or… This isn't the same Bonelli.
My first XC race was at Bonelli Park in October 2007. I signed up for Sport Women Open. I knew nothing about training, nutrition, or racing. I was racing my sweet Dos Niner set up as a 1x9 (special Boone 29T ring, since I couldn't handle a 32T up front). There was one other woman at the line, and she took off before I had even shifted down on my cassette. The other passed me about 1/4mi in to the race.
Yup, that was me in October 2007.
I'll be honest, I don't remember much about the race. I think I went back and forth with another female about my age that kept passing me on the climbs, and I'd get her on the descents. I think she crashed 2-3 times and called it a day. There was a massive cacti patch on the hill that we all climbed this past weekend (the switchbacks) and a bunch of people crashed there.
I did the same race in 2008 I believe in Expert… only female out there.
I think Tinker lapped me on lap 2 of 4!
Since there isn't usually a lot of competition in the local Cat 1 ranks, I requested an upgrade to Pro Women XC in late 2008. USAC denied the request, asking for more solid results at bigger events, so I set out to put in some solid and smart training, and realized that Chipotle wasn't "health" food.
My next time racing at Bonelli was a little different. I actually had been training and watching my nutrition a little more closely for about 4 months by the time I got to the race. I was stoked that the Cat 1 women got to start with the Pro's. It was the first race of the season, and I was on my new 2009 S-Works Epic. I was super nervous, but shot out of the gate and found myself riding on the wheel of Melanie McQuaid and going back and forth with Krista Park! It was awesome getting to watch Krista race, and follow her around the course for my 2 laps.
After "bugging" them some more, USAC let me upgrade before the Pro XCT event at Fontana last year, and I was stoked!
Needless to say, I've done a good amount of racing at Bonelli, and have really kind of come full circle from the sport racer that was constantly getting dropped!
Justin and I got to pre-ride most of the Triple Crown Pro course the weekend before the event. We were tired from racing SRC, and the weather wasn't great, so we didn't spend much time out there. We got out of work early Wednesday before the race and set out on a few laps to test the bike setups and the tires, and I was stoked to have the course a little more dialed in.
I felt ok but not great Friday on our ride at lunch, and then spent about 4 hours in the kitchen cooking and prepping for the weekend while Justin finalized the bike stuff in the garage.
Got bottles?
Justin made a few "tactical" errors Friday night. He came in to shower and said that one of my crank bolts had shattered, but it would be okay and we'd get it replaced before Fontana. No worries. I forgot about it.
I was up way before the alarm Saturday morning and felt ready to go! We got up to the venue before noon and I got in the longer than expected registration line. Had hopped to get in a lap or so before the juniors went off.
Justin had the Team Rock N' Road Cyclery pit all dialed in when I got back from registration.
We got kitted up and I went to clip in to my pedal and my foot fell to the ground. I thought (new shoes n all) I had missed the pedal, so tried again. Realized my cranks were parallel (this is no bueno). Justin looked at them and realized it was not going to work. I sort of started to panic. He ran around asking for crank bolts.
He set me up on his hard tail, and was lucky enough to get hooked up with a way to put my crank rings on his drivetrain, since his crank arms were NOT fitting in my frame. So, I went out to get used to a bike I'd ridden once and that was a size too big.
It wasn't my bike, but I'd make it work. I thought about Beth's blog on making lemonade from the week before, and I was just going to make some for myself!
I got back to the pits and Justin told me that Juan (who is a Specialized demo rep that happened to be at the event with some sweet bikes!) had given up his personal crankset for the weekend for me to race on. What a life saver!
So, I hopped back on my bike and did a short loop around the course after the junior races had finished so I could check out my tire set up and finish warm-up.
I felt about as prepared as I was going to get, and lined up as the men were just about to head out on their start/parade lap with the other women. The women's turn out was pretty low (11 starters), but it was also stacked! With Lene Byberg, Heather Irmiger, and Kelli Emmett from the World Cup circuit, Pua Sawicki with multiple 24-hour national titles and a Marathon World Cup Pro, Amber Neben who was a road TT World Champion, Chloe Forsman and Kay Sherwood with strong U23 and collegiate finishes, Krista Park who has competed nationally, Rebecca Tomaszewski who is a top-level SS and endurance mountain biker, and new to the Pro ranks Anna Fortner.
