12 Hours of Temecula (or SDNG)

SDNG stands for "Sorry dad, no grandkids" because after this ride I'm pretty sure I can't produce kids. The plumbing might have been ok before this ride, but I can pretty much guarantee that I'm sterile now. It hurt that bad being on the bike this past weekend ...

Last Saturday I drove out to Temecula to compete in the 12 Hours of Temecula. I tried to get a 4 man team together, but Andrew and Corby didn't want to participate, so it was just Matt and I.

I had been itching to do a 12 or 24 hour race with a team and I figured that Matt and I could handle roughly 6 hours of riding each. The mistake was signing up for a race only one week after The Traverse. I wasn't quite 100% at the 12 hour race, but that's ok.


The race:

Our goal was to do 10 laps. I saw that the previous third place duo team at the last 12 Hours of Temecula did 10 laps - so I figured that would be our goal.

We managed to get 10 laps, but it was tough. The 10 laps landed us in third place for "2-person open". This is a pretty big deal for me since we were competing against some pro and semi-pro racers. I would consider myself a "sport" rider, which means I'm about two classes below the guys that got first and second. We might have even beaten some expert/semi-pro guys, but who knows until the results are released.

The scene was pretty chaotic at first. Lots of tents and booths and of course tons of riders around. We managed to get a prime spot for staging in between laps thanks to Doug Andrews. He set up a tent and some tables but had to leave because he wasn't feeling good.

We also got the support of Steve (chaos) and Traci (wife of a guy racing). It helped a lot to roll into the staging area in between laps and get help and encouragement.


Lap 1:

We decided that since Matt raced the first lap the last time he did 12 Hours of Temecula, that I would get to enjoy the start of the event this time around.

They basically made everyone line up in a large group and then had us make a "parade lap" around the campsite before starting the first lap on the official race course. It was a different experience, and I decided to just let most of the other riders get ahead so I didn't have to jockey too much for position.

Once we got going on the official course I started to get nervous. I had never been on the course before and so I had no idea what was in store for me. I wasn't worried about the climbs, but I was worried about some of the downhill. I had read some comments from someone that had pre-rode the course and he said there were a few sections where he expected riders to go down.

The first section of the course was really fast. I was able to ride and push in a very large gear until I got to the start of "The Damn Climb".

The climb turned out to be not as bad as I thought it would be. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't hard at all. I managed to clear 95% of it on the first three laps and 100% of it on the last two. There was one small rocky steep section that I didn't even try on the first three laps in order to save energy. The last two times though I went for it and made it.

At the top of the climb there was some fast downhill and then some singletrack that indeed had a steep loose section. There was a lot of sand and it freaked me out a bit. However I rode down it on every lap, mostly because of the confidence I was able to build up on the first lap.

That was the theme for the day really. The first lap I pushed myself to ride everything downhill, and that gave me the confidence to continue to ride technical stuff later on in the day.

Every technical section was marked with signs that read, "Caution! XXX". Hahaha. Not the most inspiring sign, but at least they let you know when to get ready.

The second half of the course had a lot of downhill and some really flowing sections. I can remember four technical sections that were problematic for me, but I rode all of them on every lap except for one drop that I walked on the last two laps.

The first lap ended at about 1:01 and a hair under 10 miles. I was hoping to get a sub hour lap, but I wasn't able to. The first lap ended up being my fastest all day - mostly because I was pushing myself to keep up with the large pack that went out on the first lap.


Other Laps:

I'm grouping all other laps into one section because I can't remember everything and I don't want this post to turn into "War and Peace".

I had some minor mechanicals on the course. Twice my chain came off and once my chain got sucked around the cranks and it took a few minutes to get back on.

The second issue was caused by a girl riding in front of me _really slowly_. I was behind her for a bit before she realized I was there and I had to gear down to match her speed since we were on singletrack. When I went to gear down though the chain came off and I rode it into the cranks. Oh well. At least the chain didn't break.

