En Route

It's time to head out to Costa Rica after two long years. I'm looking forward to the challenge. Day one of La Ruta in '02 & '03 are probably still the hardest days I've ever had on a bike, much much harder and more painful than any day at any other stage race I've done or any 24-hour solo race.

Anyway, I'll be in San Jose for a couple of days before making my way to the Pacific coast to rendezvous with a couple hundred like-minded adventurers that are ready to test themselves against the terrain, the elements and each other.

Passport to self-renewal

Beauty missed while racing La Ruta

The only bad thing about racing across a country is not having enough time to stop and take it all in. Going a week early or staying for a week or two after the race is a must.

Riding the wave

Mountain Bike Action has a post on the 2007 Sho-Air team and the contest for a free bike, gear and $1K for racing. A third of the team wasn't mentioned in the article but what can ya do?

Everyone on the team is looking forward to riding a wave of fun next year.

Who am I?

Bernice informed me that I needed to supply a bio for myself for my personal page on the Team Sho-Air site. So I cranked one out in an email reply:

Homey's been on a bike for as long as he can remember. After getting tired riding with the babes blading on the beach path in Santa Monica & Venice, he started looking for an adventure. He found what he was looking for after poking around the web: a race across a former banana republic. He's been hooked on endurance events ever since.

That was unacceptable for some reason. =) Ok so maybe I need more details about who I am. Hmmm. I thought I might find out a little more about myself from my UNIX box...at least it would be a start.

If you're not familiar with UNIX shells then skip to the next paragraph, otherwise...

[unix]
(bigmac)> whoami
mcorr
(bigmac)> whereis mcorr
(bigmac)>
(bigmac)>cd /
(bigmac)>find . -name mcorr
(bigmac)>
(bigmac)> finger mcorr


Login name: mcorr   In real life: Mario Correa
Directory: /user/mcorr    Shell: /bin/ksh
On since Oct 24 14:46:20 on pts/3 from Xanadu
Plan: Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new.
                      -Milton

(bigmac)>
[/unix]

That wasn't much help. Apparently, I'm from Xanadu and I like to hang out in the woods. Hmmm. Maybe Google?

I only found a bunch of folks pretending to be me. Bummer.

Fortunately, Bern came up with a bio for me. Thank goodness!!

Variety

riding solo: relaxing

riding with friends: energizing

unfortunately both of the dirt divas I was supposed to ride with this week had a change of plan

the other mario must be in town

the above images came from this cool site

6 Hours of OC Race Report

Thanks to Gillian and Caroline, my support for this race, everything went smoothly. Every time Gilly, aka Lucky Gilly, supports me at a race or I borrow her lucky light I've made the podium. I'm glad the streak is still going.

It was a fun course with plenty of climbing so I chose to ride the carbon S-works that I used at the Creampuff 100. I didn't have any major mechanicals although the grip shift would get stuck in some gears, but I just had to shift up to loosen it up then shift down. The temps got up to 92 degrees so it was great training for next week's race down in Costa Rica.

I'm a big fan of sleeveless jerseys for hot days since the Hurkey Creek race.

The only thing I did differently for this race was use the Chaser energy booster I've been testing out for the past couple weeks. Matt was also testing it out and we both decided that it's a keeper.

In the end, it came down to me chasing Manny, my teammate, around the course for a little under six hours. We both ended up with 9 laps and he crossed the line about a minute ahead of me. We each won our respective categories, expert 17-30 & expert 31-45. Lou won the female category and finished third solo overall with 8 laps; it was her first race as part of the Sho-Air team. I think ten of my teammates made the podium which is excellent considering that there were at least twelve of us racing.

My legs are ready for three days of grueling racing. Bring it on Frischi! =)

Props to Switchback, the Warriors Society and all the volunteers for putting on a fantastic race.

Bern, Lou & Mary

Eric (left) chose to ride a SS for this one. Second place & I "cheated" by using gears...I feel no shame.

Old School Race Report

Thought I'd make a record of this weekend's race for future generations.

It was a good day to ride.

Thanks to Monica for helping with the "artwork."

Grassroots Podium Girls

If there aren't any podium girls at today's race I'm going to make a few suggestions to Chris (WS) and Sherry (SC) for next year's race series.

