Lumberjack 100

I heard this one was going to sell out fast and some friends from here were going to do it, so I signed up on a whim. It was going to be a stretch as I was the leader for my son's week long summer camp out the week prior and I'm putting on my own race the next week.

My son and I geared up. When you are the "leader", you really gear up. Funny, me, a leader. Anyway, you have to bring all the stuff to keep your pack going all week long. We packed well and I think did just fine. They provide only open bottom canvas tents and cots. After chasing seven 10 year-olds around all week I wasn't sure I'd even be able to finish a 100 mile mountain bike race.

Todd and Karen Holtmann, Dwayne and myself headed out Thursday night for Manistee, MI. We drove until about 2 am and got a hotel room. Got up the next morning, ate at Denny's and finished the drive. We checked into our hotel in Manistee and then raced out to do a little Lumberjack recon. As soon as we got there we could see the masses had already been there. Canopies everywhere. We found a primo spot for ours, claimed it and then set out for a "12-15 mile" pre-ride. See the problem with that was Dwayne and I haven't been able to ride together much this year. We all took one bottle knowing that we wouldn't need any more than that for a "12-15 mile" pre-ride. The four of us started up a gradual but long climb at a nice pace. It wasn't long and another group caught us. I let them by. I looked up and Dwayne was up there right in the middle of their group buzzing one of the leaders' wheel. Dammit! I sped up and quickly Todd and Karen were no longer with us. We figured they would just turn around when they were ready to. Dwayne and I backed off and let the testosterone crew go ahead. I was leading now and we were just chatting. Soon we caught one of the guys they had dropped. Not long after that I rode through their group while they were waiting for their buddy. I kept a reasonable pace but the trail just started flowing and soon I was ripping it! Long story short, I stopped and waited for them on some double track and we all rode together, minus Todd and Karen. They had the sense to turn back by now.

We stopped when the course left the double track back to single track and talked for a while. The other group knew their way around and said they were going back. I wanted to see a little more so I suggested we skip the section of trail in front of us and ride a little more in another area. I didn't give Dwayne much of a chance to say no and took off. It became apparent about 1/2 hour later to me that we were out there and I had a feeling that we had passed the point of no return. Dwayne wasn't sure where we were and of course we didn't bring a map. We pressed on and soon came to the aid station which was at the 17 mile mark on the course. Good thing because I was out of water and filled up. Again, long story short. Us two smarties ended up riding the entire loop minus about 200ft! Like I said, we haven't ridden together much and it's just in our blood.

Race time now. We started the race about 2 miles up the road and then completed 3 thirty-something mile loops. It was cool at 7am and I actually felt much better after the previous day's ride. I started out about mid pack, Dwayne closer to the front. I was planning on racing my own race which is what I did. Back off at the beginning to get good and warmed up and capitalize when the terrain better suited me. Very few riders passed me and I passed tons on the first lap. Parts of the trail flowed and were awesome, others made you say,"what the hell, who would build a trail like this?" They ride snowmobiles in the winter as well as cross country ski, so bikes seem to be the bastard of the user groups. One section just flowed around a falling ridge for a long time, all bench cut and fast. It made one switchback, headed back the other way only to turn the corner and go straight up the hill side, ruts and all. Even with gears I walked one section the first lap, a few more the second and even a few more the third.

So first lap went well. I hit my lap button as I crossed the timing line at 2:40. My goal without the 2 mile lead out was 3 hours, so all was good. Grabbed two new bottles and took off in a lot less traffic. I felt like I was going much faster as I could hold more momentum and clear the steep stuff much better. At about the 10 mile mark I noticed my front tire going low. I really had to pee so I stopped, couldn't find a leak so I hit it with some CO2 and took off. The rest of lap 2 was good. I ate 1/2 of a pb&j, some pretzels and some banana at the aid station. When I pitted to get new bottles I used my floor pump to make sure I had good pressure. It was a little low but I wasn't concerned.

At almost the exact same spot as lap 2 I had to add air on lap 3. Here is where it started to bum me out. I felt I had made the right decision up until now. Adding CO2 only takes a minute. From this point on lap 3 until the end I had to stop 7 more times to inflate my tire. If the course didn't beg for me to push the corners and hit the dips hard to make it up the next climb I would have nursed it back. I remembered the course well enough that I would ride it until I came to a section where I could really fly and add air there to make it as long as I could. Would I have been better off just putting a tube in? Maybe. I'm okay with the decision I made and would do it again. I just got lucky that my seat bag was noisy on the pre-ride so I stuffed 2 more CO2's in it to keep it quiet, used them all. I figure I lost about 10 of the 17 minutes that I wasn't riding to my tire troubles. I'm not 100% sure but I think the tape sealing up my rim is leaking. I just haven't had second one to do any work on my bikes, so it's my own fault.

