Survived a Coyote Attack

Well, I’ve been a little slacking on the updates here, but before I get too far into the hole I guess I should lay down what I’ve been up to recently.

The NM Off Road Series (NMORS) which is sanctioned under the USAC/NORBA umbrella had its kick-off event in the wonderful town of El Paso. TX.

What, you may ask? Texas isn’t New Mexico, and believe me, we KNOW that!!! But in the spirit of comraderie with it’s sister city of Las Cruses, the NMORS allowed the boys down there to put on a race in the series.

The event took place on March 30th and was called the Coyote Challenge. Well what a challenge it was. The course was setup on the trails at the Franklin Mountain Park just north of El Paso. It wound through 9.5 miles of beautiful desert landscape complete with arroyos, cactus, dry creek beds and ledgey canyon faces. It’s the kind of terrain that makes Southwestern Mountain Biking so enjoyable.

Now the Expert Class would be expected to do 3 laps around this little torture track. With the start being a little longer to spread folks out, it would come out to 30 miles more or less.
The terrain there is some really pretty foothills that run right up into the mountains but it is rocky. Most of the trail was littered with loose baby head rocks and it was tough to get any type of rhythm going. The climbs were loose and just wasted your legs if you went at them too hard. Bottom line is it was about the toughest 30 miles of racing I’ve ever done.

So how’d I do? Well I finished!!! And that is saying something. But to be honest I was what is called in race parlance the DFL Expert. DFL is an acronym for Dead Freakin’ Last and I will be the first to admit my performance wasn’t steller. As I commented to my teammates, I’m not sure I’m an Expert Level Racer yet, but I did complete an Expert Level Race.

Now for those not too familiar with USAC race catagories, understand that “Expert” class is one step below the Pros. “Sport” class did two laps out there and if you look at my split times here you’d see I would have finish 4th in the 50+ Sport class out of 12 racers.

So I am a decent “Sport” racer. But the bottom line is not many Sports want to race Expert because it is so grueling. My attitude is that which doesn’t kill ya just makes ya more ornery. So I’m racing Expert and loving it.

Now before you take this too deep to heart, understand that one of my mottos is that "half the battle is just showing up, and the other half is finishing." So even though I was slow compared to the other Experts, I gutted out the race and ended up “snagging” 2nd place points in the 50+ Expert Class. I was in effect on the podium.

How so? Well there were only 3 people racing 50+ Expert and although I was more than an hour behind the 1st place guy in my class, the other guy DNF’d. So hey, I rolled into second place in the overall points so far in the series.

Like I said, many times it isn’t the fastest rider that gets the prize. It’s the one who keeps the cranks turning, doesn’t do anything real stupid and works hard to finish. I have no illusions as to where my little run in the Expert class will end, but for now I have some point padding going into the next rounds, and if I keep showing up and keep finishing, ya never know how it will end up.

So don’t give up out there, even if you are DFL!!!

Tiny little circles...

Well, I've been working on something now for a while during my commutes and it seems to be taking hold. I always wondered how the roadies and cross folks could generate so much power and maintain it for so long. It's that "cadence with power" thing I've been alluding to. I kinda had an inkling of what was up, but I've really begun to feel it.

You see most of us "riders" only use half our power. We are what some people call "mashers". Now I always thought a masher was someone who got out of the saddle and hammered away on the cranks. Kinda like the Single Speed folks. And I though "spinners" were people who sat on the seat and just spun, spun, spun. And maybe that is a proper definition.

But I think another definition of a masher might be someone who only presses down on their pedals. Never pulls up. Whereas a spinner is someone who rotates their foot through out the crank rotation. I think anyone who rides a bike appreciates that power is developed by not only pushing down with one foot, but pulling up with the other. Basically doubling your power output.

Now before you go "Well no dah Doug", hear me out on this. I always knew that was the case, but how much do you really work at it. If you're like me, you might catch youself at times thinking you need to be doing it, but after about 5-10 minutes, you pretty much forget about it. Yeah, maybe you're 50-60% efficient at doing it, but do you always do it?

What I'm getting at is learning to spin tiny circles or as the roadies would say "float the pedals" takes muscle memory training. It's one thing to say to yourself you need to do it, but it's another to have your legs do it sub-conciously. Like I said, it takes training!!!

I've been really focusing on my commutes to make sure that I am pulling and pushing, pushing and pulling all the time. Turning tiny circles, and yanno, after a while I have begun to feel some action in muscles I obviously don't use much, considering they get sore. It's mostly in the back of the Quads during the pull up and extends into the Glutes. It's a different kind of muscle sensation than I'm use to and it's obvious to me as I ride that I don't use them as effectively as I should.

As I've continued to work with this, I've felt my cadence change a bit. It's obviously become more powerful but it's also become more of an ingrained stroke. I'm going to continue to work with this and I'll let ya know how it evolves, but I really do believe that you can become a lazy rider if you don't focus on your pedaling form or stroke. Road riding gives you the opportunity to do that, and when you take it to the dirt, that's when the magic happens.

Good luck out there...

Commuter Training

Yanno, some of the toughest racers around are commuters. Commuting to work (or any place for that matter) has many advantages. It allows you to get lots of miles in doing something you would normally do anyway, it compresses your training schedule so you have some free time, it saves gas and thereby hopefully helps a wee bit with the global impacts of fossile fuels and it usually involves road miles.

Now as I alluded to in my Cyclocross piece, if you want to be a solid moutain biker, get a road bike, or better yet a Cross Bike. Most high level racers know that tons of road miles will make you faster in the dirt. Again it's the whole "cadence with power" thing.

Having a Cross bike means you can race Cross in the fall and get the training associated with that. Plus they tend to be a little more robust in their build and hold up well under the demands of commuting. My Cross bike (a Lightspeed Appalachian) is actually a touring frame that is pretty well regarded in Cross circles as a solid bike if not a bit of a vintage design. But it is Ti and it rides damn smooth. At about 20lbs it is heavy by road bike standards but that extra weight will make ya stronger. So it's all good!!!

I've been commuting to work now for about a month and I'm actually pretty fortunate. You see you can't really pick your commute. The type of training you get from your commute is based on where you live and where you work. Yeah, you can route your commute to get a specific workout, but if you just want to ride back and forth to work, well you're kinda stuck with the route you got.

My route is pretty cool. It covers 13 miles one way or 26 miles round trip. Thats a pretty good bit of distance to pound in one day for training. It covers about 1900' of elevation, which is also a nice bit of climbing to work around. It has flats to work on power or speed intervals and the climbs are gradual enough to really gear up and work out of the saddle.

But the thing that is really cool is in the morning it's more of a downhill ride, which makes it fast and I don't work up too much of a sweat. There's a few hills to keep it interesting but it's pretty straight forward. Now on the way home it's more of an uphill run which allows me to get in some good interval sessions.

There are some busy streets and intersections I need to negotiate but generally it's what I would call a fairly safe route. In fact almost a 1/4 of it is on an Albuquerque City bike path which is really nice. Now I wouldn't call it pretty, but I'll talk about "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" in another post. For now here's my GPS map. Like I said, a great way to get my training in and I'm helping to reduce my carbon foot print to boot. So commute to work and get the benefits that only road training can provide....but be safe out there!!!

A day on a bike...

Well I had a chance to demo a Titus Racer-X 29er in the San Ysidro Dirty Century thanks to the folks at High Desert Cycles. So I thought I’d do a write up on my impressions. Now mind you this is my opinion and I’m not looking to start any religious discussions here. Go to MTBR if you want one of those.

With that said I will give you a quick run-down on MY opinion of 29ers. I have an Orbea Alma 29er as my light duty XC Racing rig and I like it...A LOT!!! However, a 29er, like everything, has advantages and dis-advantages.

Obviously, what sets them apart from a 26er is the big wheel. The big wheel has more reciprocating mass further from the axel and has a larger contact patch to the ground. The rest of this is pure physics, even though it seems to get argued about…A LOT!!!

Like a Single Speed, I think that 29ers make you a stronger rider because they work you harder on the long sustained climbs. There is extra effort needed to get that reciprocating mass and the drag of the larger contact patch to the top of the climbs. But it is rewarded when you then unleash all that potential energy you have built up and stored, to roll back down hill.

A 29er builds up momentum faster because of the reciprocating weight. Due to the bigger wheel they roll smoother because of the shallower “angle of attack” to the ground. Consequently, they roll over obstacles easier. And because of the larger contact patch, they have better traction while climbing technical ledge sections as well as cornering. But they cut apexes wider and can be somewhat sluggish in their steering. The reciprocating mass and large contact patch also means they accelerate slower. There, enough said about that subject.












I presently ride a 26er Titus Racer-X Exogrid and was curious to see how it compared to the 29er version. Since I’m tackling religious subjects today, let me take a moment to extol the virtues of Exogrid.

Many people look at Exogrid and call it purely “bling”. Well it is bling no doubt, but it is also technology in action.

Until you have ridden an Exogrid frame it’s hard to express. I liken it to the ride difference between Titanium and Aluminum frames. The smoothness of Exogrid compared to pure Titanium is amazing. It really is that dramatic and can be instantly felt at the first stroke of the pedal.
















http://www.titusti.com/titus09/exogrid.php

The Exogrid frame is an “engineered” tube set that is designed to be light, stiff and provide exceptional “dampening”. The way that it dampens vibration is phenomenal, really really "quiet". This gets back to the point that until you ride one, it's hard to appreciate it.

My experience riding a RacerX Exogrid is, without a doubt, the finest riding frame I’ve ever had the honor of swinging a leg over. Ok, enough of that Titus advertisement.

So what did I think of the RacerX 29er? Well, in summary I would say it is an increadibly smooth race chassis. The RacerX is well respected for its stable climbing ability combined with excellent suspension response under braking and pedaling forces. Horst Link suspensions just plain work and even though many have tried to duplicate the capabilities in many ways, the simplicity of the Horst Swing Link design is hard to improve upon.

So it’s no surprise that the 29er version of the RacerX retains the climbing stability and suspension response of the original. This combination with a 29” wheel makes for an incredibly smooth and comfortable ride.

As to handling, manufacturers are starting to get the geometry of the frames dialed in. The head tube angles have been steepened, thanks to the increased 29er fork offsets. This has resulted in 29er bikes now feeling much more neutral compared to the sluggishness of earlier versions. What I mean by “neutral” is that they respond quickly to steering input, but aren’t twitchy. They feel like steering a good 26” wheeled frame. The RacerX as well as my Orbea, seem to exhibit this neutral quickness of steering.

So how does it climb? Well it works you, as it is a 29er after all. However, it seems really well balanced. I know MTBA commented that they felt the chain stays might be a little long at 18”. I found that “on the nose of the saddle” spinning resulted in a real solid climbing capability. Out of the saddle maybe was biased a bit forward and so you could spin the rear if not careful, but I was able to shift and weight the rear to get traction. So I’m not sure I’m totally convinced that the chain stays need to be shorter. I guess it could be a matter of cockpit setup and riding style.

As to weight, the Aluminum version I was on weighed about 28-29lbs. My Exogrid 26er weighs about 25lbs and it is pretty well understood that a 29er version of the exact same bike will weigh about 2 lbs more given the wheels and extra frame material. So I could see an Exogrid 29er coming in at around 27 lbs.

So now the big question, would I give up my 26er for a 29er RacerX. That’s a hard one and one I’m still struggling with, but I think ultimately I will make the switch. Why?

I really did like the ride of the 29er. I feel that the geometry is now getting refined to the point where the handling is really spot on and responsive. I’m also beginning to be convinced that the advantages of the 29er wheelset out weigh the main disadvantage of the extra effort required on the long sustained climbs. The extra traction is a big plus both on decents and while climbing technical ledgy sections. The ability to smooth out rugged terrain on the decents also helps with control.

As I said in the beginning of this post, the extra effort needed to climb on a 29er will make you a stronger rider. That extra power that you develop climbing will pay off in the flats and undulating terrain where you can let the big wheels do what they do best….roll baby roll!!!

Yes we can all get along!

Well folks, I upgraded the Litespeed App Cross rig this spring. As I mentioned, I intend to do a lot more road riding, both commuting and training, so I figured I probably ought to upgrade the drive train. It was an old 16 speed vintage Campy Veloce and Mirage setup. Kinda budget based components to boot.

The real issue was it had a standard crank with 38-46 gearing. I really felt I needed a lower end for the grass Cross courses and I didn’t feel I had enough top end when I was out on the road sections. So the first step was a SRAM Force 34-50 Compact Crank set. That has given me a much better range.



However, the interesting thing about this upgrade is what I did with the rest of the transmission. You see I’ve always had a bit of a Franken-bike. I run Spinergy wheels with a Shimano Hub (it’s what came with the bike). The eight speed cassette was spaced to work with the Campy derailleur. Fair enough.

However, when I started looking at upgrading, the question of running all Shimano came to mind. The problem was I REALLY like Campy shifters. The thumb shifter is so natural and double tap just doesn’t work for me. So what to do? Go all Campy?

Well that would have required a new wheel set and since I had two sets of Spinergy Wheels for Cross and Road, I was in a bit of a dilemma.

Then I saw it. Like some sort of premonition it was written up in Cyclocross Magazine in their Bike Hacker column. “Can’t we all just get along?” was the title. It basically pointed out that the Campy 10 speed Ergo shifters pull more cable than a Shimano shifter, so if you mate the Campy up with a Shimano 10 speed Derailleur you could make it work. Unfortunately, it only works with an 8 speed cassette.

Great, not many of them around unless you want to build it from individual cogs like my original cassette. However, here’s the magic. They pointed out that with a little change in how the cable is mounted to the derailleur, you can get it to work with a 9 speed cassette.

Well now were talking. 9 Speed cassettes are still plentiful and probably will be for some time. A 9 speed works a little better than a 10 speed in the dirt and muck of a Cross race. Plus it’s a wee bit lighter. Well let’s giv’er a go!!!

Rod, my mechanic at the Bike Coop was a little skeptical as was Greg and the rest of the gang. But there it was, written up plain as day in the magazine. Ok, they said, they’d work with me on it and maybe we’d all learn something. Not everyday you get to teach some of the most experienced mechanics in Albuquerque a new trick.

So I got a Dura Ace derailleur, a SRAM 11-26 9 speed cassette/chain and a set of Campy Chorus Ergo 10 shifters. I was also fortunate to have one of the Nob Hill Velo guys stripping his Campy stuff for SRAM and he offered me a smokin’ deal on a Record Compact front derailleur. I was set. Rod went to work and with a little fussing to get the shifting dialed in he had it ready in a day.

I’ve been out on it for about three rides and had it tweaked for the expected cable stretch. How’s it shift? Really nicely. Solid and predictable. Much smoother than my original setup, but of course we’re talking much higher end componentry.

Rod feels it’s maybe not as “buttery” as a single manufacturer 10 speed setup of that quality, but he also feels that it’s bullet proof. 9 Speed setups are just so much more predictable in their shifting. A single touch of the lever, a solid clunk and I’m in gear…sweet!!!

So what you see here has affectionately been named the “UN of bikes” by Rod. Not only because of the components, but also because it's blue. Plus it proves that yes we can all get along!!!

And yep, those are Chimay Bottle Corks for bar end plugs. I got the idea from a combination of Steve Williamson telling me to shove corks in the ends when I lost a bar plug and seeing Mike Pease using the Chimay Caps as ends. I figured what the heck, use the whole damn cork and cap. Now what could be better than a Belgian Bottle cap on a Cross Bike...truely is the UN of Bikes!!!

I Luv MoM...

Well folks...this post deals with MoM...yeah she's a great gal that MoM. Actually MoM stands for Mas-o-Menos and it's the first race of the season in the USAC's National MTB Endurance Series.

This is the first year of what I will call my semi-serious effort at Mt. Bike Racing. I turned 50 last year and did some races, but this year I wanted to really put some effort behind a run in the 50+ Masters Classes at National and Regional events.

So what was MoM like? All I can say is, “What a race”! Well Ok, maybe I can say a bit more...

I did the event with Ken Gauthier and Brad Peterson. Ken won the overall 50+ Sport Masters Class last year in the NM Offroad Series (NMORS). He's a really strong rider and someone I look to for motivation in this mildly competative world of Ol' Goat Mt. Bike racing. And Brad Peterson is a testament in his own right having come off of total hip replacement surgery last year to throw down for this event. (He and Matt's wife Jeni have something in common there).



So let me first paint the picture of where this race was held. It took place in Terlingua, TX. Since this is the first time I’ve been south of Las Cruses, it was a whole new experience for me. And being 4Hrs South of El Paso, let me just say, you really have to want to go to Terlingua. It is literally in the middle of a very beautiful nowhere.

Terlingua is an Old Mining “Territory” about 40 miles from Big Bend National park. It is in South TX Canyon Country. According to the following web site it has been a bit of a floating enigma for 40 years based on where the Post Office was located….or maybe no one knew people lived there so who needed mail. You can read more of that rich history here;

http://terlinguacitylimits.com/aboutterlinguatx.html

Suffice it to say that Terlingua is a trip and the people that live there are some of the friendliest folks who just want to get really far away from everyone else. However, they really like company and welcomed a merry band of Mt. Bikers for the Mas-o-Menos just like family. I don’t know if the whole “town” came out to put this show on, but since there’s not a whole bunch of people down there, it sure felt like it.

So what was the race like? Well it was held at the World Famous Chili Appreciation Society International (CASI) Site…I’m sure you’ve all heard of it.


It had a wonderful rural kind of fairground atmosphere to it with plenty of camping (which we passed up for the comfort of the Easter Valley Chisos Mining Company Motel…gee I wonder why they call it that?).

But what really set this place in my memory is the riding. Absolutely gorgeous is all I can say. There is NOTHING out there to disrupt the shear stark beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert. It is really pretty country and stunning riding.

So what was the race course like? Well let me start by pointing out that this was the first stop on the USAC National Endurance Series and I should have had a clue right there. Well I did have a clue, but I guess not one I gave a whole lot of thought to other than, "gee they have a big climb!?" Maybe I should have snapped to almost 5ooo' of climbing...


This event is technically a "Marathon". Marathons are typically 50-60 miles long and require you to maintain a pretty solid pace. Obviously slower than a 20-30mile XC Race but it isn't a long drawn out grind like the 100mile and 24Hr "Enduro" events. I've started to get a feeling that Marathon distance races suite my riding style and my threshold tolerance for pain pretty well.

The race course itself winds around from the CASI Park(?) through the Lajitas Resort(?) and up through some private property. It starts out on a fast paced dirt road for probably 3 miles that leads to some swooping single track. This drops you down into a stone strewn creek bed for about a mile...

...before you come back out onto a sweet desert trail that meanders up and down and all around for about 15 miles.

Eventually you come up into some small techie ledge climbs and then back down into swooping single track. This dumps you out onto a dirt road for about 2-3 miles that leads to THE CLIMB.

The Tres Cuevas (Three Caves) climb points you up an old switch back mining road past some relics of the early 20th century. I’m sure you folks know what an old mining road is like. Pretty much straight up with very few spots to spin out the lactic acid.

Well after 3 miles and 1000’ feet of this sheer joy, you’re greeted with not one, and not two, but three false summits that just keep egging you on. When you FINALLY reach the Mesa top, the overwhelming desire to open it up on the winding single track up top is only overcome by the stark necessity of letting your legs recover from total exertion.

It’s all well and fine, because in about 2-3 miles after you’ve finally recovered, you’re then faced with being dumped (literally) down a treacherous two track that even for an avowed downhill bombing junkie like me, was a white knuckle affair. Not so much because it was somewhat ledgey and knarly, but because at speeds approaching 25+ mph the penalty for a failure to focus was huge.

It was really rugged and loose at points and all I can say is I blessed my meager soul on a number of occasions for the fact that I had 29” wheels. Thank my lucky stars for traction when I needed it.

So, after 31 miles of that experience you’re back at the CASI site and ready to do it again. Oh what joy!!!

For those of you familiar with NM Riding, picture the Gallup Dawn til Dusk High Desert trail System mixed with healthy doses of Cedro Peak. Stretch that out for 31 miles and you get the picture. This was not an easy course to ride…focus was the key word for the day. Combine that with some nasty looking cactus and creosote bushes and you definitely wanted to stay on the trail.

And did I mention flats? I saw a ton of people standing around on the side of the trail changing flats….all I can say is “tubeless baby”!!!!

OK…so what was the race like? Well, first off the weather was perfect. About 48F at the start with the sun coming up strong at 8:15AM. I was dressed in shorts with a shortsleeve jersey, arm warmers and a vest. I guessed right and was perfectly dressed for the first lap.

The start was nice because they staggered the age groups separately. So the 50K & 100K 50+ Old goats went out as a pack of probably about 40-50 of us. They paced us off the start and then let us rip once we got to the main dirt road out of the CASI Site. Very dignified I might say. I had been on the front of the line but by the time they let us fly I was probably in tenth or so behind Ken Gauthier headed down the road.

Now one of the draw backs is you could tell from number plates who was doing 50K and who was doing 100K. But if you can’t see the front of the bike, that doesn’t do ya a whole lot of good and you could end up trying to run down a guy who’s only doing one lap. On top of that the dust from the road really started to bug me after about 2-3 miles, so I settled in probably about 20th to let things shake out at the transition to single track. From there I just rode hard and established my own pace….60miles is a long haul.

As the first lap progressed I got the big wheels rolling and started picking folks off up in front. I was riding really well but had a couple get offs for folks who couldn’t clear the early arroyo bottom ups or the later ledge climbs. I was able to use my Cyclocross skills and run up and around some of those yahoos which made it all good. Some barking and growling, but you'll have that in a race.

By the time I reached the main Tres Cuevas climb I was able to hook on to two guys who gave me a good pace to clean it to the top. We passed a bunch of people walking and I just kept repeating the mantra of “it’s easier to ride than walk”. My legs actually felt great but I basically granny geared it because it is relentless and I didn’t want to blow up. Spin, spin, spin went the little engine.

When we hit the top I was able to recover quickly and move across the mesa at a good pace, then down the decent. This was my first time down and I had some “Oh Jesus” moments, but I made it to the CASI Site in one piece and right at 2:45 for 31 miles. I felt good and was right on pace for a 5:30 over the 60miles, which was my target. I thought that would put me in the top 10 and that was my goal.

The transition went smooth. I re-upped my camelback with water, grabbed a fresh bottle of electrolyte mix and reloaded a Hammer Jell flask in my holster. I then stripped my arm warmers and my vest because it was getting warm (not a smart move as it would turn out). The temperature had risen to the upper 50’s and felt balmy.

I peeled a banana to eat riding out of the pit and I took off feeling fresh. I was in and out in a matter of a couple minutes and was looking forward to the second lap with a lot less traffic. That’s how it went, no one behind me, a couple folks out in front to give me something to chase and I was rocking.

Then at the 40mile point it started. A small thunder cloud up on the ridge of the Tres Cuevas climb was building up and out of it was a steady 10-20mph headwind. Ok I thought, just settle into a good pace and don’t try to overpower the wind. Well it worked me and worked me, but I didn’t back down. I felt good and could maintain power. By the time I hit the small ledge climbs at about mile 45, I began to feel a bit of a cramp coming on, but I worked through it. No worries!!!

Then things got intense. When I reached mile 50 right before the Tres Cuevas climb the wind had picked up to 20-25 with gusts to 35 or more and the temperature dropped. Oh how I was wishing for my arm warmers and vest at that point, but nothing to do but power on. There was dust flying everywhere and it was getting to be a bit of a Dorothy & Toto moment.

A really strong 30+ Female went by me on the road. I tried to hook onto her wheel but she was too strong for me at that point. Oh well, not the first time I've been girled and probably won't be the last. Then a 30+ guy went by and invited me to hook on and I was able to get on his wheel for about a mile. Man that helped, because my legs were going south with the wind in a hurry.

He dropped me at the base of the climb and I began a granny spin towards the top. I almost made the first part of the climb but got blown off my bike and was able to muster a Cyclocross run up to a flat and remount. From there I kept thinking of Jen Albright’s little moniker of “screen calls from the little voice that whispers get off and walk”. I love that little saying. And it helped big time. Thanks Jen!!!

I rode up most of the rest of the climb before I got blown off line again in a skree section. I was able to hustle up through that 10-20 yard section and do a flying Cyclocross leap back on the bike and have enough momentum to get spinning again. I just kept saying it’s easier to ride than walk so RIDE damn it!!!.

The wind was relentless. By the time I got to the false summits it was starting to rain a bit and I was like “great, I get to descend on wet rocks and gravel while freezing my ass off”. Fortunately it was only a sprinkle and I powered on, but the wind was still hammering. It wasn’t until I cleared the false tops and I got onto the mesa that it finally turned into a tail wind. Whoweeee... home free I said to myself and marshaled what energy I had left to fire off the mesa and down the descent.

I got in at 6:04 and placed 14th out of 29 - 100K old guys. The top time was a 4:41 for our age group, which is hauling. Ken came in 6th at approximately 5:37 and Brad came in 19th with a solid 6:37. The NM Boys did well and I'm particularly impressed with Brad given the Hip Surgery!!! You Rock Brad!!!

Out of the 29 riders in our age group, 11 of them DNF’ed. So finishing was an achievement. I ended up mid-pack in the Masters Class, which is not bad for my first National.

The overall results can be found here:

http://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?year=2008&id=77&info_id=12105

In retrospect, I was only 6 mins out of a top 10 and could probably have gone harder, but not having ridden the course before I wanted to make sure I paced myself. I trained hard and I guess I could be a little disappointed that I didn’t meet the times I set for myself. I had really targeted a sub 6Hr ride and felt really comfortable after the first lap that it would not be a problem. But that’s the thing about Endurance racing and especially in the desert. Anything can and probably will happen. We all had to face the weather, those that got in sub 5:20 or so probably didn’t have to deal with the brunt of the wind going up the big climb. And that’s the way life goes sometimes.

In any event I felt good about my performance. I never got bonky or cramped, I didn’t have any mechanicals, I didn’t crash, I kept the cranks turning with relatively good power, I made the big climb twice with only a couple minor bobbles on the second go round and hey, I had fun. And that’s the most important thing!!!

So in closing, I’ll just say, Terlingua Territory is a long way from anywhere, but it was one of the most enchanting places to have a race.

Yeah ya had the local Texas color and the wind was whipping bad enough that even Toto wasn't in Kansas anymore. And yeah the town is a bit funky but I thought it was fantastic.

The food was yummy and the people supporting us incredibly friendly. The party afterwards was entertaining but the beer ran out way too soon. No worries there cause we were ready for sleep.

Overall the race was not only challenging but it was scenic and a great ride. And hey, ya know it's a good race when the kids are having fun.

So would I do it again? You bet!!! And I would encourage anyone who loves endurance events to give MoM a go….she’s a great gal in a great setting.

Ride on!!!

How I spent the cold dark days of winter...

Well folks...here's my first post. A little recap of the Fall and Winter months before Spring really hits here in the Desert Southwest. I jumped in with both feet to take on the humbling experience called Psyclo-cross at the beginning of September and did the whole NM State Cross Series through the middle of December which culminated with the NM State Championships.

Man, I thought I was a bad ass Mt. Biking MutherFo until I ran into these guys called roadies. Wow, they got this thing called "cadence with power" and basically handed me my butt in most all of the events.

Ok, maybe it wasn't quite that bad. I came in about 10th overall in the series out of about 20 45+ Master folks. But still, it opened my eyes to the benefits of road riding. Gonna put some road wheels on the Cross Bike and start pounding the pavement this spring.

I've had the good fortune to be invited to ride with the Big Wheel Racing Team which was the genesis of an extraordinary Endurance Racer name Matt Turgeon. You can read more about Matt and his truely heroic exploits at his linked blog to the right. Suffice it to say, Matt's more than enough inspiration for a whole team.

Anyway, I was able to take the Cross conditioning and keep the cranks turning this winter in Albuquerque in preparation for Mas-o-Menos. I couldn't find a female partner for a Co-Ed Duo down in Tucson for 24HITOP (24Hrs in the Ol' Pueblo for those not attuned to the acronym) so I opted for Mas-o-Menos which is the first stop on the USAC National Endurance Series. It is a "Marathon" event of 100K which should suite my style. And no, Sandra didn't want to go through 24Hrs of Coed pain.

As to winter sports, I haven't been able to do as much skiing as I would have liked to have done. The conditions up in Colorado are the best in more than 20 years. I guess I've just become a slave to cycling right now in my life. I did get out with my buddy Scott Sundae for a really sweet powder session at WolfCreek in Mid-December.

It was some of the best fluff conditions I've ever skiied in at a resort. Had the AT Gear and skins, but who needed to go anywhere out of bounds. The only caveat was the balmy

-5F temperature. Froze a few of the Goat Wiskers no doubt.

Then I spent New Years weekend with my "Honey" Sandra up in Pagosa Springs. We had a blast.

We hit the Brazo's overlook for a little XC Touring Adventure on our way up. The conditions were just awesome. A little cold with the windchill but the scenery made all of that go away.

Sandra even got out at Wolf Creek for her first downhill session in about 3 years. She tore her ACL the last time we

went skiing together and has been a little gun shy ever since. But she really enjoyed getting back on the skis and she seemed confident. The knee held up well and she loved it. Now I just need to get her on some AT Gear and maybe we can hit the backcountry together.

And of course you can't go to Pegosa without taking in the World Famous Pegosa Hotsprings. They are without a doubt the nicest Hotsprings in the country. Really well done and very intimate. We had so much fun.

Well that's the winter of 2007-2008 for me. I'm ready for spring and doing some bike racing. Bring on the warm weather!!!

The Beginning of the Odyssey...

...called a Blog... This shout goes out to Matt Turgeon for giving me the inspiration to try to be better than I am, but not to worry too much about how good that is. Ride on Brother!!!