RødderRacing

Well it’s come and gone, my official start to the 2011 season. I managed to do it while I was still deployed which is awesome. It worked out really nicely that I happened to be in port at Pearl Harbor for July 4th weekend which just happened to be the exact same time this event was going on. The freedom fest is a yearly tradition here on Oahu, it’s held at the Kualo Ranch on the Eastside of the Island. Surrounded by super steep mountains the course was nestled nicely into the valley. Everything was super green, something racing in Socal I’m not really used to, lol. The MTB race was part of a weekend full of racing, the main event was the Xterra Triathlon held the Sunday after us non-Trigeeks rode in some lines for the multisport guys.

I registered for the 20k event, there was a 2 lap 40k event as well. Being on the boat and only riding a spin bike for 7 months I didn’t think I’d do too well on the 40k race. But I figured I could hold out long enough for a 20k to do well. The course map on the website seemed really mellow, 12 miles of rolling hills adding up to 400ft of gain. But what I found out during the race is Mapmyride.com sucks for true elevation.

The day before the race I picked Emily and my bike up from the Airport (I got to bring her out to the island for the week for a little vacation). Once we got to the hotel I started putting the Prongy together. Upon the recommendation of Mike I started swapping out my gashed front tire. In the haste of changing my tire I slipped and ended up hitting my rotor and gashing my hand right open. After a quick trip to the ER and 3 stitches I was back in the room getting the rig ready for the race.

Race morning I was a little nervous mostly because of my freshly closed up hand. I did my usual pre-race warm up. I stopped by the neutral support tent to throw some more air in my tires, come to find out that my replacement tire Em brought had 2 gnarly gashes in the the sidewall. Luckily, Em had a dollar on her and I was able to boot the larger of the two gashes. I figured I’d roll the dice and see what happens. At the start I was towards the back of the pack, it was a mass start with all Age Groups and both races going off at the same time. Once we got the GO it was game on. I made my way up through most of the pack and was on my way to hook up with the main group of fast 40k guys. Up the first climb I got through with minor hang ups from other races, once we crested and hit the descent I was into a rythm. The course was very Socal like, rocks, fire roads and loose over hard. About 1/2 was down the first descent my front end started getting washy, I knew exactly what happened, the tube gave up. I pulled to the side and started the swap. A course worker came up to see if I needed help and got to witness me making one $1 bill cover two holes in a tire. I shot my CO2 and got back at it, I figured I’d go until the tube got punctured again then throw in the towel since I was out of gear. I put my head down and spend the next hour chasing blindly and passing anyone I can. I had no idea who was in my cat or my race. I was just going as hard as I could. Coming into one of the last descents I caught the promoter who had passed me during my flat, we both went into the turn at the base which shot up real quick and drug our tires through the turn I lucked out that my drivetrain worked better under load and I was able to pull away. I caught one more rider who looked my age so I did everything I could to keep him behind me. The last3/4 of a mile was spent in power robbing grass, I managed to keep the momentum up and came across the line at 1:22:00. At first I was really upset and disappointed, going off last years results I was 22 min off the pace for 3rd place. After my cool down Em came over with my print out the give at the line which so your placing. It said 1st out of 4 in my AG and 6th out of 34 Overall. I was stoked! I didn’t realize till after that they had run a new course this year and the info online wasn’t the best to go off of. I was stoked to take home the win, it was fun to race on a course at a venue that most of the other racers have ridden before. Not to mention the flat and fresh stitches. It was far from a perfect race, but I’m happy with the result and how my body held up on real climbs.

Like usual I have a long list of people to thank, first and foremost, Emily for coming out and being my support crew and getting the Prongy out here to Hawaii! Thanks to Mike and Doug at NBbikes.com for getting my bike ready to take on the locals out here. Thanks to all the teams’s sponsors for the continued support! I’m looking forward to taking on my first Cat 2 race July 31st at Rim Nordic, hopefully if goes well. I doubt it’ll go as well as this one did, but it’ll be fun none the less.

The big race of the spring season came and went this weekend for the RodderRacing crew! The socalendurance 12hrs of temecula.