Doug Davis rode like a champ and finished in 8:00:31. Mike Best was about 8 minutes behind him. Dwayne came in a little over 8:15 and I finished a little over 8:20. My goal was 9 hours. I was tired but never cramped and after an hour or so I felt fine. Todd finished on a bastard bike that he had never ridden in 9:44 and Karen who normally rides a single speed finished on her 1X9 set up in 11:39, her first 100 miler. No one from this area quit. 199 started in my class, 155 finished and I placed 39th. I would recommend this race to anyone wanting to attempt a 100 miler. Just as a comparison, a racer from Chillicothe, MO-Mitch Bernskoetter did it two years ago in 12:17, last year in 11:08 and this year in 9:19, so I think Karen should be stoked. It's cool to see such improvements as people start to figure things out.

I have been finding that when doing really long stuff on tight trails that the Garmin tends to miss some points and usually you wouldn't notice it. But when riding for 8 hours you can really see the lost distance. So I don't really know how long the loop or the race was for that matter.

Here is a video that has Dwayne and Doug Davis in it a lot. It's not everyday that you run across stop signs out in the middle of the woods on single track!

MFXC, a Seagal non-race

If you weren't there, then shame on you! All you had to do was follow a few basic rules and show up for the fun. I ended up mailing my post card to register for the free non-race from Washington D.C. As much of my life has been this year, I just didn't have time before our vacation to even think about it. Soon we were getting secret updates and yes, there were custom shirts to be had.

The day finally came. The feeling was much like the days before x-mas when you were a kid, couldn't sleep, couldn't think about much else. I traveled down with Karen and Todd Holtmann on a hot and finally rain free day.

The course was a touch of Council Bluff, the Tellock connector, a short stint on the South Trace section of the Ozark Trail, most of the Middlefork section of the OT, about 10 miles of gravel and finished off with a couple miles back up Middlefork to end in a different place than you started. It started off with a short run and then directly into singletrack. I trotted and went in behind about 10 other riders of the 30+ riders there that day. Flats were not unheard of, bonking was prominent and man was it hot!

All was going well, I had worked my way up to 3rd place but the heat was taking it's toll. One rider, a more disciplined rider, took advantage of my poor heat management skillz and passed me on the one short asphalt section. That rider was Jeff Yielding. He proceeded to put almost 6 minutes into me in the last 40 minutes. If the race had been 10 minutes longer, Larry Koester would have had me too. I was done. I had a cold PBR and relaxed for a few before riding back to get the car. I still felt really bad for quite a while, that is until I had two moar PBRs. Matt James tore it up for the overall win. Dan Fuhrmann claimed second on a single speed.

Hats off to Team Seagal. Other than a bunch of fun for us they gained nothing from putting on this event. Jim Davis, Mason Storm and many others did lots of work to the trails. THANK YOU!

Syllamo got its Revenge, again.

What is it with this weekend and the weather? Greg, Jeremy and I headed down Friday morning exactly as we had last year only this year we didn't drive through the tornado, it waited until we got down there and set up camp to show its face. We had to take shelter in the bathrooms at the campground after the sheriff came through with sirens blazing scaring the crap out of everyone. We of course took to the women's bathroom. I'm not as dumb as I look. Crowd into the stinky men's bathroom or bring a chair and make yourself comfortable in the less stinky women's. After about an hour with only some light rain we headed back to our campsite and hung out for the evening. By the time we went to bed, there was only some rogue lightening and the rain had stopped.

I was feeling much better the week prior this year unlike last year's head and chest cold filled week. We had at least ridden the course once this time so had a basic idea of what to expect. I gave in to the idea that whatever you race on at Syllamo will take a beating and brought my Niner MCR with heavier and less expensive stuff on it. I would say the conditions were much better this year although I still had a healthy dose of chainsuck and was forced to ride 90% of the race in my bigger ring. Because more sunlight reaches the forest floor after all the trees fell last year, it seemed much more overgrown. If that was all I had to deal with I would have been as happy as a lark. I made it a whole 8.35 miles before I had my first flat, a 5/8" slice in the sidewall of my front tire. I took my place in the woods with a half dozen other riders fixing the exact same type of flat. After making a custom tire boot, adding a tube and inflating-all while fighting off hundreds of mosquitoes, I watched Matt Grothoff come sailing to a stop as the last bit of air left his now lifeless tire. I rolled my eyes and started down the trail wondering how the rest of this day would treat me. By now I had been dealing with chainsuck for a while, lost my glasses and was down a tube, but still having fun.

