Races, races everywhere!

  
Whew!  There has been a whoooole lot going on since the beginning of April. U.S. Cup races, Sea Otter, Catalina Gran Fondo, Tour of California and even the Midwest is beginning to warm up a little with racing action.

   We'll try and get to all of it right here, right now. SO MUCH to discuss! Let's start with the U.S. Cup series updates. Mark, Ara and Bob are slugging it out, all inside the top nine in their categories. With the most recent event in the series being my home-turf of Sycamore Canyon in Riverside, California..we just had Mark and Vegas Bob as the Fuzzy One was out for some travel and family needs.

     Vegas Bob had a solid effort at Sycamore, finishing in 7th after a strong start led to major muscle cramps in the arid Sonoran Desert heat of the day.  Mark went all in as usual, and ended up in 11th place in the "leathery old bastard" division. The overalls for the series thus far have the guys sitting in pretty good shape. Ara is in 10th overall, and that's having missed the Riverside race. Vegas Bob is sitting very well positioned for a podium spot in the series in 5th place. He's actually tied for 4th in the points at 140, but is in 5th due to the way the split is handled. Can the Ginger One bridge the gap and land in the top 3 before it's all over? Mark Thome has been riding a TON, and showing up to a PILE of races. The effort has him perched at a very comfortable 6th place for the overall. He actually has a shot at jumping into 5th, so with one race to go, everyone is doing very well! 

   Mark Thome also just crossed the channel to ride the Catalina Gran Fondo. With 55 miles to cover, 90 degree temps on the island, and fifty billion feet of climbing..it was a long hot day. In true team fashion, Mark took advantage of the island lifestyle and completed more margaritas than miles on that day!  One race left in the series....GOOD LUCK GUYS!

   The Amgen Tour Of California was also on tap for the weekend, and Randy Rush rode his Giant TCR through his hometown of Ramona, CA for the finish of Stage 1. His wife Kim was on hand with
the family pooch to cheer on the racers. Hopefully Randy is keeping the amount of available alcoholic beverages to a minimum...said no one EVER!

   On the other end of the continent, Jeff "Tookie" Williams is starting the season of races. It's been crazy-cold here, and the racing season is way behind..as is everyone's fitness..thanks to a recurring theme of freezing days and rain. Ugh. He did however roll north out of Kentucky to hit the Scioto Trails park system for "Tecumseh's Revenge." He would slog through muck and mud on the fire road system there, a venue that certainly favors road racers with almost no singletrack and zero technical riding. Jeff's winter legs managed to take home 10th place, after a massive battle with the sloppy course.

  That's all for now!  Hope to see great snaps and hear of much fun at the final U.S. Cup race, and hope to see Jeff and Sean at the pending OMBC series events coming to the middle of the country. Holla'!

Chris