"Smelly Bonelli" This Weekend!

Although we will be in Atlanta, we will be secretly yelling for you guys the whole day!

Once again, the California State Series Opener is upon us. After racing what seems to be a never ending cycling season in So Cal, it starts all over again...almost like it ever ENDED to begin with! Roger is trying to bail himself out of jail as we speak, so he can feed you band of hungry mongrels this weekend. This is where he got his ticket LAST YEAR that turned into the warrant for his arrest THIS YEAR! Cool, eh? Anyhow, Lydia's show in Atlanta this weekend will keep me away from the computer (but my phone will be on, so PLEASE call me and tell me how everyone's doing!), but we will be pulling for all of you at Bonelli. Thank the PMBC crew for me, and BEST OF LUCK TO YOU ALL..GO TEAM! I'll post pix from the past couple of Bonelli races, just to prepare you...

Randy Wins Again!!

Chris! So put another check on the Fontucky calendar. It was a great weekend with good weather and really good courses. Saturday started off with XC and I am feeling better every week and hung with the leaders all race. Also after doing a couple DH races I can tell a big difference in XC downhills! I can make up a lot of time on guys now which is really cool because I don't have the climbing legs yet... but they are coming. Anyway the XC race was good, and Donnie added a new single track that was really fun with some off camber stuff... just really cool and with that the course was also a little longer. So when all was said and done I got seventh out of twelve guys which I wish was a little better but even with a little longer course I knocked off two and a half minutes off of last races time! I'm happy with that. Next up was the super-d race and this one wasn't to my liking. We started at the DH start and used some of the DH course with some rocky sections. My XC race bike wasn't digging that, so I kind of pussed out in those sections and end up getting fifth out of ten. It was a podium, but not my best super-d result this year. Man I wish I would have had a Snyper 140 for that course! Sunday comes around and off we go for DH practice. Now I didn't do but one run on Saturday because I was so f***ing tired, so I did four on Sunday and man the course was to my liking. It was all dirt except for the bottom rock garden but none in the middle like usual. The dirt was still wet from the rains we've had so it was great and I had the opportunity to feel like a factory guy because Jay-bone was kind enough to let me ride his bike for the whole weekend (Thanks again Jay)! Once I learned a little about riding a DH bike it just made the course that much funnier for me. So my race run was good right up until the second g-out on the course ,where I went in a little hot I think and came out totally standing on the front wheel (Jay and Trevor saw it dam-it and were laughing at me)but I saved it and continued and had a good run. We had six guys and I won this weekend so two out of three podiums was a good weekend for me. I really want that X-C podium but I'm working on it. Well that's all Captn., we will be at Bonelli this weekend talk to you next week.

Randy


***Great job Randizzle! Sounds like you may trading in that XC career for some gravity! I remember how much faster my XC times were after a few seasons of racing DH with Bob and Noemi, Lisa Reinhardt, etc. back in the day. Startling what you could make an 80mm fork do on 1.75 tires with rim brakes and flat bars when you aren't crapping your pants on a steep! Thanks again, I miss you guys, and best of luck at Bonelli!***

Trevor's Race Report!

The track at Fontana this weekend was cool because Southridge cut out a new trail for the DH race! I personally thought that the track lacked technically. The course was mostly fast paced singletrack with one rock garden at the bottom of the course. My race run was good with no errors....but in the end I think I conserved my energy just too much. Alltogether I ended up getting 4th out of 22.

Trevor


**GREAT JOB DOOODE! Thanks for staying on top of your race reports!

Luck Bros Raffle Winner Devon!

Devon here is the winner from Saturday's bike and light raffle at Luck Brothers Coffee! The light was donated by Backbone, and is a sweet SIGMA TriLed triple LED commuter headlight. The guys are using the proceeds from the raffle to donate to Grandview Schools in the neighborhood, so swing by and have a cup of coffee to say "hey, that's kinda cool!" Congrats to winner Devon...

Taylor's Fontucky Flat.

Charles Taylor Libolt for Amino Vital.




