No Chain

12 Hours of Temecula

2009-11-17T20:11:00.000-08:00

That was the first of my 10 laps at this superb event. As you can tell, it was a perfect day, huge turnout, and the course was great - I am more than happy to suffer through 12 hours on the bike in these conditions. The course was a bit over 10 miles, with 1400 ft. of climbing per lap, most of which was in the first couple miles. Killer. My buddy Chris was also racing solo, and we had some other work friends there racing as a team. No designated pit crew for us though! Damn, we just had to make all our food and bottles up ahead of time, which worked fine.

I came into this event not expecting much, as I've only been training for about a month and hadn't done a ride more than 5 hours long since the spring. So I just planned on keeping an easy pace and seeing if I could just keep moving for the entire 12 hours, just to get some good base miles in. Paced myself pretty well on the first two laps, or so I thought - I started to feel pretty tired my 3rd lap, and 4th and 5th laps put me deep in the pain cave. Not sure why I felt so dead - I was eating and drinking well and mentally stoked to be there, but that's just how it is sometimes. And then I caught my second wind - my 6th and 7th laps felt great! 8th lap started to feel tired again, but it was getting dark and I LOVE night riding so I knew I would get a boost as soon as it got dark. I had a freaking blast on those last 3 laps in the dark, even though I was suffering big time and my stomach was hating me for shoving so much sugar in it all day. Right before my 10th lap I heard about how bad Stanford beat USC in football, which got me all fired up and was able to finish strong, coming in a little after 8pm. I thought I might get 11 laps but there was no way I could do a sub-hour 11th lap to make it in before 9pm. My lap times varied from 55 minutes to 1:20.

Got in 10 solid laps - 105 miles, 14,000 ft. climbed. Ended up winning my category - big surprise, I thought a couple guys were ahead of me but I guess I made up some time on my last 2 laps, coming in 10 minutes ahead of 2nd place. Pretty small margin for a 12 hour race! Can't wait for the next one in January...

Microphone Check

2009-11-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

Finally getting back into bike mode! Started training for this upcoming race season this month, been dragging my ass out of bed for some super early morning rides before work, and big epic rides on the weekend.....pretty rough at first, after a couple months off the bike I felt like I had the cardiovascular system of a hamster. Finally starting to feel stronger though, did an AWESOME long hard ride last weekend, the San Juan - Chiquito loop. Made a quick little video, check it out:

San Juan - Chiquito Loop from A J on Vimeo.

Super fun. Big race this coming weekend - 12 Hours of Temecula! Although I will undoubtedly have my ass handed to me, I am so freaking excited to start racing again! Doing it solo to pack in some good base miles....I will be going slow and steady the entire day and try to get at least 10 laps....12 would be awesome. Ahhh I look forward to suffering and drooling through those last laps in the dark! I'll post a video from the race next week....

Downieville Classic

2009-07-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Here we go - yet another foray out of Socal, this time a 9-hour drive up north to Downieville, CA for the Downieville Classic, my last big race of the season. Even though I was just up there a month ago, I was so stoked to be going back - the Classic is probably my favorite event of the year. I was doing the cross-country race, which starts off with one heinous bitch of a climb, gaining 3000 vertical feet in 8 miles, after which you are rewarded by 20 or so glorious all-downhill miles of singletrack , plunging 5200 vertical feet to the finish in Downieville.

Crazy start

The pro field leading it off. Big names showed up as usual - Jason
Moeschler and Ross Schnell in front, followed by Adam Craig and Sid Taberlay

The start was a madhouse - something like 900 people crammed into this steep alleyway in Sierra City. I was racing Cat. 2 - there were probably around 50 people in my category. The race started off pretty quick, and before I knew it me and 2 other guys had opened up a gap on the rest of the field. About 1.5 miles up the climb, one of the guys, this lanky shaved-legged bastard (roadie obviously) decided we weren't in enough pain yet and jacked up the pace big time. Christ he was fast - the other guy didn't have a chance and I was hanging on for dear life, lactic acid practically coming out my ears. Finally lost contact with him about 4 miles up the climb as we picked our way through the slower Expert riders...damn! I knew his skinny shaved roadie arms and legs wouldn't stand a chance on the downhill and that's when I would get redemption....

Some riders suffering up the climb

That was a devastating climb. I was feeling okay at the top, but I realized I made a huge mistake in how much water I brought, because I was almost out with 20+ miles still to go! Anyone who has done this race knows that the downhill is almost harder than the climb because it's rough and technical, you're already spent from doing the climb, and you have to stay mentally sharp or you end up face-first into a tree at 30mph. Cramping is a huge issue on the descent, and without any water I knew I was headed for cramp-city.

About halfway through the baby-heads section at the start of the descent, I nearly ran over the guy who dropped me on the climb, slowly picking his way through the rocks. HAH! Stupid roadie! I knew the race was mine, as long as I didn't turn into a giant ball of cramps from dehydration. I was making pretty good work of the trail all the way down Pauly Creek, but I was getting really thirsty and starting to feel the twinges in my legs. As soon as I hit the climb up to the 3rd Divide trail, my legs just locked up completely, and I had to get off the bike and stand there moaning softly until the cramps faded. Pretty amusing actually - about 6 or 7 other people were doing the exact same thing, must have been funny to see us all stumbling around, screaming and swearing at our gimpy legs.

