Fontana California National March 26th 03/27/2011
So we made it to California Wednesday night with no real flight problems to speak of other then the inflation of transporting your bicycle on an airplane. Luckily Aleksandra sweet talked Elmer from United Airlines into sending both bikes for a 100 bucks. This was a lot better then the original 400 dollars for the pair that almost set me off into a major fit that would of surely got me kicked out of the airport. Thanks Elmer. For the fourth year we stayed with our best west coast friends Alex and Tonya in Altedena in their mountain top retreat. They transformed their den into our sleeping area and it worked out perfectly. Those two are the best hosts with their fancy beer and coffee. I have to admit though there is nothing like beer and coffee picked out by an expert. Although I was really tempted to bring gifts of Miller Lite and a pound of Starbucks just as a race tactic to put Alex over the edge. Thank you both for your warm hospitality.
Thursday and Friday were the usual prep days for the race with pre-riding and nervousness setting in. This was the first time, like every year, that we are able to wear shorts and ride our mountain bikes. It seems like everyone out here has tans and been racing for a few weeks. That's it, I'm going tanning before next year's Fontana. Maybe I can intimidate a few people. Aleksandra for some reason looks tan but she alsways looks tan. Me , I look like I just came down off of Luzerne mountain with 2 layers of cycling clothes in 3 degree weather.
Race day was the same as always with the warmup, lineup and a crazy start. The women's field was around 33ish with a crash at the start and 4 laps on the newly designed course. Aleksandra rode strong all 4 laps but it wasn't her day. I was proud of her and it's the start of a long season that always starts so early. Her teamate Linnea also had her first race of the year and also rode strong. I think 2011 will be a great year for the Embrocation Cycling team. The mens race was 5 laps with what originally started out with well over 100 starters ended up with around 95 racers. Very fast as always with guys doing everything possible to get a good spot for the singletrack. I was the middle of the field for the start of the climb. The climb I'm talking about is no ordinary climb. "The wall" is what they call it and it is dreadfull. I don't mind climbing in races but this is a knee buster like no other. Other then that I loved the course with tons of cool singletrack and nice flowy decents. I really rode my best finishing 60th which doesn't seem that great but I didn't get pulled which is very cool and once I knew I made the cut on the last lap I took my time and enjoyed myself. I know that sounds funny but I'm there to have fun and I probably lost 5-10 minutes on my last lap and got passed by 3 guys but I really had a great day. I even met a nice Mexican family on top of the climb and explained to them that for the first 4 laps I rode this big hill but for the last I'm gonna walk it. I was feeling a major cramp coming and it felt good to walk for a change. They were laughing and so was I. I thanked them for coming out because I can appreciate spectators especially ones that have no relationship to cycling. So I rolled in to the finish and went directly to the nearest In n Out burger joint and then immediately to the local beer store. This has been a great trip that I wish would never end but I have to be at work tomorrow so were catching a plane shortly.
thanks for reading
mike
Thursday and Friday were the usual prep days for the race with pre-riding and nervousness setting in. This was the first time, like every year, that we are able to wear shorts and ride our mountain bikes. It seems like everyone out here has tans and been racing for a few weeks. That's it, I'm going tanning before next year's Fontana. Maybe I can intimidate a few people. Aleksandra for some reason looks tan but she alsways looks tan. Me , I look like I just came down off of Luzerne mountain with 2 layers of cycling clothes in 3 degree weather.
Race day was the same as always with the warmup, lineup and a crazy start. The women's field was around 33ish with a crash at the start and 4 laps on the newly designed course. Aleksandra rode strong all 4 laps but it wasn't her day. I was proud of her and it's the start of a long season that always starts so early. Her teamate Linnea also had her first race of the year and also rode strong. I think 2011 will be a great year for the Embrocation Cycling team. The mens race was 5 laps with what originally started out with well over 100 starters ended up with around 95 racers. Very fast as always with guys doing everything possible to get a good spot for the singletrack. I was the middle of the field for the start of the climb. The climb I'm talking about is no ordinary climb. "The wall" is what they call it and it is dreadfull. I don't mind climbing in races but this is a knee buster like no other. Other then that I loved the course with tons of cool singletrack and nice flowy decents. I really rode my best finishing 60th which doesn't seem that great but I didn't get pulled which is very cool and once I knew I made the cut on the last lap I took my time and enjoyed myself. I know that sounds funny but I'm there to have fun and I probably lost 5-10 minutes on my last lap and got passed by 3 guys but I really had a great day. I even met a nice Mexican family on top of the climb and explained to them that for the first 4 laps I rode this big hill but for the last I'm gonna walk it. I was feeling a major cramp coming and it felt good to walk for a change. They were laughing and so was I. I thanked them for coming out because I can appreciate spectators especially ones that have no relationship to cycling. So I rolled in to the finish and went directly to the nearest In n Out burger joint and then immediately to the local beer store. This has been a great trip that I wish would never end but I have to be at work tomorrow so were catching a plane shortly.
thanks for reading
mike
