Shawn Gregory's Blog

3rd place Singlespeed solo category at the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo (24hitop), 2012, 280 miles

2012-02-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

Finished 3rd in the Singlespeed solo category at the 2012, 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo. It took almost exactly 25 hours without resting to get 280 miles (17 laps) and around 20,000 feet of elevation gain. Ouch! I was hoping to repeat my win from 2011 but the competition tough this year! At one point in the morning 1^st place through 5^th place appeared to be within a lap of each other. The weather was relatively nice compared to last year which led to some record breaking efforts. This is a great event held just outside Tucson Arizona by Oracle. Around 3,500 participants this year in a variety of different categories.

http://www.epicrides.com
Race results

I ran 32x19 gearing which was the same as the last two years. For this course I chose to run Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires (snakeskin version) on the front and rear with the “new and improved” tread pattern. They stuck to the trail like glue and performed flawlessly. What I really noticed after the race was how well they wore during the race compared to the previous version. They have lots of miles left in them!

The race started out with the usual carnage that comes with stuffing 700+ racers onto a small rough trail. There was a multi bike pile up that I somehow avoided on the first decent. Just a short distance after that the two riders next to me had a collision, ran into my leg, and they both crashed while somehow I stayed upright.

During the first few laps the top solo singlespeed riders were all frequently within sight of each other. I went back and forth with Mike Melley (Eventual race winner) several times over the first couple laps and we discussed the possibility that we all may be going to hard initially for a 24 hour effort and if that was a good idea. Obviously Mike thought it was because he suddenly put down the hammer and in a few minutes I couldn’t even see him anymore. (A tactic??? LOL) There were two other guys who seemed to be working together drafting off each other every time I saw them. Not sure how they ended up placing. I also went back and forth with Neil Becwar (Eventual 2^nd place finisher) throughout the night. After the race he admitted followed me a good portion of a lap talking to me and sizing me up then snuck by when I pitted. I remembered it but must have never turned around to see who was behind me.

In the middle of the night I had a Bobcat run directly in front of me and stop up on some rocks on my right to check me out. Very cool!!!! During the night I also had a guy taco his rim on a rock right in front of me (He was okay). It sounded like a gunshot! Also, somewhere out on the trail someone shot off fireworks right over my head. That woke me up!

Sometime during the night a “Red Solo Cup” appeared on the trail and was there until the end of the race. For the rest of the race I couldn’t get that song by Toby Keith out of my head and I really don’t like it. Just an additional level of torture during the race!!

I slowed during the early morning laps but when the sun came out I consistently kept improving my lap times until I had a 1:18 time on the last lap. The wind definitely kicked up during the morning which kept it cool and required more effort.

It was great to have friends on the course giving me encouragement throughout the race! I was very happy to be done when I crossed the finish line at 1:00!!!!

Thanks to my wonderful wife and Daughter (who was my biggest fan, super cool!!) for help during the race and teammate Tr Larson for staying up all night helping in the pit!

Mike Melley really crushed it and ended up with a record setting 18 laps (He also set the last record at 17 laps), Neil Becwar ended up 2^nd with 17 laps, I ended up 3^rd with 17 laps, Eddie Urcadez finished 4^th with 16 laps and Simon Zmyslinski ended up on the podium with 16 laps. 16 laps would have won in some previous years. Great job everyone!!!

The podium

A couple laps in the race, Photo by Shawn Bolduc

The pre-race setup, Jeff Hemperley's pit is to the right

Shawn Gregory’s 2011 Colorado Trail Race CTR on a singlespeed mountain bike 5d15h44m

2011-08-09T13:30:00.007-06:00

The 2011 Colorado Trail Race CTR was the toughest bike race I have done. I finished in 5 days 15 hours and 44 minutes. I was honored and inspired to be riding to benefit The NEST. http://www.active.com/donate/nest

I would describe it like this: Epic, humbling, painful, tiring, beat-down, exciting, tough, wet, cold, long, adventurous, difficult, mentally-draining, fun, beautiful, a monumental-experience,…

The race started from a full parking lot just outside of Denver where my wife Dani dropped me off. Since there were over 75 racers they were released in waves. I lined up right next to Ethan Passant in the first wave which included racers wanting to finish in five days or under. The trail was immediately technical and the weather was hot and muggy. Everyone moved along at a steady pace that felt good. There was lots of steady climbing up to Bailey but it was mostly ridable and my gearing seemed to be working out well.

In Bailey the gas station that was the typical resupply happened to be closed so racers flocked to a small coffee shop for fuel. They still had some inventory since I was toward the front of the pack but it was obvious there was not going to be enough Gatorade etc. for the rest of the racers. On the section around Bailey the racers with gears were making better time than me but I was able to keep them somewhat in my sites especially when we got to the Kenosha Pass climb. I start to make good time up Georgia Pass where I saw Jeff Kerkove at the top who had to pull out because of illness. Tough luck because he was a major contender.

Descending toward Breckenridge there was four of us riding together (one was Jerry Oliver) when we came up against a dilemma. There was a sign diverting trail users around a significant portion of the trail due to a logging operation. We all discussed our options and I think everyone was thinking of how Ethan was not given a “Finished” status due to missing a 3 mile section of the course in 2009 and this was much more significant than that. Some spectators camped close by informed us that everyone in front of us had gone on the trail and not taken the detour so we pressed forward on the trail. Not long after this it turned out that Stefan posted a sign for racers to take the detour which was a bummer since I was passed by a bunch of racers. Apparently there will be some time adjustment made but in addition to the time and mileage difference the effort was significant. Not to mention the mental aspect of having a good lead on a competitor then finding out they now have a significant lead on you.

I passed through Breckenridge in the dark then climbed over the pass to Copper Mountain which was extremely rocky and primarily a hike-a-bike. The stars were amazing! There were false summits and once I got to the initial downhill it was still too rocky to ride so it had to be hiked. I stopped just outside of Copper Mountain early in the morning for just under two hours of sleep. I diverted into Copper and grabbed a coffee and some pastries then headed up and over the next big climb to Camp Hale.

Luckily the weather had been cooperating so far. I don’t like to mess around with lighting while exposed above timberline. I had Jerry in my sites on most of the pass. Toward the bottom Jerry lost his GPS. Huge bummer for him! The trail was marked well but all the diversions around wilderness areas required navigation. We ran into some people riding the trail who informed us that the leaders were not far in front of us which was encouraging.

When we hit the Holy Cross / Mount Massive Wilderness Detour which went through Leadville it started to rain pretty hard. In Leadville I went to the Market to stock up on supplies and ate an entire rotisserie chicken which was great. I would have rather stocked up in BV and not had to carry all the extra food but I wasn’t sure I could make it to BV before the store closed that night.

