Jackpot

Eighty five dollars = 1st place Flagstaff Finale

One hundred seventy five dollars = Arizona Pro Female State Champ

And I did it on my big wheels.

Thank you Vassago.

Rewind - Mogollon Masher

BEFORE

What may turn out to be one of my favorite races in the MBAA series and I'm almost a month late in posting about it. We drove up to the Mogollon Rim fairly early Friday in the new VAN. We were meeting Jeff and Vienna to camp for the whole weekend.

The set up in the van. Layla is laying on a nice comfy futon mattress.

The views from our campsite, on top of the rim.

Our campsite.

Vienna getting the dogs settled. My favorite picture from the trip.

Once we arrived, Jeff, Zach and I suited up and went out for a preride. I loved the course. It reminded me a lot of Nine Mile. Alot of people did not like it because there was not enough climbing (huh?), but after the Prescott MBAA race and the Whiskey 50, I was ready for a "flat" course. And despite the protests of flatness, there was climbing. It was nice and gradual, no crazy steep climbs. It was good. Lots of pedaling. That's probably what people didn't like. It was beautiful with pines, aspen groves, and open pastures. The snow had just melted so there were a few mushy water crossings and 2 creek crossings. Fun stuff.

After the ride we got settled in (Thanks Vienna for setting up camp!) and celebrated Jeff's birthday.


The race venue turned out to be about a 20 minute drive from our campsite...yet I still somehow ended up running late. I barely had time for a warmup and we were off at 8:45. The race went well. I loved the trail even more the second day. The course was set up lollipop style; each loop was about 9 miles. The double track up to the feed zone turned out to be a killer and the 2 way traffic section back to the finish felt like 5 miles since it was all uphill.

First place! (dang I look old!)

Zach had a good race with photo finish at the end with his friend Tim (who lives in Chino Valley).

And then he puked.

The altitude must have gotten to Tom. He finished second.

Jeff dnf'd. If I remember he flatted...maybe twice.
After the race we chilled around the campfire. Tim, Robin and their 2 dogs joined us that night. We had 6 people and 6 dogs! We should have gotten up and rode Sunday morning, but we were all feeling a little groggy. We had breakfast and cruised. Stopped in Payson for some killer Mexican food and Zach slept in the back the whole way home.

AFTER

For now...

We had a great weekend camping and racing!! More later, test in the morning.

The Whiskey

What a race. I have not done many endurance races, but I am going out on a limb to say this has to be one of the coolest. Super fun singletrack with some scary loose rocky downhill sections and you have to love the 11 mile dirt road down to Skull Valley... Especially knowing that you have to climb up and beyond the point where you started to head down. Lots of climbing and then the course ends with some more great singletrack....all downhill after one last short killer of a climb. That's the climb where everyone starts (or continues) to cramp big time.

Zach, Tim and I got downtown with plenty of time to spare. It's such an awesome race...from start to finish. It's so laid back at the start, you can head up with just a few minutes to go and weasel your way up closer to the front. I started with Zach, and Jen, Spring and Heidi were just a little ahead of me.

I had a completely uneventful race, which is the way I like it. No crashes and no mechanicals. I handled the water bars better than last year, made that last torturous climb, and improved on my time from last year. The climb back up from Skull Valley totally killed me. I must have swore 50 times that I would never do the fifty again!! Can't decide if it's more physically or mentally difficult. Couldn't have been on a better bike. The Vassago did me good. It's amazing how awesome I felt on Sunday after that race.

I ended up in 8th place... Not what I wanted but totally appropriate given my experience in longer races and my current level of training. School has ruled my days. There were some serious hard core ladies there like Lynda, Sonya, and Sarah. Wow, they are fast. Spring and Heidi kicked my butt up the road (ya damn roadies :)!! ) and had great finishes at 5th and 6th.

And the fun doesn't end with the riding. As you head in towards the finish line, you have an entire crowd of people cheering you on! It's so great. This year they finished the weekend up with a band on the square. How cool. I love this joint.

