Southern California - Encino VeloSwap 12/9, any good?

Just wondering, never been...

It's somewhat small, but a few vendors bring a LOT of stuff. I thought it was Sat, though.

and racing... a 400 lap 100km scratch race with the biggest prize list for any track race in the nation. $10,000 prize list, $5,000 for first place. some of the names that are signed up for the race- michael creed, brad huff, david clinger, rahsaan bahati. and a 100 lap 25km messenger race (open to anyone). racing starts at 11am
http://encinovelo.org/

is it going to be there, rain or shine?

just got back...

bust

how was the racing? Was there racing?

As for the racing, with 21 starters, there were only 5 finishers. Gunn 1st, I can't remember the name of the 2nd place finisher, Creed 3rd, Bahiti 4th, and Cody (Riley?) 5th.

Clinger was out early having been lapped twice. Don't know the players so I am unable to provide much else.

The swap meet was on the light side but I did pickup a Thomson setback for $25.

Way to go, Curtis! My homeboy.

As for the racing, with 21 starters, there were only 5 finishers. Gunn 1st, I can't remember the name of the 2nd place finisher, Creed 3rd, Bahiti 4th, and Cody (Riley?) 5th.

Clinger was out early having been lapped twice. Don't know the players so I am unable to provide much else.


Wow, wish I had known it was going to be such a stud turnout. Would have been fun to watch.

It was a good turnout.

btw, Gunn owned the race today. He attacked throughout the day and ended up lapping the field. After that, he just made sure no one broke away and he walked off with $5,000.

I have never seen CamelBak's on track riders before. I have never seen a track that long before either.

The messenger race was kinda fun too.

Wow, wish I had known it was going to be such a stud turnout. Would have been fun to watch.

Yeah, I knew it was (I saw the reg list when I was thinking about registering) and decided I could call the top 5 (I had a different order-- my money was on Creed, but Curtis is probably more experienced tactically). I would have put Cody in 2nd (last name Oreilly-- he's Rory's son). Was 2nd place Brad Huff? I think Creed had two reg's in his name, and one was for Huff. I'd actually pick him over Mike, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't in Beijing this weekend.

60 miles is a *long* track race solo. As a madison it would be a little less bad. Short of a 6-day style race, the longest you're likely to ever see is the 200 lap madison at worlds (they only run 160 laps at world cup). Even modern 6-days don't usually have chases that go for more than an hour, though we keep talkng about having a 24-hour madison with teams of 3 people. I had heard they were going to allow a feed on the backstretch at around the halfway point, but camelbacks sounds better-- the transition to the apron there is pretty gnarly, and the feed zone could have gotten ugly.

I didn't ride because I could already pick 5 people who could reliably finish in front of me, and the price was kind of steep to spend 60 miles on encino. I think the reason only 5 finished is that they were running it as a modified miss & out, with 5 riders getting pulled every 50 laps. That could have supported ~40 starters, but that track is too narrow to race more than about 25-30 safely.

Wow, good call Duck, Brad Huff was indeed 2nd.

I thought Creed was going to win but he was really tiring at the end. Gunn just kept going. He was strong all day.

And, Ok, Cody O'Reilly was 5th. His dad started but only made a few laps. It was a pretty fast pace at the start with the winds. I like his dad's classic bicyclist look.

I keep telling people I should be betting on track races-- on a good day I can call 1-5 in order.

Comparing today's swap to previous swaps, I'd consider today a success. There was a LOT of stuff.

There's also another Swap Meet next Sunday 12/16 in Ventura. Someone was out there passing out flyers for that.

10 AM - 1 PM. 101 exit Johnson. They say it's around where the Ventura Performance Bike is.

This Swap Meet is a "First Annual" so I'm not sure who's gonna show up, but with all swap meets, you never know what you're gonna find!

I was there too watching a few pals race.

The early pace was crazy fast considering the distance.

I can’t imagine how those guys felt hearing “only 320 laps to go!” :eek:

Thought the swap was ok. Some deals, some not so. As always, I picked up stuff that I didn't need. Future swap items?

Also thought the race was going to be a bust and left early. Crazy to think pushing a huge effort in those conditions...

Ok, you guys that were there, who was the guy between turns 1 and 2 doing the cheering. He started the race and pulled early. He was a riot!!!

Ok, you guys that were there, who was the guy between turns 1 and 2 doing the cheering. He started the race and pulled early. He was a riot!!!

You mean way too many beers guy. He was a riot :beer:

I wasn't there but I'll take a guess-- tall guy with curly hair and a slight accent?

I wasn't there but I'll take a guess-- tall guy with curly hair and a slight accent?

yes, Speedee and Duck, you are both right.

I bet he doesn't talk for about 3 weeks....:D

Joerg (http://www.joergstoeffel.com/)

His dad was a world champion cyclist back in the day. Joerg is a guitarist, and I'm sometimes glad he doesn't have time to race on the weekends-- even when he's out of shape he's really strong.

