Test of Endurance

I (Shane) was the solo representative for the team this past weekend at the infamous Test of Endurance, which is roughly a 50 mile XC race out in Blodgett, OR. The race itself was pretty awesome, but the events leading up to it were the most interesting.

As most of you know, my trusty 26" Marin CXR decided to pass away during the weekend of Return on the Jedi. This left me two weeks to round up a new option for me to race on. The first was to see what could be done with the frame. Thankfully Marin stands behind their bikes and warrantied my frame with a little bit of an extra special touch. They set me up with a new 29" frame. This was great, but it did create a bit of a scramble as I would now need new wheels and a fork. With some quick calls to Patrin, our fantastic Easton rep, Eric from Trinity Bikes had me lined up with an awesome new set of the Easton EA70 XCT wheels. Next on the list was a fork. With my new frame, the fork would need a tapered headtube and I desired a 15MM Thru-Axle (nerdy bike speak for things that just mean a stiffer/sturdier front end). This proved to be a dilemma as all the vendors were out of stock until the end of June. That wouldn't work with the race being  less than two weeks away! I put in a call with Moses, who is our rep for SRAM, to see if he might have any ideas. I got back an answer that put yet another big smile on my face - he had exactly what I needed in his inventory!! He immediately got the fork on it's way to the shop. Suddenly I was sitting in a very comfortable position for parts, but unfortunately, due to some snafus, this wouldn't last! With the new beefy axle, I needed a conversion kit for the wheels to work. This small, yet crucial part was backordered until the week after the race, so a hunt ensued to find the parts. Patrin was able to locate the part and our good friend Jesse Huntington happened to be the mechanic who had the part. Since I was at work, Bob took the wheel down to Jesse who was able to convert the wheel effortlessly on Friday. To put this in perspective, the race was the next day, Saturday, at 10:00 AM in Corvallis. The next little issue came with the frame due to some mis-communication. It was initially scheduled to arrive Thursday, which heart stoppingly turned into Friday evening. I was so relieved when I got a call from Greg at the shop to let me know that my frame had indeed shown up! This pushed me over the ecstatic edge. I had gone from not having a bike early on Friday morning to suddenly having everything to put together an EPIC bike for my race the next day.

So with everything available, it was time to build, but wait! We had tickets to the Bend Bicycle Film Festival that needed to be used! We all rolled down to Bend to watch some cool videos, including one called Particles which starred our very own Austin Line! After the show, we had to fuel up to build the bike, so Sam, Bob and I stopped at Rigoberto's for some delicious Mexican food!

Once we got home it was build time! Bob and I worked in the close quarters of our living room as we finished dis-assembly of my old bike and built up the new one! This process started around 11:30 PM until it was completely finished around 2:30 AM! I took the bike out for a quick spin in the neighborhood and then crawled into bed dreading the alarm that would be going off in 2.5 hours.....UGH.

The new bike, all built up and ready to race!!

When the alarm went off, we dragged ourselves out of bed in a sleep deprived coma and loaded everything up. Sam was super kind and said that she would drive over to the valley so I could attempt to get a bit more shut eye. This actually did work as I was able to probably accumulate approximately an hour of sleep over the 2.5 hour drive to the valley. With the extra bit of sleep, I was surprised to find myself not feeling too bad, and got everything ready for the race.

I kept warm-up to a minimum as I figured I'd have 4-5 hours on the bike to get the legs ready! All the racers gathered at the Blodgett School for our pre-race instructions from the MTB race promoter king, Mike Ripley. The instructions were simple - watch the course markings, there are two feed zones per lap, etc. Afterwards, the gun went off and it was time to race! I settled into a solid, but not too hard pace as we began the first of two 25 mile laps. I was a bit nervous with the brand new bike underneath me, but thankfully everything rode perfectly for the entire 50 miles, aside from a little bit of air burping out of the freshly mounted/sealed tires during one of the descents. After a grueling 47 or so miles, I saw a racer who had put some space on me during one of the longer climbs on lap 2. I caught glimpse of him through the trees as we came upon Panama Canal, one of the most fun downhill trail sections of the race. This had me all kinds of giddy as I knew I would be able to nail that section and close the gap, which I did rather quickly!

Tracking my prey on Panama Canal.

As I sat on his wheel for the last little bit of trail, I planned my attack for the long mile or so stretch of gravel road time trialing. As we blasted out of the singletrack, I put my head down, feeling confident that my legs could power me to the finish while passing the other guy. Unfortunately, he had planned for the same, but had a little more gas in his legs than I. He pulled away ever so slowly, but I kept my head down in the hopes that maybe he pushed a bit too hard, but he played his cards perfectly, holding me off, finishing 13 seconds in front of me. Yes, 13 seconds after 4 hours and 40 minutes of racing. Arghhh!! So close! I was still super happy though, being able to finish 4th behind such a solid racer, on 3-4 hours of sleep, is ok in my book!

Nice vista along Hwy 20.

After an eventful day, which also involved celebrating my birthday, it was time to head back home to the high  country, proud of a successful crusade to the Willamette Valley for the Trinity Bikes Cycling Team!

-Shane Johnson

Mt Hood Cycling Classic

Whew! What a tough, yet fun weekend of racing up at the Mt Hood Cycling Classic stage race! The 4 stages spread out over 3 days definitely put the hurt on my (Shane's) legs, but boy was it worth it!

Beautiful views were aplenty on the drive up.

Kai was my co-pilot on Friday.

The weekend started out on Friday, with Stage 1 starting at the edge of The Dalles, OR. The course included some parts of the first stage of Cherry Blossom last year, so I knew the climbing would be fast and painful! Going into the race, I was feeling pretty good, but the super dark clouds in the horizon were making me a bit nervous. With the race underway, our field settled into a really comfy pace, which was awesome, as I was really enjoying the scenery. The road we were on, wound through the rolling hills of grass fields which were accompanied by rich and dense foliage in the valleys between the hills. Add to this the nice hum of bikes and it was pretty amazing. Unfortunately, this niceness went away after about a half hour, as the rain began to come down. While rain is tough to deal with on a bike, it was bearable as we were cruising along the flats and going up the climb due to the body heat being generated. When we hit the downhill though, oh boy did it get cold! I got a rough shiver that reverberated throughout my entire body as we descended. Thankfully the rain subsided and the shiver went away, but sadly the race ended up being a good bit tougher than expected. With the extra grit, I was able to finish a respectable 19th out of 28, about 4 minutes back from the winner. 
Afterwards, I gathered my soaked self and headed back to Redmond to pick up my cheerleader/supporter extraordinaire Sam so she could help me bounce back for the rest of the weekend.

