8 Hours of Hurkey Creek

During the Spring, the folks at Adrenalin hold an 8-hour race in addition to their normal 24-hour event. Four of my teammates and I thought it would be a perfect time to test out new gear, nutrition, pace...

Here's a few pics of the fun in the sun:

Bern is always smiling

17 year old Matt in his first 8-hour race (finished 8th of 36). He'll be racing at the WSC in September.

Josh led out the solos for almost two laps before cramps set in. Thermotabs dude! He still managed to finish 5th or 6th.

Sarah (aka Single-speedin Sauce), my athlete, riding steady

Lou getting in some heat training for the Creampuff 100 race in July. Sleeveless was the smart choice.



Man it was hot and I wasn't quite ready for racing in the high temps...97 degrees in the shade!!

Lou, Sarah and Bern on the podium again (they were all on stage at Sea Otter). I believe Lou was 3rd solo overall (both men & women). Sarah is amazing on a SS -- I can't believe she's only been riding for 8 months. Bern had another solid ride and enjoyed every minute of it! =)

Friend Desert Dan Cain never really let me out of his sight all day. Amazing considering he was self-supported. Ya gotta pit with me next time Dan.

I have so many people to thank for this one:

- Monica for everything that goes along with pre-race preparations.
- Lynda, my coach. Legs felt great the whole time but heat really threw me a curve ball.
- Sam from X-fusion. He was Lou's support but he helped out Matt, Sarah and I on every lap. I won't mind putting X-fusion forks and shocks through the wringer. =)
- Gillian (aka Lucky) and former WS teammate Andy. They were the pit crew for Josh and Bern but they really helped me out...much appreciated. You ROCK Gilly!
- Keith B for support in the pit and some of the photos.
- Tim & Sherry from Switchback Cyclery for getting the bike race ready.
- Mr 24, Jeff Kerkove, and Steve for the Ergon grips. They worked great!
- The folks at Sho-air and Rock N' Road Cyclery
- All the team Sho-air sponsors
- The volunteers at aid #1 & #2 that gave me ice cold water every lap

I'd also like to thank Metallica and Iron Maiden for providing an awesome soundtrack for my last few laps!!! =)

Riding with elan

I recently started commuting to work again after several months of mostly mtb riding. I didn’t think I’d ever miss it that much, but I'd rather spend four hours on my bike than two in my truck any day! I love the fragrance of the roses that fill the air of the residential streets I use as shortcuts and the smell of fresh cut grass as I whiz by the public parks along the main streets. The ride home is the toughest because of the BBQs that are fired up in backyards…steak, chicken, ribs…

The workouts that Lynda has as part of the rides are also great: single leg drills, a few sprints... Anyway, what if you had "ride with elan" as part of your workout? Hmmm. Elan -- distinctive style or flair. So I blew kisses at the ladies stuck in OC traffic as I passed. What a reaction! I like riding with elan. =)

Sho-Air and Friends at Sea Otter

The Sho-Air Rock N' Road Cyclery Team had a nice showing at Sea Otter this past weekend:

Manuel Prado 1st in Semi-Pro XC, 1st in 19-29 Time Trail, 13th in 19-29 Super-D
Johnny O'Mara 1st in 44-49 Expert XC
Ty Kady 2nd in Semi-Pro XC
Louise Kobin 2nd in Pro-Expert SS Women
Bernice Pierson 4th Place Beginner-Sport SS Women
Cameron Brenneman 2nd in Masters Cat 1/Cat 2/Cat 3 30+, 8th in Pro-Expert SS
John "Fuzzy" Mylne 15th in Pro-Expert SS
Josh Smith 22nd in 30-34 Expert XC

There were also a few "casualties":
Tim's rear got caught up in the spokes during the XC race and it was game over. It was just one of those days for Eric as well.

Friends Heather and Sarah also had a good day with a 3rd place in the 40-44 Sport XC Womens and a 2nd place in the Beginner-Sport SS Womens categories respectively.

I did my second road race and was 9th in the Masters 30+ Cat 5 category. I had a great time.

Lou

Sarah and Bern

Urban x-training

Been so busy at work that I needed to get out and have a little unstructured fun. I hadn't done any urban hucking since I lived on the west side as a student back in the day; I'd have a little fun on the UCLA campus after class. Sauce and I met up in downtown LA at Starbucks around 6:30 for some pre-ride caffeine.

Still half asleep sporting the favorite STR shirt but ready for some urban fun.

There's plenty of stuff downtown to ride through, ride down or jump off.

Testing out the breaks on the Metro stairs.

One too many hucks. =)

It's all about timing.

Just getting warmed up.

To be continued with shots of bigger air and maybe even Sauce doing a table top...

Boggs II in photos

8:40 start and no lemans! Woohoo!

Getting the legs going

Sarah cruising on the SS (34:18)

Enjoying the ride

This guy was hanging out near our pit all day

Last lap

Sarah was right behind me on the last one near the finish

Sarah is taking a power nap while I watch riders finish

Maybe it was the soothing music that made her sleepy =)

1st place SS woman, 4th solo woman overall

2nd men's solo, 4th solo overall

Thanks to LWcoaching, Sho-Air, Rock N'Road Cyclery, Specialized and all the other team Sho-air sponsors ... it was a blast!

Slacking

I've been a total slacker with the blog the past month. In fact, beside my training, I haven't really had time to check out any of the cycling news sites, blogs or forums. I logged into mtbr yesterday and apparently that was the first time since early February, the third to be exact, according to the "Welcome, mp3"

I did the Boggs II race up in NoCal this past weekend; fun course, great people and excellent weather. I still have to write up the race report so in the mean time here's a Boggs II race report from my friend Sarah.