Double Post!! Cascade Chainbreaker & Spring Thaw XC Races!

Well, I spaced on writing last week, so I'm going to make an extra special one by cramming TWO weekends of racing into this single post!

Not really sure.....Bob what are you doing?!

The weekend before last, was our first 'Home' race with the Cascade Chainbreaker XC taking place just West of Bend's Shevlin Park. The checkers were represented by three of the Race and two of the Club Team athletes out in the hot dust - Bob, Sam, Gary, Patti and I (Shane)! All I can say is whew!

After not having a proper warm-up at the Coast Hills race, we headed out nice and early from Redmond to make sure we could have a mellow morning, with plenty of time to warm-up. Bob found a sweet spot tucked away in the woods, away from the dusty main road where we setup shop! We did some last minute chain lubing, got the race plates on while we blasted our official team pump up track, Bulls on Parade! After the prepping and a nice solid warm-up, we headed to the start line, dropping off our extra bottles at the lap-point, along the way. 

Sam loving the Rage Against the Machine!

I was a bit late getting to the start, not getting to an optimal starting position, but after the gun went off, I began picking my way through the thick dust and riders. As the race progressed, I settled into my perfect pace, slowly snagging passes here and there. At the beginning of the second lap, I caught up with Dillon Caldwell, a super strong racer with Team Oregon. He and I rode together for the entire 2nd lap pushing a blistering pace. At the end of the lap, I stopped real quick for my 'NASCAR style' pit stop to switch out my bottles when I realized I hadn't taken in any calories during the whole previous lap. I attempted to begin eating as the third and final lap started, but unfortunately I was too far gone and my blood sugar dropped as quickly as Dillon pulled away. 

Two thumbs for dustyness!

I went into survival mode, as I knew I had to be in a good position and needed to hold my power up to salvage the race! My normal race pace HR is right around 179 BPM, but with minimal fuel in my system, I wasn't able to push as hard as I needed to. I gave myself pep talks, trying to keep my HR up, thankfully I was alone most of the time, so it was only the ground squirrels that thought I was crazy!

Bob crossing the Finish Line.

With all my self pep talks, I was able to hold my position to the finish line, taking 4th out of 16 finishers! A rather bittersweet finish, as 4th is good, but to have 3rd slip away (again) due to a glaring mistake made it rough! Bob and Sam had some tougher times on the bike. Sam, had to pull out of the race early as she was still suffering from the the nasty crash she had a week before, thankfully she is headed into Rebound Physical Therapy this week to get all fixed up. Bob, had three of my 3rd laps, struggling with the heat, humidity, dust and the rough course all taking their toll on him. He was able to stay strong and finish, happily downing the ice cold water bottle I handed to him as he crossed the finish line.

Bob quite enjoyed his water,
showing off his great tanlines!

After our hard efforts, Sam and I hung out in Bend and refueled at the awards/after-party hosted by the fine folks at Webcyclery. They really put on a fantastic event, with live music, soda pop and beer and of course, hot off the grill burgers and dogs. We had a fantastic time, getting to enjoy a beautiful, warm evening with our racing family!


















The following weekend had us travelling south to Ashland for the tough, yet fun Spring Thaw XC race. Our plan was to camp out at Emigrant Lake, just East of town, but when we arrived at midnight and saw a cost of $20.00 per night for a tent site, we decided that we'd rather give our hard earned money to Trinity Bikes for new bike parts then for a small piece of pavement. So, we headed all the way up to the Mt Ashland parking lot, where they were allowing campers to stay for free in their back lot! Talk about a win-win! 

Awesome campsite, check out Kai's smile!

The view was wicked good, the stars were incredibly bright and Kai loved the fact she got to roam around, chasing poor little ground squirrels around!

The view after a two minute walk from our 'camp'. Wicked awesome!