Zach had a great finish at 19th out of 139 in his age group, bettering his time by 16 minutes.   First time Whiskey Riders Jeff and Vienna both did the 15. This was Vienna's first race!! They both did awesome. Tim's first time too.  He did the 50 and was doing great until he stopped to help the dude who peeled the skin off his knee. Elizabeth was a trooper and hung at the house with the Doodle and Oliver during the race. Tom had a pretty good crash that took some time from him but Kim got a FIRST PLACE!! ha ha!

Unfortunately, I left my camera at home and didn't get any pictures after the race, but I did take some pictures of the course the weekend before during a preride. 

Here's my bike, the Optimus

Zach, just before the waterbars.

Tim heading down 260.

A view up 260, which was in GREAT  shape, thanks to the MAN - John Shumaker.

View of 89A from 260.

And a few pictures of the gang on the square.

The only disappointing thing about the weekend was that our friends from Illinois did not make it out here this year!!  NEXT YEAR WE BETTER SEE YOU!!!  YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!

Prescott Punisher 2

It was upper 30s when my race started at 8:45!!! I ended up taking off the vest and just wearing arm warmers because I knew it would warm up.

We took off and this was the first race that I was out in front at the start. From there is was pretty much 2 hours and 16 minutes of pain and suffering. I seem to remember from last year that elevation change is over 1000 ft per lap. The course has grown on me though. I hated it the first time I rode it last year because the decomposed granite is like riding on glass and you can get going super fast on the downhills. But because it's normally an atv track, the turns are nice and burmed so you can take them pretty fast. Other than a dab on "The Wall" I had a clean race. I ended up in first with Jen in 2nd and Christina in 3rd.


We've got 3 races left in the series. Next up is Mogollon Masher and then we have 2 up in Flagstaff. It will be our first time riding the Mogollon course and the first Flagstaff course. Looks like the Flagstaff Finale is at the same park it was last year.

And just for fun, here's Tim showing off Zach's glasses with Elizabeth in the background.

Fort Huachuca

The 4th MBAA race was held at the army base, Fort Huachuca, in Sierra Vista, AZ (which is pretty close to Tombstone). We weren't super psyched to drive the 4.5 hours it was going to take us, but I needed to get this one in. Zach, the doodle and I got down there around 5pm Friday night. On the way I called my cousin Jim who has been stationed there for the last 5 months. Turns out he's on leave and out of town for a few weeks before moving on to his next assignment. Bummer.

We both squeezed in a preride of the black loop which we would each being doing 3 of the following day, followed by 1 red loop. I was glad we made it there in time. It was a pretty tough course and the preride allowed us to scope out the good lines. Lots of climbing and lots of rocks.

Race day temps were perfect. There was a little overcast and it was probably in the 60s. I ended up in first finishing in 2 hours and 6 minutes. The 29er climbed like a champ and made the scary descents super fun. Spring finished up in second, but had to cruise right after the race. She had Zach and I cracking up on Friday night.

Post race.



Here's the top 5 pro men. Man, these guys are fast. The Schultz bros, Tim Allen, Stefan Widmer, and TJ Woodruff.

Making up for lost time

Out of the 9 years I have been racing, I can remember 1 mechanical and 2 flats that I've had during those years. The mechanical was at the 2002 Hixton Holeshot. I had a bad shift and twisted a link in my chain. The first flat was at the 2004 Big Ring Classic. The second was at the 2006 Big Ring Classic. I took a spill at the 90 degree gravel turn they warned us about and then I later pinch flatted. Other than that, I have not had many issues during my races.

UNTIL THIS YEAR !!!! Ugh...the broken chain at White Tanks and now a flat that would not seal at Estrella on Saturday. I think the gash in my tread happened somewhere in the middle of my first lap. I tried to fill it at just into my second lap, but it was too big. I had lost too much stans out the hole and along the entire rim. By the time I figured it wasn't going to happen I had wasted all of my air.

So it sucks to DNF for the SECOND TIME IN ONE SEASON, It sucks cause I had a pretty decent lead, but it also really sucks for another reason.....(you'll have to check a later post to find out why).

But I am super excited for Christina who just got her upgrade to pro this past week and won her first race. Congrats to Christina, Spring and Jen who took the top 3 spots!! We have an awesome group of cool, talented women in our class!!!

