Mountain Bike Race Team

Hell Ride 2011 "when Hell froze over"

2011-11-09T05:20:00.001-08:00

The 2011 Bike for Bender Hell Ride is officially in the books!

Nov 5th, 2011 marked the 20th anniversary of our annual Hell Ride. We had been planning this event for months and this time we were ready for anything; well just about anything.

We had a new route planned that included a loop through the Boy Scout Camp above the SART.
We were out on the course clearing bushes and doing trail work weeks beforehand.
We had 8-10 designated trail guides.
We had sign-ups so we could keep track of everyone on the ride.
We had number plates so we could easily identify riders.
We had an emergency contact number on every plate.
We had a surplus of trucks and trailers to shuttle everyone up.
We had an official aide station with food, water and snacks.
We had over $4000 of raffle prizes to give away after the ride.
We even had 20th Anniversary t-shirts.

But the one thing we didn't have was good weather!

Decision Time

Even though this was the 20th Anniversary of the ride, Mother Nature wasn't going to let us off easy. The day before the ride it snowed over 5 inches up at Angelus Oaks and the temperature dropped down into the 20s. If we were going to host the ride, we were going to have to adjust the course and come up with a brand new plan (quickly).

So that's exactly what we did.

Brainstorming

The evening before the ride we called our friend Rick at the Boy Scout camp and he confirmed there was over 6 inches of snow up there and that the road conditions were dwindling quickly. That meant the top two sections of the SART (South Fork to Middle Control Rd) were out, and the biggest disappointment, we'd have to cancel the SuperD loop through the Boy Scout Camp park.

We'll definitely have to schedule another event next year just to ride the mountain bike park. Stay tuned for more details.

New Course

No worries however. We decided to start the ride at Angelus Oaks, survive a few 1000 feet of snow riding, climb Morton Peak, take the SART down, hook a left on to the "Upper Workout", cross the wash and then add a section through Crafton Hills at the bottom. That meant that the aide station would have to relocate to the wash in Mentone and that would be the "bail point" for slower riders.

All in all it worked out perfect. The amount of riding time, distance, climbing and descending were almost exactly the same as the standard Hell Ride. See new course here.

So did we survive?

Absolutely, but only the courageous! That morning over 70 riders showed up at Uncle Howie's. We signed everyone up, shuttled up to Angelus Oaks and got started. It was around 32 degrees and pretty chilly at the beginning.

It took everyone a few pedal strokes to figure out that "you can" actually ride on snow and ice; you just have to be careful. All I have to say is thank god for the 4x4 tracks up to Thomas Hunting Grounds! Without that, we would have had a much more difficult time.

Shortly thereafter, the sun came out and it was all breathtaking views and awesome single track the rest of the way down. Everyone was smiling the whole way.

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone that made it this event a reality; from all of the organizers and volunteers, to the sponsors, to the riders that stuck with it to the very end. It took every single one of you to make this a success.

Intense Cycles, Don's Bikes, Bear Valley Bikes, Redlands Cyclery, Team Sole, John Wayne Cancer Foundation, SoCal Endurance, VSI, 5.10, Romano's Pizza, Visualized Business Solutions and Redlands Spine and Sport

Stay tuned for a new event in the spring of 2012.

Here's a few shots of what happened this year.

NOTE: There are endless amounts of pictures, videos and comments on facebook as well if you are interested.

Going over "the plan"

Enter the fridge

100 pedal strokes in

Are we done yet?

Simply beyond words

Enter Single Track

Russell and Margaret in the clouds

Warmth at last!

Morton Peak

Bender's Aide Station

Uncle Howie's Aftermath

Many important folks are missing here but thanks to everyone who helped make this such a success.

Let us know what you thought about the ride. Ideas for next year?

Racers and Chasers: Freedom 100

2011-09-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

Every racer needs a little challenge every once and a while. I've been eyeing the Racers and Chasers series for a while now and finally I found one that looked right up my alley. Last year they hosted a 50 mile multi park marathon, but this year they introduced a true endurance race called the Freedom 100; a 100 mile version of the 50 miler that toured the parks and trails north of San Diego. How's that for a challenge?

R&C'ers

A few years back Robert Herber started up the Racers and Chasers series. I've known Rob for years now as we used to race against each other back in the semi-pro days and we were both sponsored by Intense Cycles. He's a great guy and his race series seems to fill in all of the cracks for anyone that's into racing anything on two wheels, and who lives between the latitude and longitude of the OC and San Diego. He has even hosted a Motocross - Mountain bike duathlon at Cahuilla Park where you ride moto and then gear down and jump on your mtn bike. How cools is that! For an ex-moto guy (me), very cool.

Gearing Up

As usual, this was a totally last minute thing but I finally decided to race the week of. I collected a few items and started packing. Here's what I ended up with

1 26" tube taped under my seat (I always use a 26"tube in my 29" wheel - more on that later)
1 Big Air mounted to seat post
1 New pair of Smith Pivlocks (my old lenses were shot!)
1 Straightened rear wheel
1 Gel flask
2 coolers
8 Bottles of Hammer nutrition
8 Hammer Endurolites
2 PBJs (good old pbj's...)

Plan

Robert really puts on a great event and knows what endurance riders need to finish. He had aid stations set up every 10 miles on the course where you could have your bags and bottles sent to before the race. This is very important because otherwise you end up carrying 8hrs of nutrition on your bike, mixing drinks at water stations, and scrambling everywhere. I've done it before and it's not fun!

Race

The 100 mile guys started a few minutes before the 50 mile guys. The course started with a pretty hard uphill climb that was rocky and loose. Most of Pro guys cleared everything just fine, but if one guy made a wrong step, it would have been like dominos for the rest of us. The trail then shot down some fun 40+ mph fireroad descents and across roads (with traffic directors), and then into the parks full of single track, switchbacks, bridge and stream crossings. One of the coolest sections was the singletrack that followed Lake Hodges (see GPS map). The trail was windy and fast, but the best thing was the breeze was cool and refreshing.

Go time!

It was just after the lake section that things got seriously fast. The final 10 miles was essentially a flat time trial down a sandy double track.This is where a rocketing peleton consisting of the lead racers from the 50 mile race group caught up to us. We didn't really want to ride that fast that early, but it was a good chance to make up some serious ground on lead 100 guys that managed to sneak away earlier. Romolo and I hung in with them for about 15-20 miles but neither of us could keep this pace up with over 60 miles of racing left. When we hit the hills we backed off and let them battle to the 50 mile finish line. That was seriously taxing but fun.

Round II

When we crossed the start/finish 50 mile point, I stopped, oiled my chain and grabbed some fresh bottles. It was daunting to turn back knowing we had another 50 miles to go. Plus, it was near noon and it was starting to get hot. Looking at all of the 50 mile guys that just finished, it was very temping to just roll in and call it a day...

Upside Down and Inside Out

I've been doing this "endurance" stuff for a while now and I'd like to think I've got it down pretty good. Well, this time I faultered. I just switched to Hammer products and I didn't really have time to test mixtures and drinks before the race. I just went by the charts, but everyone's different and I knew this wasn't ideal. Anyhow, at about mile 60 my stomach was so upset that I had I couldn't ride any longer. Over the next couple of hours I actually stopped 4 times trying to deal with it and just took in as much water as I could. I'll leave out the gory details, but let's just say that I when through some tough times. It was the first time that I actually didn't think I was going to be able to finish a race.

Getting it done

The last 2 hours were tough but I was still hanging on. In the last hour I started to feel better again and even after all of my unplanned breaks I finally caught back up to Romolo and we headed to the finish line. In the end he edged me out on the last climb and I rolled in just after him. He finished 4th and I finished 5th. We were just outside of the money but it was still a great feeling just to have finished.

Details

100 Miles
10,000ft of climbing
40+ mph
<8 hours
0 crashes
20+ close calls

So how was it?

Overall this was a great race. SoCal doesn't have many out and back races, so that was a bonus. The course joined up a bunch of single tracks that lead through parks just south of Escondido, so the scenery was nice and the course was fun. The only issue was that you had to keep an eye out for two-way traffic and pedestrians on the park trails. If you are interested in trying this race, keep in mind that some of it was pretty rolling and fast, so if you were in a group or if you can hook up with someone, you could save some serious time and energy.

I'll definitely be there next year with my nutrition dialed in and all cylinders firing!

You can find out more information about the event here.

Next big endurance event is the 50 mile Fat Tire Epic at Vail Lake October 1st. Be there!

Cedar City Fire Road 100K

2011-07-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Lisa and I traveled to Cedar City for the new Fireroad Race. Doesn't sound super appealing does it? An endurance race all on fireroad with no singletrack to speak of. But this year Lisa has been focusing on endurance stuff on the road with lots of climbing and I always like the short XC races so this race gave us some good middle ground. Finally a race that we could both go to together. Plus, we figured, anytime you're in Southern Utah and on a mountain bike you're going to have a good day.

The race offered 3 distances - 100k, 60k, and a 25k. Lisa clearly was doing the 100k and I decided on the 60k with the single speed. We both agreed afterward that this was one of the best races we've ever been to. The course was a good as you could expect considering it's all fireroad. But the way the race was run was 2nd to none. We started with a neutral start down Main St. with a police escort. The town wasn't exactly buzzing with excitement at 8am, but nonetheless it was pretty cool. At about 3 miles we turned off the road and they waived the flag to go. On an open road with a slight downhill this was the last I'd see of the field. I was almost spinning out on the neutral rollout so when speeds went from 15mph to 30mph I didn't stand a chance.

There were some rolling hills early on, and then at mile 9 we hit the big climb. It lasted a good 8-10 miles and included a KOM race within the race. Cool thing for me was since I got so far behind on the flat stuff at the start I was able to continue to pass people the entire way up. I even got to ride with Lisa for a little bit. Once at the top the 100k racers made a right for their extra 40k loop and we peeled off to the left. The next 6-7 miles were mostly rolling hills. Then a long fast downhill with some great views. There were a few miles on the downhill that included a double track jeep trail that was pretty technical. It was a nice reminder that we were actually on mountain bikes. We eventually made it into town, rode by some houses, then a short stretch on the bike path, then around some baseball fields, and finally into the finish at Main Street Park.

I finished 1st in the 60k single speed (out of only 2 guys) and then managed a 3rd overall in the 60k out of 30+ guys. Lisa got in just under 6 hours and finished 3rd of 10+ women in the 100k and she even won a little cash for her effort. 1st place in the women's 100k was Paula Newby-Fraser who is somewhat of a legend in the triathlon world with 7 Women's Ironman titles. Men's 100k winner was Socal local Brent Prenzlow.

A few bonuses with this race
Great Support - 5 aid stations on course with at least water and gatorade
Great Location
Good Food - BBQ sandwiches after the race!
Goodie Bag - 2 shirts, cow bell, water bottle, wallet, lots of stuff from Clif Bar
Cheap Hotels
Great Weather (this may have been lucky as Thunderstorms are fairly frequent)
Friendly and helpful volunteers
It's in Southern Utah!!!!!!

Bearclaw Poppy - Can't think of a better spot for a pre-race spin.

A couple of 3rd places overall for our distances

The day after we took a trip up to Cedar Breaks and then to Brianhead for a little lift assisted riding.

Special props go to all the people in Utah who knew of Don's Bikes. Especially the Cedar City local who wasn't even in the race, but found us after the race and told us he'd just bought a bike from Don's a few weeks before.

Newspaper Write-up

Lava Magazine Write-up

Race Website

12hrs of Temecula: June not-so-glume

2011-06-07T06:43:00.000-07:00

A number of Don's riders came out to tear up a few laps at the 12hr race in June. The weather was perfect and the course proved to be challenging for everyone.

Here were some of the folks in the Don's line up:

1. First time Solo riders - Lisa, Russell and Marget
2. Veteran Solo - Chris Branson
3. 4-person SS - Jeff Stanners
4. 2-person - AL and Paul Romero

The solo riders did well in their classes, Jeff's team took the SS 4-person win, and Paul and I managed the 2-person class win.

This was the first race ever that Tinker entered the Pro/Open Solo class and didn't finish. Apparently he became sick and had to pull out. This left the 12hr solo open class wide open. Sure enough, up and coming endurance guy, Daniel Munoz, stole the show and $400 for the win. Good job Daniel!

Another up-and-coming young gun, Jarred Jordan, took the Under 18 solo win. Watch out for these guys in the future.

Oh ya, big thanks to Kat and Rachael for taking care of us in the pits. And congrats to Karen Lundgren who won the solo women's class, and Angela Myers and Matt Smith from Big Bear who finished their first 12hr race. Matt was super lucky and won the Spinnergy wheelset at the post-race raffle. How cool is that?

Huge thanks to Jason for putting on another great event.

Tell your friends. Tell your team. Just get off the couch and come out and join in the fun!

