CCCX MTB, 3/28/11

After what seems like weeks of riding in rain and wind every day, I was looking forward to the local CCCX mountain bike race scheduled for Sunday, as Sunday’s forecast was sunny and lovely and oh-so-nice. But as luck would have it, the race got rescheduled for Saturday. Saturday’s forecast = more rain, more wind, more misery. It turns out those meteorologists know what they are talking about once in awhile.

Ft Ord is usually the best place around for getting some mountain biking during the rainy winter months because the sandy soil drains so well. In fact, Ft Ord is at it’s best in the winter as everything is generally remains rideable, as opposed to the summer months when huge sandpits make the trails better suited for cyclocross than riding. Unfortunately we’ve had so much rain over the last week or two that even the Ft Ord trails were a muddy, mucky mess, and the rain was still falling. This was going to be epic.

Check out this picture from Tim Westmore.

Beth's full race report can be found on her blog - check it out!

Madera Stage Race

Big thanks to Mike who lent me the bike, and Nils who lent me the helmet, despite the duct tap that stuck to my hair... was it really that much more aero!?

Getting Gritty at CCCX

We had another wet weekend here in Santa Cruz. At one point on Saturday night I was a little afraid for my life. Thought Cole and I were going to be washed out to sea! Wet or dry I had the best of both worlds - weekend at home and a fun day of racing! On tap - Central Coast Circuit race with two awesome teammates Joanne and Devon. One of the greatest parts about having a teammate is when you don't want to race or are simply hiding from the clouds and cold under warm covers, and looking for reasons not to leave the house, a good teammate will say "well i'm going rain or shine, cause what else am I going to do?" Which is usually enough to kick in the competitive juices and ignite that little fire that keeps the passion to push through a little more pain burning.

I was really impressed by the group of women that showed despite the less than ideal conditions. And, i'm SUPER glad I went because as it turns out it didn't even rain! I would have felt really bad about staying under the covers due to "bad" weather...geesh!

The race was really exciting and fun with three of us Bike Station girls in the field. We had a few surprises up our sleeves, and experimented with some fun team tactics. Devon busted out a mad sprint at the end for the big victory, I got fourth place and JT took a solid 8th. Go team!




Had to add this one - we had fun out there. =)



Thanks for reading!

New LOOK Blade Pedals!

Im super stoked to announce LOOK as our official road pedal sponsor. We recently put the new Blade pedals on our road rigs, and love them. They have a slightly wider platform, and very innovative carbon spring that makes the pedal slightly lighter, but more importantly creates a very unique and snappy engage compared to a conventional Keo.



I like how secure my cleat/shoe feel when I clip in and know my foots not goin' anywhere in the field sprint!

The pedals also come with an extra set of cleats, and cleat covers (bonus!) which I thought was a really nice touch.

We continue to "LOOK" forward to riding this and other product from the French company.

Team Bike Station Aptos @ CCCX #2

We had a few racers at the last Central Coast Cross Country race last weekend. Check out the pics below of fellow teammate Beth Welliver on the Cannondale Scalpel 3.

New Sponsor - William Hopkins, The Foot Doctor

Big thanks to William Hopkins and his team at The Foot Doctors, in Watsonville. We spend a lot of time on our feet standing, walking and of course pedaling our bicycles, and are happy to have the support of Dr. Hopkins and his team of experts. If you haven't checked them out, here's a link to their web site and list of services they have to offer.

William is an avid cyclist himself, and can be spotted riding his super awesome Pinarello (black and neon - hot!) around the hills and farmland of Santa Cruz County!

Final Day of Merco

First of all, I want to thank all of the people who encouraged and supported me throughout the stage race. The kind words, advice and direction meant a lot and helped me get through sore legs, some broken heart feelings, and fatigue. Thanks to my coach - Brian Conant, my teammates - JT, Devon, Beth, and AMJ - and all of my great friends. Also, big thanks to Trey and Roman for covering the shop while I was out!

Final race report - Almond Blossom Road race - 72 miles - place 24th

Packed everything up the night before because I knew it was going to be an early morning. I tried to go through my equipment a little, because the poor bike, wheels, chain, etc were definitely under some stress. I can see how having a team mechanic is helpful at the bigger races! My bike wasn't shifting great, but I showed her some love and hoped for the best.