Trying hard not to cramp

Cramps faded pretty quick and I entered the 3rd Divide Trail. Oh man - I always feel like I'm in Return of the Jedi on this section - think 40mph speeds on swoopy singletrack with bermed corners though the dark forest...best part of the race by far. Still dying of thirst....thank GOD for the mini aid station after 3rd divide, where it took me like 3 tries to grab a water cup...man I was cooked! As soon as I got some water and Gu in me, I instantly felt better and finished the race strong, several minutes ahead of 2nd place.

Max and I looking pretty haggered after the race

Gotta love this race - where else do you get someone like Chris King himself cooking delicious pancakes and fajitas for you at the finish???

His pancakes are as perfectly crafted as his headsets and hubs

Stuffing my dirty face with free fajitas and free beer

Several homies from San Francisco came up to camp and hang out for the weekend, and we chilled out after the race by the river with some beers, watching the river jump competition, which was pretty damn cool.

The winning move

Podium

Awesome race, pretty stoked with the win. Good way to end the season - looking forward to some rest and being a lazy ass for a while!

Couldn't find any good video of this year's race, but here's a little something from the 2007 race:

12 Hours of Rim Nordic

2009-06-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the hardest part about being addicted to these endurance events is finding people masochistic enough to go through them with me, as well as people willing to give up an entire day helping me out as support crew. So for this race, I resorted to trickery, inviting 2 friends who had never been anywhere near an endurance mountain bike event before, and therefore had no idea what they were subjecting themselves to. My buddy Jesse from college flew in from Nevada to join me as part of a 2 man team - he is an experienced roadie and triathlete, but had exactly zero mountain bike racing experience - what better way to introduce him to mtb racing than 12 hours of dirty sweaty spandex hell? And my friend from high school, Lindsay, flew down from San Francisco to act as our pit crew - I lured her in with promises of SoCal beaches, hot surfer dudes, and "oh, just this little race we might need your help at on Saturday, no big deal." Little did she know she would be setting up camp, making food and drinks all day, giving massages, making dinner, and dealing with Jesse and I as we turned into dirty cranky delirious little bitches as the race wore us down.

Getting ready

Lindsay setting up our pit area

Rim Nordic is a ski area up near Big Bear, and it was my first time up there - I couldn't believe we were still in SoCal, the alpine forest and terrain reminded me more of back home in Colorado rather than the dusty shrub-covered desert mountains I'm used to down here. The race consisted of a 9 mile loop with about 1400 feet of climbing per lap, mostly pristine alpine singletrack. The object of the race is to do as many laps as you can in 12 hours, and with a 2-person team like me and Jesse, we would switch off doing laps and see how many we could hammer out. Since it was Jesse's first mountain bike race ever, and I'm still getting back into shape after my injury, I figured we'd just go out and have fun, not push it too hard, and see what happens.

At the starting line

9am - game time. I'm leading off with the first lap, and line up with hundreds of other racers preparing for a very long day. Took it fairly easy the first lap, but I was pretty jazzed about the trail - the course was amazing, starting off with a fairly technical singletrack climb that included some brutally steep and loose pitches, which topped off onto a smooth, gradually climbing fireroad for a mile or 2, followed by some superb singletrack descending, down to a long singletrack/fireroad climb, and ending with a fun quick technical singletrack descent back into the staging area. Finished the first lap in 50 minutes feeling good, and Jesse took off on his first lap.

Jesse after lap 1 lookin good

For lap #2, I decided to go all out, just to test myself and see where my fitness was. I felt fresh and strong, and managed to crank out the lap in just under 48 minutes, which I was pretty happy with. Jesse was handling his first mountain bike race like a champ - after a couple spills and tumbles on his first lap, he was cranking out laps at about an hour - awesome, considering how technical and not beginner friendly this course was! That's also faster than the average lap time for this course!

In between laps we entered the bizarre and strange world of our 1-woman pit crew Lindsay, who thoroughly entertained us with singing and dancing and cartwheels and somersaults as she fed us and mixed drinks for our water bottles. Huge props to Lindsay for a kick-ass job keeping us happy, fed, and amused!

Lindsay

This is what Lindsay had to put up with

The delirium sets in

Felt a little tired after that fast lap #2, but managed to keep laps 3 and 4 around 55 minutes. Jesse, after 4 solid laps, decided he'd had more than enough for his first mountain bike race, and I went out for laps 5 and 6, finishing just before dark, around 8pm. Lap 6 was tough, but I definitely felt stronger at that point than I ever have at a 12 hour race, and managed to keep it under an hour. Highlight of the day - coming in from that last lap to find delicious chicken fajitas sizzling on the stove - amazing!! Lindsay you are the shit...