Let's liven up the competition!

Getting ready for La Ruta

Lou, Eric, Manny and others heading to La Ruta will be racing this weekend at the Switchback Cyclery 6 Hours of Orange County. I was hoping that Dave would be able to ride with us as well since he's in San Diego for a couple of months. Maybe I could talk him into staying and joining the team. =)

Afterwards, we're headed to see Eddie and the boys in concert. IM is pretty much the official Team Sho-Air band. Manny is going to have to pass in order to wrap up the Semi-pro Cal State XC Series on Sunday. Way to go Manny!!

Edward T. H.

Need a ride?

Ever wanted to try MTB racing but never had the funding? Want to get a glimpse of what it's like to race worry free? Here's your chance to see (on a smaller scale of course) what my Sho-Air teammates and I will be a part of next year: bikes, gear, reimbursed race fees and expenses...the works. All you have to do is write up 500 words on how mountain biking changed your life.

More details on the Mountain Bike Action, Rock N' Road Cyclery, Sho-Air contest here OR you can check this out and just wait for the next issue of MBA to hit the stands. Note that there's no need to be a current racer or have past race experience you just need a good story and the desire to give racing a try. Simple!

On a different note, La Ruta Lou is latest addition to Team Sho-Air. I didn't have to do any arm twisting to get her to join. =)

Who's the joker that said there's no free lunch?

Update: The contest is for mountain biking not road riding. Sorry Jan.

Louise Kobin's WSC 2006

Here is La Ruta Lou's WSC race report:

I just finished the 24-hour World Solo Championship in Conyers, GA and wanted to thank all my sponsors that helped make it possible for me to race! It was a brutal race and I was very happy with my 3rd place finish. There were some fast ladies racing this year, probably the strongest competition I have raced against in a 24-hour race.

The 8 mile course consisted of 2 loops that were about 4 miles each. The first loop was fairly smooth single track with mostly rollers. It had 2 steep climbs that were a couple of minutes each. After completing the first loop, the course intersected the field with the pits, which was nice for getting fluids and food. The second loop was much harder, with several short, steep, technical climbs. It was really rough and we had to climb and descend on bumpy, off-camber granite slabs. There were 2 or 3 sections where I got off my bike after the first 6 laps when the course got looser and my legs tired.

My plan was to keep my laps as consistent as possible during the race, and I was hoping that some of the competition would fade during the morning hours. The leaders went out at a fast pace as I predicted. I had a pinch flat on my first lap. It only took a couple of minutes to fix but was still a bit frustrating. Eric and Alex, my awesome pit crew, started out asking what I wanted the first few laps when I came by my pit, but after a while they realized I wasn't planning on stopping. They quit asking and just handed me my other bike so I could switch if needed and always had a new camelbak and bottle of sustained energy ready. The course was so challenging and I was riding so hard it was really difficult to eat. I tried eating a tortilla with eggs, but couldn't chew and breathe at the same time so I reverted to drinking my sustained energy. Before dark I ended up with another pinch flat and asked Eric to pump up my rear tire to 38 psi.

During the night I could feel I was getting a bit weak and realized I needed some solid "food". The only thing I could imagine eating was a Little Debbie Swiss roll, so I went through a whole box of those. That saved my life!! I did throw up once, all over my bike, but it didn't slow me down, I actually felt much better afterwards. Thanks for cleaning the puke off my bike and light Alex.

Life savers!

I never got cold, so I just kept my sleeveless jersey on during the night. When it started to get light again, I passed Monique Sawicki and a few minutes later Katrin van der Spiegel, the Australian national champ. I was still feeling fairly strong and kept putting time on Monique and Katrin to finish in 3rd. Sue Haywood lapped me sometime after dark. She looked incredibly strong and smooth when she passed me.

Rebecca, Sue & Lou

I ended up with 25 laps. 200 miles with 27,500 feet of climbing in a time of 24 hrs 48 minutes. Thanks to Eric and Alex I never had to get off my bike during the race. They had everything dialed in perfectly the whole time. Eric was in 2 different spots on the course every single lap, and whatever I needed was always ready! I have never before done a 24 hrs race without getting off my bike for at least a few minutes. I definitely need a little recovery time before going to La Ruta!!

