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Valley Sweat Life presents: Pinnacle Racing Team

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Jason Farris

Head YES man at FresYes.com
I grew up in Fresno. Relaxed in its calm breezes, listened with my dad to the crack of the bat at little league baseball games when I was a kid and now take my son to do the same at minor league games. I broadened my mind at its schools (I went to high school right here at San Joaquin Memorial, and to college at Fresno State!) I love that if I drive for two hours in one direction, I can be in the mountains. For two hours in another, luxuriating on a California beach. I can enjoy the cosmopolitan atmosphere of San Francisco or Los Angeles, but still be able to come home to relaxation, calm, and quiet.

I love where I live, and I also love what I do. I'm lucky to be able to work in a profession in which I get to build relationships; one that has me meeting new people each and every day and helping them to build new lives in my beloved city. I'm lucky enough to work in a profession in which I can marry cutting-edge technologies and marketing techniques to good, old-fashioned, nose-to-the-grindstone work. I am lucky enough to work in a profession that allows me to work as an advocate for my clients; to use every tool at my disposal to get a job done well for them, and with as little stress and expense as possible.

I love my city. I love my job. One inspires my excellence for the other.

Fresno? I say FresYES

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Since my transformation, during which I lost 135 pounds, fitness has become an important part of my life. So, as often as I can, I want to bring to you a bit of the motivation that drove me to change my habits.

My friend Heather McCann recently started a company called Valley Sweat Life, which is a resource for fitness information in the Central Valley.

With her blessing, I will bring to you here on FresYes.com some amazing stories and explorations of our fitness and health community. And I encourage you to check out Heather’s site and follow Valley Sweat Life on Facebook and Instagram!

[The following was posted on Valley Sweat Life on January 4, 2018 and has been edited for clarity and formatting.]

Behind The Scenes: Pinnacle Racing Team with President Michelle Brown

Michelle Brown is the co-founder and current President of Pinnacle Racing, an elite team of local athletes training in cycling and running. Michelle has been teaching and coaching for over 18 years. When she’s not on her bike, she’s a 6th grade teacher, an indoor cycling instructor at Fresno’s RIDE54, and a mother to two young boys.  

We wanted to know how this team started and how it’s evolved, and Michelle was the perfect person to answer those questions and more.

Pinnacle Racing

photo: Michelle Brown

Valley Sweat Life: What is Pinnacle Racing?

Michelle Brown: Pinnacle Racing is a group of 40 men and women (mostly women) who are dedicated to serving our community through volunteering, philanthropy, and growing athletes, all while focusing on a healthy lifestyle and balance within their own lives. Our main sponsor is Pinnacle Training Systems, owned by Felicia Gomez. Her philosophy on health and wellness is pretty much exactly what our team encompasses.

How did you get started? How has it evolved?

Pinnacle Racing used to be called Pinnacle Women’s Racing. There were about seven women who rode bikes together. We wanted to form a racing team for many reasons. First, our sport is male dominated and we felt that the women in this community had no place to go to feel supported. Second, there wasn’t another female team around the valley.

As the years went on, all of the women but myself have moved on to different teams or just decided to not be affiliated with a team anymore. I have been our President for the last five years. We changed the name to Pinnacle Racing to bring on men if we wanted. There are currently a few men on the team. We initially started as just a cycling team and have evolved into a triathlete, cycling, and running team.

What changes have you made to excel in this?

My strongest discipline is cycling. All other disciplines are very difficult for me. After my first child, I was depressed and felt unbalanced in so many ways (as many mothers feel… especially older mothers). I battled with my weight and, after about a year and a half, I decided to see a nutritionist to help me get my world under control. She gave me the tools I needed to get my weight where I wanted; however, she didn’t help with my fitness.

Luckily, our team has one of the best athlete trainers in the valley, Felicia Gomez. She gave me some coaching to help get my body back to my happy place… and then I found myself pregnant again! Ha. Go figure. However, this time, I wasn’t worried or depressed. I knew that I could do it again. So I spent my pregnancy getting fat and eating ice cream (I did run until I was 20 weeks pregnant but then didn’t do anything until the end!). This go-round was very different. Three months after baby, I was back. I still pee all over myself when I run, but I feel good about myself and am happier, healthier mom. Thankfully, I have amazing teammates who all helped and supported me along the way.