Yo Chris, I just got done unpacking from another fine weekend of racing in Fontana. The weather was great this time, the rain held off for the entire weekend. The DH guys had a bit of help Saturday night when the clouds came in and decided to rain just enough to keep the dust down to a minimum on Sunday. The course was brand new, and a lot of fun to ride. It was fairly simple, nothing too tricky... just some high speed turns at the top, a gnarly "g-out" near the middle, and some mild rocks at the bottom. The key to this one was: just don't touch the damn brakes! The Pro field dwindled a bit this weekend, but still had about 30 riders that showed up. My race run went well, I was able to keep it clean at the top of the course, and didn't make any mistakes. I turned up the heat a bit near the bottom of the hill, and dove into the final rock garden with some good speed. I jumped a bit further into the rocks than I had expected to, and managed to land my rear tire on a sharp rock. I heard it hit rim so I stopped pedaling to glance at the tire, but I didn't notice any immediate pressure drop, so I just got back on the gas and sprinted the last wall section to the finish. It wasn't until I crossed the finish that I noticed I HAD actually pinched my rear tire going through the rocks! It was completely flat! My Kenda Short Tracker held air just long enough, and managed to finally go flat just as I crossed the finish. But even with the tire steadily losing pressure in the final sprint down the wall, I managed to be only 12 seconds from EC who won this weekend. Times were super tight this race, and I'm sure without the flat/slow leak I could have picked up an extra second, which would have equaled about 3 positions! There were 3 of us that finished within the same second, and I was the last of the bunch.

-Taylor

TEQUILA RIDE!!!

Brent Thomson Gone...

Brent Thomson R.I.P.
Industry Legend Leaves - PayPal Donations Still Needed

Las Vegas, NV - February 18, 2009 - - Brent Thomson, Mountain Bike Industry Legend and Trail Master of Bootleg Canyon has lost his battle with complications from the Quadruple Bypass surgery he underwent in January.
While surgery went well and Brent was coherent and talking after recovery, a series of post-operative strokes took him back to the Intensive Care Unit where he eventually succumbed to complications from the surgery.
Brent's son Barret was at his side with relatives as his condition worsened. "Brent appreciated and was aware of all of the love and support that the mountain bike industry has shown through this difficult time" said Barret. "There's been an outpouring of emotion and support from all of his friends and the industry, and we're making plans for a memorial event to be held at Bootleg Canyon over St. Patrick's Day Weekend (March 14-15.)"


** Updates courtesy of Steve Boehmke

Fontana, Then Bonelli!

Jay-Hood, Vegas Bob, Randy Rush,Michael Darter, Trevor Calton and Charles Libolt will be rolling to Fontucky to do a random mullett search..and to race the winter series race there this weekend! Randy will be driving the team Family Truckster that has become the home base, and Charles will be bringing the crabs. Weekend after next, EVERYONE will be at Bonelli for the State Race, and to pick up the team tire piles and Amino Product. Also, SIGMA shipment gets sent out tomorrow! I will be off work tomorrow, and the team cash should be ready to spend, so with any luck...we'll be broke by noon. Yaaaaaay economic disaster!

SUNLINE STEMS AVAILABLE SOON!

In sponsor news, the new SUNLINE XC stems will be available around April 14th. MSRP is $99.95 and the team discount of course applies. They will be coming in both Sunline grey, and Vegas Bob black for Vegas Bob. They can be put on order now if anybody wants to be the first to get one. =/- 6 degree rise, chamfered edges for carbon bars, bead blasted on the inside of the faceplate for extra grip on bars. Lighter than a Thomson and most of the carbon stems that you can get!

Lance Jacked!

Lance's team issue time trial bike was jacked (along with a couple of other bikes) from the team truck at their Sacramento hotel parking lot after Saturday's stage in the Tour Of California. Apparently, some guy asked for "new wheels" for Valentine's Day, and the wife bought him a lawnmower. This comes days after a press interview with Lance that yielded a nasty argument with a former Pro cyclist and current media man. It turned into a shouting match over doping. Lance managed to then turn the man's question's into something about cancer (they weren't) and the two men unceremoniously argued for some time. Not a great start to the ATOC, but hopefully things will improve. Lance finished 29th in the Tour Down Under, the first big race back this year.



