T-Shirt Contest!!

Send in photos of yourselves wearing your team shirts, and I'll choose my favorite
each month and send a prize to the winner! Brianna Roff so far is the winner, so get those pix in!

Chris

Firestone Race Weekend

Backbone DH and XC racers will be at the Firestone race this weekend, near Los Olivos. DH race is Saturday at 1pm, while the XC is Sunday at 11am. We will be staying the night Saturday at the Union Hotel/Victorian Mansion in Los Alamos (click on link under sponsor links below right) enjoying pool, the hedge maze, the BAR and the shuffleboard table. Only 10 minutes from the race course, the hotel is a great place to stay for the event. Hope to see you all there this weekend! Racers in attendance will be Jay, Conor, Taylor, Desi, James, Bert, Ryan, Vegas Bob, and me!
Heidi Volpe will be racing the X-Terra Castaic, and my evil twin, Jim Roff, will be at the Fruita Fat Tire Festival...a.k.a. "Brokeback Bicycle" race. See ya'll tomorrow!

Christerphizzle

MORE Bonelli pix

PSYCHE! More pix..

More Bonelli Bling

Bonelli Bling!!

What does every woman want on their finger, and every rap star want on his teeth?
GOLD!! Well, then we are set at the VIBE awards AND at the Playboy mansion, because of the nine racers we fielded on Sunday...we came out with 5 GOLD MEDALS! The race started out w/ Ryan (formerly known as "Baby-Bert") and his sister destroying their collective fields in the Junior race. Both mined GOLD, but for Ryan it did not come easy. The small one, you know, with the dad who tries to live vicariously through his hard working NINE year old, gave it hell, only to lose to RYAN by a hair. Ryan would return for the adult beginner lap, winning that as well...then came back for thirds in the Super-DIZZLE! These Blanchette people must have ben weened on EPO, HGH, and some of Super-Chicken's Super-Sauce!
Heidi Volpe also won her XC field, then went on to SCHOOL Heidi K. (Expert XC for Bear Valley) in Super-D. She crashed, though, and lost in the last ten feet...BUMMER! Mike, Heidi's fiance, also ran honorary Backbone colors in the Sport XC race, placing a well earned 13th.
DAWN LYONS came out of a place called the Doldrums to KICK ASS and land on the podium in second as an Expert!! GREAT JOB DAWN, you frigin rock!
Oscar R. brought out enough family/friends (HEY STEVE!) to worry the I.N.S., and had a great time racing with his buddy Steve. Oscar placed 17th, and was happy the course was not as tough or as muddy as Sea Otter.
KING JAMES Cross absolutely HAMMERED his way to a 6th place finish, erasing any doubt that he is ready to pound all of you into the ground on any given day. James has been working very hard in the saddle, and is ready to show ya'll what's up!
He also ran the Super-Dizzle, but was caught up by slow-pokes at the start. He still finished in 5th, however, and flexed on the competition!
Vegas Bob rolled out from Stripper-Land and kept it real.....REAL FAST! Bob busted out his three laps post-haste, and finished in 12th place. Not bad for a guy who is soooo busy with the ladies he barely has time to train! :)
Now on to Bert "The Hurt" Blanchette. Bert rode around with his younglings all morning, then suited up to race the Semi-Pro XC. Now, as many of you know, Bert is almost as old as my girlfriend. Not quite, but close. That means that Bert is very near death....and yet still competes with the youngin's in the open Semi-Pro category. Bert, by my calculations, was in the top 5 to 7 in his class....and with three miles to go, his XTR rear derailleur split in half, along with his
chain. Bert still finished in 11th place, only 14 minutes behind the winner...walking the last three miles! Oh yeah, then he took his SEVEN CYCLES SOLA HARDTAIL, and won the Pro/Semi-Pro Super-D downhil race! Is this guy fast or what?
Anyhow, one day he will slow down...probably just to grab his medals, but he will slow down!
I'd like to thank all of Oscar's buddies, ARA & STAKK, Mike, Jay (the wrench that resurrected Bert's Sola), Alex Da Heavy, Bert's family, and all i am forgetting for helping, BBQ'ing, and racing. See everyone next weekend at either the Fruita Fat Tire Festival (Jim Roff), X-Terra Castaic (Heidi/Mike), or Firestone Walker! Hell, even Jeff Williams is racing back east this weekend! Best of luck to all of you, see ya soon...