Cookin some grub

Simply awesome day.....great trails, no injuries or mechanicals, hopefully Jesse will ride his mountain bike more now, and I felt pretty good fitness-wise. Good training for the Downieville Classic, which is coming up in a few weeks....stay tuned! HUGE thanks to the race organizers, Jason Ranoa & company, for putting on yet another amazing event, and to Lindsay and Jesse - hopefully you guys had fun and will want to do it again soon!

After lap 6 - DONE

Downieville Summer Kickoff 2009

2009-06-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh Downieville. Let me just start by saying that this was possibly the greatest 3 days of mountain biking I've ever had. Downieville is the most awesome little mountain town a couple hours north of Sacramento, an old mining town on the Yuba River that has evolved over the past few years into one of the premier mountain biking destinations in the West. Best part about Downieville, unlike the Northstars and Whistlers out there, is that you feel truly remote - you can go the whole day without seeing a single evidence of civilization, and when you finally do pop out into downtown Downieville, it is truly refreshing to not have to look at a single chain store or restaurant.

The Downieville Summer Kickoff is an annual gathering put on by MTBR that attracts riders from around the state, as well as numerous bike companies offering free demos and tons of giveaways in a giant raffle. We rode for 3 days straight, through rain, snow, mud, and finally sunshine, all of it on the tackiest, fastest, smoothest, most beautiful singletrack you've ever seen. I'm headed back up there next month for the Downieville Classic cross-country race - time to get my ass back into shape!

Here's a taste of what D-ville is like:

Got to demo this beast for a day, a Rocky Mountain Flatline, and as you can see
from my face in the picture below, I WANT ONE!!

Cleaning the waterfall

Andy leading the pack down Sunrise

Sweet sweet singletrack.

Heather

Log riding

Stream crossings a-plenty

Upper waterfall

Future of bikes?

2009-05-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

Check this bike - no chain, no spokes, no hubs. No freaking way it would work I say - there would be way too much friction between the hoops and those little rollers. Pretty awesome concept though....

Whistle Pigs

2009-05-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend 2009. Left work early on Friday and drove 7hrs up to Yosemite to join about 50 old friends from college in a mega-reunion throwdown in the tourist-infested "wilderness" that is Yosemite Valley. We got some prime campsites right at the base of Half Dome, and it was bound to be 3 days of scenic adventures by day, raging party in the woods by night.

First day: about 10 of us dragged our butts out of camp at 6am to beat the throngs of mostly Asian tourists scuttling their way up Half Dome. We wanted to get up to the cables before they turned into a giant impatient sweaty traffic jam, which was inevitable on Memorial Day weekend.

As always, unbelievable scenery hiking up with the sunrise, and we made it to the cables around 11am, nice and early. Zipped up to the summit, where lunch was eaten, flags were waved, people got naked, and snow angels were made. Fairly standard summit activities. The flag was quite a hit - people kept asking Rainer to take pictures with them!

Didn't dally too long on top, because the cables were becoming about as clogged as the arteries of many of the people climbing them. Zipped on back down (outside of the cables is the way to go!), and started the long journey back to camp. I hate going back down, my old knees can't take too much of that, and by the end the only thing most of us could think of was beer and ibuprofen (aka i-beer-profen) to alleviate our pains. Turned out to be pretty much a perfect day. After one of the greatest showers of my life, some burgers and s'mores, we passed out early to get ready for our next adventure.

Day 2: I woke up a bit before everyone so I could start making a delicious surprise: pancakes! I discovered I had no spatula, but I put that engineering degree to work and crafted one from forks, paper plates, and part of an old shoe. After our breakfast feast, Rainer, Lindsay, Dak, Peter, Anna and I decided we'd had enough of the Valley folk and piled into Rainer's truck, headed for Tanaya Lake in Tuoulomne Meadows to get some alpine beach action. When we got there, we discovered we had no map and didn't know where any trailheads were, so we picked a random nearby mountain and decided to just climb it. This turned out to be the most fun part of the trip for me: some Class 3/Class 4 route-finding and plenty of bush-whacking to get to the top of our little mountain. We paid proper respect to the mountain gods by exposing some skin at the top, and then humped it back down to the cars, got into swim suits, and headed to the beautiful beaches of Tanaya Lake. Holy crap that water was freezing! We managed to keep warm on the beach by spooning, and then headed back to camp for some festivities - our last night here!

The rest of the trip is a bit of a blur: got stuck in horrific traffic in the Valley, ate giant chicken sandwiches, and consumed many adult beverages. It's safe to say much silliness ensued. I feel bad for all those families with small children camping near us!

Next morning, woke up, made an EVEN MORE KICK-ASS spatula, cooked pancakes and eggs and bacon and fried bananas, got yelled at by some rangers for our night-time revelry, and drove 7hrs back to Orange County. Great success!

