I'm typing this with really sore legs and droopy, hazed over eyes, but

wanted to capture this snapshot in time now, with the good times and

pain still very fresh in my mind.



Friday



I take a 1/2 day off and head down to the SOC and arrive around 2pm.

After taking the lovely detour all the way around to Timbuk freakin'

218, I'm greeted by the oh so wonderful volunteer staff at the entry.

The conversation went something like this:



Me - "Hi.  I'm here to check in to my campground."

Volunteer - "Uh, you got to go park first and check in."

Me - "But the campground is all the way on the other side of the park."

Volunteer - "You still got to go park and check in."

Me - "I am a registered camper - I'm in campground A."

Volunteer - "Oh, you're camping.  Go ahead."



I had almost the identical conversation with the next volunteer I was

stopped by 100 feet later.  Oi.  Calgon take me away...



Anyhow, so I made it in and went to check into the campsite.  Ran into

the SOC media big wig and we talked for a bit.  Then got my stuff and

headed up to camp.



We didn't get the standard sites we have gotten in the past - nice tree

lined sites.  No these were basically flat spots large enough for two

cars and tents.  But there was one spot underneath the trees that Matt

L. and I grabbed.  First come first served, last come last don't get

none.



I set up the tent and thought, great, I'll head to the expo to meet up

with some of my blog friends (associated with Velo Bella).  But had to

distribute some of the suh-weet 2006 TWW garb.  Unfortunately it

started to sprinkle some so I had to sort through the stuff in my tent.

  Not fun.  After about an hour I got 4 people's orders filled.  I

needed a wall to bang my head on.



Went down to the VB booth and finally got to meet Sabine as well as

Lulu Bella, Miss Mary, Pab, XBunny, and Jeni.  Dawn was there too so I

can cross off one New Year's resolution - to see Dawn more than once.

Good stuff.  We stayed there until they closed down the shop - Matt C.

brought down a bunch of our Moose Drool and assorted accoutrements and

shared the wealth with some of the VB's.  Was wondering if we was going

to save any stuff for us.



http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/life-at-vb-tent.html



Afterwards, the two Matts and I headed down to Monterey to grab some

grub.  We found this great Mexican restaurant and chowed.  Hard to beat

homemade tortillas and nice greasy carnitas.  Life was good.



We then built the most pathetic fire (thanks mostly to Jeff - nice

magnesium fire starter BTW - hope you never need to use it).  Bunch o'

BS around the fire and off to bed.



Saturday



Volunteer day.  In theory, sounds pretty cool - free race entry,

t-shirt, lunch, and front row seats to the dual slalom.  Well, almost

11 hours later, let's just say I was not so happy.  You can be certain

I won't be doing that again.  But I did get to run some people off the

course and fix the dang gate that kept getting knocked over.  I

promised myself however that I would not be the typical a-hole

volunteer.  I think I accomplished my mission.



http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/we-have-power.html



The dual slalom action was pretty cool, and we as course marshals were

literally a few feet away from riders.  These were the semi-pros and

pros.  But after awhile, it was a bit redundant.  These folks were so

skilled that little needed to be done - unlike with the amateur racers

the day before who had their shoes sucked off by the mud and were

crashing all over the place.



During a break we went and watched the Pro short track race.  Of

course, we gathered where everyone else was at - and you know what that

means - carnage spot.  There was this nasty mud pit at the top of the

course and then a tricky S-turn descent (also a mud pit).  Riders were

flying over the handlebars left and right.  I have to admit that

Gunn-Rita Dahle-whatever looked damn good faceplanted in the mud

(really, in a good way).  She learned from her mistake though and ran

it every time after that and totally dominated.  I got a few pictures

and posted them near real time on the blog via the mobile blogger.  The

pro men were wiping out too.  One guy basically tipped over and his

face literally planted into the mud.  Looked like he just finished the

Paris Roubaix.



http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/mudfest.html



http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/more-mudfest.html



After the shift was finally over we took off back to camp and hung out

for a bit.  More jersey distribution and then off to the free pasta

feed sponsored by ICCC.  Good stuff as usual and nice people.  No hard

sell or anything.  Just sharing the good vibes.



http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/tww-at-pasta-feed.html



I had bought a $30 propane BBQ to use to grill stuff at the campsite.

