Cathy Says....

Claire & I raced 8 hours in the women 2-up category. We won! Yee haw!

I have never been part of a race where the people are so nice. Without exception, everyone on the trail, whether I was passing them or they were passing me, was super nice and friendly. Must have been the positive nonprofit BikeMonkey vibe. I even had a ride guide my first lap; he rode behind me while we were smoking the descent, calling out switchbacks and turns. I was bummed when he disappeared for my next lap! It was great to see so many folks out for this event. Carlos, Jason, et al did a fantastic job promoting a race with all proceeds going to charity. We NorCal girls were set up right next to the SoulCraft folks, who like always were friendly, fun and helpful (thanks Lainey for the floor pump 101 instruction). Plus, we got to hang out with some Giannis (Roger, George, and Dan B.), and Boba Brad. Thanks Mariko and Melissa, for taking such good care of us.

Claire-bell Reports....

I hereby report that NorCal rocks my world.

Lil Linz Reports...

so sunday brought the 8 hour boggs race put on by the one and only carlos perez. around our campfire we determined who would be on which team. katrina, penny, and i were put together. penny started the race and completed two laps. then came me, charging out on my first lap, and trying to maintain for the next two. katrina took over and did two laps, and i finished the team off with a final loop. it was a blast. we all rode really strong and the course was epic! definately a great way to kick off the race season.

Feeling the Lurve!

Holy bleep, that was fun!

I do not even know where to start!

Okay, firstly, a Huge thanks to Carlos P. for making this event happen . That guy is simply the BOMB! I mean, the sugar cookies they fed us were even imbossed with the bike monkey! Food was great, the course was great---everything! And, Red Bull was there. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!

I was so thrilled to be on a 3-girl team with two of my idols Penny the Punisher and Lindsay (Lil Linz) who is just truly amazing and climbs like a spider-monkey. We decided to do two laps each, Penny first then Linz and me last. Linz was feeling great and did three, so it was ~1:30 by the time I hit the trail. I was a total mess of nerves. I truly thought I was going to have a heart attack. Finally, by the end of the second lap, I was able to relax and feel good. The highlight of my segment was seeing Chris Culver on the top of a climb with Red Bull in a Dixie cup! I knocked back a couple of those and floated back to the start/finish and there was Linz waiting to go out again! After that, I sidled over to the Red Bull truck to thank them and they gave me an icy one. In case you havent figured it out, Red Bull is my favorite beverage. We also had the amazing support of Melissa and Mariko who fed and watered us all the live-long day! Thanks girls!

When it was time for the results, each and every NorCal member collected a medal! Two of our teams flat out won! Claire and Cathy: 1st place 2-up women. And the amazing super-family Chris and Sarah took 1st male/female and little Simone took 1st in too cute!" By the way, Chris ended up with the fastest lap time of the day, something like 40 minutes, wow! Shannon and Carina ended up with a podium result too, as well as a couple of other mixed teams we had there. Lets just say there was a whole mess of us out there and that was good.

Banana-Walnut Pancakes (for when you are too hammered to go out the next day):

3/4 C all purp flour 1/4 C whole-wheat flour 1/4 t salt 2 t baking powder 1/4 t ground cinnamon 1/4 C fine chopped toasted walnuts 1/4 C rolled oats 1 1/3 C soy milk 1 T canola oil 1 T pure maple syrup 1 large banana, sliced

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. in a seperate bowl, mix the soy milk, oil and maple syrup. Combine the wet and dry, mix then fold in the banana. Cook in a lightly oiled fry pan. Go write your race report.

Sarah Ps Report...

That was such a sh**ton of fun!!! I feel so blessed to have such a great team to belong to and I am still high from the day, or maybe it is the banana daquiri Chris just made me. Yes we are taking the day off after yesterdays ride, and to follow Katrinas lead the recipe for this post 8 hour relay bev will follow my report.

I first have to commend Carlos, the work that he put into this event was very much appreciated. I loved the venue- felt like it was a Grateful Dead concert at times with lots of dogs running around and babies. We even had some random beagle prewash our dishes when we were done eating dinner. Hope the owner was not cursing us for the garlic farts the dog had that night in the tent with him... okay to the race report.

Chris started out like a bat outa hell riding in 41 minutes and I nervously road until I was hunted down by the pack. Starting without a warmup, my legs were begging for forgiveness. I just figured I would have plenty of time to warmup. It was not until lap 2 until I felt I could give up the granny gear on the first climb. The course was fantastic, with a nice mix of climbing and descents. At times I felt like I had a flat with all the squishy pine needles I road through. So we finished the day with 4 laps for me, 6 for Chris. They had a cut off to start your last lap at 4:30 and finish by 5:15 and Chris just managed to squeeze in our 10th lap.

Bike Monkey supplied us with burgers and beer and a little folk band in the background. They werent Grateful Dead but they were fun nonetheless. I felt like this event is what mountain biking is all about, nothing outlandish and rootsy down to the core. It was a great time and it felt great to be a part of such a supportive group. Thanks to Melissa and Mariko for helping and to all of those who chased our little booger face dirt eater Simone around while we were riding!

Banana Daquiris 6ounces rum, 2 bananas cut into 1 inch pieces, 2 fresh squeezed lemons, splash of grand marnier or countrieu, 3-4 cups of ice and whiz it like hell in the blender before pouring in a tall glass- yum

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