Gold Rush Mother Lode

As I jumared into the dark after 2 days of no sleep it occurred to me that this may be an absurd past time! We started in Bridgeport 2 days earlier for the Gold Rush Mother Lode 4 day adventure race. It actually began the night before the real start with a "prologue" or sorts.. running a lap around a elementary school track, having a teammate ride a lap and then carrying a team for the last lap.. amusing to say the least!
Trying not to get injured the night before the actual start.. we took it easy!

Getting up the next morning I found I was getting a little nervous, having never done a race of this length before. Slamming down a little breakfast was a chore, and soon enough we were off to the start where we found that instead of just running a couple of blocks to the start, we would have to run around the town of Bridgeport, down a muddy stream and then to the bikes for the 12 mile blast to the lake swim. Once out of the ditch and onto the bikes we kept a good pace out to the lake where we had decided to use kick boards and fins for our swim across the lake. Other teams used a variety of methods including "swimming" to teams using fully inflatable rafts.. 

Out of the water we started the first of 2 long treks. With Sara in full charge of navigation duties, we headed towards our first checkpoint. Knowing that Sara and I hadn't spent a ton of time on our feet before this race we opted for a more conservative pace rather than trying to run the whole time. We managed to keep pace with most of teams with Sara's nav skills and a steady pace. We finished up the first trek just as it was getting dark, and were looking forward to getting on the bike and off sore feet! Setting off into the dark for a very long night of hike-a-bike and lost checkpoints. After we had no luck finding a checkpoint we opted to "sleep" for 45 minutes until the sun came up, which made it possible to find the checkpoint. I wish I would have taken photos of our "bivy site and the 8 shivering bodies occupying flimsy bivy sacks and cold ground!



We finished up the first bike leg by flying down Sonora pass and into the next transition. We fueled up, added our climbing gear and food and started out on what ended up being a 24+hr trek, with the rope section thrown in during the wee morning hours. Getting to the rope section Sara found us a short cut that saved us more time and allowed us to slowly gain time on the "running" teams. The rope section was one section of the race  I was looking forward to. Jumaring or ascending and rappelling are like second nature, but, having to do these in the dark but not knowing anything about the anchors was a little nerve racking! Sara and Scott did great, after a little unnerving descent in the dark to the first jumar, "just follow the light" this would not be the first time during the night we would be told this... as the ropes course was a little light on help and not having anyone around to check harnesses and belay devices, after being up for 2 days straight, was a little less than professional.. Walking down the scree  slope I managed to trip, almost catch myself, cartwheeled a couple of times and landed in a manzanita bush. Splat. I was lucky to end up with just a sore thumb.

Once off the ropes course, with a bit of free soloing up the first rappel (another story).. we walked on into the early morning light and eventually to the next transition.. At the transition we opted for about 1.5 hrs of sleep before jumping on for the last, and longest, bike leg.. At this point we knew we weren't going to be a top placing team and wanted to limit our losses. We chose to go for checkpoints we know we could get and not spend huge amounts of time trying to get ones that were way out of the way.. always a strategy in adventure racing.. Riding along the flume trail was pretty sweet and as long as we were careful, it was raining, it was a fun ride... If you ever ride with Scott Cary, do not believe him if he says something is totally rideable!! He almost ended his race trying to ride a rocky, 8 foot drop to the left,  part of the trail.. He lucked out with just a couple of bruises and a sore ankle and was able to continue. At the pre race meeting we were told of an area that we would encounter during the last bike called Jupiter.. Jupiter is a quaint little area in the oak trees outside of Columbia that is occupied by a side of society that tries to avoid the rest of society..We were warned not to stop and not to try and talk to the people there.. so, around midnight we managed to be right in the middle of Jupiter..yeah. As we stopped at the bottom of a hill to check our maps, the team of Racing with Giants rode up from another direction and told us in no uncertain terms "do not go down there, these people are crazy". After a run in with a local that was about to send out his deer dogs, and just about getting shot, they were a little unnerved.. So, we opted for the other direction.. With my brakes about as squeeky as they ever are, "dualing banjoes" played through my head about a million times..gonna make you squeal boy..yeah.. fun night! Once we made it to the next checkpoint, Racing with Giants was there and we enjoyed pizza, pringles and pepsi with them before the last climbs, and one long ass descent, to the paddle. As the sun came up after the third night we rode into the paddle transition..

