WSC headed out west?

Rumor has it that the Adrenalin World Solo 24 Hour Championship is coming to California. Going by the '07 schedule the only question seems to be when. If it's in early September then Laguna Seca would be the venue, but if it's later in the month then Hurkey Creek is the place to be. I'm hoping for Hurkey (WSC was held at Hurkey back in '01) and Lou is wishing for Laguna. I'd prefer to ride in the mountains rather than a raceway.

The actual venue and date will be announced on December 15th.

I'm crossing my fingers

Fall Classic XC race

I was out at the 6 Hours of OC course yesterday for my last race of the year, a XC race. I don't normally race the format, it's not exactly my cup of tea. I've only attempted one other XC race since the Summer of '03: Sea Otter last year and my rear-D spring broke half way through the first lap so I got a DNF.

Since I raced the 6-hour a month ago I earned some points towards the Orange County Mtb Series. I was tied for second with teammate Josh behind fellow Warrior Society member Rob Rust. So I thought I'd try to earn a few more points and get in some training. I wasn't expecting much seeing that I had only ridden about three hours in the two weeks since La Ruta. I didn't have a plan either until I overheard George talking to Josh about pacing a couple of minutes before the start. So my plan was to ride behind Josh for awhile until I my legs felt like they could benefit from a break--that would be the time to go.

These races are so brief that I don't see how a racer can compose an epic tale like some of the ones I've read on various mtb boards. Here's how the race unfolded: "Go", a lot of hard breathing, lap 1 done, have a few sips from the bottle, lap 2 done, change bottles, more hard breathing, lap 3 done.

My legs felt heavy the whole time, not much get up and go. A few more hours in the saddle and I'm sure they would have started to feel really good. They had enough juice to carry me to a first place finish in my category and third overall so it was a better than expected result. After the points were tallied, I wound up second in the series for my group.

Congrats to teammates Manny, Brad, Bernice and Matt who took first in the series in their respective classes.

Thanks to Chris, Sherry and all the Warriors Society volunteers for putting on another great event. What other event has plenty of free beer at the post race meal?

A sweep with Craig (L) & Josh (R) is a nice way to finish out the year

I celebrated the end of the season with Monica at In-n-Out afterwards. I've been waiting to have a double-double, fries and a coke for almost eleven months; I started racing in January.

Best burgers in SoCal!

La Ruta de los Conquistadores 2006 -- Highlights

Wow, what an adventure! This year's La Ruta tops the three previous I've done. Definitely the most fun I've had since last year's Transalp. Some of the highlights:

*Toughest section: the new section between checkpoint 3 and 4 on day one. Searing heat, clear skies, a lot of bike pushing, had to fill up the bottles at a waterfall. I wasn't cursing Roman like I was in '04 when stage one seemed like it was never going to end.

*Best surprise: No cramps! I cramped on day one really badly during my last two La Rutas ('03 &' 04). Thanks to La Ruta Lou's advice on electrolytes I've been using Thermotabs since last year and I haven't had cramps since. Thermotabs rock and a bottle of them is only $6!

*Most fun: the jungle between cp 1 & 2 on day one.

*Least fun: the railroad tracks. I use to really like them but I hated those sections this year. They aren't like they used to be, they've been filled in with rocks so it's pretty boring and not as jarring as it once was.

*Biggest mistake: I took a full suspension instead of a hardtail. The latter would have been much better. I should have read Erik's '05 review on Marg's site beforehand.

*Worst luck: Tinker's roomate -- he happened to have his helmet off while pushing his bike on the new section on day one when he came upon the UCI observer. She disqualified him on the spot!

*Most flats: Had to be Jon Nutbrown, at least 10. Read his account on Marg's site.

*Best Hotel: Guayabo Lodge, good food and great views. All the non-Costa Rican elite riders (Tinker, Frischi, Craig, Leonardo et al) were staying there.

