Norma's Debut into Mountain Bike Racing

That's right, this past weekend marked the racing debut of my talented girlfriend Norma. Not only did she race for the first time, she also brought home a cool trophy.


Initially we had plans to go to Silver City, NM and participate in one of the state championship races, but at the end decided to cancel it and save money to go up to Minnesota in September. Friday morning we talked about going for a long ride on Saturday, but later that afternoon I got an e-mail about a race up in Flagstaff. Norma was even thinking about doing some overtime on Sat. but after a couple quick e-mails we both agreed that Flagstaff would be fun.
Not having one single piece of riding clothing clean, I went home and threw a bunch of clothes in the washer then headed to the garage to get the bikes ready. We had a light diner and went to bed early (yeah right 12:30 am it was) or as early as we could. The alarm clock woke us up at 4:45 am and after a cup of coffee and some cookies we were on the way. The Temperature was about 90 degrees in Phoenix when we left but two hours later we were up in Flagstaff in nice 76 degree weather.
We quickly got ourselves registered then started getting ready. I could see that Norma was really anxious/nervous. We tried to eat something and chatted about the race strategy. We were there to have fun and to test our fitness level.

Shortly after 9:00 AM the Expert and Pro riders took the start. I had planned to stay in the front with the lead riders and see how things would go, but that changed quickly as soon as the race started. The first 3 miles were on a forest gravel road with a slight incline. I found myself in 4th or 5th place for the first few minutes but I noticed something was wrong. The race pace was high. We were riding at 19 MPH and there were no signs of letting up and my legs felt really heave. Less than 2 miles from the start a guy from Red Rock Racing attacked and no one responded. I though it was odd so even though I wasn't feeling really strong I chased him down. That was the last time I saw the rest of them. My response generated a set of attacks and counter-attacks that I couldn't keep up with. I hung about 20 Ft behind the last wheel trying to close the gap but it never happened.

At that point I though, I would let them go and just hitch a ride with the next group, unfortunately my legs were dead. I tried to stay on the wheel of two different groups but I was spit out the back almost as soon as they catch me. Eventually a group of 4 guys came by and I was able to hold on. The course had leveled a little and I could see that we were going downhill, yet my legs felt like I was still climbing. I was happy to hang on to this group but the feeling was shortlived when I noticed all of them were riding single speed bikes and we were going downhill. At that point my race goal had shifted from the idea of a podium finish to the simple goal of finishing.

At around 9:30 AM Norma took the start with the rest of Beginner and Teen riders. She went on to experience the same problems as I did in the first few miles before even hitting the single track. Later on we realized that it was the altitude that was affecting us. The race was at over 7500 Ft above sea level while we are accustomed to the sub 500 Ft riding around Phoenix, so we were surprised by that.

Once in the single track I tried to find a pace that I could maintain, for a moment I considered using my granny gear. Slowly I started to recover and even though I was climbing on a rocky and tight single track, I was feeling better than I did in the gravel road. The last 2 miles of the trail was a long downhill back to the start to finish the 10-mile loop.

After almost crashing in front of the registration tent while starting my second of tree laps, I started seeing some of the single speeders that dropped me at the beginning. Slowly I started to reel them back in on the long gravel road section then I hit the singletrack feeling much better.
About half-way up the most technical section of the course I caught up to Norma who had walked some of the dangerous sections (which I was really glad to hear) but she had already pass some of the beginner men that had started a few minutes ahead of her. Knowing that I was not in contention for the win I stopped and chatted with her, we even took time for a quick kiss then I went on to continue my hunt for other riders up the trail. By the third lap I was feeling better than ever, I passed a couple geared riders and another singlespeeders then started to pass some of the Sport riders still working on their second lap. By this time I had been riding for almost 2 hours and my calf muscles were really tight. I took my time on the final descent because I didn't think there was anyone chasing me, however about a mile from the finish this guy came out of no-where and passed me in the downhill. I tried to stay with him, but he was flowing through the single-track way smoother than me and even though I was on his wheel when we hit the final turn I couldn't get around him for the finish.
There at the finish line stood Norma with a big smile and unscratched (which was one of my worries).
She said she had fun and she knew that she had finished ahead of some of the guys.
We rode back to the car where I watched how my hand had a blur look when I slowly moved it in front of my eyes...so I guess I was really tired.