There were a bunch of checkpoints out on the paddle, but with only a couple of hrs to get to the finish before huge time penalties took affect, we opted to just grab the one at the final transition and we jumped on our bikes for the ride up to the town of Columbia and the finish.. As we dropped the bikes and started on the last half mile walk to the finish we still had one more checkpoint to grab.. Having not questioned Sara's navigation the entire race I chose now to ask if she was sure about the checkpoint.. no sleep makes Ken a little goofy! Can't express enough thanks to Dad, Carolyn and Erik for the amazing support!! I owe you guys like half a million cheeseburgers, or something!!

All in all we had a great race and will definately put this one on the schedule for next year! As with most races, new friendships were made and unforgettable experiences were, well, experienced! I won't be eating any turkey jerkey or race food in general any time soon!

Durango Dirty Century

best views anywhere!

more hike-a-bike

Finishing off my week of vacation I headed to Durango for the DDC. This was a Colorado Endurance series event. Long, self suported and free. I like that in an event! There were aid stations, but I wanted to race this self supported, carrying all the food I needed for the day and filtering all my own water. Opting for the "A" route, I was in for a long day of riding and hike-a-biking! A few downfalls and 20-30 snowbanks made the race slower than the previous year and I had no idea how long I was going to take... hoping for under 15hrs.. Starting with a ride up Hermosa Creek, which I had done a couple of times before, I knew the start and took it easy.. When the trail ended at Bolam Pass the climb up to the Colorado trail began. Riding my pace and feeling a little fatigued from the effort of last weekend it took me a little longer to get up the road than I wanted but I hit the Co trail and got ready for a long day above 10,000 feet. Up the trail, over the snowbank.. repeat. It was here that I started to catch a few other riders.. Running into Jeff Kerkove at about mile 50 we rode the rest of the day within a few minutes of each other and finished the last 30 or so together. It was fun for me to be able to ride a little with him! Riding in with a friend is always a bonus!

spot me in the right bottom corner

Riding the last 50 miles or so of the CTR  was amazing, and an eye opener of what to expect at the end of that 500 mile race.. Hoping to show up for the start of the CTR next summer and a little more knowledge is always a good thing!
So all in all I had a great race and felt  pretty good throughout the 13hrs it took me to finish. Faster than I expected and a very tough event! Thanks for the photos Jeff!
 My GPS download of the race is here

finishing with Jeff

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Dixie 200.. ish..

the whole group at the start

my loaded bike

sara along one the long straight sections

Sara and I drove out to southern Utah on June 24th for the Dixie 200 bikepacking race. Having never done a race like this, we were not going there to be competitive, just to have fun and enjoy the ride. Picking up Eszter Horanyi in Grand Junction along the way. She is getting ready for a record attempt on the CTR race in Aug.. Along with Eszter, only 2 other riders showed up at the start making for a small group. Taylor, raced with him in the 12hr Wild West race, showed up and it was good to have a quick chat with him before he took off fast at the start.. One of the main reasons for doing this race was to check out our bike packing systems and gear. We packed relatively light, knowing we could pick up supplies in the town of Tropic, about half way through the ride. We started out with the group along the paved path for a mile or so before it turned onto the beginning trail, which is where we saw the other three riders for the last time.. Sara and I were enjoying not having to race and being able to just riding through the beautiful country! The first day was perfect with great trails mixed with some great roads. We rode an out and back up to Powell Point, an amazing place!! Riding into Tropic around 8 pm we decided to stop and fuel up on Pizza and cokes. Yummy! Not having to be in any hurry was nice nice, but the service and the little pizza joint was horrific! Being covered in dirt and sweat and having to wait an hr for pizza pretty much sucked!