Several of us enguhneers assembled it but everyone was stuffed so we

didn't use it.  It would come in handy later ...



Mr. Sherlock started a nice fire and we all sat around and BS'd more.

Matt L. was melting his shoes and didn't realize it.  "But my feet

weren't getting hot."  Yeah but we were dying from the toxic fumes

being emitted by the melting rubber.



http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/fire-good.html



Off to sleep - fortunately I didn't hear Matt L's phone ring at 1am so

I wasn't upset with his drunk wife for calling.



Sunday



Race day.  Alarm goes off at 6am.  This sucks.  It's cold and I'm

tired.  Whine, whine, whine.  A little food, the BBQ used for a heater,

some Leg Salsa, and all was good.  Well, more like okay, but it wasn't

like I was going to win anyhow.



Matt L. was the first to start, so off he went after some time on the

trainer.  His goal was to not let Loren pass him (he had a 5 minute

head start on Loren).  Unfortunately, this didn't happen but he still

had a good time (beat my sorry a$$ by like 18 minutes).  1:40ish



Loren ripped it up and took 7th in a super competitive category - Sport

Men 30-34.  Nice job.  Guess it helps to get your front derailleur

mucked up and not be able to shift out of the big ring.  1:34ish.



Allan was our favorite in the Sport SS class.  He didn't disappoint,

taking a nice 12th place against a bunch of people sandbagging who did

not but should probably be doing two laps.  Particularly the kid who

was spinning a 42x16.  1:39ish.



Michel after doing Expert SS in the CCCX series decided to be one of

those sandbaggers and just do a single lap.  He said he didn't feel

great, but still turned in a nice time.  1:45ish



Matt C. was just caught by Allan near the end.  He hasn't been training

a whole lot but he did bring all the Moose Drool so he's good for

something (kidding you know).  He'll get back at it soon (unless there

is woman to muck things up like it appears may be - meeting the mom

already?  Serious stuff dude.  Good idea keeping her from meeting us.).

  2:15ish



Bob said he had a good race.  Even after sounding like a really old man

on the DS volunteer day (turn down that music...  they play all this

crappy music...  get off my lawn you crazy kids...  blah, blah, blah),

it sounded like he did well.  He thought he did a 2:05+/-.



My race, well, after doing my blood undoping about 3 weeks ago, my

expectations changed drastically.  Initially, I wanted to finish in the

top half of the class.  But since I felt like I haven't trained in

months and did a three week taper, now the goal was to finish and have

fun.  I accomplished both and did a sub-2 hour lap (1:58ish).  I wore

the infamous sombrero on my helmet too.  Should be plenty of those

photos circulating around soon.



Race conditions were perfect and the course was pretty cool.  With the

exception of a few mud bogs, it held up well.  I was duking it out with

a woman SSer...  I'd pass her, she'd pass me, and so on, and so on.  I

managed to ride every climb except that one longish uphill singletrack

grunt.  Then up the goat trail I couldn't keep up and didn't see her

again until the finish and I congratulated her for spanking me (not the

way I like).  I suffered like a mother up Skyline - on the initial

steep climb, both of my legs locked up and I couldn't straighten them

out.  I wanted to get off the bike but couldn't without tipping over so

I pedaled with my legs bent at probably a 45 degree angle standing up

mashing up this hill.  As Bob Roll would say, "he's deep into the hurt

locker."  But I made it and the 3km sign was such a wonderful sight to

see.



One of the highlights of my race was shortly after this at the

singletrack at the very end.  I tucked in behind a tandem and we ripped

it up.  They were hauling and I never had to slow down (except at the

sharp right hand uphill leading to the track).  People were screaming

for me to pass them there, but I knew that I wanted to suck on their

wheel on the track as long as I could.  I kept in their draft until the

last corner when they motored away on the straightaway.  It was cool

and we talked about the synergy we shared on that last section.  Nice.



So despite a smaller than normal turnout by TWW racers (um, Rich, where

were you?), it was a successful weekend.  Three TWWers (Jeff, Isaias,

and Jason) were doing the Expert class (two laps) and didn't start

until after 1pm.  So hopefully all went well with their races.  Oh, and

I spoke with Schlachter and he did do the DH race despite Old Lady

Seery trying to scare him away.  Sounded like he got a top 10 finish in

the Expert DH/CX race (I'll let Scott elaborate more on that).

