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.