Kirkwood MTN XC

So Aaron and Brandy drove up to Kirkwood for the Sierra Cup MTB series XC race.  Weather and venue were beautiful.

Heading up.

Hey look there is the turn in!

XC Start finish

Brandy's day ended early.

Brandy has some bike cleaning to do...yuck

Aaron coming around the start/finish for his second lap

Heading to turn up to start the climb

Aaron starting the climb.

This was a tough course.  Aaron had a couple of small wrecks, but worked hard and ended up 4th for the day.  Dry conditions bloody nose ended Brandy's day early than anticipated.

I shot a quick little video of Aaron on his last lap coming through the pump track section on his way to finishing: http://youtu.be/usH3yrJOjSU  Enjoy!

2012 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships

What a trip, what a killer location and what a race course!!  Team Grassroots racing sent three riders to the 2012 USA Cycling MTB Nationals held in Sun Valley ID.  Aaron Obelleiro in the Cat 2 35-39 category, Richard Nagel in the Cat 3 19-29 category, and Brandy Kilkenny in the Cat 3 40-49 category.  Sun Valley quite possible could be the perfect mountain biking town.  It is so pretty, the weather is wonderful and the atmosphere is fantastic!  If you get a chance to go visit Sun Valley, we suggest you do!!  You will not regret it.

So what about the course....well, a brutal 7 mile climb to start the race, then some fast and flowy sections on wonderful single track, and then of course some more climbing thrown in for more pain....and then a ton of switchbacks to finish us off.  Wow!!!  Our legs were toast when the race was done.

Brandy & Richard launched @ 8:00am and after a small delay, Aaron launched around 11:00am.  We all raced on Thursday July 5th.

Let's start with some action photos:

Aaron picking up the pace on the start lap

Richard coming around the final bend to the finish

Brandy coming through the start/finish area on the start lap

yeah....see that mountain in the background??  Yeah, we climbed it. 

oh don't let the beauty fool you...there is some painful climbing in that mountain!

So how did Team GRR do??       AWESOME!!!

Richard on the Podium!!

Aaron on the Podium!!

Aaron and Richard with their Nationals Medals!

Brandy finished strong but just off the podium in 6th.

We all had a blast in Sun Valley.  We want to thank all of our sponsors who make our season possible, Velo Wrench Bike Shop, Rotor USA, Smith Optics, Honeystinger, Crankbrothers, Handlebar Mustache, Kenda tires, Stan's No Tubes, Brubar, Giro, and Integrate Performance Fitness.  

thank you Lindy for taking the pictures.

2012 MTB Nationals - Team GRR on the podium

Quick update of awesomeness - Team GRR had 3 racers go to the MTB National Championships this past week.  Aaron Obelleiro, 5th place podium Cat 2 Men 35-39.  Richard Nagel 5th place podium Cat 3 Men 19-29, and Brandy Kilkenny 6th place Women Cat 3 40-49.  Pics and race report coming 7/17/2012.

Pine Nut Cracker

Race Number 2 in the Sierra Cup Series....so how did Team GRR do?  Aaron raced, Brandy went along for feed zone and safety support...

We had to drive over the Sierras to get to the race venue in Nevada

The hills behind would be scene of the hard fought XC race

Aaron on the start line, focused on the race about to start

and Aaron is off!

Aaron coming in to the finish.

And Aaron rode hard for a podium spot.

Aaron has got stronger each race, and is in contention for the over all points in Cat 2 Mens 30-39 for the Sierra Cup Series.  6 more races in the series!  Great Job Aaron

Rockhopper Classic 2012

Well two words come to mind...Hot & Tough.  Race number #1 in the Sierra Cup MTB Series happened this past Saturday @ Pena Adobe in Vacaville CA.  The Rockhopper Classic
     Team Grassroots Racing had three racers line up for the start of this race: Pat, Leslie and Aaron.  It was a late morning start to the XC race, so they knew it would be hot.  Aaron in his Cat 2 division was the first Team GRR racer to launch, then Leslie in her Cat 2 race, and followed up by Pat in his Cat 3 division.
     The course proved to be tough (lots of climbing), and the heat in the mid day made it even tougher.
Pat finished his 1 Lap race in 12th place, in a very large and competitive class. Not bad for a guy racing his first MTB season!!
Leslie had a dnf on the day, as the heat proved a bit too much for her on this day.  We know Leslie has a ton of good results coming her way this season.
Aaron finished with a 7th place, in a huge and very strong division.  Top 10 for Aaron, also putting in a good start for the overall in his division for the 6 race series of the Sierra Cup MTB.  Ryan all cast-ed up put in some volunteer time course marshaling the event. (thank you Ryan!)  Way to go team!!
    

Aaron start of Rockhopper 2012

Leslie starting her race

Pat's start

Team GRR banner

Aaron coming through Feed Zone

Aaron start of Lap 2

Pat on his last couple turns of his race

Pat sprinting for finish line

Pat showing signs of heat & a tough race

heat ended Leslie's race early...sometimes the legs just aren't cooperating with your heart

Aaron crossing the finish line

Cooked !

2012 Sea Otter Classic aftermath...

Well it was a mixed bag for Team Grassroots Racing this past weekend at Sea Otter.  

     We had some ups: Aaron, Charissa, and Richard all qualifying for the USA MTB Nationals with their performances in the XC race.  Vince, Patrick, and Richard all raced three races (road & MTB), and pre rode the XC course...lots of miles in their legs.  Richard and Pat also raced MTB's for the first time @ Sea Otter on a tough climbing course.  Camping and fun was was had by all. 

     We had some downs: Ryan ended his race season with a compound fracture of his forearm during his XC race.  And Amy fracturing her hand in two places on the XC pre-ride, but will be back to race in month or so.

2012 Team GRR - Sea Otter Results -

Friday Road Race:
Richard Nagel 21st Cat4
Patrick Scott 35th Cat5 35+
Vince Coons 42nd Cat5 35+

Saturday Circuit Race:
Vince Coons 24th Cat5 45+
Patrick Scott 22nd Cat5 45+
Richard Nagel placed, but because of a power outage, no data was recorded. (boo Sea Donkey!)

Saturday Road Race:
Kim Booth 38th Cat 4

Sunday MTB XC Races (also grouped by age):
Aaron Obelleiro 11th Cat 2 (Qualified for Nationals)
Richard Nagel 6th Cat3 (Qualified for Nationals)
Vince Coons 50th Cat 3 (damn big class!)
Patrick Scott 29th Cat 3
Charissa Odom 11th Cat 2 (Qualified for Nationals)
Brandy Kilkenny 26th Cat 3

Ryan & Amy broke body parts this weekend & are doing well. We wish them a speedy recovery. 

We would like to thank our sponsors, Velo Wrench Bike Shop, Integrate Performance Fitness, Jamis Bikes, Rotor, Smith Glasses, Crankbrothers, Stan's No Tubes, Honeystinger, Kenda Tires, Handlebar Mustache, and Brubar!!  

Can't wait for Sea Otter 2013!! 

Sea Otter madness

Sea Otter here we come!!  Follow us on twitter for updates & pics from the races @teamgrrcycling 
We will update the blog with results, race reports and pictures when we get back.  Yipee!!

Good Luck racers; Vince, Patrick, Richard, Aaron, Leslie, Kim, Amy, Ryan, Charissa & Brandy.