The heat was insane on laps 2 and 3. I read on a forum that one guy got over 105 degrees on his bike out on the course. Matt said he didn't think it got that hot, but I think it did. It was a very dry heat, but it was hot. Way hot. Too hot.

Other notes ...

- I got passed by the same Sho-Air guy twice on the course. He was super nice about it though, which was cool.

- There was a water station halfway through the course where I routinely poured one ice water cup over my head and one down my throat. So awesome.

- I endo'ed after my second lap. I went by the people that record lap times and said "220. 220. 220." to make sure they got my number. Apparently they were all spacing out because I heard someone call out "NUMBER!" after I had passed. I heard that and slammed on the brakes and crashed right in front of maybe 10 other riders. Good times.

- Matt had some really fast lap times. I think his first lap was 56 minutes, which was awesome.

- I calculated that we averaged about 1:04 for our lap times for the entire day. Not bad.

- Matt got sick after his fifth lap. We'll just leave it at that. Haha.

- I definitely passed more than I got passed. I passed the most on the climbs. In fact I don't think I passed anyone on the downhill sections. The longer the day went on the more people were walking, but I kept riding.

- We finished our race at 7:43pm. If I didn't have a MAJOR rash on my butt I would have gone out again. I'm confident I could have finished in under 1:20.

- Did I mention we got third? Haha.

This was one of those races where the memories will grow fond over time. The experience is still a bit fresh and raw for me to enjoy it to the fullest, but I think it was a good enough time to want to do another event like it.

Link to pics from the event:

12 Hours of Temecula

Traverse Retrospective

Couldn't think of a creative title, so there you go.

For those that don't know, I rode in an event this past Saturday called "The Traverse". The name refers to a trek across the Santa Ana mountain range hitting various peaks along the way. The course was about 44 miles with a little over 8,000 feet in climbing.

The difference with this event was that it was being billed as a race - with cash payouts to the Expert class riders. The cash didn't apply to me since I'm far from an "Expert", but it did mean the ride would have a different flavor to it.

So with the small background info out of the way ... to the ride! ...


I woke up at 4:30AM which sucked. Ate the typical big ride breakfast of peanut butter toast and Gatorade. I forgot to get banana's so I ended up eating some graham cracker snacks I had laying around.

Drove to Blackstar to meet up with everyone and drank a lot of Gatorade on the way and forced down half of a Powerbar. I swear I hate eating when I don't feel like it. I had been eating a ton in the days leading up to the ride so I felt full, but ate anyways.

Met up with all the guys (Troy, Matt, Andrew, Steve, Mark, John, Doug, etc.) at the start and waited to get going. They let the Expert class go ahead of all the intermediate riders so they could get a good start and not get stuck behind the slow guys. Haha.

I have to admit I was really surprised with the start. I remember Doug Andrews giving me advice for Counting Coup ... he said not to get caught up in the frantic pace at the start and to ride at your own pace.

Well I threw that out of the window Saturday. It was a fast pace up to Blackstar and I decided to hang with the pack. It felt pretty cool because I wasn't pushing that hard and yet I was right with a huge group of riders. It ended up breaking up pretty fast once the real climbing started, but it felt good to be around fast riders for maybe 5-10 minutes.

The trip up to Blackstar wasn't all that memorable. I chased Doug House most of the way up and I remember seeing Steve on his SS in Hidden Valley. If that section wasn't so flat I'm sure he would have crushed me to Beek's. My total time to Beek's was about 58 minutes, which was a new personal best. I knew it was a personal best, which set off some alerts in my head like "You're going out too hard", but I ignored them because I felt fairly strong still.

The section from Beek's to the Motorway was kind of a blur. I remember seeing Troy ahead of me by a few minutes and I would have liked to catch him, but I didn't want to spend a ton of energy only to blow up later in the ride. I do remember battling Doug House some more and trying to keep two other guys off.

