CXMAS 2009

Awesome! Hard! Icy! Whiskey, bacon and egg nog filled! Need I say more. 132 riders actually signed up and many more simply headed out for the ride. We filled the "Mound" parking lot with cross bikes, mountain bikes and even a few tandems. Did I mention Team Seagal rocks? Recap video here.

The course, which we partially marked Friday, had to be altered dramatically this morning. It ended up being shorter eliminating the bastard run up and down hill after, as well as the long climb up from the Katy. Some of the gravel, service paths and grass had to go also. No complaints, what-so-ever. It was a blast as there were factors that hadn't even crossed my mind until this morning. The ice in Bush was CRAZY! I saw numerous wipe outs. All of the ribbons we hung had been removed and the snow that fell Friday night covered up some of the arrows painted on the ground. A quick overview from Gino before the start was a life saver and the other 3 guys I was with would have been lost without some guidance.

We started out in front as did the other 20ish people that dressed up for the event. Not the 5 minute lead they got last year, but still cool. Jeremy set the pace and soon Jay Strothman pulled up and took over. Even the Hamburg was icy and I almost went down. As we turned right down into lost valley, I was in about 10th place. By the time we got to the top of the next climb I was riding in 2nd behind Jay. Stayed this way until Nico came bouncing by on his fixie. We had a pretty good group again after collecting our first zip tie. Approaching the next big downhill I jumped around Jay and Nico so I could bomb it. Soon we crossed hwy 94 and made our way through the bottom of the quarry and back out to the Hamburg. This is where the top 10ish picked up our "packages" that we had to ride with all the way back to the mound. My box was about 1/4 the size of last years, cool with me! Came through the drop off point and I was in the front of our group. A Hub rider, Devin Clark was with us now-man is he strong. We made our way over to Bush and started to encounter the real ice. We all figured it out pretty quick after we all took a turn sliding sideways, but we all kept it upright.

I knew that the "lake 12" section was still in the course and we were soon there. Punchor and the Professor, Dan above with the devious look on his face, were frying up huge pieces of bacon and had the whiskey shots all ready for us. I ate half the bacon and still had the other half in my mouth 10 minutes later. We were told to run the entire lake levy which nearly made me blow. Devin and Jay looked like Winnie the Poo, bouncing along holding his big red balloon, nearly floating. After we got back on our bikes we were joined by a Big Shark rider, Trent Donat. I quickly felt like these other 3 riders were going to have their way with me and I would get spat out and forgotten about. We took a moderate pace from here as I wasn't sure which way we were going. We headed into the "bike trail", (old roads that are blocked to trucks) and I led the way. We came to a fallen tree and I jumped off, over and was back on, the other three came blazing by me like they didn't even have to get off, freaked me out! We stayed together and soon I noticed all the ribbons I had put up were gone. I led us around what I knew to be the course and was starting to doubt myself until we started to see arrows again. The only way the rest of the riders were going to be able to follow the course was to follow our tracks.

Soon we were at the second manned check point, EGG NOG! I slammed it and rode away. They must have all sipped it because I was by myself for several miles. They caught me just before the turn to lake 36 which had to be eliminated, THANK GOD! That grass would have been sooooo hard today. I led us all the way back to hwy 94 and we had to stop and wait for the light. Jay had fallen off a bit and was able to catch back on. I led us back the way we had originally came, when we turned on the asphalt Devin said,"it's just you and me". We pushed it a little, but nothing too crazy. After rounding the last turn on the Hamberg we could see two guys standing up the trail, we both thought this was the finish. A sprint ensued the likes of most have never seen before. I was a full bike length behind Devin and pulled around for the win......Oh crap, that wasn't the finish! They pointed to the top of the mound, "finish is up there!" I slammed on my brakes to make the turn and rode up to the base of the stairs to the top. If I hadn't just given everything I had.....well Devin still would have beat me to the top. He crushed me! I carried my bike in my right hand until I heard that wrist snap and had to switch to the other hand. That wrist snapped just as I got to the top step. I looked back and it appeared as though I had 2nd wrapped up, more importantly, I was done. Devin beat me last year and did it again this year. The Doctor fled to another state when he sensed the thrashing he would take if he showed up this year.

My Ned Overend costume consisting of a 1991 replica of the jersey Ned wore when he won his UCI World Championship in 1990(yes, I have an 18 year old jersey), a pair of matching Specialized yellow paneled tights(that weren't much better than a pair of pantie hose......er, a, so I've heard), a slightly off era Specialized 2 Calorie Quest subzero helmet, the closest thing I could come up with for goggles, a mustache and signature Overend mole(which he had removed a few years back), was not enough for today's temps. I was very under dressed although the Oakley ski goggles rocked! The elastic cracked when I first put the jersey on, I'm sure there was someone there today that was born after I bought that jersey. Sad thing is, the only thing I didn't have sitting in my house was the stache. I drove all over looking for one Saturday night.

This costume was more of an interpretation of Ned Overend, say what he might have turned into had he not won the World Championship title, then slowly expanded and "let himself go". I'd say I looked more like a porn star has-been trying to hide his comb over under a helmet.

Gino, CFR, Nico, Jim, Hoff, the Professor, Punchor and many others put their hearts and souls into this for the last several weeks. Thanks to them and all the other volunteers.

