Townie Champs, 24 hours of COS

Just did the 24 hour race in Colorado Springs at the US Air Force Academy www.24hoursofcos.com.  Great course and excellent race!  Three of us raced single speed townie bikes (one guy had a 3 speed townie bike) in the 4 person geared category under the name “townie champs”.  We ended up 8^th overall and also 8^th in the 4 person geared category.  Not bad out of the over 100 racers.  Compared to the solo category I usually race in it was great to have a break in between laps.  At the awards they did bring us all up at the beginning to recognize our efforts for riding the townies all night, so that was cool.

We built my bike from used parts I found in the basement of the local bike shop with a total investment of under $200 after bolting on new fenders and converting it to a single speed.  My bike shoes retailed for more than that.  I did feel slightly bad when I was passing people decked out in sponsor gear on $5000 full suspension geared bikes with my heavy rigid townie that had fenders, a rear rack (with an emergency beer that blew up my last lap duct taped to it) and Hawaiian duds.  The fastest lap time was 1:03 which was set by the winning team which is the only person that passed me the entire race.  I had a 1:18, 1:22 (night), 1:25 (night) and 1:19 for lap times which I was happy with.

The most memorable thing that happened at this event was when we were waiting for our first rider Eddie.  Eddie had the 3-speed townie and was just getting over being sick so we were not sure about what his lap times would be but he is normally pretty fast.  I knew Eddie reasonably well having camped next to him at other events and spent most of the morning talking to him before the race.  We had been waiting for him to come in when suddenly his wife points out that his mom just rolled in from her lap at the check-in tent.  I had to ask again if I heard correctly.  It was true, Eddie’s 57 year old mom put the hurt on him!  None of us on the team knew his mom even road mountain bikes let alone was racing at the event until that moment.  That was a big surprise!

Here is a link to some pics a Colorado Springs newspaper reporter took.  I also did a TV interview, not sure if that will show up but it was cool to do.  I received more media attention at this race than when I get first riding a single speed 260 miles for 24 hours.  I may need to rethink my attire.

http://gazettephoto.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=31615663&event=1079081&CategoryID=62011

http://gazettephoto.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=31615651&event=1079081&CategoryID=62011

5th place (Shared) Singlespeed, Vapor trail 125 2010

Finished the Vapor 125 last weekend in 5^th (Shared, we actually had a mini race for 100' at the finish and I won) against the single speeds and 21^st overall.  Here is the link to my stats http://connect.garmin.com/activity/49232863 and spot adventure http://www.spotadventures.com/trip/view?trip_id=225743 . 

50 racers started at 10:00PM in Salida Colorado when normal people are going to bed.  There is a two hour hike-a-bike topping out just under 13,000' at around 4:00AM with temps at 11 degrees.  I got frostbite on the tips of my fingers.  Better gloves next time.  Riding a singlespeed was another kick in the teeth as well but worth it.  I toasted my fork seals sometime in the night as well and had a pretty good crash.  The people at the aid stations were great.  It was pretty cool having Dave Wiens lube my chain at one.  Great race!  No problem with the tires, they performed excellent.  There was a section that has gashed a bunch of tires which we road right through, even passing someone up who had slashed their tire on a rock.  It was tough doing this two weeks after my last 24 hour effort.  I would definitely do it again.  It was great racing with such a high caliber of riders, everyone was tough and 1/3^rd still dropped out.  I remember passing the “Outside magazine” athlete of the year somewhere in the night, he ended up a few spots in front of me overall at the end.  I road with a Jeff Hemperly most of the race.

1st Place Singlespeed solo, 24 Hours in the Sage

Just finished 1^st in the “24 Hours in the Sage” solo single speed class, and 2^nd out of all solo categories including gears.  Total time = 23:30:56 and never rested, Distance = 229.64 miles, Elevation Gain = 24,723 ft.  This is the second year in a row I won this race.  My support/wife was unable to go so I didn’t have any support again this year but I have my pit pretty dialed in so I never get off my bike and everything is easily accessible.  The one challenge is always hot food at night so I bought a crockpot and filled it with McDonalds cheeseburgers before the race started which worked out pretty good.  Last year I prepayed to have a Pizza delivered and left in my pit. 

I started out in 2^nd behind a Jeff Hemplerly from the Big Wheel race team.  We had a good lead on 3^rd so I just kept him in my sights for the first 10 hours.  The race promoter was announcing I was “stalking him”.  I took over first sometime after dark with a comfortable lead.  In the morning I found out that the Trek team rider in 2^nd was up to 20 minutes behind me so I spun out some pretty fast laps and ended up beating 2^nd and 3^rd by a lap.  The tires really performed great and I had no issues.  I actually used the same tires I have had on for the last two months worth of races.  The course is technical with a lot of potential for pinch flats.  This is a great race, really tough competition at all levels!  Dave Wiens was riding the course the last lap handing out burgers to riders (I had enough burgers by then).   Here is a link to my stats http://connect.garmin.com/activity/46121840 and to the race website http://www.24hoursinthesage.com 

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New gate at Boggy Draw

I built this gate crossing for Boggy Draw and Jimbo and I installed it.  Looks intimidating but if flows nice, just don't try if it you can't commit all the way.  The cows better not get through this one!