Traversed

2011-05-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

To the Point

SoCal only offers a handful of point-to-point XC endurance races throughout the season, but if you are up for the challenge, the Traverse is definitely one to put on your calendar.

The Traverse is a slightly shorter version of it's big brother Vision Quest, but it still dishes out 46 miles and 8100ft of climbing pain. As the name suggests, you basically "traverse" all of the peaks across the Cleveland National Forest.

Sign-up Early!
And just like Vision Quest, the Traverse usually sells out in a just a matter of hours. Yes, that means you have to set your alarm for 12:00AM, get on your computer, and secure your entry as soon as sign-up site opens. It's a pain, but it's worth it. If you miss it, you can always watch the STR forum and buy someone's entry a few weeks beforehand .

The Race

This year's race had all of the usual suspects: Tinker, Manuel, Doug, Mario and so on. I've been racing with these guys for quite a few years now and not only are these guys some of the fastest riders around, they are also some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

On the starting line we all got caught up and cracked a few jokes. As the race went on, Mario and I actually road about 4hrs of the race swapping back and fourth the whole way. We chatted a bit and joked a bit between gasps. I kept asking him how long it was to the next peak and he just kept saying "oh, about 5 or 10 minutes", which was a nice way of telling me "you think I'm going to tell you!". This was Mario's backyard...

The "S" really WORKS
The funniest thing about this whole race was that this was the second time this year that I rolled up to the starting line for a 4hr+ race with a bike that I had never really ridden before. How crazy is that? This time I was on a 29er SWORKS Epic.

I really have to give special thanks to Derek Herman from BVB for throwing this sweet ride together for me at the last minute. All I have to say is what an awesome machine! I used every inch fo the 29 wheels and the suspension when it came time to charge down the fireroads and single tracks at full speed. No flats and the bike handled great.

Get old, go faster...

Well, considering that I'm still way out of shape and I road a bike that I had never ridden before, I was happy to finish 6th behind the likes of Tinker, Manual, Doug, Daniel and Mario. See full results here.

And to top everything off, when I rolled up to the finish line, Doug Andrews (from Geoladders) handed me a frosty amber ale. What a great guy. Doug just turned 50 this year and he's still one of the strongest XC/endurance guys out there. Hats off my friend!

How's that for inspiration!

Anyhow, this was a great ride and a lot of fun. See everyone next year!
AL

13,000 Feet Up

2011-04-10T22:36:00.000-07:00

Lisa Stanners (formerly Lisa Crowe) completed the first stage of the King of the Mountain Series. Saturday was the Mulholland Challenge Century. 112 miles with roughly 13,000 feet of climbing. Lisa finished with an unofficial time of 9 hours 44 minutes (official results not yet posted).

Picture from RockStorePhotos.

Next up will be Breathless Agony on May 7, 114 miles with 12,000 feet of climbing. This race will start in Redlands and finish in the Big Bear Area.

The final race in the KOM Series is the Heartbreak Hundred on May 28.

No Vision, but lots of Quest...

2011-04-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

Six months ago the thought of racing one of most difficult and prestigious endurance races in SoCal sounded like a good idea. Of course the plan was to do lots of training beforehand, but living in the mountains derailed most of that. I counted and this was my 10th ride on a bike since January, and 3 of those were SS races!

So I guess you can say I had a lack of Vision but I definitely had a Quest.

Having done this race a few years ago, I knew what I was in for; long painful fireroad climbs, tire popping descents, and a long, rocky hike-a-bike at the end.

New Ride

What I didn't anticipate was building and riding a brand new bike just days before. My new Ellsworth Enlightenment rolled in, and thanks to a few friends in high places, I was able to get all the parts I needed to build it up. I only manged to get one ride on it to make sure it shifted right and I figured I was good go.

This was definitely one of the fanciest and lightest bikes I've ever ridden! You gotta check them out.

The race

In short, the pros (Manny, Tinker, Doug...) the took off faster than you can imagine. I managed to hang off the back for the first 1.5 hrs and then popped like a pool floatie left out in the sun. After that I realized I needed to chill out to finish.

Shortly afterwards I ran in Gerry Cody and Ben Bostrom on the first nasty decent. I stopped and gave Gerry my air tool and then asked Ben if he needed help. He crashed bad and was pretty bloody. He said he was ok and was going to stop at the aid station below. As luck would have it, with no air tools, I semi-flatted at bottom and road most of the next climb on a low rear.

The rest of the race was fairly uneventful, just slow - for me anyway. The biggest bummer was flatting on the last descent to the finish. Everyone that I had caught and passed, passed me back again. Everyone had also already given up their air, but thanks to Chris from the Don's team who stopped and threw me one of his last CO2s.

It's not over until you crash...

The last crazy thing that happened was when I approached the finish line, I kind of got off the trail a little and they were waving me in. When I cross this ditch full of leaves, my front wheel disappeared and endoed at about 20 mph. Everyone saw. Nice!

I think I finished in about 6hrs 30min, which I thought was pretty good considering everything that happened.

The Bike

As for the bike, it was totally awesome. It was definitely the lightest bike I've ever ridden (right around 22lbs)! Since it was my first ride on it, I definitely took it easy, but everything worked perfect. The frame was strong and absorbed everything I threw at it. The only issue I had was that my front derailleur locked itself into the small ring about half way through the race and since SRAM uses torx bolts and my toolset only had allen keys, I ended up single ringing it for most of the race. No biggy, I ride SS most of the time anyways.

Lessons Learned

1. There's no training like actually riding your bike.

2. Heavier tires are always the way to go for endurance races.

3. Don't assemble and ride your bike the day before a giant race.

4. You will never be as good as your bike is!

Lastly, I gotta give a shout out to Adam Hart. I bumped into him on the trail the week before the race, and he gave me a little inspiration to get out there and get it done. And plus, he and his wife even drove our sorry asses out to the race 3:00 AM! Thanks bud.

Back in the saddle again

2011-01-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

A long, hard 2010...

2010 was a tough year for everyone. The housing market was upside down, getting a job was virtually impossible, gas prices were off the charts, and finding the time and inspiration to ride was more difficult than ever.

My biggest challenge was losing my best friend and riding partner, Robert Bender, due to cancer.

As bad luck would have it, I was on my way to the 12hrs of Temecula in November, where the Bike For Bender campaign was in full swing, when I stopped by to visit Rob in the hospital at 4:30 AM. Long story short, I came out Sunday afternoon - minus a friend. I know everything happens for a reason, but I can’t believe he passed away on the same weekend as race! We had been racing this series together from the beginning of time. Every day, my prayers go out to him and his family. RIP my friend.

And for those of you who were at the race, I just wanted to thank everyone who entered the Bike For Bender category, donated for a wristband or just showed support in some way. You all made the campaign a huge success! His family is forever grateful.

Now for 2011...

The great thing about each new year is that you get a chance to start all over again. For some, it's a new beginning. For me, it definitely is.

To be honest, racing has been the last thing on my mind: I just moved to Big Bear a few months ago, my folks were just down for Christmas, and the local mountains have been aching me to go snowboarding, shoeing and skiing a lot more than cycling!

And then over the Christmas break, my friend Paul Romero slid a question my way rather nonchalantly:

"You want to team up for the 12hrs of Temecula in January?"

For the first time in my life, I actually had to think about it. I just lost my riding partner, I hadn't been training and I wasn't motivated to race at all. But, reluctantly, I agreed. Paul is a great guy, a strong rider, a great sportsman and good friend. I had no reason to say no.

In the end, I knew it was the right thing to do. Plus, Rob would have kicked my ass for not stepping up! We named our team: Powered By Bender in his honor.

12hrs #1 - In the books

And as luck would have it, Paul and I managed to slug out 15 laps and take home the 2 Person team win. I was dreading it all week, but when I arrived at the race, all of those thoughts went out the window and I found peace and excitement in the air once again. I was surrounded by great people, new competitors, and a long 12hr challenge.

So huge thanks to Paul for inspiring me to get out there and get it done, Jason Ranoa for putting on a great event, and the fans for supporting everyone coming through the finish line. It was great to be out there.

Now I’m looking forward to whole new season of good times, good riding, and good fun, and with of course, good friends.

And remember, every day on a bike is a good day.

6 Hours of Bootleg Canyon

2010-11-28T16:00:00.001-08:00

For the 2nd year in a row I decided to head out to Bootleg Canyon for this race. Not being much of an endurance person (I usually consider a 90 minute xc race endurance), a 6 hour solo race is a good test for me. Bootleg Canyon gives you fun and technically challenging trails. The course was completely different from last year. It was about 6.1 miles with about 5.8 of those miles on good singletrack. Last year's course was a little shorter, but also a little tougher technically. Both courses were a lot of fun. I don't have any pictures from this year's race but here is one from last year.

Other than Super D's, this was the first Le Mans start I've been in. We had about 150yd run to the bikes and then we were off. I tried to take it real easy on the run, but I was still one of the first to reach the bikes. About 150yds of riding and we hit the pump track (yes, a pump track was part of this 6 hour race each and every lap). It was fun, but very different 6 laps in while trying to eat a sandwich.

After the first 2 laps I started to plan my race and figure out how many laps I could finish. I was coming in at around 40 minutes each lap. That would work out to 9 laps, but that would be with no breaks and being able to maintain that pace. That wasn't going to happen, so I set my sights on 8 laps. I tried to spend as little time as possible in the pits. Just long enough to change bottles and maybe grab something to eat. I switched bikes partway through just to give my body a little break. As the day went on 8 laps was looking less and less likely. My back had been hurting since lap 2, and on lap 6 my knees started hurting.

I took off on lap 7 and in doing the math it didn't look like I'd make it. I made the decision that I'd enjoy lap 7 as much as I could and then finish. It was getting cold and my knees were really hurting, but I still had as much fun as I could on the downhill section towards the finish. I came through the finish line, stopped my Garmin and started to walk back to the car. Then I noticed the official clock, and saw it was about 10 minutes behind the actual time. That'd give me just enough time to hurry back to the car, put on my light and some warmer clothes and then head out for my 8th lap. Part of me was disappointed as I was looking forward to laying down, but I was mostly excited to get that 8th lap in.

Lap 8 felt better than lap 7. Only trouble was I forgot to restart my Garmin when I started the lap. About 15 minutes into the lap I realized my Garmin wasn't running and I wasn't sure how much time I had left. It wasn't until the last 6-7 minutes where this got me. The last little bit of the lap is uphill and all I could think about was crossing that finish line 1 or 2 minutes after 5:00 and not getting credit for my lap. That little uphill at the end was excrutiating, and on the first few laps it didn't even seem like it was uphill. I pushed on and came through at 4:56.

Props to the promoters for putting on a fun race and for getting the awards done right away. It's very appreciated when there's a 4 hour drive ahead. Plus a cool goodie bag with a t-shirt, beer mug, and sunglasses. And the table with Hammer Gel, Heed, and other snacks at the end of each lap was a great bonus.

Preliminary results are posted and from what I can tell I was 9th out of 29 solo riders in the 6 hour open division. My race is here - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/58225256
Approx 50 miles, 6000' of climbing, 6 hours.

All the race info is here - http://www.sunsetracing.com/events/bootleg-canyon-12

It's a good one to put on your calendar for next year.

Jeff

Bike For Bender - Hell Ride 2010 is in the books...

2010-10-24T06:27:00.000-07:00

Over 50 riders came out this year to participate in our annual SART Hell Ride. This was round #2 of the Bike For Bender series. Round #3 is Nov 13th at the 12hrs of Temecula. Here's a quick recap of what happened.

Be sure to check out the rest of the photos here and on facebook.

Special thanks to Ellsworth for jumping on board to support our event. They brought some super cool demo bikes which people snatched up quickly in the parking lot. They also had a trailer and rig to help shuttle up the hill.

Ellsworth had some cool new bikes in the 2010 lineup, so I decided to try out one of their 29er Evolution trail bikes. I was behind at the beginning (no names mentioned) and I was supposed to be leading the first group, so I had to sprint the first two sections of the SART to catch up. All I can say is that I put that thing through it's paces and it came out shining. It was super light and a blast to ride all day.

This year the conditions were the best ever. The rain made the single track tacky and super fast. The entire group were flying the whole way. Here's our first break at Angeles Oaks where we had food, water and snacks set up.

Every year we always have an interesting bike and/or rider that shows up. This year's winner was veteran rider who came out with a bike that he had apparently pulled out of a trash bin and built himself. It had fluorescent forks, a spray bottle (to cool off), flat DH pedals and a kick-stand. He wore military trousers and a MX helmet the whole way. We simply couldn't believe our eyes! He ended up bailing at the half-way point, but hats off for riding that beast that far.

Here's a shot after some pretty hairy single track after Thomas Hunting Grounds.

Here's another shot of the lead group on the backside of Morton's peak.

By mid-afternoon, everyone made it back to Uncle Howeys safe and sound for beer, pizza and the raffle.

