25 Hours in Frog Hollow

Dave, Shaun & I loaded up Dave's truck in Fernie and started our road trip to Hurricane, UT. We had a few navigational challenges but eventually made it to our place in Toquerville (great Canadian name) ;-). Andrew & Ryan had already arrived from Jasper and the shenanigans had  begun.

Are we supposed to be in Bozeman?

Salt Lake City stop at Wholefoods

We headed out to the race course on Friday for a lap. It was warm and the course was in pretty good shape. A road climb to begin with some fun descending on Jem Trail. The next section climbed some rock ledges, more descending and a road section back to the transition tent. All up approx. 1100 ft elevation gain and 20 kilometres per lap.

Headed back to the place to do the usual race prep and catch up with the other Canadian racers who had arrived. In total there were eight of us racing solo, all unsupported.

The skies looked ominous race morning and the forecast was looking questionable with rains coming in. After setting up the pit and attending the racer meeting it was time to head to the start line. The Lemans start was fairly civil and before I knew it was on my bike heading up the road climb with Shaun & Ryan in the fore-front. A bit of a bottle neck on Jem Drops but it was smooth sailing after that.

Things were fairly uneventful for laps 1-8. I settled into my pace, grabbing layers and a bottle of Infinit, trying to reduce pit stops. The first main stop was to put on lights.  Mounted Exposure Reflex on the bars and Diablo was ready to go on my spare helmet. I was ready to head back out just as the rain started coming down. That lap was challenging with slippery rocks and sand turning into clay. Arriving back at the pit sat on my cooler for awhile trying to decide if I wanted to go back out. Before I could convince myself to stop,  got back on the Fate and headed out for some more suffering.

The rain eventually stopped and the wind was starting to dry things out nicely. I was getting into my groove again. After Lap #12 stopped at the pit to change my lights and take some layers off. Things were starting to warm up and I didn't want to overheat. I figured I only had a few more night laps and the sun would be coming up. After I left the pit,  looked at my watch and it was only 2:30am! Say what? I guess my timing was a bit of ;-).

Lap #13 is where things got nasty. Halfway into the lap the skies opened up again and this time it was sideways rain and hail on the back end of the course. A full on river was flowing down the trail and I was walking more than riding. My decision to take off my shoe covers and rain jacket was bitting me in the ass! I just wanted to get back to the pit in one piece not hurting myself or destroying my bike. As soon as I got back, jumped right in the truck. I was done!  Over the next hour the rest of the team rolled in and also pulled the pin but Ryan kept going.

Dave's bike - you get the idea

With just over 19 hours of racing  made the decision to stop. Later in the morning found out I was leading for solo women. Whether I would hold my position would depend on if 2nd place went back out. In the end she did and I was bumped to 2nd. Well that sucked but it was the right call at the time and I have no regrets. Of course it was disappointing not to have raced the full 25 hours but sometimes you have to put the podium aside and do what makes sense.

Still freezing!

Smiling even after the sufferfest! 

Solo Women

In the end, Canada represented well with 5 out of 8 athletes getting on the podium. Hats off to Ryan who continued to suffer through all of the elements and ride to a 3rd place finish for solo men.

We spent the next few days having some laughs, eating and trying to find good wine and beer in Utah!

Zion National Park

Getting our pizza on!

The gang outside our place

Fall Update

It has been a good summer riding mostly in Fernie, a couple of weekends around Calgary and some Whitefish, MT riding. The end of August I set out with five other riders on an unsupported 100 mile loop in Fernie covering mostly single track with no overlapping trails and an elevation gain of 27,000 ft. I decided to join the group the week of the ride. I was planning on the Sufferfest race that weekend but this looked like Sufferfest on steroids! I have to admit I was pretty intimidated by the ride and was going in with the idea of just seeing how far I could get. 

We headed out early morning under a fairly clear sky, cool temperatures and darkness.  A short way up the first climb lost sight of most of the guys. Mike & I rode together for a bit and soon he disappeared. I knew I would be riding most of it by myself.

