By Tinker Juarez
Tinker Juarez
I went to this race with three things in mind: 1. Win the race. 2. Have fun. 3. Find a deserving woman racer to invite to a race in Brazil. The Brazilian promoter had asked me to find a good U.S. woman racer to come do the 12 Horns de Sampan Bikers in November. I thought it would be nice to find some talented unknown, and what better place to find one than at a low key NorCal race.
Well, two out of three isn't bad. It's getting more competitive out there. Used to be I could go to a small event and be able to win while still treating it as a training day; get in some long miles, meet some fans and not have to go all out. But now there are some fast up-and-coming riders who know how to ride endurance events. If everything isn't going right for me these new guys will keep me working all day long!
Steven Sprauge
Unfortunately everything didn't go right at the 12 Hours of Humboldt. First my flight was delayed so I didn't arrive in Arcata until 1:30 in the morning. I had slept a little on the plane, but by the time I got to my hotel and got in bed I was wide awake again. It seemed like I had just gotten to sleep when my wakeup call came. I was yawning and stretching the whole way to the race site. We got there just fifteen minutes before the start.
I felt a lot better once the race started. It's a great course in a beautiful area with the kind of terrain I really like, where the climbing is on double track. I like to be able to just motor up and not have to worry too much about picking lines. It's broken up with some fun sections of singletrack that are technical enough to keep you on your toes. There's also one uphill singletrack section with switchbacks that you have to do just right to keep from walking. The photo shows how much fun and beautiful the course is.
Humberto Faria
During the race I spotted a woman racer who impressed me with her riding. She wasn't under any pressure but was still keeping a good pace. I noticed that she looked very comfortable and wasn't hurting at all to go that fast. She had a little tiger squeaky toy on her handlebar. As I passed her I gave it a squeeze and we both had a laugh about it. During a pit stop I asked the promoter about her. Her name is Melanie Dominguez, and her first ever endurance race was right here at the 12 Hours of Humboldt a few years ago. Since then she's done a bunch and was 4th last year at the 24 Hours of Adrenaline Solo World Championships at Whistler B.C. Perfect! At this race she ended up being the women's pro winner with eight laps. So she's going to Brazil. That will be a nice trip for her to put on her resume.
Melanie Dominguez
Early in the race the scoring people told me that I had a five minute lead over a single speeder in second place. I knew that on such a climber's course that a single speeder would never be able to keep up. Somewhere in there the timing crew had a computer crash and they weren't able to print out results every hour like Team Bigfoot usually does. That's not so much of a problem, a lot of small events don't do them anyway and you can always figure out where you are by looking at the lap sheets. But being there alone without support it's hard to stay on top of who's where. So I just kept my pace, rode consistent and mostly felt good until my eighth lap which didn't go so well. My body kind of hit the wall and I really slowed down and was shivering cold when I came in. I took a long pit, changed into some fresh, dry clothes, ate a big sandwich (And almost choked on it from trying to eat too fast!) and felt a lot better on the next lap.
When I came in after eleven laps I thought that I had almost a two lap lead. But I was looking at the wrong guy, not knowing that there actually was a guy who had been just five minutes behind me all day, and that there was another guy not too far behind him. At this race only laps completed by 8 p.m. count, so I stopped just before 6 p.m., thinking there's no way anyone would do two laps in two hours. By then I was really tired and sleepy. So when Bigfoot the promoter came over asking me why I was stopped, I wasn't real happy when he told me that there were two riders on course who were gonna beat me. It took a while for the big, hairy beast to convince me. By then they had the computer meltdown fixed and he showed me lap by lap what I had done and what the other two guys had done. But by then it was too late. If I was feeling better I might have been able to go out and chase them down. But not on this day. Third place. Dang! If only it had been the 10 Hours of Humboldt!