At the TT Starting Gate.

After a wonderful nights sleep, Sam and I headed up north where Stage 2, The Scenic Gorge Time Trial (TT), was starting from the west side of The Dalles. As we arrived, I noticed a bit of wind, coming from the direction I would be riding for the next 18+ miles, uh oh! Being a TT, and with the wind howling, I got some good hearted heckling from the starter as I my 8:22:30 AM ticked closer and closer. We began joking about how my Focus MaresCX 2 cross frame was going to give me a huge advantage by being SO aerodynamic. To put this in perspective and make the joke funny for those that aren't complete bike nerds (that's a good thing to not be), the Focus Izalco Chrono is an actual TT bike who's complete focus is on aerodynamics. So after the laughs, it was time to rock!
The course went along the Columbia River on the Historic Columbia River Highway (built 1913-1920), which has to be one of the most stunningly beautiful roads I have been on. I found myself staring off towards the views and then checking myself with a 'Hey bud, you're racing!' to get back to focusing on making the pedals go round. Thankfully, one of the most scenic portions, Rowena Crest, was at a bit of a grade so I was able to sit up and enjoy the panoramic view out over the Columbia Gorge. The other big highlight was the tunnel, that's right, the course went flying downhill through one of the original tunnels! It was so awesome, of course I let out a loud yell as I flew through it! Racewise, I went at this stage with a different approach than races prior and it ended up turning out to be my best personal performance I've ever put out in a TT. I was able to finish 16th out of 27 racers!

A portion of the TT course, near Rowena Crest.
Photo: Black Watch Sasquatch

Warming up before the crit.

After the successful TT, it was time to recuperate and get ready for the Criterium later in the afternoon. We headed into Hood River (which was where the TT had finished) to check out the nice downtown area and grab some grub. We happened upon a fantastic cafe called Doppio Coffee + Lounge which had great gluten & dairy free options for Sam and a delicious grilled panini for myself. After the great food, it was nap time, so we found a quiet parking lot and let the afternoon slip away with eyes closed.

Once the alarm went off, we headed back to downtown and setup shop to get ready for the early evening crit. I got the Blackburn Trainer setup, put some good music in my ears and got the blood flowing back into my legs so they'd be prepared for some high intensity racing!

I headed down to the course where I got some good insider advice from Bill Warburton about the crazy U-Turn style corner that was a part of the course. Once the course had cleared, we all went out and got lined up at the start for our briefing from the race officials.

Heading into the tough U-Turn corner.
Photo: Dave Roth

After the quick talk, the gun went off and it was time to race! We all clipped in, bunched up and began flying around the course. I really enjoyed this course, as it was fast but had a good amount of turns to keep it fun and interesting.

Course layout.

Coming around onto the
Start/Finish section
Photo: Dave Roth

Right after the slight uphill Start/Finish section, the road swept downhill to the right into that U-Turn corner I was chatting with Bill about. After that technical turn, it was a fast and relatively straight section along the back of the Full Sail Brewery until the second corner, which was a right hander into a one block uphill that definitely made the legs burn a bit. At the top of the uphill, corner three was a righty to another one block section that was uphill but not as steep as the first. The fourth corner turned right into a one block downhill before the last, left hand corner to the finishing straighaway. The racing went along very smoothly, aside from a single rider crashing on the U-Turn about a quarter of the way into the race. There were a couple surges, but no real threats to a breakaway getting away from the peleton.

As it progressed, my legs began to open up and felt strong, being able to match the surges without being too uncomfortable. This had me feeling confident for the finish, so when we got down to about 5 laps to go, I made sure to move up towards the front. With 3 laps to go, one of the racers went hard at the front, so I sat in second wheel as he pulled the field around. On the last lap, the majority of the group was strung out in a single file going into corner 2, but at the top of the hill at corner 3, everything kind of blew up and open. I knew this would be my best chance to make a go for it, so I squeaked through the opening and rode hard into the last two corners. I had felt very confident about the last, left hand corner, so as I hit that, I went into my sprint. Thankfully, everything played out perfectly as I was able to keep the lead and win the stage for my first road win ever!

Victory!
Photo: Dave Roth

Following a fantastic day of racing, it was time to re-fuel, so we headed back to The Dalles where I had a coupon from the 2011 Cherry Blossom Classic, for a free dinner at the Casa El Mirador restaurant. The huge meal I got, definitely hit the spot, it was a steak burrito with peppers, onions, sour cream and guacamole. This deliciousness, paired with the endless amounts of chips and salsa, had us completely stuffed to the point where Sam and I both waddled out of the restaurant to the car. To help the digestion process, we walked around the downtown area of The Dalles. Being one of the older cities in Oregon, there are several buildings that were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The architecture from back then is really quite amazing and beautiful.

Sam dancing under the super cool bridge lights.

Trinity Bikes Cycling Team's Subaru RV.

After our walk, we got back in the car and headed out to the woods to find a good quiet spot to setup the Subaru sleeping quarters. We happened across a great little spot right along Highway 35 next to the Hood River. After a long day of racing, sleep came quickly with the sound of flowing water in the background.

When Sunday morning rolled around, we packed the car up and headed out to Cooper Spur Mountain Resort, which was the starting point for the fourth and final stage of the race. I was thankful we only had two major climbs in the last race, the faster categories had three, especially after having already ridden three other stages.

View from staging area of Stage 4.

