or as Vinny calls it...Sea Donkey

2013 Sea Otter, A.K.A…Sea Donkey, by Vince Coons

     What can I say about sea Donkey? First, it was an awesome trip.  I handled the cooking and in keeping with Sea Otter tradition, I did a bike build the day before a race. I am happy to report that the bike was flawless and in no way responsible for the placement of the rider in the final sprint for the line.  

     We did coin a few new phrases, like “choncha-ria” (the bad things that happen to your naughty bits when a bike doesn't fit) and my favorite “The Vinmahall” (my 4 bedroom tent, a favorite of any kid that walked by).

     I got some serious schmoozing done with most of our sponsors. Kali was very happy to see us and even offered up some hats which Pat Sasaki will be getting me soon, or I will call his boss. Serfas as usual came to play, and hooked up this old guy with my new favorite shoe the Serfas Zirconium Road (they ROCK). You know they are a good sponsor when they meet you at the tent and already have your beer in hand.

     I would personally like to take a second and thank another Team Velo Wrench sponsor, Alvarado Equine for stepping up and giving a race reimbursement for all Team Velo Wrench riders that pre registered and gave Brandy a receipt. Also team, if you get the chance; please take a second and thank Luis Alvarado, whom BTW will be stepping up as the President of the Velo Wrench Bike club. Thank You Luis!!!

     Did Vinny ride???  Well…Hell yes I rode, I just didn't get to race.  Danny and I rode out to the road race course to cheer on Richard. We watched as he came by a few times got some pics of him racing and headed back to the camp, back up 3 miles of climbing. Good news is that the sore leg eased up a bit about 1/2 way up the climb but I did pay for it that night. On the climb out, Danny and I traded yelling at each other and the passing riders in French and Italian as to confuse them as they passed us by. When Richard passed we yelled “Allez Ree-charrd Allez” leaving his competition confused and unable to keep up, thinking he was a Frenchy.

      I and Richard were also given the opportunity to hang at the VIP reception for the new Jamis women's Pro Road Race Team.  Richard ran in to the Yackle Brothers whom joined us for dinner that night at our camp.  I cooked for everyone.  I spent some time with the Jamis engineer, and may have convinced his to make a Campy build for the Jamis steel Eclipse, which I will have if they do.  I WILL! I also ran across my other new bike the Jamis 650 Nemesis carbon MTB. (Brandy interrupting here, my plan to get everyone on a 650b is working!  Muwahahaha!!)  Yes I will! (Any man can have a bike, but it takes a Vinny to have a Harem.  Shuuush don't tell my wife)

     All in all a good one, I hope more of Team Velo Wrench can make it next year. 

Tutti Insieme- Vinny"

"Allez Vinny!"  Vin on the RR course cheering on Richard

Coming back in to camp

Fancy new Serfas Zirconium Road Shoes

Presiding over the camp & kitchen.

Jamis Bikes!!

Love our Kali helmets. 

Chillin at the Serfas tent

Adventures at Sea Otter 2013

Vince, Brandy, Richard, Danny, Leslie, Amy and Kurtis all made the trip down to race/ride/chill at the Sea Otter classic.
Here are a couple of race reports:

Richard Nagel races the Cat 4 Elite RR & Circuit Races @ Sea Otter-

 “Hello everyone, Sea Otter was great. Thanks Vince and Brandy for all you did. Thanks for the mechanic work on my new KHS bike Vince.

     Alright, race recaps time. – The Road Race on Friday was great. 54 mile 5000ft of climbing kicked my butt.  The course was good to fair. Lots of large potholes on the first half of the course after the first decent, but it was “Flat tire alley” for a lot of people.  Luckily I stayed clear of the left side of the road through there so no flats for me. The course is much better after that section. I did well for the first half of the race was in the front of the peloton. 4th lap in, one guy jumped off the front and blew up the rest field including me! I worked with 4 other guys chasing them down. We would touch the back end of the group one more time before they pulled away and stayed away. I finished in 2:42:56. I went through 5 bottles of Skratch Labs fluid and three things of Honeystinger Food.