I was feeling tired, and pretty heart broken after the cirt - which i was pretty excited for. But, a good friend reminded me that there is always tomorrow - and so I did my best to put the past behind me, and look to the final day - a solid 72 mile RR with rolling terrain. It was all or nothing - i mean seriously - what did I have to loose!?

Alarm went off way too soon. I looked at Cole, who was in a sleep coma on top of me, but peeking through a little slit of one of his eyes as if to say "really??!!". I was up and out the door in less than 20 min, off to you know where - Starbucks! Glad I woke up early, cause they didn't open till 6 am..nice.. waited around for my vente coffee and instant oatmeal, and then plotted my course to the race start.

My brain just felt fuzzy as I drove the same farmlands i'd been driving all week long. I was sleepy, tired, and really questioning my sanity at that point in time.

I got a sweet parking spot, front and center and proceeded to sign in, get some free food (powerbar, drinks, etc yay!), and then back to the car to warm up. Clouds looked threatening but no rain yet.

Sure enough - start time was there, and I was shoulder to shoulder with the same women i'd been racing against all week. I couldn't help but remember the story JT told me about Teutenberg - how she yelled at Kristen Armstrong when she started racing on the road. Great, here I am the only Cat 3 racer in a group of pro's - i'm probably going to get shoved off into the ditch by Tuetenberg... here goes nothin!

Race started along with the rain. Kind of reminded me of cross, which made me excited a little. My goal - to hang on to the end.

The race was FAST! we did 72 miles in 3.07.21. Talk about having to pay attention! At first I stayed towards the back, until I realized I was getting tossed around like a YOYO - then I moved up to mid pack where the pace was a little more consistent. It was raining and really hard to see and everyone was SUPER close together. Kinda freaked me out a couple times when I hit a center line reflector - made an awful sound and bumped my entire rear end almost sideways...nice. One thing i noticed is that in a P123 race - you command your space or get walked on and shoved out of the way..kinda crazy, but you have to be confident and claim your little area, or wheel that you're following - or someone else will.



There were a lot of attacks, a couple breakaways and the pace always picked up as we drew near to the finish - I think they wanted to show off so they throttled it every time. When we came up on the last lap, i knew my moment of truth was coming up. I'm not really religious - but I said a little prayer to the people I usually pray to. Then, somehow I was third wheel! I sat there in the draft of an HTC and Tibco girl for about 15 min - nervous as all get out. Again, I heard JT's Tutenberg story in the back of my mind. I'm kind of afraid of her - she's big and SUPER fast. =)

That was probably the coolest moment of the race for me. It was raining, the final lap, I was still there, and the entire field was behind me. Rad.

Then there was an attack, and another attack, and another attack - I hung in there mid group. We headed into the final turn, and the group picked up. Still there... with 300 meters to go the pace increased yet again, and someone broke - 100 meters to go the field sprint and I passed some Cat1's! Holy shit! What a race. So glad I did it, and showed up. My heart was full, no more heartache. That's the cool thing about racing. There's always tomorrow, there's always another race. End result - 24th place and same overall time as the lead group. Merco box -

Merco Madness Day 2

Time to TT! Big thanks to Devon for letting me borrow her clip on Aero bars, and Giro TT helmet. I always like TT's and Crits because i get to bust out my skin suit, which makes me feel a little bit like a super hero.

I haven't done much time trialing, and looking back feel like i could have gone a little harder out the gate. Good news is I made the time cut off, which turns out wasn't that imporant for the next day...oh well, mission accomplished!

Day two - Check!

Merco Madness Day 1

Day 1 - 50 mile Road Race

Ok, so this was a race!

It was kind of crazy to start - there was a lot of shuffling on the front from the get go. Lots of people coming around, up and circling through. I had to really pay attention. No looking at the cool cows, or hawks or pretty streams... darn. This was my first big 123 road race, so i didn't really know what to expect. I also hadn't pre road the course so when we got to the climb - it was a little bit of a mystery - which made pacing myself hard...