We got cleaned up and checked the results. I finished 4th in my age group (20-29) and 8th overall while Ms. Dukes finished 2nd in her age group (20-29) and 8 amongst all women. The second place guaranteed her an award so we headed to Flagstaff for the awards ceremony which didn't take place until almost 3PM. It was worth it though. Norma got a really cool award, we rested on a park's grass and ate some chips then grabbed some diner before highballing it home.
Norma drove the first part, then I took over for the home stretch while she slept and we were home shortly after 8 PM.
Fun day and great race.


Congratulation Amor!

Next up...We'll continue training for Chequamegon. We finally got a hotel reservation and reserved the bike travel cases. In less than 3 weeks we'll be heading up there.

Roberto's Update
Beto continues to struggle with his bike gears, however he scored a 6th place finish at the Spirit Mountain race in Duluth. This is a grueling course but it's worse when you have mechanical problems. He's still sitting on 5th place overall in the series an less than 50 point separates him from the 4th place.
Next, he'll be doing 24 Hours of Afton this coming weekend (I expect him to beat the number of laps I did last year...18) then he'll go up to Callaway for the second to last race of the Minnesota series. Good Luck!

Pura Vida!

Jeff

30 DAYS TO CHEQUAMEGON

So the official countdown has started. In less than a month Norma, Roberto and I will be heading up to Hayward, Wisconsin for the annual Chequamegon Race. I am sure most of you have heard me talk about it, but in case you haven't, here are a few facts about it.
This is the 24th edition of this event
Since 1992 a 2500 field limit was established
Since 1992 every edition of the event has been sold-out
The 2500 riders participate in two different formats; the 40-mile main event with a limit of 1700 and the 16-mile "Short and Fat" event for the other 800.
Hayward, WI hosts the start of the 40-mile event, while the Short and Fat starts and ends in Cable, which is the finish for the 40-mile event also.

Needless to say, this race has been in my calendar since last year. Earlier this Spring we all had to submit our registrations and hope that we would get picked. Unfortunately Gregorio didn't get picked (isn't this the third in a row).
Since there have not been any races in Arizona in a while Norma and I had to create a training plan. Just last week we started riding off-road after spending several days building our endurance on the road. South Mountain and the roads around it have been our training grounds. Just last Sunday we conquered the 7.5 mile climb to the top of South Mountain where the TV Towers are. It was quite a work out that got the best out of both of us (even some tears!!). Now that we put the knoby tires back, we have been riding Desert Classic, which is a trail system weaving through the foothills on the East and South of South Mountain. Conveniently, our new apartment is less than a mile from the trail entrance.
We have also done a lot of gym work. Soon I'll add some pictures of Norma and I pumping some iron and doing some serious intervals on the stationary bikes.

BACK TO RACING
This weekend also will mark my return to the competition. After doing my last race on June 18th, this weekend we are heading to Silver City, New Mexico. This is the closest Moutain Bike Race in the area, so I am hoping to use it to gauge the results of the last few weeks of training. The race will be held on Sunday, Aug.20 and is part of the New Mexico Off-Road Series. Not sure what to expect of it yet. For the sounds of it, there is a lot of climbing and it'll probably be hot. (Silver City is really close to the Arizona border) so I'll keep you posted. As for Norma, she is planning on pre-riding the course before deciding whether this race will mark her debut in mountain bike racing. I am hoping she does, so it won't be as overwhelming to line up next to 800 people in Chequamegon to compete in her first competetive event ever.
I also have to admit that she has come a long way to her current riding abilities and I believe she is going to do great. Not only has she develop great bike handling skills but her fitness level has dramatically improved. She doesn't believe me, but a few days ago we were riding on pavement and I had to dig deep in a couple sections to stay on her wheel. Keep in mind that this happened after she had been setting the pace for about an hour and facing the wind while I simply drafted.