     The circuit race on Sunday was awesome! The course is a famous race track so it is always has wonderful road conditions. The race was very fast but I couldn’t tell you how fast because I forgot to start my Garmin! (No Strava PR’s for me) I was in the pack and doing well all the way to the last lap.  I got dropped half way through the steep climb.(My legs were feeling the road race from Friday)  I tried like hell to make up time descending the corkscrew. I threw myself into the hard left turn and thought for sure that I was gonna crash but the bike stayed upright and held the speed (what felt like 50+mph).  I saw the peloton at the bottom of the 180 degree turn while I was at the top but that would be the closest I got. I work and finished hard.”  -Richard

Richard racing the Road Race

Richard climbing the Road Race

Richard working to bridge the gap

Richard mid Circuit Race

Kurtis Westbrook raced Cat 1 XC on Friday - 40miles, through hot temps and tons of dust-

Sea Otter Classic Cat 1 XC

        I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this race other then I knew it would be painful because I had never rode 40 miles with 7800 feet of climbing on a mountain bike and have never done that much climbing in one day. I acquired some intel from my teammates and riding buddies and the basics of it were that there was a lot of fire road and some deep sand descents to look out for. My main goal of this race was to finish and if I was able to finish ahead of some people that would be awesome.

        I made the long haul out to Laguna Seca Raceway Friday morning after a big breakfast; I arrived, set up my tent, and ate a little something for lunch. The race started at 1:45 and Brandy showed me the way to the start where I warmed up on the race track. Soon enough the race was off, my group (which turned out to not be my group because my racing age is 25) started up the race track in one pack and we were all drafting two guys in front. Once we made the left turn on the dirt things started to spread a little bit and the pace kicked up also, but I was able to keep up with the front half of the group. It was a fire road hammer fest until we got to the first steep rocky climb where almost everyone dismounted and ran up. I had a gel at the very top and descended down some more fire road until I got to some sweet twisting sandy single track. I made a few passes here, the whole time I was pushing the bike pretty hard, some of the turns were really tight making me want to have smaller wheels but I made it through fairly well.

        After the fun stuff I hit more fire road followed by some sandy single track descending which led into the really sandy descents that dropped down on some flat double track. I implemented my drafting skills and rested a bit here and ate a waffle. The race went down a road and then up a bit where there was a water station, I took some water and downed it. After the water station the race went on some single trail that went along the side of a ridge which dropped out on more fire road. There was a long single track climb followed by a decent and then some more single track climbing which led out to the last bit of fire road climbing until the second lap. During the first lap I ate a good amount and drank almost both of my bottles of water. Luckily Brandy and Richard were at the start of the second lap to hand me off two more bottles this time with Skratch Labs in them.

        I was pretty worn out from the first lap but knew I could press on, it wasn’t until first single track climb where I started to cramp. I was able to push through a few more cramps but my pace had dropped of significantly and I couldn’t see through my glasses very well because they had become coated with sweat. At this point I knew I was way out of the podium and was just going to complete my goal of finishing. At the very last single track climb before the fire road I passed a guy playing some ACDC which rose my spirits a bit and I made my final push to the finish. I was exhausted, but in better condition than some people because I seen someone puking and people lying on the ground. My main concern after finishing was to find camp and get some food in my body, but this was made difficult because the volunteers did not know where anything was.

        After the race I found out that my finish time was 3hr 45min and that I had actually beat two people which made me feel a bit better about my performance. Next year, if I do this race, I would like to get my time down to around 3 hours and to do this I will need to spend more time in my road bike saddle on long rides. All in all it was a great weekend, spent time with my teammates, met some of the sponsors (Kali, Smith Optics, Jamis Bikes, Serfas, ESI Grips Honeystinger, Skratch Labs), checked out a bunch of cool stuff, got some free stuff, rode a pump track, listened to a band that was giving away tacos, seen some old friends, and got a great work out. *Trail narrative may be out of order. It was a long race.”  -Kurtis 

Kurtis before his XC race

Kurtis on the start line

What 40 miles at race pace looks like. 

 

Napa Valley Dirt Classic 4/14/2013

Race Report by Kurtis Westbrook.  He raced Cat 1:

"Napa Valley Dirt Classic

                This was my first time racing the Napa Valley Dirt Classic and I wasn’t sure what to expect, although I did hear from people that it wasn’t too bad. I was told that there were three or four rollers that were rocky and that you should carry speed going down to carry yourself back up. I also herd there was a big climb out after you descend a short sandy section. I went into this race thinking I could place well as long as I held with the front pack and got on the draft during the flat fire road sections.

