Mellow Johnny's 6-Hour Race Report

11-14-2010

Ben Bostrom and Shontell Gauthier cruised to victory at the inaugural Mellow Johnny’s 6-Hour mountain bike race. Held on Lance Armstrong’s Juan Pelota Ranch outside of Dripping Springs, Texas, the event was the largest 6-hour turnout in Texas history. Cool morning temperatures greeted riders, but gave way to nearly perfect riding conditions under clear skies.

Men’s Open

Utilizing a LeMans style start (on foot) the men got underway with ranch owner and 7-Time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong taking an early lead. He was joined by professional motorcycle racer Ben Bostrom (Sho Air-Specialized) and Yuki Saito (Topeak-Ergon) during the first lap. The trio managed to separate themselves from chasers and came through the start/finish on lap 1 separated by about 5 seconds each.

During lap two Bostrom was able to extend his lead to 30 seconds over the chasing Armstrong, who by then had separated himself from Saito. By the beginning of lap 4 Bostrom’s lead was 2 minutes over Armstrong. When Bostrom rolled through start finish area for the start of lap 5 it was Saito that was in second place, and word came that Armstrong had pulled out with knee issues related to a recent increase in his running mileage.

With Armstrong out, Bostrom kept the cruise control on and turned out 11 steady laps to win during the 6 hours, while behind local rider Tristan Uhl (Austin-Tricyclist) completed 10 laps and finished second. It was an impressive charge in the final laps by who Uhl moved from the fourth and fifth place positions he held much of the day. Yuki Saito finished third. “I got in late last night due to some flight delays so today was the first time I saw the course, but I loved it, the singletrack was a lot like I train on at home (Malibu, Ca) but with less climbing,” commented Bostrom.

Women’s Open

In the Women’s Open it was a two-person race between Shontell Gauthier (Colavita/Baci) and Alex Robinette (RGM Advisors) who both fought through physical and mechanical issues throughout the race. Robinette, who started the race suffering from badly bruised ribs from a training crash earlier in the week, took the lead on lap 1 over Gauthier, only suffer a twisted chain on lap 2 that lost her the lead.

Gauthier took over and never relinquished the lead to complete 8 laps, while Robinette was able to repair her chain and ride back into second place finishing 8:16 behind Gauthier. Third place went to Sara Krause (Bicycle Sport Shop). Gauthier told the crowd from the podium the course was rough enough to warrant full suspension bike which she didn’t have, and ibuprofen which she did.

Wrap-up

Juan Pelota Ranch will next host the fourth stop of USA Cycling’s 2011 Pro XCT Cross-Country racing series. The event will be held on April 30 and is the second year straight year for the event. The 2010 event hosted over 1100 racers. No date has been set for the 2011 Mellow Johnny’s 6-Hour, but the event will return.

Full results can be found here.

Race Week News

ALL LAST MINUTE UPDATES VIA TWITTER follow @mellowjohnnys or on web WWW.TWITTER.COM/MELLOWJOHNNYS

Race week is here and online race registration closes Wednesday at 5pm. If by chance you missed registration online you can late register on site Friday from 1-5, or Saturday 7:30-9:30.

Here is Schedule of Events.

Friday, Nov. 12th 1-5PM:

Pre-ride, Early Packet Pick-up, late registration at ranch.

NOTE: if you are registered for the 2010 Mellow Johnny's 6-Hour race, you do not need to also sign up for this Fun Ride below. Just show up and sign your athletes release form and have fun pre-riding the course.

Non-race participants can sign-up for the fun ride here:

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=11973

Saturday Nov. 13th Schedule: RACE DAY

$5 Per car entry fee (Waived if there are more than 3 people in car, Carpool!)

7:00AM – Ranch Gates Open
7:30AM-9:30AM – Registration
10:00AM – Race Start
3:59:59 PM - Last chance to leave for another lap
5:30PM – Awards Ceremony
7:00PM – Ranch Gates Locked

Pre-riding the course:

Media Wrap-Up

Let us start by giving a huge thanks to the team effort this weekend from our staff and volunteers. Next, thanks to all of the fans and racers that helped create such a great atmosphere. We loved all of the positive energy that everyone on the ranch brought. It is infectious and certainly helps us keep pushing to make the even bigger and better for next year. Yes, we'll be back. Until then check out some media coverage.


http://bicycling.com/blogs/mbword/2010/05/31/gould-and-plaxton-scorch-lances-ranch/
http://gallery.me.com/ildille1#100009

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/race-tech-mellow-johnnys-classic

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/us-pro-xct-3-mellow-johnnys-classic-1/amateur-cross-country/results

http://singletrack.competitor.com/2010/06/race-results/video-wrap-up-mellow-johnnys-classic_8477

http://singletrack.competitor.com/tag/mellow-johnnys-classic

The Final Push

Hard at work at race hq as we make the final push for the Mellow Classic 2010. We'll be hosting a big kick-off party Thursday from 7-10 PM at the shop. Our friends from Cielo, Rapha, and Beloved Cycles with be hosting. The ladies of the Luna Chix Pro Cycling team will be coming as well. Please come by and tell all of your friends.

