VQ/CC Finishers(2013 Pow Wow Writeup & Pics)

Funny, I was at the gym yesterday and overheard a guy telling a racquetball buddy how he had signed up and paid for this 56 mile moutain bike ride, but he didn't go because he wasn't conditioned. I'm sure there are many more of these stories going around this week.

 

Thanks Andy. I actually do closer to 250 hours of volunteer work in the CNF and County Parks annually, but this isn't about me. I was just making a suggestion to help you generate more revenue and fill the empty spots with riders who really want to do the event, as opposed to those who think they will on registration day.

Otherwise, great event as usual and thanks for keeping our trails in excellent shape!

 

Kioti can do anything:bang:

 

There is no doubt that Jim is the man. I was just reminded via PM who he is (what his real name is and what he does.) Thank you for all your work Kioti.
I still hold strong on the fact that it would be a paperwork nightmare.

 

Thanks Andy! Now I'm looking forward to reading more of those detailed ride reports..

 

Monday morning quarterback always happens and pretty expected year and trust me, we've done all we could in the past years to fill in spots as participants bail out because of injury, illness, mechanicals to equipment or lack of training. As Rut and mtnbikej explained, it just becomes a logistical nightmare. You may not know this, but the volunteers at the starting area are the same ones you see later along the course. I myself was there at the early morning check-in at 4:30am and then after the breaking that area down, went straight to set up the finish area, then later at Aid Station 2 with the cones we used at the starting area. By the time I arrived at Aid Station 2 for my begin my duites around 8:15am or so, Tinker arrived about 30 minute later!

Others like J put on his gear on to sweep the riders. Those up on Main Divide are out all day that by the time they break their check points down and get down the mountain by way of Ortega Hwy, they go straight home because it's so late that no one is left at the finish area. Asking them to stay longer up at WHT or Trabuco check points would not go over well.

Yes Jim as do many of us. Trust me, if it were JUST about generating revenue, we could just raise the entry fee by $10, but it's not about that. Thanks for the suggestions, but we as club have meetings about this event each year on how to make it better and we do explore ideas. DNS and DNF are just simply part of it and I don't believe that anyone had any plans of being either of those when they signed up and paid.

 

I think we were just offering suggestions on possible ways to improve an already great event. I know it's hard because I've helped organize and run a similar ride, though it was on pavement. They take lots of planning and preparation and set up and support. Thanks for all your hard work and for putting on the Trabuco Ranger District's premier event! See you on the trails!

 

I have a story just for Herzalot: I had my phone loaded w music, ready to play externally to keep me motivated and push on. But I kept hearing Chris's message in my head: listen to your tires ride over the dirt or god forbid listen to nothing. Out of respect for Chris and the other riders I kept my phone off; the only thing that kept playing over and over in my head was English Beat's Aki Aki 1 2 3.

Thanks Herzalot, it hurt a lot and it's still playing in my head today! :lol:

 

That's better than "Eye of the Tiger" playing in your head for hours.......well maybe.

 

I was late to start and couldn't find my iphone dropped between car seats. Was stuck with Abba's "dancing queen" used as bumper music for talk radio I listened to on the drive over.

 

Dana W. - "The crazy thing about the Vision Quest is the last third of the course. After climbing for 3 hours, the Holy Jim descent is a solid 30 minutes long followed by multiple stream crossings which give your legs no choice but to cramp up. I had about 3 in a row where my hamstrings completely locked. Getting my leg back over the saddle when that happened was the hardest moment of the day."

Even the fast guys are hurting in that sufferfest.

http://danaweber.blogspot.com/


Hardtails rock

 

I sadly get Lady Gaga's "poker face" stuck in my head. But it's being sung by an old Korean man. Ipod is a must for anything longer than 3 hours.

 

I must be old school. I like to hear the dirt beneath my tires. I like to hear the birds chirping. I like hearing the deer dart off into the woods (hoping desperately that its not a mtn lion.)

 

Same way here!

 

Me too. When I'm not riding for hours on the Main Divide trying to drown out the sounds of jeeps and motorcycles.

 

+1. Though I love the sport of scaring the shiat out of the oblivious hiker who can't hear me comin' cuz their music is so darn loud (and if there's anything I'm NOT; it's quiet).

 

My quick run down of the event.

I didn't line up near the front due to the lack of confidence in my riding ability that day. I crashed the first weekend in March and had my knee stapled up, so that got me off the bike for 3 weeks. So, about a week of training leading up to the event made my nervous. I sat in with a group that pushed (and pulled) me up Blackstar. Some girl passed me and I jumped on her wheel for motivation to bridge up to another group. I did this 2 or 3 times and made it to the gate in about 48 minutes.

Once on the main divide, I chased a few guys down and found myself behind a road block of about 4 guys. I snuck around the outside on that steep, rocky part just before you get a small descending break and put some time on them, but the fog and my lack of familiarity with the main divide allowed them to catch me before the either/or section. I thought the fireroad went straight, but the 3 guys behind me made a right turn on a bypass route and gained a good amount of time. I didn't catch them again until maple springs, but I saw them down the hill on motorway and conservatively made my way down trying my best to stay in control and not crash for fear of my not-so-healed knee sustaining more damage.