Leaving Leadville the rain subsided and the trail was really nice. I could have used a harder gear on some of these portions to go faster. The geared guys were making some serious time on me here. At Twin Lakes it started to rain hard. After hours of riding in the dumping rain I came to a huge valley just before dark. It was beautiful, I had to stop and just take it all in. The clouds were below me but I could still see the lake down below. Descending, I went in and out of the clouds. It was spectacular! At the bottom of the descent the cheeriness was washed away by the torrential downpour that ensued all the way to BV. The dirt roads were so soggy it impeded my progress and seemed to take much more effort to plow through the muck. I was watching the time and it was going to be close to get to BV before everything was closed. Back by Twin Lakes Zach Guy mentioned eating Spaghetti in BV so that was all I could think about on the way there. As the clock ticked away my Spaghetti meal hopes slipped away. I rolled into BV with a guy from Montana just before 10pm and nothing appeared to be open. I spotted a Pizza place with the front door open but they were obviously cleaning up for the night. I went in anyway just to see if they had anything. It turned out they had a “mistake pizza” that had been sitting there for the evening and they gave it to us. Tasted great, thanks guys!

I stopped at the 7-11 and grabbed a couple of supplies and took off out of town right behind Jarral Ryter. I rode through the night to north of the Princeton Hot springs and stayed right by Jarral. I set the timer on my watch but woke up late four hours later. I looked up just in time to see Andrew Carney ride by. I must have passed him during the night. I was pissed! How did I not hear my watch? It turns out the timer only goes off for about ten seconds then shuts off unlike an alarm. I quickly ate some grub loaded up and went to chase Andrew down; I estimated he was 30-40 minutes in front of me. I felt okay on the huge hike-a-bike section but my stomach was a little upset, like I had eaten too much.

In the afternoon I finally saw Andrew and Steve Carney at the bottom of Fooses trail and went by them. This was a brutal climb. I was still feeling pretty good and happy with my progress. At the top of Fooses I hit the Monarch Crest trail. The views were spectacular. I stopped just before Marshall Pass and fixed some dinner. Afterwards I felt like I ate too much again but pressed on toward Sargents Mesa. It was dark and the weather was starting to look bad. There was lighting in the distance. The trail was really rough. It was obviously ridden by ATVs and motorcycles which kicked up rocks everywhere so it was technical and slow going with no good lines. Even the descent was brutal. Andrew went by me in an effort to get to a water source to bivvy for a bit. A storm was obviously coming and I decided to stop before I got drenched. As soon as my tarp was set up it started to rain. I slept for a couple of hours then packed up and headed to the small creek where Andrew was snoozing and fixed some food.

I then rode ahead. The trail was very rough and slow going. Mid-day Andrew and John Fulton passed me just before arriving at the “Trail Magic”. This was a super nice retired guy who spent the summer hanging out at this remote location providing free sodas, chips, cookies, etc. to Colorado Trail hikers and bikers. I drank a Coke ate some cookies and a bag of Cheetos then grabbed a Gatorade and hit the road with Steve who quickly pulled away with his gears.

Midday I started the La Garita Wilderness Detour which was a tone of miles. Shortly after starting this section it started to dump rain. The route dropped to a lower elevation but I was totally exposed on the dirt road and there was lighting in the distance. Unknowingly I passed Andrew and Steve who were hanging out in an abandon barn to get out of the rain. I kept riding. I probably rode four miles with one eye shut to avoid the pounding rain and hail. The rain subsided and Andrew and Steve rode by me up the climb over Los Pinos Pass. After dropping into a canyon on the road my Spot quit working for the second time. I continued riding in the dark up to Slumgullion pass where I slept for a couple of hours. I was freezing and woke up several times shivering. In the early morning I rode to Spring Creek pass and got back on the Colorado Trail. At dusk I ran into Jerry Oliver again who was bushwhacking to find the trail over Jarosa Mesa. I was happy to see he was still able to navigate without his GPS. I stopped and fixed some grub and Jerry surged ahead.

This section to Carson saddle was particularly brutal for me. The hike-a-bike started to take its toll on my feet. On one of the largest climbs up to Coney Summit (over 13,000’) I had to stop and tape my foot. Pushing and carrying the bike up the rocks was really becoming painful. After cresting the first climb I started to run out of water. I was sipping it sparingly and looking for water sources but there were not any. Andrew and Steve passed me just before Carson Saddle. I stopped several places to investigate possible water sources but there just were not any. I pressed on and finally found a stream. While I was getting water Cat Morrison road up. I knew Cat from the Kokopelli trail race and other endurance races. Super tough! I rode closely behind her for a majority of the way through the next section. I had no food left and between that and my aching feet I was moving slow.

This section through to Stony Pass was the toughest for me. I kept cresting huge climbs hoping to see Stony pass only to see the trail descend way down into a valley then climb all the way back up another mountain on the opposite side. This was a mental blow each time. It must have happened five times. I was really getting drained and barely moving. My stomach was aching and my feet were killing me. I hadn't eaten anything for 14 hours. Finally I arrived at Stony Pass, on the opposite side of the pass of course! I climbed up over the pass and did the long descent down to Silverton. This was the start of the Weminuche Wilderness Detour.

In Silverton I went directly to the Market where I saw Cat. I drank a Coke, half a naked protein drink and ate a donut. It was amazing how much better I felt. Up till Silverton I felt I had all the wrong food so I stocked up on totally different fuel. I purchased Nutilla and spread it on tortillas, some gu shots, Cinnamon Bears, a premade sandwich and a breakfast sandwich. I then went to the Silverton Brewery and ordered a hamburger and fries as fast as they could get them. It showed up quick! I mowed it down and took off up Molas Pass.

It was amazing how much better I felt. I was now thinking that I would press through the night without any sleep. At the top of Molas I got back on the Colorado Trail. Immediately I noticed a problem with my wrist. I have had issues in the past because I broke it. Now I couldn’t believe how bad it suddenly hurt. I could hardly hold onto the handlebars or squeeze the brakes. The only cause I could think of was squeezing the brake all the way down Stony Pass had irritated it but it didn’t seem to bother me in Silverton. I continued riding anyway. The sleep deprivation was causing me to see things like faces and shapes which for some reason didn’t seem to bother me. At about ¾ of the way up to Rolling pass I made the decision to stop and rest. I couldn’t hold onto the handlebar and the lack of sleep was causing me not to steer straight and I felt if I hit a rock wrong I would crash. I was frozen again shivering the whole time. I remember wondering how I could possibly be benefiting from it. I set my watch but didn’t hear my alarm so I ended up oversleeping by a couple of hours. I was bummed but my wrist did feel slightly better. I ate the breakfast sandwich which I think had been sitting on the shelf for some time.

I continued over Rolling Pass in the early morning light. The descent was extremely painful but at least I could hold on now and see where I was going. My legs actually felt pretty good. My feet hurt so bad that I needed to ride as much as possible to make it through so I was powering up many of the hills and felt I was making good time. This was also my home turf and I knew the whole section well.

I was feeling good over Blackhawk but the hike-a-bike sections would suddenly slow me to a crawl and the downhill really hurt but I just slowed down and dealt with the pain. When I got to the Highline trail the foot pain from the hike-a-bike was excruciating. I was moving so slow. The only consolation was this was the last huge climb. Somewhere above timberline I realized my spot quit working. I messed with it three different times but nothing worked. Just after starting the drop down to La Plata canyon John Ross and Joey Ernst passed me. I knew from riding this section many times that anyone with gears was going to make some tracks on me plus I couldn’t go very fast with my wrist pain. I stopped at the top of Kennebec to call my wife Dani to let her know when I thought I may finish. I then descended as fast as my wrist could handle the pain.