P.S. After most were done I talked to several people asking questions about placement and had they passed so and so. Questioning someone about where they finished is the worst thing someone can do in bike racing and it was lame to do so. I wanted to say here that anyone I offended, I'm sorry. I felt like I pitched in a little with this race and when the small amount of help I gave was torn down by hunters or rangers it bummed me out. Truely I was more interested in whether or not everyone got to ride all of the course, it just came out way wrong. This "non-race" was about so much more than winning or placing and I lost sight of that for a bit. So I've tried to tell the ones I know, but can't tell the people I don't know and have to hope they look here. I'm sorry for doubting anyone's efforts today, you all rock.

Now this is cool!

I have a feeling I'm not the only one that had no idea this was being built. Short story-construction started in 2005 and just last month they connected the two arches perfectly in the center. It will be a bypass around Hoover Dam which has multi-hour back ups daily right now. They used liquid nitrogen to cool the concrete! The arches were formed and poured in place. I pretty much get off on this kind of stuff. I'm sure if we had cable I would have seen a documentary on it.


24 hours a day!

Complete photo album here.

A new type of clone

Hard to believe Halloween is here and gone. We had a whole lot of fun with this so I felt it needed to be shared. The festivities started with the preparation of our pumpkins that we brought home from our annual family fish fry. I have the kids draw on a piece of paper the face that they want on their pumpkin. It's fun to see what they come up with and keeps them busy while I prep the table and round up knives, spoons and bowls for the "guts" as they say. My two warriors claimed they were ready to do all the dirty work themselves this year, we'll wait and see. Once I opened up the tops on their pumpkins they turned in to prissy little things that didn't want to get their hands dirty. After a little help and explaining that there were no "worms down inside there" they were elbow deep and having a ball. Pics are full size so click for detailed "guts".






















I was Darth Vader last year and they were both bent on being the same this year. So we were a trio of Vaders with mom rounding out the pose in her homemade costume as Dorothy. We had no time to carve pumpkins this week so it waited until today and she had little time to work on her costume so she finished it Thursday night-we need a break! I think she looked great!





















With a cool night and finally no rain, we scoured the hood and came home with a load of plunder. I'm not going to eat one single piece! Adam's bag weighed 2049 gms or 4.5 lbs, Eric's bag weighed 2349 gms or 5.2 lbs

Berryman Epic 2009

Epic it was. Where last year we had near perfect conditions, true to 2009, this year we had lots of water, lots of mud and a little rougher trails to contend with. I spent Saturday night out at scout camp with the family, what better way to prepare for a race than smores? A short night's sleep and it was time to leave. Coming off of a good result at Burnin', I didn't know what to expect. I pedaled twice in the two weeks between the events with no real focus. After looking at the list of registered racers, I had decided this would be more of a ride than a race. The conditions chased a hand full away but there were still 120 something racers. As soon as I showed up the priority was to pick up my registration. I was greeted by a few friends that asked me if I had seen the shirts. I responded with a no and then asking why. One wouldn't tell me and the other said, "you're going to like it". Finally Scott Mortimer gave it up, they put the names of the top ten finishers from last year's Epic on the back of the shirt, my 6th place included.


I must say, that's the coolest thing I've seen yet and in addition to the copious amounts of cash, this too will be something to chase after. Immortalized on the backs of all who take the challenge, I think it's cool!

The lineup looked fierce. Steve Tilford, Eric Pirtle, Garth Prosser, Dwayne and Jim, Jon Schottler, Bill Stolte, Josh Johnson, Mike Best, Clayton Bell, Matt Keeven.....No way for top ten, MAYBE a top twenty if all goes well. This is one time that I can say that I would change the results if I could because all didn't go well, I wish I had placed 10th.

After starting the race by climbing over Scott's trailer that he beached in the river so we didn't have to ford a waist deep river, the fast guys were gone.







Nothing new until making the last descent to Brazil Creek where I saw Eric Pirtle being carried up the hill not looking too good. Eric was in the lead when he hit a rock buried in the leaves and went over the bars "taco-ing", as he said, his body mid air into a tree. Another racer, Jason Ozenberger stopped to help him along with many other spectators by the time I got there. It looked to me like he had hurt his ankle the way they were helping him. The way I see it, Eric and probably Jason would have and should have finished ahead of me. I would gladly give up my place in this scary situation. All we knew after the race was that he was transported to a hospital in Sullivan and someone said he was having issues either feeling or moving his legs. We now know that he is home after being transferred to Barnes and released with a reasonable prognosis, bad bruising and a concussion-get better Eric! I can say without a doubt, I have never seen or been around ANYONE that can handle a bike the way he can. The day you think you are good, ride behind him and you WILL be humbled. Trust me, I've been there!. Can't wait to give it a try again soon. Scott the promoter gave Jason O lifetime entry to the Berryman Epic for stopping to help Eric, that's class!

Now that I feel puny, I'll continue on with the race report. Nothing too notable after the first check point at Brazil Creek. I started the first climb with a group of riders just ahead. I could see Matt Keeven, Jim Vandeven, Mike Best, Bill Stolte and Garth Prosser. I knew they would leave me on the climb and they did. Soon I found myself on Bill Stolte's wheel. He bobbled on a switch back and I was around him. Mike Best was right there and we soon had a good gap on Bill. We rode together with the traditional climb/descend yo-yo thing going on the whole time. We came to a long flowing section and Mike let me by. He stayed with me for a while. Somewhere in there I passed Jim Vandeven messing with a tire. I could not figure out what was happening, why was I passing all these doodz? Made the first Berryman check point and didn't even stop. Keeven was up ahead on his single speed looking like he wasn't even working. We made our way down to Hwy 8 which is followed by a serious creek crossing. Scott had built a killer bridge across the deep water. It was awesome, rode it no problem. Matt walked it and then I briefly was in front of him. I knew the climb that followed would leave me only a memory of his smooth climbing form as he disappeared into the distance.