Nationals here we come!  Chalk up another fun SOC for TWW!





__________________________________________________

Do You Yahoo!?

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Nice write up Mike.

I headed down Friday -- sort of 'spur of the moment' after watching weather

reports.  Ran into Seery

and chatted a bit.  I hooked up with some MTBR guys from the "Vintage, Retro,

Classic" forum and did

a lap of the XC course on our vintage rigs.  I brought down my old (late 80's)

rigid steel Yeti FRO

(ss conversion). We  also had:



3 Salsas

1 Whiskeytown Racer

1 Bontrager (ss)

1 Landshark

1 Ritchey P-23



We left the expo at about 2:30pm and it was still dry.  About 3 miles in, it

started to rain.  We

had a blast and I was surprised how well the course was holding up in spite of

the wet

winter/spring.  There were a few mud bogs, sand pits, and a couple of wet

sections, but over all it

was good.  I liked the new route too (something different).  I recognized a few

of the trails from

previous Sea Otter Epic rides.



On a different note (close your eyes if you're offended by roadie content) --

anyone catching the

Cyclism Sundays on OLN?  Last Sunday was the Tour of Flanders in Belgium and

yesterday was

Paris-Roubaix (brutal -- Big George snapped his bars off on the cobbles and went

down hard.  It was

sad to watch).  Tour De Georgia and Tour De Italia are scheduled too (I

believe).  I'm lovin' this

DVR thing.



Cheers~

Joe

I forgot to include all the folks that were at the TWW campsite at

one point or another:



Eryn "Toe in" Hughes

Piper "No results" Ehlen

Scott "Can't get my bikes dirty" Seery

Esther "no top 50%, no racey race" Kim

Michel "Expert SS" Cantelobre

Franck "Sprained ankle" Mangin and his son who provided us insight on

how to take out fellow racers

Scott "drove back to work on Friday after driving all the way down to

the SOC?!" Schlachter

Matt "still Rookie boy" Leonard

Matt "fecalpheliac – don't ask" Cerkel

Mike "Have some salad with your dressing" Gin

Loren "Just two servings?" Thomas

Allan "feet in trunk" Sherlock

Jeff "see, I told you we're not a race team" Hane

Shannon "was it a 3 hour tour?" last name withheld to protect the

innocent (or could be I don't know it)



Also, let me clarify things regarding volunteer duty.  We had some no

shows (shame on you) so people had to step up – we didn't have any

flexibility with breaks because we needed the coverage.  So it would

have been a much more positive experience if we could have taken

additional breaks.  A good alternative would be to do like Isaias did

and do a half shift.  I think that would make it a lot more enjoyable

and more people would volunteer.  Then you'd still have time to go to

the expo to schmooze and do the hula hoop and see all the cool

stuff.  So don't write volunteer duty off for TWW next year based on

my previous report while my mind was in a SOC-overload-SS-

overexertion-induced coma…  the volunteers play a big role in making

this a success and TWW stepped up and helped big time!!!



Thanks!



Mike





--- In teamwrongway@yahoogroups.com, mike gin <ginmtb@...> wrote:

>

> I'm typing this with really sore legs and droopy, hazed over eyes,

but

> wanted to capture this snapshot in time now, with the good times and

> pain still very fresh in my mind.

>

> Friday

>

> I take a 1/2 day off and head down to the SOC and arrive around

2pm.

> After taking the lovely detour all the way around to Timbuk freakin'

> 218, I'm greeted by the oh so wonderful volunteer staff at the

entry.

> The conversation went something like this:

>

> Me - "Hi.  I'm here to check in to my campground."

> Volunteer - "Uh, you got to go park first and check in."

> Me - "But the campground is all the way on the other side of the

park."

> Volunteer - "You still got to go park and check in."

> Me - "I am a registered camper - I'm in campground A."

> Volunteer - "Oh, you're camping.  Go ahead."

>

> I had almost the identical conversation with the next volunteer I

was

> stopped by 100 feet later.  Oi.  Calgon take me away...

>

> Anyhow, so I made it in and went to check into the campsite.  Ran

into

> the SOC media big wig and we talked for a bit.  Then got my stuff

and

> headed up to camp.

