2015 Fat Tire Classic, Triple Crown Series Finale

Mt. San Antonio College (MtSAC), like its neighbor Cal Poly Pomona includes an AG component in its curriculum. Between the two they have grown some darned fine looking hills, hills that the organizers of the annual Fat Tire Classic have used to great effect, creating a course demanding and challenging to all. I normally miss out on this race, and in fact have only been out here once before - on the hills around the football stadium, which are, for the most part, pretty tame. This time, however, I hopped on my rig and rode out around the first half of the course, which was quite a bit more challenging, especially when I got to the single track on the other side of that parking lot. That narrow stretch that kept down low, had me sweating bullets until it turned up and started zigzagging to the top. That part had me walking. Did I ever tell you why I don't race mountain bikes? Funny thing is, none of that stuff seemed to bother anyone else in the least. Oh well.

The Classic serves up some legendary action, and have been known to bring in some legendary folks. Like Johnny O'Mara. The one-time Supercross (motorcycle) racer, who transitioned to mountain biking in 1992 (or was it 1991), has won National Championships and, at the ripe young age of fifty-four clocked the quickest race time of the day while on his way to winning the Expert Men 54-59 group. Since he has a year on me, I am going to accept the idea that I still have hope.

The days' other victors included: Daniel Munoz (Baghouse) Elite Men, Ryan Fedorow (Baghouse) Expert Men U34, Phil Kelly (All Pro Bicycles) Expert Men 35-49, Jon Miller (Stonehaus/Trek) Expert Men 60+, Cindy Marnoch (Crank Benders) Expert Women Open, Justin Bogle (Baghouse) Sport Men 18-29, Juan Ramon Martinez (unatt) Sport Men 30-39, Gary Garman (Triple Threat) Sport Men 40-49, Todd Hunsaker (Empire Bikes) Sport Men 50-59, Randy Banales (unatt) Sport Men 60+, Rachel Russell (unatt) Sport Women U34, Brian Wilmot (Becher Plus) Single Speed Open, Ryan Jastrab (SC Velo/Monster Media) High School, Timothy Peavler (Rock Sports Racing) Beginner Men 18-29, Mark Gabot (Tru-Cycling/Fullerton Bikes) Beginner Men 30-39, Jason Findahl (Red Zone Racing) Beginner Men 40-49,Steven de la Mora (Mark's Bike Shop) Beginner Men 50-59, Gary Churchill (unatt) Beginner Men 60+, Lori Costello (unatt) Beginner Women U34, Michele Marie McClure (SC Velo) Beginner Women 35+, Paul Shank (Squeaky Wheel Bike Shop) Clydesdale 200+, William Wolfe (Cast A Shadow) Jr. High School, Angelika Lane (The Cyclery Bike Shop) Elementary School.

Good racing and congratulations to all who were out there today, and over the course of the three race series.

Big hills and bigger mountains.

Mikael Rodgers (Baghouse) catches a little air time off this drop

Round this hill and over another, a long way to the finish.

Exhaustion at the end.

You probably know the drill by now, but here it comes again anyway: there are one hundred thirteen photos in the Flickr album, only a small portion of the shots taken today. The photos are not a complete catalog, but are representative of all the others taken during the race, so if you don't see what, or who, you were looking for in the album, let me know and I will see what I can find. If you see a photo you like, feel free to download it (credit where credit due, of course). You can also contact me via email and I will gladly send a full size jpeg file of the image. As usual, I don't charge for photos, but do appreciate it when someone purchases a copy of the annual (link at top of page). Until next time, good riding.