Learning to ride...

In 1990, I had the opportunity to work with a few (ok, 4) juniors who wanted to be part of the Pinnacle team in Los Gatos. Two of those kids grew up to be great racers and are still racing today.

In 1998, I took a job at Union Hill School that is literally sandwiched between the two parts of Empire Mine State Park (which is full of trails). At that time, I started the Union Hill Mountain Bike Club (UHMBC). Several of the students who have come through our program have become top-notch racers: Chris Thibodeau, a Super-D national champion; Dezmin Wilder, one of the top 24-hour racers in the country; and several others racing for colleges across the United States. But, I think my biggest accomplishment continues to be my success in getting kids excited to ride bikes. We have a great time riding the trails, greeting hikers and horseback riders, and talking about and practicing riding skills.

However, my experience this past Tuesday was a first for me. An 8th grade boy (14 years old) approached me last Thursday after class. He was visibly nervous.

"Mr. Ross?" pause..."I was wondering if ... I know this is going to sound silly ... I was wondering if you would help me learn how to ride my bike?"

Now, I have had several students want to learn how to mountain bike, but his demeanor was such that I asked if he meant off-road or from scratch. He explained that he used to ride with training wheels, but as he got older he was embarrassed and stopped riding all-together. Several years ago, he received a mountain bike for Christmas, and several people along the way said they would help him learn to ride ... it just never worked out. So, we set aside the next Tuesday afternoon to begin the process.

On Monday, he expressed that he was very nervous, and on Tuesday, he was doubly so. During class, whenever the other students were busy doing something else, he would come over and say, "I am so nervous Mr Ross. Do you think it will be tough? Do you think I can learn to ride?" I simply replied that we would give it a shot and with good balance, he should learn rather quickly. His mother brought in the bike, which had the original tags and the funky sign thingy in the spokes. It had been sitting so long, that the cables would not shift and several of the bolts were showing rust. The rims were out of true and the brakes were rubbing as well.

But, nevertheless, we met after school and headed out to the flattest section of blacktop we have, complete with basketball poles that provide great obstacles, or targets ... however you look at them.

After getting the helmet set and giving him some initial instruction (brake use, leaning and turning the wheel, putting feet down if starting to fall), I taught him how to get on the bike without falling over. We were at the top of the blacktop heading down a slight decline...perfect for working on straight line balance. I gave the word and he rolled forward getting his straight-line balance fairly quickly as his speed increased. I had him grab the brakes and he lurched to a a stop. I was about to tell him what "feathering" the brakes meant, when he started in:

"No way!! I did it!! No Way!! No Way!!"

Me: "Easy there, turbo! That was really good but we have to work on turning the bike now."

We then worked on leaning and turning the bike, then focusing on where he wanted to go (not into the poles) and turning his head, and finally starting with the comfy pedal forward. Within 20 minutes he was riding on his own around the whole playground.

Remember, this is a 14 year old. While riding ..."Mr. Ross! I am doing it! I am riding! Wow, I can't believe it! Was it that easy all along?! Look! I am riding! Wow! I can see why people enjoy this so much ... why you enjoy this so much!"

That last sentence really got me. I do love riding, and I love sharing that with anyone I can. It is rare, however, to connect with a student on such a level. Asking me to teach him and riding around on our campus in front of other people was a huge risk for him, a risk that led to an indescribable sense of accomplishment. That student will forever remember the person who taught him how to ride a bike -- a teacher who gave just a little extra time that may equate to a lifetime of joy on two wheels. And for me, it reminded me of the joy my bike brings. Amazed and humbled, I went home and rode ... cherishing every pedal stroke.

Cheers,

Chuck

Ashland Super-D...

Wow, what a time it has been this last month. After the Tour of Cali, things really went crazy with the end of school...we are a 2 teacher household, so the end of school is like tax season for a CPA.