This time I got to mile 13.14 before I had flat #2. I pulled over because the leaking air that was clearly exiting from my rear tire this time, only it was a slower leak. I hoped I could get the sealant to take care of it. Once I stopped and looked at it I noticed the sealant in three different spots, WHAT THE HELL? Seems I pinched my tire, on what I couldn't tell you as I felt no rim strikes. A hole at the rim on both sides of the tire at the bead and one more in the tread. I didn't mess around and went into fix-a-flat mode. At least I didn't have to boot the tire this time. I was leap frogging Mason Storm and a few others so they were now hazing me and wondering what tires not to buy that I was riding. Seriously thought about pulling the plug, wasn't even at the first checkpoint yet and could make an easy return to the campground-after all, I had no more tubes, only a patch kit. It wasn't long and I was at the checkpoint and without thinking, headed back out to ride the green loop. I would return to this same point, hopefully, about a half hour later so I could reevaluate my status then.

I started up the small gravel climb to start the single track and saw Stuart Munson. Haven't talked to him in years. It was awesome to see him back on a mtb and of all the races to come back to! I went by him but would see him again, several times. Green loop went okay and so I filled my bottles and took off on one of the more "out there" sections of the trail, the blue loop. Managing to get just past the 20 mile mark, I succumbed to my 3rd flat. It was almost funny now......not really. Having only patches I found the hole, oops, holes in my limp tube-pinch flat! Patched to two holes and let the glue dry as long as I could stand it, it wasn't long enough. Aired it up and by the time I could get my head straight I could tell it was leaking. Lucky for me Keith Weinkein had stopped to make sure I was okay. When he could see my fix wasn't fixing he offered me a tube and a co2. I felt bad about taking his stuff but the prospect of a long walk wasn't very appealing, so I did. What a life saver, THANKS! For some reason I don't know why, I didn't use the co2 and gave it about 280 pumps with my tiny hand pump. Before that 30 minute dual flat fix I had been yo-yoing back and forth with Ryan from the BTEpic and he really got me thinking about bailing but after someone giving me another chance, I couldn't. Off I went, trying to ride carefully I was still picking off riders one by one.

I got into a nice groove and was having fun, starting to catch people that had been ahead of me the entire race like Greg Ott. Passed right through the check point on the blue loop and fought my way over the climb and back down to Hwy 5 for the second time. A few minutes after crossing the small river, which was much lower than last year, marks the start of the longest climb in the race. Still only able to use my big ring I marched up it, dismounting more than I wanted to. Finally caught Keith and felt bad about passing him, but he was having his own race. Saw Stuart for the last time just before we came out on the double track that leads you to the top. That last push sucked. I tried one more time to use my small ring and didn't make it two pedal strokes before it locked up-big ring it was. I knew that once you peaked and came to a gravel road, it was a much "easier" road ahead. At least now the miles were clicking off relatively fast. After a few grunts I made my way to the check point at the start of the red loop. Filled up my bottles again, lubed my chain and took off.

I had a hard time on the red loop last year because I was cramping so badly. This year I was feeling pretty fresh and it was flowing nicely. It's easy to think of the red loop as the "fast, or easy" section of the race but it's still 1/4 of the total miles so it seems to last forever. Everything was going fine until I rounded a corner and my back tire rolled due to low pressure. I stopped and aired it up once but it wasn't long and I knew it was done. No tubes and no one around I started running, or trotting, or walking. I had passed Pete Goode a few minutes earlier and soon he came rolling around the corner. Not to my surprise he was immediately offering up one of his spare tubes to me and I graciously accepted. He asked if I needed anything else and I said no. I found no thorns or anything in the tire and proceeded to finish the fix with a few pumps from the mini pump. No dice! Pete had given me a super light tube and the valve stem was very short and had no threads. Boy was I glad that I hadn't used that co2 that Keith had given me earlier. Emptied that thing into my tire and figured I would make due with whatever pressure I had.

