Club and General News continued 

Southern Sierra Fat Tire Association 15th Annual Keysville Classic

Our Central California representative Dave Moore invited me (Chris Vargas) to join him at his club's annual Fat Tire Festival on April 5th and 6th. I had invited Dave and his wife down to join us at the 2003 Mountain Bike Pow Wow, and he returned the favor. The one thing I'm glad he didn't repay is the "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" I put them both through (as well as Art Zipple, who was quiet the whole time except for the look of terror in his face) at the Pow Wow when one of our support crews got lost on the way to the first aid station and I drove around, with them as passengers, trying to find the crew.

I frantically searched for this lost aid station crew, backtracking the route to his post to no avail. Luckily, he found his way to his post without my help, but not before I left Dave, his wife and Art with a few more gray hairs and my truck with permanent imprints from their death grips.

The Southern Sierra Fat Tire Festival is one of the oldest fat tire festivals in the U.S. and offered participants the following events:

The Dynamo Dave Sprint Challenge consisted of a sprint up to the top of a ridge and a killer sprint downhill to the finish. I believe this was the first time they did this event, and I hope they keep it. The uphill portion was a challenge to climb, and the downhill portion had some very technical sections at the top that convinced a few competitors that discretion is the better part of valor, and they walked the section.

The Kids' Race was fun to watch and was held right in the staging area. Watching these kids race with so much enthusiasm makes me think we may have a future champion in the bunch.

The Rocks, Logs, and Ladders Trials competition had competitors from as far away as Canada and Australia competing. There aren't many trials competitions around, and those that competed were grateful for the event. I was amazed, as I always am, by what these guys can do on a bike.

As I sat around the campfire Friday night, Dave Moore brought up an incident in which some of the downhill competitors at a past festival (they used to host a downhill race) had "borrowed" one of Dave's ice chests in the belief that it had beer in it, but unfortunately, that was the not the case. A trials competitor commented in jest that due to the higher IQ of trials riders, they would have not have made that mistake and would have checked the ice chest for beer before they "borrowed" it. This guy had me in stitches with his sense of humor.

The cross country race was held on Sunday, and there were quite a few familiar faces from Orange County there, including Jasen Thorpe of Mountain Bike magazine, who had finished 3rd in our Vision Quest. I'm not sure how he did in his race, but I'm sure he had a great finish. I have come to know Jasen quite well during the time he interviewed me for an article in Mountain Bike, and I appreciate not only his physical ability but his concern about mountain bike access.

Next year I plan to have a large Warrior's Society club contingent participating in the festival, and we are planning a club ride/meeting there this October. I had a blast at Keyesville and I was so impressed with what it had to offer in the way of riding and sheer beauty.

Thanks for the fun time, Dave!

 Warrior's Racing 

San Clemente Ridge Challenge 10K Ride - 10K Run - Fun Hike

On Saturday, June 21st, the Warrior's Society helped support the San Clemente Ridge Challenge by acting as course marshals and as communications support. This event raised funds for a special needs playground for children with disabilities. We were honored to be asked to help this great cause.

While the majority of us helped support the event, Ron Sawicki and Monique Mata participated in both the 10K mountain bike race and 10K run. They both did excellent, with Ron coming in 2nd overall in the mountain bike race and Monique coming in 3rd overall (men and women raced together).

In the 10K run Ron finished 4th in the men's race and Monique finished 2nd in the women's race. Monique and Ron are members of our Warrior's Society race team and will be participating with the rest of the team members in several 12- and 24-hour races over the summer and fall.

REI Ocean Adventure Classic - Malibu, California, May 17, 2003

Monique and Ron also competed in the REI Ocean Adventure Classic in the Co-ed Elite Division. The race was scheduled to start Saturday at midnight. At the pre-race meeting that day, it was announced that the race start was going to be 400 yards offshore in their kayaks. Around 10:00 p.m. the waves grew bigger and bigger as the race start got closer. Around 11:45 p.m. the race officials held everyone on the beach and told the teams that no one was to enter the water until further notice.

With the arrival of six lifeguards, they eventually led the teams 200 yards down the shore and they were free to go. Teams all around them were attempting to make it through the surf wall, but most teams were thrown around a couple of times before actually making it out. The lifeguards made their way from team to team to assist, and by the time they got to Ron and Monique's team they were on their third attempt but they finally made their way through. At that moment they headed to the start and realized that they were the last off the beach. By the time they were halfway there the race had already begun. They started that leg of the race in 64th place, and after 3 miles in the water they hit land in 8th place.

The second leg was a 15-mile trek with seven checkpoints. They made navigational errors on the first two checkpoints that caused them to go an extra 6 miles, and at that point they refocused their efforts and did not make any more errors for the rest of the race. Entering the third leg of the race, they dropped to 18th place; this leg was the mountain bike leg and it included seven checkpoints in 16 miles.

They cleared this section quickly with no errors, passing many teams along the way. The final leg was 6 miles of ocean kayaking once again, and with a smooth landing they crossed the line 6th in the Elite Co-ed Division and 11th overall.

As a side note, Ron and Monique competed in the Nordic Rim Stage Race in Running Springs, California, on July 12-13, 2003. Ron finished 3rd in the men's expert class and Monique finished 1st in the women's expert class.

Congratulations to Ron and Monique on these great finishes. Their next adventure race will be in Lake Tahoe on September 27, 2003.

(In a surprise announcement at a Club Directors meeting, Ron also announced his engagement to Monique. They are both great people and great athletes and we wish them all the best!)

12 Hours of Big Bear

We had quite a contingent of members participating on various teams at the 12 Hours of Big Bear. Our Warrior's Society coed team consisting of Ron Sawicki, Mike McCaffery, Jeroen Bosboom and Monique Mata finished 2nd in their division.

Warrior's Society member Calvin "Keeps One Horse" Mulder and Dan Hight competed in the Steel Two-man Division on single speeds competing against other teams on geared bikes and finished 3rd (there was a mix-up at the event and another team was placed at third, but a correction was posted on the Team Big Bear web site).

On a side note, Dan has been nominated for membership in the Warrior's Society. Dan demonstrated the values, the stewardship and the ability to honor the traditions of the Warriors. Two examples from Saturday's race as explained by his teammate Calvin:

Dan was the first on the scene of the nasty crash (dislocated shoulder, broken femur, knocked-out teeth) involving one of his competitors. He instinctively stopped, checked the condition of the injured rider, and ran up the hill he just rode down to get the attention of the Course Marshall. He ran back to the injured rider and waited with him until the CM arrived.

On Dan's last lap, he encountered a VeloSport rider with flat tire, no spare tube or tire pump. Dan stopped, gave him his pump and only tube, and continued on his way. Again, I think Dan did this instinctively, unconcerned he still had 2 miles to the finish line or with the fact our 2nd place standing was tenuous at best. If he flatted during those final 2 miles, his only option would be to run his bike to the finish line. Any hope of finishing on the podium would have evaporated immediately. Had Dan chosen to ignore both of these situations, we would have easily placed 2nd in our category. He didn't, and I can honestly say I've never been more proud of a teammate. No podium finish could ever compare with the thrill of knowing he did the right thing, instinctively.

Calvin's nomination of Dan for membership has been seconded.

Warrior's Society members Terry Hamlyn and Todd Brown were part of teams that finished 3rd and 1st, respectively.

Congratulations to all Warrior's Society members and their teammates!