We also had a few "Super" Hell Ride folks that showed up as well. These guys actually road their bikes from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain in Big Bear all the way down to Redlands. I did this ride last year and it's appropriately named "El Grande". You can read about it here. Good job!

Huge thanks to all of our sponsors (Don's, Ellsworth, Bear Valley Bikes, VSI and the Path) for donating the raffle prizes. We had everything from tires, helmets and handle bars to gift certificates and tee-shirts. And special thanks to all of the riders for their generous donations.

All of the funds will go to Rob and his family.

At the end of the day, there were lots of stories and big smiles and that's what makes this ride worth coming out for every year. We missed Rob big time and hope to see him back in action next year.

The last Bike For Bender round is Nov 13th at the 12hrs of Temecula. Here we'll have the draw for the Tazer frame and the Ellsworth wheels. You can enter this class for $50 solo and $100 for teams. Every person who enters the "Bike For Bender" category will also get a free ticket for the Tazer and wheels draw. All proceeds go to Rob and his family.

Don't forget, you can only sign-up on site for the Bike For Bender category!

See you at the 12hr.

Bike For Bender - Hell Ride 2010

2010-10-16T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it's time for round 2 of the Bike For Bender series - Hell ride 2010, Oct 23rd 8:00 AM.

If you haven't been on this ride before, here's a quick overview:

1. We shuttle from Redlands up the 38 to South Fork bright and early.
2. And then we follow the SART 36 miles back to Redlands.

The SART is one of the most fun and challenging single tracks in SoCal. Although there's thousands of feet of descending, there's also a few thousand feet of climbing, and there are some seriously dicy sections, so don't think that this is an easy ride! We'll group everyone into a fast and an intermediate group just like last time.

We highly recommend tubeless tires. There are stream crossings, rocks and 30+ mph descents, so you will get a flat!

Last year we had about 50 riders (many of them STR folks) and this year we are predicting we'll have over 60 riders. That means this will be the largest Hell Ride ever! And with the recent rain, the conditions will be epic.

As always, we'll meet at Uncle Howeys afterwards for beer, pizza and the raffle. We already have great prizes lined up from VSI, Intense Tires, Don's Bikes, Bear Valley Bikes and Ellsworth.

Speaking of Ellsworth, there's talk they will be coming out to support the ride by bringing demo bikes, trucks and trailers! Stay tuned for updates on this.

All proceeds from the raffle go directly to Rob for his fight against cancer.

For more details about the ride and to sign up, visit the ride page. Don't forget to sign up for a shuttle or plan to get dropped off up the hill!

So if you are up for a good ride, with good people and for a great cause, come on out and join us!

SOCAL FAT TIRE EPIC 50 – Part I: Race Report

2010-10-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

Huge thanks to Jason Ranoa for putting on a great event!

We don’t have many 50 millers in SoCal so we all appreciated seeing this on the calendar once again this year. If you were wondering what this race was like, or if you’ve been contemplating trying a marathon, here’s a quick review that might help you decide.

Part I covers the course and Part II covers what happened.

Getting out there
If you haven’t tried a marathon before, all I can say is that you get your money’s worth out of these races! It takes a little more nutrition planning and strategizing (write-up coming soon), but any of you XC or weekend warriors that like to crank out a few extra miles can surely get it done! If you are unsure about doing it solo, then one option is to sign up for the two-person category and just knock out 25 miles each.

Weather
The forecast leading up to the race was dismal. Thunderstorms were eminent and the humidity was high. Sure enough, the day of the race it was hot, humid and it even sprinkling at times. You could practically cut the air with a knife.

Course
On the flip side, the rain made for awesome riding conditions. The sand was tacky and the course was in the best shape ever. The ridge lines were fast and the tight single tracks were like downhill slalom courses.

The course was split in two: The 12hr loop and the Vail Lake (east) loop.

The Old
The marathon started out by following most of the 12hr course with a few modifications. All I can say is that it was fast! It started up the “damn” climb and followed mostly double track across to the ridges. From there it zig-zagged through the canyons as usual and then back to the campground. There was one sandy g-out that you had to just power through, but it was totally doable.

In the campground they had a main water station set-up so if you planned for it, you could swap water bottles here and save a little weight for the next section. Support folks were handing-off here as we climbed out of the park. Nice touch.

The New
The second part of the course went out to a brand new area that I’d never seen before. I heard horror stories from last year’s race, but the whole section changed and was greatly improved. That part extended Eastward out of the park across a number of tight ridges with a few short, tough climbs. Most of us had to get off a few times to clear everything, but it wasn’t bad at all. Actually, I think I could have cleared everything if I would have pre-road it. Nonetheless, at that point, it felt good to dismount and stretch the legs a little, so it wasn’t a big deal at all.

After the ridges, there were some super fast (and fun) fireroads and some descents. The course then went into some fast “jedi-like” singletrack as it approached Vail Lake. This was actually my favorite part. A few times I looked over and could see boats and wakeboarders down on the lake and I wished that was me! From there it lead us back past a water station and back through the other campgrounds back to the start mostly on wide double-track and paved roads.

Rough Stats
The east and the west sections combined were roughly 12 miles a piece, so one full loop was 23-24 miles. All of the solo folks ended up doing two loops for a total of about 48 miles. And yes, there was a little bit of climbing and I logged about 5,800 ft when it was all said and done, This is really quite reasonable for a 50 mile race when you compare it to other ones like Vision Quest!

The fastest guys finished in roughly 3:20hrs and the rest of us finished closer to 4:00hrs.

Aid Stations
Jason had a ton of water and aid stations sprinkled around the course. Each station was stocked with water, Heed and electrolytes if needed them. You actually couldn’t go more than 8 miles without running into one. This takes a lot of work and manpower to set-up, but it’s very important to the riders in endurance racing.

This also meant that you could actually carry one bottle if you wanted to and just fill it up at every station around the course (that is if you didn’t mind stopping). Or more importantly, just use the water to cool off every ½ hour as you heated up out there.

What I ended up doing was carrying one bottle for the 12hr loop and swapping it out at the aid station in the campground before heading out the 2nd section. That worked out perfectly.

The course markings were pretty good as well, although I did have a hard time seeing a few of them when we came out onto the pavements sections. I think this is mostly because we hit these sections at pretty high speeds.

Summary
Overall, I was impressed with the new extension to the course and all the work Jason did to make it a safe and fun race. I give it a solid 9/10.

1. The distance, climbing and elevation are all reasonable.
2. You can easily pre-ride the whole course and plan your race strategy beforehand.
3. Use your 12hr knowledge to save energy through those sections.
4. Numerous water stations (well stocked) all around the course.
5. Three pools to choose from and showers for riders after the event.

If you haven’t attempted a marathon before, then if any of these things make sense, then this actually might be a good one to start with.

Think about putting this one on your calendar for next year!

Big Bear Single Track Epic - Thank you!

2010-09-26T05:18:00.000-07:00

On a crisp and clear Saturday morning up in Big Bear, about 40 riders gathered to take on the first ever Big Bear Single Track Epic. Nobody really knew what was really in store, but in the end, everyone manged to survive the challenge.

Bike For Bender
This was the first ride of the Bike For Bender series: a set of fundraiser events we are hosting to help our teammate with his fight against cancer. You can learn more here. To our surprise, Rob and his whole family actually showed up to help support the event. They even offered to manage the aid station half-way through the ride, which each and everyone of us appreciated more than gold as we rolled in later in the day!

So at 9:00 AM, we lined up and we were ready to go! Here are some of the highlights of the day.

The Goal
Regardless of the course, 25 miles of up-and-down single track at 7000-8000ft is challenging for any rider. Our goal was to get everyone around the course and back in one piece. The short loop was lead by my fearless wife Katrina along with Russell and Margaret from the Don's team. Jimmy Johnson and the other boys were also lending a helping hand. I lead the more advanced riders on a longer loop, and to face the ultimate challenge - "Bender Mountain".

Section "Unknown"
Both groups started out together and formed a giant peloton as we headed eastward. This area had some of the most challenging and least traveled trails in the area.

It consisted of a short fireroad climb and then transitioned in a tight single track that was a ton of fun. At the top, the short loop riders road down a killer single track towards Bear Mountain and the advanced group went on to take on the mountain.

Bender Mountain
Every good ride has something everyone remembers for one reason or another. For this one, if you were an advanced rider, it was "Bender Mountain". Even though I spent hours raking and preping this part of the course, this proved to be one of the toughest hill climbs in the area.

Keep in mind that these were some of the best riders in SoCal and every single one them had to push or carry their bikes up the hill climb. We all suffered for a short time, but the top offered one of the most spectacular views in the area. We took a quick snapshot by the "B" and descended off the back through a secret canyon trail. Everyone was smiling.

After a unanimous vote, we started the climb across Bear Mountain. This section included a painful set of granny gear climbs or simply pushing your bike up the hills.

By the end, most of the "men", including me, were reduced to "mice". After that, we managed regroup and powered up fireroads to next single track. Our goal was to catch the other group by the water station.

Half-way, well sort of...
When we hit the water station both groups merged. Despite a few flat tires and a few crashes, everyone in the first group was still smiling when we rolled in.

Rob and his family set up the pits in a great spot with lots of shade. They had water, gatorade, oranges and thanks to my wife, an assortment of cookies for everyone to munch on. As usual, Rob was walking around (still smiling) and helping people fix their bikes. Right Cy?

At this point, I could see that everyone was pretty much spent, and it was getting late in the day, so we brainstormed and decided to shorten the course. We came up with a plan that allowed us to get some of the best trails in but still get back at a reasonable hour. So in just a few minutes, we got everyone together and were off.

Here's a quick snapshot of us coming off some more secret trails on way back to Town Trail. Only a couple of riders actually cleared the whole decent.

The Raffle
So after over 4.5hrs of slugging it out, everybody made it back to the restaurant just fine. Our volunteers had everything set up and we gathered under the patio at the back of La Montanas.

It was time for the raffle!

Thanks to our sponsors, we had over $1000 of prizes to give away including everything from a set of 29er American Classic rims, helmets to $25 and $50 gift certificates. So between a barage of beer drinking and burrito eating, we managed to get our tickets sorted and the raffle began.
In the end, almost everyone walked away with something. It was awesome!

A great ride, for a great cause...
At the end of the day, the whole event was huge success. Like we said at the beginning, the course would definitely be challenging, and it was, but everybody made it back in one piece and everyone seemed to have a great time. That was the whole plan. The interesting thing is that nobody actually finished the whole course, so the good news is that there's still miles of untapped single track out there for next year...

The Challenge
Although we all faced a challenge today, it's nothing like the real challenge Rob and his family are facing right now. Through every one's support and generosity, we were able to raise over $1400 at this event. That was totally awesome and we thank everyone. Rob's dad also thanked us (and everyone that came out) over and over again. At the end of the day, it brought tears to every one's eyes.

So on behalf of the entire Don's Team, we'd like to extend a huge thanks to the whole mountain biking community for making this such a success. Big thanks go out to all of the sponsors, volunteers, and special thanks to Rob and his family for coming out and supporting us.

AL

If you missed this one, be sure to mark your calendar for the other Bike For Bender events coming up! The next big one is the SART Hell Ride - 30+ miles of single track from South Fork to Redlands!

1. ~~Big Bear Single Track Epic~~
2. Orange County Adventure (TBA)
3. SART Hell Ride - Oct 23
4. 12hrs of Temecula - Nov 13 (sign-up in the "Bike For Bender" category at the race)

PS - If you are wondering what happened to the Intense Tazer frame, we decided to give people more time to buy tickets and extend the raffle across all events. The final draw will take place Nov 13th at the 12hrs of Temecula. If you can't make the event, the winning ticket number will be posted online and valid for 7 days.

8hrs Solo at the 24hrs of Adrenalin

2010-09-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, all I can say is this was one of the toughest races I've done in a while. Even though I'm no newcomer to endurance races, I always seem to learn something new. Here's what I learned this time.

Pre-race Tire Issues
Since Kenda just happened to have the tire I use on my 29er, I decided to swap my rear and go tubeless. Naively, I agreed to try Jimmy's secret concoction of Slime and Stans mix. The tire beaded easily but after 3 tries airing to 40 lbs, it just wouldn't hold air for more that a few minutes. 10 min before the race I decided to swap everything back and go with a tube in the rear. Not things you should be doing before a race!

Minutes before the race, we though we heard a starting gun and I thought the race started. When I looked over, Jimmy was holding his rim in one hand and his tire in the other. His tire had essentially exploded off his rim and stans/slime were everywhere. Nice! He ran back to the pits where Rob and his dad dialed him in with a tube. Not sure what happened there, but nonetheless, he had a major tire problem too just minutes before the race.

Lesson 1: Don't touch your tire configuration the day of the race.

Lesson 2: Don't trust someone else's voodoo recommendations without testing them first!

Start
After all that, I barely arrived in time for the start and had a terrible gate pick for the run. After a 20th place start, I pushed hard on the first lap to get into 3rd overall. 3/4 of the way through I blew my rear tire - yes, the one I was messing with earlier!

