As you’ve already read, Priscilla mentioned that the MtnBikeRiders crew raced yesterday’s Mt. Sac Fat Tire Classic. My daughter Breanna and I raced in the tandem category.
Here we are heading up to the starting line.
Did you notice our streamers…that’s to psych out the competition and if we needed to, we can take them off to whip the riders next to us so they don’t pass, you know a little Ben Hur action.
Here we are right when they said go. You can see Priscilla behind me all serious. She eventually passed us and a bunch of other riders.
Being in the tandem category, we had to ride 12 miles, basically 2 of the 6 mile loops. As much as Priscilla says it wasn’t a tough trail, I’m going to have to say that this was one of the most brutal courses out there…especially on a tandem. This trail had single track, steep climbs and descents, sand, ruts and cow patties…nasty!
We did race against another tandem couple. These two were riding an impressive Ventana with 8″ brake rotor, dual suspension…and basically a tandem made for mountain biking. Breanna and I were on our KHS Alite…it originally came with a rigid fork and we’re using v-brakes to stop us, plus its a hard tail.
This is our competition…
Before the race, Breanna and I talked about our goals for the event. For one thing we wanted to have tons of fun. Another goal was to finish the race. So for the fun factor, had had blast! We kept saying hi to people that we were riding next to, waving to the other tandem riders, and enjoying the scenery. As far as finishing the race…I have to tell you it was hard. At one point we stopped to rest and Breanna says to me, “Why am I doing this! It’s so hard!” But she knew that we agreed to finish the race so she never mentioned giving up.
There were a few times when I would ask her if she needed to rest, you know so she can let her legs feel better from all the climbing…she passed on the opportunity to rest and suggested we keep going.
The thing that trips me out the most is going down hills on our tandem. For one thing, this bike needed some disc brakes and a rear suspension. But as much as I wanted to worry, Breanna, on the other hand was having a blast. While we’re going down, she’s yell out…”weeeeee!”
On our second lap of the course, we thought we were the last ones. But we immediately felt better when we passed two other guys on the trail. The second time around we actually did way better. Just because we knew where to make up for lost time by mashing it, and where to rest on the down hills.
So after riding the course for 1 hour and 36 minutes, Breanna and I finished!
When the results were finally posted, the awards ceremony started. We waited patiently for them to call our names. Yup sure enough the announcer says, “Beginner’s Tandem, 2nd Place…RL and Breanna Policar!”
Here we are with our new trophy!
I’m very proud of Breanna for racing with me. She was such a trooper out there and refused to give up. Not only is she strong, but she’s got heart, so much so that she wouldn’t let her dad rest…Again I’m VERY proud of my girl Breanna!
Here’s our mantle with the two trophies that the Policar family got to take home. Priscilla’s is the one on the left and ours is on the right.
I do want to say thanks to KHS Bicycles for building an awesome tandem bike. For my boys Vince C. and Vince R. for hooking us up with KHS jerseys, I can’t forget about Khoa N. for his photographic skills and ofcourse my family for encouraging us through out the race. Thanks!
By the way, if you’re interested in more pictures from the event, check out our gallery HERE.
