July 2012 Blog Posts (5)

Somewhere past 8 hours, not able to read or figure out the split time board posted near the finish, I finally asked the time station where I sat against other 12 hour riders.  '15 minutes off..' 'she said. 'Back or ahead?' I asked. 'Behind...' she replied. I took off in hot pursuit after Justin Graves, who I thought held the lead position.

Early in the race, I held a strong lead for the first 5 hrs, enjoying the day and my brisk pace. Unlike the trying conditions at Tahoe Sierra, the…

Another fun local race. It is a bit of a shame that it didn't bring out more riders.  Although the cat 1 class had some of the regular strong riders, the rest of the field seemed to be lacking.

I started this race wondering if I had fully recovered from last week's TS 100. I had done a few rides since, none more than about an hour and a half, so I wasn't sure how I was gonna feel.

Off the start line and into the first section of dirt I settled into fifth place. By the time I…

So I decided to do it again, 100 miles from Soda Springs to Auburn.  Sizing up the competition on the start line, I thought, looks like I should be able to make the top ten. Then Tinker Juarez rolled up and I thought, well I'll be happy with a top 20 finish. Thankfully, Tinker didn't attract a large crew of pro endurance racers.  It actually seemed as though there were fewer pros this year.  Oh well if you can't run with the big dogs, you better stay on the porch, right?  There was no point…

Good ‘old timey’  mountain bike racing is what Jim the promoter promised. Still not quite sure what he meant. The course would cover 102 miles, point to point, climb nearly 16,000’ and descend close to 18,000’, following most of the Western States Trail route used during the equestrian Tevis Cup and foot endurance races. Shiloh and I would drive up two vehicles, leaving mine at the finish in Auburn and driving his and our bikes up to the start at Soda Springs, just off Donner…

Bad math?

198 miles + 20,300' worth of climbing + 8 High Sierra passes = FUN.

On the backside of Monitor Pass, somewhere into hour twelve, blasting down the smoothest wide open descent on the planet, clocking just over 50 mph, my bike began to wobble un-controllably. Squeezing the top tube between my thighs and pulsing the brakes couldn't stop the increasing oscillations from one end of the bike to the other. First thought: flat? Second: wheel tension gone? No matter. Stay…