Time warp

2009-05-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

OK my last post was in early April - it's now almost June - WTF?? My blogging absence is due to a horrible occurrence after the Sagebrush race - my right hamstring went on strike and said "no more biking asshole! you're killing me!" Long story short - I had been pushing myself too hard with all of this racing and training, and obviously the damage had built up to the point where I couldn't ride any more. I assumed it would go away after a couple weeks of rest, but if anything, it simply got worse. I tried everything - from sitting on my ass snarfing ibuprofen and icing to Rolfing (I got Rolfed by my friend Josh Malpass - it was awesome! I definitely recommend it for rehabbing any injury) to convincing myself it was all in my head (which I found out the hard way it wasn't). NOTHING helped, and the doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong. April was a shitty shitty month - I couldn't do anything and missed a ton of really awesome races that I had been looking forward to for months (and paid all the entry fees for already! crap!). About the most interesting thing I did in April was watch all 4 seasons of How I Met Your Mother - great show by the way, helped alleviate the pain of watching my perfect tan lines fade and beautiful quads shrivel away!

I was about ready to just saw my leg off and be done with it when I started going to yoga classes a few weeks ago. I knew that I was horribly inflexible, and I figured trying some yoga couldn't hurt and probably would help alleviate some muscle tightness, probably one of the causes of my hamstring injury. BINGO. During my first yoga class, I could literally feel my body just releasing all of its tension, everything melting away, and immediately felt an improvement in my leg. I've been going almost every other day, and after a couple weeks my leg is pretty much 100%. I've done a fair amount of physical therapy in my life, but NEVER have I had as dramatic a response as I had to yoga. I couldn't believe it. Now I know the importance of stretching and keeping the whole body loose and in tune with itself, especially for a sport like cycling in which you are locked in an unnatural position doing repetitive motions for hours on end.

The main cause of my injury was my bike setup. A couple weeks ago I went and got a professional bike fit from Damon Robertson at Surf City Cyclery. Turns out my seat was like 3cm too high! That's huge! I always kept it high because I was afraid of my knee pain coming back, but that was just absurdly high - I was tearing my hamstrings apart! Damon adjusted my whole position on the bike, and hooked me up to this crazy computer that showed me how efficient my pedal stroke was (holy crap it was bad), and now I am riding much more efficiently and comfortably.

So many lessons learned from this. First, I need to recover more. I HATE resting, I always want to be pushing it on the bike, but without proper recovery, you end up on your ass. Second, I need to balance cycling with other activities like yoga that stress other muscles so that I don't get muscle imbalance and overuse injuries. Thirdly, bike setup is absolutely critical when you spend as much time as I do on a bike - I highly recommend getting a professional bike fit, they are expensive but can make a huge difference.

It's kind of a relief to not be racing anymore - I don't have to force myself to go out training after a hard day at work - but I'd much rather be back in shape, heading off to get my butt kicked every weekend at the numerous amazing events SoCal has to offer. I'll be back soon - Downieville Classic is coming up, and I'll be ready!

I will leave you with this:

This is not me and I don't know this person, but this is the most awesome thing I have seen in a while. If only I could achieve the hair-growing manliness to create something as beautiful as this....

US Cup Race #3: Sagebrush Safari

2009-04-06T20:31:00.000-07:00

Stoked to get out of Orange County for this one - the race was pretty much in the middle of nowhere in the high desert east of San Diego. I was a bit worried about my leg - hamstring has been painful all week and the knee and calf felt really weak - sure sign of overtraining, so I rested all week hoping it would heal up for the race. So as I sat the night before the race, icing and massaging a still-painful hammie, I thought I was screwed for the race. But what do you know, I woke up the next morning and the leg felt great! Hell yea race on!

This one started like a road race, with 4.5 miles of pavement before the singletrack started. The first couple miles were pretty flat, so everyone was together in a paceline, probably about 15 riders in my category. About a mile in, one guy, who I knew from other races to be pretty strong, launched an attack, and me and 3 other guys stuck to his wheel, dropping everyone else. I hung back, letting this dude set a pretty fast pace and wear himself out, which is exactly what he did. As soon as we started the climb, this other guy, the same guy who beat me by 2 seconds the weekend before, just took off, and only I was able to hang with him for the climb. Barely, though - that little dude was a fast climber. He was about 10 seconds ahead of me when we reached the top of the climb, Caroline was there with a fresh bottle for me, and we finally started some mountain biking!

The first dirt section was a wide singletrack descent with lots of tight, banked, but very sandy, turns. I was ready for this from pre-riding the course, but the guy ahead of me wasn't - I came around a turn to find him flat on his ass after sliding out in the sand! Passed him - holy crap I'm in first place! Don't get too excited, still have 12 miles to go! But I felt great and was descending well, and that was the last time I saw that guy. Kept up a fast pace through the next climb and descent, felt pretty cooked when I came to the hike-a-bike sections and couldn't force myself to run up it. Then had a fast fireroad descent, followed by a long, gradual, pavement climb back up to 4 Corners. Still felt strong on that climb, and I couldn't see anyone behind me, so I knew I had at least a minute lead. Back to 4 Corners, Caroline gave me another bottle (how SWEET is it to have bottle feeders??) and started the long descent to the finish.

