Race write up from the High Cascades 100 @ Singletrack.com

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Wise decisions...

Earlier this summer I decided to skip the rest of the NUE races because I was getting a little burnt out on the format. As you might have seen from previous posts I decided to do the Intermontane Challenge stage race, but really wasn't sure what to do in August as the races planned were the NUE races. I thought about doing the Leadville 100 for a while but never got around to working my way into the event as it had been sold out for a long time. While I was in BC doing the stage race Chris told me about the High Cascades 100. I had to make a decision as I don't like doing 100 mile races on back to back weekends. I weighed the pros and cons of each race... here they are the Pros: High Cascades 100 - 75 miles of single track with a high point of 6700' The Cons: Leadville 100 - 100 miles of pavement or dirt road with an average elevation near 10,500'. The way I saw it, all the pros pointed toward Oregon and the High Cascades 100 and all the cons, well toward Leadville. Oregon here we come, with a few stops on the way to visit friends and family.

We arrived in Bend a few days before the race to do a little riding on the trails and float down the river(three days in a row). We also caught up with a bunch of old friends, went to an air show and watched a roller derby(go Lava City Smokin' Ashes !!!).

I signed up for the race the night before the went to the pre race meeting to get the scoop on the race. once I arrived I noticed a bit of the competition that I would be racing with... Sloane Anderson and Evan Plews who finished one spot ahead of me at the Intermontane Challenge. But I really had no idea what the SS competition would be like. I missed most of the meeting due to Ian being busy as usual. when it was done I asked a couple questions and took off to get a couple hours of sleep before the 3:00 a.m. wake up.

I arrived at the venue around 4:30 with an outside temperature around 32 degrees and dropping. By the time the race started the temp dropped to 30 and I found a little more competition, Chris Shepard the winner of the Intermontane Challenge.

I was on the starting line about 5 minutes early mostly because it was to cold to warm up. I was wearing arm warmers and a base layer!!! What's going on? I really wasn't complaining though, the cold was a nice change. 2 + hours into the race I was in 2nd overall behind Chris riding past this lake and my fingers were still cold.

While getting to the lake was a blast, what was to come in the next 10-15 miles did me in(for a while). There was a ton of little steep and loose climbs that I had to walk then a long and pretty steep climb where we topped out at about 6700'(frost all over the ground). After that was the lava rock descent that I had been hearing about. It wasn't any where near as rocky as I thought it was going to be, and I was able to go pretty fast! this is what did me in. while slipping between the cantaloupe sized rocks I managed to cut a side wall. I tried to put in a little air but it was bad enough to need to put in a tube as the Stan's couldn't plug a hole that big(the gash was about an inch long). I moved out of the trail, ate some Shot Bloks so I would have something to boot the tire, changed my tube, and got ready to air it up. Just then Evan comes by with someone else on his wheel, Great 2nd place to 4th in less than two minutes.

Get the air in and go!!! What? "Something is not right", the valve on my tube was bad and my tire was flat within 2 seconds of me taking my CO2 inflator off. What to do next, wait or walk? I chose to walk even though it was more than 10 miles to the aid station. I walked about 10 minutes before the next person caught up to me. It was about 20 minutes before I found a new tube(26"), a pump and got my bike working again. Thanks, Geoff Hubert of team Lost Coast for the CO2(more on that later). by that time I was in 12 place or so, not where I like to be so I went back out hard and caught 5 of them in the next 8 miles and was up to 7 place. On the descent after aid two I caught one guy who I had been following for about 20 minutes when he got a huge branch stuck between the crown of his fork and his tire and I caught Geoff a few minutes later who flatted and had the same problem as I, a bad tube and not enough CO2 I passed him a CO2 Niner (the only way to go for big wheels!) and I was off to catch the 5 people that were still in front of me.

Happy because there is nobody in front of me making dust!

The rest of the day was pretty lonely, 50+ miles by my self again. I never say another soul, except a few people that I was lapping. I kept hearing that someone was right in front of me but I never caught him. Unfortunately a couple became victim to course markings getting removed and were lost for a while, moving me to 3rd place overall when the day was done.

Single speed Podium.

Intermontane Challenge stage race

It's taken me 10 days to get the energy to write this report. Not because the race was that tough, but because I didn't know where to start. There were so many thing that were great about this race and so many more that were nowhere near great. there are two things I really want to talk about, The race itself and the organization of the race.

I really had a hard time deciding on weather to race the geared bike or the singlespeed. on one hand there was a lot of cash up for grabs but I really needed some "fun" tome on the SS. After we arrived in Kamloops, BC we looked at the race website and saw that the prize money was only for the overall win. So with Tinker, Jeremiah Bishop, Ben Sonntag, Chris Sheppard, Evan Plews and a few others on the starting list I was convinced to ride the SS.

