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Central Coast CX #2

What an amazing day of racing! If you were there, then you are a true EnduroBro for braving the elements to race in what I ultimately considered some of the best and magical dirt to ever appear at a CCCX Race! Afterall, deciding to venture out to race bikes while the population at large is hitting their snooze button and brewing up another pot of coffee while the rain pours down is definitely EnduroBro! In fact, I think the Cat 3 racers were extra gnarly today as they were out there in the brunt of the conditions and morning rain. As afternoon racers, our main challenge was one last storm shower that came through and gave a pretty thorough soaking to, what I believe to be, just about everyone getting warmed up for the 11am race. Soaked gloves, kit, socks and shoes. Good thing chance favors the prepared mind and there were spares and plenty of towels back at the van!

Once that last system moved through, the blue birds came out and sun broke through to make for an amazing day of racing! Keith laid out another super fun course that some said was similar to week one, but in reverse. While that is pretty accurate, there were a few fun deviations… and I cannot thank him enough for letting us shred DOWN the berm trail again! Wow! That single section of swooping corners brought a huge smile to my face every single lap!

I couldn’t be happier for these two EnduroBro’s! Absolute crusher rides netted our favorite Marin Bikes Ambassador and Bobcat Bikes supported Dillon Santos a pair of W’s on the day. I think the tall socks helped…

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If this picture doesn’t sum up the attitude of EnduroBro, then I don’t know what does! Get out on your bike and have fun! The friends you race with and family support at the races make for some unforgettable memories! Does it help when you are super fast and routinely stomp out podiums like Big Ed and the Gaucher’s? Yeah, that helps a little!

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Speaking of podiums, there were a ton of “red jersey’s” on course and the DC10 gang climbed their fair share of podiums, with Jett Chandler snagging 2nd place behind brother Santa Cruz Bicycles backed Steffen Anderson rather than last week, when Bear Development rider Soren was out front – Not only that, but more fast twins in the form of the “McHoney Brothers” used their Nestle Chocolate Milk (perfect product pose!) to fuel some podium’s, too! See what I’m talking about – FAST FAMILIES! And on the right, Briar moved up from his Sport class victory and put in a solid top 5 expert run as well!

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The brothers Anderson, with Emily Forsberg who earned honors as the top female racer after a barn burner finish with Bri!

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So stoked on Bri’s ride! And Micah once again proved to be an incredible competitor, as we battled nose-to-tail for the majority of the race, slip sliding around the course and doing sweet skids in the mud! Yes, he totally has the “matchy-matchy” dialed in perfectly with the orange Peninsula Bike Works bling running just as strong off the bike as his on-course antics!

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And I am never quick to forget that if Quadzilla Racing’s Alex Kramer wasn’t racing his BMX bike out there, then I would be getting dominated by him as usual! If it’s any indication by IBIS-Buy-Cell’s fixture in the class, Ceasar, the single speed racers are bad dudes…who aren’t concerned with rain, mud and the ability to still shift!

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Two of the nicest guys and good friends! Mark nailed down a solid 3rd for Family Cycling Center and Rich looked to be having more fun on the last lap than anyone should be allowed!

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This group of guys is the epitome of EnduroBro – no matter which lines are crossed and how the seriousness escalates, even when contemplating the fact that they are heading out on hardtails instead of their normal “fun” bikes, they keep the atmosphere light and fun! Nicky D, Ryan and Dillon are a blast to have at the races!

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Not to be out-done by the fun antics Micah and I have in battling it out on the course, Tracy and Bri looked like boxers in a ring (albeit with fancy nails and hair…) as they raced each other right up until the end in what must have been over 5 passes back and forth on the last lap! The girls are fierce!

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IMG_6866Bri and Elli on the podium!

 

A few more podium shots…Dillon winning 19-34 Expert over Kyle and Sergio – fast dudes!

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The men’s pro podium with the top 2…errr, 3, got a little confused with the mirror images of winner Steffen and 3rd place Sorren while Jett holds down 2nd.

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I’m not sure if I snagged the podium girl or Bri snagged the podium boy. So proud of her!

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While Cupertino Bike Shop is the stalwart of our program, I have been itching to ride a hard tail and my good friend and incredible trail ripper and photographer at Bay Bikes in Carmel was able to arrange for me to try out a StumpJumper Expert 29er. Wow, that a fun bike! Anything this fast and comfortable – that encourages you to shred even the downward portions of trail – must be EnduroBro! While I didn’t have a ton of time on the bike, it was enough to convince me that a plastic fantastic XC race weapon is on the looming horizon…

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To everyone that braved the foreboding conditions, you are a champ and bada$$ just for showing up! We all won out on getting to roost PERFECT DIRT and a great day of racing!

