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!