The course is quite epic, it started by descending for about 30 minutes followed by some flat/rolling sections before you head out into the forest onto a single lane Forest Service road to start the first climb. The pace was comfortable throughout the first portion, but once the peleton hit the incline, there were a couple attacks that drove the pace up putting all of us into the pain cave. I was able to match most of these surges, until about halfway, when I just couldn't quite hang with the lead group. About 15 riders broke away into two groups as they rode up and away. I knew that this would now become a mental battle for myself to keep the hammer down, as it is tough to do when you have been dropped by the lead group. Thankfully, I was able to stay really focused and push hard as I climbed up and up. After about an hour total of climbing, I saw a welcoming sight, the KOM (King of the Mountain) sign! This was the beginning of the most technical descent I have ever encountered on a road bike. With the road being steep, speed was easily achieved, so I had to be very aware of my speed due to the twisty, blind cornered road. For the most part, I was able to ride that fine line between being out of control and holding the maximum safe speed, but there was one corner that scared the heck out of me. This particular corner was a long right hand turn, but in the middle of it, the radius become much sharper. Due to the lack of visibility, I didn't realize this change until I was in it and suddenly saw that my trajectory had me heading into the woods. I put on the brakes and to my dismay, the rear brake locked up into a skid and I was NOT slowing down fast enough. With this happening, I began my quick scan of where I was going to try and aim myself shooting off the road (missing trees was top priority). As I frantically searched for safe landing zones, I suddenly noticed another rider who mis-judged the corner and was completely sprawled out, in very apparent pain, on his back in the bushes. As my brain processed this new information, I had somehow shifted my weight properly and my bike suddenly had all kinds of traction and I was able to safely make the corner! I hollered out to make sure the rider was okay but got no response. As I finished composing myself through this scary corner I noticed a car had stopped so they were going to be taking care of the fallen rider. This little incident definitely had my heart beating, but I had to put it behind me and continue riding harder! The fast descent continued for another 15 minutes or so before it dumped us back out onto the flat/rolly section that we had started on. I noticed that my legs were beginning to fade so I made sure to drink and eat as much as I could to prevent the oncoming energy crash. Even with my intake, my body was still screaming at me as I began the last slog of a climb back to the finishing area. About halfway up, I came across one of the best signs you can see if you are losing energy during a road race "Illegal Feed Zone".

Menu for Illegal Feed Zone.

It is exactly as named, an unsanctioned feed zone headed up by an awesome dude named Andy! He offers several options, that's right, he gives you a choice during a bike race!! I was in dire need of fluid and calories, so I opted for the Gatorade. I surprised myself with the short amount of time it took me to chug the bottle, but it hit the spot so perfectly, and gave me a second wind to finish the tough climb to the top.

The last part of the race was up a short section of road that got pretty steep, especially after the miles that had been logged on the legs over the weekend. Thankfully, Sam had posted herself near the top and gave me much needed encouragement as my legs burned and screamed at me! I was able to give it a strong push for a solid finish, taking 14th out of 26 for the day. I headed back down to the car with Sam where I took in much needed calories in the form of Max Muscle ARM.

With recovery in the system, it was time to head home after a fun, successful weekend of racing and building fitness! Mt Hood Cycling Classic will definitely now be on my annual racing calendar, as it is quite an epic stage race!

-Shane Johnson

The Two-fer!

I know you've all been waiting patiently since May 13th to hear about our day at Cascade Chainbreaker, and then somewhat more recently the Sisters Stampede, so I'm here to award your patience with a brief synopsis of the races!

The Cascade Chainbreaker is a local favorite and this year marked it's 15th annual appearance. Deschutes Brewery even came out with a beer just for the racers! 

The course is just west of Shevlin Park and is one of the most spectator friendly XC races of the season. The course is an 11.5 mile loop that includes a little bit of everything. The best part is the loop near the finish that passes by spectators like 5 times...woo! 

Post-race dusty shenanigans.

Sean and I showed up around 9am for a 10am start time, so we were a little behind the rest of the team but we were able to get in a solid warm-up before the start. This race is known for being dusty, but this year was definitely the worst I've seen. At the start you're in a group of around 50 racers all competing for the front spot on dusty gravel roads and then even dustier double track for the first 1.5 or so miles. At one point I literally could not see the rider in front of me, so about 4 feet.

Despite the dusty conditions the team was able to pull out some solid results! For the Cat. 1s on the team Austin took 4th, Shane close behind in 5th and Bob took 17th in a field of 28. Sean unfortunately had to pull out of the race because of the hot and dry conditions, but DNFs only fuel motivation for the next race! For the CAT 2s Mr. Buskirk took 10th and I (Mr. Tanler) came away with a 4th place finish...inches away from the podium!! Okay a couple minutes...

Just two weekends later we were at it again in Central Oregon for Oregon's biggest and newest XC race, the Sisters Stampede! This is one of my favorites because of the lack of any serious climbing (and I call myself a mountain biker??). 

Trinity Bikes saw it's biggest number of racers wearing the team and club kits ever, with 11 riders competing! There were 6 of the team riders and 5 club riders out in the checkers. We even had a girl racing the blue and white, something we'd like to see more often! 

Dave Pickhardt crushing some singletrack.

Bob taking 3rd!

 The weather was perfect leading up to the race with 3 days of decent rain to tack up the trails and then the sun came out for race day to make it an all around epic day of riding. For the Cat 2 men 45-54 we had two racers, Tom Holt coming in 41st and Dave Pickhardt taking 33rd. For the Cat 2 men 35-44 we had our trusty mechanic Greg McBride take 63rd and Gary O'Connell (one of our generous sponsors from Columbia Bank in Redmond and an avid cyclist) come in 44th in the biggest field of a staggering 69 racers! Cat 2 men 19-34 it was just me :( and I came away with 9th place. Cat 3 men 10-14 had our youngest rider, Liam Pickhardt, taking 7th out of 23, nice job Liam! In the Cat 3 Women 19-34, Sam donned the Trinity kit for her first race ever and took 8th out of 13! For Cat 1 men we had Sean Lewis taking 17th, Austin Line taking 12th (poor guy got a flat out there..), Shane took 5th and Bob was able to secure his first Cat 1 podium spot with 3rd place! 

All in all it was a great day of racing for Trinity Bikes and we were pumped to have so many riders out in the checkers!

Now ride your bike!!!