Soon I figured out why I was passing all those riders. I was going too hard. Once Matt was long gone, Jim and Josh came by like a freight train. I knew they wanted to be together for the gravel sections as they could work together well. It wasn't long and Bill came by. I kept him in sight for a while but I had to back off. I finally lost him a few miles into the first gravel road section after the 3rd check point. It was at the end of this section while forcefully plowing through the deep water that was crossing the road that I caught Matt. We stayed together up part of the climb back to Berryman. He was about 30 seconds up on me at the top. I stopped to get fuel and I guess he did too. It was almost as if he was waiting for me to go into the last section of single track before him. Thanks for the Oreo, Jim! We were within sight of each other almost all the way to Harmon Springs, the end of the single track, the end of the Berryman trail, the beginning of my advantage over the single speed. He would have killed me if we were on the same bikes. I did expect Matt to catch me on the last double track climb, but I never saw him. I was in survival mode now, so I merely "got back". Must just be late in the race but that last 7 miles always seems tough. The trailer was gone so we had to cross the river on our own, it was deep and cold. Within minutes we were done.

I missed the 5 hour mark by 6 seconds which was 7:01 slower than last year. I felt good about being slower in those conditions, very impressive that Jon Schottler and 3 others were able to trump Chris Ploch's record from last year. Dwayne was on fire and got 3rd not far behind Steve Tilford, as in 30 seconds and 43 behind Schottler. Sounds like Steve had some flat issues but that's racing. Vandeven pulled one off and got 5th, Josh was right there for 7th. I was over 11 minutes behind Josh with Keeven right on my tail. Mike Best wasn't far behind with Jeremy Bock closing in fast. Jeremy made up huge time from the 4th check point to the end on me, Keeven and Mike. 11th place! Nice job. Bob Arnold rode an impressive race as did Zach Brace. Hats off to the non-racer of the bunch, Todd Hecht. 2 broken chains, a wrong turn and finished with a smile. There were some tough girls there braving the elements. Karen, Christine, Wendy, Loreen, all finished. Any riders that finished after about 5:45 got rained on, hard.

5 of the top 10 from last year made the top 10 this year. I'll have to give Scott positive re-enforcement on the shirt thing. Now we can have a saying, "I made the shirt!"

Top of the World

It still hasn't sunk in.....what happened this weekend? I have raced solo for 6 years now at the famous "Burnin' at the Bluff" Mesa puts on at Council Bluff Lake. How cool to think back to that first year,2004 when myself along with Dwayne, Breslin, DD and many others thought it might be cool to try a 12 hour, solo. We had no idea what we were doing. We ate goofy stuff thinking it would get us through more hours than any of us had ever ridden. We, I drank like 5 protein shakes and ate a pound of beef jerky. I had never even thought about electrolyte replacement and cramped hard because of my ignorance. The studs that year did 8 laps, I did 6. We were hooked, or at least Dwayne and I were. Breslin won that year even with a myriad of mechanical issues.

Mesa's awesome trophies are creations of Jim and Judy Butler, some friends that now reside in Buena Vista, CO. For me, one of the major forces driving me to lust after the pain of 12 hours. Pics are hi-res, so click for better look. They do nice work!


The next year we had a little more prep time and knowledge. Breslin won again, this time completing 9 laps, unheard of! Not sure of his finishing time, but I thought it was around 9:30pm. I rode my single speed as it was the only bike I had and managed 7 laps while having a whole lot more fun than the previous year.



The 3rd year, and if you notice from the 2006 trophy, the only true "Burnin" year, Chris Ploch made this race his mission. He changed the way it was raced, going out hard and taking no real breaks. He finished 9 laps in less than 12 hours. With time to proceed on with #10 he was talked down by Adrienne. "No one will ever come close", she said. I had crashed less than two weeks before riding with Tom Albert and had a fractured rib. I went out and made 7 laps again finishing with Chris just before 9pm.





















The 4th year Breslin was gunning for it, Dwayne was riding like a freak and I was feeling better. Dave went out hard with Dwayne nipping at his heals only to have mechanical issues and drop out. Dwayne went on to win and I finally got my 8 laps, but just barely. Almost impailed myself on the way home on this one. Mesa rented a semi to travel with these things, they're huge!





















#5 was a fun year and it sucked. Zach Brace had been a strong contender but had issues that kept him from finishing what he started, until this year. I felt good until my 3rd lap when my quick link failed on my chain. When it separated it caught my der cage ripping it clean off my bike. I ran with my bike until another racer gave me a chain tool. Long story short it was a long lap and my next lap was long as I tried to recover. I still managed 8 laps in far less time than last year riding a back up bike. Now for the real race. Dwayne had the lead until lap 8, I think. He hit a wall and Zach took over. Zach flatted on the last lap but still had time and won with 9 laps in just over 13 hours.



Enter 2009. Perfect conditions as of Wednesday-not too dry, cool temps. Then the rain came. Nearly 48 hours of rain ending Friday night, less than 15 hours before race time. This was the first year for really adverse conditions. The cold I can deal with, the water I can deal with. Now it was cold and wet, very wet. CB drains well and all in all the trail wasn't that bad. It was the wet feet and clothes that I was worried about. How long can your body work to keep warm while riding your mtb and not shut down? I had visions of changing clothes and shoes, but it made no sense as they too would be soaked in the first 10 minutes. I tried to dress light for the start hoping to not over heat in the day and not freeze in the night hours. Man that water was cold the first time through! Several hub deep creek crossings made staying dry just not an option.