The weather report looks good and though it will be warm (upper 80's)our friends from Nuun will be stepping up to help keep you hydrated. We'll have our Juan Pelota coffee truck for your caffeine needs. On the food front we'll have Hat Creek Burgers and Wahoo's Taco Truck out. We'll have beer and plenty of stuff to do to keep you occupied in your spare time.

Our media response has been good and most of the major cycling publications and websites will be coming in to cover.

Course Video

We had a great pre-ride Saturday, If you didn't make it out take a look at the video here.

Courtesy Brandon Ewers

If you're interested in our next pre-ride details are here.

UCI Technical Guide

The Technical Guide for the UCI Elite Mens & Womens race can be downloaded HERE

Livestrong fund raising registration is now open. This option is for those of your that choose to use the Mellow Classic as a fund raising effort for the Mellow Classic. We've set aside 200 spots and the commitment is to raise a minimum of $250 for Livestrong. We're very excited to offer this and take our fund raising effort from last years event to an even higher level.

Livestrong registration link here


Regular registration opens May 1 and linked here

Registration and April News

We’re a little over 60 days out and the Mellow Classic planning is in full-swing. Registration is the big question on everyone’s mind, so the official dates are April 15, and May 1, 2010. The first date is a new program for those of you that want to support Livestrong. Starting April 15, 2010 we’ll open up 200 spots for people that want this event to be their Livestrong supported event. We’ll have a press release from our friends at Livestrong soon, but participants that select this option will promise to raise a minimum of $250 and will be recognized as a Livestrong supporting participant during the weekend.

On May 1, 2010 our standard registration will open at bikereg.com last year it took about 6 days to fill the event but with a bigger presence and Pro XC Tour status things could move faster. The Next order of business is Pre-rides dates.

We’ll be offering 3 pre-rides dates that are open to racers and anyone else that just wants to come out and ride. These pre-rides MUST be signed up for in advance through Bike Reg links below and please beware that if weather is inclement can be canceled so we don’t destroy the trail before the race. Registration for these pre-rides opens on the Wednesday prior to the weekend day they fall on so we can account for weather more accurately.

Sunday April 18 CANCELLED due to inclement weather

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=10497

Saturday May 8th, (all mothers ride free!)

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=10500

Sunday May 23rd

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=10619

Since the race is Saturday and Sunday event this year we have also chosen to have a pre-ride day on Friday May 28, 2010. We’ll also be hosting a special event for the junior riders of Texas. On Friday morning May 28, we’ll have a special meet-n-greet with pro men and women racers in-town for the event. We feel this is a great chance for our future stars to get a chance to meet our current crop of pro racers. More details, and info on registering for this event in the weeks to come.

February Update

We wanted to check-in and give all of you some updates on the Mellow Johnny's Classic. Our first rounds of meetings have been completed and all we're hard at work. The biggest questions of course are based on registration being opened and how many spots.

No exact hard numbers on total riders yet, but the racing this Spring will take place on 2 days. Category 3 (beginner) riders and the Pro riders will race on Saturday May 29, while the remaining classes will race on Sunday May 30. Having the event on 2 days will afford more racers the chance to participate. We'll update again soon on exact registration information and dates.

Just like last fall we've chosen to bring back the parts of the event that everyone loved, like the expo and kick-off party. With a stronger interest in the race the all of the events surrounding the race will be even bigger and better, plus we'll also be adding more events to keep the fun level pinned all weekend.

For those of you making a weekend of the event and doing some planning take a look at the logistics page from last years event. It will help with hotel room selection and such, also for those coming as a group there are lots of vacation home rentals and B&B's in the hill country, particularly in Wimberly which is a bit closer to the ranch than Austin.

We'll check back in soon.

Pro XC Tour

Happy to say that we are going to be part of the 2010 Pro XC Tour. It is something we've been working on since December when we saw the opportunity to host a bigger and better event.

Over the next weeks and months we'll be hard at work planning and putting together the details for you all. We promise to have a full weekend of fun planned. We'll be bringing back our kick-off party, special events, and vendor expo with our key partners, plus many new ones.

For those that are looking for course information and such scroll down and look at the race loop video, or a great slide show from the race here or race coverage here

Stay tuned here for updates and details as the come available. We'll be working on registration and logistical aspects like travel planning and host hotel packages. Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter at @mellowclassic for race details.

Read some great press about yesterday's news and the other great XCT events here and here