Lesson 3: Lesson 1.

Tire Swap
In an avalanche of sweat and panting like a race horse, I managed to get the tube swapped and I was off again. At this point I had waisted tones of energy and lost a tone of time. Dozens of riders passed me, so I was back to square one again. Oh ya, I also used the only two CO2 canisters I had, so I had to ride the rest of the race with a big old manual pump in my pocket.

Lesson 4: Don't be a cheap ass; bring an extra Big Air!

Pacing
At this point I was riding at more of a XC pace than an endurance pace. Not good as it was blistering hot and everyone was suffering badly. Either way, by the third lap I had caught back up and was in first place again. The problem was I was pretty much spent and I had 5 more hours to go!

Lesson 5: It's an 8hr endurance race idiot. It's better to pace yourself and make up time over 8 laps instead of 3!

Nutrition
As the race went on, racers were dropping like flies due to the high temperatures and relentless climbs on the course. I started to cramp up badly behind the knees and in the inside of my hams. I managed to keep turning the pedals and spin through it, but I was in serious pain. If you've ever pedaled through a cramp, you know what I'm talking about!

At that point, I knew I was seriously dehydrated, so I totally ditched the nutrition drinks and switched to electrolytes. From lap 5-8, I basically drank nothing but electrolytes to try to replenish what I lost earlier in the day; something I've never tried before. I also grabbed a few orange slices to get some fast sugar energy. It took about an hour, but my muscles finally started to un-cramp and I was back in action. Plus, the temperature dropped 30 degrees so everyone was feeling better at this point.

Lesson 6: Nutrition drinks are essential, but without electrolytes, your body will still cramp!

Beer Lap
On my last lap, I was about 30 min ahead of the next guy, so I decided to have some fun. I stopped at this spot on the course where some spectators (more like hard core partiers) had been cheering for us all day. These guys had a couch, ez-up and a full bar. You had to see it to believe it. They offered me a beer and I gladly accepted. We shot the shit for a few minutes, I thanked them for their hard-core fan support, chugged my beer, and headed off in to the finish.

I can honestly say that was the first time I've ever done something like that during a race, but after surviving that brutal day, I thought I deserved it.

Lesson 7: As Paul Romero would say, "Ride Fast, Take Chances...". So I did.

In the end, it was a great race, and with every event, I learn something new.

Huge kudos to Jimmy Johnson for finishing his second endurance event ever. He was seriously going to throw the towel in after lap 3, but pulled through, knocked out 4 more laps and finished 5th . Good work buddy!

And lastly, huge thanks to Rob and his dad for coming out and pitting the whole race. I couldn't have done it without them.

Until next time!
AL

PS - See you guys next week at the Big Bear Single Track Epic!

US Cup Bonelli Final / State Championship

2010-09-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Gerry Cody - 2nd place, cat 1 30-34
Jeff Stanners - 7th place, cat 2 singlespeed

Course was short (4 mile), but very challenging (short, but very steep ups and downs). Lots of fun out at Bonelli. Gerry held the wheel of Ty Kady for a good 3 1/2 laps but slowly fell behind on the 5th lap. Still put up the 2nd fastest cat 1 time of the day.

Complete Results

Bike For Bender - Big Bear Single Track Epic

2010-09-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

Our first Ride for Bender is scheduled Sept 25th and is called the Big Bear Single Track Epic. It's a fundraising event and it's free for everyone to sign-up. You can RSVP on Facebook or just show up. The format isn't any different than other group rides we've put on in the past e.g. SART Hell Ride, except all proceeds from the party/raffle afterwards will go to Rob and his family.

See full details here.

The Ride: We've spent a lot of time stitching the course together so I guarantee you it will be fun. I've basically ridden over 50 miles of best single tracks in the area and put together a nice continuous (but challenging) day of riding. There are definitely some hard sections and there are a number of bailout options, but my goal is to have everyone finish the whole ride. There will be a 25 and ~40 mile option.

My wife will be leading a group as well so all women riders are welcome to join in!

Here's a sneak peak of the course and "NO" you can't have the track!

So I would like to extend this invitation to the entire Socal community to come out and show our support for a fellow rider. Plus, you'll get a chance to ride some of the best single track trails that Big Bear has to offer! You can't go wrong.

Spread the word.

See you there!
AL

PS - Feel free to hit me with any questions.

Bike For Bender

2010-09-04T13:58:00.001-07:00

If you haven't heard the news, our team has recently put together a campaign to help raise money for our teammate Rob Bender.

Rob was recently diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and he has been undergoing treatment for the past several months. As you can imagine, this treatment is very intensive and costly.

In order to help support Rob and his family, we have come up with a number of ways that we can all contribute. This includes everything from donating online to signing up for local group rides and races.

Here's the short list:

Donate Online

Donate at Bike Shops - make a $5 donation and received a wristband.

Beer For Bender - a fund raising gathering at Jersey's in Redlands.

Ride For Bender - a series of fund raising rides and races that anyone can attend.

You may have also noticed some people wearing Bike For Bender wristbands. This is our way of showing our support for Rob and his fight against cancer. If you donate or participate in any of our events, you will receive a wristband.

Lastly, we have to extend a huge thanks out to everyone that has helped get the campaign going:

Jason Ranoa - 12hrs of Temecula
Doug Andrews - Geoladders
Don's Bikes of Rialto

Thanks so much for everyone that has participated so far and although we are off to a great start, we still have a long way to go.

To learn more about Bike For Bender, please visit our website and stay tuned on Facebook as we announce more details about the up and coming events.

Once again, thanks for your support.
AL

Don's Bikes Team

Leadville 100

2010-08-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

Good luck to Don's Team rider Gerry Cody at Leadville. The Leadville 100 is a 100 mile mountain bike race in Leadville, CO. It starts at an elevation of 10,000 feet and reaches a high point of over 12,000 feet. Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis, and Dave Weins are notable racers who have been at Leadville in the past.

This year Weins returns looking for his 7th win. Also scheduled to compete are top pros Tinker Juarez, Manny Prado, Todd Wells, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Jeremiah Bishop, and Levi Leipheimer. The ageless legend Ned Overend is also entered as are many of the other top finishers from last year.

Gerry returns for his 2nd Leadville after finishing 25th overall last year (out of over 1200 riders). You can follow Gerry's blog for more in-depth coverage of how he's doing.

http://bikeblood.com/

Fontana Backwards

2010-05-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

It was a Wednesday in early March and we went out for our weekly night ride. This particular day was a little longer than usual and I ended up going 30 miles and about 3 hours. Well, at 4am the next morning I woke up with a shortness of breath. I get in with the doctor that afternoon and have some tests done and get an inhaler and some medicine. A few hours later the doctor calls me and says I need to go to the Emergency Room right away. My white blood cell count was more than twice the normal rate. Fast Forward 7 weeks (another ER trip, dozen other doctor trips, and more tests than I've had in my lifetime before now) and it turns out I am allergic to nearly every weed and grass out there and I have some kind of allergy induced asthma.
The last 2 weeks I've finally started to feel much better and have been able to breath almost normally. I started riding 2-3 times a week, but kept things pretty easy. This weekend I thought I'd challenge myself and race at Fontana. The May race typically has a very small turnout so I figured it be a good low-key race. I also decided, just to do something different, I'd race my singlespeed.

So I show up Saturday morning. Everything is setup like it always is and I'm ready for a typical Southridge race (they host a lot of races). Then at registration they announce they're running the course backwards. Backwards??? It took a little while to wrap my head around the idea. I've done well over 10 races there of 3 to 4 laps each, and the course has always gone in the same direction.

Things started off easy enough. Going backwards there's no real climb until you get around to the backside. Things got pretty difficult at this point. Riding up some of that singletrack that is always downhill was a major challenge, especially on a SS. But I have to say that coming down some of the sections we usually have to climb was a nice treat. Here I was racing at Fontana for the 5th time this year and it was like a whole new experience.

One small change.....when we hit the pavement, we quickly turned off and did the big National Climb backwards as well. All classes did this section. This climb was a great addition to the course. It was a very technically challenging. The only disappointment there was coming down the steep fireroad (ordinarily the climb). There was quite a bit of elevation gained there to be wasted on a steep fireroad.

This is a little downhill section of the National Hill

The bottom line - this definitely felt like a tougher course, but with a few possible changes/additions, it could be just as good or even better than running the course the regular way.

The GPS of my first lap - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33408204

Super D
I didn't do any of the Winter Series Super D races, but I decided to give this one a try. They started at about the highest point on the hill above the DH start, and then mostly followed the backwards XC course. I somehow got entered as a beginner instead of an expert so I was stuck starting towards the end. I was told they'd just put me in the right class after I finished. Wouldn't have been a problem but I was starting behind the beginning women. With only a 30 second gap I caught both of them pretty quick. One was able to let me right by, but I caught the other in a bad section and there was no easy way for me to get around so I had to ride behind her for a bit. My best guess is that cost me 10-15 seconds and I ended up losing the race by only .36 of a second. Oh well.

My SD run - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33408197

Other Things I heard

Mammoth - Last year the Golden State Final was in Mammoth. So far the schedule this year has said location tbd. They said they're looking to have it at Mammoth again this year, but there's so much snow up there they don't know if it'll all be melted by August!

New Course - Last week there was a fire that burned right up to the backside of the cross country course. Donny said that due to all the clearing of the brush from the fire he plans to cut a new section of trail.

Night Race - I also heard there are plans to possibly have a night race sometime in the fall. I wasn't sure if this was DH and XC or just one and not the other. But it could make for some fun times.

Sea Otter 2010

2010-05-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

2010 Sea Otter Results

Gerry Cody
1st - road race, cat 4
1st - crit, cat 4
1st - circuit race, cat 4
3rd - Super D, open 30-39
10th - XC, cat 1 30-34

Lisa Crowe
1st - Super D, open 30+
3rd - XC, cat 1 30-39

US Cup #2 - Bonelli Park

2010-03-15T05:56:00.000-07:00

by AL Laframboise

Last weekend was the 2nd round of the US Cup series. Bonelli always offers something for everyone. It's a great venue with lots of grass and a big pit area for vendors, and the course is always awesome. This year the course included relatively short hill climbs, bridge crossings, all-out paved sections and some fast rocky single track decents. It was good fun, even on the single speed.

This year the race attracted some of the best riders in the nation. On Saturday, Max Plaxton (from B.C.) won the Men's Pro XC, and Kelly Emmitt won the Women's Pro XC. See results here...

As for the team, we all had a successful weekend as well. Here's the stats:

Lisa - 2nd XC
Jeff - 2nd SuperD, 14th XC
AL - 2nd XC
Gerry - 4th XC

Team photos here...

See you at Fontana Mar 27!

Sagebrush Safari - US Cup #1

2010-03-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

(posted by Jeff Stanners)

This weekend was the opening race of the US Cup West Coast series. Sagebrush Safari, about 45 minutes east of San Diego is one of the best courses around. Only trouble is the course doesn't hold rain real well. And it rained almost non-stop on Saturday, the day before the race. Race day it was beautiful out though. The dirt wasn't actually too bad, just a little slushy, but with lots and lots of puddles to cross.

We had just 3 riders from Don's out for this one. Gerry, Lisa, and I all made the trip to race.

Full Results - http://teambigbear.com/results.php

Gerry - picture in cyclingnews.com
2nd place, cat 1 30-34
Gerry opened his season up in a strong fashion. Finished 2nd in a very strong field, just a minute and a half behind Ty Kady, who has numerous semipro wins on his resume. For more on Gerry's race check out his blog at http://bikeblood.com.

Jeff
12th place, cat 2 35-39
My race didn't go quite like I had planned. It started off well enough. I got out with the front of the pack on the flat road section, then hung in the top 8 through the climb while a few broke away. I was sitting in 7th when we hit the fast fireroad descent on the back and I flatted. It was my first race with a tubeless setup and the sidewalls on my tires must have been too thin and a sidewall ripped open. I put a tube in and kept the tire pressure real low to try to keep the tube from blowing through the hole in the sidewall. I made up a little ground that I lost but not much. Ended up finishing 12th in a field of 21.

Lisa
1st place, cat 1 30-39
Lisa's first race in her new age group. It's always disappointing when there's only 2 competitors in your class, but Lisa made the most of the situation and got the win.

The next US Cup race will be at Bonelli. It's part of the Pro Triple Crown series so there will be some top talent out for it. Pros race XC on Saturday. Everyone else races Sunday, with the pros also racing short track and super D on Sunday.

For more info: http://uscup.net/

12hrs of Temecula: Heaven after Hell

2010-01-25T05:59:00.001-08:00

After six days of torrential downpouring across California, none of us could believe how the awesome this race was.