I started the run with a trot, knowing that unless you were in the front it mattered not where you started. Just go out easy and socialize. Avg heart rate was 13 beats lower after the 1st lap than last year. I did two laps on the single speed hoping to have a "fresh" bike for the improving conditions that I was praying for. They did improve, a little. I passed Zach on the 1st lap just before the half way point, this meant nothing, it was going to be a long day. Now on my geared bike, I caught Dwayne at the end of my 3rd lap. We rode together for about a minute and then he dropped me on the final climb. He pitted and I did not, so now I was out in front. I just cruised and he caught and passed me on the first long climb. We yo yoed back and forth until again he rode away on the final climb. I needed food, so I headed for my campsite and filled my pockets. I bombed down the asphalt starting lap 5. Right when I jumped back in the woods a bike came out from no where from my right. "Heads up", I yelled. It was Dwayne, cool. We just rode and talked for a while. Soon I started to pull away. This time when I got to that 1st long climb, I wasn't overtaken. I just kept riding. Finished the lap by myself and at the top of the final climb I looked back, no Dwayne. I had enough food and time for two more laps before I would need lights, or so I hoped.

Grabbed a bottle and took off on 6. All was going great, I felt awesome! Hard to believe that I was done with 6 before 5pm, over 4 hours left. Plenty of light left, I rolled out for #7. Jeremy Bock had finished 3rd in the 6 hour and was there when I left. I let him know that I was planning on eating and getting my lights next lap. He had some soup warm and ready for me,mmmmmm soup! A soooper quick pit and I was out on 8. Didn't need the lights right away but it was getting dark. By the time I hit the Enough boat ramp the leds were raging and about 5 minutes later my Garmin battery was not, I didn't give it a thought. My how your priorities change when actually racing to win! I love riding at night and soon had a huge smile on my face. Maybe it's contagious! I found the best line through the rock garden on this lap, what the hell? This is when the head games begin. EVERY light I could see was without question, Dwayne. Ahead, behind, across the lake and even the light pole at the boat ramp, all Dwayne chasing me down.

I made my way up the last climb and was told I had 7 minutes at the start of the previous lap. One last bottle, no way to check time and some cold ass feet, I took off in the dark. I was now looking for each and every mile marker. 1 comes fast because of the asphalt start. 2 took forever, or so I thought. I was still riding every inch of the trail almost as well as my 1st lap. I even rode up the step at the 5 mile mark onto the rail less foot bridge. Crossing the creek that came just after and telling myself "Self, that's the last time you have to go through that", was nice. No one at the aid station anymore I felt lonely, until I saw Matt Ochs just inside the woods. He was just hangin out, made sure he was OK, "see ya", I said. Crossed the dam and then the spillway I was soon approaching the beach. I came around the corner and saw another rider, a Mesa rider. It was Zach! I was worried he and Dwayne were back there hammering it out, running the pace up, but no more. By I went, back into the woods clearing the bastard creek and roots that followed one last time. Soon I was at the base of the final climb. I had no idea what time it was so I just rode on. I got up to what I called the halfway point where the trail turns left and then soon makes a hard right around a switchback where Tom Albert's emergency toilet had been located. When I made the left I looked down, there was a rider coming fast. I knew it was Dwayne! No way was I going to loose this now. I reached down and locked out my fork. I shifted to my middle ring and stood up. I climbed the remainder of the hill this way, knowing that if I could make it to the final turn, I would have it. Looked back down at the top and saw no one. I had gapped who ever it was. Just a few more seconds left and I was done! Turned out to be a "Wicked Fast" rider, Ryan Pirtle and Dwayne was never that close. He ended up having some shifting issues on his 9th lap. We rode a fast race, all of us. Dwayne's time was 23 minutes faster than last year's winning time and 13 minutes faster than his winning time from two years ago. I never would have guessed that with those conditions that I could finish 11 minutes past the 12 hour mark on that 9th lap that I had never ridden before! Only 11 minutes and I COULD have gone out for #10, not sure I WOULD have.

Jeremy helped me out a ton and had a raging fire going when I finished which saved me. I got really cold after I finished and stood around for a while. ICCC gave me a freakin awesome bowl of meatball pasta, best I've ever had. They had good cookies too. It took a long time to get over that chill, but a few hours in front of the fire did the trick. Sad to say I have to box up the Jet 9 to send it back and won't get another for quite a while.

45 laps...585 miles later, I may be off a little on my commentary, but right now I'm on Top of the World! Thanks Mesa.

Lots of pics here.

*EDIT* Finally cleaning up after a busy week, I picked up the bike I raced last Saturday. Holy Crap! It seemed heavy. So I weighed it, exactly how I raced it, minus all the mud and dirt.

Warsaw-The Finale

Well the MWFTCS is over. 13 races completed in a well run series all over the state of Missouri. A few did them all, I did 10 and it was a ton of fun. Truman lake in Warsaw was the location for the last race. The series standings were set for most of the classes so attendance was off a little. Marathon still had 10 riders graced for the first time by an old friend, John Matthews who normally races expert. We didn't pre-ride the course so the first lap was a fact finding mission. John M, John Peiffer, Todd Holtmann and myself with Greg Ott not too far back after taking out his frustrations on a tree, cruised the 8 miles at a reasonable pace. Peiffer flatted at a point near the end very close to the start/finish line. Luckily someone had talked John into bringing an extra wheelset and he ran over, got a wheel and jumped back onto the loop and only lost a few minutes. John and I started to pull away from Todd and soon were riding alone chatting about stuff.