>

> We didn't get the standard sites we have gotten in the past - nice

tree

> lined sites.  No these were basically flat spots large enough for

two

> cars and tents.  But there was one spot underneath the trees that

Matt

> L. and I grabbed.  First come first served, last come last don't get

> none.

>

> I set up the tent and thought, great, I'll head to the expo to meet

up

> with some of my blog friends (associated with Velo Bella).  But had

to

> distribute some of the suh-weet 2006 TWW garb.  Unfortunately it

> started to sprinkle some so I had to sort through the stuff in my

tent.

>  Not fun.  After about an hour I got 4 people's orders filled.  I

> needed a wall to bang my head on.

>

> Went down to the VB booth and finally got to meet Sabine as well as

> Lulu Bella, Miss Mary, Pab, XBunny, and Jeni.  Dawn was there too

so I

> can cross off one New Year's resolution - to see Dawn more than

once.

> Good stuff.  We stayed there until they closed down the shop - Matt

C.

> brought down a bunch of our Moose Drool and assorted accoutrements

and

> shared the wealth with some of the VB's.  Was wondering if we was

going

> to save any stuff for us.

>

> http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/life-at-vb-tent.html

>

> Afterwards, the two Matts and I headed down to Monterey to grab some

> grub.  We found this great Mexican restaurant and chowed.  Hard to

beat

> homemade tortillas and nice greasy carnitas.  Life was good.

>

> We then built the most pathetic fire (thanks mostly to Jeff - nice

> magnesium fire starter BTW - hope you never need to use it).  Bunch

o'

> BS around the fire and off to bed.

>

> Saturday

>

> Volunteer day.  In theory, sounds pretty cool - free race entry,

> t-shirt, lunch, and front row seats to the dual slalom.  Well,

almost

> 11 hours later, let's just say I was not so happy.  You can be

certain

> I won't be doing that again.  But I did get to run some people off

the

> course and fix the dang gate that kept getting knocked over.  I

> promised myself however that I would not be the typical a-hole

> volunteer.  I think I accomplished my mission.

>

> http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/we-have-power.html

>

> The dual slalom action was pretty cool, and we as course marshals

were

> literally a few feet away from riders.  These were the semi-pros and

> pros.  But after awhile, it was a bit redundant.  These folks were

so

> skilled that little needed to be done - unlike with the amateur

racers

> the day before who had their shoes sucked off by the mud and were

> crashing all over the place.

>

> During a break we went and watched the Pro short track race.  Of

> course, we gathered where everyone else was at - and you know what

that

> means - carnage spot.  There was this nasty mud pit at the top of

the

> course and then a tricky S-turn descent (also a mud pit).  Riders

were

> flying over the handlebars left and right.  I have to admit that

> Gunn-Rita Dahle-whatever looked damn good faceplanted in the mud

> (really, in a good way).  She learned from her mistake though and

ran

> it every time after that and totally dominated.  I got a few

pictures

> and posted them near real time on the blog via the mobile blogger.

The

> pro men were wiping out too.  One guy basically tipped over and his

> face literally planted into the mud.  Looked like he just finished

the

> Paris Roubaix.

>

> http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/mudfest.html

>

> http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/more-mudfest.html

>

> After the shift was finally over we took off back to camp and hung

out

> for a bit.  More jersey distribution and then off to the free pasta

> feed sponsored by ICCC.  Good stuff as usual and nice people.  No

hard

> sell or anything.  Just sharing the good vibes.

>

> http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/tww-at-pasta-feed.html

>

> I had bought a $30 propane BBQ to use to grill stuff at the

campsite.

> Several of us enguhneers assembled it but everyone was stuffed so we

> didn't use it.  It would come in handy later ...

>

> Mr. Sherlock started a nice fire and we all sat around and BS'd

more.

> Matt L. was melting his shoes and didn't realize it.  "But my feet

> weren't getting hot."  Yeah but we were dying from the toxic fumes

> being emitted by the melting rubber.

>

> http://teamwrongway.blogspot.com/2006/04/fire-good.html

>

> Off to sleep - fortunately I didn't hear Matt L's phone ring at 1am

so

> I wasn't upset with his drunk wife for calling.