Weather

Everyone on the team was preparing for the worst: multiple pairs of gear each, mud guards, wash clothes, tarps, warm clothes, rain ponchos... We all thought it was going to be a disaster. But low and behold, when we arrived, sure, it was cold (35 ish in the morning), but the sun was shining and it was an awesome day. I road half the day with short sleeves and the other with a long sleeve jersey and I was fine. That's how nice it was!

Course

As for the course itself, I'm not sure how he did it, but "magic" Jason managed to navigate us around all of the washouts and river flows to put together one of the best courses we've raced on yet. The course was little soft at first but very soon after, it turned into a set of very fast and tacky single tracks. It was fun.

Bike Set-up

I did take some time to set-up my bike for this type of race, but I admit, not as much as I should have. I managed to install a front mud deflector, heavy duty chain, extra thick lube on all moving parts etc..., but I was running old tires and a few other things needed to be replaced.

Race

On the starting line, Tinker I and were talking about how many time we went back and forth on whether or not we should do this race, but we were both glad we stuck with it and showed up.

My race was uncharacteristically full of mechanicals and drama. On the start line I couldn't get my bike in the big ring so I road just in the middle ring. I also had two flats on the first lap and my derailleur kept acting up from that point on. I spent most of the race trying to make up the lost time.

Special thanks to the other Don's guys on team (and the couple beside us) for helping me out as I didn't have any formal support this race.

Bike Swap

Late in the in race I got the green light from Cannondale to use their test bike. It was only my second real ride on the Scalpel, but I couldn't believe how awesome this bike was. It was a few pounds lighter than the FRO and it was like pedalling air. I couldn't believe how well the single fork handled. This was a great way to finish the race; I only wish I would have been on it earlier.

I'm hoping to finish the rest of the season on one of their new Flash 29ers! Check them out here.
Final Results

The 3-person Don's team had a great day as well. They finished 1st and managed to crank out 14 hard earned laps.

As for me, I managed 10 laps, 2nd in the Pro Solo class, but I definitely feel like I should have got a few more laps in. The good thing is that there's always next time (although, we don't know exactly where that will be)... :)

Oh ya, and congrats to the little guy beside us (14yrs old) that won his first 12hr solo race! He did awesome.

So cudos for everyone who persevered and came out to race. And special thanks to Jason and his staff for staying up to 12AM the night before getting the course ready. So contrary to what we were all thinking, it turned out to be a great day.

Feel free to share any thoughts or photos!

See you next time.
AL

Featured Rider - Margaret Gregory

2009-12-22T18:32:00.000-08:00

As a new Don's Team member, Margaret won almost all of her races in 2009 as a Cat 1 Downhill Racer. Here is a little more about her:

Name: Margaret Gregory
Age: 27
From: Redlands, CA
Started Racing: November 2008

1. When did you start xc and dh riding? I started riding around 3 years ago. I got on a DH bike for the first time in June 2008 in Whistler. Fell in love.
2. What is your favorite thing about racing? Progression. Races push me to try things that I would not normally try. In a race, if it’s on the course, you have to do it, there’s no getting off and walking around features.
3. Favorite race? Blast the Mass in Snowmass CO. This was my second ‘true downhill’ course; rough and fast and with some tough features that pushed my riding skills.
4. Any suggestions for other women trying to get into the sport? Don’t be intimidated by the guys. In downhill racing, where the ratio of men to women is about 50:1, it’s easy to get scared off by the hoards of men on the race courses. Don’t be! Most men just think it’s awesome that you’re riding.
6. What is the secret to your success? My success has been an utter surprise to me, so I’m not really sure what the secret is! I think it just comes down to the fact that I really love riding my bike.
7. How do you train? This fall I started really training for the first time. My plan for this year involves a lot of anaerobic work and upper body strengthening. In the past I’ve always just ridden my bike, but I’m trying to be more focused and structured with my training this year.

8. Who is your idol or role model? Right now I’m really into learning to jump, so my current idols are gals who fly like Clair Buchar, Stephanie Nychka, Katie Hayes and Tammy Donahugh, to name only a few.
9. Where do you want to go with the sport? My current goal is to get approved to race pro. Racing against the top girls would be amazing. My goal for 2010 if I can manage it financially is to hit all the races on the Gravity Calendar.

10. Favorite place to ride? I’ve ridden in too many awesome places over the past year to decide… but I do have a special place in my heart for the Santa Ana River trail on my XC bike since that is where I learned to ride and it never ceases to put a smile on my face.

Read more about Margaret's adventures on her own blog.

12hrs of Temecula: 2009 Series Wrap-up

2009-11-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

It was a long hard season but the 2009 12hrs of Temecula series is finally over. At these events, anything can happen, and trust me it does! Here's a few random facts about what "really" happened.

- Rob consumed and unknown quantity of beverages but still managed to maintain our bikes just fine
- I had two flat tires and flipped over the bars (going uphill) when I threw my chain!
- Someone gave Russell a light that failed on the last lap... (that would be me! ooops)
- Gary gave us the inside scoop of what happened at Leadville this year
- Lisa destroyed me on the climbs :)
- Chocolate chip cookies are still the food of choice, followed closely by PBJs
- The 4 Person team moved from 13th at the beginning of the season up to 3rd in last race
- Single speeds are very unforgiving at endurance events (duh)
- I drank beer between laps for first time ever
- Gary passed out on the table in the awards tent (evidence below)

Pro solo - AL
- finished 3rd, overall series winner

3 Person Open - Cy, Chris, Gary
- finished 1st, overall series winner

4 Person Open - Russell, Margaret, Lisa, Jeff
- 3rd in series

So congrats to everyone for a such a great effort this seasons.

Lastly, huge thanks to Jason Ranoa for promoting one of the best mountain bike events in SoCal! Be sure to check the list of new 12hr, endurance and fat tire events scheduled for next year.

See everyone next year!
AL (Don's Bikes Team)

Don's Bikes Hell Ride - Pictures on STR...

2009-11-09T06:00:00.001-08:00

There's tonnes of cool pictures on STR as well! Thanks everyone.

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3...

Don's Bikes Hell Ride Pictures - Group A

2009-11-08T14:55:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pictures. Most of these are from the first group. There were 12 of us that held a good pace the whole ride. Great riders and good times!

AL

Don's Bikes Hell Ride 2009 Wrap-up

2009-11-08T07:13:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who came out this year and made this ride such a success. As most people found out, the ride isn't quite as hellish as it is fun, but I guarantee you that everyone experienced some level "hell" along the way!

Ride
- 43 riders, 2 main groups, 4 guides (AL, Rob, Russell, Margaret)
- an undetermined number of crashes, flat tires and cliff excursions...

GPS
- 5:39 hrs, 36.86 miles, 6924 ft down, 2143 ft up

Aftermath
- 4 $25 Don's Bikes gift certificates, 1 gift certificate for a bike at cost!
- an undetermined number of beer and pizza consumed :)

It was great meeting so many new folks (from Socal and STR) and thanks again for coming out!

We'll post more stuff shortly, but feel free to add your comments or stories here as well.

Cheers,
AL & Russell (Don's Bikes Race Team)

Special thanks to Don's Bikes of Rialto for sponsoring the event!

The SART Hell Ride is on!

2009-11-04T05:23:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again folks and Hell Ride is on this weekend!

So far there are over 40 riders confirmed and over 50 expected to show up. Why not right? 30+ miles of SART single track and 8000+ ft of descending = fun!

Where: Meet at Uncle Howie's in Redlands, shuttle up to SART
When: Sat Nov 07, 7:30-8:00 AM

Full ride details here.

We look forward to seeing you out there.
Don's Team

Jedi Master Super D

2009-10-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

(posted by Jeff Stanners)

Last Sunday there was a grassroots Super D race out at Hulda Crooks in Loma Linda. Very low-key with no entry fee. There were, however, medals and even In-N-Out gift certificates to the winners. Most important it was a lot of fun. The race was put on by Van Geslani.

Cy was the declared overall winner. Van actually beat him by a few seconds, but didn't count himself in the results since he was putting on the event. Both guys were moving pretty fast. Here's the complete results...

Overall Race results
Van 8:16
Cy 8:21
Jason 8:38
Mike 8:48
Dallas 9:39
Doug 9:42
Jen 9:42
Bryan 9:52
John 10:25
Eric S. 10:26
Berny 10:29
Eric P. 10:30
Judd 11:03
Candice 11:52

Men's Hardtail Division
Dallas 9:39
Doug 9:42
Berny 10:29
Judd 11:03

Women's Open Division
Jen 9:42
Candice 11:52

This will probably be a monthly race for awhile. If you're interested in racing you can get ahold of Van at the Jedi Super D Facebook Page.

You can see the course on Geoladders here:
http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=29109

I was too tired from the "6 Hours of Bootleg Canyon" the day before so I didn't race. I did go up and take pictures.

You can see the rest of the pictures here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/WhiteSpiderPhotos/JediMasterSuperD#

Live Strong Update - Tough times on 1400 mile journey

2009-10-14T06:50:00.000-07:00

It's day 10 and Gerry is still rolling strong on his journey. At this point he is nearing 1000 miles, and as you can imagine, he's going through some pretty tough times. He sums it up with this:

"At this point, if it touches the bike, it hurts..."

Due to cold and exhaustion last night, he had to stop a little short of his destination and get some assistance to reach the hotel.

But true to Gerry's spirit, here's a short video of him riding back to where he stopped yesterday and continuing on his 1400 mile journey from where he left off. Now that's some serious dedication!

Hang in there Gerry... 4 days to go!

Be sure to check out these cool t-shirts you can purchase to help support the cause.

Live Strong - "1400" T-Shirts

2009-10-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

If you would like to help support Gerry in this epic journey, here are some cool t-shirts that are available to help support the cause.

All proceeds from the “1400″ shirt go to L.A.F. LiveSTRONG Foundation.

Order here.

Live Strong - One Rider's Journey from California to Texas

2009-10-07T05:26:00.000-07:00

Everyone once and a while I come across someone that has an idea that is crazier than anything I've ever had. In this case, it's our good friend Gerry Cody (Don's Bikes team member).

Gerry has decided to take the Live Strong Challenge, except he has also decided to ride his bike all the way from Santa Monica, California to Austin, Texas. When he arrives, he will join up with Lance and all of the others to participate in the event.

People, including myself, do these kinds of things for all kinds of reasons, but in this case it's Gerry's personal vendetta; to try to raise money to fight cancer.

So hats off to Gerry for undertaking this huge jouney and we wish him the best of luck. He's probably on the road at this very time...

The whole team supports Gerry 100% in this effort, and if you would like to donate to help him reach his goal, you can do so here.

Feel free to follow along for Gerry's latest blog posts and twitter updates.

Good luck my friend!
AL

Mammoth Downhill Weekend

2009-09-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

Here's some cool video from our DH weekend in Mammoth.

Riders: Rob, Al, Cy, Chris, Gerry and Danny

Special thanks to Chris for making a bunch of bad downhill riders look somewhat decent.

AL

www.donsbikesraceteam.com

Rim Nordic - On a Tandem

2009-09-14T18:48:00.000-07:00

(posted by Jeff Stanners)

Lisa and I headed up to Rim Nordic on Sunday for their last race of the summer. It was a first for both of us....racing on our tandem. Months ago we toyed around the idea of buying a tandem and racing it. Most companies don't currently make a mountain bike tandem and the few that do charge a small fortune for them. A decent front suspension tandem costs at least $4000 while the higher end full suspension tandems are upwards of $7000. We decided to go cheap and test out a junker first.

About 3 months ago we found one on ebay. We got it for $150 plus $30 to have it delivered. The stoker bars were bent so we replaced them with some pink ones. We added chunky grips to both the front and back and they've helped tremendously (well...a little) to make up for a lack of suspension. The biggest and most important upgrade we made was switching from cantilever brakes to U brakes. With the cantilevers the best we could hope for on a downhill was to slow down. Now with the U brakes we can actually come to a stop if I squeeze hard enough. We also replaced the shifters and one of the cables.

The bike weighs in at just a tad under 50 pounds. Our first ride we took it up to Crafton and rode on the fireroad a little. Next ride was again at Crafton but we pushed it a little more and had a slight test of our technical skills on it. Then ride #3 took us to the wash in Mentone. The wash is not at all steep, but it is singletrack and can get a little technical. That was the first real test for us and the first time we sort of beat the bike up.

Our plan all along was to race it at the State Championship race in Big Bear, but with the date change it doesn't look like we'll be able to make it. So with not much going on this past weekend we decided to try racing it at Rim Nordic.

They start the tandems with the cat 3's at 9:00am. We had no qualms about just doing 1 lap. Seemed like the perfect place for our first race, except that this is real mountain biking at Rim Nordic....with bridges, steep climbs, switchbacks, sandy turns, and lots of singletrack. Mostly things that make mountain biking great, but all things that make it tough on a tandem.

