Northern California Bicycle Racing Community

Keyesville Classic

This was my first year making the trip down to the Bakersfield area for the Keyesville Classic. This grassroots event has taken place for many years. Recently they began running an "all mountain" class, which combines results from the XC race on Saturday and the Short Track and Downhill on Sunday, all raced on the same bike. At $69 for all three races, how could I resist?

I arrived early on Friday and prerode the course with my friend Tom Sharp. The rolling, sandy terrain was a lot of fun. No really long climbs, many short, steep ones. True roller coaster with great G-outs and berms. The rainy weather had packed the sand and the traction was very good. After a casual 45 minute lap of the XC course, I rode up the hill and did a run down the DH course. This was also very fun. Some big corners, a long rocky chute, and a fireroad sprint finish. There were many line options, but I knew I wouldn't have time to get anything dialed. I did establish that there were no innately deadly options.

The rain came in Friday night and wet the course again. Saturday morning was a little cool, but at start time the conditions were really good for racing. The field was much smaller than the weekend before at Bonelli, so starting position was not so crucial. There were some fast guys to watch: Adam Craig and Tinker Juarez were the obvious favorites to win. Vince Lombardi, Romolo Forcino, and youngster Tony Smith would be hard to beat, as well. The start was pretty mellow, and the first selection was made on the early fireroad climbs. I led the field for a bit, not going too hard. Vince Lombardi came around very aggresively and I let him go. A group of four or five seemed content to ride my wheel until Adam Craig wanted to pass. Of course, I let him by, but he didn't press the pace much and we eventually passed him. The fact that he wasn't out of sight ahead of us indicated that he was not having a good day. I heard some sort of ruckus behind me, which turned out to be Tinker crashing pretty hard.

As things shook out on the first 2 of our 4 laps, my group dwindled to me followed by Romolo and Tony. I know Romolo's plan is usually to suck a wheel for the whole race, avoiding any time at the front or in the wind. It's a strategy that works for him unless he is really outgunned. Tony seemed content to do the same, probably a little unsure of his place in the Pro field and playing it safe for now. I was feeling a little flat, so I kept up a maintainable pace. I tested a few times on some steep climbs and was unable to snap either of them off. Occasionally I would look back across the course and see Tinker in hot pursuit, so I felt I had to do the work to keep us ahead of him.

Nearing the end of the third lap, Tony made his move. He kicked it in and Romolo stuck to him, and I fell off a little. I got wrapped up in an attempt to pass some lapped traffic and they moved just out of sight.

We started the last lap and I could usually see them ahead, with a minute or so on me. I tried to gain some ground on the steep climbs, but I just didn't have the gas to run them down.

I had pretty much resigned myself to finishing alone, but I kept pressing with one thought in my mind: these guys had not wanted to be in front at all for the first half of the race, so how does it work in the last of the race? Would Tony tow Romolo to the end, or slow down and try to make him move up?

As I approached the last few climbs, I saw them within striking distance. My legs were tired, but I smelled blood! I saw Romolo make his move with a couple of minutes to go, willingly taking the lead for the first time in the race. Tony couldn't hang with Romolo's attack and I got pretty close to him before he noticed I was there. Tony kicked it in and held me off by 6 seconds at the line.

Awesome course and super fun race, but I was definitely a little slow. Over 2 hours and 20 minutes, my average heartrate was 156bpm, with a max of 167bpm. That's about 10 beats low on both counts. No time to recover much, as I had the Short Track and Downhill to race on the next day.

The field was smaller for Sunday's Short Track, mainly only all mountain racers. They shortened it from 25 minutes plus 3 laps to less than 20 minutes, due to impending rain. I went out and suffered through the laps, watching my heartrate mimic the day before's XC race. I can usually average 166 for two hours, and that was my max in this sub-20 minute raced! Tinker made a move early and built up a good gap. I went back and forth with a few people and did my best to go fast, coming in second in Pro class.

These results created a tie between Tinker and me for first in All Mountain Class. It would be decided by the Downhil - Tinker on his 18.82 lb Scalpel and me on my 20.42 lb Superfly hardtail. Yeeha!

Most rode the shuttle up to the start, but Will Patterson and I rode our bikes up the 15 minute climb as a warmup. I prepared my downhill sled (lowered the seat on my hardtail) for my run. The fast DH guys were shooting for 3 minutes, I was hoping for under 3:30 with no flats or crashes. I had a very fun run with no screwups. I felt like I was going fast and came in at 3:23. I was pretty pumped with this result, given the circumstances (XC bike and 2 pre-rides), and I knew I had won when I saw Tinker come down with a flat tire.

I didn't feel strong in any of the races, but I had fun and can't miss the rare chance to stand on a podium above Tinker and Adam Craig!