John had a slow leak about half way through the 2nd lap so I rode on while he hit it with some air. I just kept the same pace and it wasn't long before he caught me and we were on our next topic. I preferred riding in 2nd so he could ride whatever pace he wanted. I felt pretty cool and collected the whole time, never putting in any anaerobic efforts. We started lap 3 about 7 minutes before the experts started their hour and a half race. Usually they catch and pass us within an hour or so. Never saw anyone. I could tell John was working harder than I was because I was doing most of the talking. He started asking me how many laps I wanted to do and I said, "as many as I can!". Not what he wanted to hear. He was hurting. We finished lap 4 and he was out of bottles. I tried to give him one of mine as I always make too many. He didn't look good and started cramping right then and there. I waited and tried talking him into going back out but he was done. We had 12 minutes before the cut-off so I went back out.

I rode conservatively on the sharp rocks but blasted everything else. The only exception was a little dip about 3/4 of the way through the loop. On each of my previous laps I had just about rolled my tire off the rim at this spot and I wanted to see why, so I stopped when I came to it. I guess it was just a combination of high speed and the sharp dip because it didn't look like much. I had to be at peace with it though, pay homage. If I didn't stop I knew I would have to ride back out there after the race and look at it. Turned out to be my 2nd fastest lap. I felt like I could have ridden 5 more. With the description I had in my head of the course before the race, I was surprised at how rocky it was. Looking at the lap times, we did our first 3 laps faster than all of the experts, with a SPORT rider setting the pace for the fastest time of the day.

John P rode his way back up to 3rd, Greg took 4th and Todd got 5th. My first win in a while, a long while. I'm glad Matthews raced as it made it a little sweeter. Obviously, Dwayne wasn't there. I guess he thinks his wedding anniversary is more important or something? Whatever :) He got a mondo ride in on Saturday so he didn't miss much.

C Punchor from Team Seagal clinched his series win on Sunday in the single speed class. Nicely done! Seen here wearing only his coveted"Kum n' Go" boxers, he promised he would make a fool of himself as a sign of respect to his absent competitors.



After the race, we feasted on some tasty BBQ and beer. Much wind was broken and we made the long trek back home, that was a huge day.

24 Hours of DINO

Funny how the Midwest seems to always get overlooked when people talk about the "best" mountain biking. Missouri has some awesome trails. Indiana will blow your mind with what they've done in the last few years. We rode some of the trails at Versailles State Park in the south east corner of the state. Even at 5 1/2 hours the drive would be worth making for a weekend getaway, all hwy. Brown County is another one I will be checking out in the next few months. The trails are narrow, fast and flowy.

This weekend Greg Ott, Todd Holtmann, Karen Holtmann and I went to race the 24 Hours of DINO-(Do INdiana Offroad). We left Friday morning hoping to get there, set up and pre-ride the course. We ran short on time and lap 1 of the race was our first look. It was the first race of its kind for them. This was my 4th 24 hour all in different states; Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin and Indiana. Indiana was the best course, by far.

The race started with a typical short run to the bikes. What was not so typical was the required removal of a critical bike part to be carried with you as you "ran" to your bike. Front wheel seemed the most simple to re-install and nearly all agreed with the exception of a few Cannondale "Lefty" owners that opted to pull their seatpost in lieu of their bolt-on-and-then-retighten-your-disc-brake front wheels. This time I truly didn't run at all, just walked and didn't "run" into any bottle necks on the trail. The other thing that worked well for me was riding as slow as I could on the first lap, my avg heart rate was 142, really low for me. Not going anaerobic kept me from ever having the slightest hint of cramps and after the horrible cramps I had at Binder Lake, that was a welcome change.

Now that I had the pace set and had a plan for nutrition, all I had to do was ride and so I did. The laps were clicking off one after another with little pit time. The key to this trail was only giving gas when you needed it. I figured out how fast I needed to go so I wouldn't have to brake through the corners and carry as much speed as possible. You wouldn't believe how efficient this can make you. It is possible to go faster, but with a ton more energy expended. Let it all hang out on the faster sections and chill on the climbs. Even with this strategy a small chainring was never needed. The climbs are well designed in that they follow the contours, instead of short and steep they were long and gradual. Here is a video of the "Cliffside Trail". We rode up this trail. In the video, which doesn't do it justice, they are riding down it. I wouldn't call it a cliff, but it sure made you pucker up and I saw quite a few folks walking sections of it. Much of this trail reminded me of Roller Coaster at Castlewood, some of it Colorado. The bench cutting much like Love at Castlewood.

Mechanically, the only issue I had all day with the bike was a pin-hole leak in my front tire. I thought for sure the sealant would take care of it and hit it with some CO2. Lasted about 2 minutes. I pulled the wheel off the bike, found the hole and let the sealant pool. It sealed up and I aired it back up, manually. It held for the rest of the lap and as soon as I got back I hit it with the floor pump to my normal pressure. Todd had warmed up some soup so I took a dinner break. Tire seemed fine when I got ready to go back out. I was amazed at how much light my new Cygo Trion light put out. It's a 600 lumen led with a self contained battery, no cords. I rode it on the lowest and the medium low settings with no issues. Lasted all night with one quick recharge at dinner and a full recharge when I took my long break.

