Trevor Larsen - 2007

Sea Otter XC
April 14, 2007
Junior 15/16 beginner
Teammates: Anthony (13/14 age group, same race)
Feild: 60
Place: 31st
Time: 2:05:39

This was my first MTB race, so I didn't have high expectations for myself. I got up at 5:00 am, so that I could get to the race by 6:30. For breakfast I had granola, yogurt and chocolate milk. The day before I got my number and timing chip, so that I wouldn't have to rush in the morning. I arrived at Sea Otter around 6:30, on schedule. shortly after I got there, Anthony Reardon showed up. He was also doing the XC race, but he was in a different category. We warmed up together by riding aropund the parking lot a few times. We got to the start line on time and had to push our way to our starting gorups. Anthony would be starting a few minutes ahead of me. The race started out by doing about half a lap on the race track. I stayed with the main group for this section, but some people got shelled. Then we went off the rack and on some roads. At the first intersection the course martials sent both junior groups left when we were supposed to go right. So about half a mile up the raod we realized that we were going the wrong way and turned around. By this point, the 15/16's had joined the 13/14's, and everyone who got shelled was back in the gorup. After getting on the right road, we finally came to the dirt, but it wasn't dirt, it was sand. It was also uphill and single track. Here , a lot of people spun out and had to get off their bikes and walk to a flat spot. The race went on like this for about five miles, with flat and downhill sections, also covered with sand. The next 10 miles were on top of some ridgelines and were rolling up and down. This was less sandy and more hard packed dirt. the last 4 or 5 miles were a gradual climb on a fire trail. Here I passed quite a few people. After the climb, we came onto the grassy hill right before the finish. This was downhill and for some reason, everybody was on the brakes, so I passed about five people by letting go of the brakes. The race seamed to go by very fast and I was done before I knew it. My only goals for this race were to finish and have fun. I had a lot of fun in my first MTB race, and I'm definately doing it again next year.

Copperopolis race report
4-7-07
Juniors 15/16
Field: about 20
Teammates: Miguel, Chris, Alicia, Alex, Peter, Nick A.
Place: ?

On Thursday, I pre-rode the course with Chris, Jason, Eric, Zach, and my dad Lance. At the farm place, we took a short cut without knowing it, so I thought I knew the course, when I really didn’t. On Saturday, we woke up at 4:50 and I had some granola and yogurt for breakfast. We left from my cabin at 5:45 and got to Milton at about 7:00. Before the race I did about a half hour of easy warm up. The group started out going pretty easy but when we got to the climb I started struggling to stay with the group. A little less than half way up the climb I got dropped. I tired to catch back on, but I couldn’t. By the time I got to the top of the climb, I was way off the back. When I got to the place where you were supposed to go through the gate, I went left like I did on the pre-ride. Eventually I got back on the right road, and got passed by a group of about seven, including Miguel and Nick. I stayed with them for a few minutes, then dropped off the back. I rode the rest of the race alone, and on the second lap I started to realize that I might be going the wrong way because I saw the 3’s go straight and Nick J. passed me twice. I finished before the rest of the team except Peter, but I took a major shortcut. I didn’t really have high expectations going into the race, so I felt pretty good about finishing and getting my upgrade point. I had fun and I will probably do it next year, but I’ll go the right way next time.

Early Birds Crit, week 2
1/14/07
Jr’s and cat 5’s
Field: about 50
Teammates: Miguel, Nick, Will, Eliah, Luke, and myself

This race started out with a 1 hour session of mentoring, where we practiced cornering as a pack. Then the “race” started. For the first few laps , I stayed with the lead pack, but I got dropped and after about a lap, another pack came by me and I got in with them. I stayed with this group for the rest of the race. With three laps to go, I sat up and just noodled the rest of the race. I didn’t want to get mixed up with the crazy people who try to get the win at Early Birds. In general, riding with the group was safe and steady, there weren't any overlapped wheels, and there were no crashes in my race. Overall it was a good experience to practice racing.