This descent was the most fun I've had on a bike in a while. Steep, fast, smooth, and sandy singletrack - pure bliss carving my way though the desert mountains. Ahhhh. Almost makes me cry to think about it. My legs were toast but I was in the zone - I knew the race was mine as long as I didn't fall! Exited the dirt and back onto the road for a furious sprint to the finish, nobody in sight behind me but I wanted to get the best time out of all the Cat 2 riders! Finished in 1:26, a couple minutes ahead of the next guy, but not quite the fastest overall - some dude in the 35-39 age group finished in 1:25 - damn! Still, 1st place is pretty damn sweet. I'm now the overall leader in the series standings too.

Next up, SEA OTTER!! Instead of there being 10-15 people in my category, there will probably be 50! Bring it - I want that GT golden bike!!!

Here is a video of the race from the folks at ChannelMTB.com:

2009 US Cup - Sagebrush from ChannelMTB on Vimeo.

US Cup Race #2: Fontana National

2009-03-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

As Max and I drove up to Fontana, it was already 70 degrees at 8am, so it was gonna be another hot one as we attempt to defend our 1-2 finish at race #1 in Bonelli a few weeks earlier. Discovered during a warm-up lap of the course that they had changed it from last weekend, making it EVEN SHORTER and adding in a ridiculously steep and sandy wash at the end of the big downhill, which I definitely ate sh#t in during the warm-up lap. Great, that's gonna be fun during the race, at least it won't hurt when you fall! Of course there were a dozen or so people camped out at this section, ready to laugh at what was sure to be crash after crash into sandy hell.

Before long we were standing at the starting line hearing the count down. Again our age group was the first wave of the day, which meant we had plenty of spectators. My plan was to start fast so I don't get caught behind someone who can't make it up the steep sandy climb right after the start.

Ready for battle

The gun goes off, and my plan goes well - clip right in, winning the sprint around the S-curve and along the straightaways, and was easily the first rider to get to the sandy climb, even kept my lead through the short singletrack climb all the way to the steep pavement climb.

Feelin the fire

Here, I immediately get passed by Max and 2 other guys I recognized from the previous weekend, when they beat me by like 8 minutes - one of them looked at me funny as he passed, like "who the hell is this guy? trying to win the race in the first 5 minutes??" Ahh crap, I thought. I started WAY too hard, and now I'm DYING!! Tried to stick with them up the steep pavement, but my lungs were on fire and I couldn't keep the pace. Got to the top of the main climb about 30 seconds behind them, and I had several dudes on my tail. I was hoping to gain some ground back on the downhill, having ridden it so many times by now, and I handled it pretty well - nobody passed me, but wasn't able to close the gap much. Got to the sandy wash, and just shifted my weight way back and didn't use the front brake, hoping for traction. Unfortunately my tire had its own ideas of where it wanted to go, and I ended up veering off the trail, somehow staying upright as I plowed through a couple bushes, over a concrete barrier, and back on the trail! Got a few cheers for that one. Quick fireroad descent and then a short and moderately steep fireroad climb, where I got passed again! Son of a bitch, no one else will pass me, I vowed, and stuck on this guy's wheel through the next singletrack downhill, but lost him on the long, flat fireroad section. Getting pretty pissed off at this point, but I felt okay and was racing pretty well - still in the top 4 at least for my category. Bombed though the twisties at the end of the loop, and on to lap 2! I could see Max and the other fast guys, they were probably 45 seconds ahead at this point.

Kinda cool to hear the announcer say my name as I passed through the start area - gave me a little boost. Feeling decent, I worked hard on the climb and gained some ground on the guy ahead of me, and ended up trading spots with him as we fought our way through the slow Category 3 riders cloggin up the course. He dropped me again on the flat section near the end - oh how I hate long flat sections!! something tells me if I raced road, I would suck at time trials! Gotta work on that leg power.

Lap 3 - time to go balls out, which is what I did on the climb and oh boy did it hurt. At this point the course was so clogged with the beginner categories that I had no idea how far ahead my competitors were. After the start of the downhill, there is a short steep climb, and I'm passing several people who were walking their bikes up the climb, when I see the guy who was ahead of me again, WALKING his bike!! Nice, I thought, that means he's cooked! As soon as he saw me ride past him, I hear him say "ah, crap!" and jump back on his bike. I manage to drop him on the windy, sandy singletrack descent, but I run into a huge train of like 10 riders inching their way down the trail! Dammit there's no way I can get past them! So of course the other guy catches up, and we have to just chill listening to the squeeling of brakes for a while, so frustrating! Finally the lead guy fell, and the whole train stopped, and I shouldered my bike and yelled "COMING THROUGH!" and scrambled along the steep side of the trail to get ahead. The guy behind me followed my lead, and we resumed our battle. I kept ahead of him up until the flat section, and I was like, no way in HELL is he going to pass!! So I went into full aero mode, head down, pedaling as hard as I could, looked at my heart rate monitor and it said 192bpm! But sure enough, he pedaled past me as if he was on a nice Sunday ride. Kept him within sight and was hoping to pass him in the twisties before the end, redlined to the max and ALMOST caught him, but he beat me by 2 seconds! Turned out to be a pretty cool guy, talked to him for a bit after the race - we will meet again next weekend at Sagebrush!