Remember a few years ago when Tinker was jacked on the L.A. River Bike Path? He does..

KENDA ORDER IS IN!

Rog praying to the God of rubber, Jim Wannamaker.



The tire order has arrived at Roger's house Staurday, and now his garage has EVEN MORE team crap in it! The Colorado guys' tires are there as well, so maybe I'll have Taylor take them to a MSC race and meet Jimbo and Corty? Anyhow, some of you asked for the new 1.8 Dred Tread stuff, so lemme know how you like them. Sea Otter is approaching fast, so we need to get together and consolidate drivers/rooms (can we get the same house we had last year?) for the few days. POB from Amino Vital will only be there for one day. Have a great week guys, and the Amino Vital order should be coming soon...



The Kenda tires are so fast, Roger can't even feed Vanessa in time at some races!

A Valentine's Gift Worth Giving.

The TOMAC SNYPER is the best gift you could give your loved one this year. It's light, fast, and built to take an insane amount of abuse. Jim Roff has one, and Taylor is ordering his for Sea Otter this week! There are two models, and BOTH are worth every penny. Want to make your loved-one's heart palpitate with trail-worthy goodness? Call your local TOMAC dealer today and get it ordered up. The bearings have a sweet seal on them NOT FOUND on other trail bikes, so be sure to appreciate the smoothness and longevity of those babies! Happy EARLY Valentine's Day, bike freaks!


From TOMAC bikes....
When we set out to design the all-new Snyper 140, we knew we wanted to accomplish three major things:
1) Provide a high degree of lateral rigidity for precise steering
2) create a suspension system that would allow for both excellent pedaling efficiency and bump absorption, and
3) have the bike be light enough to be capable on ascents and flickable on descents.

The Snyper 140 is all of these things combined: a do-it-all bike that is stiff, light and breathes high performance.

The Snyper 140 is a do-it-all bike designed for rough climbing and descending.

Fresh Snaps From Darter!

Hey Captn, So another Fontucky has come and gone and for me some was fun and some was miserable but overall a good weekend.After arriving Friday night a setting up the rain just kept coming down so Saturday comes and Donnie asked if I would go out and mark the course with him and I agreed (you know get one up on the competition by seeing the course) ya right any way it was a little cold but the X-C course was in great shape just a little standing water in a few places but tacky as all hell. This week they cut everyone's laps back to normal so I was stoked about that, we had twelve guys in my class and I started in the back and never really caught very many guys and ended up with eighth place again this week but I felt a ton better and didn't die so it was a good race for me. So with about a thirty minute break it was off for the super-d race, we got shuttled up to the start and it was f***in cold up there so we waited about thirty more minutes for stat time and about thirty seconds before starting here comes the wind and the rain. Now this probably would not be so bad but the last part of this course was the back side of the x-c course and we were pedaling right into a strong head wind and getting pelted in the face with rain. The course was really fun though and I ended up third in the sport class and probably could have done a little better but I f***ed up one little short climb at the end and had to push but oh well. Now on to down hill it rained for a while on Saturday afternoon so I wasn't even going to do any D-H practice because I hated riding mud on my motorcycle so I dam sure don't like it on a bicycle, but it cleared up and off to practice I went and let me tell you the course was unreal, traction everywhere it was a lot of fun. Saturday night was cool we had Darter, Jay Shawn, Trevor,and myself and Jay brought a D-H DVD so we watched and listened to Darter screaming I'M GETTING PUMPED FOR TOMORROW. Sunday morn it started coming down again and probably harder than any other time over the weekend so we all went up to practice and I went threw three or four corners and said f**k this it was like a small river running right down the fast line so back to the trailer I went and told the guys have a good time I'm not racing in this shit and the only response I got from everyone was DON'T BE A PUSSY and that's funny because that's the exact same thing Kim told me when I talked to her. Anyway the rain stopped and I did my race run not really good this week but I got threw it and got second so it really wasn't to bad and I'm really kind of liking this D-H thing. Well it was a fun weekend and great to hang out the team guys and we will be back in two weeks.