The race ended up being incredibly fun. The only close call we had was on our warm-up lap and we attempted to cross the first bridge. Our day was literally an inch or so away from being over. After that we decided we'd walk all the bridges on the course. We did, however, manage to make all the climbs except the couple that came immediately after switchbacks. Most satisfying was making it up the top sandy climb just before the Explosives Shed.

We finished in a satisfying 44:53. Certainly not blazing fast, but for that course it felt great. We both had a blast racing it. After over 20 races this year it was very fun to actually race together. Not sure when the next tandem race will be, but there's bound to be some more on occasion for us. We were the only tandem at Rim Nordic. It seems Sea Otter draws the biggest tandem fields so we have that penciled in for next season.

Our Race on Garmin Connect
Our Results
Rim Nordic Racing

New SoCal Mountain Bike Race: Over the Hump Series

2009-09-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

Now that summer is winding down and we've all had some time off to take a vacation and enjoy the sunshine, it's time to start thinking about getting back in shape. What a better way than to start with a little mid-week racing!

Last week one of our team members, Jeff Stanners, participated in this new race in the OC called the Over the Hump Series. He had some great things to say about it and I think more of us will try to make it out to the next one.

Here's what he said:

Last week I did this race last week called Over the Hump Series. I thought I’d share this since it’s a new race and it was a lot of fun for a mid-week
race. It was on Wednesday evening at Irvine Lake in Orange County.
315 people showed up and raced on the 3.7 mile course. Expert’s did 4
laps, Sports did 3 laps. There were some good local pros there – Sid,
Manny, and Sean Donovan went 1-2-3. It’s about a 50 minute drive down
there from Redlands and best of all the race only cost $20. There next one
is on a Tuesday on September 15. They said they plan to have a summer
series of 6-8 races next year, all mid-week evening races.

It’s worth checking out if you’re looking for something fast to do during the
week.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

Another thing that looks interesting is the class structure. There are basically three classes (beginner, sport and expert) and the age brackets are wide e.g. 30-39. This should keep things competitive and should prove to be pretty interesting, especially in the Expert-Pro class.

Race Information
Over The Hump Series
Classes
Map, Directions and Parking
Results

More Resources
Mountain Bike Action article on the Race
OC Register article on the Race

Here's some actual video coverage of the whole race. Looks fun!

http://www.donsbikesraceteam.com/

Mechanic's Corner: How to fix a broken front XTR derailleur

2009-08-25T06:24:00.000-07:00

During my last race up in Canada, I managed to break my trusty XTR front derailleur. The front arm snapped off where the cage pivots. I still had two solid weeks of riding ahead of me, so I needed to do something. When I got back to my folks place, my dad and I went into the trusty garage and came up with a plan to fix it.

Here’s what we did.

1. Found a small ¼” x ½” 1/16 piece of flat metal.
2. Bent it into an “L” shape bracket and ground off the edges.
3. Clamped it into place on the inside of the broken derailleur.
4. Drilled two ¼” holes on each side of the derailleur and bracket.
5. Riveted the derailleur face and back-side.to stabilize the cage.
6. Ensured the bracket cleared the pivots and frame.

Voila!

I was a little concerned about the rivet on the inside face because I thought it would affect the chain when moving up to the bigger rings. After a quick test ride however, I could tell the chain could still hop from ring to ring just fine.

Anyhow, this little fix proved to get me through two weeks of riding just fine, and I’m actually thinking about just racing it as is. It’s works perfectly and seems stronger now than it was before.

So before you throw down $250 to replace that broken derailleur, don’t be afraid to give this a try.

AL
http://www.donsbikesraceteam.com/

A Random Epic Adventure: El Grande

2009-08-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

The other day I heard that someone was organizing a ride from the very top of the mountains in Big Bear to the very bottom. The plan was to put together some of the best single track in SoCal to make one of the greatest descents around. In theory, it looked to be between 10,000-11,000 ft of descending.

So how could I resist, I'm always up for an adventure! Not knowing any of these guys, I sent an email out and asked if I could join in.

When I got in touch with the organizer Paul Romero, I knew I was in for something special. Paul edged me out at the last 12hr solo, so I knew he and I were on the same page when it came to "big" adventures.

He described the ride like this:

We'll be parking on the North Side of Sugarloaf Mountain....(Greenspot,
it's called...), HWY 38, and Hatchery Road.....From there we'd all ride up to the Summit... (maybe 1.5-2 hour climb). Then Begin the 6-8 hours of descent down to Mountain Village. Mostly all singletrack.

Here's a map and profile of the route.

NOTE: I started my GPS a little late off the top, so you can easily add a couple hundred more feet and some mileage to the profile. See GPS info here.

The Gang
When I arrived I was greeted by Paul (our fearless and slightly insane leader), Billy (a crazy trainer on a psycotic 29er), Casey (a 15yr old biking prodigy that's as good on as any of us), and Clay, another local crazy man.

Since the ride was going to be mostly descending, I decided to take my big bike (Nomad). Good move right? Wrong! Most of the crew had XC and/or slightly beefed-up XC bikes. Woops!

The Climb
It was just a few minutes into the ride and we started the brutal ascent up Sugarloaf trail. No warm-up or anything, just straight up. Some parts were climbable, but it took absolute full-out efforts to get up most parts the trail. This turned into a bike-push-bike section.

We basically fought through the rocks and got our bikes up to the intersection with Wildhorse Trail. From there it was more of push-ride-push to the top.

In the end, it was about 3400ft of climbing. See GPS info here.

So where was the decending I was thinking to myself? And man, did I have the wrong bike!

Top of the World
Once we were at the top the views were epic. We took a few snapshots and started our 11,000 ft decent to the bottom.

The "Descent"
One thing I've learned about the single tracks in the San Bernardino mountains; where there's down, there's also a lot of up. The descent off the very top was knarly! There were lots of fist-sized boulders and technical switchbacks the whole way. It was fun however as you could jump and hop off sections to clear the nasty stuff. Good times.

The descent down Wild Horse was absolutely "wild". Not knowing the trail, I was in tow most of the way but had a ton of fun. Most of it was downhill but there were a few 10 min climbing sections along the way; just enough to remind you that this wasn't a trail for a DH bike.

The crew were all equally skilled and we kept the show going the whole way; minus a few flat tires and seizing brakes. The "little man" Casey was killing it. This guy is going to be a super star someday!

SART
We eventually made it down to Hwy 38 and turned left to climb up to the top of the SART - a section I had never ridden before, and now I know why. This was basically a horse-beaten, sandy section with quite a few climbs that was completely working us over.

After a little grumbling, we survived this section and refueled at South Fork.

From South Fork on, it was just a blast. Just miles of some of the best single track (SART) in SoCal. We were switching off positions leading and having the time of our lives. The only issues was I was having a ton of trouble with my bike because my free hub was locking up and by brakes were seizing badly. After a little surgery however, we managed to get bike semi-functional.

The last nasty section (for me anyways) was Middle Control Rd. I usually love this climb, but by this time, I was totally worked over. My big bike was killing me.

Anyhow, we made it to Angelus Oaks and rolled in for some food at "The Oaks" restaurant.

Decision Time
From there, we had two choices:

1) Finish off the last part of the SART by climbing to Thomas Hunting Grounds and then Morton's Peak; or

2) Blast down Old Hwy 38 (on dirt) and roll through the wash back to my place where there was cold beer and pool waiting.

We were all pretty wrecked so we unanimously picked option 2.

NOE: If you've never done the Old Hwy 38, it's actually a blast. You can ride down old Hwy 38 to the actual Hwy 38 and then catch a bunch of single track at the wash at the bottom, so that's what we did.

New Friends
We finally made it back to Redlands where my wife had cold beer waiting for us on ice and the pool was ready to go. We all jumped in and had a celebratory beverage. This was definitely one of the most "random epic adventures" I've ever done.

When you think about it, I didn't know any of these guys, but we all proved we could work together to overcome the elements including 5+ flat tires, siezing brakes and hubs, and the best of all, about 11,000ft of descending on some of the best single track in SoCal.

El Grande Totals
Climbing: 6200+ ft
Descending: 11,000+ ft
Distance: 53+ miles
Time: ~9:00 hrs

So the next time you have a chance to hook up with any of these guys, you have my word that you'll be in for an epic adventure.

Thanks again for the experience!
AL

http://www.donsbikesraceteam.com/

Part IV: The Finish - Lost in the Rocks and Trees

2009-07-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

Part III: The Race - Lost in the Rocks and Trees

2009-07-22T10:48:00.000-07:00

To learn more about this race or see more photos, go here. North Bay Camera Club reserves all rights to the photos. Please visit their site to purchase pictures and make a charity donation.

Part I: Getting There
Part II: Commitment
Part III: The Race
Part IV: The Finish

Rules
On the starting line, things were pretty quite. I think we were all a little unsure of what was in store. It did stop raining, but you could tell it was going to rain again.

They went over the rules and told us what to do if we broke down out there and also reminded us that we were going to be on our own for long stretches of time; alone. They also went over what supplies would be at the checkpoints (water and some basic items) and told us about the mechanic’s station at Checkpoint #1 and #3 which many riders would end up taking advantage of.

I started to feel a little better at this point knowing at least someone was going to be out there.

Start
When the race started, two quads lead us through the heart of downtown Mattawa. We just paced ourselves and followed them through town. There weren’t many people around, but it’s was still cool to start the race off like this; it actually makes you feel like you are doing something super-important. The townsfolk that were out just looked at us strangely as we went by.

After town, the pace picked up significantly. I don’t think it was until then that I actually realized that I was in a race. Someone tried to break away off the front so I pushed hard to get on their wheel. The whole time I was still trying to shake the cobwebs off of my travel-legs. A few minutes later, the pack broke apart and left the two of us at the front.

When we got to the top of the first dirt road climb, one of the quads slammed on the brakes and waved us around hard to the left. When I looked back, I saw a giant porcupine in the middle of the road.

It was then when I finally realized I was back in Northern Ontario.

Go Time!
It was only a few minutes into the race and I had already broken the first rule: Don’t lead! I didn’t know the trail, what was coming up or where I was going, but my legs felt good on the first road climb, so I decided to get out front and lay down a solid pace. I also figured that any extra ground I could make on the “good” roads would quickly get swallowed up by the other sections that lay ahead.

Terrain
Early on, the trail took us through a difficult clear-cut area covered with 1-2 ft high moguls. It looked like they were left behind by a logging skidder that had come through. The ground was soft. It was covered with wood chips and really hard to pedal across. I just took my time and bobbed back and forth across the wheel-sucking bumps, trying not to get the sticks and wood chips stuck in my spokes. This was different I thought to myself.

Blazing the Trail
Once we hit the bush roads, I was able to pick the pace back up again.

Some of roads were covered with rough gravel in sections and wet sand in others. There were a few sandy sections that just sucked the life out of your legs and made your bike not want to roll any longer (you know what I’m talking about). Thankfully these sections were pretty short and linked back up to rolling hills.

Speaking of hills, on the downhills you could really catch some serious speed if you wanted to. I approached the first couple of puddles with caution, but I learned pretty quickly that I could wheelie across the big ones as long as I carried a lot of speed. Some of them were deeper than others so that kept me on my toes.

According to my GPS, I hit 33 mph a few times as I skimmed across the puddles. This was a little unnerving, but a ton of fun! The big issue was trying to keep the mud and dirt out of my face. The front fender was working well, but mud and sand was still flying everywhere.

Navigation
No matter what race you are in, it’s always hard to ride full-out and follow directional arrows at the same time. Although the course was well marked, I have to admit, there were a lot of trails out there, and there were a lot of different colored arrows pointing in a lot of different directions at times. I definitely went through some nervous moments when I didn’t see any arrows for 10-15 minutes and started wondering if I was going in the right direction.

There were long stretches out there where the bush was dead silent and you knew you were alone. All I could hear was the whizzing of the tires and the odd crash from an animal in the bush. The only tracks I could see in front of me were fresh moose and bear tracks between Checkpoint #1 and #2.

I’ve been in SoCal for a while now but I still know a fresh moose track when I see one!

First Stop
It didn’t take long to reach Checkpoint #1 and I just kept going until I hit Checkpoint #2. This whole section wasn’t too bad at all. It was just bush roads, light mud, soft sand, puddles and rolling hills.

When I came in to Checkpoint #2 I think I caught the crew a little off guard. I was covered with mud and sand from head to toe, so when they asked if I wanted water, all I wanted was some water to clean my glasses. At this point they were caked so bad that I couldn’t see a thing. My drive train was starting to make noise as well, but I didn’t want to mess with it yet.

Everyone at the check was awesome. They helped me clean my glasses and got me going in no time. On the way out I grabbed one of the drinks that the Frenchman dropped off earlier.

So far I was following my plan 100%; except for the leading part.

Rainforest
On my way out of Checkpoint #2, I was happy to see the long gravel road ahead because I knew I could knock out some serious miles here.