sara at Powell Point

We continued on until around midnight, when we decided to throw down the bags and sleep. Forgetting how cold it can get in the desert in summer, I realized I need to get a warmer sleeping bag for these trips! Sara was all good, even with out a sleeping pad of any kind.. tough girl! Waking the next morning after 6hrs of sleep or so, we started our ride up the double track until the turn onto Grandview Trail.. This would be the start of some of the slowest hike-a-biking I have ever done. Through the overgrown trail and a few downfall trees we pushed our way, able to ride here and there was a treat! After making our way down we started up one of the last dirt road sections before turning back onto Grandview trail. Well, the preceding dirt rode was so covered in downfall that dragging our bikes up, over, around under and through them took forever! At the top of the pass Sara and I decided we did not have enough time to continue onto the trail section, which continued with a LOT more downfall, and took a dirt road that showed on our map to head back towards where we could catch a paved road to the start/finish.

bivy sport for the night

there is a trail under there

Having smooth dirt to ride lifted our spirits and we enjoyed the ride through this beautiful area! Noticing on my GPS that we were getting really close to the original route, we opted to jump back onto the trail to finish our ride. Riding the Thunder Mtn trail and the end of this race was amazing! Ride it if you ever get a chance!

Sara enjoying the road!

Back at the start finish we called Dave Harris, race director/coordinator, about our trip and asked about fellow racers. Only Eszter and Erin were left on the course and Eszter finally finished around 11 pm or so. After talking with her we were glad we made the decision to skip a lot more downfall hell! She wrote up a great blog on her race here. All in all a great trip and we learned a lot, and had a GREAT time! We'll definitely be back next year for this event!

Thunder Mtn trail, CLASSIC!

12 hrs in the Wild West

This past weekend Sara and I loaded up the kids (dogs) and headed to New Mexico for the 12 hrs in the Wild West mtb race. Representing Bach Builders, we were looking to having a fun race and, hopefully, do well!! Doing new events in new areas is always appealing and having raced in numerous events put on by race director Lindsay Mapes, we new it would be a quality event. Leaving on Thursday night to get a start on the 9 hr drive always helps and after 6 hrs or so we found a bivi spot for the night.

The next morning we continued through the nothingness that is New Mexico, basically in search of someplace to grab breakfast. Eventually we found ourselves in Carrizozo New Mexico.. does the wind ever stop blowing here?? Everything here is named "four winds" or "windy". Basic area of the race. Having never been to this part of New Mexico we had no idea what to expect, other than a whole lot of nothingness! Driving up to Ruidoso was a pleasant surprise, as it is a mountain oasis in the middle of nowhere! With a couple of ski resorts only a few miles away and plenty of places to stay and eat, we'll be back! Package pick up was at Ruidoso outdoor adventures in Ruidoso. See these guys for anything bike related you might need, they have one of everything and are more than willing to help out with trail ideas or repair. After the free pasta dinner at Landlocked we headed back out to the race area to camp for the night.

Camping at the solo transition area

 Waking up in the desert is always memorable for me and this would be no different. Perfectly clear sky's and cool morning temps! Trying to gulp down as much fuel as I dared, we readied ourselves for the day. The race began at 8:00 and with a pretty good position up front, I had a good start. Oh, a quick side note. I had forgotten to pack my HR chest strap so I was racing this race by feel alone. Not that this is a bad thing, I just usually go out too fast not knowing where my heart rate is..

dead grass and cactus

After a quick couple of laps I found myself riding up to the wheel of a kid I saw in the solo area earlier. Taylor Lindeen is fast and for being only 21, is going to be around a while! Not knowing anything about him other than he looked fast, made me a little hesitant about my chances at a top finish. Hell, I am more than twice his age! But lap after lap we rode together, chatting a little, but more often than not, just heads down pedaling. After lap 7 or 8 we were still within seconds of each other and coming out of the pit area, I rode by and gave a wave. This is the last time I saw him. Catching up with Sara again on this lap she asked how I was doing. I replied the kid was only 30 seconds behind me but I was in the lead and feeling ok. She told me to go faster, to which I replied I had no go faster left! I filled up my camel back at the end of lap 9 and grabbed another bottle of Infinit Nutrition so I wouldn't have top stop again until the end of the race. I was at this point catching up and lapping a few of the other riders, still thinking I was only a few seconds ahead. If I had stopped and checked my time I would have seen that Taylor had dropped out due to a busted derailleur pulley and the run back to the pit area left him unable to recover. I found this out a couple of days later when talking with him on facebook. It was around lap 8 or 9 that I began the violent discussion with myself that I might actually win. Lap after lap the though of winning kept going through my head and I kept reminding myself anything could happen at any time! Sometimes it is fun to have these discussions as it passes the time, sometimes though, they just need to shut the hell up!