ROBERTO's UPDATE
Mr. Madrigal is holding strong to his 5th Place on his age group in the Minnesota Series. Last Sunday he raced at the Metric Race in Welch, MN. That is one of my personal favorites but from what I heard from Beto, the course was not his favorite this week. Humidity and even rain made things difficult, that and a new climb called "THE WALL" forced him to finish 9th (out of 10 people) but it sounds like a lot of other DNF. Here is a picture of him, climbing The Wall...

This picture is from www.skinnyski.com

Oh righ folks, have a great week, keep checking back on our progress and take care.

Pura Vida!
Jeff

Riding Break is Over and Beto's update from MN
After a month off the bike for a short mid-year riding break, last week Norma and I started riding again. Our next goal is Chequamegon and this time we decided to take an organized approach for that race.
We have created a mini training program that includes eight weeks of gradually increase training until race day on September 16th. The plan has several stages: Preparation, Base, Build, Peak and Race. Just this past Sunday we completed the first two weeks of Preparation training with light road rides and some work at the gym with weights and cardio on the treadmill. As you all know it's way too hot to ride at anytime here in Phoenix, so we've had to sacrifice some of our beauty sleep to get up at 5:30 am and ride for a couple hours before the temperature reaches 100 degrees.
But just because it's hot in Phoenix, it doesn't mean the rest of the country is the same. Roberto has been getting great results in the humidity of the Minnesota State Championship Series. Just two weekends ago he competed in the Muddy River Rock and Roll race at Red Wing. Here are a couple shots of him sporting his new racing kit as he became part of Alan Racing Team.


Roberto is currently sitting in 6th Place overall in the Minnesota State series with 4 events remaining in the calendar. I am pretty sure he will be able to climb a couple more spots before the end of the series. This will give him a good competitive edge in preparation for Chequamegon where he will be doing the 40 miles with me. Norma in the other hand will be battling solo (or should I say sola) in the 16 mile race (also know as the Short and Fat) but I always get weird looks when I call it like that, so I stick with the Chequamegon 16.

Keep checking back to see how our training is progresing.

Pura Vida!

Here is another picture of Beto before getting in the tight single track of the Red Wing's Memorial Mountain Bike Park.

The Dog Days of Summer

So it finally got a little too hot for me to ride in Arizona. I was able to continue training through the end of June when the temperatures would reach 95 to 100 by 9 am, but now even by that time it's way to hot, so I decided to take a break. I also considered the fact that there aren't any official races going on right now in the area. Initially I had plas to race one of the National races in Utah but I've decided to move that for next year.
But just because I am not racing it doesn't mean I am not following the sport. With the Tour going and the Minnesota series at full speed, I've been keeping up with Roberto and Gregorio who are blazing through race courses at the Minnesota State Series.
Here is a picture of Roberto and Gregorio at the Chippewa Race in Wisconsin.


After doing a great job at event #2 in Steeple Chase, Roberto went to Afton where he finished 8th in his age group and 47th overall. The following week he drove up to scenic Duluth for the Dirt Spanker Classic at the Fund DuLac resort to get a great climbing work out near the St Louis river and went on to finish 9th and 34th overall.

This past weekend, Gregorio and Roberto crossed the border to Wisconsin to take on the Chippewa Fire Cracker. The tight single track and little climbing race course was perfect for Gregorio who has been riding his singlespeed bike. He finished 1st in the Singlespeed category and 3rd overall while Roberto had to deal with some chain/gears problems but still managed to finish in 5th place in his age group and 55th overall. That is great considering that the Sport category in the Wisconsin series is known as the one with the most participants in the country. At the Firecraker event 262 Sport division racers lined up at the start of the race. Over 200 of those were male riders, so Roberto and Gregorio both finished in the top 25%.

Kodus to those two.

Payson Stampede 24 Hours Race



It’s done. I have completed my first 24 hours race of 2006 and I have a lot to write about. First I would like to thank my “support crew” for all the work. I know that it’s cheesy to start things like this. I feel like the Hollywood stars when they go to the stage to receive their awards with the difference that they get a chance to thank people only if they won, which in my case it was not the case. Anyway, in case that you don't know, it takes a lot to compete on a 24 Hour Mountain Bike Race. Very few riders (and unlucky to say the least) compete on a race like this unsupported, because it’s way more that just staying awake and pedaling for 24 hours.. Thankfully I had a great crew to help me with the various task associated.