Just before Durango there is a climb that is the last “kick in the teeth” before the finish. I had to hike sections of it and my feet were killing me. I felt a blister bust open on the back of my foot so I stopped and put a patch on it but it obviously didn’t help so I stuffed a gauze pad between it and my sock and continued on. It was bleeding but I didn’t care at that point.

The last section I did in the dark. It seemed to be taking forever. I was thinking I somehow missed turns but finally I arrived at the end to a cheering crowd (My wife Dani, daughter Ava, Jeff Hemperley, Laura and some others waiting for racers. Cat was there, John and Joey had pulled in just in front of me as well. It felt great to be done and see my family again!

WHAT AN ADVENTURE, AWESOME! Great job to everyone else in the race!

Please donate to The NEST if you haven't yet at http://www.active.com/donate/nest

The NEST provides a safe, child-friendly environment that eases the emotional trauma experienced by children during the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases.
This is a great organization!

My bike performed great. I used Schwalbe Nobby Nic tires with snakeskin front and rear which were flawless. The gearing on my Trek 29r was 32x22 which overall I think was the best option.

Big thanks to everyone who supported me! My wife Dani especially and all the friend and family who were cheering me on throughout the race. It was very motivating! Thanks to Kiviok Hight and Lynda Wallenfels for their great training, gear and strategy advice. Also, big thanks to Jimbo, Pete and Scott at Kokopelli Bike & Board in Cortez Colorado. You guys rock!

The start, ready to go!

The pain begins

Copper Mountain

Searle Pass

Night riding after BV

Top of Fooses, tough climb

Early morning on Sargents Mesa

Start of the big climb to over 13,000' after Spring Creek Pass. I though that was a lake but after the sun fully rose it was clouds

The finish, Glad to see my little girl!

Finished!

2011-08-07T13:50:00.000-06:00

Finished at 10:24pm! Glad to be done. Toughest race I have aver done by far. Not sure where I ended up placing because it is not correct on the site right now. My spot quit working toward the end and they were also going to edit times for the additional miles I rode by not taking the bipass by Breck. I need some rest but I will make a detailed post about my race experience in the next couple of days. Thanks for all the support!

Brutal climb

2011-08-05T07:25:00.000-06:00

Came from way down there. Lots of tough climbing! I'm tired but things are going good still.
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Up above the clouds

2011-08-04T09:21:00.000-06:00

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Rain

2011-08-03T03:00:00.002-06:00

Rode in rain most of the afternoon and evening today. Cold!
Showed up in BV at 10pm and managed to score an old pizza they had sitting around. Then headed back out in the rain.
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3am, Fully nocturnal

2011-08-03T02:54:00.000-06:00

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Nice view!

2011-08-02T09:40:00.001-06:00

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25 hrs into the race

2011-08-02T07:52:00.002-06:00

Feeling good. Slept for just over 1:30. Super tough hike-a-bike last night! Off to BV today.
Yesterday there was a section of trail with a big climb that everyone upfront did but then they rerouted racers afterwards. I may have got passed there. Not sure but the race director said he was going to edit times for that at the end.
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Colorado Trail Race CTR starts on August 1st, Watch online!

2011-07-29T15:14:00.000-06:00

Racing the 470 mile CTR to raise awareness and funds for The NEST:

The Race starts August 1, 2011 at 6:30am!

Watch the race online at http://trackleaders.com/ctr

Click to watch Shawn's progress online

I will update my blog whenever I have phone reception and I'm not too tired to operate my cell.

Donate to The NEST at http://www.active.com/donate/nest

And yes, All these should work on your smartphone!

Preparations for the 2011 Colorado Trail Race CTR

2011-07-26T10:58:00.002-06:00

Well, the training is complete for the 2011 Colorado Trail Race CTR. No benefits and only negatives from any hard riding efforts now. Nothing to do except hope that my training was enough to make it through the race and to fine-tune my setup. Thanks to Kiviok Hight and Lynda Wallenfels for the great preparation and training advice for the CTR!

When it's nice out I want to take everything out of my packs and leave it at home and when it's dumping rain and hail out all I can think is "that would suck to be out in that" and it makes me want to pack a lot more.

Kiviok who has tons of experience in the multi day Adventure racing world (Primal Quest, etc.) has given me great advice on what to bring which is basically nothing except minimalist survival gear. After going over my setup with him several times he has successfully talked me into eliminating any kind of comfort. Apparently, if you’re not miserable you have to much stuff, your sleeping too much and you’re eating too much. I guess it takes a little time to convince myself that I really don't need things that seemed vital at the beginning.

The bike itself is ready to go except for a fork rebuild which I'm waiting on a new fork stanchion. New Schwalbe Nobby Nic's are mounted. I switched out a bunch of the light weight components with heavier duty ones to handle the additional weight and punishment during the ride which added 2 pounds to my bike. I picked out the pack I thought would work the best. I tried a variety of different packs before settling on an Osprey Pack. Thanks Osprey!

I'm still debating on the water filtration method (Steripen, Filtered water bottle, tablets). Probably will end up being tablets and maybe one of the other methods.

Now I'm figuring out the ride logistics and making sure I have all the right maps and instructions to navigate the route.

I'm doing this race to help benefit The NEST which helps abused kids. Please check out http://www.bigloopmaps.com/theme_Racing_for_Charity_01.html for more information.

The clock is ticking. Can't wait to start!

Colorado Trail Race (CTR) race preporation press

2011-07-26T10:57:00.004-06:00

Got some nice press in the paper for the upcoming Colorado Trail Race CTR http://www.cortezjournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=16226. It's nice to have the hometown behind you but it also comes with some additional pressure to finish. That's always a good motivator!

5th Place singlespeed in the Breckenridge 100

2011-07-17T14:11:00.004-06:00

Just finished 5th place in the singlespeed category at the Breckenridge 100 (Breck 100) in Colorado. 100 miles and 13,000 feet of elevation gain. It was my first time doing this race and it was a great course. Lots of epic singletrack with some hike-a-bike through snowfields above timberline. Numerous people I talked to said this race was significantly tougher than the Leadville 100. Mostly because it was actually primarily on singletrack trails and not dirt roads. I ran a 32x20 on my 29r with Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires and felt it worked well. I might have run a 19 if I hadn't been training so hard for the Colorado Trail Race right up to this race.

The course consisted of three loops that each started and returned at the race venue in Carter Park. Things started out poorly for me on the first climb. I tried to hang with the leaders but soon seemed to be getting passed by everyone while I was trying to keep my breakfast from coming back up. All these years of racing and I still haven’t figured out what works well for breakfast. I didn't feel very good at all and my legs felt heavy. I was in about 13th place in the singlespeed category at the top of the first climb. Once we got above timberline I started to feel better and passed some people back in the hike-a-bike section and crossing the snowfields. The decent was technical and cold but I continued passing people, mostly geared riders. I rode with Matt Turgeon most of lap. At Copper Mountain we hit a section of paved bike path and all the geared riders I just passed flew back by me. The next section was awesome singletrack and my gearing was perfect for it. I showed up back in Breckenridge, pitted, and started the 2nd loop in 11th place.