Sara getting it done

Sara by this time had lapped her competition at least once and when she finished she was 3 laps ahead of second place! She will always amaze me with her relentless pace, once she starts turning her pedals, she doesn't stop until the race is over! For her, just another day at the office! I continued loop after loop, finally completing 13 laps of the swoopy fun singletrack! After 13 laps though the fun swoopiness was wearing me out! I came across the line and Sara was waiting with a, much needed, big hug!



perfect ending!

  So after racing for 11:35 minutes I had completed 13 laps, 135 miles and somewhere between 12500 and 13100 feet of climbing, depending on who's GPS you were looking at. This race taught me that I don't always need to race with an HRM, and I can race by how I feel at any given time. A shout out to our sponsors as always!! They help us get through the day a little easier, and cheaper :) Schwalbe tires got the job done as usual, with zero problems! Infinit Nutrition continues to keep me at hydrated and fueled at race pace! The stuff is amazing!! Rudy Project helmets and glasses do their job perfectly, comfort and style!! Stans No Tubes wheels. light, fast, and sexy! The grips supplied by Ergon saved my hands once again, thanks Jeff and company! Fluid, as always, did the job of helping the sore and tired legs recover!!So once again Sara finished top step and I was fortunate enough to land a first place as well. So after a quiet night in the desert of New Mexico, Sara and I took the kids (dogs) for walk and loaded up the van for the drive back to Denver.

I think Sara and I will be back next year when this is an 18hr event. You can find write ups from the race here an other by Mountain Flyer here. Another great event by Lindsay and crew and a huge shout out to Cody Thurston and Ruidoso outdoor Adventures for putting together such a great event! THANKS! Check out the blog from our friends at Back of the Pack Racing, great guys and funny as hell!!

Race day on the Front Range

Fast flowing goodtimes!

This week found me racing the the Warrior Cycling/RME series Front Range 60. I wasn't sure I wanted to race this event as it is a short, FAST 60 miles! I raced in the 50 last year and did ok, finishing in the top 20 in the 40-49 guys. With 80+ racers in the 40-49 last year, I knew this year would draw a big crowd as well. I wanted a better start than last year due to the traffic jams on the climbs, but on this course it is inevitable. You will catch slower riders on the climbs. Seeing good friends is always a bonus of these close to home races and racing 10 miles from our house is nice! Sara spent her day doing her big ass loop in Buffalo Creek as she needed to get some long miles in before next weekends 12hr race in New Mexico. I started my race as fast as I dared, not wanting to blow up in the first lap and hit the first couple of hills fast. But, true to this race, I started up the golf course climb and came to a screeching halt.. Not much you can do with 20 people in front of you.. This is the only thing I really don't like about this race is the inability to pass on hills.. oh well.. Rolling down the other side I get the chance to pass a lot of the slower guys in front and settle into a decent pace. Trying to remember to drink and drink and drink.. I knew it was going to get hot and the Infinit Nutrition did a great job, again, of keeping the cramping down and kept me hammering. At the feed zone I had to stop every lap to grab another bottle and a few seconds each lap I figured wouldn't matter that much. After 3 laps I had a pretty decent pace going and wasn't going all out as I needed to leave some fuel in the tank for next weeks 12hr race. I checked my time on the 3rd lap and was pleasantly surprised to see under 2 hrs.. I had hopes of finishing in under 4hrs, but the traffic on the hills did me in and I finished in 4:02.. close! Checking the finishing times I saw I came in 6th out of 75 racers or so in the 40-49 and 30th overall. I'll take it! Having no expectations for a race is a good thing for me! Having a couple of hours to kill until the 30 mile race, I took advantage of the free beverages provided by Oskar Blues! Nice to have great sponsors at these events!

