Local racing starts on The Big Mountain…

Date : 17 July 2008       From : 5:00pm   To : 9:00pm
Category : General

Description:

Information Sheet
THURSDAY NIGHT RACE LEAGUE
Revised 5/ 2 /2008
July 17th, 24th, 31st August 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th

DESCRIPTION:
TNRL is a series of seven Cross Country mountain bike races held on Thursday evenings. The course is on a variety of trails above village area and in our cross country trail network below the Baselodge. We hope to provide additional trails this summer to augment our race loops. This race series will be on one of three courses throughout the season to highlight different trails, different strengths of riders, while focusing on cross country style trials. All abilities and ages are welcome and encouraged to participate. There is a party with awards and drawings after each race starting at about 8pm. Registratioun, Start, Finish and awards / after party will be at or just slopeside of Ed & Mully’s each week.

TEAMS:
You do not have to be a member of a team to race in TNRL. Teams are vying for an end of season bragging rights and pass around trophy, with nearly as much historical significance as the Stanley Cup. – joke-
Teams are comprised of 5 riders with up to 2 alternates for a total of 7 racers. Only the top 5 finishes for a team will be counted towards overall team points each evening. The key to a strong team finish is diversity among members, i.e. don’t have all your teammates competing against one another in the same categories.

SCHEDULE:
Participants Expected: 40 - 100 per race

REGISTRATION SCHEDULE:
Registration 5pm – 6 pm. Racers must check in every Thursday night. Location TBA

RACE SCHEDULE:
Check in at E&M’s 5pm – 6pm. Every racer, every week..
Race starts at 6:30 each evening and finishes around 8:pm. Awards ceremonies happen from 8:pm – 9 pm
First 40 to register for the entire season receive a TNRL t-shirt.

COST: $50 for the entire series or $10 per race.

CLASSES: Beginner (one lap), Sport (2 laps), Expert (3 laps). Possibly will add a 50+ age group and a 40+ pound bike group if there is demand (over 5 racers).

Men’s and Women’s AGE DIVISIONS:

Youth: 10-19
Senior: 20-29
Masters 30-39,
Veteran 40+

No licenses required. Helmets ARE required. Just bring your bike and a good attitude.

SPONSORS - TBA

A big thanks goes out to all who made the 1st annual GNCC Granja del Cerdo a big success.

…and to all the GNCC racers who stepped up on the podium!

A full race wrap up will be up soon…

Look at that object in a filthy mud hole by the roadside. At first, you distinguish nothing but a pile of black, slimy mud. The dirty mass moves! You think of a reptile, a turtle, some uncouth monster, reveling his Stygian filth. A grunt! The mystery is solved. The sound betrays a hog. You avert your face and hasten by, sickened with disgust. Stop, friend, admire your savory ham, your souse, your tripe, your toothsome mountain bike racer…

Thanks to Matt at Off The Grind and Bear for the fine pics and a fantastic video re-cap.

granja-del-cerdo-results

course del pork 7.6k per lap

Granja del Cerdo is located here

Great Northern Cycling Club would like to thank all who came out and supported a great day of racing and to all the volunteers, especially Flatehead Cycling!

Also, a big shout to all GNCC tifoso and our squadra, who chamois upped and braved the cold wet day…

Bear+Brenda+Chris+Craig+Howard+Russell+Paul+Dr. J+Nicolas+Susen-Marie+Carol

Ceres Bakery in Kalispell+Taco del Sol+Vail Mountain Coffee and The Daily Habit coffee bar for the great prizes !!

Before The 2008 Fish Trails Omnium gets put away into my cerebral filing cabinet I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights of another great weekend of racing in Montana. Let me start by pointing out that I think that 2008 will go down our memories as the “year our chamois grew mold.” Sunshine please come back! This wet weekend provided me with two first time experiences; the first was being a race director and the second was racing as a cat. 3. Both were challenging, anxiety provoking and personally satisfying. But enough about me - let’s get to the good stuff…..

The rain trimmed much of the fat off the fields, leaving only the frost-hardened racers to battle it out in downtown Whitefish. Small fields mean there is nowhere to hide. We all had to stick our noses in the wind today. After the kid’s race the juniors toed the line and were the first to test out the quality of the State Championship Criterium course. The blow by blow details already escape me; however, a young MJCF/RU rider named Nate Weston powered across the line looking like a young Robbie McEwen pumping his fists in the air.

The next field was the combined ladies race. This race was a green blur with the Northern Rockies Women controlling the field at all times. Flathead Cycling Lynette Vanaken fought as hard as she could to keep up with the “Lime Green Machine” but NRO ladies organized really well and kept the tempo high with short pulls and shared labor. With Lynette stuck in “no woman’s” land a chase group consisting of three Great Northern Cycling riders worked together to shorten the advantage of the green girls in front, but NRO would have none of that. Tamara Bessette gave a leadout fit for the Champs-Elysees to teammate Megan Slivka, who took the win with pride.

The next race was the combined Masters field, and the competition was fierce. The number of dark green jerseys in that race made Alex Gallegos look like a lone carrot surrounded by a plate full of peas. If I did not know Alex and Michael Longmire to be tougher than wood pecker lips, I would be temped to say that they were shaking in their chamois at the starting line and not because they were cold. A few laps into the race Longmire, Greenburg, Lanstrom and Gallegos got in a break from the peleton that stuck. Lanstrom was charging hard on the last corner setting Greenburg up for the sprint but tragedy struck when his tires lost contact with the asphalt and “blam” down he went causing Greenburg to come to almost a complete stop with an unobstructed view of Gallegos and Longmire sprint away to the finish line. Revenge for the Hamilton crit beating was Mike’s when he piped Alex at the line for the win. The chasing peleton roared in behind like a pack of blood thirsty hounds chasing a fox.