                Well we arrived with plenty of time to check in and change; I did my warm up a little late though because after a few laps around the track and doing some climbing everyone was starting to line up. We had a huge start group and it was sort of bottle necked in between some parked cars so I knew it was going to be a bit sketchy. The race started and we sprinted up a road climb and into some double track that climbed up to a steep rock ascent. Everyone I seen was walking this so I dismounted and hurried up to the top and got back on my bike. The pack was still sprinting and I could feel myself falling back, I just didn’t have the power to keep up, so I was dropped off the lead pack. I was passed by a few more people and each one I tried to stick behind but wasn’t able to keep up. I was still in the mix with the slower cat 1 group when we reached the rollers which weren’t as bad as described and actually kind of fun.

                Once we got in the single track I was more in my element because it was fast, flowy, and there was decent grip under the fallen leaves. I was pushing my bike pretty hard drifting a few corners and was able to get by a few who weren’t as good at the twisting single track. I had one guy who thought he wanted to ride faster than me so I let him by but in the next turn I watched him wash out and hit the ground pretty hard. I asked if he was alright and he said yes as I rode by him so I continued on. Once the single track section was over I ate a gel and drank some water because it was too fast and tight in the single track to do so.

                The race continued on a fire road for a bit and there was a water station where I downed a cup of water on my way through. After the water station there was some single track that led to the sandy downhill which I cleared just fine but then I remember the climb was a little bit after this. I downed a gel and some water and prepared for this climb. The climb went on and on and was steep, I was spinning in my low gear and keeping an alright pace but there was one section where people began walking so I joined in. During the hike up I ate some energy chews before the climb was rideable again, then the trail descended and there was more climbing. We reached the top of the climb and went down some fast fire road/double track and then there was more fire road climb.

                As the fire road climb started peaking I recognized some of the trail from my pre ride and sure enough the airport we passed on the way out was up ahead. My Garmin didn’t read near the advertised distance and climbing but it was indeed the trail we had rode out on. I got to the steep rocky uphill that everyone walked up in the beginning and didn’t have a problem riding down it. The course ended with some single track that led into the running track where you had to do lap around to the finish. My finish time was 1hr 45min and I finished 25^th out of 27. Which isn’t good but I did have fun riding the single track there. I really felt bogged down during the race like my seat was too low, so after this race I went and got re fit on my bike. This race will be on my race schedule next year because it was a good race that isn’t too far away."

GREAT JOB KURTIS!!

 

Napa Valley Dirt Classic - April 14 2013

The Napa Valley Dirt Classic was held in Angwin CA this past Sunday.  Kurtis Westbrook and Kristen Hill raced.  Here is Kristen's race report for her first official MTB race. 

"Thursday (2 days before said race) I decide that I am going to race Napa Valley Dirt Classic on Sunday.  I started to ask people about it and Brandy also had a handy video of the course she found and all I got was "hmmm....are you sure, it's pretty technical and it takes like several hours".  In the end I decided that it was a good idea, I would be fine and you have to grow a set every once in awhile and to get better & you have to man up. Close mouth, race bicycle!

I also decided that I should go tubeless since I still was a geek with tubes in my tires....so Vinny last minute took my very dirty (if you know me, you know I race CX and it's to see how muddy I can get) wheels and converted my wheels on Friday morning.  Thank you Vinny!  You must also know that I never clean my bike, why, it's going to just get muddy again!

Oh and this is my very first real mtn bike race, in my life.  I only got this new bike last year, I decided CX bikes are scary and instead bought this fancy 29R (I still am not sure what that means), the bike weights less/same than my road race bike!  I raced this said mtn bike in CX earlier this year and won the state championship in my age group on a mtn bike with tubes in my tires!  

So Kurits and I meet up, drive over, so far so good.

Upon arrival, there are a million people there and parking is limited....Kurtis: "I've never seen so many people at one of these".  We register, so far so good.

Get dressed, put the number on set my tire pressure, have a snack, so far so good.