Pinnacle racing team

Pinnacle Racing Team President Michelle Brown

How do you balance it with the rest of your life?

What is truly awesome about this team [is], we all understand that family comes first. We are all working professionals and full-time parents. I am a school teacher, coach, and small business owner. We have a couple of stay-at-home moms, but let’s be real, that is a full-time job! This team has an amazing board who picks up my slack when I’m not on my game (Shaylyn Lewis, Denise Ramirez, who is the one who holds us together, Felicia Gomez, and Kim Karanovich). There isn’t a person on our team who doesn’t understand when kids get sick or work calls. We train when we can, we train together when we can, we train alone when we can… but one thing is certain, if our phone rings and it’s a teammate’s number on the screen, we answer and we are there.

How has this changed your life?

This group of women has given me a home, especially in my darkest times. They are my people. So, they haven’t just changed me, they are me. They are my friends and my family and I will forever be loyal to them until the day we decide (as a team) to no longer be a team, which is not anywhere in our future.

Pinnacle racing team

photo: Michelle Brown

What’s next?

What’s awesome about this team is what’s next is anything. What’s next for me is the season of raising my babies and staying healthy and balanced. My team knows that my kids are my number one. I race here and there to support events, but I am nowhere near the racer I am capable of. Will I be one day? Hell yes. Right now, I can’t. Luckily I have a team who gets that! So we do our families, we do life together, we stay healthy together.

Personally, I would like to do a full Ironman [triathlon] when I am 40. I know it is possible and I know I can do it. For my team, I hope we continue to support each other in life and grow our team as the team sees fit. Race together… laugh together… cry together… and love each other.

Balance in life can be hard but knowing you have amazing people to call on and help pull you up, is what we are about. My people are amazing people and I am so blessed to call them friends.

…

Visit Pinnacle Racing Team on Facebook.

Locally Owned RIDE54 Opens This Week and FresYes Takes It For a Spin

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Natali Carrera

Natali Carrera is a devoted coffee addict who also loves her nine-year-old son, husband of 14 years and bargain hunting at Target. She works full time with ValleyPBS as their Director of Educational Services and is also a freelance writer and YouTube vlogger (as a hobby). She's been told "bubbly" is the best descriptor of her personality, though she wonders if what people really mean is that she talks too much. Natali is a lifelong Fresno resident and Fresno State grad.
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A new cycling studio opens this week, and thanks to its smart-thinking and customer-savvy Fresno owners, it will stand out from any cycling studio you’ve been to before.

Melissa Lev, a big fan of indoor cycling fitness classes (aka spin classes), and her husband, Layne, had long considered opening a local franchise of regional spin studios here in town. The Levs had headed pretty far down that path when they realized that a franchise would leave their business lacking something they felt their potential customers would value—strength training.

It was this customer-centric line of thinking that led to the couple creating their own brand of cycling studio, RIDE54, which officially opens its doors Thursday, Jan. 26.

RIDE54

RIDE54 is located next to Dave & Busters at Friant and 41

RIDE54

RIDE54 is family owned and built from the ground up by Layne and Melissa Lev

“Melissa loves cycling, and we both thought opening a studio in Fresno would be really great since we didn’t have any of the larger studios here in town,” said Layne, “But for the price, we felt it was important to offer something that allowed people to train in cardio and strength.”

In order to bring this dual approach to Fresno fitness enthusiasts, the Levs built a studio that includes both a state-of-the-art spin class equipped with theater-style rows of top-of-the-line spin cycles and customized studio lighting that changes with the music and workout phase, and a pristine TRX classroom just a few feet away. It comes as no surprise that the Levs paid great attention to design as they build their studio—Layne also founded Hundred10, a Fresno-based design and branding business that has successfully showcased numerous local businesses since 2007. (RIDE54’s website also is, of course, very cool.)

RIDE54

Rows of bikes await you in the spin classroom

RIDE54

TRX (which stands for Total-body Resistance Exercise) was invented by a Navy Seal and allows participants to work out using their own body weight as resistance. By utilizing the TRX resistance cable and band apparatus, and adjusting body positioning and movement, individuals with a variety of exercise experience can get a great strength-training workout that is appropriately challenging for their needs.