-Cory Tanler

Return on the Jedi

Our last weekend of racing involved one of our most favorite races of the season - Return on the Jedi! Instead of just being a one day XC Race, three races are packed into an exciting, yet relaxing weekend!

While we had oatmeal, Kai decided
she would have a stick for breakfast.

The trip started with Sam, Cory, Kai and myself (Shane) taking a late evening departure from Redmond and Bend that put our arrival down at the Southern Oregon race venue right around midnight. The hub for all the weekend activities is an isolated campground southwest of Merlin, OR called Sam Brown Campground. This is where the relaxation comes in, there is none of the standard hustle bustle of life, no cell service, topped off by an incredibly beautiful area. Once we arrived, we quickly exchanged bro-hugs with Sean and Brian, who were already at the camp and then setup our tent and a hammock for Cory. Even with a lack of light that I had forgotten to bring, we were setup and in bed before 1am, which was awesome!

Cory and Sean cooking oatmeal in the Jetboils.

Morning light arrived with wonderfully warm temperatures to get us out of our comfy sleeping bags and ready for the short track (STXC), the first of the day's two races. Thanks to three Jetboil stoves, we were all stuffed with tasty oatmeal pretty darn quickly, giving plenty of time for digestion before the race.


The race course for the STXC is a really fun one that offers plenty of double track passing opportunities and some fast, singletrack with some good sharp corners and roots to keep you on your toes. The entire course loops around the campsites so there are plenty of spectators/hecklers on hand.

Sam ripping it up in her first STXC ever!Photo: Cory Fawcett

Race times were divided by Category, CAT 3 first, CAT 2 second and then the CAT 1/Pro field. The one drawback of the first day of the Jedi weekend are the small field sizes, but thankfully, although small, they are high quality racers. For example, Sam's lone competitor was a racer from Washington that has several podiums in her name, including a recent win at the Portland STXC Series. That being said, Sam went out in the CAT 3 field and rode a fantastic race, only finishing 2 minutes back from the winner. Cory, Sean and myself were as noisy and obnoxious as possible due to the excitement of watching Sam race so hard.

Brian pushing through the pain.Photo: Cory Fawcett

Next up were the CAT 2 boys - Brian and Cory. Their form has really come about nicely in the last couple races, and this was no exception. They both went hard out of the gates and never looked back. Brian settled into a super solid rhythm and Cory was able to create an insurmountable gap about 2 laps into the six lap race and put on a clinic of how to race short track. Cory took the win with Brian taking the last podium step with a good 3rd place finish.

Cory hammering away to victory!Photo: Cory Fawcett

Sean and I were the last to go and went to battle with a fantastically fast group of racers. We both put down some solid performances - thanks to the cheering, well, jeering of a group of checker clad racers at the top of the short, painful climb. I was able to sneak into third with Sean taking a 4th place finish!

Shane pushing hard uphill.Photo: Cory Fawcett

Sean railing the corner.Photo: Cory Fawcett

Post race, we all headed back to the campsite to enjoy the wonderfully warm and sunny weather. As we cooked up some refueling meals, we made sure to try and soak up as many rays as possible, in a futile attempt to darken our bleach white skin.

Brian and Cory enjoying the sunshine.

Next on the race plate, was the Super D. These races are a point to point race, where you have some uphill sections, but in the end, you will have descended more than you climbed. This particular Super D has an insanely fast, dangerous and scary fire road for the first several miles. This definitely creates a bit of unrest in group of racers as some welcome the challenge with wide open brakes, while others are a tad more timid. A fun addition to the Return on the Jedi Super D is the added challenge of a Le Mans Start, where everyone runs about 25 meters to their bike that is laying down on the ground.

Always a kick to see cyclists run.Photo: Cory Fawcett

The Pro/CAT 1 field was the first to roll, so Sean and I laid our bikes down across the road. I had noticed a good little thought of laying my bike in the bushes of the sidehill as it put me on the outer edge of all the bikes. We all lined up on the running start line facing the bikes. When we started, the far side from me was a bit lucky we weren't in the Olympics, as a false start would have been called. Thankfully, I was able to tap into my track background and make up the lead quickly! I was able to get on my bike in 3rd position behind James and the infamous Tom Keller. I was able to sneak past James quickly, leaving just one more to pass. This had me super excited, because as strong as Tommy is, a singlespeed bike can only go so fast downhill.

Shane getting a good start.Photo: Cory Fawcett

I was able to get by him and have a clear view/ride of the road for about one third of it's distance which makes it super easy to keep speed at a maximum. Around a third of the way down, I was passed by Brennan Wodtli. After this, I worked as hard as possible to stick on his wheel down the technical descent. Unfortunately as we continued, I began to have some mechanical issues with my brakes, which ended up equaling no front brake. That definitely makes things a bit creepy as you are flying down, trying to scrub speed going into flat corners where if you go off the edge, well, you will be literally flying for awhile. Haha. Unfortunately with the lack of brake, I lost a couple more spots, but I sure felt like I was living on the edge! Once we hit the Jedi singletrack I was in no man's land so I kept pushing as hard as possible through the windy, wonderful trail. At the end of the trail, it empties out onto the campground road where I put down as much power as I had in my legs and crossed the finish line.

Brian killing it and taking the holeshot.

Photo: Cory Fawcett

Sean came flying through about a minute back, putting out a super solid effort on the crazy technical course. Brian, who had started after us came blazing through a bit later, with a wicked good time, putting him as 2nd Overall in the CAT 2's! After Buskirk finished, we began waiting for Cory, but time began ticking away....and a lot of it did without seeing him come across the line. We began to worry, knowing how much this course likes to eat people sometimes. It mainly takes out equipment though, and that was what we were hoping for. Thankfully, one of the race volunteers had come down and informed us that our guy was fixing a flat. We were all relieved to see the black and neon green Marin Nail Trail make it back to the campground. Sadly, Cory had continued Bob's tradition of flatting on the Super D, by getting three gashes in his sidewalls. Unfortunate as it was, Cory was still stoked on the course and, along with the rest of us, had a big goofy smile plastered on his face from the fun ride.