Cruising through the feedzone

Wahoos Fish Tacos were also there handing out free tacos, let the refueling begin! It was great to see so many friends at the finish and sharing tent shade with the Trek Store guys help cool things down, thanks guys!!
Racing in the 30 mile event were teammates Tim and Eric. Great to have these guys drive down from Eagle to race on the Front Range! These guys raced hard and with the temperatures pushing 90 degrees, did very well! Fun to cheer them on and watch someone else suffer in the heat! Goodtimes!!
All in all it was a great event with a lot of great people! Thanks to Ben Welnak and Jim Fu for the photos!
Now, time to get ready for 12hrs in the Wild West in New Mexico!

The season begins

This weekend brought our first race of the season. Sara and I have been racing in the Adventure Xstream Moab 12hr adventure race solo the last couple of years. This year we decided to race it as a coed team as a change of pace. Having raced together on a team of 4 we know we race together pretty well. Training this year for me, has gone pretty well. Commuting to work most days has helped with base miles and adding hills on the weekends has been a great bonus with the weather on the front range lacking moisture!
Having signed on to race with the Bach Builders mtn bike race team this year has given us a chance to try new products from great sponsors. Having had muscle cramp issues in the past I usually race with plenty of electrolite tabs and fluids. Having infinit nutrition as a sponsor this year has allowed me to try a different approach to hydrating and nutrition. I raced this race with just Infinit Nutrition and a little water. I was very pleased with the results! No any cramping issues at all and with not having to worry about getting gels down, it made getting nutrition super easy! of course the Schwalbe Racing Ralphs did their job to perfection! Not a better tire out there!
Sara and I started our race strong and at the lead of the 2 person teams. We finished the long climb up Longs Canyon in the lead in our coed group, with the two closest teams right behind. At the first checkpoint all three lead coed teams were within a minute of each other. At the top of the rappel it was still 3 of us pretty close together and at the bottom of the rappel the team of John and Marcia V. took over the lead. As we ran the 6 miles back to our bikes we could see them pass us on their way to the kayak leg, only a minute or so ahead. We knew we would be strong in the paddle and were holding up hopes we would catch them on the water. With the team of Jan and Kim Bear "Sante Fe Bear Pair" right with us it was looking like a pretty good finish on the water. At the 5th checkpoint Jan and Kim were punching their passport as we were leaving, about 5 seconds ahead of the Bear Pair. Racing down the paved bike path to the kayak put in was fast and it was going down a sharp curve that Kim, being towed by Jan, had an accident and hit a fence pretty hard. We stopped and did what we could do and made sure she was ok, which she insisted she was, then after being told numerous times by Kim to ride on, we left. Hitting the paddle now we knew we would not be able to catch the "Flatlanders" team and just paddled steady to the finish. Wanting to make sure Kim was ok, I asked the race directors if they had heard from Jan about Kims condition. I was told that they were already on the water.... Wow! As hard as she hit I was sure they would pull from the race but Kim is as tough as they come and not only finished the race, but the Bear Pair came in 3rd right behind us. Amazing to say the least! Not the way we would ever want to finish a race, but glad Kim is ok and getting ready for the St. George Ut Ironman!!
So all in all it was a great event and one that again saw my Dad finish the race in under 8 hrs, at 71 years old, and solo! He never ceases to amaze us!!
I took some video with my new helmet cam during the race which can be found here . Just getting used to the editing and need to figure out how to combine all the video into 1 movie.. I'll get there.
Looking forward to a great season and the next event for me, is two weeks away.

Schwalbe and tire speak.

What makes a good tire? Road or mountain, commuting or racing tires are a personal choice! Having been riding and racing for 20 years I've had a chance to ride a lot of different tires and know what I like and need in a tire. Having just signed this year with schwalbe, we have a top shelf tire sponsor! I have raced on their tires and in my experience, they kick it! A big box of tires showed up on our porch yesterday as part of a large shipment for this seasons racing and riding. Will have to wait until Feb for the rest of our mountain tires, but this box makes me smile! Good stuff!! Looking forward to the new Marathon's that were in this order, for use as my commuter tires. Love them! Looking forward to getting out to the desert some time soon for a long weekend with Sara and the dogs.. Need that red stone fix!!
But until then, 4 am commutes and weekend road rides will have to suffice! As always, looking forward to a great season and great tires!!