I continued up Big $, a nasty climb.  The views on the way up were outstanding that morning, which helped a bit with the suffering. The 600m descent was challenging with a lot of new sections, which were still pretty fresh. I had to stop a few times because my hands were cold and it was hard to hang on.

The next trails were fairly uneventful and I felt pretty good. After grabbing some bottles of Infinit it was on to a 25km road climb and a 1000m descent off Porky Blue. There can be some sketchy sections so I rode pretty conservatively. It was back to town from there to grab bottles, lube chain, layers etc. This was the 50 mile mark and I was not entirely sure how things would go after that.

The next climb, Swine Flu I felt pretty good and actually passed a few riders on the climb ;-). Grabbed my lights and some more gear at my parents along the way. Off to the next section, Phat Bastard, Mushroom, Lactic Ridge. "Lactic", the name says it all. This is where I started to fall apart. I was walking and riding at this point and the outside of my left knee was getting really sore. At the intersection of Mushroom and Lactic I sat there for about 10 minutes trying to convince myself to continue going up. It would be mostly pushing my bike at the this point to reach the top. With approx. 60 miles under my belt I could not convince myself so I headed down. Ran into a moose (not literally) and had a minor mechanical so had to make the call for a pick up in the Park.

With approx. 65 miles and 12,500 ft gain I was happy with how far I made it. Next year I plan to give it another go. Anyone who finishes this thing is a rock star in my opinion! Yes, the other five got it done! What are you doing next August?! ;-)

A couple of weekends ago I raced the Six in the Stix in Cranbrook, BC. This is a 6 hour event with some fun single track and some hammers normally show up. This year was the biggest turn out with 60 soloists plus teams of 2. I checked out the course the day before and it was quite a bit different than last year. It felt like it would ride faster.

Race day was clear but a cool morning. It was great to see so many familiar faces at the start line. It was a fast start as usual but I tried to do my thing. I had Tanis, who took the overall women's win last year, in sight for awhile but eventually could not hold her wheel. It was lap #1 so I just did my thing and tried to settle in.

Most bizarre thing of the entire day was coming down Roller Coaster with some fairly good speed and spotting a couple of hikers ahead. I called out and they moved off the trail right away but their dog who was off leash was running right at me! Luckily the dog got out of the way in time. That was close!

Lap #7 would be my final one. Feeling a little fatigued but trying to stay focused. I was almost done and had lots of time to finish the lap. I felt good about the race and ended up taking the win for my category. It turned out the course was actually slower than last year. There was not a lot of recovery until the last section. All up 91 km and approx. 8378 ft gain.

1st place soloists. Chris Mckechnie took the overall win! 

Last weekend was the High Roller Poker ride in Fernie. This is an annual event covering some of the best single track in Fernie. You collect stickers along the way to make up a poker hand, which is dealt at the after party. Best hand wins but the reality is everyone gets a prize as the donations from the local businesses are always amazing. It's a no brainer really, great trails, cool t-shirt, Mexican, and beer! I don't really even like beer ;-).

My buddy Dave came down for the event. He has never ridden in Fernie so it was a great way for him to get a taste of the trails. Another cool morning heading down to the Royal to check in, sign waivers, etc. We decided to start right away. There are really no strict rules. You can start later if you want and some people take all day to do it, stop for coffee or lunch, it's all good.

We started catching a group of riders, passing them and having a quick chat. Heading up the first main climb Hypervent, we had a chain of strong riders working up the switchbacks. We were having some fun calling each other out and no one wanted to get dropped!

The next section of trails were a little wet from the heavy rain we had the day before. They were a little more punishing then usual. Then we hit my nemesis "Lactic Ridge". I called out to Dave, this is where it gets nasty! The conditions made it tougher than usual but we suffered to the top and had a blast coming down S-Bomb/Brokeback.

We didn't see a lot of riders from then on. Just did our thing having fun and carrying on at a steady pace. Finished up and checked back in at the Royal. Great day on the bike and some good vert in the bag.

Up next is my final race of the season, 25 Hours in Frog Hollow. It should be a fun event with a group of us going down. Looking forward to it!

Fernie 3 2014

A 3 Day Stage race in Fernie, BC. It was going to be interesting based on the amount of rainfall we had leading up to the race. The rain was coming down pretty hard before Stage 1. I was happy to wake up to no rain in the morning. 