>

> Sunday

>

> Race day.  Alarm goes off at 6am.  This sucks.  It's cold and I'm

> tired.  Whine, whine, whine.  A little food, the BBQ used for a

heater,

> some Leg Salsa, and all was good.  Well, more like okay, but it

wasn't

> like I was going to win anyhow.

>

> Matt L. was the first to start, so off he went after some time on

the

> trainer.  His goal was to not let Loren pass him (he had a 5 minute

> head start on Loren).  Unfortunately, this didn't happen but he

still

> had a good time (beat my sorry a$$ by like 18 minutes).  1:40ish

>

> Loren ripped it up and took 7th in a super competitive category -

Sport

> Men 30-34.  Nice job.  Guess it helps to get your front derailleur

> mucked up and not be able to shift out of the big ring.  1:34ish.

>

> Allan was our favorite in the Sport SS class.  He didn't disappoint,

> taking a nice 12th place against a bunch of people sandbagging who

did

> not but should probably be doing two laps.  Particularly the kid who

> was spinning a 42x16.  1:39ish.

>

> Michel after doing Expert SS in the CCCX series decided to be one of

> those sandbaggers and just do a single lap.  He said he didn't feel

> great, but still turned in a nice time.  1:45ish

>

> Matt C. was just caught by Allan near the end.  He hasn't been

training

> a whole lot but he did bring all the Moose Drool so he's good for

> something (kidding you know).  He'll get back at it soon (unless

there

> is woman to muck things up like it appears may be - meeting the mom

> already?  Serious stuff dude.  Good idea keeping her from meeting

us.).

>  2:15ish

>

> Bob said he had a good race.  Even after sounding like a really old

man

> on the DS volunteer day (turn down that music...  they play all this

> crappy music...  get off my lawn you crazy kids...  blah, blah,

blah),

> it sounded like he did well.  He thought he did a 2:05+/-.

>

> My race, well, after doing my blood undoping about 3 weeks ago, my

> expectations changed drastically.  Initially, I wanted to finish in

the

> top half of the class.  But since I felt like I haven't trained in

> months and did a three week taper, now the goal was to finish and

have

> fun.  I accomplished both and did a sub-2 hour lap (1:58ish).  I

wore

> the infamous sombrero on my helmet too.  Should be plenty of those

> photos circulating around soon.

>

> Race conditions were perfect and the course was pretty cool.  With

the

> exception of a few mud bogs, it held up well.  I was duking it out

with

> a woman SSer...  I'd pass her, she'd pass me, and so on, and so

on.  I

> managed to ride every climb except that one longish uphill

singletrack

> grunt.  Then up the goat trail I couldn't keep up and didn't see her

> again until the finish and I congratulated her for spanking me (not

the

> way I like).  I suffered like a mother up Skyline - on the initial

> steep climb, both of my legs locked up and I couldn't straighten

them

> out.  I wanted to get off the bike but couldn't without tipping

over so

> I pedaled with my legs bent at probably a 45 degree angle standing

up

> mashing up this hill.  As Bob Roll would say, "he's deep into the

hurt

> locker."  But I made it and the 3km sign was such a wonderful sight

to

> see.

>

> One of the highlights of my race was shortly after this at the

> singletrack at the very end.  I tucked in behind a tandem and we

ripped

> it up.  They were hauling and I never had to slow down (except at

the

> sharp right hand uphill leading to the track).  People were

screaming

> for me to pass them there, but I knew that I wanted to suck on their

> wheel on the track as long as I could.  I kept in their draft until

the

> last corner when they motored away on the straightaway.  It was cool

> and we talked about the synergy we shared on that last section.

Nice.

>

> So despite a smaller than normal turnout by TWW racers (um, Rich,

where

> were you?), it was a successful weekend.  Three TWWers (Jeff,

Isaias,

> and Jason) were doing the Expert class (two laps) and didn't start

> until after 1pm.  So hopefully all went well with their races.  Oh,

and

> I spoke with Schlachter and he did do the DH race despite Old Lady

> Seery trying to scare him away.  Sounded like he got a top 10

finish in

> the Expert DH/CX race (I'll let Scott elaborate more on that).

> Nationals here we come!  Chalk up another fun SOC for TWW!

>

>

> __________________________________________________

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> Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around

> http://mail.yahoo.com

>