I was feeling much stronger and started passing more people on the second loop. I went by Steve Reiter who was fixing a flat, tough luck! The second loop is considered the toughest out of the three. The Climb up Little French Flume was tough; the Colorado Trail section was epic and super fun. Then you drop down to the golf course and it feels like your close to the venue but just to "kick you in the teeth while your down" the route sends you climbing again on a combination of singletrack and dirt roads. By the end of that lap I had moved up to 7th place and was feeling great. In the pit Dani lubed my chain and I loaded my rain jacket on the bike and stocked up on more food and bottles.

The rain started coming down on the climb up Boreas Pass but the way the clouds were moving it seemed like it would pass so I didn't put on the rain jacket. I continued to pass geared riders up the hill and felt great but didn't see any other singlespeeders. After cresting the saddle on Boreas pass I started the decent on sweet singletrack toward Como. I hadn't seen another rider since before the pass. Finally, just before Como I passed a couple more geared riders and another singlespeeder. I had to stop and pit in Como to get some water bottles and the singlespeeder passed me back up. The huge audience of race fans in the thriving metropolis of Como consisted of my Mom and Dad who live right by there and the people at the aid station. Leaving Como there was a nasty headwind and even though the other singlespeeder was jumping on the tail of the geared riders I finally caught up and passed him. Then he jumped on my tail and was drafting me for several miles. Kind of irritating! I ended up dropping him and then passed more racers and another singlespeeder up the hill. After cresting the top of Boreas Pass again I didn't see anyone else all the way down back to the finish where I crossed the line in 5th place. Fun race!

Mark Thompson (The Judge) hammered out the singlespeed win again this year but had much closer competition than in the past. Michael Scott finished second and there was a battle between Jeffrey Carter and Michael Melley all the way to the finish. Great race guys!
http://www.warriorscycling.com/results2011/2011Breck100.PDF

Racing the 470 mile Colorado Trail Race (CTR) to raise awareness and funds for The NEST

2011-07-10T17:06:00.002-06:00

I'm racing the 470 mile Colorado Trail Race (CTR) starting August 1st 2011 and am using the opportunity to increase awareness and raise funds for The NEST in Cortez, Colorado. Donate at http://www.active.com/donate/nest

What is The NEST?

The NEST provides a safe, child-friendly environment that eases the emotional trauma experienced by children during the investigation and prosecution of child abuse cases. http://www.nestcac.org

The mission of The NEST is to strengthen our community's response to child abuse and neglect through prevention, intervention, education and advocacy.

The Nest's goals:

Minimize trauma suffered by the child due to multiple contacts with different community professionals
Provide families with referrals for needed services
Maintain open communication and case coordination among the agencies involved in child protection efforts
Develop and promote prevention education programs for parents and care givers
Make available specialized training to enhance professional skills to effectively respond to child sexual and severe physical abuse
Educate mandated reporters of their legal responsibilities under Colorado law
Provide an educational component to enhance community awareness and understanding of child sexual and physical abuse

It's surprising and sad that organizations like this are so necessary in communities across the US and these abuses are so prevalent. The NEST facility requires expensive equipment and an experienced staff to function and this takes money.

"Shawn Gregory is a good friend of the Nest and has generously offered a unique and interesting way for people to contribute to the Nest's cause." TG

What is the Colorado Trail Race CTR?

The CTR is 470 miles and 65,000' of elevation gain winding through the Colorado Rocky Mountains from Denver to Durango. Approximately 300+ miles of singletrack at elevations ranging from 5500' to a gasping-for-breath 13,200'. The CTR is a monster! There is no entry fee, no support, no registration, and no prize money. http://www.climbingdreams.net/ctr/ There are strict rules against any kind of help, it must be completely self supported.

There are a small amount of mountain bikers who have finished the race and a very small amount that have completed it on a singlespeed. A lot can happen to a racer and their bike in 470 miles. Any rider with the best equipment, best training and best plan can still not finish, but that's what makes it exciting.

What is my motivation for helping The NEST?

While I was preparing for the CTR I was thinking about how lucky I was to be able to participate in this event. Knowing that there are plenty of kids, through no fault of their own, that may never know the thrill and enjoyment of riding a bike I decided to use the race to benefit kids. I do this crazy stuff for no particular reason aside from the personal reward of accomplishing a goal, but this time I wanted it to benefit a much more worthy cause. The obvious choice was The NEST. It is difficult to talk about the abuses these kids have lived through. You just don't want to believe someone could that to a child. While we deal with tough days in our lives most of those hardships don't compare to what these innocent kids have gone through, and will continue to go through, as a result of these abuses.

Please help out the kids by donating?

100% of all the donations go directly to The NEST. They have setup a special Active account for donations. http://www.active.com/donate/nest Thank you!

Follow the race online?

Most endurance racers carry a GPS tracker call a Spot and progress can be viewed online.

Visit the CTR website at http://www.climbingdreams.net/ctr/ and scroll down to the "Main Tracking web page with links to individual racers, split chart and storyboard" under "Race Contact & Links".
Go to Shawn's personal Spot tracking page http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0TDqS7W8bYxIEIqxXuJH9VvnJRGQNZySA.
Subscribe to my blog or check it frequently for updates as well.

See more details at http://www.bigloopmaps.com/theme_Racing_for_Charity_01.html

Training with the setup

The ctr setup

Bailey Hundo Race, Epic competition!

2011-06-20T10:36:00.004-06:00

Just finished 4th in the Bailey Hundo 100 mile race in about 8 hours on a rigid singlespeed (and around 27th out of all the geared bikes). At the finish there was 7 minutes between the top 4 finishers. Close race!

Tough competition! I battled it out with Jeffrey Carter the entire race. This will definitely be one of the most memorable battles in a race I have had moving around between 2nd and 4th many times throughout the race for 100 miles with a close finish.

Rode the singlespeed with 32/18 gearing fully rigid (no suspension) and Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires. Not sure about the rigid fork decision. It seemed okay but obviously slowed me down on the descents where I usually am strong. On the singletrack uphills I was catching back up without any problems. Where I thought it would help me out was on the road but the steep washboard sections were pretty bad. Next time I would go with a front fork and 32/19. Not sure if it would be faster but it would definitely be funner!

All the racers lined up at 6am in Bailey Colorado for the mass start which immediately climbed out of town on a road. My gearing was tough for the climbs but I was fresh and passing large groups of geared riders. By the time we hit the Colorado Trail singletrack I was in 3rd place and feeling good. The singletrack was fast and I continued passing geared racers. About an hour into the race I spotted another singlespeeder ahead of me on a climb. They're the ones with a cadence of 40 on the steep climbs. That turned out to be Jeffrey Carter. At the rate I caught up to him I thought it wouldn't be long before I had a significant lead on him but he came right back and pass me again.

We went back and forth like that for the remainder of the race. Every time I though I had some distance on him he showed back up. At about 45 miles into the race Jeff was bombing down the hill making time on me while I dropped behind getting pounded with the rigid front fork. After stopping to empty my bladder which was getting punished at every bump I hesitated at an unmarked turn to make sure I was going the correct direction and Andrew Carney showed up and passed me. This put me into 4th. It looked like he had an easier gear than me which worked well for that section.

