Monday, March 1, 2010

Sagebrush Safari - US Cup #1

(posted by Jeff Stanners)

This weekend was the opening race of the US Cup West Coast series. Sagebrush Safari, about 45 minutes east of San Diego is one of the best courses around. Only trouble is the course doesn't hold rain real well. And it rained almost non-stop on Saturday, the day before the race. Race day it was beautiful out though. The dirt wasn't actually too bad, just a little slushy, but with lots and lots of puddles to cross.

We had just 3 riders from Don's out for this one. Gerry, Lisa, and I all made the trip to race.

Full Results - http://teambigbear.com/results.php



Gerry - picture in cyclingnews.com
2nd place, cat 1 30-34
Gerry opened his season up in a strong fashion. Finished 2nd in a very strong field, just a minute and a half behind Ty Kady, who has numerous semipro wins on his resume. For more on Gerry's race check out his blog at http://bikeblood.com.


Jeff
12th place, cat 2 35-39
My race didn't go quite like I had planned. It started off well enough. I got out with the front of the pack on the flat road section, then hung in the top 8 through the climb while a few broke away. I was sitting in 7th when we hit the fast fireroad descent on the back and I flatted. It was my first race with a tubeless setup and the sidewalls on my tires must have been too thin and a sidewall ripped open. I put a tube in and kept the tire pressure real low to try to keep the tube from blowing through the hole in the sidewall. I made up a little ground that I lost but not much. Ended up finishing 12th in a field of 21.



Lisa
1st place, cat 1 30-39
Lisa's first race in her new age group. It's always disappointing when there's only 2 competitors in your class, but Lisa made the most of the situation and got the win.

The next US Cup race will be at Bonelli. It's part of the Pro Triple Crown series so there will be some top talent out for it. Pros race XC on Saturday. Everyone else races Sunday, with the pros also racing short track and super D on Sunday.

For more info: http://uscup.net/

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