Arriving at the start line it was nice to see a bunch of familiar faces and some fast women. The gun went off and the ladies were off like a rocket. Once we got off the pavement we went through an open field which was chaos with mud and people coming from all different directions. I got squeezed out a little bit before the first single track. The trails were wet so I took it fairly easy and managed to get my rhythm once we got out of the Ridgemont trails.

Stage 1 start line

I was back and forth a lot with another rider during the first part of the race. We were basically wheel to wheel heading up the last climb. It was all going to come down to the final descent on Southern Comfort and the road back to town. Heading down approached a bridge I have ridden tons of times but this time it was like glare ice and apparently there was now a gap between the 2 bridges. My wheel went between them and I was down. The girl ahead of me had also crashed and snapped off her seat. We made sure both of us were alright and I headed down the single track, trying to ride smart and fast. I hit the road and looked back and did not see anyone. I got out of the saddle and set a pretty good pace to the finish. Ended up 3rd in my category with only a 3 minute lead over 4th place (Lisa L) and approx. 5 minutes off 2nd. There were a few of us over the 2 categories that were very close. It was going to be good racing!

Great shots from Raven Eye Photography

Stage 2 - How wet do you think the trails will be today? ;-)

It rained more later in the day after Stage 1 was finished. It was going to be another wet day on the trails. We started on a power line climb going right by my house. It was nice to see some familiar faces even if I didn't look up - game face ;-). I got into a good position for the first single track climb. Lisa & I were wheel to wheel again from the start. Hyperextension was sooooo greasy coming off the top. I was just hanging on hoping for a clean run. I got out with no issues and hit the road and could see Lisa and some other ladies just ahead. Close racing again for the rest of the stage. Coming into the final trail 3 of us were very close. About half way in I dropped my chain and it got really jammed between the frame and ring. I caught up to one girl and passed her but did not catch Lisa. It turns out she was only 30 secs ahead. I was still in 3rd with a 2.5 minute lead going into Stage 3!

Cool shot on the ski hill by Raven Eye

Stage 3 started at the ski hill and was the nicest day so far. The trails would still be really wet in the Park. It was another fast start as we worked our way up a double track climb keeping in a tight pack with myself, Lisa and a few of the other lead girls . About 1.5 hours into it coming off Project 9, one of the descents, a group of us were told by the Marshall we missed one of the trails. We talked for a bit asking what we should do? He said a number of people missed the turn and kept going, so we continued.

I figured I was disqualified at this point but would just continue to push on. The Park trails were very wet and I was  loosing traction on the rooty climbs. Things dried out higher up. I hit the final descent and on to the finish line. A few people said oh good job you came down that ramp. It was no big deal just a downhill ramp to the finish, but I guess it was because I followed the course ;-) Apparently there were about 3 different ways people got to the finish. The Stage would not count because of the number of people who went off course. That would leave me with 3rd in my category and 7th overall for women. It was too bad we never really got to see how things would have played out with Lisa & I.  Overall good racing and nice to challenge myself against some great racers. It was nice to see the Deadgoat crew, family and friends over the weekend. Since the race it has been sunny, hot and the trails are in mint shape. Go figure ;-) 

With my nephew after Stage 2. Yeah that hurt!

24 Hours Round the Clock 2014

This would be my second year racing this event. I was looking forward to getting after it as my 6 hour race a couple of weeks prior didn't quite work out as planned. Heavy rain prior to the Salty Dog caused some slick conditions. One lap into it and crashed on a bridge with wire mesh resulting in 7 stitches. Ouch!

Dave picked me up in Fernie and we were on our way to Spokane to set up the pit and do a pre ride of the course. Things were in good shape. It was dry and anticipated dusty conditions for the race. The legs felt good and the Fate was good to go! 

Loading up in Fernie

As we were leaving the pit we noticed Dave had managed to grab a flat on his truck.  My Specialized pump came to the rescue. Apparently it is not only good for bike tires ;-)

Headed back to the hotel to meet up with Shaun and get some stuff sorted out for the next day. It was going to be the three of us racing with no support. That would mean 25 bottles of Infinit, caffeine taped to my top tube, light mounted on my spare helmet and my game face.