We were fielding a number of riders
Team Sherpa Dog (Ed and Mike) 2 man 12hr
Team Pegasus (Milin and Cale) 2 man 12hr solo
Matt Reeves 6hr solo
Scott Holland 12hr solo

9am arrived quickly and the pack was off! I Huge field with the creation of the 6 HR solo cat there were a large number of riders in the pack and MTBers in a pack = bad! Pushing and Crashes were everywhere but aside from a dab here or there all Rodder Riders made it thru ok at the start.

Per our Ed Price
“Race director Jason Ranoa had laid out a short, fun course with two extended climbs and lot of twisty singletrack. About 10 minutes of riding brought me to the first climb, Bridges, which features a few winding switchbacks followed by a few steep ridgeline ups. The total climb is about 250 ft. Next, I descended Tarantula, a bunch of blown out switchbacks filled with deep sand. I was ugly on this all day. Eventually, I abandoned my pride and ran the worst sections, which was probably faster and definitely safer than if I’d ridden it. Tarantula feeds into the top of Tunnel of Love, a swoopy, rolly downhill section that can make you smile even after 6 laps. If you’ve never ridden at Vail Lake, the best way to picture the ridgeline descents is to imagine a roller coaster laid out on the top of a narrow ridge. The ground falls away steeply to either side of you, while the trail drops steeply, turns, back up, down, turn, up, turn, down, and so on. My gps recorded speeds of 20-25mph, but I suspect it was faster for brief periods. Some of the downhill sections are steep and rocky”

1/2 way into the 1st Lap RodderRider Milin Balsara went down hard. Ed’s account

“I came on someone tending to a rider who had crashed. As I went past, I saw that the downed rider was wearing a Rodder kit. Milin! It took a second to process all this and I was 30 yards down the trail before I could stop. Milin was lying parallel to the trail, feet uphill. It was obviously serious or he would have been up already. I had done wilderness first aid training about 18 months ago, but he seemed stable so it wasn’t clear what to do besides keep him comfortable, make sure nobody ran him over, and wait for help. Other riders had already carried the word down to the aid station. I told the two riders who had initially helped to keep riding. Milin was clearly in a lot of pain. As he described it, his brakes failed, he hit a choppy section at high speed, went over the bars, and landed on rocks hard on his right side. Based on the pain he was describing, I was worried he might have a fractured hip or pelvis.

I told Milin some stupid stories to distract him while we waited for help. For instance, did he know that, for reasons that were now self evident, the fireroad climb just before this descent was called “Ambulance”? The first help was a couple of guys from the aid station. I asked if they had any training… like first aid training? Nope. Then get on the radio and get someone up here with a board. I was pretty sure we were going to be locking Milin down and carting him out. By this time, Matt had come on us and stopped to warn riders to slow down. Scott came through a little later, but there wasn’t anything for him to do, and we told him to ride on and pass the word to Mike and Diana in the pit, who were probably worried and confused. An EMT showed up a little later with a proper back board. About that time, a rider stopped, said he was an EMT as well, and offered to help. This guy was from team Cytomax/KHS, I think he was a Navy guy, he was awesome, and I/we really appreciate his help. Anyway, the EMTs did an assessment, we taped Milin down to the board, and drove him out on the back of a quad. An ambulance met us down in the campground. Cale, Milin’s teammate, went with Milin to the hospital.”

Milin turned out to be ok and returned to the race hours later in his hospital gown….

As the day went on the laps clicked by and the temps were on the rise.

Scott Holland
“after the first couple laps I started grabbing 2 bottles per lap and used one just to dump over my nack and back to try and stay cool, it was getting really hot on the climbs deep in the canyons”

As mid day turned to evening things were shacking out nicely
Milin was ok!
Matt had finished the 6hr solo strong with 5 laps
Ed and Mike were doing well
Scott was cranking thru the course.

