Cal State XC Champs
The state final was reported by Todd Booth, Platinum MTB.
This year, the California one-day State Champion race was held at Big Bear Lake. It was sunny and warm with temperatures in the middle 178cms. There was little wind. Tom Spiegel and Team Big Bear set up a challenging course that included a lot of climbing and technical descents. The same course was used for the California State Series back in June. The race started at 2,133.6m. It reached its highest point at 2,499.4m. Racers then began a 2 mile fire road climb straight from the gun. This is a great way to shock your system. It was a long loop, but it was shorter for beginners and sport riders. The 16-mile loop was raced by the beginners, while the 21-mile loop was followed by the professionals. Experts and pros continued their 24 mile loop. 1,005.8m of climbing was achieved in the 24 mile loop. The fire roads were extremely loose, with many sand- and rock-obstacles. Fall Line, Pirates and Fern Trail are all great tracks. It was a single track that was difficult. The track was very sandy with rocks out croppings. For those with technical skills, these conditions are ideal to make time for those who love the road. All riders enjoyed a few tacos at Cantina. It was a great way to end a day of racing.
13 riders competed for the state title in the Santa Barbara-based Platinum Performance team. Six Platinum riders were named California State Champions after the dust settled. TBB combined several age groups to offer a mass start. It made it more exciting for riders who don’t normally have the opportunity to race against other divisions. Results showed that the ages were split.
PLATINUM LOVE
The climbs were hard for Platinums Gary Douville, who remained in the lead of all the expert field up to the final descent when team Sho-Airs Chuck Ross (Expert 35-39), caught and passed him. Chuck won the line by just.6 of an second !!!! Gary won the Expert 30-34 class with a huge margin. After taking some time off from his July National Championship win, Terry Dahl won his Expert 65+ class. Terry looked amazing in the stars and stripes Luke Werkhoven won the Sport Clydes 19-24 class with a back-toback State Champion title. Chase Schoen won by a wide margin his last Sport 30-34 race. He now moves up to the expert ranks. Amanda Schaper has yet another win in the Beginner Women 19 to 29 class. She is also looking to make the leap to sport in 2009. Brandon Droese, a young gun, has shown his worth in the Beginner 18 and Under-Class before moving up to sport next year. Brandon rode away! Todd Booth finished 2nd in the highly competitive Expert 35-39 class. Chester The Rockstar Gillmore finished in 2nd place in the Sport 19-29 class, despite having a flat tire. Adam Poytress was strong to finish in 3rd place in the Sport 25-29 class. Stephanie Rivera finished in respectable 3rd in the Beginner Women 45-59 class. Steve Bertrand finished 5th in Sport 50-54. Jim Garwood, 2008 Come Back Kid winner, was a star in death’s face Jim made a remarkable recovery after a near-fatal crash on the same course last year. He was able to go back to racing and conquering it. Jim finished 5th in the Beginner 50-54 category. Great job! John Reveles finished 8th in a deep Sport-40-44 class.
ELITE CAL STATEXC CHAMPION WALL of FAME
PRO: Charles JenkinsCytomax-KHS-PRO WMN: Angela ParraBear Valley Bikes-PRO SNG SPD: Brad StephensonSho-Air-SEMI: Romolo ForcinoBear Valley Bikes-EXP 16-: Garrett GarciaLadera Cycle-EXP 19-24: Matthew ObregonAdobe-HDR-EXP 25-29: Greg Heinz-EXP Wmn 19-29: Heidi KanayanVelo Bella-EXP 30-34: Gary DouvillePlatinum-EXP 35-39: Chuck RossSho-Air-EXP Wmn 30-39: Natasha HerndayAmgen-EXP 40-44: Tim ZandbergenSho-Air-EXP 45-49: Dermot CarrollMichaels B-EXP Wmn 40-49: Cheryl RothFisher-Helens-EXP 50-54: Steven HenslerPossabilities-EXP 55-59: Jon MillerSho-Air-EXP 60-64: Stan FordCycopath-EXP 65+: Terry DahlPlatinum-EXP SNG SPD: Erik EbberothJoselyns
SPORT CAL STATEXC CHAMPION WALL of FAME
SPT 14-: Casey WilliamsBear Valley Bikes-SPT 15-16: Matthew ThomeBackbone-P-SPT 17-18: Brett Stark-SPT Wmn 18-: Tiana Row-SPT 19-24: Vu Le-SPT 25-29: Eric Snyder-SPT 30-34: Chase SchoenPlatinum-SPT 35-39: John Saliamonas-SPT WMN 30-39: Kathryn LaPointeCycle Anal-SPT 40-44: Art Custer-SPT 45-49: Richard KimSho-Air/So-SPT WMN 40-49: Vicki ChernoffAFP-VeloSport-SPT 50-54: Rick Timossi-SPT 55-59: Gary Shuey-SPT 60-64: Nils HendrixSGDC-SPT 65+: Gary FosterCycopath-SPT CLYD 34-: Luke WerkhovenPlatinum-SPT CLYD 35+: William ThomasGalaxia Ti-TNDM: Edward/Ju SibbyCycopath-SPT SNG SPD: John SchmidtSho-Air/So
BEGINNER CAL STATEXC CHAMPION WALL of FAME
BEG 18-: Brandon DroesePlatinum-BEG 19-24: Jeremy MaldonadoSho-Air/So-BEG 25-29: Cheyne McKeeverBear VAlley Bikes-BEG WMN 19-29: Amanda SchaperPlatinum-BEG 30-34: Matt Smith-BEG 35-39: Adam McCamishCoates-BEG 40-44: Clinton CampbellSho-Air/So-BEG 45-49: David JuristChicken Ranch-BEG WMN 40-49: Ronda WardenBear Valley Bikes-BEG 50-54: William KaiserUCLA Cycling-BEG WMN 50+: Anne Roch-BEG 55+: Bob Wolf-JR 12-: Cameron WilliamsBear Valley Bikes-JR 13-14:P Brandon DillardRedding Ve