After 12 laps I had nearly an hour on second place but was getting really sleepy. To me it wasn't worth making a big mistake and getting hurt so I took that break. If I had stuck to my plan of a one hour break I would have been right with 2nd and easily ridden ahead, but I hit "snooze" and it turned into two hours. I was able to make up 25 minutes on him but once it started raining I called it, again not worth it. My bike was clean, I was still clean and dry. The winner came in about 30 minutes after I finished 15 on his 16th lap and went back out. It took him forever to finish that lap and he was covered in mud from crashing, blood visibly pouring out from his knee. He wanted it. He and I both got plaques, his said 1st, mine 2nd-that's all. He had a pit crew of 4 that fed him on the bike, gave him lights at dark, took them back when it got light, we did EVERYTHING on our own. So his times are essentially ride time with only a few minutes of stopped time. I was consistently riding between 1:02 and 1:10 laps but pitting between every lap. My 15th lap was 1:04 ride time, his 1:27. His crew was also keeping him updated on the other soloists. I was told after my 14th lap that I was 20 minutes behind Tim Mack, he didn't go out on 15 so I was told I had won. They forgot to tell me Martin Sanders was ahead of me also. At that point I couldn't have caught him anyway.



Todd crashed hard and called it after 7 laps, still 91 miles! Greg rode a great race finishing 4th with 13 laps and Karen finished 2nd to a seasoned endurance racer and did it all on her single speed. 585 miles ridden between the four of us, pretty flippin cool! Best part is that I feel totally fine a day later. It was 4 days before I felt okay after Binder Lake. It would be nice to race an entire race and not have rain play a part. A little hard to decipher, but here are the DINO lap splits. Find a rider, laps are in the right column, total time in the left.

The course was 13 miles, but the Garmin only picked up between 11 and 12. I attribute this to how tight and twisty the trail was. To keep the file sizes smaller the Garmin only makes periodic updates and on an open trail or the road it is very accurate. Not sure why I didn't get elevation until lap 5 but oh well. Around 800ft per lap X 15 = 12000ft. Lap one includes the run and a lap around the pool area. I started my lap at the start line each lap. So my breaks show up at the end of the laps, conversely, they show up at the beginning of the laps on the DINO splits. Next time I think I'll start it at the beginning of the lap, hit lap at the end of the lap and hit lap again at the beginning. That way I'll have accurate lap and break times regardless of whether or not my bike is moving.

"Backside" Race

The 11th race in the MWFTCS took place in the back part of Castlewood State Park. With the main artery severed a year or so ago many people have quit riding back there. Here is some history for those of you that have never been there.

There was once a trail that passed through a narrow piece of land between the Meramec River and the Union Pacific rail line. Always thought to be Castlewood land we rode through without care. After a few heavy rains and floods the river began to carve away at this outside bend and trees disappeared along with massive amounts of real estate. Soon signs showed up posting "no trespassing" and "Union Pacific-private property". This was our trail! WTF. Turns out the railroad owns an easement which now was being encroached upon as the pathway moved up the bank closer to the rail bed. I'm sure they were becoming concerned someone would get hurt and sue them. Funny thing is, that river bank is going to need serious repairs soon and maybe now the burden will fall upon the railroad and not Castlewood. Now the only way to legally get to the back section of Castlewood is to drive around to the town of Sherman Beach, or ride 3 miles of the Al Foster trail in from Glencoe, not very convenient. Some have chosen to break the law and continue to cross the private land. Either way the trails still exist and get more use than I expected to see.



Back to the race. With the first cross race today and a GORC workday the same day, turn out was not huge. There were 86 racers, well below the MWFTCS average, compared to 43 at the MOBRA race in July at the same place. Saturday races are always tough because those who work at a bike shop are generally working. We had 10 in the Marathon class for about 15 minutes, and then there were 9. Bummer Barry! No, the head tube is not supposed to come apart from the top and down tubes.



My plan was to just "ride" this race. I went a little harder than I wanted to, but it felt good. My hardtail is out of commission right now so I rode my dual squishy bike. Good choice for the roughness, just a little tougher on the steep climbs of which there were three spots that gave me trouble. Dwayne, now back from Denmark, left us behind at a 120bpm heart rate I'm sure. Eric Schuck led our group with Todd Holtmann following closely and me buzzing Todd's wheel. Jeremy Bock was the snake in the grass, conserving, calculating, ready to strike. Didn't take long for Eric to back off. We were all still tired from the 6 hour solo effort from last weekend. Todd and I cruised a few laps and I could see Jeremy behind us on the last climb each lap. Todd had a small puncture and was spaying sealant so I told him so. He stopped to check it out and I never saw him again. Wasn't my intention! I guess it sealed up and he kept going. I held Jeremy off for a while but soon he turned it up as I was turning it down. We rode together for a while until we came up behind a slower group. He had the gas to get around one of them and then run up the hill around the rest of them. I had to pick my way through the group and by the time I had, he was gone.



At this time I reverted back to my original plan to "ride". I had a lap and a half to go so I just gave it what I had on the flats and simply completed the climbs. I held on to 3rd and made my entry fee +$10 back.

Now for the real story. At 9, my son raced his 2nd mountain bike race. We've just started riding off road and I think he's doing incredibly well. We went out Friday night to get a feel for the terrain and there were many sections he wouldn't ride. In the race he blazed through a few of these sections like a pro. The kids race was on a modified course in the more flat part of the full race course. They did 20 minutes plus finish the current lap. Adam made it in 29 seconds before the cut-off and went back out for a third lap. He had just passed another rider and now had a clear trail in front of him. One of the hills he just barely made it over earlier he now flew over in 6th gear, he only has 8 and it's the hardest. He almost made it up one of the really big and steep hills that I never thought he would have even tried. In this very diverse group of kids ranging from first timers to 12 year-olds on adult bikes he got 6th and didn't get lapped, awesome! Most importantly, he had fun.