When the trail leveled out I ate some food while riding and had to stop twice and pickup a bunch of stuff that flew out of my feedbag. I caught back up and passed Andrew and Jeff which put me back in 2nd. I felt great in the next section of singletrack and Jeff was right behind me and Andrew had dropped back out of site.

After a huge decent on a number of steep switchbacks down to the Sough Platte river at mile 56 there was an aid station with our drop bags. I almost didn't stop but there was a bottle of Hammer HEED in my bag that sounded much better than all the water at the other aid stations so I stopped to get it which ended up taking more time than it was worth. Unfortunately for us, during this optional pit, Andrew didn't stop and blew by us (we found out at the end). Andrew must have really made some time there. When Jeff and I got started you could see a long distance down the road and Andrew was not in site. I started to suspect that Andrew didn't pit but I thought we would be able to catch him on the road with our higher gearing. Jeff and I stayed together on most of the road section. About a mile before the big climb just after Deckers I noticed Jeff had fallen back and once again I thought I might have dropped him for good and I was in 3rd.

The climb over Stoney Pass was steep and tough with my gearing. At the top of the first climb Jeff caught back up to me and passed me once again. We were together until the next climb where he gained some distance on me. The remaining 10 miles I could always see him and was able to get closer behind him but then he would pull forward again. I could see him constantly looking back at me and I was giving everything I had to try and pass him but didn't get the chance the rest of the race.

I rolled across the finish in 4th just after Jeff and a geared rider and learned that 1st and 2nd were a short distance in front of us. Andrew had passed Mark Thompson right before the finish. Mark Thompson had lead the entire race only to be passed at the end. Tough finish! Andrew Carney rode a strong race. Nice finish Andrew!

They had free food, beer and a band playing along the river at the finish. Nice! It was a great race. The logistics were a little difficult since the pre-race meeting, race start, camping (Friday night only), race parking, and the race finish were all in a different, drive to, locations. It was all worth it and the fact that the race benefited kids was great!

Race Start

I'm chasing Jeff through the burn area on some sweet singletrack

6am at the start. A bit chilly

Nice award

The bike setup

Getting ready for the Bailey Hundo this weekend

2011-06-13T10:26:00.001-06:00

Here is my setup for the Bailey Hundo 100 miles mountain bike race starting in Bailey Colorado next weekend http://www.bailey100.com/ . Fully stupid rigid singlespeed! Is this a good idea? Well see. I wished I could've pre-ridden the course but looking at the route I'm thinking of running a tougher gear. http://www.bailey100.com/map.html Riding on a Schwalbe Racing Ralph rear tire and either a Ralph or Nobby Nic on the front.

The Bailey HUNDO supports three youth biking initiatives in Colorado: Trips For Kids Denver/Boulder, which offers mountain biking opportunities to underserved youth and changes lives “two wheels at a time”! Colorado High School Cycling League, a new resource for high school students around the state to be exposed to the world of mountain bike racing--and developing the racers of tomorrow who will ride YOUR legs off! Kids On Bikes giving new bikes to children in the Pikes Peak region "through programs that inspire a healthy lifestyle, independence, and achievement”.

I LOVE RACES THAT BENEFIT KIDS LIKE THIS! If you have a pile of cash laying around, you can donate on my fund raising account at http://www.prerace.com/registration/donation/7299 or as an alternative just take a kid biking. Thanks!

There is some tough competition! I'm planning, as usual, to do my best and hope to get on the podium. It looks like an awsome course. A large portion of the singletrack is on the Colorado Trail which is always rewarding!

This is a proper parking spot if you consider lack of brain cells used to setup a bike like this to do a 100 mile race

224 mile Death ride in a day on the Road bike, Colorado's San Juan Skyway loop by bike

2011-05-30T23:21:00.000-06:00

This is a one day road bike ride (aka the Death Ride version) on Colorado's San Juan Skyway loop. Starting in Dolores Colorado; Dolores > Mancos > Durango > Silverton > Ouray > Ridgeway > Telluride > Dolores. 224 miles and around 20,000 feet of elevation gain in over 19 hours
Every other day of the year I race and ride a singlespeed mountain bike. Two days prior to the ride a friend talked me into doing the Death Ride again instead of the KTR. I had done it in the past clockwise but this time we would go counterclockwise. I hadn't ridden the road bike for over two years so I dusted it off, replaced the tires (Same ones from RAAM a few years earlier) and we started at the Dolores River Brewery at 4:30am. Brutal head winds which really slowed down my progress but overall a great route for a road bike ride.

Due to the high winds forecasted there was some debate whether we should postpone the ride but the following day was the only other option and it was going to be much colder so we started anyway.

Kiviok and I battled headwinds all the way to Durango but still made good time. In the crowded metropolis of Durango it took as long to get food and stand in line for the restroom at McDonalds as it would have going to a higher quality establishment which burned a bunch of time. Then some guy asked me how to get to the airport and then didn't believe me when I told him numerous times in several different explanations which cost more time. I was happy to get out of town again climbing the popular Iron Horse route over Molas pass to Silverton. The climb was good and there was some tailwind or headwind depending on which direction the switchbacks were facing. Downhill was crazy with the wind swirling and switching directions. I had to slow down because I felt like I might crash. The views were spectacular.

Kiviok had to pull out at Silverton which I had never seen happen before. He was obviously not feeling well on the climb and was totally bummed. He had a tough week of hard training. Obviously too much. He waited there for his wife to pick him up.

I was feeling good so I resupplied with water and Gatorade ate a lunchable and pressed on over Red Mountain Pass and descended down to Ouray then to Ridgeway. This section was beautiful and Ouray is a very picturesque town. In Ridgeway I stopped at a Coffee shop and had a veggie breakfast burrito which was great.

Leaving Ridgeway I was making great time. At the Dallas Divide climb things slowed down considerably. The wind had dramatically picked up at noon just like the forecast predicted. I was in my lowest gear standing during most of the climb. Even though this wasn't one of the big mountain passes it worked out to be the toughest climb that day. There were no trees to block any of the wind. When I stopped to take a picture the wind was blowing me backwards down the hill.

There was no reward when I finally reached the crest and started to descend. The wind was so bad that I had to still pedal with considerable effort down the hill. I was looking at the elevation graph to make sure I was still going downhill and it showed I was descending but it didn't feel like it. There were broken limbs in the road and an aspen tree. Looking at the trees getting rocked by the wind I started to worry about one landing on me. Then it started to rain but there was not a cloud in the sky close to me. Rough section that day!

After the turn and climbing toward Telluride the wind was still horrible but was more intermittent. In Telluride I resupplied and grabbed a pizza slice at the Conoco station and immediately started the climb to Lizard Head pass in an effort to beat the sunset to the summit. There were a lot of elk alongside the road in this section. I never could figure out why the grass is so much tastier there as opposed to the millions of acres of nation forest nearby. I arrived at the top of the pass just after dark. It was brutally windy and cold.

After two elk ran directly in front of me in the dark on top of the pass I became skeptical that I had sufficient light to spot wildlife on the descent. That became a non-issue on the descent since the wind was blowing so bad I couldn't get going a high speed anyway. The descent was cold and it rained lightly until I hit Rico.

After Rico my wife Dani showed up to follow me to Dolores. How cool is that? The extra light was great. I could see the numerous limbs on the road from the wind. The last section required continued effort even though it was mostly downhill due to the constant wind.

