Mulberry Gap Women’s MTB Weekend, TNGA craziness

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

What a crazy, fun weekend. We left early Friday afternoon from Atlanta to our little hotel in Westminster, SC so Eddie could get some good sleep before the 8am start of the Trans North Georgia Mountain Bike race on the GA/SC state line Saturday morning. We encountered a bit of Labor Day weekend traffic but it wasn't too bad. Once we finally got there we were going to go for a little spin until Eddie realized that he had forgotten something. Something essential...like his race clothes. Whaaaaattt???????????????

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The grand finale

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

The race effort of the 2010 season.  Or, at least I think it is.  Giving the Vapor Trail 125 another go.  For me, this is one of the top events of the season.  How could it not be with one single loop that is 125 miles and gives you 20,000 ft of climbing.  It's a 'true' mountain bike race which includes everything that encompasses this sport:  singletrack, fireroads, hike-a-bikes, treeline, long days in the saddle, and night riding.  For 2010, there will be LIVE tracking similar to that used at the Colorado Trail Race.  Looks to be about 50 racers this year....which is a good number considering how difficult and remote the event it.  Unsure if all racers will have a SPOT tracking device....guess we will see come race evening.

Too bad it will be in the wee hours of the morning when most racers get up here. Frozen digits are pretty much a given at 12,500 ft at 2-3 AM.

The race begins at 10 PM on Saturday....and will take riders 14-18 hours to complete. Unlike last year, I am going in well rested. Every little ounce of strength is needed to have a good and enjoyable time on this brutal course. Crossing fingers for good weather this year. So far, the weather is looking good for the race days.

Jones Pass

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

Jones Pass, it sits just southwest of the Winter Park area.  It's not a super popular ride....at least I think it is not, but a few folks get up there during the snow free months.  For me, this was the first time to get up to the pass.....then hook onto the Continental Divide Trail.  You start at about 10,500 ft from the parking lot, then climb up to 12,500 ft via a jeep road.  Once to the top of the pass, you take a sharp left onto the CDT and you then traverse the spine of the Rocky Mountains.  Both Sonya and Yuki joined me on the free ride Friday.  No training today.  Just riding and lots of photos and videos.  When you are up here, you need to look around...not at a HR monitor.

Ride the divide.

The trail flows like a ribbon over the mountains.


Not much grows up here.

This video will give you a better sense of what this ride is like. Not much room for error in a few spots. The views? Speechless.



All photos from the ride posted here. These photos where taken by Sonya and Yuki

TNGA Go Time

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

It’s the afternoon before the TNGA and I’m so full of nervous energy I’ll have this post written in no time, which is good because I feel like I still much to do. So many details to account for.

A quick recap for those not in the know: The Trans North Georgia is mostly dirt route from East to West across northern GA. Northern GA is the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains which is going to make such a traverse very challenging. The total length is about 350 miles and includes over 50,000 feet of climbing.

All racers have to carry a Spot GPS transponder for safety, but it also gives the world a way to keep an eye on the race. You can follow all of the racers as they take on the mountians: http://www.firstworks.com/tnga/

I’ll post more tonight when I settle down.

Eddie O

Rest and Recovery

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

A lot of rest and recovery leading up to next weekends Vapor Trail 125. The Vapor Trail goes down in my book and the 2 greatest event I do all year.  The Colorado Trail Race takes the top spot....then the Vapor Trail....then the Breck-Epic Stage Race.  Yes, the Vapor Trail is 125 miles....and a very hard 125 miles at that.  Throw in 20,000 ft of climbing and you have a very solid night and day on the bike.


Today was a drill-n-chill singlespeed session.  Mucho respect to those that ride the SS full time. Better you than me.


SSing in slooooooooow-mo.

Looking forward to Friday, as a few of us are heading up to 12,500 ft for a nice little adventure ride.  Video to follow!

Tribble Mill 6 hour

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

After last weekend, I have been anxious to race again..and the next thing on my schedule wasn't until Sept. 18. I searched the interwebs for something not-too-far away and came up with the 6/12 hour race at Tribble Mill which is at a local trail I have never ridden. I asked Eddie if he'd want to team up..he said something about being tired from all the Fool's Gold marking, take-down, and clean-up and also something about an impending race across Georgia next week..fine, fair excuses. I asked a few ladies if they would want to team up but it wasn't a good weekend on the calendar.

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Breck-Epic: Stage 6

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

The 6 stage. The last of the stages. Got to admit, didn't want to crawl out of bed for Stage 6. Was the first time all week that I actually was forced out of bed by a screaming alarm from my cell phone. Six AM came around....coffee and fuel....the same as the other 5 mornings.