Going out for his final lap Scott is pictured here at ~ mile 90 of the 100 miles he'd ride

In the end we all faired well!
The Sherpa Dog was 5th in the 2man solo cat (the most compedative CAT)
The Pegasus was in 1 peice!
Matt took 27th of 61 in the open 6hr solo
Scott took 4th in expert 12hr solo

Things have been quiet the past couple months from us here at Rodder Racing. We finished off the season with a State Championship, podium at a 12hr Solo, and a 2^nd Place at the Mt. Sac Fat Tire Classic. That’s not to say we’ve been sitting on our laurels the last couple months. I was tapped to do my duty and deploy at the end of November. Scotty took some time off then started his preps for the 2011 season. Matt pretty much followed Scott’s lead but threw in a couple extra trips to Mamoth, lol. While Jason spent most of the winter working and riding in Arizona. While I was gone, Scotty expanded our roster, he invited friends and great rider Ed Price and Milin Balsara to our little family. We are excited about expanding and having more representation at the races.

As some of you have seen we also went with a new look this year. While my original intention for 2011 were to lay low because of me deploying and not being around to run the team, Scott had other plans. With Scott filling my spot as team manager not only did he bring on 2 awesome new riders he also let Matt loose and did an almost full redesign of our kits. The look still retains the classic Rodder Orange, Green, and Light Blue color scheme but kicks it a little old school with the choice of “ringeresque” sleeve design and font choice. But like always, our kits look top notch for a small amateur team like ourselves. Champs-Sys delivered above and beyond our expectations once again in helping us create one of the most unique kits out on the Socal race circuit. This change in logo also prompted me to contact our friends and T-shirt sponsor at iMountainbike.com and had him design up some new T’s. They will be available for our friends, family, and fans to get their hands on and show their support.

The new kits aren’t the only big change for Rodder this year. This is our first season without our founding sponsor Pronghorn Racing. We will still be racing on the Prongys through 2011 but there’s something being “freshly baked” for 2012. Our separation from Pronghorn is what really afforded us the opportunity to bring on new riders. But in their absence our favorite shop in the whole world, North of the Border Bikes really stepped up their support of the team. After relocating to their new location in Sorrento Valley, we started hosting weekly shop rides that were led by Scotty and Matt. Attendance was awesome when the rain decided to stop and let the trails dry out. Keep your eyes peeled for the newest project coming from Rodder, you won’t be disappointed!

As for my story for the first 4 months of 2011, I’ve been on the USS Gridley, DDG-101. We’ve been hanging out here in the Pacific Ocean doing what warships do and protecting the home front. When I’m not working on the two helicopters we brought out to sea or relaxing in port, you can find me on the little spin bike in the forward gym, customized with my WTB race saddle and a normal bike computer. With nothing to do but work, eat, and workout things are going well with keeping up my base fitness. Since I’m going to miss the entire Kenda Cup West this year I decided to do something I’ve wanted to try for a couple years now. I signed myself up for the 2011 San Diego International Triathlon, which is only 10 days after I get home. I opted for the sprint distance since it is my first Tri and I’m not a runner. It’s a little challenging to train for a Tri while underway. But I get swims in while we’re in port and there is a pool near by. Coach is keeping up my bike fitness and well; I’m hoping the run doesn’t suck too badly, lol. But after the Tri it’ll be back to the bike to get ready for States in October. The good thing about deployment is you generally loose quite a bit of weight. The bad thing though, that means I’ll be racing in my Age Group rather than with the Clydesdales like I have for the last 2 years. It’ll be fun to race with the little guys in Cat 2! I’m hoping to at least podium, I highly doubt I’ll get back-to-back titles.

There you have it, Rodder’s goings on from the last 4 months. Now that we’re getting into the meat and potatoes of the race season it’s time for race reports and more frequent updates. Keep an eye on our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/rodderracing or follow us on Twitter, @rodderracing. We’re also planning on updating the website a little bit and making it more professional than any of us are, lol. See you on the trails!

-Kerry

Well winter base season is finally over and the official racing starts in 4 weeks with JDM!

Rodder Riders Milin Balsara and Scott Holland used the Black mountain Racers and Chasers race as a warm up to shake the legs out.

