http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2008/mar08/keyesville08/keyesville081



Official results from the Keyesville race are up.



What an awesome event!  Can't wait to go back next year!



Yesterday I was trying out my new GoPro camera.  Here is my first uploaded video, riding behind my wife at Vail Lake after work...



http://www.vimeo.com/833121



Sorry, it appears that I cannot embed the video in my blog posts...

A couple of weeks ago I received my new frame, a Lenz Sport Lunchbox.  The guys over at The Path Bike Shop in Tustin, CA ordered all the parts for me.

This bike is not the typical All-Mountain machine, long travel 29ers are not so common, mostly due to fork selection.

So what is it that makes my ‘Box so special?  Is it more than just the sum of its parts?

Frame: Lenz Sport Lunchbox (Medium)

Fork: White Brothers Fluid29 150mm

Hubs: Chris King (Red, 36H 150mm rear, 36H T/A front)

Rims: Stan’s 29er Flow

Spokes: DT Swiss SuperComps

Nipples: DT Swiss Prolocks

Brakes: Hope M4 180mm front and rear

Cranks: Middleburn RS7 22T/34T/Ring Guard

BB:  Crank Bros. Cobalt

Pedals: Crank Bros. Eggbeater Ti

Headset: Crank Bros. DirectSet

Seat post: Crank Bros. Joplin

Stem: Thompson X4 80mm 0 degree rise

Bars: Sunline V-One Carbon OS

Shifters: X0 Grip shift

FD: XTR

RD: X0 medium cage

Chain: SRAM

Cassette: SRAM

Seat: Specialized Phenom

Tires: Various (Kenda Nevegal and Small Block 8)

The bike weighs in at less than 31lbs ready to roll.

I finished building her in time for the final race of the SRC Shimano Winter Series and decided to let that be her shakedown run.  I raced XC on her and was not so stoked on the experience.  I had Nevegals on the front and rear, which made for a slow rolling setup when compared to the other riders on high end XC machines.  I had an issue with chain suck when dropping to the granny gear (something that I still have not resolved).  But in general the bike worked fine, I was approximately 10 minutes slower than two weeks prior on a bike that was 7lbs lighter and decidedly more XC friendly.

I decided not to let the experience at Fontana dissuade me from using my new bike at the Keyesville Classic for the All-Mountain Stage Race.  Their Stage Race seems to me to be the perfect test of a bike and rider’s ability, combined points from DH, ST, and XC to determine an overall winner.  I had a great time and placed second overall, winning my class for DH and ST!  I had proven to myself that this bike was my most versatile weapon, that it would live up to my expectations!

Well this last weekend I put the ‘Box through another torture test, and she came out with flying colors! 

Saturday we rode with a big group out at Marshall Canyon.  We rode in the “A Group” and the pace was pretty high for a group ride.  I had the XC tire setup up on there and had no problems keeping up on the climbs.  The bike performed flawlessly.  I had a blast riding and joking around with all the STR peeps.

Sunday we spent the day doing a full “Tour de Noble”.  There are lots of challenging obstacles on this trail, and we did a lot of miles and climbing.  I conquered several technical climbs that I had never cleaned before, and pushed as hard or harder on some descents as I would on my DH bike!  I rode a few new stunts that we found and the bike took it all in stride.  It was awesome!

I have to say that this bike is here to stay.  It will surely be my go-to bike for everything between XC racing and DH shuttles.  For XC racing I still have my Niner SIR9 and for DH stuff I will continue to use my Intense Socom, but the ‘Box fits perfectly between these two bikes and fills a long standing gap that I have had in my stable.

Special thanks to:

The Path Bike Shop in Tustin, CA

Devin at Lenz Sport

Tim Fry at White Brothers (MRP)

DAY 1 (3/14/2008)

After a hectic week of preparation the wife and I left home Friday morning as the sun was coming up.  Our plan was to get up to Keyesville around 10AM when the official practice session was supposed to start.