I actually thought the section between Checkpoint #2 and #3 was the best part of whole course. This part had fast flowing bush roads and quad trails, and reminded me of the rainforests in Costa Rica (which I had a chance to visit and ride last year).

The trails were like tunnels because the vegetation was so thick that it created a full canopy overhead. It was in this section when I came across a beautiful deer. He ran along side of trail for a few seconds and then darted off.

Not something you see every day in a mountain bike race!

Northern Exposure
About ¾ of the way through this section, the trail was starting to get really rough and I was slowing down a lot. The mud was getting deeper and the flies were getting bad.

The deer flies didn’t like the insect repellent on my arms and legs, but they had no problem biting through the top of my bike gloves. They also found their way into the holes in my helmet and I was trying to bat them out by knocking my helmet around my head.

Not fun.

The Hill
And then I came up to “the hill”. You the one I’m talking about. It was long, steep, wet, slippery and it was littered with fist-sized rocks. Somehow, I was able to sit in and just pick lines between the big rocks and get all the way to the top. I was totally spent but I knew I made good time on the hill, and possibly saved a few minutes on the next guys behind me.

More Problems
I knew the last section was going to be the toughest part of the whole race. I checked my bottle levels to make sure I could ride a solid hour and didn’t bother stopping at Checkpoint #3. The trails were getting really muddy by this point and my drive train was giving me a lot of trouble. Something was wrong with my front derailleur and I couldn’t shift out of my big ring any longer.

When I got to the beaver dam/log/bridge thing, I stopped and dipped my whole bike in the water. I spun the drive train around a few times to flush everything out. I was still fighting with gear changes and I didn’t know what was going on, but I finally got the chain to drop into the middle ring. I was just feathering every change from here on in.

Slip Sliding Away
This section was the toughest part of the whole course. I think the trail was a trail blazed for snowmobiles in the winter, but quads were obviously having a field day in there in the summer. It was full of 1-2 ft deep mud ruts that were filled with pockets of water. The mud was black and the clay was slippery like grease. Once you found a line (more like a rut), whether by choice or not, you had to commit to it 100%.

Tree roots and logs were exposed everywhere and I had quite a few near-death experiences. I swear my bike went sideways at least 10 times. I hit a few puddles as well and I completely lost my front end and almost endo-ed a few times as well.

I had new respect for anyone that could just get through this section.

Half-way
After fighting through the Vietnam jungle, they lead us back to some pretty fast bush roads and made my way back to Checkpoint #1. It was here where I started the whole loop all over again. There was only one hard climb and I was back on the main course before I knew it. “Half-way” I thought to myself. “…and I’m still alive!”

It was around here where I realized I had a serious problem with my front derailleur. It was making a ton of noise now and was permanently stuck in the big ring. At the time, I figured it was just a rock, so I didn’t worry about it too much. My plan was to look at it at Checkpoint #2 because I needed to stop to get water anyways.

Survival
By now I was I was coming across riders that were doing the 62km version of the 110km race. It was great seeing other people out on the trail at this point as I felt like I was riding alone for 2hrs before this.

Derailleured
When I rolled into Checkpoint #2, the volunteer staff were ready this time. They helped me clean my glasses while I leaned down and oiled my chain. I messed with the derailleur and I just adjusted the cable enough so that it cleared the chain, but it was still stuck on the big ring. I couldn’t figure out why, so I just decided to go on with it as it was.

Little Help
As I pedaled down the long gravel road, it started to rain pretty hard and the wind picked up significantly. This made things a lot harder this time. About half way down I stopped and give the rest of my energy drink to this gal that was obviously suffering from cramps. I said to mix it with water and to drink it down. She thanked me and then I was off again.

The rest of the course was just a repeat of the first loop, except a little harder this time because of my “perma big ring situation” and the fact the trail was chewed up because of the other bikes that came through. The rain wasn’t helping either. The course had taken many victims at this point and I came across a many riders just walking their bikes or should I say, pushing them through the mud.

At this point I was just struggling to get my pedals over one another and to keep my bike straight.

Lost
When I finally got back to Checkpoint #1, I looked down at my GPS and saw it was around 55 miles or so, and I knew I was almost done. I put it into high gear and hauled butt through the last section.

This part of the trail was actually really technical, hilly and super slippery. I’m not sure what happened, but somehow I took a hard right and went down a steep nasty hill. At the bottom, I didn’t see any tracks or anyone, so I knew I made a wrong turn.

The problem was that the hill was so steep I couldn’t pedal back up. I had to throw my bike on my back and climb the slippery hill. On my way up I recognized a few guys I passed earlier, so I regrouped, caught back up to them and put my head down to get to the finish.

I definitely ended up losing a few minutes here but I was still determined and I pushed all the way to the finish line.

Part II: Commitment - Lost in the Rocks and Trees

2009-07-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

It was right about this time when we started having serious reservations about the race. We started saying things like “Maybe they’ll cut the course down to just one lap?” “Maybe it will be cancelled with all of the rain?” “I wonder how many people aren’t going to show up?” “Maybe we should just pack up and go home?”

With no final decision made, we crawled out of our warm sleeping bags, dumped the water off of the bike tent, and hung up a few things to dry. We heated up some water for coffee and to make some oatmeal. I looked down at my bike and there was a light coat of rust on the chain and pedals. My SoCal bike wasn’t too happy in its new environment.

After mussing around a little more in complete silence, I think deep down we all knew we had to do this race. I had come too far. Ron needed this to kick-start his summer training block. And the Frenchman was dying to test his fitness and his new race bike. Erik was the proud father of an almost new Intense Spider XTR. This was one of my teammate’s race bikes from last year.

Pre-race
Running a little late, we finally got packed up and made it to sign up. Nick (the promoter of the event) was there to greet all the riders.

After checking in, they gave us a t-shirt, wipe cloth and a cool fold up chair. The chair was actually really cool. It was super compact with a little carrying case underneath. Nice touch!
When we got back to the car, we unloaded all of our stuff and sent the Frenchman off to Checkpoint #2 to drop off our extra bottles. The idea here was to leave a few bottles on the course so we could travel as light as possible. My personal plan was to only stop twice the whole race.

After that, Ron and I just suited up, lubed the bike chain and made a few last minute adjustments. One modification I did make was installing a front mud deflector. I honestly had no idea if it was going to work or not, but it was worth a try.

Part I: Getting There - Lost in the Rocks and Trees

2009-07-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

So was this the toughest race in Ontario?

Sorry for the long post folks, but you’ll have to read on to find out…

To learn more about this race or see more photos, go here. North Bay Camera Club reserves all rights to the photos. Please visit their site to purchase pictures and make a charity donation.

Part I: Getting There
Part II: Commitment
Part III: The Race
Part IV: The Finish

Rain
After spending all day on the plane and traveling 4 hrs north of Toronto the next day, Ron and I finally arrived at our campsite in Sameul de Champlain Provincial Park just outside of Mattawa. Our other friend Erik (the Frenchman) had arrived earlier to set up our tent and prepare the site. It had been raining for two days straight and it was raining when we got there as well.

I have to admit that I was a little concerned from the beginning when the Frenchman suggested we should camp out, but I didn’t want to come across as being a little soft, especially now that I live way down south.

Pre-ride
Just to get a sneak peak what the race was going to be like, I got dressed and went for a quick ride on my bike. The campground was absolutely beautiful. Mixed deciduous trees were nestled between the sites and a huge river ran right through the center. There was also a nice lake right in front of our campsite.

Man it was nice to be back home.

I managed to find a few single tracks, and when I came back I was full of mud and drenched from head to toe. By now, it was starting to cool off and it was getting pretty wet and miserable.

None of us had a good feeling about racing tomorrow.

Mattawa
That night we made our way to Mattawa for some grub. We drove around town to find out where the start was and then ended up at this little café downtown, grabbed a beer, and had some food.

The folks were super nice in this little town the food was great. We probably over-indulged in beer a little because we were all having second thoughts about doing the race. Actually, I think we were only half-committed at this point.

When we got back to the campsite, we tried to make a fire in the rain, and just sat around thinking about what the race was going to be like tomorrow.

We were all having out serious doubts now.

Preparing for the toughest race in Ontario: Lost in the Rocks

2009-07-15T15:30:00.001-07:00

Earlier this year, my wife and I were planning a trip back home (Ontario, Canada) for our wedding reception. As always, one of the first things I did was start looking around for what mountain bike races were going on in Ontario about the same time. Not more than an hour later, my good friend Ron got back to me and asked if I was interested in this endurance race called Lost in the Rocks and Trees.

After a quick browse of their website, they made no secrets that this race was known as “Ontario’s toughest mountain bike race”. Being an endurance racer and a guy that’s always up for a challenge, how could I refuse? Oh ya, I almost forgot to mention that our always under-prepared, but stubborn and strong as a moose friend Erik, said he was going to join us as well. He committed to the single loop version of the race. From here on, I will refer to him as “the Frenchman”.

Well, that was three months ago…

Now the time is here. With as hectic as everything has been (work, trip planning, reception, racing 3 series locally…), this race was almost absent from my mind. So this week I figured I should do a little more research to try to figure out how to prepare.

Two minutes into my research, Google revealed some enlightening information. Here’s what some of the people had to say about last year's race: “walking my bike was easier than riding”, “the mud was above my ankles”, “1/4 mile of water”, and “the flies were so bad, I could barely breath”.

To be honest, none of this really surprised me as grew up just hours from Mattawa, and I know how rough the Canadian Shield terrain can be. The problem is, I didn’t ride mountain bikes back home, I road dirtbikes. I didn’t start riding in until I switched from motocross to mtn bike racing 5 years ago.

Anyhow, I’m not one to throw in the towel so I had to come up with a plan to survive. I’m a die hard long distance rider. I figured that if could ride and race bikes all over the world (New Zealand, Peru, Costa Rica, Germany, Denmark…), then I should be able to figure this one out.

Here’s what I came up with.

Race Info
110 km (~68.35 miles)
2 loops, 3 check points

No rider support (water only at checks)

Last year’s times (Fastest: 5hrs 19min – ouch!, Average: ~6.5hrs)

Bike Set-up
System 2 Tubeless rear

System 2 non-tubeless front (Intense prototype tire)

Heavy duty HGC chain

New brakes

Front mud & water guard (yet to install)

Nutrition & Gear
Small camelback - InfinitNutrition (XC blend)

Large bottle on cage - InfinitNutrition (Endurance blend)

Small bottle in jersey back pocket - InfinitNutrition (Endurance blend – jus powder, not filled)Small baggies with InfinitNutritionTube, CO2, multi-tool, oil, bandaides

Strategy
1 bottle/hour = 6 bottles total = 2-3 refills
Use bottles as main nutrition source and camelbak as backup or if trail is too rough.
Fill both bottles and add nutrition at last checkpoint before longest section.
Oil chain before Loop 2.
Wear ample bug repellent

Loop 1
- Sit in the top 5, feel out the pace, do not lead
- Learn the terrain, learn the competition
- Ride one gear lower than normal at all times

Loop 2
- Pick up pace significantly for first ¼
- Recover for ½
- Full our effort for last ¼

We'll see how it goes!
AL - on the way to Canada...

Cal State Final - What you didn't know happened!

2009-07-13T05:48:00.001-07:00

Well, the final Cal State Series is officially over.

First, thanks to Tom for putting on another great series. I noticed a lot of new faces out there and the races were well attended. One of the nicest perks of the series was the new plastic number plates! Finally, a professional looking plate that doesn't tear off half-way through the race! Nice touch.

The final race didn't go down without a little excitement on the course however! See below...

Awards
Congrats to the whole Don's team for putting in a stellar effort all year. The awards ceremony was extra long this time because they had to present awards for the last race and the overall state finals. To break things up they did have a band playing so that was cool. Here's a few highlights from the ceremony.

AL - Pro Single Speed Cal State Series champ
Lisa - Womens Expert Cal State Series champ, SuperD champ
Jeff - 4th place finish (last race), SuperD champ
Kurt - 2nd place finish (last race)

Course Confusion
For most of the race I was trailing behind the second pack of pros. About half way through the first lap we all bridged back on to 2n10 and started the climb up the fireroad. Here is where there was mass confusion about which way the course went. To my surprise, when I got to "Wet Dream", the course marshal told me to go straight up 2n10. I actually stopped and told him I was Pro doing the "Long course", and he just told me to go up the road. "Ok", I said, you're the boss...

After talking with everyone afterwards, I found out that John Nobil (the Pro leader) reached the same turnoff before the course marshal did and actually went up Wet Dream, as the course description said online. But the rest of us went straight up the road as directed.

When John crested the trail and got back on 2n10, to his surprise, he ran into Jason Seigle and another rider in the Pro class. So even though he lost 3-4 minutes on the single track, he was still able to match our time on the fireroad! Pretty amazing. Fortunately, John was able to re-gain his position and lead the race to the finish.