In there were a couple of epic rides, however. One was the 50-mile endurance ride that benefited Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Nevada County. We ended up raising about $8,000 and got to ride Pioneer trail and the South Yuba trail almost in their entirety. The next ride was a 40+ miler on the North Yuba Trail, leading to Downieville and eventually up most of 3rd divide, only to turn around and head back...beautiful epic ride for sure.

Then, there was this past weekend in Ashland for one awesome Super-D. 12 miles of speed on a fast fun course. It started Friday afternoon...after setting up camp, my wife drove me to the top of the mountain for a practice run. It was a bit chilly and I heard reports that it was snowing at the top the day before. Armed with my helmet cam, I started onto the course. The first section of fireroad was really fast with some water bars built in just to keep you on your toes. After a hard left, the trail went into a straight wide singletrack that was a bit loose and rocky at times. Then, after a hard right, things got a little more twisty. A small rock drop between a couple of trees dumped you into the start of the major uphill of the race...a half mile (or so) of consistent hard climbing. I suppose if you shoved it in the granny gear, it would be much more friendly, but at a fast pace it was painful! On top of that, the next section was rolling and still required you to be on the gas. Then on to another fast twisty fireroad that dumped you onto "Catwalk"...a really windy singletrack with a lot of jumps and switchbacks. The latter part of the trail reminded me a lot of 3rd divide in D-ville. After that, more singetrack lead you to BTI, which was downright scary the first time down. It consisted of bermed corners and switchbacks with water bars (shaped into doubles) all the way down. Add to that a ton of braking bumps and you have the perfect end to a not-to technical, very fun, very pedally super-D.

That night, Chris T. and I went over the video. My race date had changed to Saturday, so one run was probably the best I could squeeze in. The video helped, but nothing can do that course justice like riding it....several times. I headed down to bike shop to pick up my packet and start time at 10:30, and they told me that my packet was at the top of the mountain ...for another 30 minutes only! Oh, Crap! We hopped back in the car and I did my best impression of Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the way up. Made it with a couple minutes to spare. Then, down the hill again to get my race gear from the campsite, then back up to the start. My wife is a very patient woman, for sure. I got ready for my start at 1:29.

I guess it is here where I note that I have only ever done one other super-d...the state champs last year. And, this was, well, a bit different. My heart-rate jumped to 130 on the line (wasn't sure if I should have worn the thing at that point) and I was off, sprinting down the first fireroad. Before going any further, I need to mention that I now know why they make bikes with 5 or more inches of travel. My Blur LTc with my 150mm fox fork was SO comfy at speed. My 2.4 Mutano Raptors (btw, if you are looking for a great D-ville tire, look no further) were ready to take on more than I could dish out...the first hard left made me realize that. I scrubbed way too much speed. After getting going again, it was pure fun, hard right and punching it. Then the climb...I locked out the fork and flipped my rear shock to pro-pedal, off I went. 180, 181, 182...my heart-rate was way up there and my legs were burning, but I saw the person just up the trail that started before me by a minute...the chase was on. I tried to stand, but my legs, lungs, and heart let me know that that would not be tolerated, so back down I went. I passed my minute-man about 100 yards before the top.

At the top my legs felt really heavy, but I pushed on through the next rolling section determined to keep my minute-man behind me. In the process, I caught my 2-minute-man, so i was gaining confidence. "Keep it smooth" I kept saying to myself. The next section of fireroad was amazing and fast...I was spun out the entire time which was good. Then on to catwalk...the trail that I felt so inept on the day before. I tried to keep it smooth and roll through all of the corners fast, but I know I lost time there. Still, it was a blast, being the most like 3rd divide of all of the trails.