Here are the positions within my crew:
Logistics coordinator to help me plan what things to bring, things to buy, how to train. Riding partner to keep me motivated. We even squeezed in a last minute ride to recognize the race course for this event and my riding partner even took one for the team by crashing hard near the end of the race and obtaining some road rash on her knee.
Nutritionist provided the food needed to propel me to the next lap and keep track of how much I had eaten. Whether was soup, cereal, snickers bar, fruit, sandwiches or power gels, without the support of my nutritionist I couldn't have done it.
Hydration Specialist who refilled my camelback with ice cold Accelerade (sports drink) and handed me a bottle of iced water.
After completing the first half of the race, some of my muscles and joints started to malfunction. The knees hurt, my lower back was really stiff and my calf muscles saturatedraded with lactic acid, thankfully my massage therapist worked her magic to get me off to the next lap.
In a 24 hour race, keeping track of how you fare against your competition is really important, luckily I had a great score and data keeper that would keep me informed about how far behind the next rider I was and how close was the rider behind me. I also had a great coach that used all the info from the score keeper to determine what was the proper racing strategy. My bicycle also needed maintenance during 24 hours of rolling over sharp rocks, steep downhills and dusty trails, but my mechanic made sure that my Trek Fuel was ready to roll after every break. Another member of my crew that was critical in the outcome of this race was my motivator. After every stop the thoughquittingiting crossed my mind however my motivator remind me how hard I had prepared for this race and how close I was of completing it.
After 24 hours of riding, the last thing you want to do is drive a car or stay awake for that matter. That's where my crew driver comes in to make sure that "all" of us make it home safely. Now you are probably wondering who are all these people in my crew, in reality my crew consisted of one person...Norma, the love of my live and my greatest supporter, who went on as little as a couple hours of sleep to be the best pit crew I've ever had. Thanks Amor!


The Race Course
The 10 mile course at the Stampede was heavy on the technical side for a 24 hour race. Three white knudownhillshills and a lung busting, mile long hill made up for some interesting laps which most riders completed in an average of 1 hour and 10 minutes.


The competition
This event turned out to be a low key event. In the 24 Hour solo category there were 17 participants and the grand total for all categories didn't exceed 80, however there was quite an atmosphere of racing and partying at the Rodeo Grounds which served as the transition area for the event.