The 8:10 AM start. Waiting. Chilly. Getting ready to push through the high alpine terrain with Sonya.


Stage 6 was a good one! Fast and lots of awesome mtb trails!

Pushing over Boreas Pass at Aid Station 1. Sonya and I pushed the pace on the road. None of the stages were easy. It was full-gas from start to finish regardless of the time gap in the overall standings. Nothing is guaranteed in stage racing.


I think Sonya and I are on to something with this coed duo racing format. We work perfectly together on the bike. More stage races in the future? Hmmmmmm....

What we worked all week for....the top spot on the overall podium!

What do all the riders work for?  Yes, a belt buckle.  But this belt buckle is a little bit more hardcore.

The front.

And....the back.

One item to note...that many at this race cannot lay claim to.....Sonya and I got through the entire week with no mechanical issues.  No flat tires.  No broken chains.  Etc, etc, etc.

What a great week with great people and a super event! Put it on your calender for 2011. Word on the street is the race is the same week in Aug of 2011.

Breck-Epic: Stage 5

Friday, August 27th, 2010

After yesterday's suffer-fest in the 2nd part of the stage, Sonya and I settled into a easy pace off the start. The entire time, looking down the switchbacks to see a charging Kent Eriksen team. But after about 15 minutes of 'light' pedaling, Sonya started to have happy legs and began to charge up the mountain. That is not a figure of speech. We literally pushed up and over the 10 Mile Range which backdrops Breckenridge to the west. Pushing followed by riding followed by more pushing followed by a rip'n descent. Knock on wood, our day went smooth. No blow ups....no mechanicals. We crossed the line right at the 4 hour mark and put roughly 13 minutes into the 2nd place team from Steamboat Springs and taking our 5th stage win in just as many days.

Here is Stage 5....where my red blood cells got a damn good workout!



Friday is the last stage of the event. It is a fast one with some fantastic trails to rage on. Sonya and I will go back at it trying for the 6th win in a row and taking the overall at the 2010 Breck Epic.

Breck-Epic: Stage 4

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Don't think I really need to dwell on the specifics of this stage as Sonya was the one to have to dig deep and suffer. We started off hot and fast....but paid for it dearly in the later half of the event. Sonya has the finer details. Even though we had our first 'off' day of the 6 day stage race, we still took the win and gained another 20 minutes on the riders from Kent Eriksen Cycles.....who are not about to give in. Video gives a good idea of the non-stop power to the pedals nature of the stage.

Southern XC, Chawton Park Woods, UK

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Last weekend I had the choice of either road intervals alone or racing at the Southern XC It was an easy decision! The thought of riding alone wasn't inspiring me and I sometimes find it easier to push myself in a race, particularly this late in the season. There was also the lure of some singletrack riding of course!

The women's race started at 2pm so I even had a leisurely start to the day - a pleasant change from 5.30am wakeup calls :-) There had been a lot of rain in the days leading up to the race, so I opted for Conti 2.4 X-Kings front and back. It was the perfect setup and I had lots of grip where some other people seemed to be slipping and sliding.

This was my first XC race. Ever. I had planned to race XC this season as part of my training, but illness and injury scuppered my plans, and this was the first opportunity I had.

Given my lack of experience at racing over only 1.5 hours I decided to try to ride behind Maddie Horton (Team Certini) for the first lap. I took this too literally and rode way too close, which meant that I couldn't see the trail ahead. Whoops! I lost the front wheel and found myself sprawled across the singletrack. I leapt up, put my bottle back in, did up my shoe again, and jumped back on. Maddie was now out of sight. Once I rejoined her I made an effort to enter the next section of singletrack first. Maddie hadn't test ridden the course, so I figured it would probably be more helpful (and safer!) to lead.

After the first lap I had a small lead over Maddie and I knew that I needed to push on hard. I thoroughly enjoyed the course and I couldn't believe how quickly the laps passed by. It was over far too quickly! When I crossed the finish line I was ready for more :-) After watching the World Cup XC races and seeing the riders literally fall off their bikes at the finish line, I now realise that I should have gone harder! Next time :-) It was great to see the guys from our local bike shop and to be in the mix with some of them - thanks also for your support!


I didn't know until the finish that Maddie crashed during the second lap causing her to retire from the race :-( I hope that you're OK Maddie.

Results:

1. Sally Bigham (Topeak-Ergon Racing Team) 1:36:43
2. Jessie Roberts (WXC Mountain Bike Team) 1:54:47
3. Carla Haines (WXC Mountain Bike Team) 1:57:23

Full results can be found here