I ended up rolling into the top of the Motorway at about 2:05, which is _15 minutes_ faster than my Counting Coup split. I was pretty excited to hit that time, which was again - a personal best. My plan at this point in the ride was to get off the bike and spend maybe a minute or two eating so I could sustain my energy for the rest of the ride. However when I got to the checkpoint I saw no one else had stopped so I rode up a little ways before deciding it was best to err on the side of caution.

I stopped to eat a Powerbar when Doug House caught up to me and passed me. Ugh. Doug is a strong rider, but when I pass someone I want them to stay behind me! Haha. I figured after he passed me he would be gone because I stayed and waited maybe 1-2 minutes while eating before taking off after him.

The ride from Motorway to Four Corners was by far the worst section of the ride. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. It was the low point for sure. I battled a few guys on the way and passed quite a few, but man it was just horrible. I remember feeling light headed and dizzy and the thought of riding more after Four Corners was just impossible.

Even worse was that my legs started to cramp after the hike-a-bike section. I had hiked maybe 20-25 yards of the really rocky section, but rode the rest. It let me catch a lot of other riders, but it also taxed my muscles considerably. I remember riding in my lowest gear massaging my quads on the flats trying to keep them from locking. I also prayed that God would keep the cramps away and tried to drink all my water to prevent cramping. I was just hoping that I caught it early enough to keep it from blossoming into a full on pain flower.

When I got to Four Corners I was thrilled. I knew from two previous rides that the section I had just finished was by far the worst and that the majority of the hard climbing was over. I also knew that after a few minutes of rest I would recover well and blast to the Peak.

I saw Chris (Cranx) at Four Corners and received some aid from him and a random Warrior's Society guy. It makes a huge difference having someone help with your bike and supplies when you make a stop. That and the morale boost of having people say things like "Keep going! You're doing awesome!" Even one person saying that can really energize you.

The trip from Four Corners to the Peak was awesome. I caught quite a few guys and felt great during the entire trip up. I was thrilled to be riding in a fairly aggressive gear (for me at least - remember I'm not an "Expert") and I felt like I had a lot of energy in the tank to keep going. The grade and terrain going to Santiago Peak is simply cake after the "Hell" section to Four Corners.

I forgot to mention that during this climb to the Peak I had fallen behind Doug House again (he left Four Corners before I did), but I caught him right before the descent from the Peak. I had decided to stop again at the Peak to pee and eat a tiny bit. Once again I watched Doug pass me as I ate. Haha.

The trip down from the Peak to Holy Jim was not the best. I suck at downhill and I found that section pretty unenjoyable. My arms were tired and my legs felt more stressed than they should have been for a _downhill_ section. Oh well though.

I ended up getting passed by a Warrior's Society guy that I had beaten on the climb to the Peak on the downhill. He rang the little bell on his bike and flew past me. Not cool. Oh well though ... I just need to get faster somehow.

The trip from Holy Jim to Trabuco was great. I was getting tired and fatigued, but looking back I am very pleased with the energy level I was able to sustain. Usually long rides are like approaching the speed of light for me. The closer I get to the finish the harder it is. However on Saturday I felt pretty strong all the way to Trabuco.

I ended up passing a few more guys on the way, which felt great. I did end up catching Doug House right before hitting the trailhead for Trabuco. Man he was not easy to keep up with. I guess everyone has their arch-nemesis, and on Saturday mine was Doug. Hahaha.

I did feel bad for passing Andrew right before "The Wall" though. Andrew was way ahead of me (at least that's what Chris told me at Four Corners) but I ended up riding up behind him while he was walking his bike. I thought he had a mechanical since he has some pretty gnarly bike luck - but it turned out to be cramps. I offered food and water, but he didn't need either. It felt like a jerk thing to do - to keep riding while he sat to wait for the cramping to subside, but I figured he'd understand.

An interesting thing happened after I passed though. I think at the same time in both of our heads a new motivation kicked in. For me it was "Stay ahead of Andrew!", and for Andrew it was "Catch up to Ryan!". Hahaha. The rest of the ride I was constantly looking behind me to see how close Andrew was. I took a few downhill sections really fast because I know Andrew is _a lot_ faster than I am on downhill fire road. It felt kind of reckless, but I knew he was coming for me.