Joerg (http://www.joergstoeffel.com/)

His dad was a world champion cyclist back in the day. Joerg is a guitarist, and I'm sometimes glad he doesn't have time to race on the weekends-- even when he's out of shape he's really strong.

Oh yea... he's been out on our Wed rides occasionally. And yes, very strong... as in toys with Keith, even when he's out of shape. :)

Joerg (http://www.joergstoeffel.com/)

His dad was a world champion cyclist back in the day. Joerg is a guitarist, and I'm sometimes glad he doesn't have time to race on the weekends-- even when he's out of shape he's really strong.

Hmmm, I am not sure this is him. I am really bad with faces but I think our one-man cheering section was more of a latin look. Longer hair. Girls all around him.

When he was riding, I think he had a yellow bike.

Hmmm... that's a tougher one.

Hmmm... that's a tougher one.

Maybe someone else can chime in with a better description.


Toward the end, he was rating Michael Creed with Hot-or-Not points. Michael wasn't doing too bad, usually getting around an 8.2.

Ok, you guys that were there, who was the guy between turns 1 and 2 doing the cheering. He started the race and pulled early. He was a riot!!!

That was Mike Hernandez, aka Olaf Vanderhoot. He's a really strong all-around rider and his early departure was uncharacteristic. Although he's not in the same league with the top-5 guys, he should have done better. Anyway, you can check out his very entertaining blog here...

http://vanderhoot.blogspot.com

...where you can count on a good post about the race when he gets some time.

Also, I took some pictures and put them in my blog here...

http://marcofanelli.blogspot.com

It was interesting to see so many top riders watching the race. Ivan Dominguez to name one...

He doesn't do much track-- did he get pulled on one of the miss & out laps?

Hmmm, I am not sure this is him. I am really bad with faces but I think our one-man cheering section was more of a latin look. Longer hair. Girls all around him.

When he was riding, I think he had a yellow bike.

Yes, I was talking to him before the race. Great guy - just like a big kid having fun. He raced with a camel pack outside his jersey, and eventually tossed it to the infield - probably because the beer in it was getting warm.

:D

OOps. duck, I owe an apology, if was Chad Hartley as 2nd, not Brad Huff. Geee I am bad with names too.

That was Mike Hernandez, aka Olaf Vanderhoot. He's a really strong all-around rider and his early departure was uncharacteristic. Although he's not in the same league with the top-5 guys, he should have done better. Anyway, you can check out his very entertaining blog here...

http://vanderhoot.blogspot.com

...where you can count on a good post about the race when he gets some time.

Also, I took some pictures and put them in my blog here...

http://marcofanelli.blogspot.com

It was interesting to see so many top riders watching the race. Ivan Dominguez to name one...

Nice pictures and commentary OTB!!

[edit to add]
You took those pictures near where I was standing at the end. I had the blue jacket, black beanie, and blue gloves on. You were probably right next to me.

Great writeup!

from looking at the spectators in the last pic, it looks like it was cold.

hey ya'll. new to these forums, but got forwarded the note that my "cheering" was seen as riotous.

yup, sorry about that. but, you know ... fun and all.

here's a quick write up i did to our Hellyer e-list about the race. it's not much on the entertainment value, only a bit of info and description pecked out late at nite after driving back from the so-cal.

we've got a bunch of pictures we'll put up of the event in the next day or two. I'll try and get a link to them posted here.

great race and i loved the swap meet. i bought one of those handmade wallets from that guy who makes them out of discarded tubes. very cool.

anyway, here's a quick recap, and i'll get more pictures and blabby on my site, vanderhoot.blogspot.com later this week.

cheers,
michael
----


Results were:
1 Gunn (actually, 'bazooka' better describes his form right now)
2 Hartley (teamed up with Creed a bit to try and take down the Gunn ... valiant, but no chance)
3 Creed ... after his car broke down in nowhere'sville AZ, he was desperate for some cash
4 Bahati ... rode pretty damn strong. bridged a dozen gaps and was easily the fastest cat out there ... but he couldn't match the tt/attacking strength of the others.
5 Cody oReilly ... rode like a champ and will be teammates with Gunn next year, so don't know if that was a factor. very strong, brave young guy.
6 Roman Killunit ... not as fast as the others, but definitely had superior fitness to all but Gunn. great race for Roman, he just cramped up a bit in the last chunk of the race and lost contact ... and since they only paid to 5 ...


leftovers:


Copeland stuck in the final 10, but said he just didn't have the race fitness carrying over from nationals. he sounded ok with his ride, but you could see he was disappointed. all i saw of him was he looked strong and smooth.


