Santa Ynez Classic, Cat2, 25-29 race report. Awesomeness factor: EXTREME.

"In some cultures, they build houses out of Adobe, team platinum builds victories" - The Professor

The race was slated to be a couple laps around a 10 mile course. Mostly non technical smooth single track with some steep punchy climbs and bumpy bumpy descents. A perfect roadie venue due to the non technical nature and the amount of climbing, which was not insignificant.
An announcement was made prior to the race that they were shortening the course on account of the mud on the backside, cutting the race down a few miles.

I lined up near the front and went full speed from the gun hoping to get the hole shot before the first small riser. There was already a rider who beat me to it, but I passed him before the first big climb. I also passed all of the older cat 1's and a lot of the women which was perfect because I knew that might slow the riders behind me and give me more a gap before the decent. I had a solid lead by the time I reached the drop however 3 other riders from my class caught me at the end of the downhill. The course was tight and 3 of them passed me right before the next climb only to granny gear it up (perhaps part of their strategy to slow me on the uphills). I patiently waited until I could get clear and went hard in the grass to pass the three riders. I also caught a few more women. Only one caught me at the bottom of the next section. I let him pass free and clear figuring he would return the favor on the climb. As it turned out the next climb was a wide "jeep climb" as I heard it called. I passed him easily and by the time I crossed start finished I had a pretty commanding lead going into the second lap.

Photo by Roxanne More. Lap one.

That is where it all went to hell. The rain was starting to fall and by the time I got to the first climb of the second lap I could not ride all the way up because of the mud clay that was starting to form thick and heavy. I had to walk a section, then jumped back up and rode it to the top. I was taking the decent nice and easy until I slid right off the trail... Then I got back on and was trying to push my bike but my tires would not even spin due to the 3 inches of mud and straw on my wheels and all the gunk in between my fork and tire. It was like nothing I had ever seen. A whole group of riders caught me as I was beside the trail pulling clumps of mud off of my bike... They too suffered the same fate however. There were about 5 pounds of clay on each of my shoes and bike was so heavy I could hardly carry it. Riders were bailing left and right. It was absolutely ridiculous. I could not pedal my bike and could hardly carry it. I cleared the gunk a couple times and was able to ride 100 foot sections only to have it build up again and seize on me. Riders were braking derailleurs and chains. I was covered head to toe with mud and there was no where to go. What felt like an hour later I reached the turn off where there was a car, a course marshal, and a cow trough. I dunked my whole bike in the cow trough hoping to loosen up enough gunk to even ride a little bit. I made it another 400 hundred feet before I was playing the same old game...

Finally the course flattened and hardened up a little bit before the jeep climb and I was able to keep my wheel spinning long enough to keep it quasi free. I was able to ride the whole jeep climb and caught and passed a dozen riders or so who were still having to walk. I was absolutely determined to finish this dang bike race, even if I had to run the rest of the way. Fortunately that was not the case. I was able to keep the wheels spinning fast enough to clear themselves, shifting was rendered obsolete. I finished strong for first place win and was able to snag a couple points for the team.

Photo by Roxanne More. Lap VICTORY

Just finishing this race was a victory. The attrition rate was well over 50 percent. It took me 30 minutes at the hose to remove 60 percent of the clay that had coagulated all over and in my Epic.

It was a truly epic race of the hard man variety, not for the feint of hart. The Belgians would be proud of us today.

Roxanne got a picture of the insanity which I will post as it becomes available.

It was a good day for Platinum, my team mates rode strong and I am proud to be a part of such a kick ass, hard man team. There will be more race reports from the rest of the gang as well as my fellow roadies who raced district championships in Bakersfield up north. Platinum got some good results this Be sure to check the website: http://platinumcycling.com/

Results:

Cat 2, MENS 25-29, 1st place