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!
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!
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!
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!
Post race bench racing is almost as good as the race itself! The Buy-Cell/IBIS guys are clearly winning right now!
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:
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.
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 Shop, Fox Racing Shox, Dumonde Tech, Fox Head and everyone listed on the sponsor page enough for all of their help and support!
Overall it was a great day for some good times and sweet skids! See you next time!