I still had fun. It was definitely a learning experience. I've won a lot of races where I had a lead and was able to stop early. The gamble has always worked out in my favor. Until now. Next time I'll make double sure of where I am and who is actually behind me and by how far. Yeah, after more than thirty years of racing, I still learn something at every race. Sometimes the lessons come hard.
TOP 10 SOLO RIDERS
1. Jeff Wardell...Pro...12...11:04:47
2. Sean Allan...Exp...12...11:37:27
3. Josh Oppenheimer...Pro...12...11:39:04
4. Jim Hewett...Sng Spd...12...11:51:00
5. Tinker Juarez...Pro...11...9:52:27
6. Kevin Clair...Pro...11...11:00:56
7. Fussy John Mylre...Sng Spd...11...11:14:54
8. Nicholas Connolly...Sng Spd...11...11:31:32
9. Chris Morse...Exp...11...11:46:23
10. Sean Sullivan...Sng Spd...10...10:47:33 PM
TOP 10 SOLO BEGINNERS, SPORTS & OLD GUYS (Who aren't as fast as Tinker.)
1. Dean Scheetz...Spt...10...11:18:30
2. Bob Estes...Spt...10...11:32:17
3. Mark Patten...40-49...10...11:50:42
4. Justin Schwartz...Spt...9...10:39:50
5. Dale Greenhalgh...50-59...9...11:18:34
6. David Desautels...40-49...9...11:20:58
7. Charlie Higgins...Clyd...9...11:23:19
8. John Nelson...50-59...9...11:30:19
9. Larry Kluck...50-59...9...11:40:44
10. Greg Benson...Spt...9...11:42:21
Fastest Beg: Richard Stransky...8...11:18:28
Fastest 60+: Gordon Schatz...3...8:44:53
TOP SOLO WOMEN
Siobhan Saunders...Spt...9...10:52:55
Marian Jamison...Spt...8...10:41:15
Melanie Dominguez...Pro...8...10:56:49
Sarah Kaufmann...Spt...8...11:49:22
Julie Mohr...Spt...6...9:32:56
Meg Mack...Beg...2...8:57:07
TOP 10 TEAMS
1. Team Bicycles Plus (Chris Schulze, Kirk Edgerton)...Exp2...13...11:07:27
2. Paul's Bicycle Way of Life (Demien Kruziki...Sng Spd2...13...11:33:26
3. Team Weaverville (Chris Coble, Pat Beckley, Paul York)...Spt3...13...11:50:22
4. 1 x 27 x 1 (Geoff Hales, Christy Cashelanelli, Jude Stromberg)...Mix3...13...11:34:28
5. Not Lollipops (Rebecca Robertson, Kurt Demedde, Joel Devries, Sean Robertson)...Mix4...12...11:40:46
6. All Balls No Belles (Ray Williams, Todd Fitzwater, Richard Theron, Allan Jones)...40+4...11...11:31:48
7. Chuckwalla (Peter Jarausch, Konrad Jarausch, Shane Fitch)...Spt3...11...11:32:19
8. Summit Bicycles (John Hutchinson, Andrew Davies...Exp2...11...10:55:21
9. Six Cheeks a-Chafing (Shane Swanson, Chad Burke, Nathan Knudsen)...Exp3...11...11:08:16
10. Southern Hemi (Bradley Hibbard, Peter Rive, Steven Antonopoulos)...Spt3...11...11:54:42
Fastest Spt4: Too Tired to be Witty (Joe Mateer, Rob Sorbaugh, Chris Rinker, Tony Lucchesi)...10...11:01:12
Fastest St2: Team Genepi (Wendy Todd, Jason Watkins...10...11:05:34 PM
Fastest Beg2: PhilstoBills (Steve Fly Like An Eagle Miller, Matthew Barker)...10...11:42:26
Fastest Beg3: Wiskeytown (Chris McMillen, Wally Snell, Mike Parnell)...9...11:05:08
Fastest 40+2: Oxygen Debt (Bill Joseph, Steve Tetrick)...40+2...4...5:29:53 |