My one major mistake on the whole course came at the beginning of BTI. The trail was open and fairly straight and I think I was doing close to 35 or so when I shot straight onto a single track uphill. I realized after about 50 yards that I was on the wrong trail!! There were no markings anywhere, but the main trail was below me...so straight down the hill I went. Crap!!! The rest of BTI was much smoother than the day before and I even jumped several of the small doubles. The finish was rather anticlimactic, and I knew I was around 39 minutes with my time. The winning times from last year were around 38 minutes, so I had prepared myself mentally for not taking home the gold. The winning time in the class younger than me was 37 flat! Wow. I learned later that I had beat second place by about 10 seconds. I am so lucky. I also learned that the times were about a minute slower this year due to a different finish. Cool. I can live with that. : )

Weir won the whole thing and Jason Moeschler got second a mere 1 second behind. Kudos to those guys. To top off the whole weekend. I got to do a group ride with about 25 people including Jason, Mark, and Adam Craig. Matt Wittler showed us some amazing trails just North of Ashland...the final one being a roller coaster of single-track that I am still smiling from. Thanks Matt!

A great weekend. Now, on to Downieville!

Cheers,

Chuck

I'm in love...

I am just coming down off my cyclist's high from the weekend here in Nevada County. Anyone else feeling this way? First of all, kudos to all that helped put on one of the numerous bike events this weekend. Of course the Tour was a huge deal, but our county was brimming over with cyclists, both road and mountain.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to forego the Ashland Spring Thaw in favor of doing the local Loma Rica race to help benefit YBONC. Let me put it this way...it is like Pittsburgh Mine road (steep), an NID ditch (smooth), and a dual slalom course had some bizarre love triangle and VOILA!, the Loma Rica course was born.

The course goes something like this...flat start, right turn (ball bearing rocks) onto first climb (a little choppy and fairly steep ≈15%), twisty turny banked fun single-track downhill, slight climb, twisty turny fun single-track through the trees, longer very steep climb (up to 36% I've heard), NID ditch, twisty turny banked kinda-technical fun single-track through the trees, onto the old horse track, past the ranch, and back to the start-finish...yeah baby! Holy-pick-the-bugs-and-dirt-outa-my-teeth Batman! 5 miles of pure pain/fun. It is one of those courses that your heart-rate never comes down because you pedal out of each corner...gotta go fast. ;)

The race went something like this...start, right turn into climb 1, Alex Smith (cat 1) and Katerina Nash (uber-amazing World Cup Pro woman) go flying by me on the first climb. I close the gap on the downhill, but they still pull away. Then Chris Convis (one of my former Union Hill mountain bike club members) passes me on the long steep climb..."cotton pickin whipper snapper"! But then I close the gap on the downhill and he crashes in front of me and I pass..."oh, I guess he is a good kid after all". By that time, I had had so much fun on the downhill, that all I wanted to do was get to the top again! The rest of the race saw no more passes for me...Katerina and Alex slowly put time on me each lap, but I was ok with that.

The bottom line was this, I felt ok, won my class, and had so much fricken fun! So much fun, in fact, that I talked Chris Thibodeau into riding the course a couple more times with me after the race. Then I put in another hour spinning on the way home. All in all, about 41/2 hours worth...beautiful.

I see a long and loving relationship with them thar trails. ; )

Cheers,

Chuck

Shasta Lemurian...

9:45 pm - set the alarm for 4:45am in order to leave by 5, in order to get to Whiskeytown by 8, in order to start at 9am.

3:45am - woke up and couldn't go back to sleep...off I went! Out the door by 4:45 with my oatmeal on the passenger seat (which I ate while filling up with gas). Driving at that time is so surreal...no other cars. Thank goodness I don't get sleepy driving before races...the way home is another matter, however.

The thing is, Shasta Lemurian is a REAL mountain bike race. It takes you up two good sized climbs and down several technical, rocky, rutty, twisty, steep sections...pure bliss. Well, the last climb isn't so much, but once at the top, the "couch" downhill is your reward. : ) That is worth being a bit tired.

It was a bit chilly (very windy) at the start, but I ditched the arm and leg warmers knowing that it was going to be around 80 degrees...which, btw, I am ready for here...done with the rain...want sunshine and warm, even hot temps. The race warmed me up quickly, however, as I tried to move up in the pack before the trail started.

