Well, where do I start about this one? It could be the fact that I was hesitant to do this race in the first place. Imagine doing the Vision Quest but take out all the fun descents and you get The Traverse. Then take the fact that it was a 100 degrees outside. Or could it be that I had to ride down Trabuco trail on my Mavic SLR rim.
The race started off well because I was riding smart. The race was literally 3 1/2 hours of climbing with a 15 min. descent. My plan was to pace myself to Four Corners and then hammer everything from there. It was all going according to plan until I sliced the side wall on my tire beyond just a simple patch and I couldn't do anything to fix it. So what else was I going to do but ride the rim!!! My hat goes off to Mavic . I don't know any other wheel that could take that abuse with out just folding in half. I will definitely continue to ride their wheel sets.
I wanted to finish the race in 4:20 but with my bad luck I finished in 4:45. I was 7th in my age group and 14th overall.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Friday, June 29, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Looking for Bigfoot
Great friend and teammate Fuzzy threw out an invite to come up to his neck of the woods (Humboldt County) and race the 12hrs of Weaverville. So after just a short 13hr drive Bern, Mario, and I found ourselves in Weaverville. We checked into our hotel and met up with Fuzzy to pre-ride the course. Wow what an amazing place. A nice (except in the heat) 3 mile fire road climb then 8 miles of super fun downhill single track through redwoods on old flume trails.
The race was great! My first lap I rode with Fuzzy and when we came into the pit area Bernice yelled at us to slow down. So I slowed up a little and Fuzzy kept to his pace. Fuzzy had just won the Cohutta and the Dirt, Sweat and Gears races a few weeks prior so I was not about to tell him to slow up.
Man oh man what a great course! 8 miles of downhill; oh yeah well you still had to climb for 3 miles to get to it. As the day got hotter that 3 mile climb sure sucked but the downhill was so worth it that you didn't seem to care. I ended up getting 2nd place in the Pro Mens Solo category behind fellow Ergon rider Sloane Anderson. As for the rest of my Sho-Air teammates:
Man oh man what a great course! 8 miles of downhill; oh yeah well you still had to climb for 3 miles to get to it. As the day got hotter that 3 mile climb sure sucked but the downhill was so worth it that you didn't seem to care. I ended up getting 2nd place in the Pro Mens Solo category behind fellow Ergon rider Sloane Anderson. As for the rest of my Sho-Air teammates:
Louise 1st pro female
Bern & Mario 1st pro duo
Fuzzy had sciatica problems and still finished 6th
Norba Nationals at Fontana
Just a few days after my 6hr bonk I decided to race the Norba National at Fontana. I had won all of the winter series races there so I felt pretty confident going into the race. And it ended up going well. Me and one other rider went out fast . I decided to hold back and let him go thinking he would not be able to sustain. Well as it turned out, he was able to keep up the pace and I never saw him again (Always keep um in sight!!) I ended up taking 3rd place and had lots of fun at the same time!
Monday, April 30, 2007
What ya goin so fast for ????
First lap; feeling good!
What is it about the human body that does not let us perform at our best when it is extremely hot? This is the question I would ask myself for 6hrs of my 8hr solo at Hurkey Creek last weekend. My first two laps went great. I was taking in plenty of fluids, eating my gels and was taking my electrolytes. So where did I go wrong? Well my last few races have been XC races where I have been able to blow myself up for 2hrs. So I went back and looked at my lap times, AH HA my first lap I was the first solo rider to come through in 46min. and my next lap was a 53min lap. I was blowing my self up for 2hrs! Chris Eatough once said, "The key to doing a solo race is to waste no energy and be as efficient as possible." It was 95 degrees out and I was going like a bat out of hell. What part of being efficient was I forgetting about? ALL OF IT! So on lap 3 the cramps started coming on strong. I could pedal the flats and go downhill alright but when it was time to pedal uphill the shit hit the fan. My legs locked up and I could hardly move without some part of my legs cramping. I had to stop at the aid stations and try to stretch them out. I owe a lot to my support crew for keeping me going. Thanks Miss Gilly and Andy! I might have quit if it weren't for you. I did this race only as a training race to get ready for the 24hr world solo championships in September. After the race, I remembered what it is that I love about endurance events. The race isn't won in the first few hours. It's about the 23rd and the 24th hour that really count. The 8th hour in this case.