This crew was no joke!
I lined up I think on the far right of the first row and managed to hold on to the 2nd pack coming around by the feedzone (shown in Rick Watts' video below). I think the groups came back together while out on the start loop and we all took off up the first steep climb toward the singletrack on the lake side pretty much in single file.
Pro Women's Start lap (thank you to Rick Watt's!!)
I was on Pua's wheel for the first descent, and made sure to stick like glue to her on the short climb back up. I think I was sitting in about 6th place for most of the lap, and we would all regroup here and there, with small gaps forming. On the flats out to the other part of the course I caught back on to Chloe's wheel, and Pua went around both of us.
Photo: Dave Wrolstad
I think I managed to come around Chloe on the next climb and Pua continued to accelerate. I was with Heather on a short paved section in between the rollers and the small climb before we descend to the swim beach flats and climb up the switchbacks. We yo-yo'd a bit with me in front after that through the feedzone, and then she came around on the steep climb, and I think I passed back before the singletrack climb back up. I knew Heather was back there and we were all suffering, and the gap up to the top 3 (Pua, Kelli and Lene) was staying somewhat consistent for lap 3.
Photo: Dave Wrolstad
Lap 4 my legs started to get pretty packed up, but I continued to push. I wasn't sure of the gap from me back, but I knew that Pua was out of my sights for the most part, and that that gap was starting to get bigger. I didn't panic, just kept my pace as high as I could and tried to keep it moving. I knew coming in to lap 4 it was time to take a bottle, and decided to yank my visor since it was acting like a giant sail on all of the flats.
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Another weekend in the books!
I was bummed last week seeing rain in the forecast AGAIN, but Justin and I had our plans set either way. Saturday we'd race the 5th and final Southridge USA Winter Series race in the morning, head north to pre-ride the Bonelli course in the afternoon, and try to hit the dirt with Stephanie and her new ERA on Sunday somewhere.
I was pretty sure Krista would be coming out with her new bike to race, but was stoked when there were 4 of us on the line! I introduced myself to Essence Barton, who I've heard of, but had never formally met, and unfortunately didn't get a chance to greet the 4th and final woman.
We staged behind the Pro Men and started in the same wave. Once off, Essence pulled in front of the women's pack, with me right on her wheel. We stayed pretty close to the back of the men's pack, and I made a pass around the 4x track, and tried to catch back on to the men's field. Once I hit the pavement, I was feeling good, so tried to put in some efforts and make some passes. Since I'd had no idea if I'd be racing alone, my goal for the race was to keep within the men's field as much as possible and have a good race, so that's what I what I did!
I'm still getting used to the 2x10 gearing, and made a few gearing selection errors through my 4 laps, causing either tripods or short hike a bikes where normally I've been fine. The 26/36 is just too easy of a gear to get much torque on super steep stuff, so I know I need to be down further on the cassette to really utilize the 26T chainring. The 36/36 is too big if I'm not spun up and accelerating before the steeper stuff, and the recent rains have left some rain ruts where normally they didn't used to be!
Overall the course was in great shape (though Donny didn't send us up the hike a bike in the beginning since it's not groomed) and I had a blast out there going back and forth with the other racers. The weather held out and was pretty perfect for race conditions.
Thanks to Krista's phone and Derek Hermon for the photo!
I saw on the results sheet the 4th woman had DNF'd, but it was Amber Neben! How freaking cool is that!! I hope she's out for some more local races, as that is pretty sweet.
After awards Justin and I headed north west toward Bonelli to try to pre-ride. Rain was threatening, and we really had no idea of what the course(s) were going to be, but we set out to get some time on the course, and just started following course tape until we ran into the man himself - Scott Tedro! Scott was nice enough to show us around for part of the loop, and then we set off to ride a little more. It was getting colder, darker, and later, so we wound up not finishing up a lap and instead stopped by Rock N' Road in Anaheim Hills for some nutritionals and much needed bike parts! Had a great time hanging out until closing!