The Race
Like all 24 hour races, the start was LeMans style (run to your bike). I knew I could out run most of the competition but I knew I had 24 hours ahead of me, so I positioned myself near the front of the start line and at the sound of the gun I we took off. I figured some of the runners ahead of my were in teams so I didn't need to compete against them because our race objectives were very different. We had to run about a quarter of a mile around the Rodeo facilities then go through the rodeo arena while passing by the timing station set right in the middle of the arena and out under the judging stand to pick up our bikes and head into the woods of the Tonto National Park. By the time I got on my bike I was in the top ten which was the position that I wanted to be. We slowly starting to make our way up to the first moderate climb and down the most dreadful rocky and steep downhill I've had to race. I allowed some distance between me and the rider ahead so I could have some kind of reaction room in case things went wrong down this hill. It's probably worth to mention that the official name for this downhill section was The Rocky B!tch. And it sure paid honor to its name. There was a short and steep climb halfway down the hill just to give the breaks enough time to cool before another half mile of rattling down hill action. The middle section of the trail was open double track trail with a couple steep climbs and a couple fast downhills. Unfortunately, everything that goes down must go up, or at least that's the way it worked in this race, but once we reached the second to last Support Station, there was no where else to go but up. The climb to the Top of the World as they called it was a 1.2 mile long climb. The grade of the climb plus the fact that it was very rocky and narrow made more than one person to opt for walking the whole way up. I chose to ride it and even though I didn't use my small ring on the first few times that I climbed it, I sure used my granny gear (smallest or slowest gear combination) for all the laps past number 4. At the end of the climb, The Top of the World the view was breathtaking, or could have been the effort needed to make it there. In any case it was not time to enjoy the view as the trail quickly turned downwards and we gave our brakes another workout. After a couple more rocky climbs and a long fast descend we made it to a paved road. It sure felt good to ride on a smooth surface after all the bumps in the trail and on after a short downhill we had a flat section to shift to the big ring and speed up to 25-30 miles per hour. Of course I wanted to save as much energy so I found a very aero position that allowed me to crank up to those speeds without the wind resistance. We passed near a lake and made a right turn to head back to the rodeo grounds. A final paved easy uphill that later would turn into a Category 1 climb would complete the lap. I worked my way into the arena and dismounted my bike to cross the timing station and looked at the race clock with surprise at noticing that I had completed the first lap in 53 minutes and some change including the run to the bikes. Norma was waiting for me at the exit of the arena and informed me that I was just the third rider to finish. At that point I realized I had to pace myself, otherwise I would be done before midnight.
I started the second lap a little more relaxed, however that quickly changed when I felt my front tire sliding around shortly after getting down the Rocky B!tch. Sure enough I had a flat tire and event though I was running tubeless tires I knew there was not enough pressure to finish like that. I found the shelter of a tree shade to shoot some CO2 onto my tire and hope it would maintain pressure. I did have a spare tube but I really didn't want to change the wheel set up to put a tube in there. Thankfully the slime inside the tire sealed the hole enough to make it back to the campsite. There I ate some while Norma refilled my camelback then I pump some more air onto the front tire and headed out for the third lap. On the third lap I caught up with Ian Leitch who ended up winning the race, however at the time he was riding at a pace short a little slower than me, so I decided to stick with him for the rest of the lap and we got to talk for a long time. He knew we were just minutes behind Chuck Wheeler who was the leader of the 24 hour solo at the moment. The name sounded familiar and the quickly I remember that I had seen his name as the winner of the previous year's edition of this very same race.
As it turned out Ian wBritishitish rider from London who had been in a bicycle trek across the American continent. He said he started riding down in Argentina earlier this year and made it through Panama. Then he went back to England and brought his girlfriend back to Panama. From there he rode through Central America (Including Costa Rica where he spent some time in Jaco) then made it to Arizona. He was on his way to Alaska and this race was just a way to take a break.
The rest of the race went on uneventful, Chuck rode ahead of us and I just made sure to keep Ian within striking distance, however when night fell things changed. Personally I had problems with my lights. I had two sets of lights that I though were fully charged so I rode two laps with the first set then when I mounted the second set the battery lasted only 10 minutes which would've left me in the dark in the middle of the trail. Thankfully, the day before I have bought a pair of clear glasses a Target that have LED lights mounted on the sides (Mission Impossible style) and I wore those on that lap, so when my lights failed I switched to my new gadget and even though the created a major glare, I was able to finish that lap. Very slow but I finished. By the time I got to the campsite it was midnight and the other batteries were not fully charged so I took a close to a 2 hour nap.
Waking up at 2 am to ride my bike was hard, in fact I snoozed my alarm a couple times but eventually made it up and started riding. It was getting a little cold at that time so I wore a couple extra layers. Two more laps went by really quick and I was able to trim my lap times to just over an hour thanks to the rest break. On one of those laps I completed the whole 10 mile loop without seeing one single rider on the trail. I did run into a coyote who seemed a little curious about my lights and stared at my for a few seconds before he took of running through a house's yard (yeah, he was partying out in town). By the time I started the next lap it was close to 5 am and the sun was starting to come up. I timed my climb to The Top of the World just in time to see the sun break over the plateau rim which was a really cool sight. Once I made it back to the transition are I discovered that Ian had attacked Chuck hard during the night and they kept exchange the lead until Chuck took a short break while Ian kept going. I found myself in third place but too far behind Chuck to even try to contest the second place, so Norma and I simple focused on the riders behind me with the goal of staying onpodiumdioum. And that's the way it went. I caught up to Ian again on my 14th lap and gave him an update, however I forgot if Chuck was one lap behind him or two which really freaked him out, so he sped up and finished his 18th lap just to find out that Chuck was two laps behind him.
It always gets a little technical towards the end of a 24 hour race. After finishing my lap 1statustused with Norma to find out that Ian and Chuck were unreachable however there were two riders just one lap behind me so I had to keep going to secure my spot. At the end of the next lap I went to check the results again. It was 11 am and we only had an hour of racing left. The scores hadn't been updated since 9:30 am so they showed two riders still on my tail. Another rider who had already given up for the day came to check the results and his friend asked him how was he doing. I couldn't hide the grin on my face when I saw him pointing to the name of the rider trailing me, which meant that he was no longer a threat to my position. It was even better to hear him say that his best friend, the other rider with chances of passing me was two behindbehin and by that time it was impossible he would finish two laps in less than an hour, so I called it a day and went to find Norma who was waiting patiently for me on the side of the trail to give her the news.