Milin had a great day finishing 6th overall! (5 lap 4:24)

Scott Holland did not fair as well in reults but had a great race after a lap 1 mechanical saw him have to ride back to the start area to fix he started again 28mins late and rode his way thru most of the pack to finish 9th (4 laps 3:49)

is that a smile?

Rodder offiially kicks off the 2011 season at the Julian Death March 4/9/11!

The last 8 weeks have been such an emotional roller coaster. States almost didn’t happen for me. The first week of July I ended up with a lumbar sprain. The injury instantly took me off the bike, I missed the July Big Bear and was forced to watch Noel solo it to the Socal State Series overall win. I was very satisfied with my Kenda Cup West win and 2nd in the Socal State Series but, I wanted some sort of redemption. I was hoping that redemption would come in the form of a strong showing at States. After 6 weeks of therapy, chiropractor, sports massage and spin bike work out, the last 2 weeks before this weekend’s race was a cram session.

With my back feeling 100% the week leading up to the race and my riding ability not being totally deminished I felt fairly confident that I’d do well. I still had a huge doubt in the back of my head that something could come up and keep me from the race. In the end, things worked out. Enjoy the play by play as I recall it, I was racing at LT after all.

The morning started out great. We rolled to the venue around 8, my race start was at 9:04 so I had plenty of time. I did my usual rounds to the various vendors that were there that sponsor the team. I also took time to chat with Coach pre-race. Dressed out and ready to go I went to the line. Looking around I saw Noel and Xavier (the guy who schooled Noel and I at Fontana) there was also a fresh face in the Cat 3 Clydes group. I was happy there was going to be a real race for once rather than Noel and I going at it at the front.

Once we got the GO I quickly settled in behind Noel and Shannon (the new blood in our Cat). My plan for the first 2 laps was to hang back and see what Noel had. I really didn’t feel I had the oomph to just go like hell from the start so I decided to ride tactical race and just take jabs and see how things panned out over the course. We came up and over the first 2 climbs and down the super fun techy descent into the first real long climb of the race. It’s a single-track climb that pitched and goes up similarly to Goat Climb in LPQ. I bobble a bit and had to dismount and run a bit. Noel kept going up the hill, I started to panic a bit but talked my self down and reminded myself there was still 2 laps ahead of me. So I soldiered on. Noel did put a good gap into me after that but through steady riding I was able to close on him on the 2nd half of the course which favors riders who can power through short punchy climbs and can exploit free speed from tarmac and packed non-rutted trails. I ended up catching Noel heading into the little steep section that took us into the grove near the feed zone. He started fading on the initial climb and I motored by. I didn’t want to get in the lead so soon but just rode tempo and tried to level out my heart rate. Through the feed, Emily executed a flawless hand off like she has all season. Then we started the 2nd lap. My rear tire slipped when I went off line forcing me to get off and run again letting Noel go by and back into the lead. Once again I was right where I wanted to be, chasing. Up and around and back up the single track again I started closing on Noel and heard a terrible noise come from his rear wheel, his pawls in his rear hub had given up causing him to DNF due to a mechanical. I was really bummed as I went by while he was tinkering with it. I had no idea where Xavier or Shannon were so I put my head down and kept going. I picked off several age-groupers and went into the 3rd lap still blind as to my time gap to 2nd place and just rode tempo the last 4 miles. I crossed the line in 1:14:13, took the US Cup and California State Championship jerseys in the process. The gap to 2nd ended up being 15 min. I felt bad Noel had to drop out due to a mechanical, he was putting on a great show till his rear wheel gave out.

Now that the season is over, I can kick back, relax and enjoy the rest of my vacation. Interbike next week is going to be awesome. Being to just ride when I want to is going to be awesome as well. I can’t wait to get my jerseys, it’s been such and awesome season and year. I hope things keep going up from here. Cat 2 here I come. A little side note, had I raced in Cat 2 Clydes 34 and Under, I would’ve had a great shot at thetop of the podium too. My lap times were a minute faster and I’m pretty sure I could’ve kept it up for 4 more miles.

