PETALUMA >> Cowbells competed with the clucking of chickens on April 23 when the Five Springs Ranch in Petaluma opened their gates once again to host NorCal Cycling League mountain bike racing. Boasting the largest turnout of spectators to date, the race drew nearly 1,000 competitors, including riders from Clear Lake, Kelseyville and Middletown high schools.
The course was a 6.5-mile fast track through poppy- and wildflower-strewn grasslands. With an 850-foot elevation gain each lap, riders completed two to four laps (13-26 miles) depending on the division they compete in. With the course absent of rocks and tree roots, the Petaluma course was all about climbing and speed. While some of the turns were loose and crashes were common a year ago, that problem was solved this year with newly installed bermed turns. Rain the day before the race also helped create ideal trail conditions.
Rainey Vanoven was honored on the medal podium in the freshman girls’ divisions, placing fourth out of 26 riders.
“I really liked the course,” she said. “It wasn’t super technical and I was able to go faster. It was hard on the last lap because I was getting tired and I was completely shocked when I came in fourth.”
“This was only Rainey’s second race and she rocked it,” coach Tami Cramer said. “Rainey’s a natural-born competitor and I’m happy for her.”
Unfortunately, the planets didn’t align for other Lake County riders. Kia Kohler of Kelseyville finished 12th of 27 in the JV division but was hoping for a top-five finish after doing well at Petaluma last year. ‘Mark’ Jeffrey Morton of Clear Lake High School, who reached the medal podium in his previous race, ended up eighth out of 29 in the varsity boys’ division.
“I just needed another lap.” said Morton, who made up a lot of ground on his fourth and final lap but couldn’t quite catch up with the top five.
JV and varsity riders in the afternoon had high winds to contend with, something that the morning riders were spared.
Kelseyville’s Christian Lindsey, who had to deal with mechanical problems in her last two races, had no issues this time and placed 10th out of 56. Such was not the case for Kelseyville’s Justin Perez, who had problems with his shifter lever and finished 17th.
Among the other local riders were Solano Dominguez of Clear Lake, Michael Murphy of Middletown and Gabe Wind of Clear Lake, all three finishing in the middle of the JV Division II pack.
Other local finishers were Zoë Cramer (Clear Lake, sophomore division), Seth Spitzer (independent, freshman division) and Jacob Young (Middletown, sophomore division).
The NorCal Championships took place Sunday at LagunaSeca Raceway in Monterey. The state championships are later this month in Los Olivos.
To find out more about the local teams, like them on Facebook at Lake County High School Mountain Bike Teams. See www.norcalmtb.org for more information on the NorCal Cycling League.