Rob 'hooptie' Evans ... was on fire until the monkey crawled on his back. I'll admit, he was the unlucky recipient of a couple of pretty bad gaps opened by other riders. He closed a bunch, but it eventually took it's toll.


me - shyte. 1st one out. There were maybe 22 starters ... small field because i think a lot of people were intimidated by the format. 2+ hours of riding flat out on the track is ... daunting. The pace at the beginning was a bit slower than our last Friday nite race (RidetheWorldCups.com) ... but, got faster after a dozen laps, or so.


last nite Sabine and I got hosed by the closing of I-5 at the grapevine. There was some wicked storm that hit the top, causing a white out (that hooptie was the last to get through, btw ... *******) and forcing CHP/CTrans to close it ... 9:30'ish in the pm.


well, i had already made a reservation in Encino for a room and ... of course they wouldn't cancel even if we had no way of getting to the hotel. So, we grabbed a room at the Ramada right at the base of the grapevine (yay! i LOVE paying for 2 hotel rooms in different cities). unfortunately, something the Ramada used in the laundry for the sheets/pillows gave me a severe allergic reaction in my respiratory system. it closed up my throat and gave me the ***** of all coughs through the night. This has happened 3 times now in the past 5 years, or so. I'll need to call Ramada tomorrow and try and pin down what is causing this to happen.


Durng this morning's prep pedaling before the 1pm scratch race, I thought i worked out all the gunk or whatever f'ing infected me ... but, no. A few laps into the race my lungs and throat closed up and i barely skidded off the track before collapsing in a ****ty mess. i cannot embrace that suck too much, i must say. it was entirely too expensive of a weekend.


meh.


Overall impressions? Encino is pretty dam fun and the socal crew that runs the track (and this event in particular) are EXTREMELY cool folks. Good humored, on task, professional. It's not as nice a venue as Hellyer in my opinion, but still has a very, very good vibe. The socal crowds were a bit too cool for school, i thought. They stood around the banks like they were watching a polo match, or something. or maybe they were just looking in mirrors. whatever. But luckily, the NorCal hoodlums were in-effect and we heckled and cheered those riders the rest of the hundreds of laps to make sure they felt appreciated and made fun of at the same time. cheering and heckling at the same time ... is that 'checkling?'


Beth, Karla, Hanan, Alecia, and Jen all rode the track for the Women's Day at the ADT center on Saturday. They said they had a BLAST. Jen also mentioned to Sabine how well run our Beginner Sessions are at Hellyer in comparison to ADT. That's rather flattering, I thought.


They all remarked how fantastic the ADT facility is and what an exciting and challenging difference riding those steep banks are. Very cool.


anyway, we all went down there to the lowlands and spread the good word of NorCal riding. even when we get it handed to us, we still cheer those buggers on.


and spit on them a little bit.
mhernandez

Thanks for the report Michael - and for yesterdays entertainment. Awesome! :beer:

Agree with Speedee!!

One reason we SoCalers were quiet may be of the cold. Ya know, cold for us anyway. Seemed a light crowd turn out but I have not been to that velodrome on 20 years so I don't know what it is typical.

I did have a great time, both from the racing and the NorCal sideline entertainment.

anyway, we all went down there to the lowlands and spread the good word of NorCal riding. even when we get it handed to us, we still cheer those buggers on.


Thanks for the summary OV. It was obvious to this observer that something in your engine wasn't working right. Hope you clear it out asap and get going fast again. BTW, I've been talking to M-Noble and stoking the fire for an Ojai rematch betwix the two of you...

Some pictures Sabine took of the Encino 100K race.
http://www.pbase.com/sdukes/encino_07

hope to have some ridiculous writings up at vanderhoot.blogspot.com soon.
m

Some pictures Sabine took of the Encino 100K race.
http://www.pbase.com/sdukes/encino_07

hope to have some ridiculous writings up at vanderhoot.blogspot.com soon.
m

Mike, when do you think your voice will return to normal? About 3 weeks??? :D:D

Some pictures Sabine took of the Encino 100K race.
http://www.pbase.com/sdukes/encino_07

hope to have some ridiculous writings up at vanderhoot.blogspot.com soon.
m

Damn, I can't believe I missed this.

Damn, I can't believe I missed this.

The UCI World Cup Classic is coming to the ADT Center (http://www.lavelodrome.org/index.htm) on January 18-20.

The UCI World Cup Classic is coming to the ADT Center (http://www.lavelodrome.org/index.htm) on January 18-20.

I'll be there Sat night - the 19th.

Come on down... it will be rocking!

I was thinking about being a volunteer... until I read the part about having to wear khaki pants.

i'll be there, i've seen most of the sessions of the world cup and world championships at the adt. lots of good events, don't miss the madison

I was thinking about being a volunteer... until I read the part about having to wear khaki pants.

It's pretty fun, and depending on what you get you get to see a lot of the riders up close...

I've been organizing the "runners" the past few years, which is actually more photocopiers since they moved most of the press and everything to the infield. It used to be a lot of exercise for someone to run up and down the stairs with the various communiqués. The whole event runs on the communiqués, because that's the only way everyone knows where to be and when, and what happened.

This year I changed clubs and the new club usual handles infield coordination.

more coverage of ADT/Encino madness at some NorCal talents:

http://velobellababble.blogspot.com/2007/12/encino-men.html
http://bethbikes.blogspot.com/
http://hananrabia.blogspot.com/2007/12/adtencino-2007.html
http://karlajanekingsley.blogspot.com/