Once at Trabuco, I let an Expert SS guy go ahead of me and then followed him down. I passed only one guy on the entire trail out to Trabuco Creek Road. Some guys just don't do technical singletrack well. I mean if I'm passing someone - they most definitely don't like technical stuff. Hahaha.

The trip out on Trabuco Creek sucked. I was thrilled with my ride time and wanted to get in under 5:30, but I missed it by a few minutes. I felt pretty good hammering on the way out and even caught the SS guy (sucks for him), but it wasn't the smoothest exit. I had pumped my rear shock up to about 90 PSI which means that even with the full suspension mode set to "ON", I was still rocking and rolling like I was on a hard tail.

My total race time was about 5:33 and my ride time was 5:23. Ride time wise that is about 40 minutes faster than my pre-ride! Really exciting for me.

Another first for me was getting on the podium after the race. I realize there were two reasons I got third in my class (Intermediate 19-30) ...

1. Andrew cramped - He came in fourth and without the cramping he would have crushed my time.

2. We probably had a really small class. Most riders were over 30.

Either way I don't care. I'll take it. Haha.



Now it's time to rest a little and get ready for 12 Hours of Temecula. The goal is 10 laps for a two man team (me and Matt). I think we can do it.

The Horsethief Experience

I had three big trails on my list to conquer this year.

1. Joplin
2. San Juan
3. West Horsethief

Joplin and San Juan got dropped earlier this year already and so I figured it was about time for Horsethief to be dominated as well.

For those that don't know, West Horsethief is about a 1.5 mile steep climb up loose and rocky terrain. It's at the end of Vision Quest (endurance race) and most people end up hiking their bikes up the entire climb.

I had missed a trip out to do the trail earlier this year and from what I heard it was tough - but not impossible. Matt and Troy said they rode maybe half of it, so I had my hopes high to ride at least a third.


This last Saturday Matt, Andrew and I set out to do Horsethief twice (going down Holy Jim and Trabuco after each ascent), but after the first trip up we changed our mind. It was that tough.

I hiked almost the entire thing. I got a nickel sized blister on my right foot because even the hiking got tough at times. Hahaha.

There were several sections that _looked_ like you could ride, but when you tried it was like riding uphill in sand. Even in my lowest gear I was pushing really hard and couldn't sustain the forward motion.

When we got to the top we cut over to Blue Jay and then went down San Juan. After that we hopped a fence and rode through Casper's Wilderness Park and eventually came out near Coto de Caza where we took surface streets back to our cars.

Total time was about 7.5 hours, and the ride time was around 5:45 for me. Total distance was around 41 miles I think.

I'm happy to have experience Horsethief because I've always been curious. It's good to know what people have to put up with when they do Vision Quest. I would NOT want to have to hike that after almost 40 miles on the bike. That would be hell.

Other fun points from the ride:

- Three flats. One for Andrew, two for me. I found the second one at the very end of the ride. Flats on front and rear for me.

- Laughing like a maniac as I tried to hike faster than Andrew could ride on a steep singletrack. He never caught me thank God.

- Riding up a lot of technical double track and single track on Old San Juan trail. I love this section compared to the other way down from Blue Jay to Cocktail.

- Meeting a father who told his two sons how awesome we were for riding for so long and going so far. Hahaha. Andrew loved this especially.

- Matt having issues with his cranks every 20 minutes.

- Getting passed by two guys coming down from Cocktail only to see one of them flat, which let me cruise by.

- Watching Andrew chase down a roadie at the very end of the ride.

- Almost killing myself on the road back. My front tire washed out on the pavement back (duh, it was going flat even though I didn't know it) and I almost ate it in front of a truck that was behind me.

I need a new set of trails to try. I think Telonics and Los Pinos are on the list now. Well, maybe not Telonics. I hear it's illegal. We'll see ...