Cory and his poor tire.

Tired from the two races of the day, we all went back to the Trinity Bikes campground where we cooked up bunches of food, including an attempt by Brian to cook a baked potato in our fire pit. Needless to say, we had to rely on the Jetboils for our evening grub as we sat around the fire cramming our faces full of delicious food so we'd be stocked up with plenty of calories for the big XC race the next morning.

Brian, Sean and Sam sitting around the fire.

When the sun rose again, sadly it did not bring the warm temps it had the morning before. There was no rain though, so that is always a plus! We all ate breakfast as we did last minute check-overs of the bikes and prepared for the epic course that is the Return of Jedi XC race. After getting all prepared, we rolled down to the start line for instructions from the race director about the course that laid ahead. 

Shane stretching out before the XC Race.

The starting format was, once again, Pro/CAT 1 first, followed in order by the CAT 2's then the CAT 3's. Sean and myself lined up and took off for the starter loop, which was a hot lap around the STXC course that looped back to where we started before heading out onto the course. Shortly thereafter, the CAT 2 group went, heading straight into the XC course. My start felt good and I found myself settling into a really comfortable rhythm, but once I hit some of the singletrack, I began to get a bit thrown off due to a mechanical with my front brake. This mechanical eventually turned into a full front brake failure. After finishing the 6.5 mile loop that, once again came through the campground, I opted to take the DNF (after much internal debate during this loop) instead of risking my safety on the extremely technical descents that are part of our course. As tough of a decision it was, I knew it was the right call, which was further cemented when talking to my fellow competitors after the race.


So, instead of being a racer for the day, I switched roles to become Sam's co-cheerleader for the other guys. This was quite a blast, as I had access to a huge pot to bang on with a metal spoon and be as obnoxious as possible! Soon, the CAT 2 racers began to come riding into the campground on the gravel, with several of them soft pedaling. When Brian came in though, he did not disappoint as he came mobbing in and even threw up a wheelie for our entertainment as he took a solid 5th place finish for the day. Our next wait was for Cory as we looked off through the trees, where we could see riders on the paved section of road right before the campground turn-off. Eventually we saw a checkered jersey walking, so we went running up the campground road to see Cory. The evil tire gremlins from the Super D, stuck with Cory for the XC race, as he ended up double flatting on the day. Luckily the last flat was only about a 1/2 mile out so he was able to walk across the finish line.

Brian riding as Cory walks with
his flat across the finish line.

Once our CAT 2 boys made it back safe and sound, we watched as the CAT 1 racers began to come in. Sean came through in 5th position after riding an extremely brutal course that has you climb roughly 4500 feet over 30 miles of some very technical trail.

Cory, after eating and watching the kiddo races.

Exhausted from the racing, the other three way more so than me, we all sat down for a delicious meal of tacos from Blazing Saddles, a catering company that comes out for the weekend. From our spot, we were able to enjoy the food as we watched the kiddos partake in their races for the weekend. After this hilarious entertainment, we enjoyed the awards ceremony, packed up camp and then headed home for the long haul back home.

Kai scaring the heck out of us - she just wanted a better
view of the cliff......

Aside from the few mechanical hiccups, we had yet another fun and successful weekend down in Southern Oregon!


-Shane Johnson

Spring Thaw

It was 5 o’ clock in the morning of race day. As everyone was waking up and I was the host of this party, I got breakfast together for everyone. On the menu for this morning was a BIG pot of oatmeal and I mean big pot. I haven’t made oatmeal for more than one person in a while so I thought I was making it according to the directions ummm ya. NO!! I over made the oatmeal. We also had some bananas and milk. It was a filling meal before the race. We all got ready for the race and got loaded up.

We (Austin, Jessica, Bob, and I (Brian)) were on our way to Ashland, Oregon for the Spring Thaw XC race. We arrived in Ashland and parked where I (Brian) thought the race began but, I was wrong. So we drove up a little farther to get closer to registration. We unloaded our bikes, checked our tire pressure, got our riding gear on and proceed up the hill to registration. Registration was still a long ways away from the car. We all got registered and rode back to the cars. Let me tell you, it was a chilly morning before the race. We put our bags in the car and stood in the sun to warm up before we needed to get our legs and minds ready for the race.

Brian in the car while Austin stretches.

9:00 o’clock rolled around, which meant Jessica’s race (CAT 3 racers) was about to start. The gun went off and the race began. The CAT 3 racers had a short and furious 6.7 mile race. She did an awesome job and killed it with a first place finish - my oatmeal fuels champions.

Bob and Austin getting their game
faces on.....or did they see a pretty lady??

Next to go at the starting line were the big boys - the Pros and CAT 1's were ready to go tear up the trails. Bob and Austin’s were racing in the CAT 1's and their race was 24.5 miles long.

Austin and Bob starting off Spring Thaw XC 2012.

9:45 rolled around and it was the start time for my category, the CAT 2's. When the gun goes off, the fun begins. We started with a 7 mile uphill climb to a fire road that side hills Mt Ashland. After we got onto the fire road, we still had 9 miles before we got to hit up the downhill. I was trying to gain positions, so I was drafting off as many racers I could. I was doing great! I was going back and forth with a racer on the fire road and that was fun as it made me push harder to get in front of her. Then there was this little hill we hit that slowed her down and I poured on the gas to pull away from her. I kept on the gas and after a while, I looked back and she was way back there. Yea you guys are probably thinking I was battling back and forth with a girl but I will tell you what, she was good alright! After miles went by, I just knew Four Corners was coming up. That is where the downhill begins and it was in my sights. I looked back and noticed there was two racers coming up fast so, I had to pour on the gas once again to lose them on the downhill.