Wasted leg Wednesdays are winding down

Bud's ride is pretty much finished until next year. Only eight riders showed last Wednesday for two laps, but it was a leg burner. It's actually harder with just a few strong riders because there's hardly any drafting going on if someone goes off the front and splits up the group. I went with the attack and lasted for one lap before blowing up. It wasn't exactly how I wanted to finish off Bud's, but the Simi training rides are just a few weeks away. Woohoo!

Simi has many more riders and makes Bud's feel like a cruise

Experiments

It's experimenting season. I'll be experimenting with several products over the next few months; products that I've never used before. New Hammer products, new drink mixes, new energy drinks...

These first two products I found Friday at a local bike shop during an unscheduled training break shortly after a piece of glass sliced a half inch gash in my tire. Note that I'm not affiliated with either product in any way.

The first one is Living Essentials Chaser 5-Hour Energy Drink. The claim is that, "it is a powerful blend of vitamins, enzymes and other energizing nutrients designed to help you get going fast, and keep you going for up to 5 hours." You get 5 hours of energy now, no crash later & it's sugar free.

I usually like to test this type of energy thing over a few weeks. I'll probably try it before a few rides, when I'm totally spent after a long day in the saddle to see how much longer I can go and on a day when I'm really tired and just don't feel like doing my workout.

The second one is Endurance Max Energy. It's basically liquid carbs with some electrolytes. I don't know if it'll be an improvement over my current gels, but maybe the taste will be more palatable.

Some experiments don't always workout too well. The folks at Hammer suggests avoiding mixing different types of sugars, but that's what I've always done; use hammer gel or sustained energy with say Cytomax or Powerade. Curious to see if there would be a noticeable difference, I decided to try Heed instead of my regular drink mix when I was getting ready for my solo ride at Hurkey Creek. It worked ok for about 5 hours but it just wasn't doing it for me so I reverted to my regular mix. That was a big mistake because I felt like crap within the hour. I may have another go at it this Fall.

Some experiments leave me feeling out of it

A Horse Race

Looks like it's neck and neck in both the men's and women's elite category 11.5 hours into the WSC race. With some blazing fast times early on I'm guessing that some racers should start to fade and I think some have already started their downward spiral.

Monique and Lou are looking good, 3rd and 5th respectively, while Dicky is in 2nd behind Chambers.

Live updates at: Cyclingnews & Ride424

The end is in sight.
With less than 3 hours to race Monique and Lou have switched places. Craig Gordon has a lap on Chris Eatough. No word on Dicky. Exciting race!

Game Over.

That must have been some race to watch. Dicky, the Viking, rode to a win in the SS category while Lou placed third. Lou has been consistent for the past couple of years with a solid 3rd place each time. Unfortunately, I think Monique had a classic solo implosion; I'm waiting for the lap times to be posted.

Lou often gets mistaken for Christina Begy (from CN)

I didn't know a Sho-Air teammate was going to be racing (from CN)

Motivation

What's better than an ultimatum for motivation? This fella, who is racing this weekend at the WSC, got an ultimatum from his better half. Ouch!

I hope he has happy legs and an issue free race, otherwise....

but....but....[insert racing mishap here]

Update: He won!

Vikings, Ninjas, Amazons and Cowboys

The convergence of Vikings and Amazons this weekend in Conyers is looking like it's going to be a good one for spectating. Unfortunately, the ninja family is split between both coasts with most of the East Coast clan heading to Conyers while their left coast brethren are going to have an old fashion showdown in Moab.

Teamdicky will be fending off fellow Vikings as he attempts to best his previous lap record. In the woman's race, Lou and Monique will be racing the likes of Sue Hayward and Rebecca Rusch. If Marg and Lynda were also racing then I'd definitely have to fly out just to watch as that would be one for the ages. Dave and Nat Ross have a large field of cowboys to deal with out on the slick rock. Tinker is scheduled to be there too.

I'm not going to make any predictions about the races this weekend and next because I think anything can happen.

Who will be left standing?

Lazy Days

Nothing can really get me going on lazy days. Red bull, coffee, ginseng, a double espresso...they're all useless when I'm not feeling it.

I need one of these bikes for lazy days so I can get in my miles.

Thumb throttles are awesome!