RIDE54

TRX training offers additional strength workout opportunities at RIDE54

RIDE54

Layne Lev shows me how the TRX apparatuses are easily adjusted and modified to meet each person’s needs

Prior to the studio’s grand opening, I had the opportunity to try a cycling class at RIDE54 along with other members of the FresYes team and, well… I still am unable to walk as I type this. I kid! I kid.

But seriously, it was a fantastic workout that really challenged me and even engaged my upper body more than I anticipated through the incorporation of hand weights and seated push-ups. The music helped me to stick it out when waves of exhaustion threatened to kick in, and by the end of the class, I had that great post-exercise high that leaves you feeling energized rather than worn out.

RIDE54

The FresYes team, post-spin class, nice and sweaty!

My experience with indoor cycling is limited, but based on what I saw, RIDE54 seems to really offer an exceptional program. Layne shared that he and Melissa worked hard to recruit the best of the best when it came to instructors, and their team has spent the last six months together every weekend perfecting their routines (on twenty spin bikes that were parked in the Levs’ dining room!).

If you’re interested in taking classes at RIDE54, pricing is flexible. You can either purchase classes individually or in groups and use them when your schedule allows or, if you prefer, you can sign up for an unlimited monthly or yearly membership.

New members can take advantage of discounted pricing on unlimited first weeks or months of classes, too. Also, there will be free, 30-minute fundamentals courses on Saturdays for those who are brand new to indoor cycling classes and would like to learn more about the methodology.

Learn More at RIDE54’s Open House

RIDE54 will host an open house this Thursday from 4-7 p.m. There will be food and drinks, and even a Lululemon Athletica trunk show, so if you’d like a chance to check out the studio and TRX classroom and learn more about classes, you should stop in.

For more information including class schedules, pricing, instructor info, and more, visit RIDE54’s website here.

Ladies in Lycra

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Mark Sasser

Outdoor Writer at FresYes.com
Having been born and raised in the Valley and spending his complete adult life exploring the outdoors gives Mark a unique look at what we all see each day. From cycling to backpacking, solo or with friends, Fresno proper to the mountains above can at any time be where Mark is found living his life outdoors.

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otf girls

Today in 2015 you can be out and about in town or out in the country and find women of all ages out for a day on the bicycle. For those new to cycling this may not seem like such a big deal but for those like myself who started cycling in the early 80’s its a big, BIG deal for FresYes and our cycling community. Gone are the days of cycling being a male dominated recreation and in this writers opinion its so much for the better.

From the never ridden more than a mile crew up to those wanting to take up racing there are multiple options to be taken advantage of for the female cyclist unlike any time before.

Parkers Team, Team in Training, Women on Wheels are all great options for the new to intermediate cyclist but what about those who have been riding for a little while and have the inkling to check out bike racing?

FresYes has a fit for that crowd as well in the form of the Off the Front Women’s Development Team. Spearheaded by my lovely wife Dr. Ruste Sasser its a motley crew of women who are part of every part or FresYes. They are mothers, wives and daughters, An OBGYN, a chiropractor, massage therapist, students, pre school teacher….to name just a few of their community roles.

lisa

 

Ruste after having spent her younger days playing soccer for San Joaquin Memorial and Humboldt State took up cycling and quickly caught the racing bug in 2005 while training for a triathlon. Not loving the open water swims and having to battle panic attacks in the water it was an easy transition to her natural strength the bike.

ruste otf

 

Now with a home as a lead role model for Off the Front she has the opportunity and pleasure to take the lessons learned from her previous cycling adventures and team player mentality soccer taught her to help this new generation of bike racing women transition from peddlers to racers. The women on the team may not be hard core bike racers but they do want to have fun, get out of the mouse trap of the gym scene, enjoy the outdoors and have the camaraderie that only being part of something bigger than themselves brings.

If you ever wanted to try more than just a social bike ride and want to know what racing is like without having to deal with the ego’s and fear of racing the OTF women have an open invitation to all women who ride to come out and ride, have some fun, get in some miles and learn more about the world of bicycle racing in and around FresYes.