Weekend

Zach left this morning for 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. It's put on by the same guy who organizes The Whiskey Off Road. I was supposed to go support, but my sister Lori and her kids are coming in tomorrow night for a week in Sedona. I can't miss that! It works out well anyway b/c I have an anatomy and physiology exam next week. I don't think staying awake straight for over 24 hours would jive well with my study plans.

Looks like they are going to luck out with the weather. There was rain forecasted for all day Saturday, but it is still supposed to get down to 34 tomorrow night!!!

If you want to check on Zach this weekend, they have real time updates here.

A Win!

What a beautiful day it was yesterday. It was probably in the upper 50s when I started my race at 8:45am and as it warmed up the cloud coverage hung in the air. I lined up next to Christina, and Spring rolled up next to us right before the start. The gun went off and, man, Christina just flew out of the gates. I settled in behind her in second with one or two people trailing. We rode in that order for a good while, and I passed after finding a good spot. Halfway through the first lap it was Jen, myself and one other person. By the end of the first lap I was out in front by myself.

At the start of the second lap though I took the wrong line down into the start of the tech loop. I chickened out at the top and got off for a few steps. After that I could hear Jen on my tail for the rest of the race. I'd get away for a little and it seemed she would catch me on the climbs. Then I'd get away from her on the rocky sections. Not sure what the exact finish times were...I finished at 1 hour 49min+ and Jen finished at 1 hour 50min+. It was one of those days that I felt great. No fatigue in my legs at all.

Jen, me, Spring

No major errors other than that drop into the tech loop, and I finally made that stairstep climb at the end of one of the switchbacks. That was fun. I am really starting to like that course. There's nothing super scary and the sport loop has so many fun bermmed turns. It was a great loop to end the race on.

BGT posing for the camera

White Tanks

Don't really feel like I can call this the first race of the year cause I never really stopped racing in 2008.

Sara, Layla, and I got to Phoenix around 7:00 am Saturday morning. It was a beautiful morning down in the valley and our timing allowed Sara plenty of time to get ready for her 8:30 start. Unfortunately her race was cut short by a broken chain at the end of the first lap. (Details to come from Sara...)

The temps were mid 70s for the start of the Cat 1 race. There was a pretty big field and my nerves were extremely high for some reason. It was kind of a crazy start with a couple of crashes in the first couple curves and one caused by me and another guy hooking bars heading into the first big wash. I somehow kept it upright.

I settled in with the lead group of about 8 guys. It seemed that we put a fairly large gap on the majority of the field early in the first lap. The group I was riding with broke up a little in the second short technical section. It was one of those races where I was riding with and jockeying back and forth with the same 4 or 5 guys the whole race. On the final lap I had a little left in the tank and was able to pull away from the guys I was riding with and catch a couple of others.

I was able to pull out 2nd place finish. It was a great start to the season.















Tom had a great race finishing 2nd in the Advanced SS category.

POP

White Tanks is a super fun course. There's really only 2 short technical sections, one climbing switchback, a few descending switchbacks, and a tricky, lots-of-big-loose-rocks wash. Other than that, it's a nice rolling course with some good gradual climbing and a nice descent to the end.

I did not have a very good start. Jennifer and I went out for a quick warm up just a few minutes before the start and realized on the way back that we didn't really know where the start was. We were further away from it than we thought.

After we got going, Jennifer and I rode with Christina for a little. I charged ahead with Jennifer in tow who was giving me tips on what to expect of the course since I never made it down to preride. We were passing marathoners and junior and beginner women here and there. Jennifer and I kept changing front position. We finally hit the last of the tech section which meant it was all downhill to the end. Time for the big ring.

We were cruising along, trying to take the turns at a smart speed. I was getting close to the end and a strange noise came out of nowhere. A big popping sound. Next thing I hear is Jennifer....OH NO, YOUR CHAIN!!! She turned and rode back to where it fell off to confirm. She was hilarious. She wanted to wait for me! Then she was going to go tell someone and come back for me. She ended up riding on and gave Zach a heads up about what I had going on. I had no tool.