Cap'n Schwanstukka

Bev M. came up to our hizzy today to do the crushing one hundred mile Mulholland Century. William Mulholland was the mastermind behind the enormous task of providing Los Angeles with water in the early part of the twentieth century. After becoming a God to Angelinos, he quickly became a villain to those dependant on his projects. A little after midnight, his dam in the hills behind Valencia (San Francisquito) burst, sending several hundred thousand acre feet of water tearing through the slot canyon. It worked it's way through Valencia, Piru, Fillmore, Santa Clara, and on out to Ventura Harbor, taking untold hundreds of people with it. After this disaster (which was preventable thanks to early detection by the site manager), Mr. Mulholland began a slow degradation into isolation, poverty, and madness. He died penniless and alone after creating the greatest water project in the history of mankind.
After this century ride, with it's 13, 500 feet of vertical elevation, you would only wish to die as well. Bev started out with a fairly large group of riders, and was one of only a handfull to complete the entire course. Congrats to Bev for finishing (and very quickly) the Mulholland Century today! Great work girlie, we will miss ya at the Bonelli race tomorrow!

Christerphizzle

Smelly Bonelli Pre-Ride and Race!

Saturday the team of teams will be meeting at 9am at Bonelli Regional Park for the team pre-rizzle. I will be bringing tires for those of you who have yet to receive them, t-shirts, etc. I'll bring it all Sunday, as well, for the race! Please be ready to ride by 9:30am, as Desi and I will almost CERTAINLY need to eat as soon as humanly possible after riding...:) "Death By Hungry-Face" has officially been deemed cruel and unusual punishment.
Sunday, we have several of you racing both XC and Super-Dizzle! Very exciting to see you all branching out and having some fun. I'll bring the camera, and ARA and the GLENDALE HEAVIES will be cooking up something once living, and it will certainly taste great!
We must have a moment of silence for Jim Roff's wrist at 3pm on Sunday, as that is when he fractured it in his ill-fated Super-D run. See ya'll on saturday!

C

X-Terra schedule

Here is the race schedule for the local X-Terra races, if anyone wants to try one!
Most of them conflict with existing races, but what the hell???

April 30th, X-Terra Castaic (Big Blue Tri)
March 20th-21st, Nissan X-Terra West Championship (Temecula)
August 6th, X-Terra Snow Valley (Snow Valley Off Road Tri)
October 1st, Nissan X-Terra USA Championship (Lake Tahoe)

It all sounds great except for the whole "fitness" thing....that's a deal breaker for me!

just pix

here are pix of Desi @ Chesebro,& Scenery shot of Chesebro.

The Ascencion of Bev

Hawaii has the tallest mountain on the planet (when measured from the sea floor, anyway), and Backbone's very own BEV MONOHAN climbed it. The actual heighth fom sea level to tip of Hawaii's Mt. Kilaeua is 10,300 feet or so. Bev rented a road bike, and like the freak she is, set out to conquer it. I guess living at the base of So Cal's Mt. San Gorgonio (8,000ft) has made Bev strong enough to consider biting that off! At an elevation that would make Sherpa Tenzig Norgay drop his pack and die an icy death, Bev powered her way to the summit. Bev is the first Backbone racer to ascend to that height, and maybe the first mtb racer to climb that mountain! Thanks for the update, Bev, and we'll see ya in a couple weeks..

Cap'n Chris

Sea Otter Mud Run!

