SCVelo XC Race at Bonelli Park

Earlier last week I talked a mean game about how the MtnBikeRiders.com Race Team had been working hard in preparation for this years XC Race at Bonelli Park. Some of our riders have been doing some cross over training by implementing the P90X work outs, others have been using bags of cement in their hydration pack and others have been trying to bulk up with the help of supplementation and super fast riding.

Well all that paid off last Saturday as the team competed against some of the finest mountain bike racers in SoCal. If you haven’t heard, we had 2 of our racers get 1st place!

Eric “The Animal” Hunner spanked his competition! I have to tell you something about Eric’s race. The Single Speed Category started 5 minutes after the Cat 2 racers. But what was crazy was how he caught up to Cat 2 and even passed up some of those guys!

Priscilla “Lady P” Policar had a great performance that day. Being her husband, I see on a daily basis the kind of effort she puts into her training. This girl works out at least 5-6 days a week, sometimes 2 times a day! Her training was evident that day as she was the first out of all the beginner women to come through. She was wicked fast and her competition was no where in site.

This race was also a big day for Kim “Champ” Finch. She made the jump from Cat3/beginner to Cat2/Sport. That meant she had to do 3 laps. Kim did a fabulous job in kicking butt out there. We’re super proud of her making the transition to the upper class of racing.

I can’t forget about our Lil’ Tony, or as some of you know him as David Sanderson. David is a very impressive racer. This guy crossed over from single-speed to sport and does a bang up job as he’s racing in it! If you watch the video, just check out how smooth he is and how fast he flows. David took home a respectable 4th place in the Cat2 27-34mens, that’s pretty dang impressive since just a few months ago he was racing single-speed. A category more suited to his body type.

Tony Finch entered the race in a last minute whim. I asked him earlier that morning if he was going to race, his response, “hmm, not sure yet, but I think I will.” Tony has to be one of the most humble racers you’ll ever meet. He never flaunts his abilities, rather, he shows you what he can do! Tony raced in the Cat2 Old Men on bikes, he finished at 7th that day.

We were also joined by some of our friends that morning. Mark West, he rides one of them Carbon Fiber Sette XC Bikes, super light weight, then our good buddy Dan “AV” Burdett and Val Macatangay. Mark took 2nd in the Cat 3 27-34 Mens, Dan took 7th in the same Cat, and Val had a heart attack that day.

I can’t forget to mention our friend Steve “Honda”, no he’s not Japanese, he’s as white as Wonder Bread. But this guy rocks! He took 2nd in the much older men Cat2.

Super proud of our team and our friends. Great attitudes, great performances and no injuries!

I gotta say thanks to Gabe “The Romanian Thunder” Preda for helping out with the videos and for Tim Shears for taking care of some of the photos.

I can’t forget to thank all of our team sponsors. You can support them by clicking on the right side of your screen under “team sponsors.” Buy their products, its good stuff, if it wasn’t we wouldn’t be using them!