Weekend Race Results

The Whole Athlete team was out racing this weekend, with most of the riders at the Snelling Road Race in Merced, and a lone wolf on the dirt at the CCCX in Monterey.

At the always-popular Snelling Road Race, Will Patterson won his first-ever road race in the Men's Cat 5s, riding a patient race then jumping away from the field out of the last corner to finish well-ahead of the charging group.

Nick Newcomb took 4th and Joe Yoham 10th, followed by Roman Brockley in 12th and Sven Beer in 18th in the large and always-competitive Junior 17/18 field.

Will Curtis opted for the mountain bike, and decided to race in the pro category for some added challenge. His efforts were well-rewarded as placed a strong 2nd to experienced pro Jim Hewett.

Photo: Scott Mosher Photography

Giving Back

Nearly all of the Whole Athlete team riders were at first introduced to bike racing through the NorCal High School MTB League, and most still compete for their respective schools in League events.

Just prior to their five-race series (March-May) each year, the NorCal League offers development camps to its riders, teaching valuable skills and techniques to these budding mountain bikers.

As part of the Whole Athlete Team's mission to support youth development in cycling, we volunteer our time at the NorCal Camps, providing professional bike fitting to all the young riders. This year was no exception, and Whole Athlete team coaches and riders showed up in force to the All-Girls Camp on Feb 6th, fitting 36 young ladies on their bikes, and two weeks later to the Co-ed Beginner/intermediate Camp, providing proper positioning to more than 40 young riders on their mountain bikes.

I would like to personally thank the Whole Athlete Team coaches and mentors for their generous time, specifically Adam Waskow, Dave Simon, Patty Brockley and Steve Cherry. Also, a big thanks goes out to Whole Athlete riders Will Curtis, Riley Predum, Roman Brockley, Sven Beer, Kate Courtney, Tony Smith, Joe Yoham, Taylor Smith and Bobby Zidek.

The NorCal HS MTB League relies heavily on volunteer help to provide camps and put on races for literally hundreds of high school kids. If you can help out, please contact the League office.

Thank you!
Dario Fredrick

Getting the feet wet...

The Cherry Pie Criterium marked the intro to the race season for a handful of Whole Athlete juniors. Here's Tony Smith's perspective on the race:

1) Cherry Pie Criterium, Napa
2) Date: 2/7/10
3) Category raced: Junior 17/18
4) Placing: 7th

Teammates: Zach, Bobby, Nick, Joe, Roman, Carl

The week before this race wasn't a good one. I was really sick and was only able to get out on my bike once with Bobby and Joe, having to turn around half way up big rock ridge due to my sickness. Nevertheless, I had heard great things about Cherry Pie and I didn't want to miss it, so I decided to go.

This race had the biggest junior turnout that I had ever seen. Over 60 juniors lined up at the start, and I was really excited to get going. Because I was one of the last kids to get my gearing checked, I had to start at the very back of the pack.

The race started out pretty fast, with kids attacking left and right. I just sat in around the top 15 and made sure not to do any pulling and stay safe. Two Team Specialized kids made a break about half way through the race, but I didn't go with them, thinking that the pack would pull them back just like the other failed break attempts. Well, this break just kept getting farther away and nobody could pull them back. I wanted to be able to break away from the group and catch the riders up front, but I knew that I wasn't strong enough to bridge the gap. I should have just broke away with them initially.

So, with those 2 specialized riders going for 1st and 2nd, the main group was racing for 3rd. On the last lap I tried to move myself up into the top 5, but I was only able to get within the top 10. With about 50 yards to the finish we started sprinting, and I somehow managed to get 7th, just missing 6th by half of a wheel length.

I'm pretty happy with this result, seeing as I was really sick the week before and not feeling on top of my game. Also, I got 4 points for coming 7th, so I'm 1/4 way through to becoming a cat 3.

I also raced the Cat 4 race, but it was very uneventfull besides a really brutal crash. Some guy got boxed out and front flipped over a curb and into a tree. Ouch!! I gave the junior race everything I had, so I didn't have much left for the Cat 4's. No breaks got away, and when the sprint came I got around 30th, having to slam on my brakes before the finish because some guys in front of me almost went down.

All in all it was a really good weekend of racing and I had a lot of fun. Good job to Joe, Roman, Bobby, Zach, Nick and Carl!!

Tony