Luce Has Luck In Fontana!

US Cup #3 Fontana  3/30/13

Written By Corey Luce

I spent Saturday watching teammates and friends race the CAT 1 division and also getting in some warmup and pre-riding in on the course. This course was not for the weak! I've been on the course before and even did a winter race in January of this year so I knew what was in store. Not only does this course offer technical rocky descents, but rocky climbs that will test your legs and lungs. Saturday's race brought lots of crashes and mechanical failures to many racers, including one my friends, who thankfully was still able to finish the race after a pileup off a rocky ledge!

As 9am approached, I was warmed up and ready. We were the 2nd wave as the 19-29 age group was 1st. The first group took off and then they lined us up. 2min until we go. The 2 minutes feels like 30! 1min, 30sec, 15sec, 5 sec, BAM! We are off battling for position down the fire road. I set myself up in 6th down the first stretch. We make a hard 180 to the 2nd stretch then up the first small hill. This is where I made my move into 3rd powering over the hill into the rolling singletrack. Matt(Cannondale/Musclemilk) had the lead, a Trek/Bear rider in 2nd, and me following in 3rd. Matt started to pull away from us and I had no where to pass 2nd place to try and stay with him. Finally a moment opened and I took it, making the pass and getting into 2nd place hammering to try and catch Matt. We hit the short pavement climb and I was able to close the gap some. Before hitting the turn to the rocky dirt climb to the top, Matt was able to get around a rider from the previous group. Me...nope. I was stuck behind him. Due to the technical nature and tight singletrack in this section, there wasn't room for me to get by easily. I kept telling him I needed by, I needed by! Finally I just yelled "Just move! pull off to the side and move over!" I think he got tired of me talking his ear off as we climbed BUT the leader was getting away and putting a gap on me(us) and I'm being slowed down by the last place rider of the group in front of us! Finally was able to get by as he moved over. I hammered up the hill and hit the backside descents which are very technical and rocky. I kept it smooth( as possible) and fast, keeping it on two wheels. I was able to still have a fast 1st lap considering the traffic. Lap 2, I was only within a minute or so of Matt and I kept pushing the pace and navigating through other riders. I could see him throughout the course and kept trying to close the gap. Again pulling a fast and clean 2nd lap. 3rd lap came around and I was tiring. It was getting HOT too! Felt like my Heart Rate was rising with the temperature! My buddy Jason and Jett were there and was able to give me a fresh bottle for fuel. They said I had a big gap on 3rd and the rest of my group and that Matt was still within reach. But the course was taking a toll on me. I hit the climb again to the top and did what I could to power up it, but legs were noodles! Felt like it took forever to get to the top, but I still had a good pace going. I had another clean run through the course and I hit the backside fire roads and sprinted on what I had left to the finish. Whew! Matt put up a great 3 lap fight (17 miles and 3100+feet of gain) and I rode away with another 2nd place finish!

We had 17 racers in my group come out to race in this National event and due to the nature of this course, 5 were DNF's(Did Not Finish). Either due to crashing, mechanicals, or both. I'm looking forward to battling in Santa Ynez in a couple weeks and HC3 Coaching has me right on schedule with my fitness.

US Cup #3 Fontana 3/31/13

The Platinum Performance-Sho Air Mtn Bike Team headed into the 3rd round of the US Cup with a solid lead in the Pro/Cat 1 Team division.  The course at Fontana was very challenging with rocky terrain, twisting singletrack and very little places for a reprieve. The climbs were back breaking and many of the riders will be waking up this morning with sore backs!  The laps were about 5.5 miles and the Cat 1 racers took on four loops.  This was part of the National circuit so many of the top riders from the Pro to Cat 1 ranks turn up for this one.  The Platinum team had many good results with ten top five results in the Cat 1 division!

Dean Swank rode to a solid 2nd place finish in the Cat 1 55-59 class on a barrowed bike.  Thanks to teammate Bobby Langin for a spare bake at the last minute!  Once Swank has his bike dialled in he will soon be on top of the podium again.

Todd Booth had a disappointing race in the Cat 1 40-44 class.  With mechanical problems and a crash, Booth placed 8th in a very tough division.  His tied for the lead of that division has now dropped a few places.

Tim Sparks had his hands full in the Cat 1 Singlespeed division. This was Sparks first 2nd place all season with a undefeated record to date.

Andy Osburn rode a good performance in the Cat 1 50-54 group. 

Alex Teno had a solid race in the Cat 1 45-49 class with a 3rd place finish.  Teno did well despite a early race crash.

Craig Sisino pulled off a 5th place finish in the Cat 1 Singlespeed race.  

Francisco Vidal was all smiles with a great performance in a very competitive Cat 1 50-54 class.  Vidal was sharing the podium with Tinker Juarez and Johnny O'Mara.

Adam Poytress had a top five finish in the Cat 1 30-34 division.  

 

Jon Miller is unbeatable so far this season in the Cat 1 60-64 division.  Miller is looking stronger than ever!

"Danger" Dave Culbertson was out pre-riding a day before his Cat 2 race.

John Biron had a tough day on the bike.  He finished 5th in the Cat 1 50-54 class.  Biron will be fired up for redemption at Firestone.

Steve Silva had one of his better race days, with a 3rd place finish in the Cat 1 55-59 class.  Silva is now fired up for Firestone in a few weeks.

Photos by Laura Swank

Comeback Victoy!