We arrived at the venue on time, but found that very few other people were there and the DH course was not marked.  Talking to a few other people that were trying to practice, we heard conflicting stories about where the track was, whether there were or were not two separate tracks, where the races would start, etc.  There was one section that we knew would be on the course, it is known as “The Snake Pit”.  I spent some time working with Allison to help her get over riding her XC bike through a rock garden that she wouldn’t even blink at on her DH bike. 

After some work we headed down to the parking lot.  We were expecting Steph and Dan and wanted to practice with them.  They were there and after suiting up joined us for the hike back up to the top.  Yeah that is right, I said hike.  This event did not have shuttles for the DH, people power only!  I have to admit it was funny for me to see my wife and my friends all geared up with full face helmets riding XC bikes!  I was of course riding my new ‘Box!!!

 Dan

Steph

Allison

We drove back over to the venue and decided to pre-ride the already marked XC course in the hopes that the confusion over the DH courses might be worked out when we finished.  As we headed out on the ~9 mile lap we saw the race organizer setting up the tape for “DH Course 1” (we had apparently practiced “DH Course 2” before lunch).  We thanked him for marking the courses and decided that we would finish the XC lap and then check it out.  The XC course was very fun, lots of places where momentum would be key on race day.  I was very glad to have pre-ridden the course!

After the XC course we rode “DH Course 1” and it seemed that there were more line choices on this course, as well as some pretty steep and bumpy sections (for a trail bike).  Both courses seemed like they were more SuperD courses than DH, very fun with lots of pedaling, but not highly technical.  We tried to figure out the partially marked Short Track course but wound up giving up and headed over to a friends house to close out the day.  Our friend Jeff had quite a gathering at his house for the weekend and had prepared a killer meal for us all.  Huge thanks to him and his family for putting us up!!!

DAY 2 (3/15/2008)

Up very early and off to the venue to make sure we were ready for DH.  I stood in line to get pancakes but decided not to when I discovered that it would cost me $6, and they looked burnt.  I geared up for my race run thinking that plastic courage couldn’t hurt, especially since I only had one run on “DH Course 1” and two on “DH Course 2”.  I am not used to having such little practice when racing DH!  I hiked up the course with my fellow racers, taking one last look at where I hoped to place my tires in the race run.

“DH Course 1” went well.  I didn’t have any major issues, a few spots where I scrubbed some extra speed, and I figured I had a competitive time.  While hiking back up the second course with Steph, I found some spots where I figured we could shave a bit of time and did my best to visualize them so that I could hit them in my race run.  “DH Course 2” went just as well as the first and I felt that although I was a tad on the conservative side I was probably somewhere on the podium.  As it turns out I won my class!!!

In the mean time the weather decided to make us suffer.  It started to rain, then sleet, then hail, then snow.  After suiting up to run Short Track and switching over to skinny tires we did our best to stay warm and dry.  Luckily I had brought our EZ Up and a decent sized propane heater.  I had never raced ST before and did not pre-ride the course.  Needless to say I was nervous, but the cold definitely took my mind off things. 

We were cold!

Right out of the gate people were pretty much sprinting.  A riding buddy of ours from STR was in front of me off the start, he had the inside line but drifted out on the first corner.  He crossed my front wheel and I was forced to stop and restart!  I think I wound up near mid-pack due to the stop and start, but was already picking off lots of people by the top of the climb.  The first lap or two was a bit hectic as I was picking through the pack.  Around mid race I heard the announcer say that I was in fifth.  I picked off another rider on that lap, but I was now into lap traffic as well and it was hard to tell who was on the lead lap.  In the last two laps I made a pass which put me in first for my age category, and third overall, finishing on the lead lap with 9 laps.

The ST race was the highlight of my weekend!  The course was super fun!  I liked the corners and the short climb; it definitely paid off with my fitness and skill set!  The high speed, shoulder to shoulder racing action was a rush!  If this race was representative of what Short Track is at other events, I want to do more Short Track racing!!!  Another cool benefit of ST is that the spectating is fun.  After my race I ran around the inside of the course cheering for the Expert racers.  Due to the relatively small course, you can see the riders at several spots on the course and see all the racing action.  It was very cool!

