Saturday morning, we packed my Rav4 full of gear for 3 guys with way to many wheels and headed for Yuma.  Jimbo’s first race was at 4:55pm and with the schedule laid out as it was with the 3 race early on Saturday and late on Sunday, Roger and I chose only to race to 45+ Omnium, with the criterium starting at 6:10 in the evening.  After checking in to the Raddison and grabbing lunch, we arrived at the race a good 2 ½ hours before Jimbo needed to start warming up.  The wind was whipping all afternoon and the tent was in danger of flying away, which would have left us broiling in the sun, but we battened down the hatches and persevered.  
     Anyway, we rolled to the combined 35+/45+ race with Jimbo having been released from doping control so he could join us.  The race rolled off at a friendly pace, up the first hill, left turn, right turn, up the second hill, left, left and downhill into a right hander, which leads to the chicane.  A couple of more turns and you’re back at the start/finish.  The first 3 prime laps were for bonus omnium points, so it was important to be in good position.  After the prime bell rang, one rider took off up the hill and got a good size gap on the field.  I launched my own attack to bridge, picked up 2nd place points, but never quite closed on our leader.  A lap later, after a 35+ rider launched his own attack, I went back and joined a pair of riders who were more than happy to share to work, one was in the 35+ category, so I knew I could discount his results.  We rode a steady tempo for most of the rest of the race.  Thanks to Jimbo keeping the field off our backs by covering every potential move, we never saw another rider.  With the lap cards out, my competition for 2nd launched an attack around turn 1, I matched it just kept the hammer down up the 2nd hill and rode away from him, keeping a solid gap for the next two laps, but worrying that if the pair were still together and willing to work together, I’d be outgunned before the end, so I eased off and let them catch me.  As they came up, I looked at my 45+ competition and commented that I hope that my effort hurt him as much as it hurt me.  No response.  He didn’t seem to be having nearly as much as I was having.  We continued together as the bell rang for the final lap.  It was pretty much a replay of 4 laps earlier with him attacking at the base of the hill and me riding away from him at the top.  This time, our 35+ friend took off as well and gapped me, but once I realized that my competition had completely cracked, I didn’t try to cover the move, cruising home 4th overall and 2nd in the 45+ field.  
     Sunday morning dawned too early for any of us, especially since we didn’t finish dinner until nearly 11pm thanks to USADA so desperately wanting a little Jimbo in their lives.  The alarm went off at 5 and we were back at with Jimbo’s first race at 7:30 and ours at 9am.  First place in the omnium was pretty much gone since Matt, the winner from yesterday, scored a clean sweep of 1st place omnium points.  I’d not only have to win the race, but sweep all 3 omnium sprints and hope Matt, who is definitely strong, fell apart.  After yesterday, we decided that no one else would be able to help knock him out of the lead, so if he got away, we wouldn’t chase him down.  The first 2-mile lap held omnium point bonuses.  Matt took me at the line for 4 points; I picked up 2 and the 3rd place finisher from yesterday picked up 1.  We had the top 3 guys off the front.  It was a solid break, except I knew that Matt would be able to use and abuse our 3rd place competitor, so I had nothing to gain by working my tail off in this break.  I slow rolled a couple of my pulls and let the move shut down.  Once we were back with the pack, the real break formed with a couple of 35s, Matt and my fellow trackie, James Kramer, who didn’t have a single point in the omnium.  I missed the move, but 3rd place missed the move as well, so once they were gone, I was content to take the easy ride.  Of course, Jimbo was right next to me reminding me that I wasn’t going to take a pull.  Mr. 3rd place, who is somehow a Cat 1, seemed to be clueless that we were resigned to protect our 2nd place in the omnium.  He started pulling hard and then sitting up sharply, veering from side to side to show his displeasure.  My job at this point was just to sit his wheel and beat him for the omnium sprints.  Either he was on the front or Jimbo came up to the front to shepherd me around, even riding with a flat tire for the last 3 laps.  Aside from Mr. Cat 1s erratic riding and constant complaining, it was fairly uneventful.  He’d attack, I’d cover.  Jimbo would pull and the guys behind would laugh because it was obvious that this guy was just hurting himself.  The omnium sprints were the same except for the last one, where I decided to just jump from the front and beat him from there.  The kicker to the day was that Jim and Matt ended up working well together and Jim took the win, knocking our complainer from the podium all together.  All told, it was a good weekend.  2nd in the crit, 3rd in the circuit and 2nd in the omnium.  I wish I had been able to get across to Matt on day 1.  That would have made day 2 more intense, but hats off to him for making the move and staying away.
-Terry