After a solid night's sleep and some breakfast we drove the curvy road and freeway back to Ashland and out to Lithia Park where we snagged a lucky parking spot. The weather had begun with some broken clouds and sunshine, but as I picked up my number and got ready for the race, clouds began to roll in. Temps stayed comfy though, opting for a LS jersey but no warmers on the legs as I knew that hour long climb would warm me up. After a nice warm-up with Buzkirkleton, I lined up at the start and listened to the start instructions. Soon we were off as we furiously pedaled up and away on the start of the climb. The course was back to the original course, which I love! You climb for about 40 minutes, descend 3/4 of the way down (16 minutes), head back up to the top and descend again, all the way to the finish! I went out and settled into a solid pace which in retrospect could have been slightly harder, but nonetheless, it was still good! At the top, I pushed myself to my riding limit as well as my lips as my smile was stretched from ear to ear as I flew down the exciting trails! Going into the 2nd lap, I was refreshed and ready to push again, going with a slightly brisker pace. About halfway up, I began seeing flashes of a black and pink jersey....Switchblade, which meant only one thing: Gabe Linn. Gabe is my arch-nemesis/friend who has been crushing it this year and has been my 'target' to try and chase after. Seeing him, gave me some huge inspiration and I dug even deeper, knowing that there was a 99% chance that the order we start the descent would be the order we all finished. I gunned it at the top and was able to barely squeak by him as we began the flying downhill. The very first section is a pretty technical rock garden, so I flew through it as quickly as I could, to put a small gap on Gabe and the others I had just passed. Thank goodness I did, because immediately following that section, there was a flat right hand corner that I pushed a bit too hard on. Before I knew what was up, I was 'sliding into home' on my right side. Funny part was the order of thought processes that immediately went through my brain:

1. @#$#@%#! (Expletives)

Spectator: Dude are you ok?!

2. Crap, did I rip my bibs?! We can't order more, dang it. I hope it's not torn like Bob and Austin's are. CRAP! OK, it's all good.

Me: Yeah, I'm good, thanks! (Hadn't actually checked my body, just the bibs.)

3. GABE's coming.....GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Thankfully I got back on the bike and began hammering right as Gabe and my chasers cambe barreling up to me. At this point I began wondering about the wounds, but there really was not opportunity, with me pushing myself to the absolute limit on the descent so I wouldn't get caught! I did notice that my right sleeve was pushed halfway up my forearm, but that was about it. For the remaining descent, I kept pinning it, thankfully coming up to lapped riders in very opportune spots, one of my favorites being a switchback with two lines, I snuck the inside and flew by! As we hit the last, lower section, I knew there were some super fast guys with some full suspension bikes that would be faster than me on this very bumpy/jumpy section so I stayed off the brakes as much as possible. About 3/4 of the way down, I caught a singlespeed guy who thought I was also a singlespeeder so he began to 'chat' with me about how he thinks we got sent on an extra loop. It was quite hilarious, but then I explained I was a different category so he let me by as I charged towards the final section of gravel road. I knew that I could hold anyone off as soon as I hit that so as I flew onto it, I was super stoked! I locked out my fork and hammered away to home!

It was such a sweet feeling to be able to hold off some fast guys like that, the adrenaline was pumping and I was in a complete endorphin/sick trail high as caught my breath and congratulated Gabe on a hard fought race! After all the battling and feeling super solid, unfortunately I was only able to take 8th place on the day. There were some wicked fast riders out crushing it. A bit bummed about that, but I was happy with my efforts, so I proceeded to cool down in the rain and enjoy the great afterparty with Sam and Kai!

Hanging out post-race. Aww!

Another sweet race weekend in the books, Sister's Stampede is coming up and I am feeling strong and ready for the course that really suits my strengths! See ya then!!!





-Shane Johnson

Weekend at the Oregon Coast!

The awsomeness just doesn't stop! Weekend before last, we had a blast on our trip to Newport for the Coast Hills Classic XC Race.

Sam and I climbing my childhood climbing tree!

Since I (Shane) had to work until 7:00PM, Sam, Bob, Kodi and Kai (she guarded everything), got everything jammed into the car and swung by work, to pick me and my awesome bike up! Since it was so late in the evening, we decided to soften the blow of having a long, late, drive and stopped 3/4 of the way to the coast to stay the night with Papa (my dad) at the Johnson Estates in Corvallis. It's always a relaxing stay at the house, as it has a beautiful garden and yard, smack dab in the middle of farm fields, creating a super peaceful and calming setting. We awoke to a brightly shining sun and proceeded to cook up a solid breakfast of hashbrowns, eggs, bacon and of course OJ! Following our short stay, we took off towards the crashing waves of the Oregon Coast.

Relaxing as we eat some delicious breakfast.

Kai hydrating after some frisbee action!

 When we arrived, the waves were more splashing against the sand, but the sun was out and offered warmth we've never experienced at the coast before, we thought Hwy 20 somehow transported us to a SoCal beach on our drive over! 

Wait, is this the Oregon Coast or California?!

Unloading the Subie at the beach house!