The pack slowly started to accelerate up the bumpy climb on the first lap. There were patches of rock and gravel in some sections, which was kind of sketchy. It got really hard for me pretty quick and I felt myself drifting back, breathing hard and thinking NOOOOOOO don't fall off! With about 300 meters i did. But, there was a healthy group that did too. So on the wicked fast decent (rolling decent not very steep) we made up the ground and re joined the peleton. One smell comes to mind from that lap - the smell of rubber burning on carbon heading into a 90 degree turn. It was kind of cool, i have to admit.

We all stayed together up and through the rolling road past the start. And then we hit the hill again. I tried to stay with them, but half way through I had to ease up or I would have buried myself something fierce.

Good news - more fell off this time, so I had company. It was a fun crew mixed with team Red, PB&CO, Tibco, Metro Mint, Touchstone, Webcore, Vanderkitten, and a few others... We rallied together, and began pace-lining... we saw the main group and stayed steady...I think we all were about 10 min off the leader, which i felt wasn't that bad given the strength of the field.

It was really hard, but awesome to work with a group like that. I feel like i learned a lot about pulling, resting, and finding the flow in a larger group.

We all stayed together for pretty much the whole race - we were trying to survive, to make the cut off time. At the end, we all sprinted it out and I came in midish pack.

I was pooped after the race - came back and slept for a few hours, ate a burrito, jumped in a bath full of ice, and called it a night!

All in all it was a lot of fun, and a great experience. I learned a lot!

Thanks for reading. =)

Beth Welliver gets into the Leadville 100!

"It’s an uphill battle. Even downhill"

This is big news! I know a 100 miles doesn't sound like a lot when you're logging hours and miles on the road bike..but when it comes to a mt bike let me be the first to tell you - IT IS! Let alone, a 100 miles of mountain in Colorado...at altitude!

This will be a great challenge, and one we all believe Beth is certainly capable of achieving, and knocking out of the park! She just may have to borrow my scalpel...hehe.

If you haven't heard about the race, or watched the movie "Race Across the Sky", with none other than Lance Armstrong - here's a little description i took from their website. Thanks Leadville people!


"Determination. Guts. Insanity. If you don’t have them, stop reading now. Leadville events aren’t for everyone. They’re for only the toughest athletes looking to challenge themselves — and impress the world. Set 13,000 feet up in the treacherous Colorado Rocky terrain, the strong may survive, but only a few will leave with their pride.

Race Description

This is it. The race of all races. 100 miles across the high-altitude, extreme terrain of the Colorado Rockies. Created for only the most determined athletes. Starting at 9,000 feet and climbing to 13,000 feet, you’ll be challenged to catch your breath — while the views try to take it away."

Neat facts about Leadville the town -

Situated at an elevation of 10,152 feet (3094 m), Leadville is the highest incorporated city and the second highest incorporated municipality in the United States. A former silver mining town that lies near the headwaters of the Arkansas River in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, the city includes the Leadville Historic District, which preserves many historic structures and sites from Leadville's dynamic mining era.

Top finishers in past years -

1. Rebecca Rusch, ID 7:47:35

2. Amanda Carey, ID 8:12:54

3. Anne Gonzales, CO 8:45:46

4. Natasha Hernday, CA 8:47:35

5. Lisa Isom, CO 8:47:51

6. Kelsy Bingham, UT 8:53:57

7. Rachel Farrett, CO 9:27:57

8. Jane Rynbrandt, CO 9:30:47

9. Johanna Mickle, CO 9:32:41

10. Kathy Kallner, AZ 9:32:50

Ron Riley (Team Bike Station Aptos) Race Re-Cap

Our very own Ron Riley beat his long standing nemesis Buz Brockway in 70+ cat 1 for first place in Sagebrush Safari, Kenda Cup #1 outside San Diego last Sunday despite the less than ideal weather conditions that included snow, ice, mud, and several chilly stream crossings. The weather was so bad, the original course was converted to a short loop which took a lot of effort to put together - way to go Kenda Cup race organizers!





This was Ron's debut of his new Scalpul 1 which he said performed perfectly under harsh conditions.

Congrats Ron and way to represent BSA on the podium!