It might look like a smile, but I'm really clinching my teeth and suffering through the cramps!
What is it about the human body that does not let us perform at our best when it is extremely hot? This is the question I would ask myself for 6hrs of my 8hr solo at Hurkey Creek last weekend. My first two laps went great. I was taking in plenty of fluids, eating my gels and was taking my electrolytes. So where did I go wrong? Well my last few races have been XC races where I have been able to blow myself up for 2hrs. So I went back and looked at my lap times, AH HA my first lap I was the first solo rider to come through in 46min. and my next lap was a 53min lap. I was blowing my self up for 2hrs! Chris Eatough once said, "The key to doing a solo race is to waste no energy and be as efficient as possible." It was 95 degrees out and I was going like a bat out of hell. What part of being efficient was I forgetting about? ALL OF IT! So on lap 3 the cramps started coming on strong. I could pedal the flats and go downhill alright but when it was time to pedal uphill the shit hit the fan. My legs locked up and I could hardly move without some part of my legs cramping. I had to stop at the aid stations and try to stretch them out. I owe a lot to my support crew for keeping me going. Thanks Miss Gilly and Andy! I might have quit if it weren't for you. I did this race only as a training race to get ready for the 24hr world solo championships in September. After the race, I remembered what it is that I love about endurance events. The race isn't won in the first few hours. It's about the 23rd and the 24th hour that really count. The 8th hour in this case.
It might look like a smile, but I'm really clinching my teeth and suffering through the cramps!
Congrats to all the Sho-Air riders!
Mario 1st place
Lou 1st place
Bernice 3rd place
Josh 5th place
Matt 9th place
Mario 1st place
Lou 1st place
Bernice 3rd place
Josh 5th place
Matt 9th place
Monday, April 16, 2007
The Tortoise VS. the Hares
It was time for Sea Otter once again and with there not being an ultra endurance event, I was forced to do another XC race. But the XC course at Sea Otter was a little more appealing to me. It was a 2 lap race with each lap being 20 miles. Not so bad. I can do that no problem...at my 24hr pace anyway. Sea otter is truly the best of the best in all classes and my respect goes out to all the riders who attempt the SO races.
I started training for Sea Otter a few weeks prior riding with my friend Mike Lee (Trek VW.) & fellow teammate Cameron Brenneman. We did a ride in Laguna Beach called the 7 bitches; 27 miles with 9000 feet elevation gain. I was starting to realize climbing was not my problem. Consistent speed was where I was lacking. XC riders are great at going out fast and staying fast for the entire 2 hour race. As a 24hr rider, I'm more accustomed to riding a "spin to win" style (the tortoise vs. the hare).
Sea otter is a 4 day weekend event. My race was on Sunday & my friend and teammate Bernice's race was on Saturday so we left early Friday to Monterey to meet up with our friend Andy who had a campsite at the venue.
Andy (aka mr. sea otter) got a Niner for Bernice to race on,(a fully ridged 29er singlespeed). Bernice, who had never been on a 29er or a singlespeed took an impressive 4th place in her race.
After raining all day Saturday it was time for my race. Bernice and I planned out my strategy the night before. Go out hard, recover a little, then a strong finish. Well things were going great at the end of my first lap. I was in 5 th place and riding with John Posner of Trek VW. I new that John takes care of Chris Eatough at 24hr events and trains with Chris as well. So I new he was a good person to hang with. We were going at a blistering pace and then snap!!! My chain broke and I lost the flow. Oh well, shit happens. After I finished the race I was pretty bummed at my 3:13 finishing time. But then I remembered that I really don't train for XC like others do. So what's there to be bummed about? I was only 30min behind Chris Eatough and 23min behind Natt Ross who are both top 24hr pros. So I'll just keep enjoying the ride.
