Saturday was the epic night race at Sierra point-this usually marks the mid-point of the season and is a race where traditionally the team has had some great victories over the last 6-7 years. This night was no exception as Max Judelson captured the men's A race in an exciting sprint and Caroline Dezendorf got the win in the women's A race. With David Kalcic getting 3rd in the junior race and Benoit Dubuisson getting 4th in the single speed-B race along with Campbell Steers getting 3rd in the women's A race there were plenty of podiums for the team.
With David and Frank Kalcic manning the BBQ the tradition of food and drink trackside was in full force. Nobody left the team tent without getting something good. This was pretty much an all-day event and some folks camped to race the next morning.
Other placings on the day were good as well-we had some pretty bad luck in the men's A race but all riders finished, even if it meant running the last half a lap which was the case with Brendan Lehman-he led the first lap and was always in the top-10 until a mechanical in the last lap made for a long run and a 37th place finish. Alex work had a dramatic crash on the last lap that also took him out of the top-10 to finish 17th. Kaitlin Waterman had to start on the 5th row but managed to claw his way up to 22nd at the finish . Eric Brown had to start in the back and with a heavy crash finished 42nd. Dean Poshard starting in the back finished in 50th.
In the Women's A race Kelly Chang was rolling in the top-10 until a flat tire and brake trouble caused her to have to do a bike change. She did hang onto 15th with Mary Ellen Ash coming in just ahead at 13th .
In the men's B race Javier Valencia started in the back of the 70+ field and rode all the way up to 32nd-remarkable considering all the traffic. In the 35 A race Ken Dick rode strong to a 13th place with Zac Stanley finishing at 30th. In the 45 B race Craig Ball led the team coming in at 17th with Frank Kalcic coming in 20th and Michael Schaller at 33rd. In the 55 plus Rick Ortenblad cracked the top-10 coming in 9th while I dragged myself in at 14th.
After the race there was the team party-or something like that, basically a small fire with some battered and tired bike racers around it trying to stay warm. All in all, the showing for the team was excellent-carrying on the tradition of a really strong presence at this , arguably the biggest and best event of the Nor-Cal season.
The next morning the racing continued-this time with a stripped down version of the team as most of the folks had gone home. Max Judson won again, even more convincingly with a breakaway in the las lap. All others improved on their placings with Mary Ellen Ash getting 7th in the women's A race, Benoit Bubuisson 3rd in the single speed B race , Kailin Waterman getting 14th in the mens A race and Ken Dick getting 11th in the men's 35 A race.