I reached Four Corners and the fun began. I started on the downhill and the first section was super rocky but, my Marin Nail Trail 29er handled it like a pro, with my Continental Race King tires hooking up wonderfully. So I got past that section and kept on the gas. I saw another racer in front of me and that is like a carrot in front of a rabbit and I went after it. I was railing the corners and mobbing the trails as fast as I could handle. As I was getting down and out of the trail called Upper Caterpillar I saw a racer behind me. I don’t like it when another racer passes me so, I poured on the gas and was telling myself that he doesn’t have the endurance like I do. I kept him far behind me. Then came into Lower Caterpillar and saw another racer in front of me so I tried and caught up to him to put a racer between the guy behind me and myself. I kept on pushing my limits and kept my pedals spinning. By this time, the trails are flying by and the race is almost over. As I was going down the last trail called BTI, I noticed that a racer was right on my tail. I kept racing smart and was looking where I wanted to go. I got a little squirly on the downhill, but I kept the rubber side down. As the racer and I were going down BTI, I was hitting some of the little jumps they have on the trail. Let me give you some details on BTI trail, this is a downhill trail that cross country racers are going down so there were some jumps on the trail that you couldn’t go around. Ok with that little detail back to my awesome race, as I was keeping it pinned and floating over some of the jumps he was still on my tail.  We hit another fire road that ties us into the finishing stretch. A left hand turn was coming up and another racer in front of me was going to hit the turn at the same time as myself. The racer (Britney Wimberly) took the outside line and I hugged the inside line. When I exited that corner, I stood up and mashed the pedals. One more corner that is gravel and I was telling myself to hit this smoothly and mash again. I hit the corner perfectly and then got back on the pedals and sprinted to the finish. As I was sprinting, I saw the tire of the racer who had been chasing me, on my right side and I pushed even harder. I let out a big roar and poured all I had left and crossed the finish line. What a great race and a fun one to add. After the race I clapped hands with the guy behind me and congratulated him for nice racing.

Brian walking with his nephew.

The race was over, so I went down to see my sister, mom and my nephew who had come out to watch the race. I talked to them for a bit, then we all headed back to the car to get my meal ticket and to get some of my Max Muscle recovery drink in me. It was a fun walk back with my family. My Nephew found a stick and we were hitting trees, leafs and sign poles. Well it was a long walk back to the car but, the little man, my sister, mom and I made it back. I got refueled and then they went back home.

I rode back up to the finish line and as I was, I saw that girl I was battling with. We chatted a little bit on our way to the top to grab some food. I found Bob, Jessica and Austin and we hung out a little bit before they had to hit the road back to Redmond, Oregon. It was that time again, we all had to say our 'good byes' and 'see you at the next race' talk.

Wow what an awesome and fun filled day. Until the next blog, have fun, enjoy life and have fun on your bikes. Oh, and don’t forget to keep the rubber side down ;)

-Brian Buskirk

Eugene Roubaix

      A lot has been happening with the team these past few weeks so I'm just now getting a chance to tell you about my debut road race with Mr. Sean Lewis a couple of weeks ago. Early on a Saturday morning not two weeks ago Sean and I woke up earlier than I knew existed and headed for greener pastures. At 5:45 am Sean rolled up to my house, we loaded up my bike and gear and somewhat reluctantly drove ourselves in the direction of Eugene, where we would soon be participating in the Eugene Roubaix. It's called the "Eugene Roubaix" because much like the famous "Paris Roubaix" it is really scary and hard. Each lap of the course has a 1.5 mile section of gravel road that was to be navigated on a road bike, in close quarters (my front tire was generally 6-12 inches behind the rear tire of the person in front of me) at around 20 mph.
     Don't let me forget, on the way over the pass we got a flat tire. Luckily Sean is extremely prepared at all times and had a full size spare tire waiting eagerly to be put to use. After a quick change over we were back on our way, hoping that the day only held one flat tire for us.
     Upon arrival we suited up (changed in the front seat), signed in and started our warm-up. The weather was warming up, the sun was out and the months of rain in the valley had actually paid off and left only beautiful green plants and bright flowers in it's wake.
     The first lap of the race was at an easy pace and Sean and I were working to find our place in the peloton and learn a little bit about road racing while we went. The group stuck together for the first lap and a half until we hit the gravel a second time. At the gravel the group would spread out into a long single file line of 20-30 riders trying to stay in the narrow hard packed section. About halfway through the gravel one rider cramped up and slowed dramatically, causing the last 8 or so riders to get dropped from the main group. Unfortunately Sean and I were in this back group and were dropped by the leaders. After about half a lap of trying to catch up I sat in and pedalled by myself until I was able to pair up with another rider. For the remainder of the race (1.5 laps or so) he and I exchanged pulls in an attempt to keep our pride. We were able to finish 14th and 15th place, Sean had made a pit stop at the finish line with one lap to go and came in a few minutes behind us in 17th.
     At the end of the day we were happy with the results. A lot of learning took place and it was a great day of training for our upcoming mountain bike races! Thanks for reading and check back next week to read about the Cascade Chainbreaker!


-Cory Tanler

Sea Otter Classic

Round 2 of the team’s annual Sea Otter trip went down, without too many hiccups, this past week! Trinity Bikes Cycling sent 4 athletes down to Monterey, CA for the epic cycling event – Bob, Brian, Sean, Shane (me) and along for fantastic support and heckling was Sam!

Sean & Shane loading the car - 4:20am.

Sean doing a weird stretch as Bob
mows down his croissant.

The trip started in the very early dark of morning, 4:00am to be exact. With some good razzing of each other to get up and going, we had the cars totally loaded down and were headed south on Hwy 97 in about 30 minutes, probably close to a record, especially with me being onboard. Haha. The trip down to Klamath Falls was nice and mellow, thankfully we only had to deal with some light rain, no slippery roads like last year. With these long road trips, they are much more bearable when you have small destinations on the way to the big one. Our first was Green Blade Bakery in Klamath Falls. They have so many choices, you end up spending more time trying to decide than actually eating it!

Shane in Klamath Falls.

Chock full of baked goodness and high blood sugar, we continued on our journey. As we got closer to Weed, CA, the rain began to let off and we were catching glimpses of the wonderful weather to come, aka – SUN!! The pace quickened once we caught I-5 in Weed and the warmth began to emerge even quicker! During one of our many bathroom stops, bladder issues could be assumed if one didn’t know of a cyclist’s obsession with hydration, everyone began to realize that the choice of pants were not a good idea – this led to a quick parking lot wardrobe change and a couple funny looks.

