2015 Seaside Nationals race report

Filed under General on May 02, 2015 | Comment(s)

SOMEBODY RIPPED MY STICK- Surf Punks
Flying in to Santa Barbara for this year's Seaside Nationals, I was glancing out the window of our US Airways cropduster and checking out the multi-million dollar houses along the coastline, with the ocean-front view. The first song that came to mind was the theme from "2 1/2 Men." Men, men, men, men, menly men..." From our view in the sky, things were looking like the opening scene for the classic TV series - looking down at the Malibu beach line.
Once we landed and were speeding toward the Ventura BMX ttrack in first gear - cruisin' down PCH (Hwy 101), not just a song - but a particular style of music started filling my head with a Seaside Nationals soundtrack. Looking out at the vast pacific ocean and seeing all of the surfers, waiting patiently for the next break - classic surf bands from the 60's to the 80's came to mind - such as The Ventures, Dick Dale or my personal favorite - The Surf Punks! Knowing that a whole lotta valleys and BMX kooks were about to invade the Ventura locals turf this weekend, I had my theme for this weekened's story.
Instead of ripping their stick - I'll be rippin' off their song titles.
 

Great albums, great artists - check 'em out on Spotify and continue reading the story...

MEET ME AT THE BEACH- Surf Punks
This is the 2nd year that Ventura BMX has hosted the Seaside nationals - and while last year was kind of on the rare hot-side with winds, the weather forcast for this weekend was calling for the perfect mid-70's temps that make this seaside town so ideal. Before or after the races, many BMX families were meeting at the beach, or in the quaint downtown Ventura area where surfers and celebrities abound - taking in the SoCal surf scene and lifestyle. 

The Ventura track itself hadn't changed a ton since last year; except for the surface was now soiltac'ed. One of the biggest changes was that this year, we'd be using the mondo pro secton for the Elites. In pro practice and opening rounds or motos, suddenly the men were seperated from the boys when it came to going big, in a pack of riders.
With it's big first berm, double-infested second straight and tricky rhythm - the Ventura track has something challenging for riacers of all ages.

I'M A VALLEY- Surf Punks
In the surf world, if you're not from the area - not a local, then chances are, you're a valley. "What are ya - from Tarzana, or someplace?" This weekend, Ventura was filled with valley's - as they came from over 24 states and a few different countries, to battle against the best.

This year, the #SeasideNats15 was a designated Pro series event, and that meant we'd see some of the best in BMX duke it out in Round 4 od the 2015 pro series. While Sam was down unda' racing in the Australian rain, it was a pleaseant surprise to see our No.1 Pro champ - Maris Strombergs, make his first appearance of 2015. Judging by his speed in practice, Maris was expected to play a factor. Also looking strong were out three Team USA members from the 2012 Olympic games - David Herman, Nic Long and CF11 - Connor Fields. 

In the 1-lap final, Maris had some troubles and sut it down out of the first turn - leaving the US Olympic team from 2012 head straight to the front. While Fields won both the Answer Holeshot award and the 1st place prize money, one of the more impressive main-makers in my eyes was Doublecrass' Kenny G. Friday night marked the third Elite Mens main that the rookie pro has made so far this  year - upping his status when it comes time to vote for the Golden Crank award in September. Also, it's always good to see SE's Donny Robinson in the finals - as any main he makes bumps him up further toward a Top-5 ranking in the career Pro results.

MEN ELITE

• 1 CONNOR FIELDS, CHASE BMX, NV
• 2 NIC LONG,HARO BIKES, CA
• 3 DAVID HERMAN, FREEAGENT, CO
• 4 JARED GARCIA, BOX COMPONENTS /DK BIKES, CA
• 5 KENNETH GUSTAFSON, DOUBLECROSS BIKES, OK
• 6 TANNER SEBESTA, STAYSTRONG/ORP RACEPARTS, TX
• 7 DONNY ROBINSON, SE RACING, CA
• 8 BARRY NOBLES, CA

The "valley girls" of Elite Women also put on quite a show, and the final and fastest eight got locked and loaded in the gate, ready to stop Alise's 5 race win-streak (7 consec, depending on if you count USAC races). Visalia's Brookie Crain had already been looking strong throughout the day, and it would've no doubt been a good duel between the two 2012 U.S. Olympians in the final - if Alise hadn't slammed the gate early. 
Post was thru only millseconds after the gate dropped, hitting the gate and crashing down the hill - as Crain, Carr and rookie girl Kelsey VanOgle blasted to the front of the pack. By the first turn, it was all Crain and her Haro carbon - a good 2 or 3 bike lengths out front. J&R's Carr did a good job of holding off VanOgle, who was followed in by Henderson and another rookie - Racehel Mydock. 

WOMEN ELITE

• 1 BROOKE CRAIN, HARO BIKES, CA
• 2 AMANDA CARR, J&R BICYCLES & REDLINE, FL
• 3 KELSEY VAN OGLE, FACTORY STAATS/CIARI, WA
• 4 ALAINA HENDERSON, CA
• 5 RACHEL MYDOCK, SUPERCROSSBMX.COM, AZ
• 6 SIENNA FINES, BAY AREA BMXERS, CA
• 7 KEELY KORTMAN, CA
• 8 ALISE POST, REDLINE, CA

CAN'T GET A TAN- Surf Punks
With the SoCal sun shining bright, getting a tan (or burn) was easy to do this weekend. Break out the sunscren and enjoy the action! Down in vendor row, the who's-who of BMX brands were lined up and showin' off their goods. Kids were crowding around, buzzing over having the top Pros in attendance - signing autographs or posing with people for photos. 