Randy

Trevor's Race Report

Hey Chris! It's me just dropping in, letting you know how things went this weekend. The course this weekend was a deffinate top favorite for me. The coarse was flowy, highspeed, rocky, and pretty wet. As I started my race run I felt really good, hitting all my lines beautifully and at a very decent race speed. Once I got to the highspeed section I just tryed to pin it......and it ended up working. I could feel my tires sliding and drifting all over in the mud, but I still retained control. As I neared the wall I was a second behind the kid in front of me, which reasured me that I was on a very fast pace. In the end my run was good and fast and I ended up in FIRST PLACE!!!

****I jut saw that RANDY took SECOND in his DH race!*****

Taylor Of The Tape.

Well guys, another fine weekend at Fontucky has just passed. The weather on Saturday was nearly perfect for riding, I haven't ridden a course that fast and tacky in a long time. I think everybody agreed that it was one of the better courses Donny and the crew at Southridge has put together. However, my run of luck changed a bit Sunday. The original weather report called for sunshine... we got downpours instead. The course was still a blast to ride, albeit a bit more slippery. My race run was a far cry from my practice runs on Saturday. It began with a partial dismount near the top of the course, followed up with an over the bars incident in the middle, and just to cap things off I had a little off course excursion and entanglement disaster with the course tape near the bottom. I was hoping to either repeat or improve my results over my 15th place finish 2 weeks ago, but looks like it'll have to wait until the next stop in the series to try and improve my results. While I had a far from perfect run, it looks like the luck I didn't have on my side was saved for Trevor and Darter! I actually got to witness Darter come completely off his bike, spend a couple seconds straightening his bars, remount... and still WIN his Expert class! And the Southridge crew didn't think he was ready for either Pro or Vet-Pro??? Hmmm... I believe it's time for them to rethink their decision. The picture was taken by my Dad, and in it.. I am just about to lose control and go careening through (maybe a rear slick wasn't a wise tire choice?) the course tape you see in the picture. Don't worry, no parents were harmed in the taking of this photo.

Darter & Trevor Bring Home Gold At Fontucky.

Darter likes to freebase Clearasil because it passes banned substance tests..nice skin under that beard!


Darter on Backbone Trail during the '07 Camp-N-Ride in November.
The amazing Michael Darter has two things you can count on. Speed, and a near-death experience at every race. Once again, at Fontucky (after asking to be moved to pro, and told no) Darter flew off the bike, had to re-straighten his handlebars, then get back on the course..he still WON his Expert class DH race at Southridge. Arms raised at the finish line as if to say "What do I hafta' do to get moved up?", D-Money had won by about two full seconds WITh the wreck. His time, according to Taylor, would have been good enough to finish in the top 20 as a Pro. Oh, and the day's Pro field had FOUR WORLD CUP RACERS in it's ranks.




Trevor Calton has been creeping up in his Sport class as well. He blazed down the wet, clayed-up, greasy and rutted (that means FUN, by the way) race course for a stellar VICTORY! The boy has been training hard with Taylor, Jay and Darter..and is progressing quickly. I love a team that does everything, it really is fun to watch guys like Randy try gravity racing and get hooked, after being a XC guy for so long. Randy raced too, by the way, but I am not sure as of yet how he did.




The course tape proved too much for Backbone's Chuck-T today. Angry at him for mocking it openly, the course tape exacted it's sweet revenge on our little Pro gravity freak. Taylor had already flown off the trail, over the bars, and on his knee-cap when it struck. After getting back up, Taylor THOUGHT he could finish his run..but the tape had other ideas. It lurched out, grabbed his bike, and like a Burmese Python began to tie him up tighter than Star Jones' Lap-Band surgery.
Defeated and nearly swallowed up by a vengeful ribbon of course tape, Taylor would weep openly at the loss of money handed over to Donny for his entry fee. The photo below is of a race a few weeks ago, where Taylor could be heard openly calling the course tape "fat." Course tape can only take so much verbal abuse before it snaps.