I arrived in Dolores around midnight. It was great to be done even though it was an awesome ride! Just after finishing the rain really started coming down. Glad I missed that! Legs still felt pretty good at the end but the neck mussels and hamstrings were a bit sore and I was glad to get off the saddle.

I would definitely recommend this as a bucket list ride. If not one day, take your credit card and do it in three or four days which would still be difficult. It can be done faster than this but I took time to check some things out and was not riding at a race effort. There is a race on this loop as well and a three day tour also called the Death Ride. http://www.deathridetour.com/about.php
Overall the ride is not as tough as a 24 hour mountain bike race solo effort in my opinion but it is still very difficult.

Check out the stats:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/89085325

What I took:

On the bike:
3 water bottles
2 tubes
pump
Adapter to fill tires at a gas station
Blinky
Put on my mountain bike seat (since that's what I always use)
CO2 cartridges
Tools
Tire levers
TP
Velcro straps
Light on my bike (Aye-up 6 hour)
Garmin 705
Rechargeable external Duracell USB battery for Garmin (Get at Wall Mart)
Feeder bag by stem for energy food
Feeder bag by seatpost for trash
Jando frame bag. These are sweet! Take the weight off your back!
Extra parts: Bolts, cleat and screws, zip ties, duct tape
Small bottle of chain lube
Blister pads
Phone in a waterproof bag
Driver’s license
Cash & credit card
Camera

For me:
Rain jacket (strapped to the bike stem)
Arm warmers
Knee warmers
Wool socks
Warm gloves
Summer gloves
Clear glasses
Sunglasses
Head beanie

Fuel I started with and consumed throughout the ride:

3 bottles of HEED

1Tube of Hammer Gel

2 Honey Stinger chews

3 Honey Stinger waffles

6 Advil

3 Natural enzymes

12 Endurolytes

Fuel I purchased during the ride:

2 Egg McMuffins, water and some Powerade in Durango

1 Lunchable, water & Gatorade in Silverton

1 Veggie breakfast burrito, water & Powerade in Ridgeway

1 Slice of Pizza, water & Gatorade in Telluride

4:30 am start in Dolores

Sunrise just before Mancos

McDonald's in Durango

1st pass

2nd Pass

View toward Silverton from Molas pass

Lost of snow still

3rd pass, Red Mountain

Motorcycle went over the side on Red Mountain, they just winched it up on the trailer from down below

Cool shot of Ouray

Waterfall between Ouray and Ridgeway

Coffee shop in Ridgeway

Ralph Lauren's ranch outside of Ridgeway

Riding to the other side of those mountains

Not a pass but was tough with the wind that day

Telluride is in the distance

4th pass, in the dark

Finished!

Mountain bike ride around McPhee Reservoir in Dolores Colorado

2011-05-23T21:11:00.000-06:00

Did a local 67 mile ride around McPhee reservoir on Sunday. The recent snow made the singletrack trails to muddy to ride so we stayed on the graded roads except through Sagehen where the normally cool trail dropping down to the river was a mudfest. The rest of the ride was very scenic and pretty mellow sticking to the graded roads circling the lake. Kiviok and I started from my house through the town of Dolores on 145 and 184 to the turnoff for the reservoir. Then through Sagehen down to the lower Dolores river to Bradfield bridge. Normally we take the trail up along the lake to Dry Fork but that would have been muddy. A big climb up to Salter Y then past the pump station and onto the Boggy draw trail back to the house. Lots of wildlife! Singlespeeds geared 32x18.
Stats http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87653055

Left the house at 9. I'd fix it up a little but I needed some new parts for my bike

Riding through Dolores

Road next to the lake on the way to Sagehen

Kiviok carrying his bike through the mud

Mud!!! Kiv's bike standing by itself

Couldn't even ride downhill, there was to much mud on this normally great section dropping to the river. I resorted to dragging my bike by the seat for a bit

Cleaning up

Washing the bike in the Lower Dolores

Which way should be go? Bradfield bridge, the 2500' climb up

Nice few of the mountains

Boggy singletrack

67 Miles

White Rim in a day, 102 miles on the singlespeed

2011-05-14T10:00:00.000-06:00

Last Weekend Kiviok and I did the annual White Rim in a day 102 mile ride outside of Moab Utah on singlespeed mountain bikes. Normally that weekend we would do the Kokopelli Trail race KTR but this year I was recovering from a rib injury and Kiviok from the flu so we decided to skip the KTR and instead do the White Rim. This was my 7^th time doing the White Rim and 5^th one day ride. Both of us used 32x19 gearing on 29rs. See Garmin stats at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86155888

I rolled out of Dolores and met up with Kiviok at 5:10AM and we continued to Moab where we ate breakfast at Zak’s. After eggs and bacon we drove out and parked down the Mineral Bottom road at the top of the big climb out. I like parking there because, when riding clockwise, you knock off the lame 14 mile road and 8 mile pavement section right away and at the end it’s nice to know the vehicle is just at the top of the steep Mineral Bottom climb.

We ended up having to go back to the vehicle twice to get something we forgot. The second time it was for the Canyonlands Entrance fee. The official start was just before 9:00am. When we actually got to the entrance 20 miles later we were informed that about 60 miles into the route the road was impassable due to the green river’s high water level. After talking to another Ranger (2^nd opinion) it appeared that currently bikes could get around the closed section but if the water level got any higher bikes could not pass either. In true renegade fashion we decided to go for it anyway. Anyone who has been on the White Rim knows that once you drop in on the Shafer switchbacks there is no way out on a bike until the end 102 miles later.

The weather was great and the ride was fantastic as usual. Great majestic views. There were a lot of bikes going the other direction on the multi day trips, motorcycles and 4wd traffic early in the ride but nothing after about 30 miles. We ate lunch on Murphy’s Hogback which is always my favorite spot. When we finally arrived at the flooded area it was pretty unimpressive. While it was obviously impassible by automobiles it was easy to portage around on the bike in a couple of minutes without even getting our feet wet. On the remainder of the ride we encountered a small sandstorm then climbed the always painful Mineral Bottom Switchbacks up to the finish.

We loaded up and headed to the Moab Brewery for Beers and dinner. I arrived back at my house in Dolores that night around 10. Full day!

Check out this video of the ride stuffed into 18 minutes and pics.

White Rim in a Day, Moab Utah, Singlespeed mountain bikes, wriad from Shawn Gregory on Vimeo.

12 Hours of Mesa Verde Newspaper article, 2011

2011-05-11T09:01:00.000-06:00

Check out this article in the Cortez Journal covering the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde race 2011. http://www.cortezjournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=15380

12 Hours of Mesa Verde 2011, 3rd place finish in the singlespeed solo class

2011-05-09T14:02:00.000-06:00

Photo credit: http://www.wildcatstudios.com/

I just finished 3rd in the singlespeed solo category at the 2011 12 hours of Mesa Verde race last weekend in Cortez Colorado. 115 miles and 13,601 feet of elevation gain. While I was hoping to repeat my previous years win it wasn't in the cards. I gave it my best shot considering the challenges and issues I dealt with prior and during the race but in the end I was just happy to finish and still end up on the podium. I can honestly say “that is the most pain I have ridden through that I can recall”. Kevin Thomas and Steve Reiter really road a strong race and were faster to the finish and I'm sure they had their own mishaps and challenges throughout the day that they overcame to finish on top. I setup my bike with a Schwalbe Racing Ralph tire in the rear and Schwalbe Nobby Nic tire in the front and they performed great!