The weather forecast for the week was HOT! and it was, Record heat for the whole week. I was dreading the heat but somehow after racing the Cowbell challenge earlier this year, even the 105 degree heat didn't seem so bad. Even with a 10:00 start and very little shade for the first couple days I never felt like I was baking in the sun except for a couple descents to the finish of the first couple days.

The first day started of with a 30 minute roll out through town before hitting the dirt and the start of the race. It was a great start for me and my Niner One9, a long steady climb with a few breaks that I could sit in a draft of the lead group. I made it to the first aid station just a few seconds behind the lead group, as I decided to do some huge wall rides descending into the aid station. After stopping to resupply I was back on it and caught the back end of the lead group on a couple of steep climbs. Unfortunately not to long after that we came to a long steep climb where I had to walk and I lost some serious time to the lead group and was caught by a few others. I rode by myself for most of that day through sage brush covered hills on some pretty steep single track and a bit too much fire road. I roll into the finish in 8th place to find something more races need to have. It was great they had a huge tub of cold water to dip yourself in, It got pretty muddy later in the day even with a hose running constantly. I guess that was a little extra motivation to finish fast. Being a first year event, there were a lot of thing that went wrong this day, poor course markings not enough water stations for the heat and not enough single track. In fact I think most people out of the top 15 got lost the first day.

Day two was very similar to day one except the steep hill that tore me apart for the front group was about a mile from the start. I chased all day trying to catch them with no good luck and a little bad luck. Even with a much better marked course I missed a turn and lost about 5 minutes. I finished the day 7th and moved up one place in the overall.

Day three was where this race was bitter sweet for me. It was probably the best day of racing I have ever had! Unfortunately the promoter lead part of the main group off course as the "lead moto", and felt bad so he neutralized the day. No time gains or losses for anybody, except Jeremiah Bishop who crashed and was knocked out of the race. I had never raced like that before, so aggressively. I was riding with the guy that was one place in the overall behind me, he was attacking on the flats and I was attacking on the hills. This went on for about 45 kilometers, I was and still am amazed at the power and endurance I had after two long days in the heat. We were together all the way to the finish, where he out sprinted my 33x20 gearing. this day changed the way I race! Everyone moved up one place in the overall, and I was in 6th.

Day four was the Longest day and for most of the lead men it was very hard to motivate and nobody wanted to push the pace or even ride hard. the lead group of 5 were talking and just cruising along, we even waited for Evan to tighten a loose water bottle cage. while soft pedaling the leaders in the pro women's class caught us and beat us to the first aid station.

After the first aid station where I stopped and nobody else did, I chased and made it back to the lead group which was starting to distance themselves from the rest of the followers. After that I rode by myself for about 50K to the finish except the last bit with Peter who ended up 5th overall, riding a Niner Jet9. Peter thanks for the pulls on the last flat sections!!! This day took it's toll on a couple riders in the running for the overall win. Ben Sonntag crashed out and is still suffering from a severe concussion, and Tinker missed a turn and ended up way out of the way and hitched a ride back. I moved up 2 more spots to 4th place overall.

Another thing that happened on day 4 I have to mention. A racer Chris Shepard, who was in the overall lead came upon Ben who was unconcius, and stopped to check in on him. he ended up waiting for over a half an hour with until help got there. Even with $10,000 on the line he waited, telling all others, even Ben's teammates to keep going. That is why I love this sport! there are some great people in this world, most of them are mountain bikers.

Day five brought the best trails of the week during a 30K time trial. I was just out for fun, trying to enjoy some fun descents and finish the race. It was almost impossible for my overall position to change,I had over an hour cushion to 5th and would have to make up more than 15 minutes on 3rd. I ended up riding with Peter again, we had a blast and had someone to listen to our bitching. a Win, Win situation.

So a quick summary, I like stage racing, I will do more! Mountain bikers are great people! if you want to run a big event, get some experience first and know who you are serving. I would really like to thank Thule Racks for their support getting to and racing this event.

I've had enough typing, I'll come back to this subject later.

A weekend of of surprises!

Going into the XC nationals I thought I had a pretty good chance of winning. Only to find out on my way to the race there were some ringers showing up so I decides to just go for a top 10 finish. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t going to give up on winning I was just trying to be a little more realistic. The course was pretty fun with some good technical sections and good climbs. There were a couple parts of the course that could have been better, the first was the start, about an 18% grade with no time to get momentum (this is also where the feed zone was). Second was the final descent, at least 2 miles of trail that was “built” in the week(s) leading up to the race by riders following flags through the woods. Needless to say every time you rode the “trail” it was different, and the holes and moon dust were deeper.

The race started off slower than I had expected, except for Jake and Dejay going off the front. I was able to get in the lead group and cruse with the four others all the way to the top of the first lap. From there things got spread out and I stayed in fourth or fifth place the rest of the day, finishing in 5^th. I missed out on the win by about 5 minutes but at least 3 of the 4 in front of me were Pros. So I feel pretty good with A 5^TH place finish.