Binder Lake

Great competition, great conditions(2nd lap on), great temps, great people. With all the rain the day before it was iffy as to what the race day would bring. We set up for our 2nd Binder Lake 6hr with the threat of rain looming ALL around us. It did end up raining a bit before the race, but no worse for the wear. I thought about actually trying to run at the start to get a better position, not possible. I still had to pass a ton of riders on the first lap.

All was going well, I was keeping Dan Miller and Mike Best in sight for the first 5 laps. It was on lap 6 that I met my fate. A T-shaped puncture right in the center of the tread of my rear tire. It sealed up once I let the sealant pool over the hole. I thought I was in luck and whipped out my inflator and hit it with a blast of CO2, out came all my sealant like a garden hose. Now it was time to buckle down and fix it. All told the attempt to re-inflate, the repair and the cramps that came after I remounted the bike, I lost over 13 minutes. Doug Davis, Zdenek and Eric Schuck all got by me in that order. I quickly caught Eric and finished the lap with him. I had to stop and get another tube, CO2 and bottle-Eric didn't stop. I caught and passed him 2/3 of the way through lap 8 but never saw Zdenek or DD. Other than fighting cramps the race went fine after the flat. I missed going out on a 10th lap by 2:18, 10 was my goal but I'll have to wait for next year.

Jeff Winkler, what do I say? He was within 2:37 of the Cameron Chambers and Travis Donn duo team and only 13:34 behind the duo team of Chris Ploch and Tom Albert, the overall winners! Keep in mind that he was less than half a lap behind after 6+ hours, riding by himself! Dan Miller of Columbia in 2nd, was smokin' with 10 laps in 6:18:09, beating last years winning time. Mike Best in 3rd also beat last year winning time after a sub-9 hour ride at the Leadville 100, you've got to see his gold belt buckle! DD taking 4th only 1:09 behind last years winning time. Jeff lapped Zdenek in 5th place! I came in 6th, which would have netted me 3rd last year only 56 seconds behind last years 2nd place. Needless to say this year was faster with a slightly slower trail surface, albiet much cooler temperatures. Christian Stitz and Todd Holtmann rode a very impressive race finishing 9 laps. Karen Holtmann won the solo women's race. Massive efforts were expended by all. The only thing I missed was one of those flaming hot pork steaks!

Results 2008

Results 2009

*EDIT* After a closer look at the results, I was in 4th before I flatted, moved back to 9th and then made my way back to 6th. So 5 riders made it by while I was changing my flat and I made it back by 3.

Cape

This course was not epic, it was not super rocky, it didn't have a ton of climbing, it was just 100% ridable fun.

Klaus Park, a new venue was a welcome change. While last year's race was still much fun this easily out did it. Nearly 100% shaded, a 3.3 mile loop of fast, narrow, twisty single track made for a tough race day. Brad Brown, Cape local, super racer was there and I knew would set the pace. Matt Ochs, also from Cape was looking fast and fit. Not a huge field but not an easy field either. I came down with Greg Ott, Jeremy Bock and Dave D'Alessio, all Marathoners. We set up a sweet spot to pick up bottles as we had no support and soon we were racing.

Brad led us out Matt in second, me, then Jeremy. Brad soon had a small gap. Matt and I stuck together for 3 and a half laps until I felt like upping the pace and passed. Within a minute I felt my rear tire getting soft. I stopped and could see no leak so I hit it with a blast of CO2. I could hear it leaking but couldn't get it to stop. I took off with hopes of making it back to our pit to get another wheel. I was flat with 200 meters to go. A not so quick wheel change and a fresh bottle and I was rolling again. Jeremy had burped his tire flat near the end of the 3rd lap and had to re-inflate it but came by me while I was fixing mine. No one else got by me.


Jeremy and I rode together for laps 5,6,and 7. On lap 8 I kicked it up a notch hoping to chase Matt down. 8 happened to be the lap Matt cracked on. He was riding such a good race. I passed him and could tell he was done. I only saw Brad on the freakishly winding sections that would play mind tricks on you. I started to watch my timer when I would see him and quickly figured out that he was 2-3 minutes ahead of me. Going into lap 11 I figured it would be my last, so I mentally "backed off". About half way through that lap I decided to go until I couldn't go. I pushed and pushed and soon started to wonder if I could make it out on a 12th lap. I made it with only 7 seconds remaining. Could have stopped and wouldn't have changed things, but what if Brad flatted or just fell apart? So I took off, no new bottle, just what I had. It soon became apparent that I wasn't catching Brad, but I was OK with that.

Brad had no mechanical issues that I know of. He just rode a clean race. Jeremy came in not far behind me on lap 11 for third place. John Peiffer got 4th in his first Marathon race, Nice! Greg wasn't feelin it and was lounging when I came through on one of my laps. John must have paid the photographer to take pics only of him!



























Dang it! let me get around this tree first!

Christine's gonna get you!

This is my good side! My legs are cramping...must get the shot.

Don't you love my shorts?

Niner Air 9 Carbon

I've been watching this one lately. Haven't heard much on the details. Post mount rear brake, internally routed shift housing, sub 3lbs. Might be BB30, a Cannondale pioneered press fit bb design that doesn't use bb cups but has an oversized spindle. A reduced "Q" factor, the width of your pedal stance, is possible with this design. I'd love to see a direct mount front derailleur.