Time for the appreciation. I’d like to thank everyone who supported me this season. Coach Zippy, ESI Grips, Crank Brothers, North of the Border Bikes, Schwalbe tires, and Champion Systems. I’d also like to add a special thanks to everyone who came out to support me at the races and sent good cycling karma via Facebook and Twitter. Always the biggest thanks goes to my #1 fan, wife and soigneur Emily. Without her support this season would’ve been a lot harder. See you all in 2011!

Quick summer update!

Rider Kerry Waldman was down for a bit with a back injury but is back in action now ready to head to the Kenda Cup Unification Race in September and compete for CAT 3 Clycds State Champoinship.

Riders Scott Holland and Matt Reeves resently used the Racersandchasers Black Mountain as a training race biudling up to this falls biggest Endurance events. Racing Expert 30-39 Scott was 6th and Matt was 7th. Up next are the San Deigo Multi Park marathon (50 miles) the Socal Epic (50 miles) and the 12hrs of Temecula where they will compete in the Open Solo CAT.

Rider Jason Fabiny had a great showing at the resent RacersandChasers at Black Mnt placing 2nd in CAT 3 30-39 just 24 seconds off the leader!

Black Mnt 8-2010

Well it has come and past, the end of the Kenda Cup West. In it’s 2nd year it was a great series. Much larger talent pool than anything I encountered back at home in PA and bigger fields than at the Racers and Chasers events I racedin 2008 before I started working with Robert for the 2009/10 races. It was awesome seeing my fitness come into it’s own as the season progressed. It all started back in Feb with Sage Brush and ended this past weekend in Big Bear. I came up short on the race win but managed to prevent enough damage to my points to retain the overall lead and be crowned Cat 3 Clydesdale 34 and Under Champion. Now hope you enjoy my blow-by-blow of how this last race went down.

At the start the sun was out in full force and the temps were slowly climbing up to their predicted high of 68, which is always perfect for mountain biking. I was a bit nervous because I had never ridden at 7,0000 ft and was unsure howmy body would react. The day prior I had done a short 1hr recon ride to scope the start and finish but didn’t get into much of the course, but I always do well at blind courses. 11:18 rolled around and we were off. I did my usual strong start to see where Noel’s legs were at, at first I had him but about .25 mile into it he was on my wheel. So I hunkered down and kept spinning. We ended up peaking out at 8,000 ft at the top of the first climb which also made up the first 2.5 miles of the 17 mile course. My HR was at redline the whole time up the climb, but we were finally cresting and I was looking forward to trying to rest a bit on the flats and descents. Somewhere in that first climb I was able to rideNoel off my wheel.

Once I was off the climb and on the “rolling” section of the course I was able to put some power down and catch a bunch of the people that started ahead of me. The wide fire-roads on the course were well groomed but the inside ofthe turns were soft, something I’m used to riding here in SD. I was going back and forth with one of Noel’s teammates from SDBC . We kept this up until about mile 8.5 when we turned into the woods for the first ST section. Typical of my I went for it, little did I know coming up was a nice set of creek crossings and mud bogs. The first crossing/bog I got way off line and had to put my foot down into ankle deep mud. Lesson learned, the rest of the crossings and ST section I rocked it, felt great and full of power. Coming out of the woods we started going back up, thats when the altitude and my HR being so high started to get to me, around mile 10 Noel caught me. I was able to hold him off for a bit but as we started into the last climb at mile 12 I popped. He rode away up the climb and started opening a gap. The whole time was kept praying and wishing for the top and the fast fire-road descent into the last really technicalsection of ST which is where I could make time up. But little did I know Team Big Bear wasn’t going to make it that easy, we turned back into the woods for the 2nd time and started on some nice flowy ST with a log crossing and nice turn, then I got to the dreaded ST climb I had been told about. There wasn’t any sense in trying toride up, so I scooted up as quickly as possible and remounted. Coming out of the woods I saw the 1st aid station that was near the top of the first climb so I knew the last descent was near. I went down the fire-road section as fast as I felt comfortable. At the bottom I made the left had turn into the start of the last technical section I had ridden 2-3 times the day before in preperation of having Noel on my wheel at that spot. Lead into the woods not seeing Noel at all and knowing I wasn’tgoing to come in 1st. There wasn’t enough downhill for me to catch him. But I did manage to have an almost flawless run through the top technical section with the exception of a small tree getting in the way ofmy shoulder and knocking what little wind I had left out of me. But I held it together and started my run into the finish as strongly as I could. I crossed the line in 1:37, which was 23 min faster than I was expecting myself to do 17 miles w/22ooft of climbing.

