California Bicycle Racing (CBR)

David Pullian and Don Donegal show so much love for CBR that it's hard not to give them props all the time. So I'm lookin for a volunteer to make the pizza run to feed our volunteers and Don says he'll do it. Friggin' Don...he's on his bike & didn't tell me! He rides over, also grabs a case of water, schmoozes the manager to drive over to the course to deliver the pizzas & the waters! He also forgot the receipt, so he rides over AGAIN to pick it up. Personally, I wish I could be more like Don: he always has a smile on his face and nothing gets him down-I've never seen him not smiling & being cheerful.

We had an excellent showing in the Elite 30+, Elite 40+ and Pro-Elite categories...heck, we even had a good showing in the women categories! David does so much for supporting CBR and supporting bike racing in general. Up until yesterday, I always thought that he was just a regular friendly face until Vera told me what he does to support us and cycling. Don and David are unsung heroes in local racing, and I really appreciate them for their support. It would be a real shame if other race promoters didn't know who these two people truly are.

Most crashes are preventables....ride hard, look straight ahead and use your peripheral vision when necessary. Someone emailed me and suggested that I should be more gentle in my clinics so as not to offend the newer racers. I pooh-pooh that idea as I am trying to give these racers an idea as to what happens when they make bad decisions, and I do not have time to coddle them. Unfortunately, there is no sensitivity training in bike racing: it's aggressive and fast and potentially deadly and I think of it as this: if the words that come out of my mouth change a racer's emotional state (they get offended/butt-sore), then they either need to acquire a thicker skin or change to another, safer sport like whiffle ball.

One crash in the 5s race and another crash in the 4s race after they crossed the finish line. One idiot took out his own teammate and another racer when idiot turned his head to have conversation with someone behind him (not even to the right or left of him). Once again, it was not the course that caused these crashes, but other racers. All in all, it was a great race attended by good people. I thank everyone who made this event happen: Jeff & Tony at T-4, Vic & Brett at Registration, George at 1st Aid, Nick & the RV Storage (he parks it!), and the gang at Start/Finish. For those that don't know, Walter "Buzz" Long is moving to Oregon and that was his last race announcing primes. His departure is bittersweet...while I'm glad he's moving to greener pastures, I'm sad that he won't be there to feed me Krispy Kreme donuts.

Our next race is Baker to Death Valley Road Race on Saturday April 25...we hope to see you there!