A quick refill at Aid #1 and I was off climbing again. I thought I'd hold about 220 watts on the climbs based on my limited training rides before the event, but the adrenaline of the event had my riding between 250-270 up Blackstar. I tried to continue the trend on maple springs and settled into a comfortable cadence, putting out around 250 watts. About .5 miles from 4 corners, I started to feel cramps coming on, so I slowed my pace to get some food in my stomach. The cramps never really went away, but I was able to keep them at bay as I started the last push up to the peak. I made it to the peak in around 3:28 if I remember correctly and started the terrifying descent.

My sight through my glasses was blurry. The mist covered lenses seemed to attrack more than enough dirt to build the anaheim supercross track. I tried to wipe them, but it didn't do much. So, I hung on for dear life and kept my speeds down to try an avoid any crashes. My front fork wasn't set-up correctly and was acting like it was locked out the entire descent, rattling my hands into numbness. Upper holy jim was a nice break from the rough rocky main divide. My lack of confidence and fear of crashing led me to walking a few sections, but I eventually made it back to the main divide safely and was on lower holy jim in no time. I forgot to put the bell on, so I yelled out, "ring ring" the entire way down. The hikers parted ways for me, but I slowed down to pass safely. I ran through the stream crossings to keep my chain/wheel bearings happy. After the last one, I got to recover and have lunch on my way to aid #2.

Another quick refil and I was off to the dreaded hike that just happens to occur in the middle of a bike "race." I was told about 30 guys had headed off, up Trabuco road, from aid #2 from a WS member and I heard 20 something guys had departed from a spectator. Didn't know who to believe, but for my lack of descending confidence and lack of training the month before the race, that news left me in a great mood. I kept riding as strong as I could (dropped to around 220 watts by now) and passed a handful of guys before the hike.

West Horsethief was different this time. I managed to ride about 25% of it and possibly could have ridden more, but I caught a couple of guys hiking together and decided to join in on the fun. Aparrently, as the two young adults have shown us, the hills out here can be very tricky. So, I figured it safest to have a couple hiking partners so that we'd hopefully have a lower chance of getting lost. We crested them summit and all took off, trying to not let the others beat us.

We eventaully all made it to Trabuco and set off on our on pace downhill. My fork was still throwing a tantrum, so I took it easy. My hands, again, lost all feeling and stiffened up. I safely made it down the shale covered trail and got past all riders embarking on the last climb of the journey safely. I looked down and saw my time was 5:52 as I hopped the gate. I foolishly thought I could get down the fireroad in 8 minutes. Boy, was I wrong!

All-in-all, I was very pleased with my time. I beat my time from last year (I was a DNS due to injury, not because I wanted to, but because I had to) and beat my time from two years ago by 22 minutes. I finished a few places higher in the standings and had one of the most memorable days on the bike. I'm still walking around on a high, waiting for registration to open in October so I can sign-up for more punishment chasing the elusive 6 hour mark once again.

 

My wife was nice enough to post on my facebook page the inspirational warm kitty soft kitty song (As heard on The Big Bang Theory ). Pretty rad hiking up WHT singing "Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty, little ball of fur, Happy Kitty, Sleepy Kitty, purr purr, purr."

 

This was already asked early on in this thread before it went slightly off track but does anyone know who was taking photos on UHJ?? I did see photos on Pink Shorts Photograhy's Facebook page but they were not shooting on UHJ - Thanks!

 

Mario, you must have passed me at the aid station. Hammer was hooking me up (thnx again Hammer, your melon heed was awesome up MS). Even though i ran some of my best times for the first half, i was cramping from mile 10. Not impressively fast by any means. This was obvious when i got to the UHJ entrance and a motorcyclist was chatting with the WS folks. Motorcyclist asked, "You guys almost finished?" WS guy said, "These are some of the last ones. They are only trickling in at this point." It was right then that i realized i probably won't sign up again unless i can get faster. My goal this year (my first ever CC and 2nd year anniversary of mtbing) was to finish. I didn't expect to be fast, but, also didn't think i would be one of those just trickling in. Cramps almost made me stop. But, my goal was to finish. I did.

I started the day with tight hamstrings and never could get them to loosen before the event started. Then, just after the Doppler, my quads knotted up. It was HAB time for most of the Main Divide climbs. Then on Motorway, i overcooked one of the last hairpins and came to a standing stop before washing out my tires and going down. This locked up both quads and one calf muscle. I had to fall over to loosen up the muscles enough because they cramped so bad i couldn't step off the bike. Great, only 10 more miles of climbing to go with legs locking up at every 60% effort. Looks like its time to pedal like a turtle.

Turtle was about the only way i can describe my pace. Slow pedaling cadence while seated to ward off the quads from locking up. The only thing that kept me going was remembering all the time my family sacrificed for me to train for this challenge. Every time i thought about stopping, i remembered that my family was going to be waiting for me at the finish line. Whether i was pedaling or crawling, i was going to meet them there. And i did.

They didn't even list me as a SS, let alone rigid on the results page. Even though thats what i registered for. Maybe they will fix it, maybe not. It was still great playing cat & mouse with you up MS. Not that i'm ever very chatty, but if i was grumpy, its only because i wasn't feeling great at that moment. Actually, any moment from about Skinsuit on was an attempt at pain management. Nice meeting you though.

I'm actually worse on my gears. How sad is that? lol.