Built up with Sram XX, I could do without the lettering on the American Classic wheels. Rear shift cable enters top tube on the non-drive side and is definitely internally routed, not sure on the front shifting. Pretty sure I can see a front derailleur clamp though.

12 seconds

Lost Valley was the setting for the second Team Seagal Non-Race, a night relay. The skies looked ominous and eventually opened up with a few light showers that only kept us from riding much before the "race". Instead we sat around and ate Nutty Bars. Jeremy Bock and I teamed up and he went first in the much appreciated non-lemans start to begin the 4.9 mile loop. While he was out on the first lap I had my first ice cold PBR, race fuel. Not to my surprise, he was the first one back in and off I went. It's tough going that hard with no warm up. I made it around and then Jeremy and then me on the final lap.

12 seconds. That is what separated our fastest and our slowest laps. Jeremy threw down a 18:58 and a 19:05, while the big assed boat anchor, I managed a 19:03 and a 19:10. We both deviated by 7 seconds from our first to our second laps. Greg Ott was the only other person to manage a sub 20 minute lap. I think all those who partook in inter-race PBR ingesting should get a time bonus, nah the PBR made me ride without care while fulfilling all my nutritional needs. Typical for me, I went too hard at the start of my first lap, then had to recover at the top of the climb. Went much easier on the second off the start then pushing the climb and maxing out on the gravel-much better. I got to go out on a "victory" lap with Gino and Nico at a much more preferable pace. I have to admit, I was hoping for a mandatory PBR chug at some point, would have needed more coolers.

1st - Team Big and Tasty (Mitch Johnson, Jeremy Bock) - 18:58/38:01/57:06/1:16:16
2nd - Rock Hard (Rock Wamsley, Dave Smith) - 21:15/42:33/1:04:04/1:24:29
3rd - Team Mullet (Brian Busken, Caleb Hulsey Chris Dial) - 21:37/44:51/1:06:03/1:28:12
4th - TC Man Men (Coach, Marshall Lawson) - 22:04/44:40/1:06:46/1:28:12
5th - Momentum (Jason Pryor Keith Weinkein) - 22:34/44:11/1:07:52/1:29:56
6th - T'aints of Steel (Mike Barro, Walter Davis) - 21:55/45:20/1:08:33/1:32:27
7th - Team Rockhounds (Jeff Powell, Steve Timm) - 24:12/46:12/1:08:58/1:33:33
8th - Bryan Adams, Steph Adams - 25:10/53:12/1:14:35/1:35:49
9th - 2 D00dz (Greg Ott, Jason Roberts) - 20:18/51:25/1:11:22/1:41:19
10th - Team Funhouse (Scott Lankford, Damon Moore) - 27:21/52:45/1:19:50/1:45:19
11th - Hub Bitches (Ron Clipp, Devin Clark, Andy Borger Chris Saxton) - 24:35/55:15/1:25:46/1:46:51
12th - Super Dave (Todd Hecht, Dave Dalasio) - 24:44/48:05/1:24:15/1:47:30
13th - Judd and Gino (Judd Myers, Gino Felino) - 30:43/57:54/1:24:45/1:49:00
14th - Nikko, Zach - 34:15/1:00:27/1:28:43/1:54:10
15th - Christopher, Margarette - 28:48/1:06:39/1:28:22/1:59:32

15 teams, some with 3 riders made the obvious choice as where to be on a beautiful Friday night.
Photos here courtesy of Mike Barro. Thanks to Mason, Craig, Gino, Coach,PBR and a bunch of other cool people. I think Caleb wet his cut-offs!

Ratpure In Missouri, uh Misery

Anyone else notice that my legs are a little bigger than Zach's? That's what I was thinking when I was watching him float up the climbs ahead of me.
My first RIM was a great one. If it hadn't rained I think Zach would have done 13 and pretty sure I would have done 12. Neither one of us knew the race had been called and were both planning on going back out. I made the mistake of not changing to my knobbys and slipped and slid around on my last lap. I crashed twice ripping all my 6 day old scabs free from the tender flesh underneath.


The proposed 12 hour race started with a WTF run up a steep, rocky wasteland. I walked. Conditions were great, not too hot, reasonably dry, dusty in spots. Not being a climber I think it's odd to say that the climbing didn't bother me. Perhaps it's directly proportional to the lack of speed I possessed while conquering said climbs. Other than pushing my heart rate higher than I wanted, they didn't affect me. I enjoyed every bit of this race course and only wish we could have had some fast, dry night laps.

The pit/camping area was superb. They weaved the course through the tents and the cheers were a plenty. All in all I was stoked with the way the race unfolded. Zach and I were close for the first four laps and then I had to take a few minutes to refuel, never saw him again. He is so smooth and consistent. With my present physique I just can't be in that crowd. Zach earned this one and I feel like I'm getting more in tune with my inner something. I think it's going to be a good year to Burn at the Bluff. We missed Dwyane but he'll be back soon.

We managed a 1,2,3 for St.Louis in the 12 hour overall. Todd Holtmann won his category which was good for third in the overall. Karen Holtmann won the women's 12 hour and Christine Ford won the women's 6 hour solo. Team Seagal was there in force snapping wrists up to the very last minute to clinch two podium spots. They had a cooler of PBR taunting everyone as they emerged from the woods nearing the end of the lap. Watching those guys and their gals lounging in those awesome chairs made it tough to keep chasing.

Nico in his street clothes when he should be in his effin riding stuff out on the course!