After all the racing was done we had the awards ceremony and then went to The Pizza Barn in Kernville for some dinner.  It was great to get some hot food after such a long cold day!!  Post-meal we all went back to Jeff’s house and showered and went to bed.

DAY 3 (3/16/2008)

We were a bit slower getting out of bed on Sunday and I felt very rushed before the start of my XC race.  I found a sticky link in my chain which had caused some skipping in my drive train during the ST race.  I had to fix that, get my bike weighed in, and get a bit of warm-up before the start.  On top of all that it was freezing out!  In all the rush I did manage to check my tire pressure, but I didn’t put enough pressure in them.  I had run 35psi in my Nevegals for DH, but the skinnier tires (Specialized Captain front, Kenda Small Block 8 rear) should have had 40psi in them.  I had a commanding lead in the overall for the Stage Race…

I lined up for XC and felt good at the start.  I kept towards the front and passed some people.  I was railing on the single track a couple of miles into the first 9 mile lap and must have caught a rock just right pinch flatting my front tire.  I pulled off the side and started working quickly to fix it, knowing that every second that I was standing still lowered my chances at the Stage Race victory.  I replaced the tube, went to inflate with CO2, and when I turned on the CO2 the tube ripped inside the tire!!!  I was in bad shape with no more tubes or CO2.  After pumping up the original tube to see if I could patch it, a very nice racer came along and gave me his spare tube.  He saved my day!  I went to work re-assembling my front tube/tire/wheel and then hammered off down the course.

I did my best to turn my misfortune into anger.  I growled and yelled at the trail, my bike, my legs!  I attacked everything, downhill, uphill, flats.  I went all out.  On the first lap I caught and passed my wife and the other female Sport class racers as well as many other racers.  On the second lap, just after where I flatted on the first lap I caught and passed the awesome guy that gave me his tube.  I thanked him and he encouraged me on my comeback.  Just after passing him I hit a steep incline, shifted to my small ring, and got chain suck!!!!  I flopped onto the ground wrestling with the chain that was now stuck between my chain rings and the chain stay.  I got it out and restarted, but was now behind several slower riders that I had already passed and there were not many passing opportunities on the single track descent.  I lost yet more time...

On the fire road ascent my legs gave up.  They started cramping.  I started punching them as I climbed.  I refused to give up.  I got off and walk/jogged a short time at the steepest point.  I had just caught site of a racer in my class up ahead and set the goal of finishing in front of him.  I did manage to pass him and one other racer before crossing the finish line in 15^th in my age group.  It was pretty emotional.  I knew I had lost the overall win, and didn’t even know if I would be on the podium.

 On the last descent I spotted some spectators by a jump and threw a tail whip.  I later found the pic from a link on MTBR.  Highlight of my XC race...

I went and spectated for the Expert/Pro XC race and it took my mind off the horrible XC result.  When they posted the results for my race I did the math and found that I was either 2^nd or 3^rd for the Stage Race, my efforts after the adversity had paid off!  I was still on the podium!!

I highly recommend this race to anyone!  Riders of all skill levels and age groups will have fun at the Keyesville Classic.  The courses were very fun and the atmosphere was great!  Thanks to my sponsors and my friends.

Parting shots...

This weekend is the Kernville Classic and I am very excited about the race.  The Stage Race format is pretty cool if you ask me.  One bike, three events (DH, ST, XC)!!  They are using a points system based on place (100 points for first etc...) which should make the competition pretty tight between the XC and the DH people.  More excitement comes from the fact that I will be racing my new bike!  I am very excited about this bike and hope to show what it is capable of with a great finish in the Stage Race!  We will be heading up there early tomorrow morning...













I also saw that Orven had posted a video of my race run from last weekend so I figured I would post it here for people to see...