Woke up to nice weather and the forecast looked good for the entire race. We loaded up and made our way to the race. Finished setting up the pit, getting layers, lights, etc put out for the night.  It was time to head to the start line. We were on the front line but decided to let the masses go by and run mid pack to avoid the chaos. The three of us pretty much arrived at our bikes at the same time. I didn't see Shaun again and could see Dave ahead until I dropped my chain shortly into the lap. I set a fairly conservative pace and just wanted to keep things rolling until it was time to mount lights. 

The pit

With 6 laps under my belt stopped to put lights on and grab some music. Dave was in the pit. Unfortunately he got sick and was out of the race. We had a quick chat and he said I was leading. Shortly into the next lap my handle bar light started spinning around and my helmet was bouncing all over the place. The joys of night riding ;-). I stopped to tighten up my helmet and stick my other light in my jersey. A stop at the pit and Dave tightened up the screw on my light and grabbed a bottle and some arm warmers and was back on my way. 

I am too cheap to buy the photo ;-)

Exposure lights back on and working great! When I got back to the pit Shaun was there. He got sick as well. I grabbed another bottle and some layers while Shaun simultaneously lubed my chain and dry heaved. Nasty! I told the boys not to stay up if they were sick. I would be fine looking after myself. 

I was feeling pretty good into the night. The guys were there helping out and providing words of encouragement. I started to feel the fatigue come on around 2:00-3:00am. I grabbed another jacket and some warmer gloves and headed back out for a slower lap. Once I finished that one was starting to feel a little better. The sun was going to be coming up soon and started to find some new energy, maybe it was the caffeine!

It was already light at 5:00 am so lights came off and so did the layers.  On my next lap noticed a solo girl as I passed her towards the back end of the course. When I came back to the pits checked with Dave to make sure I was still in the lead and find out what the spread was. He said I was a lap up with about an hour lead. I was good with that but it was still early so had to keep doing my thing. I was feeling stronger into the morning and my lap times were getting faster but my butt was really sore. Shaun offered up his bibs for a little extra padding. No thanks,  I was not that desperate! I would just spend the remainder of the race riding mostly out of the saddle. 

Coming into the pit around 10:00am the guys did not know for sure how many laps up I was but was still in the lead.  After the next lap Shaun said I was 2 laps up and there really was no need to go back out. I asked how many laps I had done? My goal was to beat my time from last year. We chatted for a few minutes then decided to head to the timing tent.  He went over my laps with the timers and was told I had completed 17. So we talked back and forth about going back out. There was discussion about maybe beating the course record for women and putting the "hurt" on some guys. I was in!! Funny how one minute I am pulling the pin and the next going for a course record - coaches ;-)

I was really starting to get after it up until the 5 Minute Hill. I was wondering how long my energy  would last? I was going a little cross eyed ;-). Still making pretty good time and excited to be coming to the end. When I passed the last check point Shaun was waiting for me and rode the last few minutes with me to the finish. Dave came up to the timing tent and big hugs all around. Awesome finish! 

Awards, some Mexican and shopping to pick up the stuff we can't get in Canada and of course some podium wine to celebrate!

In the end it turns out I completed 17 not 18 laps. I was still pleased with my result beating my time from last year by approximately 30 minutes with a total of 255 miles.  A couple of new things for this 24 hour including S-Works shoes and Stages wattage device. Both worked awesome! I had no real mechanical issues, dropped my chain a few times and had one fall due to a guy crashing in front of me on Devil's Down.

There are so many things that need to go right to pull off a 24 hour never mind a win. It is truly a privilege to get on the podium. I could not have done it without the help and support of so many people. Thank you Shaun & Dave for your support during the race, my sponsors and all the volunteers! What an amazing experience :-)

Spring Riding

Wigwam Flats, Elko 

It has been a tricky Spring to get outside riding. However, I have managed to get some good miles in with a trip to Maui in April and some day trips to Elko and Cranbrook.