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Central Coast XC #1

 

Is XC racing EnduroBro? Hmm, let’s see…

100mm bikes instead of 150mm bikes. Nope.
Glasses instead of goggles. Nope.
Lycra instead of baggies. Nope. Wait! Baggies! YES! There is common ground…if only for a very few riders!

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Not only that, but even though the bikes are different, you can still lay down a pretty sweet skid on an XC bike! And skidding IS very fun and very EnduroBro! Ok, now that we have established that basically riding bikes in general is super fun we can move on.

Apparently, there was some other big event happening today where people try to score points on a big grassy field with some type of small pig? But, that doesn’t sound EnduroBro at all. In fact, I am pretty sure that there are no bikes, goggles or even baggie shorts! OH THE HORROR! Fortunately, nobody told all these people and the sign up lines for Keith’s extremely popular Central Coast Cross Country Series may have been the longest that I have ever seen! In fact, they run a pretty tight ship and I heard the lines were sooo long for the morning race that they had to start late to accomodate the onslaught of riders. How cool is that? Getting people on bikes. Seriously, that is so EnduroBro that I can’t even stand it!

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With this being the racing Debut of Bri’s Marin CXR Hardtail, she was really excited and amped up to have some fun…and probably do a few sweet skids, too!

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FullSizeRender Bri and Ron Riley at the start line!

With such a strong turn out, there were a ton of great racers and a ton of people on course. Fortunately, passing opportunities are pretty good and most everyone makes an effort to cooperate on the course. The course itself had a few new sections that were really fun, too! At one point I was on auto pilot just riding along where I expected to go straight and I almost missed a new, sharp right hand corner under some Eucalyptus trees, phew that was close!

Beyond that, I mostly rode by myself until the last lap when I realized that the very talented, and owner of Peninsula Bike Works – Micah Mozal was up ahead…and I was pretty sure he was in my class. Ugh. I respect Micah and having raced him a bit in the past, consider him a fierce competitor. The last bit of the race was a slug-fest and we both were going all out knowing that the spoils of victory complete with a massive purse, Italian super-models and endorsement contracts awaited!

Or maybe not.

But, we both wanted to win. It came down to just about the last corner where Micah gave her everything and I was almost certain we would both go down, but fortunately, we are both decent bike handlers and were able to EnduroBro our way through to the finish in what I would say was a barn burner. Wow!

In Bri’s recap of the days events, she was most excited to see SO MANY girls who came out to race their bikes! Seriously, the ladies turnout was very strong and the quality of racing set forth by these serious competitors was second to none. From all accounts, the strong turnout resulted in some serious racing! None of it would have been as fun if it hadn’t been for the awesome cheering sections full of cheerleaders. Jeff Shen definitely won the award for being in the most places on the course! Apparently, Juliana Bicycles wanted to have a strong showing with Andrea Turner, Abigail Hippely, and eventual winner(!), Amanda Schaper who drove a hard pace from the start. Bri latched onto the wheel of good friend Ann Fitzsimmons and the two girls worked their way forward from the start. In the end, Bri had a great race that came down to a fun battle with good friend Tracy Gaucher who was riding in loving memory of her grandmother on her way to victory. No doubt, gramma was smiling down from above. In the end, Bri ended up 2nd on the pro podium and was stoked on a great day!

The Chandler Family is a staple at these events! They are always quick to lend a hand and the quick riding of their son Jett landed him a very impressive finish in the Pro class! Way to go Doug Chandler Performance team!

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Post race bench racing is almost as good as the race itself! The Buy-Cell/IBIS guys are clearly winning right now!

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With the stacked fields, the racing was tight at the pointy end of the group, but these girls and guys proved to be the sharpest today! You can check the full results here.

Pro Female Podium…looks like the spoils of victory are pretty fun up there!

Pro Men Podium:

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While Soren wasn’t on the Pro Podium above, The Bear Development / Trek rider did manage 2nd overall, just a few seconds off of the Santa Cruz Bikes / Fox Shox backed winner, Scott Chapin.

 

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And since I took the time to contemplate writing this post, I can’t thank the best bike shop in the Bay Area, Cupertino Bike ShopFox Racing Shox, Dumonde Tech, Fox Head and everyone listed on the sponsor page enough for all of their help and support!

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Overall it was a great day for some good times and sweet skids! See you next time!