The race started out well for me. After involuntarily having a significant amount of time off before the race with a cold then a rib and upper body injury from my crash three weeks prior my legs really felt good and it felt great to finally be able to let them loose. I wondered if my legs felt good because I just hadn't been able to ride fast for a while so anything would seem better or if I really was riding faster after the long break. I led the first 60 miles or so with a pretty good lead but watched it slip away mid race.

Toward the beginning of the second lap my grip came loose after the turn onto Lemon Head. I was still able to ride but I couldn’t pull on the bars during the climbs which started to take a toll on my legs. This perplexed me because I had actually used a torque wrench to check the bolts on the grips prior to the race and they were fine. I thought I could make it through the lap and tighten it in the pit because it was only moving with moderate force. My lap time was still looking really good but about half way through as the grip got looser and looser I decided to try and fix it so I didn’t crash and also to save my legs some abuse. After digging my tool out of the bag the bolt appeared to already be tight and I just had to finish the ride with a loose grip and extra leg effort. That was disappointing since I just burned a couple minutes messing with it and getting no benefit. My plan would be to grab my backup bike and try and recruit someone to try and fix the problem while I was on my next lap. During the remainder of the lap I tried to go over every possible cause for the problem. The en-cap was missing so maybe it popped out and the end of the carbon bars was damaged. Toward the end of the lap while looking at the end of the grip it appeared that it wasn't installed all the way on properly because I couldn't see the end of the bars. After pulling into the pit and checking things out my theory proved true. I ended up loosening and moving over my brake lever twice to allow the grip to move far enough on to clamp to the end of the bar. Luckily Dan Durland came along and helped me out. Looking at how far the grip was overhanging off the bars (1/4"-3/8") it’s hard to believe it even held in the first place. After getting the grip on properly after losing a significant amount of time I rolled onto the trail to continue the race.

I was still in first and the lap stated out okay. Midway through it however I started feeling pain and began to slow down. During the Fourth lap my legs really started cramping up which usually never happened to me except in really hot races on climbs toward the very end but this was not even half way. It was getting hot out but this was unusual. I surmised that maybe I was using my legs more than normal to compensate for my lack of upper body strength due to the injury.

In the fourth or fifth lap Kevin Thomas flew by me and I ended up 2 minutes behind him at the end of the lap. The next lap I tried to step it up and felt it was going well but on the second half my kidneys and back were really hurting on the rocky sections because of the jiggling which slowed me down considerably.

After that I entered survival mode. I tried to get off and walk up some hills but the pain was almost worse. At the start of my seventh lap I knew that Steve Reiter was 11 minutes behind me on the prior lap and given my previous laps poor time he had to be currently less than that. Up till the seventh lap I had been able to ride through the cramping and just deal with it. But during the seventh lap it was obvious that I had to stop and give my legs a break after suffering through a flat section if I was going to ride the climbs ahead. Every bump really hurt my upper body and just pedaling hurt my legs. I laid there for around five minutes and saw Steve Reiter ride by which I already knew was probably going to happen unless he was feeling as bad a me. As bad as I wanted to I couldn’t get up and chase him right then and I had to let him go. When I did get started I was able to ride all the hills up to the Moki Climb where I had to hike up it which I had never had to do in any of the three previous 12 hours races. I suffered through the technical rock section on stinking springs and it was obvious then that this was going to be my last lap with the time cutoff approaching to quickly. I knew that Paul Adams was somewhere behind me but I wasn’t sure how far. At Hang bone I couldn’t see anyone who was in striking distance behind me across the canyon and was comfortable that I could hold my position for the remainder of the lap. Entering into the finish I could hardly walk through the building. It turned out Paul was under two minutes behind me at the end just knocking at the door. If he had known how close he was I'm sure he could have pulled out a strong finish but maybe I could have reached deep inside and mustered up the strength to keep him behind me. ????

In the end I was happy to still finish on the podium. Last year I was able to squeeze out the win with Kevin Thomas coming on strong at the end. This year it was Kevin's race. Kevin is really a strong rider and it was a consolation that the rider who ended my six race winning streak is the same guy who won the Vapor Trail 125 singlespeed. Kevin road off the trail first overall then got passed by a geared rider on the flat pavement back to Salida, one of the toughest races around, much tougher than the Leadville 100. I knew Steve Reiter would dish out some serious competition as well. He has finished in front of me in the past and was riding strong in Gallup and really put in a great effort at this race.

Immediately after my crash three weeks prior while I was laying on the ground unable to breath and I distinctively remember Kiviok say "you just opened up the door for some competition at the 12 hours of Mesa Verde". Maybe so, or maybe it was the heat or the lack of training before the race from the injury. Could have been from hardly eating anything during the race or not enough liquids or just having an off day. Maybe my grip problem but most likely a combination of everything. Anything can happen on race day!

Check out the video on my blog of the crash. It is a couple of posts below this one.

Press on the 2011 12 hour Dawn til Dusk race podium finish

2011-04-27T07:58:00.000-06:00

Kiviok and I got some nice press in the newspaper for the 12 Hour Dawn til Dusk finish. Check it out at http://www.cortezjournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=15153 . I road 21 miles at Boggy yesterday. Felt better after Kiviok's miracle chiropractic work and I also wore the kidney belt from my old moto gear for support. Still hurts to sneeze!

Crash video on the Phil's World Ribcage

2011-04-19T10:55:00.000-06:00

I crashed pretty hard on the singlespeed mountain bike at Phil's World on the Ribcage last weekend.

Kiviok was behind me filming and caught the wreck on video. I added a couple of slow motion clips in but it's still pretty difficult to see the crash. I jumped way too far and flat landed which bent and broke my rim sending me instantly into the dirt.

I heard the loud bang and almost instantly felt the pain from my side hitting the ground. Ouch! Couldn't breathe or say anything for about a minute which seemed like 5 minutes at the time. Glad Kiviok was there to help. Ribs and kidneys are hurting. I feel about the same as my rim. Somehow I've been able to keep from sneezing since the wreck but when I do its going to hurt! Hoping to heal up and put in a hard effort at the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde race coming up in 19 days.

Here is the Vimeo video with the all the Ribcage and the crash (Better quality than YouTube one)

Phil's World trail ribcage singlespeed mountain bike crash, Shawn Gregory from Shawn Gregory on Vimeo.

Here is the YouTube video with the all the Ribcage and the crash

Catching some air

1st in the Singlespeed solo 40+ category at the 2011 Dawn til Dusk 12 hour race in Gallup NM

2011-04-11T18:23:00.001-06:00

Tough race conditions!

It turns out I finished 1st in the Singlespeed solo 40+ category at the 2011 Dawn til Dusk 12 hour race in Gallup NM. At first I thought maybe I ended up in 3^rd place, then I stood on the podium in 2nd and now after some lap errors were repaired I ended up 1^st.

How is this possible? NASTY WEATHER, having no pit crew to keep track of anything and some kind of results posting problem.