Great Report Terry!
How can I match that?
O.K. I had the first race.  Its about 85° and Windy.  We start and I go to the front.
Go figure: after the first lap we have only 4 riders.  I wanted sprint points ‘cause I don’t 
know these guys and I want to get an early lead! The course is technical and I love it.
I get the sprint points but with 4 laps to go I start getting tired and I let 2 guys go up the 
road. I end up 3rd for the day and 2nd in points for the overall!
When I finished the race a guy came up to me and said it your lucky day!
I’m like ok what are you talking about? He said,  “You get to pee in a cup!”
So he escorts me to an office with a bunch of people in there.  Now remember,
I just finished a race its 85° and they want me to pee in a cup?  Yeah, that’s going to happen!  The people were very nice telling me everything and I’m like, O.K., you know
I have a race in 30 min. They say give us a sample and you can go.  I’m
drinking lots of water and I told them its not going to happen to dehydrated.
With 10 minutes left before my next race they walked me back to the car.  Terry pinned my number on and we lined up for the next race.  I think all that water was good.  Helping Terry covering the attacks as he goes up the road is sweet and I got 4th!
After the race back to the drug test drinking lots of water finally almost 3hours later
we filled the cup!  After that Dinner and Wine!
Sunday After making Terry and Roger wait till I could fill the cup the night before
I made them get up at 5am for my race. The race was flat and no wind.
I attacked from the start tried to get away from the leader but it wasn't going to happen.
I got 2nd in the race and 2nd overall.
I had a great time with Terry and Roger Thanks Guys!
-Cheers Jimbo.
 
 

Congratulations to Greg Fenton for winning the 55+ division of the Tour de Murrieta Stage Race.  Here is Greg’s report.
This year’s Tour de Murrieta was a hot one!  Of course the Master’s Men events were in the heat of the day.
Day One - Time Trials: The 55+ team managed to place 1st, 4th, and 5th (Greg, Kal, and Tony respectively).  The team all had good times.  Tony’s training and hard work are paying off, nice job Tony.
Day Two - Crit/Grand-prix: The 45’s raced with the 55’s, which made for a fast paced race.  Kal and I were representing UCC.  Heat was a factor; it took a lot of wind out of my sails.  Kal took some good pulls for me, which helped to keep me going.  This is always a sketchy race and we both managed to keep the rubber side down and our skin intact.  This is what success looks like at Murrieta.  Kal finished 5th and I managed to place 3rd despite overheating and begging for the last lap bell a half hour into the race.
Day Three - Circuit: I needed to keep a watch out for and beat one racer by at least one position to win the GC.  Once again we were racing with the 45+ group and with the high speeds, frequent attacks, and narrow roads, this is a real erratic race!  The race started off fast with lots of attacks.  Kal was holding his own and doing a good job supporting me by taking some good pulls.  Kal’s in good form.  It came down to a finish line sprint and with such a short finish I made my move before the last turn, which ended up being the right strategy as I was able to get to the front, win the race, and clinch the GC.  Kal rode strong all three days and took 4th, overall.
The weekend was a success not only for the race results (UCC/JW Flooring on top of the podium) but we also left with all of our skin and “parts” intact!
I’m looking forward to seeing you all this Sunday at the “Bike for Mike.”
-Greg

Several of the UCC/JW Floors mountain bike team raced the 8/4 hours of Bonelli located in San Dimas. Chuy Topete, Greg Twitty, Deron Dodero, and I (Ken Winston) entered the 4-hour race whereas Rhonda Geiszler and Bob Wilcox represented the team in the grueling 8-hour version.
This event consists of completing as many laps of a 5.6-mile course as you can finish in 4 or 8 hours, depending on the event entered. All racers, 150 solo entrants plus many teams, start at the same time. After completing a partial reconnaissance lap, I arrived to the start line a bit late and had to muscle my way into the crowd a few rows back from the front where Chuy, Greg, Deron and I all started together. It was a fast start with a few minutes of smooth fire road before the technical single track began. This allowed Chuy, Greg, and I to clear most of the slower traffic that managed to start in front of us. Chuy slotted in a few bikes ahead of me. Greg and I stayed together and ramped up to what I thought was a very fast pace but not sustainable. Deron was not far behind us.
In the technical single track Greg and I methodically moved past a few riders and entered the smooth and fast part of the course where teamwork is a big advantage. Greg was a perfect companion and we traded pulls when we couldn’t catch other wheels. I wanted badly to stay with Greg to take advantage of working together in this section of the track, so I kept at the fast pace with Greg. On the second lap I asked Greg if he thought it was a good pace, hoping he would offer to back it down a notch. Instead he shrugged as if to say the pace was fine. So I shut up and kept riding hard. For lap 3 and 4 we continued at this same effort. Greg made a comment that maybe the pace was unsustainable. That was music to my ears. But then I noticed we were catching up to Chuy. I pressed on to bridge up to Chuy in the technical single-track section at which time I lost track of Greg. My presence caused Chuy to ramp it up, much to my dismay. Each time we hit the smooth parts Chuy would roar to the front and pull like a jet fighter while I hung on for dear life. Each time we entered the technical single track downhill sections Chuy would let me by and allow me to create a small gap, which never took him long to close once the descent was over. Several times I told Chuy I was running out of legs but he insisted that we were going to finish together. He did all the work and I reaped the benefits (I did give him a beer afterward). The net result was that we stayed together for the final 4 laps all the way to the finish where we finished tied for 2nd overall. Chuy won the 30-39 men. I won and Greg got second in the 50-59 men, which was the largest class of the day with 32 riders. Deron finished 7th, also in the 50-59 men.
In the 8-hour event, Bob Wilcox won the 60+ men and Rhonda took 2nd in the Elite/Open Women.
Team UCC/JW Floors made their presence known at the 4/8 hours of Bonelli. Below are some photos of the podium.