View from ride to Lahaina

Summit of Haleakala

Steve getting it done on West Maui Loop.

My Fate is rockin wattage thanks to Stages.

Community Forest, Cranbrook

My first Spring race is the Salty Dog this weekend. It is a  6 hour race in Salmon Arm, BC. I am looking forward to it and hanging out with some good friends. Next up is the 24 hour in Spokane at the end of the month. Racing season is on :-)!

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo 2014

It is always a treat to get away from the snow and cold for a riding adventure. The temperatures had been particularly cold two weeks leading up to the race. This meant a lot of grinding it out on the trainer, which is always awesome ;-). Prior to that I did get some good riding in Fernie and had a fun trip out to Rossland.

Dave & I flew out of Calgary and met up with Shaun in Phoenix. A stop at Whole Foods and we were good to go for our drive to Oracle. A few other racers were meeting us at 3C Ranch. Antonio & Holly were also driving from Texas to help with pit support, which was greatly appreciated.

View from place

It was nice to catch up with everyone the next morning and enjoy some coffee on the warm deck before heading out to register and do a pre-lap on the course. The sun was shining and temps were mid 80s. It felt amazing to be on the dirt again. I felt great on my bike and was ready to go!

Race day woke up to more sunshine and it was already warm. We headed to the course to finish setting up the pit and get organized for what was about to unfold. 24 Hour racing is always interesting  :-).

On the way to the race

The Fate was good to roll.

Dave, Shaun, Ryan & I stashed our bikes and headed up to the Le Mans start. We decided to position ourselves a little further back, as last year was a real gong show. The gun went off and we were on our way. Shaun & I arrived at the bikes at the same time and settled into the pack. I lost sight of him once he started hammering up the B**tches. I ran into Ryan and Dave on that lap, which was fun. Things were congested as always but moving along and I hit the pits in good time. Grabbed a bottle of Infinit and back out. I was racing back and forth with another solo racer the first lap and the beginning of the 2nd. I decided to pick up the pace a little so I could find my own rhythm and settle into my pace.

Le Mans start. Can you find the Specialized kit?

My lap times were consistent and I was starting to get some good flow on the course. It was hot and dusty but I was loving it after a long winter. My first stop was after lap #4 to mount lights. I was in and out fairly quick. I knew there was at least one girl ahead of me so there was no time to waste. That was a fun lap as things started to cool down and the sun set. Back to the pit and added another layer just to be safe before the temps dropped.

Here is where things started to get interesting. On lap #7 I noticed my eyes were watering a lot and getting sore. It was dusty and there was smoke from the open fires that were on the course and in the transition area. It was getting a little challenging to see. I didn't want to stop but thought the smart thing to do was to get some eye drops when I hit the pits. So the crew flushed my eyes and I wiped my face off hoping things would improve.

Unfortunately the drops just seemed to make things worse. It was like a film had been placed over my eyes. I had to keep switching my lights to high just to make out where I was going. A few sections I went off course and could tell I was really starting to slow down. By the time I got back to the pit I had decided I should go to the medical tent to get things looked at. Amber was nice enough to come with me. I guess my eyes were fire red with little white. They started flushing the eyes out, and then squirted more saline in as I was supposed to keep them open and stare at something. Good times! Wow that burned and I felt a bit nauseous.  After having a look at me I was advised not to go back on course and get some sleep and rest my eyes. What? Stop? Just over 12 hours of racing and approximately 200km and I was done. Well that sucked!!

I tried to get some sleep in the van but using my race bag as a pillow didn't really work out. I spent the rest of the night by the heater in the pit with a blanket over my head.  The sun came up and it was time to cheer on the rest of our team. I was not the only one with their challenges but we still had Dave & Tony out on course. Tony was doing great chipping away at his laps and Dave was getting his groove back after suffering dehydration, gut cramps, etc. He managed to pull off an 8th place finish, which was impressive.

As the race came to a finish it seemed strange not to be crossing the line. However, that's racing you never know what you are going to get. All you can do is get yourself ready and the rest is beyond control. It only makes me want to race again really soon!

Spent the next few days having some fun and enjoying the warm weather before heading back to winter.