Vassago Love and Flagstaff

We were just about packed and ready to go to Flagstaff for the race this weekend when that lovely brown UPS truck pulled down our dirt road and brought me a big box of love from Vassago. It contained our kits and everything else we could ever want including a little dolly named Tom.

A big thanks to Misty, Kris, and Vassago!















I you look close you will see that little Tom wanted to drive to the race...





















We got to Flagstaff and I did my volunteer work and waited for Tim and Elizabeth to arrive for a nice relaxing evening. We had dinner by the campfire and it was off to bed.

The morning was different than usual because I had to do some more volunteering so I couldn't hand Sara bottles in her race. Tom (Not the dolly) and Kim got there in time for Kim and Sara's race so Tom handed the ladies bottles in their race.

My race was another battle. The top five finishers in our Cat 1 class have been so close the last few races and it was no different this time. Tom Faeh and Tim Allen got away a bit for 1st and 2nd but 3rd - 5th were back and forth the whole time. I wound up in 4th with Marcus Hayward who is leading the series 15 seconds ahead of me and Rob Shaver just a little behind me. It is going to be interest to see how the series shakes out after low races are dropped and the final being weighted heavier.



Rockin the new kit!!!!















Queen Sara sporting her 1st place medal and me with my 4th
















After the race we headed to Sedona for some R & R at the Quail Ridge which is now partially owned by the Bike n Bean crew. So it is officially the coolest place for mountain bikers to stay with a great pool and hot tub and is only around the corner from the Bean. Tim Allen met up with Tim, Elizabeth, Sara, and I for some refreshments by the pool Saturday night. Tom (not the dolly) and Kim ditched us for some unknown reason and didn't join us in Sedona.



We did do some hiking at West Fork on Sunday before heading home.




















And then there is this guy

For now...

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

mongolian bbq

We are off to the Mogollon Rim tomorrow for #6 MBAA race.  This will be our first camping trip in the new rig.

Tim's not coming up for this one.  I think he should reconsider.  

I wanted to make these for you and Elizabeth last weekend but I ran out of time. All your talk after the race inspired me.

These cookies are my specialty. They are damn good, so if you are a cookie person you should start drooling now.

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!!!

Bandersnatch

Been riding mine all week and love it!!! It fits me so much better than the the Fisher did. You gotta love the Vassago Wetcat geometry. Started building Sara's today

Need New Vassago Stickers

Here is the new diesel 4x4 race vehicle!!!! Plenty of room for bikes and sleeping. Tom and I aren't going to be Element twins anymore. The only thing it is missing is some Vassago stickers!!!
























Sara getting ready to do a little wrenching. If you look close she might have a ziptie in her hand.

Who is this guy?

Fancy shirt that's TUCKED IN? It even looks like he might have groomed his hair!?

The dirt dog

Sneak peak

I am sure you can imagine how excited I was when the man from the brown truck handed over this lovely box. Inside, 2 freaking Banders!!! Zach's already got his built up, but I need to work on getting a few parts.

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.