My first kenda cup race by Chuy. ​

The day before the race , I had to admit i was nervous been my first kenda cup race.  My first race of the year was at the same place temecula but it was the socal endurance. i was really dissapointed getting 9th place overall. i got sick 2 days before the race (but i still went to race). During the race i was doing good, but after 2:30 hours my body didnt respond at all, so i just decided to keep racing at a low pace to finish the race! This time was different. I wasnt sick and had been training good....

Ken and I were texting all week long checking the weather.  Woke up on sunday first thing i did check the weather to see how it was going to be for the race! I load all my stuff as i started driving, it started raining really bad non stop ...all the way to Temecula. the course was in good condition, rain didnt affect too much!

At the start line, I wish good luck to my team mates then turn on my race mode and clear my mind!! Race start, i decide to start hard and try to open a gap to avoid all kinds of traffic on the course...i position 4th place in the first single track. i kept my pace.  Minutes later ken and Pascal got me, so i decided to go with them and work as a team! Descending/technical course began, they left me behind easy (I'm not good descending but i will get better).  They opened a gap, so i decided to push hard on one of the fire roads and small climbs.  Finally at the end or the first lap i catch them. i decided to keep my pace to open a better gap.  Pascal got my wheel on the start of the second lap, then we started descending so i decided to let him pass me to avoid losing time on his lap.  Same thing happen and I had to push hard to catch him.  finally i catch him at the end of the second lap!! At the start of the 3rd lap, i decided to let him go and do my own race at my own pace...so I did my 3rd ,4th, 5th and the last lap by myself, didnt get a wheel or someone to work with in the race! My last lap was hard/funny because the CAT 2 XC started when i was doing my last lap, so a couple of racer passed me ...it was all right for me, but when more racer started to passing me, wasnt really nice, so i decided to race them even though it was my last lap and their first lap i didnt care! I start passing the guys that passed me.  There were 3 guys that got my wheel and we were battling all lap long until i dropped them on the last climbing section.  i push hard because I knew that was the only part of the course that i will open a gap....and it was. I ended my race with a sprint! Finished  at 6th place overall and first on my 30-39 category. I was really happy on my first Kenda Cup race.  Honestly, i wasn't planning getting podiums this year because i didnt know if i will adapt fast racing here at USA, but i think i had been training good! I'll keep training hard to become better.  I'm glad that I'm racing for UC Cyclery/JW Floors. Great rides and great people! Thanks Ken for the invite to the team! 


Chuy. 

PS. I missed the podium, they gave me the wrong time....i will have to race and get another first place to have a pic with my opponents 😅.!! 

UCC/JW Floors team results on the day:


Endurance MTB:
30-39 Men: Chuy 1st place
40-49 Men: Pascal 1st place
50-59 Men: Ken 1st place, Deron D 3rd place 
60-69 Men: Bob Wilcox 2nd place

Cross Country MTB:
50-55 Cat 1 Men: Greg Twitty 5th, Steve Boyd 7th
60-65 Cat 1 Men: Randy Liechty 1st

The team was busy over the President's Holiday Weekend.  There were Time Trials, Stage Races, and Track Omniums.  Here are some race reports from them:


Congratulations to Tony Darr! 
55+ 1st place at a windy and rainy Fiesta Island TT.  Rained all 3 laps.
Tony’s first win of the year and 1st win of the year for UC CYCLERY!  BOOM!!

​I have an unfortunate story to share about my friend, Nick, who rides for Monster Media, and his wife, Casey.  Last Monday they went for a ride, and afterwards, Nick went to REI in Kearny Mesa.  He was fiddling in the back of his RV when he saw a guy remove his bike from the rack and take off!  He hadn’t locked it, yet. He was going to before going in to the store.

Nick took off after the thief, but was too late.  He came back to his RV just in time to see the guy’s girlfriend taking off with Casey’s bike!  He couldn’t catch her either!  Both stolen right in front of him.  What a day!
He called the police and reported the thefts.  REI has video of the thieves, so we hope someone will recognize them.  Here is a description of the bikes, keep your eyes and ears open:
Nick’s bike is a Kestral Legend with Di2 and Roval Wheels.
Casey’s bike is a Specialized Diverge with disc brakes.