground” after I under anticipated one of the rutted up, sandy turns. Myrah had a good jump on the final climb to the finish. I gave it everything but fell short by 40 seconds. We ended up with the top two times in the Cat 1 field. Sometimes 2nd isn’t so bad….who am I kidding.
Photo by Dennis Mihora
The warm up…..painful…..
The Platinum Performance team was out in force to represent our local community. Platinum swepted the podium in the Cat 1 50-54 class with John Biron taking top honors, Bobby Langin Sr 2nd and Steve Silva with 3rd. Todd Booth (Cat 1 40-44), Amanda Schaper (Cat 1 19-29), Jon Miller(Cat 1 55-59) and Reny Takeda (Boys 11-13) all took home silver. Mike Weber(Cat 1 55-59) and Luke Werkhoven(Cat 2 Clydes) pulled off 3rd place finishes. Other notes: Ron Takeda pulled off a win in Cat 1 Super D held on Saturday.
Results
John Biron — 1st Cat 1 50-54
Todd Booth — 2nd Cat 1 40-44
Bobby Langin SR — 2nd Cat 1 50-54
Jon Miller — 2nd Cat 1 55-59
Amanda Schaper — 2nd Cat 1 wm 19-29
Reny Takeda — 2nd Cat 3 11-12
Steve Silva — 3rd Cat 1 50-54
Mike Weber — 3rd Cat 1 55-59
Luke Werkhoven — 3rd Cat 2 Clyds 35+
Bob Nisbet — 4th Cat 1 45-49
Darin Takeda — 5th Cat 3 10 under
Adam Poytress — 6th Cat 1 30-34
Derek Johnson — 7th Cat 2 40-44
Ron Takeda — 7th Cat 1 45-49 1st Cat 1 Super-D
Roger Moore — 8th Cat 1 40-44
Andy Osburn — 8th Cat 1 45-49
John Reveles — 8th Cat 2 40-44
Mark Luke — 8th Cat 2 50-54
Zach Walker — 9th Cat 1 30-34
US Cup #5
June 6, 1010
Elings Park, Santa Barbara, CA
Written by Bobby Langin
This round of the US Cup Series was held at a favorite venue for many mountain bikers—including me. The course offers all the fun a cross country coarse could deliver; intense climbs, technical descents, meandering turns (very ‘cross-esque). This year the start/finish was setup on the north side of the park which also provided a nice area for the racers’ family and friends. And although the controversy leading up to the event seemed to impact attendance, those that showed up were rewarded with a course that was in excellent shape and really a whole lot of fun!
My class, the 50-54 Cat 1 field, was not as full as normal but the hot-shoes were all there; John Biron (who’s been on fire this year) and Steve Silva (who has this place wired) were both on the line. Thankfully they are also both Platinum Performance racers and thus our team had a good shot at putting someone of the box.
When the whistle blew, I jumped out in front as we entered the initial climb up to the plateau. However, Dean Swank (55-59 class) went by just before reaching the top. I followed for a couple minutes and then attacked once we had a little bit of a tail wind heading back up the gradual incline leading back to the multiple S-turns. Soon thereafter Johnny Biron made his move getting by Dean while Steve Silva moved up into the mix. Biron was smelling blood (probably from my lungs from going out a bit hard) as we entered the downhill on the backside towards the south entrance. I did my best to add some distance while descending but by the top of the climb back to the south parking area Johnny B was right there. I kept the pressure on and was able to develop a short gap by the time we entered the downhill back to the asphalt. I once again attempted to increase the gap on the downhill but took a short off-track excursion going over the bars into the bushes in a tight left hander but remounted quickly and got by a couple of folks leaving Johnny to descend in what must’ve been, very dusty conditions. Sorry JB.
By the time the first lap was over, I was beginning to think about the flaws in my strategy of the hard first lap as my legs were starting to feel a little less than fresh. Nothing a little recovery time wouldn’t fix so I gue-ed up, drank and entered the S-turns on top with a fair amount of room. I was blessed with a fairly open course leading into the downhill on the backside and felt good…that is until the climb up to the south entrance. My legs were not recovering as well as I hoped and struggled to get back to the descent into the asphalt with a comfortable gap hoping John had already backed off and somehow forgot I was up there. That, unfortunately for me, didn’t transpire. As we got onto the asphalt climb, John wasn’t too far back and I knew he was going to get by.
At the top of the climb Johnny B was playing the ever-kind teammate and suggested I get on his wheel and finish this baby. I intended on finishing but knew I was also done (so to speak). I held on for a couple seconds and that was about it. John finished strong while I was somehow able to keep Silva from going by on that treacherous last lap.
It was a fun, although extremely tough, day in the saddle for me. The dizzy spells have stopped and my memories of yesterday are that I still love the course and was delighted our team finished one-two-three for the day. Congratulations to John and Steve for excellent results!
- 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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