I came away with some lessons learned on this race. First off, if I take a gel with me on the bike I shouldn’t wait till I need it. I need to plan out my nutrition better. Had I taken the gel at mile 8 like I should’ve, I could have possible heldoff my bonk moment a little bit longer and not have blown up at the base of the last climb. Secondly, my start mayhave been too much, I think on these longer courses I need to sit back a little bit more and save some for the end. Third, I really underestimated the altitude, next time I’m going to be a little bit more cautious and take straight water instead of Gu Brew as my primary bottle. Lastly, sometimes it’s better to not know all of the course, that way you’re looser and able to react quicker to situations. All the ST that didn’t involve that steep climb I felt great on and was able to just flow with it.

Now that my spring campaign is done, it’s time to take some time off and relax. I’ll be prepping for either the Kenda Cup Invitational or California State Championships in Sept. But in my down time I’ll just enjoy myself with some swimming and running with Emily.

I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me through out this season. Emily mostly for coming to all the races and not only being my soigneur but stepped up to help out with feeding the team and our other friends that were racing. I’dalso like to give a huge thanks to Coach Zippy for molding my 237lb blob into a nice lean 204lb XC monster. Without his guidance and coaching I don’t think I would’ve done nearly as well as I did this season. I’d also like to thank my sponsors (of course, it’s a requirement,lol), ESI grips, Crank Brothers, Pronghorn Racing, GU Energy Labs, Schwalbe Tires, and a huge thanks to Mike and Doug at North of the Border Bike Shop! Without the support of youguys this would be extremely expensive and hard to do as a normal working class guy! Lastly, thanks to all my fellow racers out there that I’ve become fond friends with, Brian Crooks, Doug Herrick, Kathryn La Pointe, Robert Herber, Steve Herrera, Bob Wolfe, Mike Page and everyone else that either passes me out there or I pass them. Can’t forget about my awesome teammates, Scott, Matt, and Larry (Jason), we did it guys our first season and we were all contenders!

Our second up-close and personal expose is our very own Jason Fabiny (aka Larry according to Matt). The only member of the team with a pony tail and certified to use a nail gun. Let’s take a look at our newest team addition…

Name: Jason Fabiny

Anything else that you would like to share?: Not at this time. My attorny advises against it.

Birthday: May 23, 1976

Hometown: Syracuse, NY

What is the coolest thing the team has provided you with?: My comfy G ride!

What do you do off the bike? (Job):  Carpentery

Years riding/racing: 29yrs on a bike. 13yrs on MTB. 2yrs racing.

Previous season highlights: Placing 8th in my catagory at Sagebrush. My first race ever!

This season’s goal: To be faster than Scott.

This season’s highlight: Still to be determined

Why did you build your bike the way you did?: So I can do XC and Super D. Also so I could have the Cadillac of the group.

In an effort to give our supporters and fans something fun and insightful about our riders. Our first rider up is Scott Holland. He’s been one of the winningest riders in 2009 and 2010. So here is a closer look to our smallest rider.

Name: Scott Holland

Birthday: 4-16-1979

Hometown: Boston, MA

What do you do off the bike? (Job): Mechanical Engineer

Years riding/racing: 12

Previous season highlights: 3rd CAT 3 Socal Epic

This season’s highlight: 1st CAT 2 Idyllwild Spring Classic Stage Race

This season’s goal: podium CAT 2 Socal Epic, finish my 1st ever 12hr solo

Why did you build your bike the way you did?: as light as my budget allowed to climb fast!

What is the coolest thing the team has provided you with?: Our kits rule!

Anything else that you would like to share? say hi to ya mothah for me