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v312/shyrmp/Fontana/2008%20Winter%20Finals/?action=view&current=mechman.flv



I also got a new sponsor, thanks to GoPro I will have a new digital camera for capturing video and stills.  Hopefully I will be able to put together some good stuff to share on here!  Go easy on me though, I am an engineer and not a graphic artist!  Don't expect anything I post to look like The Collective!!!  :)

The final race of the 5 race series has come and gone.  I was crowned Sport Men 27-34 SRC Shimano Winter Series Downhill Champion!  More on that later…

Saturday we arrived at the venue with the bikes ready to go.  My new bike was going to see it’s first race.  At 31lbs it isn’t quite an XC race machine and I didn’t equip it with the best rolling tires.  I felt pretty good in warm up and I tried to get the suspension tuned quickly.  I hit a few jumps and the bike jumps well.  At the start of the race I just didn’t feel fast.  I hung onto the back end of the group until the first big climb, and then was jettisoned out the back.  I honestly felt like I was pedaling backwards!  I was pushing hard and just didn’t have anything for the other three racers in my class.  On the descent I got tied up behind a much slower rider.  On the second big climb I shifted down to the granny gear and the chain sucked up between the rings and the chain stay.  I spent a good two minutes trying to extract it.  At this point I realized that I was pretty much out of contention for a top three finish, but decided to keep a nice steady hard effort in the event that one of the three other guys in my class had some difficulty and let me move up a spot.  It didn’t happen and I wound up taking fourth.  I was about ten minutes slower on the course than the last XC race.  There were many factors that contributed to the loss of time including bike weight, tires, training (VQ), use of a Camelbak instead of a bottle, etc.

The final race didn’t impact my overall standings for XC and I took 2^nd place in the SRC Shimano Winter Series.  I think all things considered taking 2^nd place in the series this year is a considerable achievement and although it was not first place, I worked very hard and had some spectacular races.  Quite a few of the races in XC this year were very close and I battled pretty hard with one of the guys in my class (except for the finals).  I think I will continue to race at the Sport level in XC, especially considering that it isn’t my primary focus.

After the XC races and a protracted awards ceremony we were able to get a few DH practice runs in.  I didn’t drive up after work Friday to check out the course and that hurt me.  I spent the first two runs going slowly and figuring out the course layout, and then got one decent run in at sub-race pace.  Saturday night I made the call to switch my rear tire from a Kenda Nevegal (2.5 steel bead Stick-E) to a Kenda Small Block 8 (2.35 folding bead single ply DTC).  I figured that with the slick dust on hardpack and sandy conditions, this tire would not hurt much in the corners, but would provide much better pedal efficiency and ultimately a faster time.  In practice on Sunday I spent one run helping Allison work on a few sections, then did two more runs at near race-pace.  I felt pretty comfortable with the course and figured I could be fast.

As I often do, I hiked some of the upper section of the course before my race run to spectate and cheer for my friends and team mates.  In the process of doing so, I discovered that at some point since my Saturday practice runs the tape had been moved and a new line was available.  I watched several racers take the new line and it provided MUCH faster exit speed.  I took a few good looks at the line and visualized myself hitting it. 

Before I went back to the top for my run I made sure to stick around to cheer Allison on.  This is a cool photo of her slamming through the rocks as I wait with bated breath in the background.

In my race run I was pretty relaxed, maybe too much so.  The first corner gave me a rude awakening as I came in hot and set up wide, the rear tire let go just before I went off a drop.  The rear end came around pretty violently to the left, fortunately I was able to recover without losing much speed.  A couple turns later I had a second slight bobble, my line in practice had been beat up pretty badly by previous racers and I was not able to get purchase with the Small Block 8.  I slid to the outside and had to drop my left foot momentarily.  I held onto a small bit of momentum but had scrubbed some speed and pedaled hard to make up time.  The rest of the run, including the new line, went really well and I wound up winning my class by 5 seconds, with a time that would have put me about 4^th in Expert.

So in the end I took 2^nd overall for the SRC Shimano Winter Series in Sport 27-34 XC, and 1^st overall for Sport 27-34 DH.  I was very happy with my results and I feel that all my hard work to improve my physical fitness and my bike handling skills has paid off.  2008 has only really just begun and there are a lot of difficult races coming up in our schedule.  Stay tuned and I will keep everyone informed as to how it all unfolds!!