Ended up finishing 4th. Ughhh missed the podium by 2 seconds! Oh well, I was pleased with my effort, just need to get faster. Max got 1st of course, that bastard.

Max heading to the podium, shaking hands with Ned Overend!

Video of the race from ChannelMTB.com:

2009 Fontana City National - Cross Country from ChannelMTB on Vimeo.

Southridge Winter Series Race #5

2009-03-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

Kinda decided at the last minute to race this - had never raced in Fontucky before and wanted to check it out before the big Fontana National race the following weekend. Basically treated this race as a warm-up pre-ride for next weekend's race. Signed up for Expert, which meant 3 laps of the fairly short 5 mile course. Started off with a fairly technical climb through singletrack, and then a super steep climb up a paved road, and then some more singletrack climbing.

Felt pretty good from the start, was probably in 3rd or 4th out of the 15 or so guys who started with me (we weren't all in the same category though). Then came a long, twisty, loose singletrack downhill, and me and my skinny tires couldn't handle the loose sand so well, plus I was racing conservatively, so got passed by several people on the downhill. The remainder of the course was long, flat fireroad, exactly what I hate, as I am too light and don't have the leg power to go fast on the flats. Managed to not get dropped by this one guy who passed me on the DH, and on the climb on the 2nd lap I caught him and put some good distance between us, only to get passed again on the downhill. Couldn't catch him again, but didn't get passed again, and ended up finishing 4th. Not too bad, felt I could have raced harder and been faster on the DH. At the very least it was good prep for next weekend, we shall see if my time improves!

Video of the race from ChannelMTB.com:

2009 Southridge Winter Series - Race 6 from ChannelMTB on Vimeo.

US Cup Race #1: Bonelli Park

2009-03-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

Here it is - the 1st race of the US Cup and my first race for the Sho-Air/Sonance team. Max picked me up at 7am, got up there super early. I had no idea what to expect, I knew I was in pretty good shape and I had a new bike but I had no idea how fast I'd be in a race. In college, I was never really competitive because I never got the chance to train consistently, and I'm not a naturally gifted athlete that can just go out and be faster than most without training - I have to work my ass off to get fast, but that's exactly what I had been doing for the past few months to get ready for Vision Quest!

Pre-rode some of the course with Max, felt okay, legs a little tired though but I think it was nerves. It was starting to get hot out, probably alread 70 degrees at 9am, beautiful day. I decided at the last minute to give a bottle to my team's feeders at the feed zone - I originally had planned on not using the feed zone and surviving off 1 bottle for both laps, but realized that was a bad idea considering how hot it was. Thank god I changed my mind.

GO!

Started right at the front of the pack. We were the first wave of the day to go, and I clipped right in and won the sprint around the tight right hand turn, down the short pavement section, and up the start of the fireroad climb. Max was a little bit behind at the start. I was like holy shit, I'm leading the race!!! Didn't last too long though, got passed by one guy halfway up the first climb, and soon Max caught up.

Max and I at the top of the first climb.

He let me go first on the first descent, and as we started the second climb, he pulled away from me. I was maxed out and just told him to go, I wasn't worried though because only him and one other guy were ahead of me. Got passed by anther dude on the second climb, saw that he was in a different age group so wasn't worried about it, but managed to stick with him, and we traded off leading all through the first lap. First lap was pretty tough, I was redlined the entire time, but it was bearable, and I knew I was doing well, better than I had ever done in a race before. Looking back several times during the lap, I knew we had a pretty good lead on everyone else too.

Kept up a good pace with that guy, he was pretty strong. The whole time I kept hydrating, and managed a quick gu right before starting the second lap which gave me a little boost. The guy I was riding with didn't really eat or drink much, and I knew I'd be in better shape than him near the end of the race as a result. Got my fresh bottle from Caroline, which was a lifesaver - it was hot! Like 80 degrees! On March 1st! Gotta love SoCal. Felt somehow stronger on the second lap, cranked hard and good up the first climb and started the descent ahead of the other guy. Then I made a stupid error - didn't slow down enough for the tight left hand turn and slid out on my ass, and the other guy passed me. Damn! Got right back up and caught up with him on the second climb, and I could see he was suffering big time. We stuck together partway though the second single track descent, when all of a sudden I started to pull away from him! He literally just died and I never saw him again after that - hell yea, felt good to break someone! I knew I was getting close to the end so I picked up the pace hoping to catch Max and the other dude ahead of me. I didn't know if the other guy was in our age group or not so I was either in 2nd or 3rd place at this point. Felt good and finished the race very strong, sprinting to the finish with the other guy nowhere in sight behind me, actually hitting my max heart rate of 190bpm right before the finish. Ended up finishing 1:05, 2nd place behind Max, who finished a couple minutes faster. Hot damn what a surprise, I had no idea I would podium!! Pretty cool sharing the podium with Max - off to a great start for the series.

