13,000 Feet Up

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...

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.

AL

Back in the saddle again

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.

AL

6 Hours of Bootleg Canyon

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...

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.

AL

Bike For Bender - Hell Ride 2010

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!

AL

SOCAL FAT TIRE EPIC 50 – Part I: Race Report

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!

AL