Post Race
After getting cleaned up and eating something, it was time to start picking up camp. Norma had an injured knee from her fall two days before awhinniedinned and moaned for every step I took, so it was a slow process to get all the stuff loaded onto my car. We finished at 1:30 PM and decided to head to the arena for the awards ceremony schedule for 2PM, however as we got closer we noticed that there were barely a few people left. I was really confused, "They did the awards without us" I though! We asked a volunteer that was loading stuff on a truck and he said the awards had been moved to a nearby bar and it was supposed to start at 1:30. Norma drove us there but it was too late, they were down to handing the last award for the team racers. I still got my prize but no podium glory or pictures. Oh well next time.
What was the prize you wondered? Well, as I tell people, we don't race for the prize but for the challenge. A nice price from time to time it's nice however this timefabulousoulos prize consisted of a boot shaped pint glass. This was the same award for Ian who completed 20 laps and defending champion Chuck who completed 18 turns, as many as he did during his winning effort in 2005.
Since we missed the most part of the awards, we were in and out and a few minutes which was good for us because we were starving. After getting some Mexican food and some coffee we... I mean Norma drove us home where I ate again and slept tight for the next 10 hours.

On Monday, I woke up a little tired but ready to go back to real life.

What's Next
I don't have much as far a racing goes in the coming months. It's way too hot here to race and the races in nearby states are too far, so I'll take a quick break then start training with Chequamegon in mind. Which reminds me, I just receive communication from the Chequamegon organizers that my request to have a preferred start spot was denied. Chequamegon is attended by over 2000 and not everyone is there with the same goal. Some come to finish it, some to best previous year's results while others are there to win it. My goal this year is simple, finish within the top 100, however by getting my preferred start denied it means I'll have to start from the back and work my way to the competitive group then from there fight for a spot within the Top 100 elite riders inMidwestdwest.

For now I'll leave you with a link to a video filmed during the 24 Hour Stampede. Look for me on a white sleeveless jersey...

Music Video link:
http://planetpayson.com/sports/index.html

Here is the link to the race results (remember I raced on the 24 hr Solo)
http://www.tucsonracing.com/PSMres06.htm

The numbers
Here are all my numbers for this race as provided by my bike computer and my heart rate monitor.
Distance Ridden 145.59 miles/234.3 kilometers
Avg speed 9.1 MPH/14.65KPH
Max speed 29.9MPH/48.12KPH
Riding time 17 hours 49 min. (This is the time that my bike wheels were actually turning)
Temperature High 96 Low 70
Time slept 2 hours 12:30 – 2:00 and 6:30-7:00 am
Climbing 2000 ft per lap, 30000 in total equivalent to 9144 meters
Calories 1000 per lap, 15000 in total. About what a regular person would burn in 8 days
Laps 15
HR above 155= 5:55:05
HR under 100= 2:22:06
HR on target= 10:15:40
Avg HR= 137 heart beats per minute
Lap #/Time/ Average Heart Rate
Lap 1= 53:00.3/161
Lap 2= 1:10:05/162
Lap 3= 1:10:06 /159
Lap 4= 1:11:06 /159
Lap 5= 1:13:51 /153
Lap 6= 1:37:07 /155
Lap 7= 1:01:56 /156
Lap 8= 1:38:56 /133
Lap 9= 1:42:30 /114
Lap 10= 1:09:44/ 143
Lap 11= 1:18:06 /126
Lap 12= 2:08:35/ 108 includes 30 min of sleeping
Lap 13= 1:07:53 /140
Lap 14= 1:21:25 /128
Lap 15= 1:30:27 /123