1st place overall on a singlespeed, CT Classic 2010

Last weekend I finished 1^st place overall (Geared and Single Speed all ages) in the CT Classic mountain bike race on my single speed.  Time: 10:42:17, Distance: 73.29 mi, Elevation Gain: 11,146 ft.  This is a great race and is a fundraiser for MS.  There is also a two day event that takes place at the same time.  The weather was a huge factor.  Over half the entrants didn’t even start and some who did had to bail out which made the actual finishers a pretty slim amount.  The majority of the race is above 10,000 feet on arguably some of the best single track in Colorado.  The race is brutal with extreme weather (I have had 6 inches of snow fall in an hour with lighting in the middle of August on it), highly technical sections, jagged rocks in long tallis fields, huge exposure on ridges and long rocky downhills.  I felt good, because of the moisture it took more effort to pedal but aside from the hike-a-bike sections it was mostly ridable.  About a half mile from the finish I went over the side of a steep 50 foot slide down heading down to the river below but somehow I caught the trail with my left arm and my rear tire with my right hand which prevented me from a big fall.  Just ended up with some big scrapes down my left side.  It would have probably taken 30 minutes just to get down to my bike which would have for sure been damage if I hadn’t caught it and who knows what would have happened to me!  Here is a link to an article in the Durango paper //www.durangoherald.com/article/20100726/SPORTS/707269965/CT-for-MS.  Here is a link to my garmin tracking http://connect.garmin.com/activity/42041825?sms_ss=email.  I wish I could have taken some pictures of the harsh tarrain that the tires had to withstand.  I cant do it justice just in writing.

Kokopelli Trail Race Redo 2010, Singlespeed

Finished the Kokopelli Trail Race last weekend, better late than never but had to keep up the tradition.  We ended up having to do it as a time trial two weeks later because of the weather on the actual race weekend which was mud, rain and snow.  This is a non-sanctioned renegade race (These are popular in Colorado and the southwest) which is acceptable to be done as a time trial but is preferred to do on the same date every year.  There are a number of races like this in the southwest.  Because of the logistics and the fact that there are not a lot of people who can finish them (or dumb enough to put themselves through such misery) they have no entry fee or trophies and consequently no permits required.  This is actually one of my favorite races of the year so I didn’t want to miss out.

The race use to alternate directions each year but in 2007 they tried to shut it down in Fruita so it has, and probably will, always start in Moab from now on.  Starting in the town of Moab is a lot less conspicuous than 75 racers in a remote parking lot (closed at night) outside of Fruita at midnight.  Since we were doing the time trial version on our own myself and a friend Jeff Hemperley (Who I got to start running Racing Ralphs) elected to start in Fruita at midnight on 5/30 and ride to Moab. 

I like starting in Fruita better but it is definitely harder with the majority of the climbing at the end.  We had almost a full moon which was really cool shining off the Colorado River and the cliffs.  The first section of the ride is pretty technical and riding in the dark with a 25 pound pack was challenging on a single speed.  The temperature was a bit cold but not to bad in the desert.  When we started the three killer climbs we had already ridden 80 miles of ups and downs with about 4000 feet of elevation gain.  Within about 40 miles we had almost 13,000 feet of elevation gain with a 20 mile downhill at the end into Moab.  I used a cadence sensor this time and as I suspected before it would be better to run an easier gear next time.  My average cadence was 58 where normally I would be in the high 70s for a long ride like this.  Tried a new race fuel as well which was a bunch of McDonald’s cheeseburgers.  I never eat them normally but they actually worked out great even after 12 hours. 

We both ran Racing Ralphs and had no flats or any other issues.  The tires worked great!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/35328291?sms_ss=email

 Filling my bottle in the early morning

 Oops, Wrong turn

 We filtered water out of this, no other reasonable choice!

 A long brutal hill

 Me, looking down in the valley we just road uphill from, for a long time

 Jeff cruising down to Moab

 Power food, every 4 hours we had one each

 Me at the top of the Rose Garden

 Home stretch

 

Finished in about 18 hours without stopping!  Off to the brewery for grub

1st Place, SS Solo 12 Hours of Mesa Verde

Just finished 1^st place in the Single Speed Solo overall at the 2010 12 hours of Mesa Verde last weekend, 131 Miles, 12,752’ elevation gain.  Finished 2^nd out of all 119 solo racers, including all the geared bikes.  Also had the fastest single speed solo lap time for the race.  www.12hoursofmesaverde.com  The race was capped at just over 600 racers and filled up not long after opening registration.  It has been labeled the premier southwest mountain bike endurance race.

The Racing Ralphs performed excellent with no problems.  This trail is a real test for tires.  It has been described as a rollercoaster ride on a bike and there is an advantage for anyone riding on tires that can really stick in the corners and also withstand the jagged rock sections.  I started out in 4^th and worked my way up to 1^st about 50 miles into the race.  Even though it is a nationally recognized race with bikers from all over the US it was great to win in my hometown.  There was some great competition in other classes as well.  The Trek team battled it out with the “Local Legends” team (John Tomac, Dave Wiens, Travis Brown & Daryl Price) finishing within two minutes at the end.