Justin was the early bird on Sunday morning getting up before 5 am and making banana pancakes before our big "bag the peak" ride we had planned. It was about 7 and no one had called the ride, so we loaded up to hit the OC for a few hours of mountain bike fun.
The clouds were low over the mountains, but it was clear as we drove over. We could see patches of snow up near the peak, and the local foothills had a dusting.
As we got to Irvine we saw more snow up on Santiago and knew we'd be in for a bit of a cold and snowy day!
Got to Cooks around 9:15 and temperatures felt "ok", but it was cloudy with no real sign of clearing into a gorgeous day. Our pack set off up the road toward Harding around 10.
Blue skies ahead!
The peak is hidden by clouds
We hit Harding and had a 9 mile climb ahead of us
Around halfway up Justin managed to SLICE his rear tire. This guy could flat in a padded room.
The higher we climbed the thicker the fog got
Until it cleared up again!
The crew at Four Corners
From there we headed into the mist and up into the colder clouds as we neared the peak
Snooooow
There at last!
The sound of the snow and ice melting off of the towers was scary at first! It was really coming down good as the wind gusted.
Soon we set off for a slight bit lower elevation…
We got down to the bottom of the first singletrack, where it was exposed to the biting wind, so headed down to the top of lower Holy Jim where we all huddled for warmth. It was awesome.
Thanks to Potts for the camera and CHanson for the editing!
Chugga-chugga
Almost there, and the sky darkens
So, the ride wasn't as long as planned, and it wasn't all that intense, but I ate a lot of food anyway
Killer weekend overall. Next up is the US Cup Triple Crown Race at Bonelli!
I was pretty sure Krista would be coming out with her new bike to race, but was stoked when there were 4 of us on the line! I introduced myself to Essence Barton, who I've heard of, but had never formally met, and unfortunately didn't get a chance to greet the 4th and final woman.
We staged behind the Pro Men and started in the same wave. Once off, Essence pulled in front of the women's pack, with me right on her wheel. We stayed pretty close to the back of the men's pack, and I made a pass around the 4x track, and tried to catch back on to the men's field. Once I hit the pavement, I was feeling good, so tried to put in some efforts and make some passes. Since I'd had no idea if I'd be racing alone, my goal for the race was to keep within the men's field as much as possible and have a good race, so that's what I what I did!
I'm still getting used to the 2x10 gearing, and made a few gearing selection errors through my 4 laps, causing either tripods or short hike a bikes where normally I've been fine. The 26/36 is just too easy of a gear to get much torque on super steep stuff, so I know I need to be down further on the cassette to really utilize the 26T chainring. The 36/36 is too big if I'm not spun up and accelerating before the steeper stuff, and the recent rains have left some rain ruts where normally they didn't used to be!
Overall the course was in great shape (though Donny didn't send us up the hike a bike in the beginning since it's not groomed) and I had a blast out there going back and forth with the other racers. The weather held out and was pretty perfect for race conditions.
Thanks to Krista's phone and Derek Hermon for the photo!
I saw on the results sheet the 4th woman had DNF'd, but it was Amber Neben! How freaking cool is that!! I hope she's out for some more local races, as that is pretty sweet.
After awards Justin and I headed north west toward Bonelli to try to pre-ride. Rain was threatening, and we really had no idea of what the course(s) were going to be, but we set out to get some time on the course, and just started following course tape until we ran into the man himself - Scott Tedro! Scott was nice enough to show us around for part of the loop, and then we set off to ride a little more. It was getting colder, darker, and later, so we wound up not finishing up a lap and instead stopped by Rock N' Road in Anaheim Hills for some nutritionals and much needed bike parts! Had a great time hanging out until closing!
Justin was the early bird on Sunday morning getting up before 5 am and making banana pancakes before our big "bag the peak" ride we had planned. It was about 7 and no one had called the ride, so we loaded up to hit the OC for a few hours of mountain bike fun.