Our plans to stay at the coast were based on the great luck that my dad has a house in Otter Rock, a small community just north of Newport. We arrived at the house, still shocked by the warm sunshine, and unloaded into the spacious, coastal retreat. 




Bob and Kodi took the short walk down to the beach for some frisbee time with Kai. Sam and I took the bikes out and went out in search of trail and to get a nice spin to free up our legs, in preparation for the next day's race. Sadly our dirt search came up short, but we didn't come up short on beautiful scenery!

Sam spinning out the legs and enjoying the view.

Driving across the Newport Bridge.

After our little ride, we met up with Bob and Kodi and walked down to Mo's to load up on calories by consuming insane amounts of her famous Clam Chowder. After the four of us devoured two of the family pots of chowder, we topped it all off by getting some Marionberry Cobbler and a Brownie Sundae topped with Chocolate and Caramel. We waddled out to the Otter Rock Bluff where we watched my dad surf a couple of the small/smooshy waves before the sun went down. By this time, Sean, Ashley and Celeste had shown up at the house so we all hung out for the evening by the fire before retiring to bed for a good nights sleep.

Morning consisted of the normal race routine, eat a solid breakfast and scamper our way out the door. Once again, we had beautiful sunshine to enjoy as we drove the short 25 minutes from the house to the race course, located just south of Yaquina Bay. 

The race area was abuzz with activity as vendors setup their tents, the volunteers got their last instructions, racers warmed up and registered and the promoters put the finishing touches on the impressive race headquarters. We got our number plates and headed back to the car to finish getting ready and squeeze in a little too short of a warm-up.

The starting pace was fast and furious!

Rolling up to the start, we got instructions from the race director, Liam, then final words from Mike Ripley, the Chief Referee and we were off!! The course consisted of a 1/4 mile or so climb up a gravel road. I knew being a short course, I had to put the pedal to the metal immediately, so I hammered up the hill and was able to jump onto the singletrack in second position. 

Sadly, this was where the lack of a solid warm-up bit me in the butt. My poor legs yelled at me pretty hard, so after a successful start, I had to let up a bit and lost several positions. Thankfully, this was short lived and I was able to start pushing hard again as we hit the punchy power road climbs. The course was super fun and had a good mixture of tough terrain. Along with the gravel climbs, we encountered singletrack that had rough/rooty sections as well as smooth buffed out sections, a couple mud pits and open field (literally a field) riding where the wind could beat you up pretty well. As the first lap progressed, I was able to reel back a couple guys that had pulled in front of me and as lap two began, I found myself riding with Karsten Hagen and Matt Cline, two very strong riders. We exchanged blows for the first half of the lap, each of us pulling ahead, only to be reeled back again. Midway up one of the steeper climbs, I didn't stay focused and let the pain in my legs get to me a bit too much and a small gap formed between myself and the other two guys. After snapping out of this small mental lapse, I had my work cut out for me as I rode as hard as I could to try and close the gap (including a 30+ MPH singletrack descent). Karsten was able to pull away out of sight, but Matt was right there and he knew it too as we both pushed ourselves to the limit for the rest of the race. I was able to narrow the gap, but not quite enough, as he was able to stay away across the finish line, only 7 tiny seconds in front. It was brutal to take 4th place by that small of a margin, but he earned that podium spot with his hard effort. 

Sean was all smiles post race!

Bob was able to ride strong and finish in 8th place, as his high end fitness is coming around well. Sean's body unfortunately succumbed to the heat and humidity, it was an average of 80 degrees (riding in shade) at the coast (lots of moisture), but his mountain biking soul had a good time slaying some fun trail as he finished in 10th!

Sam crushing it up the hill, post mud pit!

Sam was the other victim of the day, as she took a bad fall in one of the mud pits. It was a high speed descent into the mud pit, where you had to take a slight right hand turn and then head back uphill. Her front wheel decided it didn't want to go that route, instead, stopping and chucking her over the handlebars into the cyclone fencing that was the boundary for the Newport Airport. She scorpioned as she hit the ground (think heels to the back of the head, OUCH!). After gathering herself, she got back up and finished up the race, with her handlebars badly skewed compared to the wheel, (wheel 12 o'clock, handlebar/stem 2 o'clock). Even with the crash, she was able to finish in 2nd place, posting a time that would have her in the middle of the pack with the Men's racers! Hats off to her for a tough showing.