CCCX #3 Race Report - CAT 2 19-34

Written by Corey Luce

 I wasn't sure I would be racing this weekend until last minute. I had an open weekend to do some more hard training prepping for the Fontana Nationals next weekend. But what better training is there other than by Racing! I woke up feeling descent even after some hard training blocks my coach(The Heater Heaton) has me on now and I just put in a solid 30+mile ride the day before. Getting to the site was a challenge due to another event blocking off roads and having to go another way taking longer than expected. Then the line for registrations was super long. By the time I got registered and ready, it was only about 10min until start. I quickly spun the legs out to get the best warmup possible. Knowing that the 1st lap may be my warmup anyways. Heading to the start line, I see my field (19-34 age group) had another large showing. We were in a start wave with a couple other groups including juniors and singlespeeders. As the CAT 1 guys take off, we were next. The hurt locker was about to commence!

We get our instructions from the director and 15 sec until start. BAM! We are off down the pavement start. Keeping calm, I just tucked in behind a couple guys before hitting the dirt. Trek/Bear Devo rider sprinted out front before the dirt. I hear my boy and fellow racer Dennis yell at me, you see him?! You watching him?!! I got 'em, I said. We made a quick turn right onto dirt, then another left. As we take the left to the dirt climb, the rider in front of me switched his line causing me and my front tire to wash out and down I go! I get up and my chain was jammed and off. As I worked on getting it working, I watched my entire start wave pass me. DEAD LAST! I hopped back on and looked down at my Garmin gps..it had frozen. No data, Heart Rate, distance, time..nothing. It was down to me and my training from there.

I threw down a pace and started climbing my way back through the ranks and making passes in any place I could. By mile 3 I could see our lead group and the leader. I made some more passes and caught the leader. Starting the 2nd lap I passed the leader at the top of the start climb. I look back and Sergio is on my wheel making the pass too! The 2nd and 3rd laps I kept looking back and Sergio was still there! He was like a magnet to my wheel! For those 2 laps, I kept pushing the pace just a little more and pushing the climbs just a little more to see if he would hang on and he did. I just kept it smooth and fast. Lap 4, the last lap, I knew I had to push it harder and get some distance. After the first climb he was still sticking to my wheel. As we navigated through traffic, he was still hanging on. Getting close to the end, we caught up to some CAT1 guys. I think there were like 7 of them in a line. As we hit an open section, I pinned it and jumped out in front of 5 of them. Hitting the climb and hammered up and passed another. Then at the top, I passed another! Before dropping back into the descent, I glanced back and saw that Serg didn't get around some of them and I had some traffic between us. I kept hammering up the last climb and across the finish with the VICTORY! Also pulling the fastest CAT 2 time of the day!

After being in last place after the start mishap, it was difficult to imagine brining home the win. Thanks to God, Platinum Performance, Sho-Air, Oakley, ESI grips, SRAM and HC3 Coaching for the the WIN, and of course Keith DeFiebre for putting on these great events here in Monterey!

Luce at Bonelli!

Us Cup #2  Bonelli Park   3/17/13

Written by Platinum rider Corey Luce

Early morning start Sunday morning for the CAT 2 racers at Bonelli. I was feeling pretty rested and had a descent warmup before the start. I did a quick spin around the course the afternoon before and knew it was going to be grueling. Steep climbs up to 25% grade, technical descents, off camber turns, and little recovery between climbs.

My group was the second wave which allowed for an open course the 1st lap with little traffic, which was good due to the course layout having very little passing room in some sections. The start went out hard as some of the top guys sprinted out for position down the pavement. Hitting the dirt I was drafting in 5th place as we began to ascend the first climb of the course. I wanted hold back on the pavement some, to have the freshness to power up this steep climb while some racers huffed and puffed for going out to hard! Strategy, all strategy! . As we powered up the climb, I made my move up to 3rd. Hitting the next descents and climbs I was noticing the leader pulling away and the rider in front of my just wasn't holding his own. I finally had to aggressively him on one of the climbs but the leader already had a good 30 second gap on me. I then laid down the chase to try and catch him. Coming through the 1st lap, another racer was right on my tail. The whole 2nd lap we kept swapping places and we both showed strength on all the climbs. When i was behind him, I stuck to his wheel the best I could as we navigated through traffic of other racers. Still no sign of the leader but knowing he wasn't too far ahead. Coming around on our 3rd and final lap, I was sitting in 3rd. I knew I needed to make a move but didn't want to make it too early and not have enough if it came down to a sprint finish. I held back and kept to his rear wheel. There was so much traffic, it was hard to make time on the leader at this point but we kept pushing the pace and each other. Getting close to the back side on the last climb, I started to make a move, but he countered hard and stayed ahead of me. I stayed calm and waited for another opportunity. Time was running out! We started to descend the final descent and down he goes! His front wheel slid out on a soft corner and he had to put a foot down! I was right on his wheel and was able to take advantage and made the pass! I stood up and hammered it out to the finish for a 2nd Place!

Challenging but exciting race at this national event in San Dimas! Looking forward to the Fontana Nationals in a couple weeks!

Good Times at Bonelli!

Francisco Vidal, Dean Swank, Jon Miller and John Biron post race!

Francisco Vidal hammering the climbs!

Alex Teno making up ground!

A National caliber podium!  Dario Fredrick (4x National Champ), Rob McGee (2nd Nats x2), Todd Booth (Sea Otter Champ x2), Kenny Wehn (Cyclocross Superstar) and Nathan Lloyd (Hammerhead).