Congratulations to all the Sho-Air/Rock N Road Cyclery riders. The team ended up dominating the event!
Manuel Prado Semi-Pro XC 1st Place
Manuel Prado 19-29 Time Trail 1st Place
Manuel Prado 19-29 Super-D 13th Place
Johnny O'Mara 44-49 Expert XC 1st Place
Ty Kady Semi-Pro XC 2nd Place
Louise Kobin Pro-Expert Single Speed Womens 2nd place
Mario Correa Masters 30+ road race 9th place
Cameron Brenneman Masters Cat 1/Cat 2/Cat 3 30+ Male 2nd Place
Cameron Brenneman Pro-Expert Single Speed 8th Place
Fuzzy John Mylne Pro-Expert Single Speed 15th Place
Tim Zandbergen
Eric Parks
I started training for Sea Otter a few weeks prior riding with my friend Mike Lee (Trek VW.) & fellow teammate Cameron Brenneman. We did a ride in Laguna Beach called the 7 bitches; 27 miles with 9000 feet elevation gain. I was starting to realize climbing was not my problem. Consistent speed was where I was lacking. XC riders are great at going out fast and staying fast for the entire 2 hour race. As a 24hr rider, I'm more accustomed to riding a "spin to win" style (the tortoise vs. the hare).
Sea otter is a 4 day weekend event. My race was on Sunday & my friend and teammate Bernice's race was on Saturday so we left early Friday to Monterey to meet up with our friend Andy who had a campsite at the venue.
Andy (aka mr. sea otter) got a Niner for Bernice to race on,(a fully ridged 29er singlespeed). Bernice, who had never been on a 29er or a singlespeed took an impressive 4th place in her race.
After raining all day Saturday it was time for my race. Bernice and I planned out my strategy the night before. Go out hard, recover a little, then a strong finish. Well things were going great at the end of my first lap. I was in 5 th place and riding with John Posner of Trek VW. I new that John takes care of Chris Eatough at 24hr events and trains with Chris as well. So I new he was a good person to hang with. We were going at a blistering pace and then snap!!! My chain broke and I lost the flow. Oh well, shit happens. After I finished the race I was pretty bummed at my 3:13 finishing time. But then I remembered that I really don't train for XC like others do. So what's there to be bummed about? I was only 30min behind Chris Eatough and 23min behind Natt Ross who are both top 24hr pros. So I'll just keep enjoying the ride.
Congratulations to all the Sho-Air/Rock N Road Cyclery riders. The team ended up dominating the event!
Manuel Prado Semi-Pro XC 1st Place
Manuel Prado 19-29 Time Trail 1st Place
Manuel Prado 19-29 Super-D 13th Place
Johnny O'Mara 44-49 Expert XC 1st Place
Ty Kady Semi-Pro XC 2nd Place
Louise Kobin Pro-Expert Single Speed Womens 2nd place
Mario Correa Masters 30+ road race 9th place
Cameron Brenneman Masters Cat 1/Cat 2/Cat 3 30+ Male 2nd Place
Cameron Brenneman Pro-Expert Single Speed 8th Place
Fuzzy John Mylne Pro-Expert Single Speed 15th Place
Tim Zandbergen
Eric Parks
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Southridge Winter Series
Coming off of last year's 4th place finish at the 24 Hour Solo World Championships, I really had no desire to do any XC races this year. My main focus was to train hard for the marathon series but NORBA screwed up that idea. So being that I am riding for Team Sho-air this year, some of the guys talked me into doing the Southridge series. HA HA! My first race was a success. I took first place by an entire 10 minutes! So I decided that I would try my luck with the rest of the series. Well it turns out that I'm not so bad at XC after all. I ended up taking first place at all the races and won my first overall series title with times good enough to do well at the Norba Nationals at Fontana. Now I'm faced with the decision to keep doing XC races or start training for the 24's. Hmmmm, decisions, decisions!
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