Team MotionBased

As Olivier stuck close to home to ride rippin’ single track and race the Bear Springs XC; Dave, Kenny and Shady headed down to Santa Barbara to hit up next race on the National Racing Calendar series, the Firestone Ynez Valley Mountain Bike Classic. The Firestone race provided vintage So-cal racing, dust clouds, mid 90 temps and fast un-technical trail.

Day 1 (Short-track & Super-D)

Mainly for training purposes Dave signed up for the Short-track. It was his first Pro Short-track race and his first short-track event in two years. Though he has raced a few hard road crits, he was a little nervous, not knowing if he could hang with the Pro field in such a short distance with the likes of JHK and Geoff Kabush driving the group. He was especially concerned since it was in the high 90’s and his left eye was swollen shut from a bee sting earlier that day. Nonetheless, adrenalin took over and he raced fine fighting through the dust nearly completely the circuit (he was one of the last racers pulled). Thirty out of 65 completed the race, with Max Plaxton, the young Canadian phenom winning.

The Super D was a typical, west coast un-technical, XC time-trial type race. It was roughly 2 miles long, consisting of high speed single track and flats. Kenny who seemed disappointed at the line, finished an impressive 6^th, several seconds off the podium. A semi-pro from Wisconsin took the event, upsetting some top pros such as Carl Decker, last week’s winner.

Day 2 (Cross Country)

Both Kenny and Dave were not super anxious to step up to the line for it was again in the 90’s and these guys like alpine type courses with rougher down hills and a bit more climbing. The Santa Ynes course had less than 4000 feet of climbing over 30 miles, dispersed over several small climbs. The course was a combination of single and double track that winded through the nearby vineyards and ranches. It was really exposed and I would describe it as a combination of Sonoma and Sea Otter, more on the Sonoma side. However, it did have some fun, fast twisty single track down hills. The start was similar to the short-track where a rider could barely see his handle bars because of the dust. Dave had an exceptionally tough time in the beginning for he started in the back, and had to negotiate a crash in the first 50 feet of the race. Dave and Kenny rode together most of the race, baking in the sun rolling in 40 and 41^st.

In the semi-pro race Shady’s bad luck continued. After being misguided in the Napa Dirt Classic, the previous weekend he ripped the sidewall of his tire in Santa Ynes. The course markings of semi-pro race proved confusing. Because of the heat, race organizers had to shorten the course in several different spots to accommodate for the experts, pro women and semi-pros. The semi-pros had the hardest time navigating.

All in all, in spite of the heat and dust, Santa Ynes was a nice race venue with live music, good food (tri-tip and pasta) and made for a great stop in the National MTB Calendar Series.