Thanks a ton to those that support the race, and those that took pictures.  I know I had my hands full keeping Allison moving.  We were behind schedule for a good portion of the race, but we made up some time getting over Santiago Peak.  Congrats to all the finishers, and those that made valiant attempts.

Allison had slowed down considerably and was struggling as we neared Silverado Trail (formerly known as Motorway).  Her struggling was due to a blistering pace up Blackstar and then the brutal undulations of Main Divide.  She stopped before descending to take some Vitamin I and Sportlegs.

Photo by OMR

Aid Station #1:  I stopped to grab a few pieces of fruit and then sprinted to catch back up to Allison who did not stop but appreciated the fruit that I picked up.  I was stoked to see that Steph had caught back up with us, unfortunately she couldn't hang at our pace up Maple Springs.

Photo by Andy aka Rut

After crossing Santiago Peak I was physically and emotionally drained.  I really was running on fumes.  I did my best to hold myself together while making sure Allison kept rolling.  The descent down from the peak was really sketchy.  My tires were over-inflated (40psi) to keep from flatting.  Once we started splashing through the stream crossings on Holy Jim my traction really went south and riding over rocks with wet over-inflated tires is like riding on ICE!  Coming through a steep rocky section I almost lost it big time and it just figures that a photographer would catch the moment...

Photo by Hugh

At Aid Station #2 I stopped once again while Allison rode on.  I was shelled, I had no idea what to get to keep us both rolling but knew I was getting low on fluids so I drained the rest of my Cytomax into my gut and refilled the bottle with Orange Juice.  As I was putting the lid back on my bottle one of the volunteers had picked up my bike and was going to move it further down the road to keep the Aid Station clear of bikes.  I probably gave him the dirtiest look ever and was like, "I am leaving right now!"  I put the bottle back on my frame and jumped on, then realized that the bike was in the tallest gear and I couldn't pedal it up the steep road.  I jumped off and was trying to downshift while walking and thought I heard someone yell "F$#K YOU" I was shocked and looked up to see Steph riding into the Aid Station.  It turns out she had yelled my name, and then tried yelling my nick name which I didn't hear correctly.  I was excited to see her but thought that maybe she was angry so I stood there like an idiot waving at her while she tried to get some assistance with refilling her Camelbak.  She yelled that she needed water, so I decided to try to catch Allison who now had a few minutes head start.  I was pushing really hard and really hurt myself trying to catch her.  I finally caught her maybe half way up the single track to West Horse Thief.  We made the cutoff with half an hour to spare, we were going to finish, it was very emotional.  Allison broke into tears.  I had informed her that Steph wasn't far behind so we sat and had a snack and waited for Steph.

Hiking up West Horse Thief sucks.  I shared my OJ with the girls and then discovered I was out of water.  When we got to Main Divide they had all kinds of good looking food but I was afraid of eating too much.   The guy working the station was really nice.  He handed me a cup of Cytomax and held out a plate of food.  I drained the Cytomax and asked him to refill my now empty bottle with just water.  I ate half of a tangerine, a fig newton, a piece of a chocolate bar, and we continued on.  I really felt horrible climbing up to Trabuco.  My legs were bad, my stomach was bad, I was out of energy and Allison was dropping me.  Steph caught up to us again when Allison stopped for a nature break.  The three of us plus one guy then rode the rest of the way together.  It was nice to descend, and the dirt road to the finish was extremely punishing.  The look on my face at the finish was captured by another photographer.  I can't really explain what I was going through, but here is the picture.

Photo by Jordansrealm

And the photo of Allison and I after we had a chance to catch our breath, happy to have finished Vision Quest.

56 miles, 11000+ ft of climbing, 8hrs 47mins.

We finished.  It was so hard.  I had some pretty low points, even after making the final cutoff by 30 minutes.

I am not riding for a few days.