Warm up and arrive at the start line (which is UP HILL) now another bit about me...I hate hills, don't do well with them and it is a big hurdle for me....I think the last hill I did was the overpass on my last juniors ride a few weeks ago....I don't ever remember when asking about if I should do this race anyone saying it had hills...so the start, yes you guessed it, is on a hill, it just became not so good.

Women beginner was grouped with all aged women.  Some at the start decided it was not for them and quit before we even got started.  I even heard some guys pull out and talk about how hard it was and they were not ready for this.  Hmmm.....how hard can this be, 21 miles?   And the whistle goes off....the women take off like North Korean missals...they are real fast at first and then I keep my consistent pace and start passing them one by one, they blew themselves up early.  So this start on a mountain goes on for sometime, a longtime.  We get to a section where people are getting off their bikes and running it up a hill....WHAT I think, there is CX in this race too?!  By the time I run up said mountain and get back on, I'm thinking this was not such a great idea.  I pass a few more and keep pounding it out at a good pace.  Ended up 4 women were behind me somewhere for a longtime.  I'm not sure what group they were in but I was not the last one out there.  

I keep climbing after some fast fire roads and single tracks, thinking this is not SO bad I guess....I roll up to double down arrows...it looks as if the Earth ends cause I cannot see the ground but no, it's just that steep and straight down.  Of course I go instead of think about it....this mountain dip has large rocks, grooves, little rocks (if that is even a word right then) and you are pointed straight downward...as in the back wheel could come over at anytime and hit me in the head.I make it half way and save my ass barely and get off, run it down.  Now I see why all the spectators are here watching...I say "I am prob the only one who just ran down"  Guy: "oh no, most are running down"  Me: "uh huh.  I say this was a bad idea I got on Thursday" Guy: "well at least you can cross it off your bucket list"  Me: "hmm...funny thing is this is not on my bucket list, I'm not that dumb"  (note to self, go home and make a bucket list).

Well there were 2 of these said dips in a row, I got through them and at this point, this was a bad idea and why did no one say it had climbing...and a lot of it.

My race goes like this...

-mile 25: this sucks but at least I can ride by myself and not have someone breathing down my neck

-mile 50: I wonder if Kurtis wants to go to that famous burger place we passed on the way here, cause that sounds like a good reward for this

-miles 75: I wonder if Kurtis got me some of these pretty purple flowers when he went through here

-miles 100: they said there were 4 water stops and I have only seen 1 and they did not give me any water...and every corner person I have seen when I ask how much farther, none of them know.  So I decide that they must have been dropped from the sky by rope to their current location while blind folded cause none of them know anything.

-mile 125- I wonder if I should pick Kurtis these pretty purple flowers

-mile 150: nasty downhill with cat litter for dirt....it was so scary, no traction but I made it and the guys at the bottom cheered...again they were looking for crashes!

-mile 175: climb climb climb....this was the dumbest idea I ever had, I should have listened to Brandy she is SO smart and me not so much.  

-mile 190: water stop with high school guys tell me they are at the 12 mile mark, I'm too fired to do math, how much farther is that?

-mile 195: I'm not going to that burger place, I'm never eating again.

-mile 196: I'm not picking Kurtis flowers, he's prob been at the car 5 hours now and driven home and back, I feel bad he is waiting for me so long

-mile 198: those boys did not have their miles right, this was much farther than 8 more miles so we will go back to mile 195

-mile 195: can this hill be any longer?  Some guy drives to me on a quad and says did I want a ride....”NO but am I almost there?”  He says hmm...”well you have to go up here and climb a hill and then it's pretty much downhill to the finish”....hmmm I can do that so nope I do not need your help. So like 2 more miles he says.

-mile 197: that guy lied and I feel like punching him.

-mile 198: there was more than one hill and then when I got on the fire road the wind had picked up so bad it was a headwind!!! FML

-mile 199: hmmm...this looks like the same hill I walked up at the very start...yes it is!  This means I am almost there!

-mile 200: I arrive to see everyone sitting on the grass and some guy handing out awards, Kurtis finds me and I have to sit down!  He had been done a few hours ago...I ask what time it is...he says 3pm.  I cannot even do math right now but that is a longtime for me to have been out there!

Some girl says there is a race here in July but it's only 10 miles, yeah I might do that I say.

All in all, I had a good time, am glad I did it, at some point I will be able to walk again and sit down without pain.  My whole body hurts!  But I did it and I finished!

