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| Firestone Classic NMBS #2 2007 Los Olivos, California |
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| Buellton is a town of 3,900 people nestled in the Santa Ynez mountains north of Santa Barbara. It's sole claim to fame is split pea soup. I am not making this up. They claim to be the inventor of this recipe. So, Colt and I headed to the main pea soup restaurant on our first night......and all I can say is AWFUL. There was a slight after taste of something like rat poison but as I looked around the restaurant virtually everyone was devouring this stuff. Go figure. The race venue was at the Firestone Vineyards and Winery. Apparently they (heirs to the Firestone Tire fortune) own thousands of acres. The terrain was extremely hilly with a couple climbs so steep that some riders walked. The course was surprisingly bumpy due to hardened cow tracks. Some of the singletrack, in fact, was actually cow paths. Each lap was 14 miles with two water stops. With temperatures exceeding 90 degrees both days, they were needed. If you rode long enough behind other riders you inhaled a pound of dust (and probably cow dung also). |
| Solvang is a quaint Danish village two miles east of Buellton. How the town became such a huge tourist attraction I do not know. There are a couple hundred shops, restaurants, and of course Danish Bakeries. I must admit to trying a Danish pastry and it was easily the best I had ever eaten. Despite all the shops, I did not see even one where I was tempted to actually buy anything. Perhaps, the only exceptions were the many "tasting rooms" sponsored by local wineries. Back to the racing......Woman's Short track was exciting as always. Frosty and I both picked Katerina Nash and were right. I knew that Katerina would "turn herself inside out" to win. Georgia may have more cross-country horsepower but Katerina can throw down a faster short track lap than anyone. In the Men's Short track there were many leaders including Trebon, Wicks, Kabush, and JHK. But, in the shocker of the weekend, Max Plaxton took a flier on the next to last lap, then held on for the win. |
| It was unbelievable to see him in the sights of mountain biking's Elite Men, expecially Ryan who turned on the afterburners to catch Max.. Impressive indeed The Women's Cross Country was a Georgia Gould clinic. She had a 3 1/2 minute lead at one point. We joked she could probably walk the rest of the course and still win! It was good to see Shonny Vanlandinham return to form after an early season illness. She distanced herself from the rest of the field but could not match Georgian. Perhaps the best performance of the day was by Katerina Nash who was caught up in a crash at the start. This put her back in about 30th place, which could spelled disaster considering how difficult it was to pass on the singletrack. She methodically picked off one rider at a time to finish third. I would have liked to see the look on the Gary Fisher/Suburu women when she passed them! Wow. Luna went 1,2,3 in both weekend events. |
| The Men's Cross Country turned out to be a slugfest. After JHK attacked on the first killer climb, a group of four rode the rest of the way together. Wicks, Plaxton, JHK, and Kabush would trade pulls the rest of the way. JHK told me after the race that he attacked several times on the last lap to no avail. Everyone was equal.....until the sprint. Kabush made it around the last 180 turn first and easily outsprinted JHK and Wicks. Trebon, affected by the heat, had been dropped on the first lap. Plaxton finished 4th and looked totally wasted. In another impressive performance, Mat Toulouse finshed fifth. What was remarkable is that the lead group never opened a bigger gap on him than existed after that first climb. Mat said that the leader would speed up dramatically but then slow down. He just tried to keep a constant speed and was rewarded for his effort by the last spot on the podium. Finally, we stuck around Buellton for a couple days after the race and did some road riding. It was spectacular. Some roadies had showed me a 50 mile ride they call "Six Pass Loop". It was really amazing. There were50 mile views from the tops of the passes, dozens of pristene wineries, and a 14 mile downhill back to the hotel! Colt's Semi-Pro race seemed to go fairly well. There is a pretty funny photo on his blog called "Did I Win?" . On to Fontana with it's smog, freeways, and shopping malls.... Dave |
| Coastal View |
| Pro Men hhead uphill |
| Solvang |
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