My legs felt good, but not good enough to keep up with Rich Thurman, a guy who races Cat 1 at races like Sea Otter, but pro at smaller races. I really wanted to keep him in sight, but wanted even more to not have a cramping and bonking repeat of last week at Sea Otter. He owns this course, so I just let him and a bunch of pros ride away and kept my HR under 175...smart in retrospect. A lot of people passed me, but I passed them back on the first sketchy fire-road downhill...scary (ball bearing type rocks over dirt). Then, the first big climb started...a grunt of about 1200 feet. The best part of it is the downhill on the other side, and I had way too much fun, passing the small group that went by me on the climb.

There are several creek crossings, and they were all running full and cold, with the snowmelt from the peaks above. I found myself with numb feet on several occasions during the race. But the hard parts are the entry and exit to each of the crossings...very rocky and choppy as you enter, and mostly hike-a-bike afterwards.

The second never-ending climb goes up a total of about 1500 feet, and I felt pretty good, but lacked the pop I have felt at different times. I did catch up with my buddy Kenny Burt (on a hardtail...what a stud). The last downhill section is called the "couch" and is knarly with very deep ruts and some small drops. I again had a lot of fun, fully enjoying my Blur LT. I found myself smiling on one of the last little uphills of the day. This race is so hard, but so fun!

I ended the race with a time of 2:22, about 4 minutes faster than my fastest time here and won my class. I kinda feel like I got second, since Rich beat my by 6 minutes. But, the race was more about having a great time than anything. The organizers have it together...enough bathrooms, a great registration system, killer technical Tees, a great, well-marked course, burritos after the race, quick results...truly awesome. Thanks to all who volunteered and put on this race!!!

Cheers,
Chuck

Sea otter...day 2

Saturday was another beautiful day at Sea Otter. My wife and I decided to spend the day cruising the booths and checking in with people. We (and by we I mean I) also wanted to watch the pump track competition, the short-track (featuring Jason Moeschler and Nate Byrom), some trials riding by Ryan Leach, and the Dual Slalom.

After checking out the booths for a while I went by the WTB booth to hang out for a while. Jason was helping people out, but was gearing up for his short-track race. Weir was there being interviewed and I got to catch up with Kenny Burt, a long time buddy of mine. We kicked back in the shade a bit in the tent (I felt like I was one of the cool kids : ), then decided to get some lunch.

Next, I caught up with Kervin from Rotor. I was in dire need of some nice cranks before Otter and he helped me out immensely. The 3D cranks are aluminum, really light, and very stiff. Frankly, I was concerned with my carbon cranks getting slammed by rocks on trails like D-ville. If you are in the market, give the 3Ds a shot. They worked flawlessly.

On the way to the Santa Cruz tent, we watched the pump-track finals. How cool!! These guys were pumping through rollers, the berms, and when they had enough speed, were jumping from berm to berm. Sick!! Having never seen a pump track competition before, I was amazed...they made it look so easy. Of course, it makes you want to build a pump track in whatever yard you have after seeing that...wonder what my wife would think?

On to Santa Cruz. I think it is pretty obvious that Santa Cruz is on a roll right now. They worked on improving their suspension designs for a long time, and stuck with aluminum. Then, when the time was right (I am sure there is more to it than that) they designed a carbon blur xc. Then the carbon LT, and now the Nomad! The Carbon Nomad is completely bitchin if you have not seen it. I am very impressed with the attention to detail that Santa Cruz has shown in their recent bikes. I waited a bit to talk to one of the busiest guys at Sea Otter, Mike Ferrentino. It is always good to catch up with Mike...who wouldn't want to talk to a celebrity! : )

On the way to the Short-track (and on the other side of the mountain bike spectrum from Santa Cruz and WTB) we stopped briefly to talk with Scott Tedro and Ty Kady of Sho-AIr fame. It was great seeing them, as they hang out in SoCal and I am a NorCal boy. Ty is rippin it up after taking some time off and talked of training 8 hours a week...hmmmmm...maybe I have this all wrong. Perhaps less hours is what I need to do. I am sure my wife would be happy. Scott is busy as always, but is as gracious as ever. Perhaps one of these days I will get back down to SoCal to enjoy some korean bbq with those guys. : )

On to the short-track...a very twisty, choppy little course. From the gun, it was Todd Wells...that guy moves!! As Nate and Jason came by, we yelled for them. We had a great place to view from and could see the whole south side of the course. The race lasted all of 30 minutes, and was a mass of confusion with so many pros (About 75) going at once. Soon, lapped riders started getting pulled, and about 20 were on course. Very fun to watch, but when it was done, so were we...off to the trailer and some dinner.