I ran for what felt like 3 miles. It was probably only a quarter of a mile, but it felt like forever. A friend of Scott Keller handed me a chain tool towards the end of the end of the lap. I ran all the way in and waited for Zach who was off getting a link. Standing there with me was the USA cycling official who reminded me that I needed to be self sufficient as Zach walked up with the link. So that was the end of my race. After a little bantering and explaining, I finally got his okay to go out and at least ride the rest of my 3 laps. What a waste it would have been to only have gotten 1 lap in!!

But if only that could have been the end of my day. Zach was a good soldier and continued handoffs even though I wasn't racing. The next lap we dropped the bottle. Pretty uneventful after that. I ended up finishing about 15 minutes behind Jen.

Timing-wise that put me right at the start of Zach's race. I had no idea what he wanted in terms of hand-offs. I jumped on my bike and tried speeding over to the start line. I had to take a short cut through this natural area and the next thing I knew I was sliding out landing on the ground. As I stood up, I felt pain. Like I had never quite felt before. I looked down at my right arm and I had 3 cholla cactus things in my arm and shoulder and one sticking out of my right butt cheek!! AGGHH!!! It hurt. I've never experienced anything like this though. Out of nowhere, 2 people appeared and started helping me pull them out. I didn't know either one of them. It was pretty cool. I'm not sure what I would have done if they hadn't come over. You can't pull cholla out with your bare hands cause they hurt like a mother. You have to use a tool or a couple of keys or something and I'm sure I was too much shock to do anything like that by myself.

So I didn't have a very good first race, but the weekend did end well with a trip to Sedona. My sister Jennifer, her husband and kids are there visiting my parents. And Zach had a freaking awesome race, finishing 2nd in his age category and 3rd overall for cat 1 men!!!

12 Hours of McDonalds

My new race strategy was a success! Over the last few years I have stuggled with forcing myself to eat all the way through races like this. Endurox and EAS shakes get old after a while. Too many gels bunge up my tummy. So this race I decided I was going to get something that I love and crave often and nutritionally might not be too bad for an event like this. Before the race Sara picked me up 15 McDonalds hamburgers (7 with cheese). Most laps I ate one burger, 1 hammer gel, 1 bottle of Gatorade, and 1 bottle of water. I never had any problems with cramping or fatigue through the whole race. I usually ate my burger on the road section at the end the lap. People look at you kind of funny when you pass them eating McDonalds.

During my first 7 hours I felt great. The last 5 hours were good but there were some soreness issues. The issues during the race were not my butt. My issues were my shoulders and forearms getting really sore from the "Rocky Bitch" a pretty long gnarly rocky section that I am still trying to forget about. All my other problems were mental. I got a little freaked out over the course of I think laps 9 and 10. Over those two laps I saw 2 rattle snakes, a bat that flew after my lights for about a half of a lap (while I screamed like a litte girl), and a freaky old man wondering around in the dark. These things had kind of messed with my focus.

Tom was just the opposite of me. During the 1st half of his race he didn't feel that great and also broke a chain. Somewhere around 7 hours in he caught me and kept going. I don't how he rode 12 hours on a SS at this course.

I ended up winning the 12 Hour Geared category and Tom took 1st in the 12 Hour SS. We were the only two solo 12 Hr racers to finish 12 laps. We both could have gone out for lap 13 but we both decided against it.

Here are the RESULTS

Our team had some great results in other categories also.

I have to thank my lovely wife Sara and Misty from Vassago for the support and helping me through the race. I never even had to even leave the course.

Here are pictures from the race.

LeMans start.












Heading into and out of the feed zone.






















Tom















Camp.

































Sleeping arrangements and pit crew.

Olympic Training

Funny who you end up riding with sometimes.

Saturday at the race I went in feeling pretty confident that I'd be able to do well. I figured I'd just try to hang with Linden from Absolute Bikes and I'd be okay. Shortly after the start I realized it wasn't Linden's day, so I pulled ahead. I was a minute or two up the 15 minute fire road climb and realized I wasn't alone. Someone followed me...it wasn't Linden. Hmm....