WALK DON'T RUN - The Ventures
Typically for any SoCal national, the BMX legends show up in droves. This weekend, we had plenty of living BMX legends return to the track - including S&M owner Chris Moeller (his first race in 15 years), 3-time National No.1 Cruiser champ In Hee Lee (his first race in 14 years), and plenty of others comeback kids and Hall of Famers. It'll be interesting to see how the OG does. When asked if we should stand by the doubles and expect a classic Mad Dog can-can, Moeller - who had a hip replacement last year, laughed and told us no. 
Even more classic was the sight inside the S&M pits. A sign of the times, S&M's pits were filled with a baby crib and Chris' two twin girls, a stroller and plenty of diaper bags. 
By the end of the night, the 41-45 Inters lined up with more 4130 chromo in the gate than normal. From the inside lane, Moeller and his new hip didn't quite get the snap thathe used to back in the mid-80's at Orange-Y. But he was in the mix, with fellow teammate jason German playing blocker, and his S&M boss did his best to reel in Arizona's Ken Heximer, and Cali locals Robert Willams. Royal Clothing's Beau Furr went straight to the front and never looked back, scoring the win in this stacked Intermediate main.

41-45 INTERMEDIATE

• 1 BEAU FURR, SBF/ ROYAL RACING, CA
• 2 ROBERT WILLIAMS, THE NATIONALS, CA
• 3 KEN HEXIMER, AZ
• 4 CHRIS MOELLER, S & M, CA
• 5 JASON GERMAN, S & M BIKE/DBS SHOES, CA
• 6 JAYMES WELCH, KNUCKLE UP//SUPERCROSS, CA
• 7 STEVE SLANEY, BOMBSHELL / AVENT , ODI, CA
• 8 RICHARD LYONS, CA

TEENAGE GIRLS - Surf Punks
The girls classes this weekend were haulin buns - especially down the first and third straightaways where everybody had a huge tailwind. By night time, under the lights - the girl mains were getting intense, with elbows flying and bars bangin' all the way to the first turn. 
In the 13g main, it was LDC's Alijah Salas straight to the front like she was shot out of a cannon, but Blaze's Emily Hayes was right there beside her, powering on the outside. J&R's Peralta wound up sneaking past Hayes and would dice out it out for the 2nd, while Salas and her LDC flew further out front.  

13 GIRLS

• 1 ALIJAH SALAS, LDC CHALLENGE ELITE, CA
• 2 LEINANI PERALTA, J&R BICYCLES.COM / CHASE / BOX, CA
• 3 EMILY HAYES, BLAZE, CO
  

By the time the 14girls got to the big step-up and sped in to the monsterous Ventura first berm, Haro-Promax's Madison Martinez and her carbon fiber Haro had a hefty lead over Dan's rider Sumiko Yuki. It was a flash of yellow and green all around the course, as they finished out in that order, way ahead of the pack.

14 GIRLS 

• 1 MADISON MARTINEZ, HARO/PROMAX, CA
• 2 SUMIKO YUKI, DANS COMP, CA
• 3 CLAIRE O'CONNOR, MOTIVE POWER, CA

The reigning National No.1 Girl Cruiser rider - Olivia Armstrong, in her new 501 Bay Area colors, was looking stronger, faster and more dominant than ever. Blackmore and Laughton were bar to bar in to the first turn, but the Haro~Promax rider had the inside edge to move in to 2nd place for good.  

15-16 GIRLS

• 1 OLIVIA ARMSTRONG, BAY AREA BMXERS, OR
• 2 SHAYLA BLACKMORE, HARO/PROMAX, CO
• 3 VERONICA LAUGHTON, TUFF GURLZ BMX, CA

WIPE OUT - The Safari's
While there were plenty of crashes throughout the day - many which were deciding factors in the finals, none was more crazy than the 17-18x main. While you're reading this paragraph - be sure to hit this link: https://youtu.be/p13yZAjhU0M, and read on...
This class is always exciting to watch, and you never want to blink once the gate slams down. The gate wasn't the only thiing that slammed, tho - as the pack of America's fastest 17 and 18 year olds shot in to the first turn at mach speeds, half of the pack piled up like it was the final lap of the Daytona 500. The 4 or 5 survivors were flyin' down the 2nd straight and suddenly more entanglement and explosions went off. Riders and bikes were flyin' everywhere as the crowd oooh'ed and aah'ed at the spectacle. Haro's Walker Finch was a victim in the fall, while his Haro~Promax teammate Cameron Moore survived the carnage and wound up being the solo rider to round turn-2.  

17-18 EXPERT

• 1 CAMERON MOORE, HARO/PROMAX, NC
• 2 TAYLOR STEPHENS, FACTORY KUWAHARA, OR
• 3 MAKIEVA HOPSON, DOUBLECROSS, NV
• 4 RYLINDE COLE, SOLID FOUNDATION, CA
• 5 KENNETH PARROTT, EKG BIKES, CA
• 6 RYAN ZINZOW, SSQUARED BICYCLES, WI
• 7 WALKER FINCH, HARO/PROMAX, CO
• 8 DONNIE GOMEZ, BAY AREA BMXERS, CA

MR.MOTO - The Bel-Airs