1-2 baby - Max and I get the glory

Video of the race from ChannelMTB.com:

2009 US Cup - Bonelli from ChannelMTB on Vimeo.

Vision Quest

2009-03-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

Vision Quest Mountain Bike Race
Santa Ana Mountains, CA
Total Distance: 55.2 miles
Total Elevation Gain: 11,200 feet

My first Vision Quest! Holy hell what a ride! Woke up around 3:30am feeling fabulous, got a ton of sleep during the week and felt confident and in good shape. Chris picked me up at 4 and made it to the start around 4:30. Beautiful freaking day, was a bit cold at the start at 5:30am but I had jacket, leg and arm warmers, and booties so I was good. Getting there an hour early gave me plenty of time to get everything ready. I was riding my new Trek Elite 9.8 carbon hardtail - only had it for a couple weeks and hadn't yet ridden it on most of the course, but I knew, after the Bonelli race the previous weekend, that I was MUCH faster on this bike than my old Cannondale Rush. Deciding what food and gear to take is critical - you want to minimize weight but not bringing enough food can mean not finishing in a race like this, so I opted to err on the side of being slightly over-prepared: I was starting with 2 water bottles filled with Perpetuem, 4 Gu's taped to my top tube, 3 Clif bars in my jersey pocket, a handful of electrolyte pills in a jersey pocket, spare tube, CO2, multi-tool, and small light. Having never done this race before, I wasn't sure I could totally depend on the aid stations for food, so I probably started with too much.

Okos and I at the start

Man I've never had so much nervous energy standing in the front line at the start with that drum beating! All those countless hours of training and preparation over the past 4 months were swirling though my head, and I knew that 6-7 hours of pain awaited me in the darkness ahead. Started the race at the front of the pack - I wanted to start fast to avoid the clusterf$#k that I knew was inevitable on Blackstar road approaching the climb, and even near the front I had a close call - some idiot who I heard bragging at the start that he didn't need a light caught his front wheel in a rut and ate sh&t right in front of me, I basically bunny-hopped his back wheel and barely avoided crashing myself.

As soon as we hit the climb, I backed off my tempo big time - my HR was like 180 keeping up with the pros at the front! No way I can sustain that for 6 hours! Beautiful morning climbing up Blackstar, maintained around 165bpm going up, felt great. The lead pack split off, and I was with the second pack, probably about 7 or 8 guys. We could see the lead pack for most of the way up Blackstar, they probably got to the top around 5 minutes faster than us. I was trading places with several of the same people the whole way up, including this old man who was very strong and it was really pissing me off that I couldn't drop him! Got up to Beek's in 49 mins, fastest I've ever done it and I was pacing myself! Man the new bike is so fast and comfortable, I freaking love it. Not having a CamelBak was nice too. Overall I was probably at least 10 lbs lighter than when I would ride my Cannondale with a full CamelBak, makes a huge difference.

Cruisin through Beek's

Kept up a good pace along Main Divide, averaged about 160bpm to the top of Motorway and ended up following this guy down Motorway. I was a bit nervous about the descent, it's super rocky and loose and rutted, and I wasn't yet used to this new bike and actually had a pretty bad spill on the new bike on Upper Holy Jim the weekend before. Ended up following this guy down Motorway - perfect pace and I got my descending mojo back. The hard tail wasn't as bad as I thought it would be on that trail.

Coming down Motorway.

Got to the bottom and the 1st aid station in 2:00 flat (19 miles into the race) - stoked about that time! Gave my jacket and light to Kat, refilled bottles quickly, got some Gus, and was off. Aid station folks were awesome, such good vibes there! Talked to some other racer guy for a few minutes on the road, nice to get my mind off concentrating on racing. Felt pretty good when I hit the steep part of the Maple Springs pavement so decided to up the tempo, passed a couple dudes, including that old guy who somehow got in front of me!

Busting ass up Maple Springs

The Maple Springs climb was great, kept it at 160bpm, passed a couple people and got passed by a couple, but still feeling good. Made it to 4 corners in 3:02, a few minutes slower than I anticipated but not bad. By the way, I was doing 2 scoops of Perpetuem per bottle, a gu every 40 minutess or so, Endurolyte pills every 15-20 mins, and ate one clif bar before the 1st aid station. I knew from other long races that my body works best when I shove as much food down the hatch as possible, but my stomach can't handle much solid food during these types of events, so I was sticking mostly to Perpetuem and gu's. I knew I was eating well and still felt pretty good. Started climbing to the peak and passed a couple people including the old man again, had to stop and piss and lube the chain at the top of the 1st peak and got passed by grandpa again, damn! Still chuggin up to the main peak, made it in 3:40, 10 mins past my goal time of 3:30, not too bad!