Not long before finishing the red loop there was a tree across the trail that you could ride under if you saw it and ducked down, I didn't see it. I ran into that thing full speed and have no idea how it didn't knock me out or at least throw me off my bike. I paused for a few seconds, looked at that tree and carried on. Got my last mark at the final check point and took off down the remaining yellow trail. That red loop took me 1:30 last year, this year with some running and a flat I did it in 1:22. Only a few short ups to lead me back to the last mile down to the campground. Went by our campsite and saw Jeremy already clean in street clothes. Still feeling strong I was flying. I passed three more riders attempting to sprint, I felt bad but I was just riding. 6:37, 28 minutes slower than last year in better conditions. My ride time was 1:05 less than my race time and I'm sure I was walking for 10ish minutes, so I feel good about that. 5 flats for me, Dwayne ended up having 4 and finishing 20 minutes ahead of me. 60 people beat me, 127 finished after me. Wohoo! Top third! Jeremy ended up 6th overall and being in the most competitive class, 4th in 30-39, so no prize, no anything. I really think the top ten should be recognized as they do in every other epic style event.

We ate some awesome spaghetti, cleaned up and were home by 10pm. Thanks to Keith and Pete, I would still be out there if not for you guys! One of these years I will get my revenge on Syllamo!

Bone Bender 2010

I know, I know, it's been a while. A few things, I've been busy and haven't had much to write about. Did a fair amount of riding this winter the least of which was on the mountain bike. The inevitable always seems to happen though, as my riding took a back seat to life right around the beginning of March. I still managed some good rides, but couldn't get back on track. That brings me to this past weekend.

After the conditions last year at the Bone Bender 6 hour I told myself that unless it was very dry, I wouldn't be going. Dry conditions in the weeks prior made Smithville Lake's trails fast and loads of fun. The weather could not have been better so off we went. Made it up early enough on Saturday to get an easy lap in and hang out with friends before making our way back to our hotel.

When we pulled up more than an hour and a half before the start I couldn't believe the amount of people already there. We found a spot to park and got ourselves registered. In no time at all it was time to line our bikes up for the run. This was my biggest mistake of the day. By taking my usual laxed approach in the run and not-so aggressive style of passing, I found myself waiting for 30+ riders to funnel into the first section of single track and for much of the first lap, waiting at nearly every turn. The leaders, my competition, were gone. With nothing in your way, a 55- 58 minute lap was very feasible. My first lap was 1:08. I found myself riding with Brian Busken and soon we caught Christian Stitz which was cool. At that point I wasn't too worried about who was in front of me or how fast we were going, just staying smooth and yakin' it up. 2nd lap with a short pit was just over 59 minutes, big difference!

My goal with this race was to get through my first event of the year without bonking, to get back in the mtb groove and just ride consistently. Excluding my first lap with all the traffic, I managed to complete five more with a time difference of only 3:40 between slowest and fastest laps. VERY happy with that. Never cramped and managed to easily stay in the bigger of my two chainrings, the 39t on my new XX cranks. I also didn't need the largest cog at all, so the speed was high. I will say that despite this course not having any extended climbs, it was still a tough six hours in the saddle. What is different about a trail like this is that to go fast and keep going fast-you must push, push, push all the time. Almost no place to rest, drink, eat or stretch. There was one new section added to this year's race and I thought it was the most technical section of the race, I loved it. A very narrow, off camber rocky trail with little room for mistakes. A few notable drops along with a few "squeezes", this section was littered with rock and a few roots. One drop off in particular drew a crowd for the first four laps and I witnessed a few good enders.

I was never passed and passed many, but the best part was riding with different people I know. There were about 95 six hour soloists and I managed to take 8th out of this bunch. A cool 11th overall, including the 18 six hour teams was very surprising. Broken down into age groups, I placed 4th in the 35-49 category. With so many racers on such a long course, it was tough to tell where anyone was. The one thing I will say is that I didn't get lapped by Jeff Winkler. He came in second overall to Cameron Chambers and Travis Donn, a very strong Duo team. Otherwise he could have claimed the overall victory. Cameron and Travis beat Jeff by 8:10, that's it!

This race kicked off the season for many including me and I hope to keep things rolling now. Oh, thanks to Jim Davis for the 4th lap beer hand up, it hit the spot!
Here is a link to my race on Garmin Connect. Lots of new info on there and I managed to get all the laps recorded in the "splits". Syllamo's Revenge, here we come!

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.