Leonardo (left) smoked the field and his coach (right) took the Master B category

*Worst crash: Jeremiah Bishop's nasty crash at speed pretty much right in front of the Guayabo. I saw him at the San Jose airport a few days after his surgery and wished him a speedy recovery. He was looking much better.

*Best conversations: 1) Talking with soon to be dad Tinker about Florida, fishing, next year's schedule and rides around LA over a couple of beers after stage two. 2) A three hour conversion with Leonardo's coach, Andrea, about training at the elite level, his plans for Leo and coaching the Colombian national team. It's tough training in Colombia (see bottom of page) so now he and Leo are based in Italy.

*SS award: Tim Dougherty was absolutely ripping it up on day 3. I've never seen someone ride a SS like that. It was amazing to see.

Rides like there's no tomorrow

*Best company: the La Ruta Champs.

Do they look like they're having fun or what?

*Firsts: I think this was the first year that someone with a 29ner did the race.

Results: I was 9th in the Master A, 36th overall and 4th guy from the States. No too bad, but my goal was to break into the top 30 again (I was 25th overall in '04). I'm happy with it. Sho-Air had a nice showing with Manny 13th in the open men's and Lou was 2nd in the women's category. Sho-Air sponsor Geoladders had Doug 5th in the Master B.

My left leg is always begging for attention

La Ruta de los Conquistadores 2006 -- Day 3 images

Geoladders Doug & Tico

La Ruta Lou makes the best of it with only three gears for the entire day

Manny at the finish; 13th in the open mens after three days!

Marg unruffled by the tracks

I didn't really have to go for the sprint finish but what the heck, I may not be back in '07

The new La Ruta Champion with Roman, the creator of this hardcore race

La Ruta de los Conquistadores 2006 -- Day 2 images

Tinker showing that he can still fly up the climbs

Manny giving chase

Jeff getting ready for the climb

Hillary setting a good pace up the volcano

Doug (Geoladders creator) definitely had his Wheaties for breakfast

Tom Ritchey smoked Doug and I on the downhill

Marg dancing on the pedals

Lou and I have done this part of the climb together since '03

La Ruta de los Conquistadores 2006 -- Day 1 images

I found some photos of this year's La Ruta race. Unlike previous years, Ecosport didn't take as many photos of the riders. Here are some of the folks I recognized.

Doug from Geoladders

I'm sporting the new Sho-Air jersey

Three time La Ruta champ and new Sho-Air teammate, La Ruta Lou

It was fun!

Marg

is no stranger to this type of adventure

A thrashing awaits?

I went for a spin this morning out towards the climb up the volcano Irazul that awaits riders on day two. I forgot how steep the climbs are here. Actually, steep is an understatement as they're basically walls.

I saw the article on cyclingnews that mentioned that this year's first stage is "expected to thrash the field." I like the stats they posted -- 48.5% mud. Nice! Good thing I brought my spikes since they help enormously on the mud wall hike-a-bikes. Those are probably the few sections where everyone will be going the same speed since ya can't really run up those things.

Sherry at Switchback gave me a strange look when I told her that I wanted to purchase four extra sets of brakes pads for my Magura Martas even after Tim had put brand new ones on. The mud here is worse than in South Africa and I went through a new set there about 20km before the finish on day one! The demand for pads was so high that if ya didn't keep a constant eye on your bike you might not have any pads the next time you hopped on it. Anyway, the mechanics will be putting a new set of pads on every day. =)

Tomorrow I'm off to the coast to see a bunch of old friends. I don't think I'll pre-ride the first part of the course. After three La Rutas, I know it doesn't really matter since the day is pretty much a climbfest.

"Now", with respect to heart rate and leg burn, usually happens less than 15 minutes from the start on day one, 25 minutes on day two and right off the bat on day three. There isn't really a warmup.

Day One Stats:
Length - 97. km
Total Climbing - 4420m / 14,501 feet
Paved - 8.3 km (8.5%)
Mud - 47.3 km (48.5%)
Gravel - 41.9 km (43%)

Note: VN also had an article on the stages.