Sea Otter is usually awesome, and this year was no different. I got to catch up with a lot of old friends in one place. I think that is really what Sea Otter is to me. At first, I was upset at having to race on Friday. It worked out great, however, since my wife and I got to really enjoy the Otter with no pressure on Saturday.

Up next...Shasta Lemurian!!!

Cheers,
Chuck

Sea Otter...

Sea Otter…the experience. I think as I have gotten older, Sea Otter means more than just racing to me. It is the one place you know all of your buddies will be. It’s a reunion of sorts. This year was no different.

Megan and I packed the trailer and headed down Thursday night, arriving at 10 pm at campground B just above the main venue. Pretty sweet to be camping at Laguna Seca…that way you don’t need to go in and out of the venue in the insane race traffic if you don’t want to.

Friday – Race day. I got up and started eating immediately. Then, knowing that my race was at 2pm, I went over to ride the end of the xc course and scope out a good place for Megan to hand me a bottle. With no cage on the Blur LT, I decided to carry one in a pocket on my back…mistake. After checking everything out, I went to the expo area to visit the WTB, Santa Cruz, and Rotor booths.

After doing my last minute bike cleaning, I got ready and headed down to the start area. My class was stacked with guys like Dario Fredrick (current national champion), Rich Thurman, Brian Rouse, Mike Heilaman, Todd Booth, and Ben Capron. Amazing depth. I took confidence in the fact that I had been riding a lot, and decided on my race strategy: don’t lead, stay in the top 5, and go with what I thought would be the winning move.

At the whistle, we shot off at a good, solid, but not breakneck pace. It felt vaguely like a road race, as we were on the Laguna Seca racetrack and several people came up on the outside, swallowing us up into the middle. By the time we exited the track and hit the trail, however, the usual suspects were at the front. One guy (I think his name was Steve) shot off of the front while several of us held back a bit. I kept my eye on Dario, as I knew he had won several big races lately. Sure enough, Rich Thurman and Dario started the chase for Steve…I followed down a very fast fire-road descent, then onto some fun single track.

That is the way it stayed for much of the first lap, until Dario and I dropped Rich on a single track uphill. The uphills were very rolling an very choppy with several steep pitches, but my new Rotor cranks with Rotor rings seemed to be making my job easy. My Blur was handling awesome with new WTB Vulpine tires at 28lbs…I was very confident and took the lead on a downhill section. Dario followed my line (even complimented me) and we ripped the section before the “climb home” as it is called. The climb takes you up about 800 feet (although it feels like 1500 or more) on open fireroad and you can see the whole dang thing! Total mind-job! We cruised up trading pulls, and caught Steve finally.

Entering the second lap, my wonderful wife handed me a bottle and off we went. Riding with a bottle in the pocket is not something I will do anymore, as I had to keep taking my hands off the bars to get it into my jersey pocket! Oh well.

We started with the long downhill, and my legs immediately let me know they hated me when we entered the first uphill of the 2nd lap. I recovered and started to get my rhythm back when Dario put in a big effort. I was sitting in 3rd Dario was 2nd, and Steve was 1st when Dario passed and went hard. I had no such acceleration in me, so I gradually pulled past Steve and chased. The gap stayed at about 7-8 seconds until about ½ way through the lap, then my legs started to twinge…cramps…crap. I backed off a bit to try and work through them, and finished off my bottle by the beginning of the climb home. The cramping went away, but my legs were dead, not being able to push nearly the gear I had during the first lap. The climb home was too long…Brian and Todd went by me very fast just a bit into it, then Rich and Mike.