Trail City USA

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Mark Sasser

Outdoor Writer at FresYes.com
Having been born and raised in the Valley and spending his complete adult life exploring the outdoors gives Mark a unique look at what we all see each day. From cycling to backpacking, solo or with friends, Fresno proper to the mountains above can at any time be where Mark is found living his life outdoors.

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FresYes has long been known amongst its citizens as Tree City USA and rightfully so but with this time of drought and change perhaps a closer look would leave us thinking that should be Trail City USA.

The Dry Creek Trail Dedication

Dry Creek Trailhead

Dry Creek Trailhead

 

Anyone who knows me or has read much of my writings will know my love of the river cities of America for their one of a kind layout. Portland, San Antonio, Sacramento are among my favorites and each of these cities is also layered with trails following those rivers giving the community a place to get out and play. These trails are a place for families to walk, new mothers gather with their strollers full of baby and accessories, bike riders pedal and runners run.

FresYes while still crawling ever closer to the San Joaquin is well ahead of the curve when it comes to trails and this past Saturday another jewel was added to the already stellar list of trails in and around FresYes and Clovis. The Dry Creek trail dedication was a celebration of outdoor fun and recreation. The Fresno Cycling Club brought out its ever smiling president Dennis Ball to help open up this new link that will in the end make out cities both smaller and more bike friendly.

Quote from Milt Contreras of the Fresno Cycling Club.

“Fresno cycling club promotes safe cycling and and to help our members grow as cyclist in all levels. The Dry Creek trailhead Bike Park is a Safeway to cycling in the community.We believe that cyclists should have choices. Like bike trails and bike lanes to use as individuals and in the family atmosphere.We support and embrace the 3 foot law and promote cycling in the community as a leisure and a Sport.These trails will help promote healthy ways of life and help the community in a environmental ways as well.”

 

 

 

Our communities truly are an outdoors loving group highlighted by people milling around after the dedication grouping up to take photo’s and talk instead of just leaving and going about their day which is the case in many ribbon cuttings.

For me its a little exciting to know if I want to ride my bike from my Woodward Lakes home to the Meat Market out east of Clovis all I have to do is jump on the Lewis Eaton trail, then onto the Sugar Pine trail and with a turn to the Dry Creek trail I’m just a few pedal strokes away from a tasty sandwich. If I really wanted to get out there I would backtrack and go deep into Clovis until a linked onto the Blossom Trail and out into the country for miles of smiles.

With so many people involved it would be quite a long thank you letter so I’ll end this post with an all inclusive THANK YOU to everyone who makes FresYes Trail City USA.

.

The Lou 2014

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Mark Sasser

Outdoor Writer at FresYes.com
Having been born and raised in the Valley and spending his complete adult life exploring the outdoors gives Mark a unique look at what we all see each day. From cycling to backpacking, solo or with friends, Fresno proper to the mountains above can at any time be where Mark is found living his life outdoors.

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Fall brings many things to FresYes each year and this past weekend for the 10th time it saw the event known far and wide as “The Lou“.

Anyone who lives in the valley and races off road, cyclocross specifically, knows about The Lou being one of the few true night races held in the United States where racers fly around the course in the dark with only a bike or helmet mounted light to help pilot them through the dark. Many know about the party atmosphere that is part of The Lou with a live band, food, and a crowd of cyclocrossed crazies to cheer on the racers deep into the night.

What many do not know about this event it is not just another bike race. Its a best friends tribute to a man lost in tragedy far to soon Louie Casiano Jr in the year 2004. JP Sickler with a loyalty not seen often any more puts his heart and soul into this race each year along with his reputation. I knew Louie as one of those race bright personalities always with a smile, joke or ear for a friend who needed it at the drop of the hat. Louie was a promoter of racing, managed a bike shop and a father. In fatherhood Louie found his greatest success and 10 years after his passing you can still see how much of an impact he had on his two boys Tyler and Luis.

Louie         lountyler

Enter The Lou 2014 and the 10th edition held in Woodward Park. JP worked with the park to move the race to a new site for cyclocross and brought me into design a true European style cross course to 1. Promote fast and heated racing and 2. give Louie something to smile down on from above.