Post-race was where things got even better! The organizers had about 30 huge pizzas arrive, along with ice cold water and gatorade for all the racers to munch away on. To be able to gorge ourselves on delicious pizza while sitting in the warm sunshine, put a cap on the fantastic event! We hung around for the raffle, sadly walking away empty handed, but we did work on erasing our winter white skin!

Sam and Bob enjoying the post-race sunshine.

Bob and Kodi flashing their pearly whites.

Sean and Ashley hanging out during the awards.

 

We don't ever pose or anything......

We jetted back to the house and packed up so we could get some quality time on the beach before having to make the trek back home to Central Oregon. Once again, we marveled at the incredible warmth we got to enjoy out in the sand. Me being the kid I am, got to work on a sand castle, getting Sean, Bob and Kodi to come help build a sweet drip castle! As the tide started to come up, threatening our beautiful masterpiece, we saw it was time to go, so we headed up the steep beach access stairs before we had to witness the destructive forces of the ocean.

Before we left the coast, we had to eat some good seafood at least one more time! Per the insiders/locals (Papa and his awesome girlfriend Jan) recommended a trip to the Chowder Bowl at Nye Beach in Newport. Well they nailed it, the food was super delicious, portion sizes were outrageous, Bob actually needed help finishing his huge salad and we couldn't decide who is the Clam Chowder winner between Chowder Bowl and Mo's.

Bob, Kodi, Jan, Papa, Ashley, Sean and Celeste!

Stuffed full of food, we loaded into the car to begin the 3.5 hour drive back to the high country. As our food comas subsided during the trip, we decided it would be necessary to come back soon and have our own, side by side Clam Chowder tasting competition sometime soon!

Thanks for reading! Our next race stays in the homeland, with Cascade Chainbreaker, an epically dusty Bend race!

-Shane Johnson

Bear Springs XC

We had a quick little trip up north last weekend, to the SE flanks of Mt Hood to race the epic Bear Springs XC race. Trinity Bikes Cycling showed up with four athletes: Bob, Brian, Sam and Shane, ready to tackle the tough high alpine course on Sunday!

The Redmond contingent of Bob, Sam and I (Shane) made the mistake of assuming the sunny, cloudless skies of Central Oregon would be with us still, when we arrived 1.5 hours away, but frigidly, they did not. We were a tad underdressed with shorts and no real jackets, so we patchworked together leg warmers, sweats and sweatshirts to take the chill off, as we got the bikes and ourselves ready to race!

After a brief warm-up on the short track course, we all headed to the start line. As we were on our way there, we realized that Sam had been given the incorrect number plate, which would have sent her on the long course for an extra 11 miles instead of the correct, 9 mile course. She would've handled the extra length just fine, but 9 miles of nutrition and water is a bit less than that for 20. Thankfully, Melanie, the Chief Referee was on-point and got Sam taken care of in the the short windows of time between start waves! With that slight hiccup taken care of, we lined up for the start. 

Bob and I were in the first wave to take off, up the gradual paved start section. After the start, there was a sharp right hand turn up a steep powerline climb then it was trail time! The course consists of great singletrack AND motorcycle trails. Now you're probably thinking, 'ewww motorcycle trails!'. Quite the opposite, due to the higher bio-mass and clay levels in the soil, motorcycles don't churn the dirt into moondust, instead, it just gets pushed aside into perfect berms that are incredibly fun, no matter if you were climbing or descending! The berms, paired with perfect trail conditions (just enough moisture to keep it fast and grippy), and some solid climbing ~3,800 feet for the long course, the Bear Springs XC course is one heck of an epic mountain bike race!

Thanks to some good fitness starting to show in our legs, the team was able to put some solid results together. I was able to settle into a good position early on and keep a super even pace good for a 5th place finish, just two minutes back from the winner. The hours of training in New Mexico sure helped out for myself and Bob, who raced hard and took 16th in our 28 person field. Brian fought back from a broken chain to take 21st in the CAT 2 field and Sam brought home the glory for the second race in a row, taking top time in the CAT 3 Women's race.

After all these calories were burned, we headed to Government Camp for some much needed sustenance at Ice Axe Grill, where we ran into fellow racers Chris Moor, Sue & Tim Butler and sat down for some good laughs and good food!

Bob and Kai sleeping on the way home.

Next on our race plate is the Coast Hills Classic race in Newport, should be a great time, getting to stay at the Beach House in Otter Rock! Until then, the sun is shining so keep the wheels turning!


-Shane Johnson