You know, it's events like these that make me proud of TWW. The
comraderie was great - people loaning each other bikes, sharing tools,
tubes, tires, water, food, and so on, working on each other's bikes,
helping out other non-TWW teams, etc. What a great group of people
we've got. Y'all rule! Thanks for making this weekend a great time.

Saturday started out strangely - I showed up right about 5pm. There
were a few college co-eds at the campground. No biggie. But then more
started showing up. And more, and more. I have never seen that
parking lot so full and no bikes present (although I've never been
there when a bike race wasn't happening so I guess that was kinda
lame). Anyhow, it was strange. It turns out it was an astronomy class
taking a final and then doing some star gazing that night. I like the
teacher's response to my, "how are you doing?" - "Fine. What are you
doing here?" Seems like the Lake Sonoma folks double booked the site
so our camping situation was in limbo. The astronomy class planned on
leaving at 2am so we could use it then - but we couldn't use any white
light. Whatever.

We proceeded down to campground D only to find out it was reserved too.
Dilemma. By then, a lot of people had shown up and were anxious to do
a pre-ride of the course. I had waited a long time to eat but then
decided to get some pasta going. Of course, that's when they wanted to
pre-ride. I wolfed down a big ol' plate of pasta and then suited up
and headed out on the pre-ride. Fortunately I didn't taste the pasta
twice.

The course was the classic Billy Cross course. But man, it was choppy
as heck* and the manzanita was overgrown. Made for some rough, tight
action on the singletrack and scratched up arms. Fortunately Ken of
Billy Cross was making his way up the trail marking it and cutting some
of it back. Not all though as my arms have the scratches to prove it.

The grass was super tall, probably three feet high. Made for some
interesting riding - you really couldn't see what was coming. Was
there a sharp left turn and then a right off camber turn after that?
Or was it a smooth flowly corner? You didn't know until you were right
on it - you had to scrub speed and then make quick decisions. That
made things pretty darn challenging. Not a lot of sections where you
could just let your mind go numb and put it into cruise control.

Back at the campground and I spoke with the folks who had it reserved.
It was a wedding party of 30-40 people. But we told them we wouldn't
take up much room and they were cool with it. They warned us they were
going to be loud, but they were very tame. Heck*, the kids were louder
than them, and they were up until almost midnight.

No crazy VB/TWW antics at the picnic area. We need Frankie baby there
apparently to make things a bit crazy. Hopefully at D-ville.

Sunday morning comes and people start showing up. The weather felt
pretty darn good and there was some haze to keep things coolish. But
that would all change later in the day. TWW did very well. We took
several podiums:

1st Place Division 1 - Rapid Relics (Mike Urbina, Rich Henthorn)
2nd Place (I think) Division 1 - the team with Jason Tandeta and his
buddy
2nd Place Division 2 - The Fast MoFos/Orkin Men (Kyle Brookes, Ty
Brookhart, Franck Mangin, Allan Sherlock)
3rd Place Division 2 - Team Beer Me (Isaias Job, Mike Gin, Matt Cerkel,
and Sean Burns)
3rd Place Solo - Peter Donohue
5th Place Solo - Michel Cantelobre
1st Place Kid's Running Race - Team Yutes

Too much to write about - this thing is getting really long already.
The Rapid Relics did an amazing job, led by their superstar Mike. Good
night, the dude is getting better with age. I believe he did 7 laps
all at 31-32 minutes. That's just crazy talk. Rich showed he was a
tough mother, fighting off the affects of an injury and still managing
6 laps. Nice job guys! 13 laps

JT and his buddy rode well. Didn't hear much from them as they didn't
spend much time at the TWW hospitality tent. Pretty fast for a couple
of guys even older than the Rapid Relics.