STOKED to be going downhill after climbing for an hour and 40 minutes, so I started bombing down the road. About a minute into the downhill there was a snow patch with a deep rut through it. I don't know what the hell I was thinking but I didn't slow down enough before entering the rut and caught my front tire on the side of the rut. I managed to fall not on the soft snow but on the dirt and rocks just after the snow and jacked up both elbows and grinded hard on the rocks on my shoulder. Great. I'm 1 minute into a 40 minute descent and I've already almost crashed myself out of the race! Shaken but not yet feeling the pain, I got up quickly, put chain back on, got passed by a dude who stopped to make sure I was okay, and hopped back on the bike. Continued a bit slower and assessed my injuries as I rode - nothing too bad, just some cuts and bruises, especially on the shoulder which started to get really painful, but I was really worried that my confidence level was now shattered. I just focused on getting my focus back before I got to Upper Holy Jim, where I would really need to focus. Luckily I felt a lot better at UHJ and managed to get through it pretty quick, decided to run the tough sections though, as I also had a bad crash here the weekend before. When I got to the bottom of UHJ I felt back to normal aside from a throbbing shoulder. Lower Holy Jim was a piece of cake, so fun, passed the guy who passed me when I crashed. Got to the 2nd aid station in 4:20! I thought I'd be there around 4:30 so that was good, I was thinking it may actually be possible to finish under 6 hours! HAH. If only I knew what was ahead...

I was pretty damn hungry when I got to the aid station, so ate a banana, half a bar, a gu, refilled both water bottles with Perpetuem and took off. STUPIDLY forgot to take some gus! WTF was I thinking? Some guy told me I was in 19th place when I was at the aid station, and that got me all excited so I guess I forgot. I was feeling surprisingly strong, upped my pace to around 170bpm and passed 4 people heading up Trabuco to the West Horsethief junction. Felt tired but still pretty strong as I neared the turnoff for West Horsetheif - some dude was cheering me along while following me on his bike which actually helped quite a bit! Got to the horsetheif turnoff quicker than i thought, sweet. This part was all new to me - hadn't got a chance to pre-ride it, so I didn't know what pain awaited me on this climb. This trail is so steep that you cannot ride it - you must hike while pushing or carrying your bike. This hike-a-bike wasn't bad at first, kept a good steady pace. Then it started to suck. Big time. I was bonking and i didn't have any damn calories to eat other than Perpetuem - I was kicking myself so hard the entire hike for forgetting to bring gus. Got passed by 2 people on the hike. I don't like to get passed so that really pissed me off. I started feeling very sick to the stomach, tried to choke down part of a Hammer bar that I found at the bottom of my jersey pocket but had to spit it out. That climb was way tougher and longer than I anticipated, man I wish I had gotten a chance to preride it. I think it took me like 45 mins to do the hike. The top was pretty flat so could ride it, I had tried to ride part of hrosetheif but felt like I was gonna cramp, but when I got to the top it felt better to be riding again. Got to main divide, THANK GOD for the mini aid station at the top!!! Had a gu and drank some water, then was off down main divide. They were offering burgers at the aid station - no way in hell I was going to eat a burger, just the smell made me want to puke everywhere! I was surprised how good I felt back on the bike, definitely tired but got past the bonk. The ride along main divide was nice and short, kind of steep climb up to the start of the singletrack downhill but not that bad. I could see I was catching up to one of the guys that passed me on the hike - gotta get him! Got to the top of the downhill in 5:50 - okay, 40 minutes to get all the way down to finish in 6:30, can I do it? Started off the downhill kind of slow, but found my groove and managed to pass that guy ahead of me. Wasn't as rocky and painful as I anticipated. Oh MAN I love the new XT brakes, only needed 1 finger to brake the whole way down. Got passed by that guy in one technical dry stream crossing right at the turn off for horsethief, which again came sooner than I anticipated. Tried to keep up with that guy, but had to dodge a lot of racers and other bikers (including one guy who would not get out of my way and then fell across the whole trail!) so that killed some time. Saw Chris on the way down Trabuco - he was on his way up, but was looking pretty good! Still thought I made pretty good time down the singletrack though. Got back to the second aid station probably around 6:17 - how the hell am I gonna cover the last 4 miles in 13 minutes?! I was sprinting and there was a stream crossing over pavement right after the aid station, and out of no where my front tire slid out in the water and i went down and just slid on my ass for like 20 feet! Kind of fun actually, hopped right back up and got back on my bike! Bombing as fast as i could, dodging cars and trucks, I didn't think I was going to make it under 6:30, kept going full out, super painful and bumpy ride, I knew it was gonna be close! Passed the remote controlled plane area at 6:27, grit my teeth and go balls out for the last flat section and suddenly i see the finish line and the clock says 6:29:37!!! F#CK YEAHHHHHH I MADE IT !!! by 20 seconds!!!!!

DONE. Okos and I at the finish.

Super stoked to have gotten my goal of under 6:30. Here are my splits:

Beeks: 0:49
Top of Motorway: 1:45
1st aid station: 2:00
4 corners: 3:02
Top of peak: 3:40
2nd aid station: 4:20
Top of Horsetheif: 5:35?
Top of Trabuco singletrack: 5:50
2nd aid station: 6:17
Finish: 6:29

You know it was a good ride if you can only sleep on one side of your body for the following week.....

Here's a video of the race I found on youtube: