I got to take part in the Project Rwanda 50 Mile Ride for the first time. This purpose of this event is to raise funds to purchase new “Coffee Bikes” for folks in Rwanda. This was the 3rd year that this event took place. The previous two years had always been scheduled right around Christmas and New Year’s and I’ve always been away on vacation.
I believe a total of 430 riders came out to participate and over $24,000 was raised. Not bad for a down economy.
Tags: 50 mile ride, mountain bike, rwanda
I had first heard about the Vision Quest a few years ago. At that time, I thought it was only crazy elite mountain bikers who could pull something like that off - 55 miles on dirt with ~11,000 feet of elevation gain.
Well, 5 years later, 35 pounds lighter, and a couple of unhealthy habits gone, I became one of those crazy mountain bikers (notice how I left the word ‘elite’ out).
Coming into Beek's
With the Counting Coup (aka Baby Vision Quest) under my belt from last year, I kind of knew what to expect, so the nervousness and anxiety from last year was no where to be found. The only thing I was concerned about was making the time cutoffs.
With the cutoffs constantly in the back of my mind, I think it made me push a little harder, and for the first 2.5 hours (Blackstar to Motorway), I went out a little too hard (avg HR 171 bpm). I think because of that, my close friend “The Cramp” came to pay a visit early on. I’ve learned to deal with cramps over the past few races. I can generally still pedal and ride, but I just can’t push very hard.
So slowly but surely, I kept going. I got to the last VQ cutoff point with 20 minutes to spare. There in my aid bag, I had stowed a bottle of Pickle Juice Sport. Like a miracle, my cramps started fading and I continued on my way.
The last leg of VQ has one section called West Horsethief that just plain sucks. It’s about 1.5 miles long, but you end up gaining 1,300 ft, and needless to say, for less than elite riders like myself, it’s mostly hike-a-bike. I think that ordeal lasted a good 50 minutes.
At the top of West Horsethief, there was only about 2 miles more of slight climbing to go to reach the top of Trabuco. That’s where happiness and relief starts to settle in, because from there, it’s a good 10 miles of downhill to the finish.
I cross the finish line in 9:13. Slower than I had wanted, but at least I finished. I got a beaded feather for my efforts and I’m already thinking about next year.
At the finish line
Tags: mountain bike, vision quest
A pretty much status quo month for me. Got Vision Quest this upcoming weekend. I can’t wait to get that over with. I’ll have a few weeks for “fun” rides. Then it’s back to training for the 12 hour in June.
February 2009
Total Distance - 282.97 miles
Total Time - 30:08:12 hours
Total Ascent - 33,549 feet
Total Calories Burned - 21,523
2009 YTD
Total Distance - 576.94 miles
Total Time - 63:33:41 hours
Total Ascent - 70,140 feet
Total Calories Burned - 43,627
I spent a good portion of my weekend playing in snow.
Friday at Snowbird, Utah.
Saturday a little short of Modjeska Peak in the Santa Ana Mountains of CA.
Tags: santa ana mountains
Busy start to 2009.
January 2009
Total Distance - 293.97 miles
Total Time - 33:25:29 hours
Total Ascent - 36,591 feet
Total Calories Burned - 22,104
Also put together a new bike to play with - the new Chumba VF2. I’m loving it with the Fox 36 up front.
Chumba VF2
Tags: chumba vf2, mountain bike
I spent the weekend racing out at Vail Lake for the first 12 Hours of Temecula race for 2009. The forecast the entire week was predicting some rain, so I had brought along my singlespeed as a backup bike just in case.
We actually did get some rain Friday night and Saturday morning as well - but as soon as race time rolled around, the skies started clearing and the trails were nice and tacky.
This was my first time racing Men’s Sport Solo. I have got to say there are some guys in this class putting in some ridiculous lap times (at least to me). Looking at the results, there was a few guys putting in lap times in the :45 minute range. My lap times were between 1:00 and 1:10. So to my surprise, I ended up taking 2nd place with 10 laps in 11:08.
This was also my first 12 hour race where I didn’t get cramps. I think the cooler weather played a big part in that. It was so nice not having to gingerly pedal up hills in fear of having your leg totally lock up.
I can’t wait till race #2 in June which will be at Rim Nordic this year. There’s still Vision Quest in a few weeks, which I still need to put in some training for, just to make sure I make all the cut off points.
Tags: 12 hour, 12 hours of temecula, cramps, vail lake, vision quest