It was a long gradual climb for the first 10 minutes and I was still pulling. Because there were just two of us, I decided to speak up. I figured sharing the work at a fun, laid back race wasn't a bad idea. "Would you like to pull?" ".........No.....Not really.....But I will." Later on I would realize how funny that response actually was, but for the time being I was slightly perplexed. Her pace did not slow up at all. If anything she picked it up a notch. We finally hit the peak of the fire road and started heading down for a little. It turned out that she pulled for about 5 minutes before we hit the single track at which point I decided I deserved to lead just in case she sucked in the singletrack.

The course was pretty sweet. From that first turn off it was basically singletrack the rest of the lap - climbing for a good 20 or 25 minutes until the decent back to the start. If I didn't look back every now and then, I wouldn't have known anyone was behind me. I never heard a peep out of this girl. Why am I breathing so hard????? After the short two minute section on the rolling dirt road, we headed back into the singletrack for the last 15-20 minute decent. I was not feeling it. Breaking all over the place. Almost sliding out. I was fully expecting to hear her say "Can I pass?" As soon as I had a chance I let her go by. She was gone in a second, not to be seen by me during the last two laps.

My second lap was much better. My split was a minute quicker than the first. It was a hard race though. The climbing through the single track really sucked it out of me at certain points. I finished in second and headed straight to find some water. While I was standing there, the lovely Katie Monahan walked up and introduced herself. We talked about the race, I apologized for passing her right as we hit the singletrack and explained my motive. She was right there with me. She said I was killing her on that first climb out (huh??? I seriously never heard a breath out of her) I asked her if she was pro...."No, I was an Olympic skier....I'm done with that. I just race mountain bikes for fun."

Wausau

I know...I'm like 3 weeks late posting about the race. Oh well, the first two weeks of my classes were insane, I was chained to the computer for learning purposes, not for fun.

It was a great weekend. Went up with John, Rachael, Casey and Zoe in their bad-ass Suburban. Made it to 9 Mile with plenty of time to preride. Caught up with all the old WORS friends and met a few new ones. Jeremy's wife Destiny watched the girls so we all went out together. Rode the course...they included some awesome singletrack, but Rachael's right, there was WAY too much doubletrack. They did not include any of the trails on the other side of Red Bud Rd, so we made our way over there after riding the course. Wow, was that fun. Possibly the hightlight of the weekend.

That night the whole MARS team met up for dinner at a sweet Mexican restaurant. Man, it was a huge group. Jerry, Barb, Jay, Jeff, the Baron, Jeremy, Destiny, Rachael, John, Brent from Twin Six...hmm I know there were a few more people...plus all of their kids! All really good kids. It was a good time.

Sunday morning I was nervous. Didn't think I'd be. My race season was over. Racing Wausau was just for fun. But it was my first race as pro rider. I had just received approval for my upgrade request earlier that week.

We made it to 9 mile with plenty of time to spare. Jeremy and Jerry already had a spot set up. The morning was fun, but it seemed really long. I could not wait to get this race done and under my belt. I hate feeling like that. What the heck was the big deal?

John fixed my bike for me and we went to watch Rachael's start. They have a big group of women. I haven't actually counted but there could very well be more women in the WORS sport class than all of the women's classes combined in the MBAA series.

Finally warm up time rolled around. I hung with Jerry for a while. The warm up kinda hurt. Not a good sign. Jerry's riding a sweet Strong ss.

We went off shortly after the expert men. I lead the group out - the sacrificial lamb. No biggie, it's not my series, but dumb move. It was just a few minutes in and Kim and Abby passed me. I hung on to the train for a while, but I was dying. Then the other specialized chick passed, Diana Hill, Claire. I started to lose track. Man, that sucked. I could accelerate, but I could not hold it. There was just SO MUCH PEDALING. I forgot how much pedaling you have to do here.

Finally made it into the first set of singletrack...probably in about 7th or 8th place. I think it was after that first section that I saw both Abby and Diana along with about 20 men on the side changing flats. Bummer. I was rooting for Abby to win it.

My position never really changed too much. I'd pass Claire or Lisa here and there but could not hold it. I never worked through the crappy feeling I had. My legs did not have anything. I saw a few of the ladies crash pretty good in the singletrack. That was one plus for me.....I felt that my riding through the singletrack was way stronger compared to previous years.