What did I learn?  That riding with juniors is not very good training for mtn bike racing, I gotta get in some more hill repeats.

Typing this I think would I do this again, yes I would!!!  

Thank you to Kurtis who waited and never complained!  

Tomorrow is a rest day!

Kristen

TBF Xterra March 30 2013

Charissa & her husband Ryan both raced at the TBF Racing Xterra in Folsom, CA

Charissa's race report is up first. 

"Nothing like a little 55 degree water, plenty of  mud, and bluebonnets!  Saturday was a perfect day for a race.  TBF always hosts a well organized event.

All 180 participants ran into the water together in a mass start.  As per usual, the wild kicking subsided as the racers spread out.  Open water is no longer as scary as it was my first tri last summer!  

When I came out of the water, I was with a man who exclaimed, "this is a quadathon!" because of the long run up to the parking lot.  I really enjoyed the mountain bike course and the muddy spots!  They even cut some new trails to get in more mud and sand.  Or perhaps they cut the new trails so we could enjoy the bluebonnets.  I felt strong on the bike, even if my time indicates how much work I have ahead of me.  I got passed by some very quick male riders, which made me feel better about my swim placement.

The run was mostly on dirt trails with a few sandy spots.  The real challenge was the rutty, steep, climbs and descents.  I walked briskly for those sections as I have not trained for it.  I bet y'all are tired of hearing the play-by-play of my knee pain...  But This event was a big success for me.  It was the event that helped motivate me to do PT for 30 minutes every morning all winter.

Happy trails!

Cheers!

Charissa"

 

 

And Ryan added:

 

"I don't have much to add to C's race report. It was once again one of the best organized events as I have come to expect from TBF. Well marked and tons of supervision. The swim was cold, the bike was fun, and I need to train on more hills. And racing against the old guys is going to take a lot more training. 

-Ryan "the youngin who thinks it should get easier in the 30s age group" Odom" 

 

 

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Golden Bears Duathlon March 30, 2013

Race report by Scott Morrison...who is turning in to a duathlon machine:


" I've done this course before. 2.35 mile run out on the San Pablo Dam and back,
Bike leg around the reservoir on the Three Bears, finish with a 2.2 mile run out
on the Dam and back. First run was good, happy with my improved time over
October. Bike leg, EVERYTHING FELL APART. Last October I made a lot of time on
my competition on the bike leg, this time around, NO. I rode a worn cassette
that decided to start jumping as soon as I hit the Three Bears. My dumb move.
Descending Papa Bear I blew a front tire. YEAH,TIRE. Glass sliced right through.
Luckily I had a tire boot to patch it well enough to ride in. The second run I
was through. Cramped up repairing that tire and never recovered. Finished off
the podium, (Duh), but very committed to continuing my diet. Also, I'm riding
tubeless next time, like October. I really am enjoying these Duathlons! Plus
this series is the only chance anyone gets to run on the actual dam. -Scotty"

but wait....

"I was just looking at results online. I forgot I race 45-49 this year. Third
Place! http://results.active.com/events/du-golden-bears-4-option-duathlon-5-mile-run-wa\
lk/du-short-age-group
-Scotty"

Scotty on the bike leg.

Run Scott...Run!

Scott's hard word is paying off.

The Big Sandy MTB Race Mar 30, 2013

Race report from Kurtis Westbrook.  The Big Sandy was his first race of the season, and first race as a Cat1/Expert, he placed 5th.  We are excited to have Kurtis on board!! 

"The Big Sandy March 30^th 2013 Expert:

 I arrived with plenty of time to get a warm up in, so I rode for a little bit on the trail to dial in what air pressure I would want to run. I ended up running 35 psi in the rear and 30ish in the front because I wanted decent cornering traction but not the bounciness of running to low. Come race time I met up with Sam Guzman and Kevin Herron and started next to them. It was weird that they started us off in one big break and I heard that there was a wreck at the start but I was up in the front with the sprinters and didn’t see any of it. The race start was on the road and went up a hill then down through the parking lot where it changed to single track for an 8 mile loop. We then climbed to the top of the ridge and descended down to meet up with the river trail. There were a lot of “conga line hike a bike” in the first part of the climb which went up very tech rocky stairs. It probably wasn’t too ride-able. I kept pace with the group and things started spreading out a bit when we got past the hiking and back on our bikes for the remainder of the 3 mile climb to the top. I felt pretty strong climbing and was only a little gassed from the sprint start. I passed a few people while keeping my high cadence sustainable climbing speed.