For two months we rode, walked and talked over and over again about what Louie would think about this years race and how he would respond if he could tell us his views on what this race means to him.

As the course went together riders slowly started to show up and camps popped up in the pits. BBQ’s were lit, the RawFresno food truck showed up and the band started doing its sound check.

As dusk came so did the crowds, the music ramped up and the energy could be felt rising higher and higher until the racers left the safety of the starting area and off into the dark. While the racing was great with fast fields with a few surprise winners the biggest win of the night was watching Louies family gathered together smiling and letting it all soak in just as they do every other year. Most families do not get the gift of watching their lost loved one be honored year after year by his best friend and the community of cyclist he was so ingrained in.

Cheryl
Cheryl
Erwin
Mike
JP

There are many things that make The Lou a classic but the racing is just a small sliver of what made this 10th edition a success.

Bass Lake Double Century 2014

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Mark Sasser

Outdoor Writer at FresYes.com
Having been born and raised in the Valley and spending his complete adult life exploring the outdoors gives Mark a unique look at what we all see each day. From cycling to backpacking, solo or with friends, Fresno proper to the mountains above can at any time be where Mark is found living his life outdoors.

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Bass Lake Double Century 2014 Bass Lake Double Century 2014

As Americans we love almost anything that is bigger and better than its smaller counterpart from the double scoop of ice cream to the double-double. Seems that for most of us just the word double sets off fireworks in our heads saying this must be good, right? I’m easily one of these people and maybe you are as well but lets stop before we bite off more than we can chew and look at this word before we carry on.

Double in many cases is meant as twice as hard or twice as bad. The double back flip, double cross, double taxed, double trouble, double duty and to double dip a chip. Double seems to seem ominous if we talk about how hard something could be but yet better if we talk quantity or quality of something.

Enter the Bass Lake Double Century brought to you by the Fresno Cycling Club already famous in FresYes for my personal favorite The Climb to Kaiser.
Fresno Cycling Club

Now maybe you don’t know what a century is, that’s a fancy name for a 100 mile bike ride so a DOUBLE century is you got it……….a TWO HUNDRED mile bike ride. I’m quickly thinking twice as hard and having done a few in my time its an easy route to take. Doubles are hard and rightfully so. The average rider will be on the bike for 15 hours with only the best dropping under the 12 hour mark on any 200 mile course. But to the hard core rider the double is also twice as awesome, twice as challenging and twice as rewarding. So in the double century we have a sporting chimera a challenge of both beast and pleasure.

This year being the 9th running started in town and then set off on a meandering tour of both the valley and foothills. With a 70 mile starting loop heading all the way down towards Orange Cove riders got some pleasant miles in before climbing up to Pine Flat Lake. Easy flat miles are almost always a blessing early in the morning. You can cruise along at a nice pace, wake up, talk to friends and get your body geared up for what is next up. This ride is no different but this 70 mile appetizer is quickly followed with the meat and potato’s of this ride meaning the next 130 miles are filled with just over 10,000 feet of climbing and trust me……….that’s a lot.

Once into the foothills the ride took small mountain roads from Pine Flat to Prather, Auberry, North Fork and looped around Bass Lake before heading back the way it came. While this isn’t the big climbs of Tollhouse, Big Creek and Kaiser Pass the lumpy profile is in many ways just as challenging. Instead of being able to settle into an hour long rhythm riders are constantly having to switch gears from climbing to flat and back again which is not an easy task.

Once back to the valley floor riders were met by fruit fields and stop signs on the way back to the finish where they were greeted with a large party of all the crew and riders telling battle stories of their day on wheels.

Next year will be the 10th annual and if I know Dennis Ball and the Fresno Cycling Club they will pull out something special.

blp2014course

 

 

For the riders of 2014 I tip my hat. You have all met a challenge that is doubly hard and I hope it was a double reward as well. Its a badge of honor you have earned one mile at a time and I salute you.

Stephen and Brian

My friends Stephen and Brian after the ride.

One worked all day in the shop the other worked all day on the bike.

Brian definalty has the look of a man who just rode 200 miles! Well done.