I ended up 1st place pro, but 5th overall. Blah. Not sure how I feel about that. But I'm also not sure what I really expected. I did learn that I need to figure out how to train in the mountains. How do you get a nice long ride with a consistent heart rate?

Even though I felt like crap, it was a fun race. It was awesome to back up in Wisconsin. I love 9 Mile. All that new stuff we rode Saturday night was fantastic. It was fun talking to Don about his 9th place Chequamegon finish way back when. I chatted with Danielle Musto for a few minutes right before our race started. Catching up with friends. I'm so glad I went. Now I need to figure out how to get Zach to a race before our drive back to Arizona.

John's work is never done.









Rachael chattin it up before her race.









I don't usually like podium shots, but my shirt is super cool.

Not what I thought

Well, we've been back in Illinois for 3 weeks now, and I'm a little disappointed that it's not what I expected. I am taking 2 online courses and have so far spent entirely too much time working on one of them. I'm enjoying it, but I definitely pictured myself being able to spend alot more time with family and friends. And I have not been getting enough riding in at all. Okay, enough of that...just needed to get it off my chest.

I feel like we've done so much since we've been back, but we still have so much to do!!! A few highlights:
Hanging with our parents who are so graciously letting us stay with them.
Seeing my sistos and their families.
Riding with the old crew and getting our butts kicked by them.
Hitting Wausau with Rachael, John and girls and seeing all our old Wisconsin buddies.
Going downtown with Karen and Justin. I made it until 2am.
Spent an evening with my mom's brother and his family. My cousin just delivered a baby boy today!!!
Going to Larry's Diner almost every morning.
And of course visiting with all of my grandparents.

Flagstaff MBAA Final

Well, we have an entire series of mountain bike racing under our belt and it is only Mid-May. It seems so weird.

Tim and Elizabeth got to our house Friday afternoon. We headed out to eat some pasta and to see how many drinks a waiter could spill on a customer. Fortunately it was at another table. We all felt bad for that waiter. We felt like it was our confusing check splitting that got him frazzled.

We drove up Saturday morning and quickly found all the Prescott peeps (Jeff, Jaime, Brady, Jeanette, Tim, Keith, and Toby.)

The finals were in Flagstaff. The course was so much fun and was pretty suited to climbers. There were some issues with insufficient course markings but fun nonetheless. Everybody started around 11:00 am and the Expert men and women had to do the same 27 mile course.

Sara took the win but it was a bitter sweet victory. Sara won but was not the first women across the line. Spring who has been one of Sara’s main competitions all season came across the line first. She figured out that she missed a major turn and cut over an hour off of her race. The even sadder part of Sara’s victory was that Christina was dominating the race by several minutes when she missed a turn. Christina got pretty far off course and figured out that the time loss was significant. It was a big bummer.

I had a blast in my race. There was a group of about 6 of us that rode away from the field in the initial hour + of climbing. It was fun cause I had a chance to ride with a couple of my new teammates who usually fly by me at the speed of light in most races. I think the Prescott altitude helped a bunch for this race. Unfortunately Darrin started pulling away from the rest of the group right before a major turn that could have been marked a little better. We were all yelling our heads off but he was too far up to hear us. His main competitor was in the lead group with us. I know I would have been lost myself several times if I hadn't been riding with Tom (Freak on a SS) the whole race. I don't know how he climbs like he does on a SS. I ended up getting 2nd in the Expert 19-39.

All in all it was a fun series. Fun people and good riding. No surprise Sara took 1st for the series in her class. The surprise was that with the final being double points and another top Expert not being there it bumped me up to 2nd for the series in my class.
Got some cool awards but the real award was going to stay at Christina's mom's house in Sedona. After a great meal at the Beaver Street Brewery in Flag. Christina, Tom, Sara, and I headed to Sedona for some good hang time.

I think Tom is part rooster cause he got us up shortly after sunrise. It was good cause we were able to have a curb-side breakfast at the IGA and hit the trails before it got too hot. We had an awsome ride followed by a mexican food coma. Good times!

NEXT STOP P-VILLE, IL!

Waiting for awards with the peaks in the background.

Mt Elden

The expert women started behind the sport men.
Sara running her bike right after the first technical downhill. Big jam up.