Bike tool stop in Winters, CA that
even had a tire pump!

Our second main stop was in the nice little town of Winters, CA. It is a really cool city on the edge of wine country and absolutely beautiful as well. Our normal haunt was Cody’s which had amazing sandwiches, but to our dismay, it had been replaced with a restaurant providing some odd grub at way to high of prices for our thin (bikes are expensive!) wallets. Walking around in a hungry, disappointed daze, we happened to see a large group of cyclists down the road, getting ready to embark on an afternoon ride in the sun. We headed over to the meeting spot where we found a great coffee/café/bistro called Steady Eddies Coffee House. Thankful for the find, we ordered up some reasonably priced meals and sat down for a nice meal in the warmth.

Bob & Sean in line ordering some lunch.

Now, I keep stressing warmth and sunshine, and will continue doing this through the rest of this entry because oh man, it felt amazing!! I wouldn’t be over zealous to say we probably had seen two or three days here in Central Oregon where the temps got into the low 60’s. We were head over heels in love with being warm in shorts and t-shirts!


Now back to our adventure. After leaving from Winters, there were no planned stops for the final portion of the drive to Monterey, aside from a few gas and bathroom stops. As we were cruising along I-680 just north of Morgan Hill, Brian, Sean and Bob pulled up alongside us frantically waving and pointing at the top of the car. I immediately pulled over and got out to see one of the most scary things a cyclist on a road trip could see.....a bike that had somehow come out of the bike rack on the roof of the car. Yeah, it was horrid. Bob's beautiful new Marin Team CXR was out of the fork mount and resting against another bike, only holding onto the roof due to the rear tire strap and our huge tool bag up in the roof basket. I swear my hands were shaking as I worked to get the bike racks all situated - being the driver, I felt responsible for an oversight in properly lining up the racks. After some comforting 'It's ok dude' from the guys, my stomach settled down and we were back on our way to Monterey.

Bob and Sam at the top of the decent that ate
Sean and Shane both, last year.

Shane and Sam with Bob off
in the distance on the first climb.

After a long day on the road, we arrived at the Laguna Seca/Mazda Speedway with 10 minutes to spare before the first day of packet pick-up closed. We ran down to finalize our registrations and pick up our race numbers. Once all the formalities were taken care of we headed back to the cars for some in-car/in-portapotty changing into the checkered kits for a light spin out on the race course.

Sean showing he his king of the rock!

Our temporary home for the trip.

Since we were riding in the evening, we still had to rock long sleeves and leg warmers, but the sunshine offset any lingering thoughts of still riding during the winter. During the ride, the long 14 hours of sitting in a car were spun out of our legs and big smiles were plastered onto our faces as the reality of having a nice weeklong vacation ahead of us began to set in. 







Post-ride, we loaded into the cars and headed over to our home base for the week, the Del Monte Pines Hotel. Dinner, showers and an early bedtime ensued as we passed out after a nice long day.


Day two was the planned day to take in as much of the expansive Sea Otter Expo as possible. Our first priority though, was to fix Bob's torn tire. Unfortunately, the day before we left some cords inside the tire ended up breaking so the tire had a super funky wobble in it. All of us were a bit nervous after figuring this out 600 miles away from the fantastic support of Eric and the Trinity Bikes shop. Luckily, we also have phenomenal remote support from our rockstar Continental rep Eli. A quick phone call to him created two opportunities to have the issue resolved in time for Bob to race the next day. Our first option was to talk to the guys down at the Conti booth, so we immediately headed down to the expo where Brett and Slaven hooked it up with a brand new tire to replace Bob's damaged tire. With our small hurdle completely cleared, it was time to oogle and ahhhh over all the fun bike goodies. Over the course of the day, we realized how incredibly well supported we are with our sponsors, but we are missing one area....skincare/sun protection. Haha. There were some of us that were smarter with sunscreen and others (me) that weren't. By the end of the day there was some scorched skin.

Matt Slaven with Bob and his newly replaced tire!

We got some more riding in out on the course, this time getting to enjoy the fantastically wonderful sun. It was tough to limit the rides to only an hour, I personally could've gone till the sun set, it was absolutely perfect - warm temps, beautiful scenery and a completely blue sky.

Beautiful view from the top of one of the hills on course.

For our night before race meal, we headed to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, located down in Monterey's Cannery Row. This area is just packed with cool little shops right along the bay front. My favorite part would have to be the walkways that link the buildings together across the road.

Shane and Sam under one of the many
overhead walkways.

During dinner, we found that as a collective group, we are pretty darn good at Forrest Gump movie trivia. We were extra excited about this talent considering none of us had seen the movie in several years. That'll change for next year though, we're going to study hard and rock the trivia! Haha.

Bob checking out the menu while Sean hams it up for the camera
at Bubba Shrimp Company.

The next morning, Friday, brought the first day of racing for us. Bob and myself were lined up to race in the early afternoon. A starting time of 1:30ish, makes for a very relaxing race morning aside from pre-race jitters and nerves. The only downside of this later start was the heat. As much as I love racing in the heat (2009 STXC = 103 degrees), we hadn't seen the temp rise into the 60's much here in Central Oregon, let alone 85-90 degrees. That being said, hydration and staying cool would be the trick of the day. We made sure to load up with plenty of Nuun enhanced water beforehand. Lining up at the start line, the nerves thankfully mellowed out and when the gun sounded, business time started. The course winds a bit around the raceway and then heads out into the rolling hills north of the raceway. I gotta say, Sea Otter sure fields some incredibly fast racers. It is a whole other level. Trying to stick with the leaders would have blown me up wicked fast (my HR was holding steady at 196 BPM in the beginning), so I had to settle into a zone that I could hold for the 40 miles and 3+ hours in the sun.

Sam taking care of Shane post race.

