Roger's Big Bear Race Report

hey cap'n

Big Bear Shootout!!!

That was some of the best racing i have seen from this team ever!!! Talk about go hard or go home attitude, they blazed up every fire road climb, down plantation trail like they were in the deep south running from the man, and completely wrecked fall line!!!

Usually i save the best for last but damm, Bert the Hurt was handing out lolli-pops and ass whuppins, and by the time he climbed up the 1st loop split he was all out of lollipops!!! Ryan, vicki and myself were watching the racers suffer up that steep climb, when saw some light Backbone blue with some KENDA red flying up the trail, talk about "shake and bake" he gambled with a fast break on the steep side climb and was droppin bombs on the field, around the corner he went off on his second loop. Then came the final climb up, and her he comes again riding like he was being chased by the devil himself. In fact he was being chased by two devils ,the sho-air brother pro squad, they had been working as a team against the "Hurt" on the long climbs, but on the long steep climb drafting would be a factor and Bert made the move, 1st place pro/semi-pro single speed goes to Bert Blanchette by 13 seconds!!!

Heidi Volpe the niner girl ripped up all the descents and smashed her way down Fall Line to a 1st place expert finish in her class!!! Her competitors were all smiles and said they were just out for a training ride, yeah right, i always drive hundreds of miles and find some mountain peak of 7300 ft to just pedal around for fun? On the steep climb the girls were right next to each other elbow to elbow, then heidi was "Game On" decent specialist 4 minute victory over 2nd place, Nice work heidi !!!

James Cross 1st place again... wait did i read the results correctly??? Well what do you know King James got another 1st place by 6 seconds !!! Great job on Fall Line to get 1st place, see all that whining at the condo about rocks and drops offs and your niner ate up like me at vegas at a buffet! Its a good thing you been riding fast lately, because of we see anymore last minute bike teardown or changes your going to get a "code red" at the the team condo next big bear race :)

Brant Hutton 6th place in the E.P.O. expert class field just out of the podium by 15 seconds. It wasnt from lack of effort, that boy gave it everything he had... at Chad's saloon sat the night before the race. As a good mgr. i tried to stop him and get him to bed, but someone else beat me to it (see pixs). One the serious side tough race great finish Brant

M.D. "THE DOC" darter, performed surgery on heidi 1st place bike and assisted on james 1st place bike. He enjoyed working on bike so much that during his race he worked on his own bike all over big bear mtn, couple of flats, some mechanicals and finished it off with chain triple by-pass that didnt make it off the table :( Tough break Michael, better luck next time, maybe we can find that loaner niner bike for the next race?

Vanessa Humic expert class 2nd place, way to stick out "V", she stayed with the pro girl field as long as she could and hung in their to get second place. p.s. The girl that got 1st in her class would have been 4th in the pro women's field, great race "V"

Dawn Lyons expert class, out of the race with an injury :( she has the heart of a warrior!!! the injury has been there for past couple of races, and she has just fought thru it, this was time was too much. Dawn has my deepest respect for giving it all she has no matter what the cost, get better dawn. side note do we have enough money in the team budget for a skilled mechanic? the idiot who installed her new rear shock left her the front bolt loose (thxs for catching it Bert) stupid roger

What about Bob??? says DNF, but Bob really got DNS (did not show)he had an injury and sat this one out, get well Vegas...

ps Pasadena Mountain Bike Club racers results

Mark Tome 8th place beginner mens awesome job, and his son Matthew (Ryan Blanchette partner in teenage crimes) was in 1st place until 2 falt tires took him out. Also A-ROD Christiansen beg men 9th place, great job on the climbs rod now just close those eyes on the downhills your in

thanks again to Vicki Tome for help in the feed zone, and special thanks to Boy scout Ryan Blanchette for finding the right road on sunday or for sure I would still be wondering around Big Bear

great job racers, proud to be part of your world

roger

pixs to follow