I held onto 7th place, which wasn’t bad, but I was a bit frustrated. Todd ended up winning. Kudos Todd!!! He gets 2nd a lot, and deserves to get this big win. Like I told my wife, you can go out hard to win this race, or you can reserve a bit and take the chance of someone getting away. I went out too hard and payed the price. But, I have to admit, the singletrack was sweet. : )

Looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the festival tomorrow!

Cheers!
Chuck

pushing the limits...

Most of the NorCal riding I do is a mixture of single-track and fireroad...sometimes smooth, sometimes rocky. But, one thing I rarely do is a lot of off-camber riding. Being on Spring break, I decided to give Jason Moeschler from WTB a call to see if he could ride. My friend Chris Thibodeau and I ended up making the drive to Novato to ride on Tuesday with Jason and Mark Weir...here is what went down.

First of all, in case you don't know who Jason and Mark are, they are pro riders who work at WTB and do all of their testing at "the ranch". The ranch is very off camber in many places, making it a great place to test WTB tires...and that is just what Mark and Jason do. Looking at the videos on the WTB website may give you an idea of what it is like, but riding is different than watching. ; )


With a lot of rain last weekend, the ranch was sure to be muddy, making traversing the trails a bit, uh, tricky. The first loop we did climbed about 700-800 feet up a mixture of fire-road and switchbacks on the face of grassy hills. I have never ridden anything like this, so I just rode up behind Jason, following his line. About half-way up I realized that if I slipped, I wouldn't stop until I tumbled into the nursing calf 400 feet below...eyes forward, stay balanced, keep the speed up a bit. At the top, we stopped to talk a bit and take in the amazing view. The visibility was so good, that we easily saw downtown Oakland. Jason was nice enough to tell Chris and I what to expect on the way down: Let's see if I can get this right...off camber and not so muddy, off camber and really slick, hop over a log, into the woods, more off camber, up an embankment, 4 foot drop onto a fire-road, then into some loamy drift-all-the-way-around-the-corner stuff, exiting into a field with some knolls that sent you airborne whether you wanted to be there or not at about 25-30 mph. Fun, fun, and more fun...totally out of my element being challenged by stuff I never ride and loving it!!!

Round 2: Looking across the valley from the top of the 1st course we did, you could see a taller ridge-top knoll with a trail straight down the face for about 300 yards...so we climbed to the other side of the valley to do that downhill. Our first time up, we walked the downhill to clear limbs...a winding single track with berms, some jumps and multiple lines...these guys have worked hard on building these trails! Then, we ascended the last section and took a break at the top. Jason told us to just let go of the brakes on the first section straight down the hill, right before Mark told us he had hit 54mph on it at one point. Uh, ok. So, we began...after about 50 yards, we dropped in. It was one of those moments where the person 20 feet ahead of you drops in, and by the time you get to the edge, they are 200 feet down the hill...after a brief sphincter puckering moment where I held on to the brakes, I let them go...holy sh!!!!! Instant 40mph in a straight cow-hoof chopped line (lovin my BLT!), then veered onto a series of whoop-filled knolls, down a slightly off camber section and into the woods...berm, straight, pedal pedal, berm, straight pedal pedal, across a road, through a creek, done. OH DANG!!!! Bugs, and cow crap, and mud in the teeth. So Friggin fun!! We just had to pedal up and do it again. The climb had one steep pitch after another and went up about 1000 feet I think. Mark is an animal, pushing his single 36-tooth ring up that thing...us mere mortals had our "3-ring or 2-ring circuses" as he called it. But, it was so worth it...you know, one of those climbs that was really tough, but you were so excited to go down again it didn't really matter.

I remember the first time I went down the Kamikaze at Mammoth...it was so fast that it pushed me to another level in what I was comfortable doing. That is what this ride was like and why I wanted to ride there so badly. Not that one ride is going to improve my downhill skill, but I learned a lot about myself, my bike, and in this case, my tires. Thanks to Mark and Jason for waiting for us so patiently. Very cool experience.

Cheers,
Chuck