Check out my garmin stats at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78596308

Race results are at http://www.dawntilduskrace.com/?q=node/8

Overall I ended up 4th out of all the solo categories including the geared racers and the fastest geared solo finished less than 5 minutes in front of me.

Living in Colorado I have definitely been caught in snowstorms during bike rides but I can't recall having raced in full on blizzard conditions. The race was actually called after 10 hours.

It also turns out that it really isn’t a good idea riding 100 miles in wind, rain and a snow storm when you are not quite recovered from a cold yet. People must have thought I had a screw loose being out there the way I was coughing. Then they saw I was riding a singlespeed and probably thought “He’s not right in the head anyway.”

I gambled on going with harder gearing than the previous year on the Trek Superfly (32x19). I still don’t know if that was the right choice. With the wind and added weight from the mud I think the 20 might have been more appropriate. The Schwalbe Nobby Nic on the front and Schwalbe Racing Ralph on the back worked perfect on all the different trail conditions encountered throughout the day.

I’ll start at the beginning. Kiviok and I loaded up the truck in Dolores Colorado in windy but tolerable weather. North of Gallup we went through a nasty windstorm which was very similar to blizzard conditions except with sand. Now I can see why it looks like a beach without an ocean on that stretch. Check out the sandstorm video while driving to Gallup.

We arrived in Gallup and quickly saddled up for a spin on the course in high winds but moderate temperatures. Luckily the winds died down a little and we set up camp, got our pit situated and headed out to packet pickup and pre-race grub. Check out this video of the first climb on our preride. It was the first time I used this helmet cam and it's not the ideal angle.

At 5:30 I woke up and downed breakfast then finished some last minute race preparations and headed for the 7am start. The temperature wasn’t bad, in the 30s for that time of day. At the starting line I was surrounded by a slew of tough racers who all had a chance to win. Tough competition!

Right off I saw Dan Durland and Mike Melley take off down the graded road used for the mass start. Those tall guys can really spin there legs fast with those comparatively short cranks. I spent the next few miles spinning out on the singlespeed while geared guys appeared to effortlessly pass me in masses. Toward the end of the road I was able to make up time when we hit some climbs. After entering the singletrack it became apparent that either there were a number of racers that blew themselves up on the starting road section and decided to coast on the singletrack or there were road bikers who could hammer on the road but lacked the skill on the singletrack. Either way, things slowed down considerably and I used a lot of extra energy trying to pass racers in the soft dirt alongside the packed trail.

Surprisingly, the majority of racers from the Kokopelli Bike & Board team were all clumped together on the first lap. Dan and Mike appeared to have successfully made it past some of the congestion we were dealing with. The strategy of not taking a pit the first lap paid off by gaining a few spots for myself and fellow teammates Kiviok Hight and Paul Adams who were right on my tail. The first couple of laps I couldn’t shake Paul or Kiviok. Just when I thought I gained some distance on them they showed up in the pit just when I was leaving after getting another bottle of Hammer HEED, Gels and Perpetuem solids.

I spent the following laps trying to catch the guys in front of me and put some trail between myself and Kiviok. Just when I thought I had a safe lead Kiviok shows up right behind me. I really stepped it up at that point but he stayed on my tail and after taking a faster pit pulled ahead through the timing tent. Kiviok really took off up the hill and I thought he might be uncatchable until I started gaining ground and eventually passed him back while he was dealing with some cramping on a climb. With a new burst of energy I was able to step it up and put a couple of minutes between us by the time I crossed the finish and found out they called the race. I almost went out on the 9^th lap until a spectator filled me in on the race cancellation as I was starting up the hill. It was slightly disappointed because I thought I was in 3^rd and the previous year I ended up moving from 3^rd to 1^st in the last lap by turning a fast lap time and I felt I had one in me this race.

Kiviok finished right behind me in 2^nd in his first singlespeed race. He is a strong racer in his other disciplines (Primal Quest, etc.) so I would expect nothing less in this race. In his own words “It pays to be tough”. Nice job Kiv! Looks like I have another racer to watch out for. Just let me know and I may pull over for you.

In the end there was less than 19 minutes between the first 5 racers in my category and with some late in the race mechanicals (Dan flatted) and slower lap times for the race leaders I was lucky enough to get the win. Dan Durland and Charley Hayes really turned some impressive lap times. I guess you never know until the end (or days later) who will get the win. 10 hours is a long time!

Mike Melley really hammered to get the overall (geared & singlespeeds) and the 0-39 SS solo win. Apparently the same spectator who told me about the race being called wasn’t around when Mike came through and he ended up doing a 9^th lap that didn’t count. Tough luck! You think they might have mentioned that when you rode through the tent. For a guy who lives in Phoenix he rode strong in the blizzard conditions. After riding down there in 95 degree weather I have a new respect for those guys training in that. Nice race Mike!

After packing up, getting the wrong award, some post race talk in a tent filled with people who chose to drink free beer instead of suffering out in the cold (Maybe the smarter ones like teammate Jeff Hemperley) we headed out for some vitamin M (Mexican food) and blazed back to Dolores in the snowstorm.

The mass start, Photo Katie Koppenhafer

The Kokopelli team at the start, Photo Katie Koppenhafer

Pit Stop, Photo Katie Koppenhafer

The Climb, Photo Katie Koppenhafer

At least I still have a number plate. Some racers lost theirs in the wind, Photo by Kiviok Hight

Kiviok's pit, Photo by Kiviok Hight

Packing up the pit, Photo by Kiviok Hight

Loaded up and ready to go home, Photo by Kiviok Hight

Jeff Hemperley's van the morning after, Photo by Jeff Hemperley

The Dawn till dusk 12 hour mountain bike race is coming up this weekend in Gallup NM

2011-04-06T09:21:00.000-06:00

I'm recovering from a nasty cold which will hopefully be gone by the Dawn till Dusk 12 hour mountain bike race in Gallup New Mexico this coming weekend. It looks like I'll need to bring some crappy weather gear as well. I'm already having flashbacks from the old pueblo race. Fond memories! I hope it's not a repeat of two years ago where we went to bed after a short preride and woke up to snow everywhere and an unridable trail resulting in the race cancellation. The year before that I got frostbite on both my thumbs by wearing inadequate gloves for the first lap. I won't make that mistake twice!

The Superfly is pretty much ready. I'm going with a Schwalbe Nobby Nic on the front, it should be the perfect tire for those corners. I'm still on the fence as to what gearing to use. Watching the weather, the wind and rain could be a factor with the gearing.

The competition is going to be huge. Both age groups are stacked with racers that have the potential to end up on the top of the podium. Should be fun?

Day

Night

Scattered T-Storms / Wind

High
44°F

Precip
60%

Wind:	From SW at 26 mph
Humidity:	44%
UV Index:	8 Very High


Sunrise:	6:51 AM MT
Avg. High:	64°F
Record High:	80°F (1996)

Partly Cloudy

Overnight Low
18°F

Precip
10%

Wind:	From WSW at 13 mph
Humidity:	59%


Sunset:	7:43 PM MT
Avg. Low:	23°F
Record Low:	11°F (1993)

Last Updated Wednesday, Apr 6, 8:06 AM Mountain Daylight Time