The clouds were low over the mountains, but it was clear as we drove over. We could see patches of snow up near the peak, and the local foothills had a dusting.
As we got to Irvine we saw more snow up on Santiago and knew we'd be in for a bit of a cold and snowy day!
Got to Cooks around 9:15 and temperatures felt "ok", but it was cloudy with no real sign of clearing into a gorgeous day. Our pack set off up the road toward Harding around 10.
Blue skies ahead!
The peak is hidden by clouds
We hit Harding and had a 9 mile climb ahead of us
Around halfway up Justin managed to SLICE his rear tire. This guy could flat in a padded room.
The higher we climbed the thicker the fog got
Until it cleared up again!
The crew at Four Corners
From there we headed into the mist and up into the colder clouds as we neared the peak
Snooooow
There at last!
The sound of the snow and ice melting off of the towers was scary at first! It was really coming down good as the wind gusted.
Soon we set off for a slight bit lower elevation…
We got down to the bottom of the first singletrack, where it was exposed to the biting wind, so headed down to the top of lower Holy Jim where we all huddled for warmth. It was awesome.
Thanks to Potts for the camera and CHanson for the editing!
Chugga-chugga
Almost there, and the sky darkens
So, the ride wasn't as long as planned, and it wasn't all that intense, but I ate a lot of food anyway
Killer weekend overall. Next up is the US Cup Triple Crown Race at Bonelli!
Night Riding (and more power)
It's literally been almost a year since Justin, Luke and I gave up our weekly night ride due to poor trail conditions, multiple motos, and paying a grip every month to ride.
Well, it was time to get back out in the dirt mid-week! I'm still pretty shot from a hard race on Sunday and not letting up on myself all week, but it was a fun ride anyway.
I dig mountain biking with CycleOps power! It's great to have the metrics to track stress and for future reference on wattage output for climbs as well.
Ryan hooked Justin up with a XX spider for Specialized cranks and the 42/29 double chainring setup. Justin installed it on his S-Works HT the night before and wanted to test it out for possibly running it at Bonelli. Hope we get in a pre-ride before the race, though!
Since it was so cold in the waning daylight last night we headed over to "warm up" on Dam Climb and I put in a big effort. The legs felt ok, but I felt like I was climbing with an anchor attached!
Once we hit the singletrack the boys proceeded to do their thing and drop me! My legs were sore, so I just hung back and enjoyed it. We hit the good stuff out there, with a few sections repeated for good measure.
Just like old times...
A bit after it was proper dark Luke headed home, and Justin and I went out for "just one more" short loop. Justin followed me down one singletrack, and my line was off. While I pulled out of a big rain rut, Justin somersaulted and crashed pretty hard. He took it easy on the way back to the truck, and home we went.
Look forward to doing this again that's for sure!
Well, it was time to get back out in the dirt mid-week! I'm still pretty shot from a hard race on Sunday and not letting up on myself all week, but it was a fun ride anyway.
I dig mountain biking with CycleOps power! It's great to have the metrics to track stress and for future reference on wattage output for climbs as well.
Ryan hooked Justin up with a XX spider for Specialized cranks and the 42/29 double chainring setup. Justin installed it on his S-Works HT the night before and wanted to test it out for possibly running it at Bonelli. Hope we get in a pre-ride before the race, though!
Since it was so cold in the waning daylight last night we headed over to "warm up" on Dam Climb and I put in a big effort. The legs felt ok, but I felt like I was climbing with an anchor attached!
Once we hit the singletrack the boys proceeded to do their thing and drop me! My legs were sore, so I just hung back and enjoyed it. We hit the good stuff out there, with a few sections repeated for good measure.
Just like old times...
A bit after it was proper dark Luke headed home, and Justin and I went out for "just one more" short loop. Justin followed me down one singletrack, and my line was off. While I pulled out of a big rain rut, Justin somersaulted and crashed pretty hard. He took it easy on the way back to the truck, and home we went.
Look forward to doing this again that's for sure!
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