After driving for hours and setting up camp, Taylor and I headed for the KENDA trailer and the 'Otter Expo area. As usual, things were slow for Thursday. The clouds were looming, and the ground was a sickening and viceral glop. Great for wreking drivetrains, bad for four hour Pro races! Friday was not much better, with King James and I heading out for our Pre-Ride of the XC course with a little push from two time NORBA Champ Mary Mac and her coach. We loved the course, even with Deadly Nedly Overend crushing us like roaches on some steep climbs. We were fortunate enough to be among the few who managed to get off the course before a few hours of rain. VEGAS was not so lucky. He arrived late from Sin City, and went out on course late. The pics he took of the course were so sloppy, I could not recognize the areas I just rode through!
Upon James and I's return, Taylor was battling a raging wind/rain that devastated our campground. We were forced to pull ut and head for town, sleeping on the floor of James' nine million dollar per night room in Monterey. The next day was fine, and I awoke early to reestablish camp. Jay, Conor and Taylor all jumped in the Backbone shuttle vehicle (my truck) and we headed for the dh practice. Hmmmmm...was it nice and dry for them? NO, as a matter of fact, it wasn't. With face plants and muck-filled shoes filling the day, the guys managed to hit four runs before having to call it a day and clean up the bikes. The rest of my day was spent roaming around and doing my thing, selling good ol' fashioned rubber to the masses in Jim's spankin new KENDA trailer!
Sunday was all business, as Oscar Rodriguez waas up first in Beginner XC. Looking fitter than ever, Oscar and his homeboys headed out on a beast of a beginner race. I did not see the boys again until 10 am or so, but they all looked happy and actually stronger at the end than in previuos years. I guess hauling around all those children is making Oscar a playa'!
After seeing the beginner xc finish, I ran over and met Vegas at the DH course. Taylor, Conor, and Jay all flew past us so fast, Bob only managed one real pic of Taylor! The guys blasted down the course, and finished in the low twenties out of ninety-some-odd Semi-Pro's! Not bad, especially when you consider that Conor has been nursing a broken hand, shoulder injury, and maybe even a swollen prostate and chapped nipples! (ok, I added that one in..)
Next up was Vegas Bob in expert, and he took off on the newly suspended Litespeed.
After starting his race in the rain, and it only getting worse throughout the day, Bob's legs succumbed to the 40 mile, 6,000ft of climbing death march. At three miles to go, both legs said "No Mas," and cramped up beyond help. NEXT YEAR BOB!
Anyhow, I'd like to thank all who attended and did not race as well, like Bert, dawn, and James. Their presence helped me to elevate the team's profile with sponsors, and even landed Taylor and Bert in an upcoming film! Anyhow, great to see you all out there...except Wehe and Schwanke...and hope to see you all again in a week, at "Smelly Bonelli" for the Cal State race and Armenian BBQ!

Cap'n Chris

Greg's Pix! Sagebrush

pics

Heidi in the water at X-Terra, and me feeding King James at Sagebrush..

Backbone Podiums At X-Terra Sacramento

hey everyone, how about swimming in a 40 degree river, running in glopp, then riding in sloppy mud all day? Sound good? Heidi thought so....thought it sounded so damn good she brought home ANOTHER medal for the Backbone crew! She placed fifth in the X-Terra race this past Sunday in Sacramento! While we were enjoying the sun on Sunday, Heidi was getting Monkey-Butt up there in the river. Hope you all get to meet with her this weekend at Sea Otter! Oh, didn't Russian fur trappers club, skin, and sell Otter pelts? That 8 foot Otter best watch out...

C

Sagebrush Update!

HOLY CRAP IT GETS COLD AT NIGHT OUT THERE! I have ridden there in the snow many times, but slept in a tent on a thirty degree night there? NOPE! This year's Sagebrush was kinda crazy. It started out for Taylor and I with a rainy and long drive out at the crack o' dawn. After several attempts at sleeping bag procurement, we finally made camp at Lake (that's a joke) Morena. We met Vegas Bob and King james there that evening, and hung out. Campfires are great until they burn out. Then it gets cold. So cold, a banana froze in the bed of my truck. Nice.
Sunday morning, Bert(the hurt) and Ryan Blanchette arrived, completing our team representation for the race. Jay, Ara, and Alex of the Glendale Heavies showed up at the last second, ready to create shennanigans. Greg (Cap'n Pre-Ride) rolled in w/ his one billion to one telephoto creepy-guy at a nude beach with a camera lens camera, and snapped killer pics for everyone. Alex beat on the drum, and heckled each and every athlete on the course. It's a gift, really.
After much sweating, and Taylor hauling a young fella out witha broken collar bone, we had some great stories. Ryan B. placed second in his first "big boy" race!
Bert, newly Semi-Pro, managed to pass several riders in the final miles, placing 11th...that rocks. Also, VEGAS BOB took FORTY MINUTES off his time from last year! Must be the new headset star-nut Jay and I installed prior to race time. King James hauled ass up the initial climb, but cramps held him back at the end of the day.
Thanks to Ara, Taylor, Jay, Greg, and Alex for supporting their teammates!
See you al this week at Sea Otter!

C