As for me, I was pretty confused about the whole thing and thought about turning back quite a few times. There's nothing worse than thinking you are going in the wrong direction during a race; especially on a single speed where every pedal stroke counts!

What do you do when the course marshal says "GO STRAIGHT"?.

1) Follow the online directions or 2) listen to the man himself?

Anyone else have confusion out on the course?

24hr Race = 12hrs of Survival in Canada

2009-07-01T05:42:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought battling the summer heat, mountains and sand were tough enough here in California, think again, things could be way worse.

At the 24hr of Summer Solstice in Bolton, Ontario, Canada, the actual event was cut down from 24hrs to 12hrs due to the rain and muddy conditions. I've actually done this race before and can't imagine racing it in these conditions.

Here's a picture of my friend trying to finish one of his laps.

Just something to think about the next time we complain about the how hot it is here in SoCal. :)

More pictures here and here.

Chaos at Rim Nordic

2009-06-29T05:48:00.000-07:00

Just one week after the 12hrs of Rim Nordic, the 7th round of the CalState Series was held at the same location. The course was pretty much the same except they removed the last fireroad climb and single track section at the end. The course was a little beat up from the weekend before, but it was still fun. The temperature was 85+ degrees so all of the riders were feeling it. There were certainly lots of unzipped jerseys coming through the finish...

High temps + high altitudes = a tough race!

The team's very unofficial results...

As for results, there was definitely a little chaos at the end of the race to say the least. Most of us waited around for about 2+hrs for the results to be posted, but there were no Cat 1 or Pro results to be found! I know the staff were working hard to get them out (in hand-written format), but it was obvious that something went wrong.

When some of the Cat 1 and Pro results were finally posted, it was obvious that there were a few errors. For example, a rider in the Expert class that DNFed was marked as the winner. Yikes! I know some of the Pros had concerns as well.

From what we could tell, here's how we think we finished:

Lisa - 3rd XC, 1st SuperD (1st SuperD series winner!)
Jeff - 3rd XC, 2nd SuperD (2nd in SuperD series)
AL - 2nd Single Speed
Kurt - 6-7th XC

I know stuff like this happens, but this was a real bummer. And I know some folks are a little concerned about their points in the series now.

I'm sure everything will get straightened out eventually, but I think computer systems should be mandatory for events like this!

Anyone know what went wrong? What was your take?

Live @ 12hrs of Rim Nordic

2009-06-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the raw video of entire first lap of the race. It's completely unedited, uncut, with no music or anything fancy.

I apologize in advance as it's 51 min long, but it should give you an idea of what this race was all about and how demanding the course was. Or if you were at the race, you can just re-live the whole experience all over again. Why not, eh? :)

NOTE: Trouble viewing? Go here to get the latest version of Flash.

Highlights

0-5 min - Start (little crazy!)

14 min - Settling into a more realistic 12hr solo pace

17 min - Top of first steep climbs

22 min - Top of last slit climb (you know the one!)

23 min - Chasing Gerry Cody (Don's 3-man team)

26min 45s - Passing Gerry

28 min - Top of fireroad climb, noticed slow rear tire leak

30 min - 30 second tire repair, catching up!

32 min - Navigating switchbacks, chasing some Team Big Bear rider

40 min - Small talk

45 min 50s - Jason Ranoa on the course

47 min - Last climb

49 min 30s - Rock garden

51 min - Pit stop for new air canister

Enjoy!
AL (2nd Pro Solo, 12 laps, 11:55 min)

12hrs of Rim Nordic: Race Report

2009-06-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Jason and the Ranoa clan, this race turned out being one of the most exciting and unique endurance races so far for the Socal 12 Hour Endurance series. This "first ever" 12hrs of Rim Nordic event had something for everyone.

Event

Over 450 riders
Live music Friday night
Free T-shirt with sign up

Awesome raffle and prizes at the end

Cash giveaways (fastest lap, hardest effort or just saying "hi" to Jason on the course. How cool is that!)

Course

~1356 ft of climbing per lap
~8.6 miles per lap (on my GPS)
2.7 miles of granny gear climbing
silty, switch-back climbs

rutted switch-back descents

fast fireroad descents

flowing single track
rock-hop sections

daytime temperatures 65-70
base elevation 6775ft

Race Report

I was racing solo, so I didn't have a whole lot of time to chat, but everyone on the team seemed to survive just fine. Congrats to the 4 person team for improving their race from the last one from 14th to 4th! Great work.

As for solos, we really started off at a blistering pace and I knew that wasn't going to last long. I had a small flat on lap 1, but fixed it quickly. After that, I just tried to settle in and maintain a fast, but steady pace. I spent the rest of the race jockeying back and forth with different riders for 1st place, and on the last lap I gave it my all to catch the leader, but just couldn't close the gap. Thanks for all of the cheers and support out there!

In th end, here's how the three teams finished:

2nd - Men's Pro Solo (AL)
4th - 3 Person Open (Cy, Chris, Gerry)
4th - 4 Person Open (Russell, Margaret, Jeff, Colin)

Lastly, the whole team sends out a "get well soon" message to Adam Hart who had to pull out early after seriously gashing his knee on a rock. Next time Adam!

So this was a new course for everyone, and as challenging as it was, I think everyone will context that it was a great event. Personally, I thought it was really awesome to race up in the mountains at a new venue, so hats off to Jason for making this a first, and hopefully not the last!

See you guys at the next Socal Endurance Series event: Fat Tire Epic 50, Oct 03!

Don's Team

Preparing for Endurance Races: 15 things to think about...

2009-06-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

There are lots of things to think about before every endurance event, but here's a quick checklist to help you get prepared before the event, and stay prepared during the event.

Plan Early
Start preparing early in the week, or better yet, the week before.
Strategy
Decide on a race strategy long before the race. There are many options and the one you choose should match your training regimen, racing experience and overall goals:
1. All out. Ride hard from beginning until you fade (not necessarily the best, but what most people end up doing).
2. Reverse split. Start slow and increase your tempo mid-race.
3. Steady pace. Start at a moderate pace and try to sustain it for the duration.
4. Others...
Rest
Don't cram lots of riding into the week before, you'll just be extra tired for the event. Try to get an extra hour of sleep each night.
Pre-ride
Try to do a 45-60min ride the day before to "wake-up" your legs, but do not over exert yourself.
Hydration
Start hydrating at least 5 days before the event. Don't wait until the day before to load up on water and electrolytes! And be careful not to over hydrate as well.
Nutrition
This is probably the most important element of the race. Plan very carefully what you will eat during the race. Use an electrolyte mix that you trust, and stick with easily digestible foods such as oranges, rice and mashed potatoes. Don't overeat or take in excessive amounts sugars as this will leave you with an upset stomach.
Bike
Don't make major changes to your bike that aren't proven or tested. Clean the drive train thoroughly. Go over every bolt and check all cables. Replace tires if necessary.
Parts
Try to have an assortment of parts available if you run into problems. For example, spare tire, two tubes, extra CO2 canisters, chain and brakes.
Cleaning
Be sure to bring a bucket with Simple Green, chain cleaner and rags so you can clean your chain during the race. This is often overlooked.
Clothes
Think about the different conditions you could run into and the different types of riding gear you might need. For example, long sleeve for the night, head cap, thick socks, long finger gloves, warmers...
Lights
Ensure your lights are charged and you have all of the proper mounting equipment.
Course
Print off the course map so you know how to plan each lap. Figure out what the average time of each lap will be so you know approximately how many you will do. Endurance races don't start until the half-way point.
Downtime
Plan what you need during your breaks so that you can be comfortable and actually rest when (and if) you decide to take a break. Chairs, sunshade, cooler with ice...
Forms
Print off and fill out all entry forms before you get to the event.
Relax
Prepare to have fun!

12hrs of Rim Nordic - Pre-race Updates and Information

2009-06-17T06:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend marks the first ever 12hrs of Rim Nordic, the second event of the Socal Endurance Series. Jason Ranoa always puts on a great event so you can be sure this one will be no different. I've grabbed his news letter and posted all of the info here.

View Course
Register Online
Download Waiver

From Jason:

Well folks we are days away from the very first "12 Hours Of
Rim Nordic" We are very excited to get this event under way!

A few notes: Camping at the event is
available for first come first served. The camping at the event is in the Snow
Valley parking lot. There are over 800 spaces available at Snow Valley. So space
shouldnt be an issue. There are no parking fees for the event. But camping fees
are $20 per night. There will be race staff on hand to collect fees.

Event parking: Parking is also
staged in the Snow Valley parking lot. There will be no parking allowed at the
venue area. There will be an equipment drop off and pick up area within the
gates at the venue. Please keep in mind this area is for quick transitions of
equipment. No parking in this area at all!

Pit areas: There are 2 designated
pit areas for racers and support teams. The main venue area adjacent to the race
course is for general team use. The area marked as solo pits only will be
strictly for solo riders. The venue area will be open for pit setup starting
friday afternoon. Remeber it is first come first served. The best pit stops will
be had by the early birds. So get em while their hot!!!!

Food and Bike supplies: Rim Nordic
will have their bike shop open for anything you need for your bike. Please keep
in mind this is more of a pro shop than a full on bike shop. Rim Nordic will
also have the grills ablazing for you guys. Look for all that good race food as
the day gets long. They will also have an abundance of cold drinks for you tired
racers.

Event WAIVERS: All racers must
complete registration with a paper copy of the event waiver. You can find a
waiver here:http://socalendurance.com/files/2008_Accident_Waiver_word_doc-Rim_Nordic2009.docor you can pick up a copy at the event. All team mates must complete
check in prior to the team recieving race numbers. All teams must complete
waivers signed from all team mates in order to recieve race numbers. A team
captain may check a team in and pick all team packets and race numbers with all
signed waivers in hand. All teammates must be present at the begining of the
race!

On Site registration: On site registratio
starts Friday afternoon at 4:30 and goes till 6:30pm. The day of registration
starts at 6:30am and goes till 7:30am. Please get their early and help to make
the event run as fast an easy as possible. Have your waivers signed and ready
for check in.
Event T-shirts:All racers will recieve an event t-shirt. Thanks
Scratchy from PROMOTION SPORTSWEAR!!!!

MANDATROY MEETING FOR ALL RACERS: There will be a mandatory racer meeting at 8:00am in front of the
registration area!

Friday night festivities!!!!! Dont forget
Friday night! We are having some live music and good times at Rim Nordic. Bring
your friends and families over to come and hang out! Rim Nordic will have food
to warm the belly and we got good music to get the weekend
started!

Big Bear Shootout #1 - A great race and a great course!

2009-06-01T20:04:00.000-07:00

A good part of the Don's Team made it out for this one and we all had a great time. If you are interested, you can check out our finishing positions here.

If you've never raced a Big Bear Shootout before, then this is definitely a race worth checking out. It’s held up in the San Bernardino mountains where the weather and riding is always great. This time it was in the 60s and the sun was shining the whole time. What more could we ask for?

Course: You can get a description of the course on the Team Big Bear website, but here's what the course looks like all mapped out.Be sure to check out the route on Geoladders where you can download the course, upload your ride and play everything back in "real-time". Very cool feature!

Fireroads: Some people say that this race is all about "fireroads", but to me, the fireroad sections come and go so quickly that I totally forget about them, even on a single speed! The first climb up 2N10 is always tough because everyone is getting used to the altitude, but once you are on top, you can speed right along, bank off the corners, and really get into a rhythm. Plus, the scenery up there is awesome. You can see all the way down to Angelus Oaks and sections of the S.A.R.T.

Single Track: In between the fireroads, everyone seems to forget about the great single track sections that connect everything together. The top section drops you into "Wet Dream" which is a blast. After hopping back onto 2N17 for a short time, you jump onto another single track called "Cabin 89". Both of these sections include a few steep and sandy hill descents, rock-hops and stream crossings; all of which are really fun and will keep you on your toes, especially if you are attacking these at speed! The “PineKnot/1E01” singletrack climb is a tough one, especially on a single speed, but it’s pretty short and you’ll be happy to see the fireroad (2N08) at the top!

Finish: I think the last part is the best. Here you blast down the 2N10, the climb you came up earlier, and then veer off into some single tracks (Pirates, Upper and Lower Fall Line). The very last section is pretty challenging as well. There's a number of short steep, rocky descents that will keep you on your toes.

Awards: And lastly, I can't forget to mention this part! After the race, everyone congregated at the La Montana Mexican restaurant, where Team Big Bear hosted a raffle for the riders and gave away lots of great stuff e.g. tires, t-shirts, chain lube. I won some chain lube. They also gave each rider tickets for two free tacos which was a great because we were all starving after the race. Thank you!Anyhow, if you missed this one, this is really a great course that you should check out sometime. If you are not sure about directions, then just download the course on GeoLadders and follow along.

Oh ya, if you managed to conqure the course in under 1hr 50min, then you are definitely faster than me!

Check out the Team Big Bear site and schedule for more info.

See you next one on July 12th.
AL

What was your take on this race?