The second biggest group of the day huddled at the start line as rain continued to fall on the underfed lycra clad lads of the sr. men cat 4/5 field. The familiar faces of the peleton, rising star Willy Zellmer, Jeff “Hushodv” Twohig, Kyle Shannon, Miles Key and Muleterro “fashionista” Cory Hardy were joined by many new faces to scene. Great Northern Cycling’s very own directeur sportif Craig Prather was accompanied by teammates Nicholas Broskovich, “Bear” Barenowski and our newest team mate (I signed him up at registration!) Chris Connolly, who chose the FTO to make their premier appearance in competition this year. Also, making a rare cycling appearance was Ben Ruffato dressed like combination of Larry the Cable Guy and Richard Simmons. This was going to be no sit in race for Willy Z.; he attacked hard and often. Ben, Chris and Craig took turns covering his attacks. Finally late in the race Willy got one that stuck and he lapped some dropped racers. Chris and Ben bridged to the lone man out front and passed him on one of the last few laps. Willy, tired and wet after a long race on the front, was gobbled by the chasing peleton. Working harder than Simmons “Sweatin’ to the Oldies,” Ben powered across the line with Connelly in tow.

The sr. men 1, 2 and 3 field finally was called to the line. Nerves fried from a day of organizing and stressing out unnecessarily, I was reminded of my first races when I could care less about a spot on the podium: I just wanted to keep up with the peleton. The same was true for me today. “Please don’t let me get dropped or take anyone out!” I begged the cycling gods. I was finally here at the line with the big boys. “Josh Tack, Andrew Fisher, Clint Muhlfeld, Alex Lussier, Noonie. These are the guys I have been watching tear up criterium courses for the last five years, “what the @*%@ am I doing here!” My anxiety begins to spiral as Don yells, “Go!” The group took the first few laps easy, getting the feel for the wet corners. The pace was swift, however we were not strung out. I hung nervously at the back staying vigilant for warnings signs of an intimate encounter with the asphalt. Once I became comfortable with the corners and confident that I could hang with the average pace, I decided that it was time to move up in the pack. I looked for a wheel I trusted. I wish I could tell you about what was going on at the front but I had my hands full just sitting in. I am pretty sure that Brad Morgan got off of the front for a while near the end; however, the Bob’s cycling guys were not letting anyone get away for long. With about five laps to go while coming around corner six there was that all too familiar sound of a bike going down skidding of metal across the asphalt a GAS rider went down. The pace got hot for the last couple of laps. I chose Eric Digby’s wheel as my lead out to the finish and timed it just right to come around him while he was focused on his timing to come around Elliot! As I sprinted for the finish line I felt myself scream as I poured every ounce of energy into my pedals to keep my acceleration going. Yes! I survived. Chris from Bob’s Cycling got Bob Presta in the sprint but not by much. Josh pulled in third and decided that he would get off of his bike rather than go around corner one after the finish line; however, he forgot to stop his bike first and ended up doing the slip and slide across the road instead. It was such a smooth “lay down and slide” that I am still not sure whether he did it on purpose or not.

Well, even though racing was over the rain wasn’t. It continued to drizzle as we presented the awards. Cash and a baguette from Ceres Bakery in Kalispell for second and third, cash and flowers for the winners. Thanks for reliving the experience with me. If you made it out to the race, thank you for coming. If you didn’t I hope that you can make it next year - we are already planning how we can make it better.

Cheers

Howard Williams

GNC

Results Here (pdf)

Flathead Beacon report

All the fantastic fotos by Natasha Westphal. Click Here

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Join us this Saturday at Depot Park, 12 noon, for a fantastic day of bike racing (if you have never experienced a criterium style bike race, you are in for a treat) along with a free kids events, bike decoration, great local food vendors,raffles and music. All proceeds will benefit Fish Trails and the dedication of the new Wisconsin path.

GNCC’s Howard Williams takes 1st in GC (cat 4) at last week’s Tour of the Bitterroot

…once again great work Howard!

Thanks for the fantastic foto’s John!! @ jpsphotos.net

Join GNCC Saturday, May 31st 8am for our first supported century around beautiful Lake Koocanusa

This fantastic road ride (110 miles) of virtually traffic free tarmac will include a free lunch and broom wagon!

We will stage at Grave Creek Cabins 5 miles south of Eureka.

Map of the loop HERE

more info: 862+5321

Great Job Howard!

Results HERE

Thank Natasha Westphal for the nice photos

The Eureka Spring Fling

Training Omnium

Where: Grave Creek Cabins (8 miles south of Eureka)

When: Saturday May 3rd

Time:

Time Trial

10AM

Group Ride

1PM

Courses:

TT-20km out and back on fun rolling course

with 200ft climbing (self-timed).

Spirited Group Ride - stage at Grave Creek

Cabins and roll out 2mi to Fortine School where

the ride will begin. Course is a rolling 12mi out to

16.5mi loop and then back to Fortine. Mileage

options are:

41.5mi (1 loop/2,498ft climbing),

58mi (2 loops/3,585ft climbing).

VIEW FILER HERE (PDF)

1^st Annual

Great Northern

Cycles

Bike Swap

New + Used

Saturday May 3^rd 8am-1pm

WHAT: Sell your new or used cycling gear with 5% of the proceeds to benefit GNCC Jr. Cycling Program (dealers welcome)

Where: Great Northern Cycles 104 O’Brien Ave Whitefish, Montana

HOW: Gear check in Thursday & Friday @ Great Northern Cycles

unsold gear must be picked up by Monday May 5^th (or it’s ours)

Free bagels and coffee by THE BEAN HIVE & The Daily Habit

Questions? Dial 862+5321

“fast like pancakes”