After the race I turn my lack of focus to the short track race that will happen on Sunday(if they have a course ready). Nobody knew what the course would be when I asked around on Saturday. It turns out they had a 200 yard trail they were using then they taped off the rest of the course through the sage brush and a grassy ski slope.

I showed up at the start line 10 minutes before the 10:45 start time only to find out that my age group had been pushed back to 11:30. SO MUCH FOR WARMING UP… thanks USA Cycling. I sat around for a while and talked to some folks and watched a couple other races, then decided to head over to the course to try and do another lap before the race started only to hear over the loud speaker: “the course is closed until we say it is open!”. So I waited, watching the starting line. Then all of the sudden with no announcement that the “course was open” the start line was three deep and I was the only one not there. Well the plan for the day was to get a great fast workout, and I had my work cut out for me. Instead of trying to work my way into the group I decided to line up 15 feet behind the group and wait for a hole to open up.

The gun went off and I was already rolling, it took less than 50 meters for the hole to open. I had a clear shot up the grass next to the single track as all the people on 26” wheels were scared move off the groomed path. At the top of the climb I had moved from off the back to about 8^th position, and was feeling good. Each of the next three laps I picked off a couple people on the climb then recovered on the descent. Once I caught the leader I sat on his wheel for about a lap then made my move with two laps togo. He couldn’t respond to my pace up the hill and I never saw him again rolling across the finish line for and easy win and my third national title. So I have now won the 100 national series, the marathon and Short track. Kind of a weird combo, I always though it would be tough to win a XC championship. I never even thought I would be anywhere near the front of a short track race.

Where in the World

Brief run down of what has been going on and what is coming up.

The firecracker 50, Marathon Nationals, were a week and a half ago. it was an OK race but the altitude got the best of me. I didn't expect to win the Pro race as I am only an armature according to USA cycling, But I gave it my best shot. I ended up 17Th, which I guess is pretty good for the national championships. I can't wait until they move the Marathon Nationals to a manageable elevation(XC nationals too).

We took a week down in Fort Collins and Boulder to ride and check out the area as we think we are going to settle in CO sometime this winter. There is a ton of great riding in Fort Collins and housing costs are fairly reasonable right now. I hear there is good Sushi there too, I have to check that out next week.

Right now I am up in Granby, CO for the XC nationals. it should be an interesting race... It could go so many ways. the trails are pretty fun, at least the ones that are more than a couple weeks old! the "NEW!" descent at the end of the lap changes every few riders, we'll just say there will be a lot of moon dust and breaking holes on that "trail", on the bright side it almost has a flow... but not really. USA Cycling if you read this: Why in the world are the national championships being held on a trail that was built by people pre-riding(pre-building) the course in the weeks leading up to the event. Why not hold it on an established trail system, or build it far in advance. I really think it's unfair that we have to pay good money to race a trail we have to build...

So, there is my soap box, if you can't tell I'm a little burnt on the races I've done lately. At least let us make some money if we are riding "spectator friendly race courses" or why don't we make racer and spectator friendly courses...

I've decided not to do the rest of the NUE, to much driving for too little payback on OK race courses. Hopefully after racing in Canada for 5 days of sweet singletrack I will be re energized.

Picture of the sunsets we were treated to in Breckenridge.

Fire now ice

The Cowbell is over and the fire is out. I got off the bus in Breckenridge a few days ago, and with in an hour of riding I found myself in the snow. I almost went into shock, late June and I was cold going up a climb. It was nice.

I met up with Josh Tostado a couple days ago and he showed me around a little bit. He led me down some one of the best descents of my life! it seemed like it went on all day long ant it had everything from rocky rough terrain to as fast as you want to go flowing singletrack. It was so good I had to go back the next day and do it again.

Rebecca TomaWiki and I headed out first thing in the morning @ 12:45, for this second run. I wanted to skip the big climb that Josh and I did and just do the fast section. Unable to find the trail we climbed an extra 1000+ feet of fire road before we turned around and found the trail.

after some fun trail and another 20+ minute climb I crested the top and began to roll the descent. the first time I touched my brakes there was a terrible noise coming from my rear brake. Instantly I had a feeling what is was, and I was right. I folded the return spring on my rear brake pads and it was rubbing on the rotor.

With only a mini tool, I was worried that I would not be able to get the brake to work correctly and have to run the descent with only one brake. totally possible to do, but nowhere near as fun. I was once again blessed with good karma(thanks Eddie) and with in two minutes, the only mountain bikers we saw on the ride passed by and one of them had a Leatherman with pliers. I was able to bend it back into place. I was back and rolling in less than 6 minutes!!!

Some of the views and wiki wiki.