Hillbillies and Endurance Racers.
Great one-two punch these past two weekends at Vail Lake Resort in Temecula, CA. First up was the Hillbilly Bike Bash(www.pcamtb.com), an event hosted by my very own team bike maker-Mongoose (www.mongoose.com). This was a fun event with some serious competition on display. 23 professional athletes duked it out in the Mongoose Hillbilly Downhill including such top racers as the Houseman's, L Binggeli, Waylon Smith, Brad Oien, Eliot Jackson, Kevin Aiello, Cody Warren and the top shooter for the day; local San Diegan, JD Swanegen. My favorite pro woman downhiller Stephanie Gaudreau took the ladies podium. I was not able to compete in the Fox Super-D or the Racers and Chasers Cross-Country event held the same weekend but these races and the festivities were a huge success. From the toilet seat horseshoes and team tire rolling contest to the general camaraderie of the racers camping out, this was a great event which I am excited to add to my 2009 calendar! Great to see Dale from Division 26 (www.division26clothing.com) at every event I go to, they make some great outfits to wear pre and post ride including caps, T's, and hoodies. Props to Kenda as well for getting behind a local event for SoCal.
The second event, this past weekend, was the 12 Hours of Temecula held at the same venue. Our team, "Jack, Queen, King, Ace" along with our co-team were camped out right on the course where it turned down into the start/finish area. We had a great view of the start of the course and "Dam Hill". Darryl led us off with a fast parade lap and overall lap and I felt compelled to keep the momentum going so I turned a good lap as well. Mark kept the momentum rolling and Stephanie pulled a good lap despite problems with getting around riders on the course. Note: if you hear a rider breathing down your neck...move:) Luckily the high heat associated with Temecula never came to pass. Unfortunately the wind took its place and made for some very exciting high-speed descents! By the end of everyone's second lap we were looking pretty good in 4th place and our night laps were just as good as during the day. We did not experience a single mechanical nor crash but did see a fair amount of carnage along the way including broken bikes, dirt rash, and mostly minor injuries. My apologies to the racer who crashed so close in front of me that I smashed my derailleur on his bike as I rode over it. He was OK, as was his bike I hope. In the end we were a few minutes too far past the hour to send Steph out for a last lap so we ended up with 11 total and lots of smiles all around. Special thanks to my friend Angie Kies from Kies Holistic Therapies in Pacific Beach (www.kiesholistictherapies.com) for the massage on my beat up knee and for keeping us in top form. Also to our co-team for their generous food, hydration, camping setup, fire pit, and group laughter sessions. We are excited to come back to the 12 hour next year and take a few minutes off each lap.