 Once we reached the top the race was on, I knew Sam and Kevin were ahead of me but not too far. I passed a hand full of people when there were openings and caught up with Kevin. He was stuck behind a guy that wasn’t the best at descending and was definitely holding Kevin and the guy behind me up. After some persuasion he pulled off and let us pass. Kevin led the rest of the descent and we were moving pretty darn good.  Caught a few people towards the bottom bridge where there were two lines to get on to the bridge. Kevin took one line and I took the other my line, which got me onto the bridge first. I was impressed with my new Kenda slant six tire.  It had good breaking traction and cornered really well.  There were a few technical rocky uphill climbs and some flowier downhill’s until we reached the river trail. Here I ate my first honey stinger gel right before starting on the single track on the river trail.

The first few miles of the river trail I was feeling that 8 mile loop but I was able to get into a groove. During this time, I was passed by Kevin and a few others but I was able to keep them in sight for awhile. Eventually they pulled away and I was on my own for while. I hit a long fire road descent and pushed it pretty hard to make up some time. There was still no one in sight. Then I saw Kevin by himself off in the distance. This motivated me to pick up the pace. I feel like when I am riding by myself I slow my pace a bit, which isn’t really good. I succeeded in my goal of catching and passing Kevin but when I caught him he told me that he had stopped racing because he had run out of water. I looked down and saw that I had almost finished my bottle with Skratch Labs drink mix and was ¾ done with my plain water so I knew I couldn’t give any up. It was pretty hot outside.

After picking up the pace to make the pass, my legs were getting tired and I started to feel hungry. I was only around mile 15 and wanted to save my other Honeystinger gel for mile 19 because I knew there was a huge climb to the finish. I ate the gel around 1.5 miles later since I needed the boost and was feeling the heat. At this point in the race I started seeing riders that were most likely from the sport and beginner classes. All of them were aware of me and nicely pulled over to let me pass.  An expert rider passed me with some speed and I quickly tried matching his pace but he pulled away a little bit. He was still in sight when we reached the treacherous steep single track climb right before the descent to the finish. I kept the rider in sight until my left leg started to cramp. I dropped down to granny and spun, transferring a little more power to my right leg. This climb was no joke I pushed through the cramps which went away around half way up but I wasn’t able to keep the pace. The rider got out of my sight. I passed multiple sport or beginner riders struggling up the hill.

The Garmin said it took me around 16 minutes to reach the top but it felt way longer. I was relieved when I reached the top of the hill but I knew there were still a few ups and downs before the decent. I passed two more people before the descent that weren’t in my class. Luckily, I was able to get a clean decent but didn’t catch anyone. The finish ended with a sharp right turn at the bottom of the descent went down the side of the lake and then up a dried up boat launch. As I crossed the finished I was handed a cold water bottle and some gel by someone, I took it gladly and did a few laps in the parking lot to cool down. I drank the first water bottle then drank another. Ate some honey stinger energy chews. I did not feel well at all after finishing, I felt like I may pass out and was nauseous. I ate a burger and some chili and still didn’t feel well. I checked the results and ended up finishing 5^th and I counted a total of 10 number plate tags with more possibly coming in. I was quite satisfied with my finish. We left early because I wasn’t feeling well and could use a cold shower and a nap. After sleeping for a bit I finally started to feel better and was able to upload my ride to Strava, which said I finished with a time around 2 hrs and 28 minutes, 23 miles and 3400ft of climbing. -Kurtis"

Final drag...uphill!!

Congestion at the start.

Hot day in the saddle!  Glad to be done

 Thank you to all our sponsors who make it possible to race and ride all season...Velo Wrench Bike Shop, Smith Optics, Kali Helmets, Honeystinger, Skratch Labs, Serfas, Ink Monkey Graphics, Ryan Bates Photography, Handlebar Mustache, Alvarado Equine, Gregg Lehman Nationwide, Jamis Bikes, KHS Bikes, and Personal Best Products.  

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