The Fast MoFos/Orkin Men were the favorites in Division 2. Little did
we know that another team there was just stupid fast. The other team's
times ranged from 28-32 minutes consistently, with most laps under 30.
The Fast MoFos fastest lap time was low 29's. Amazing. But 2nd place
in this tough division was nothing to sneeze at. This team led all
teams at the race in the number of flats - Ty alone had 4, and Allan
had one too. Even without those issues, they weren't going to catch
that other team. Amazing. 14 laps

Team Beer Me was a mish-mash of riders. Our times were all over the
board, of course led by Isaias with a few 29+ minute times. Sean had 3
flats on his first lap due to an old nail embedded in his tire (and
then another flat on his last lap). I was disappointed after improving
my time on my second lap (from 35 to 34 minutes), to flat and then had
the tire repair from hell. At first, I just tried pumping air into the
tire thinking it was a slow leak and that I could make it home. I
realized that wasn't going to work after pedaling about 20 yards. So I
took off the tire, checked for embedded nails(!), and proceeded to get
things back together. Bring out the trusty CO2 cartridge and I'm off.
Uhh, well, would've helped had I screwed the CO2 cartridge in
correctly. I screwed it into the hole where the presta valve was
supposed to go. Duh. That sufficiently mucked up the O-rings inside,
I kept trying to fix them, lost an O-ring, and then I wasn't able to do
anything more than freeze my presta valve (no seal). No prob, bring
out my other CO2 cartridge - she-ite, set up for schraeder and not sure
how to change it (turns out later it was set up for both, but there was
no CO2 in that second cartridge anyhow. Use a ton of energy and sweat
like a mutha manually pumping it up to a whopping 18 lbs. and I
gingerly ride in to the crackling sound of rolling sidewall. Made it
in without incident but my lap time dropped to a pathetic 46 minutes.
I figure I lost a good 10 minutes if not more. I actually feel guilty
only doing 3 laps and have enough energy to type up this report. And
Matt, see, aren't you glad you did that last lap? His best time of the
day. 12 laps

Peter D. surprised a lot of people by finishing 3rd in the solo class.
Didn't think he had ridden that much but he kept grinding away. And he
was on his SS. Man, way to go Peter! 8 laps

Michel was having a good ride, with some nice consistent lap times. He
decided to go out for another lap at the peak heat of the day. I saw
him at the bottom of the last climb, so I ran down to check on him. He
said he was okay, just resting, and then proceeded to hurl. I said hop
on your bike and I'll push you to the top. He said he was okay, and
just needed to rest and then proceeded to hurl again. He seemed okay
to leave since my teammate was coming and it was my turn. Michel was
done for the day and had an admirable effort. The 4th place guy did a
really late lap to overtake Michel (who had stopped with a couple of
hours left). I think 7 laps.

Another successful event for TWW!

Memorable events:

- Seeing Ken of Billy Cross Racing - there was rumor after the Boggs
race last year that he was done. But he'll be here another year or
two. Nice to see him with a smile on his face too.
- Lots of us giving Schlachter grief for not showing up. You better
tear things up at D-ville boy or we're going to let you have it!
- Hearing someone say a guy's bike computer had a temperature gauge on
it and it said 110 degrees. Probably at the hike-a-bike down at the
bottom of the course. It was blazing!!!
- Jousting with Julie Barott of Team Roaring Mouse Alpha Women at the
start line. How'd my booty look?
- The kids being in the woodwork and/or resting and then flocking to
Matt and Sarah's leftover turkey breast like vultures. Dang Franck,
feed your kids. And while you're at it, eat something too skinny boy.
- Mo and Isaias breaking wind in the campground while everyone was
asleep (well, not me or those crazy boys). All I kept hearing was,
pfft, oops... pfft, oops. Classic.
- Having a bite of that luscious tri tip at the end of the race.
Thanks Ty and Mo/Isaias for bringing and cooking. Nice. Meat good.
- Daniella giving us (okay, maybe just me since the other guys were
talking about bikes) the free peep show while changing behind the
outhouse. Can't hide from all of us TWW pig dogs... :)
- Giving several TWW and affiliated riders a turbo boost on the last
section of the climb. Freakin' solo Matt has been using his Buns of
Steel video.
- Franck's kids and their friends running their little a$$e$ off nearly
all day. Those kids are going to be some serious athletes.
- Stomping the Roaring Mouse folks, but all in good fun - they're a
good group of people and they did well too. Thanks for the fun!
- Lots o' good conversation with lots of racers before, during, and
after the race, and lots of support by all the racers. Anyone who was
out there in those conditions is very worthy.

Good times - we're truly blessed to have opportunities like these. If
you missed out, come join us at the next race in Downieville in July.
Should be a super fun time!

Oh and Heather, how were those Turner bikes you demo'ed today? You're
lucky I like you... :)

Mike

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