The course switches between fast, open doubletrack road, which really allows for things to spread out before funneling you into fun singletrack sections. During the entire race, my goal was to stay consistent as I knew the heat would come into play. This was seriously reinforced as I pushed into the second lap, I began noticing racers laying in the shade of support tents chugging water and one racer was on a stretcher with an IV pumping fluid into him. I was excited though, because I played my cards just right, using feed zone water cups to douse my body and utilizing a much needed spray down at one junction from our own Sean Lewis, to stay cool. Funny side note, on my second lap through, Sean had an extra interesting task to perform for me. It was to snag my car keys that I chucked into the dirt as I rode by. Definitely one of those scary moments, when you are out racing/riding hard and you realize you left your keys in your jersey pocket. Haha. Unfortunately for Bob, his race went a bit tougher. Being so much taller, he has way more surface area for the sun to beat down upon and that took it's toll on him rather quickly. After downing close to six bottles of liquid, to stay hydrated, during the first lap, he decided to play it safe by pulling out of the race and not getting heat stroke. It's extremely tough on one's ego to pull out of a race early but all of us there felt he made the smart decision with not risking the chance of heat exhaustion. I was able to stay consistent through the last lap of the race and left just about everything I had out there on the trail. Crossing the finish line, I was definitely toasted (both energy levels and my skin...it's shedding quite heavily now, one week later). Thank goodness Sam and Brian were waiting for me with a nice bottle of Max Muscle ARM to shoot some calories back into me.


Race evening consisted of everyone heading out into town. Sam and myself took in some food at Linguini's and picked a fight with Bruce Lee, back down at Cannery Row.

Bruce Lee should've known better than to pick a fight with Shane...

Day 3 consisted of a short trip north to Santa Cruz to check out the beach and boardwalk. We definitely stood out with our milky white skin that hadn't seen sun in months contrasting against our fresh cyclist/farmer tans on our arms. Haha. It was fantastic though, to be able to walk on a warm beach and mess around in the water.

Sam enjoying the water as Brian works on tanning his upper thighs,
blinding anyone without sunglasses - gotta love being from Oregon.

Sean was the bravest and ended up actually swimming, keeping
his eyes protected of course, with some Smith glasses.

On our way back to Monterey, we stopped at a really nice produce stand that was stocked with delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, all of which were very inexpensive. We all loaded up and cruised back down to the hotel so Sean could get ready to race the inaugural Sea Otter Cyclocross race.

Loot from the produce stand trip. Every last
strawberry was devoured by trip's end.

As Sean got ready, the rest of us switched modes from 'tourist' to 'crazed cross fans'. Buskirk and I completed the transformation by busting out the cowbells and the newly acquired vuvuzela that Brian found in Portland. Once the race began, our rowdiness exploded and we tried to be the noisiest fans out there, supporting our teammate, Sean.

'Crazed Fan' Brian during Sean's cyclocross race.

Sean powering away on the pavement portion of the cross course.

Sean tore it up in the race, especially considering the Men were grouped into one giant group, that's right, Sean was racing with/against full out pros. He really put out a fantastic effort and was able to race very clean and consistently. His best part was a super huge skid drift that he did coming around a corner. Sadly I missed getting it on film, but I'll attempt to paint a mental picture for you. It was a 90 degree right hand corner, he came flying into it, locked up the rear wheel and slid/drifted perfectly through the corner from the right inside of the corner all the way to the outside of the course (10 feet), brushing his back wheel against the Raleigh Bikes course tape and then gaining traction and putting the power down - all while keeping his feet locked into the pedals. It was EPIC! It got me all kinds of excited when he did that!


He stayed strong throughout the rest of the race and threw down a great performance on the course. We were super impressed with the effort he put out!

Sean flying over the barriers.

That evening was mellow as Brian and Sean channeled their energy towards racing the next day! When morning came around, the weather was polar opposite of the three prior days. The entire area had been socked in with a heavy/wet fog. This was met with mixed emotions, sad that we'd miss the sun, but great for racing as they wouldn't have to worry about the hot conditions endured during Bob's and my race.

Sean and Sam before the CAT 2 race.

For moral support, Sam, Bob and myself set out to the top of the last climb. This climb is a steady 3 mile sufferfest right at the end of the 20 mile course. The climb itself wouldn't be so bad early in the race, but with it being right at the end and seemingly never-ending, it wears away at your mental strength. Bob went down one of the rollers and Sam and I hung out near the middle of another. This allowed for optimal razzing and cheers to get our checkered teammates moving. The cheering was an absolute blast, as always. Sam and I yelled at the top of our lungs as we could hear Bob and the sound of his vuvuzela faintly in the foggy distance.

Bob giving Brian some pre-race instructions in the starting grid.

Everyone that was out racing that came through our section got some hearty cheers from us, but it was our checker clad guys that got the best cheers, with us running right along side them for as long as we could keep up!

With the cooler conditions (and our awesome cheers) the guys threw down some solid performances, both eclipsing their times from the previous year.

Brian grimacing as he pushes towards the top of the hill.

Sean cresting the second to last hill.

The remainder of the trip was spent un-winding and enjoying our last day of vacation before heading back to reality. To really finish the trip properly, we took a different route home via Hwy 1 along the California Coast. This area is absolutely stunning as the highway winds along the exposed cliff line that is relentlessly battered by the ocean waves.

Driving along Hwy 1 in California.

After the Hwy 1 detour, we came across this giant red bridge coming out of San Francisco, not sure what it was, but we decided to check it out. Haha.

Bob, Shane (no clue what he's doing) and Sam
on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Bob, Brian and Sean before embarking
across the Golden Gate Bridge.

California was almost complete, fresh fruits - CHECK!, warm & sunny beaches - CHECK!, Golden Gate Bridge - CHECK!, In-N-Out Burger.....uh oh! Luckily there was one on the outskirts of Mill Valley, so we made sure to stockpile calories for the long drive home with big burgers and fantastically fresh french fries! The rest of the drive back was just that - a long drive home. Not much happened during the drive, so I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Not a bad view - Mt Shasta while getting gas in Weed, CA.

Driving North on Hwy 97 in Southern Oregon.

Looking out over Upper Klamath Lake from Hwy 97.

We got tough and cranked out the remaining drive as quickly as possible so we could set a record and be home before 11pm, which we did! We pulled into the Casa de Glacier driveway right around 10:45pm.


Another fun Sea Otter in the books!!


Next up is Bear Springs just up North near Mt. Hood!


-Shane Johnson