Race Report 2012 Pow Wow Report

Okay, lets hear your awesome stories.

Wanted to get under 6 hours today. Finished just over 9.

 

Great experience. Well put together. Amazing seeing all the lights trucking up Blackstar.
Hard OTB on Motorway. Trail Angels cleaned me up and sent me on my way. Then just a grind back up.
Down and out to my waiting friends and family and something in a red cup.
Finished CC about 6:21 I think.

Feet up, food, drink and ice packs.

 

This was the 2nd CC for me. First on a single speed.

As this was to be my longest ride on the SS, the plan was to pace myself and "race my race". Well, had a PB Blackstar G/G (52 minutes) then PB Beeks to Motorway... so much for pacing, and really felt it on the asphalt on Maple Springs. Hammies began to cramp heading up to Modjeska but pushed on through. Finished @ 5h 40min, over an hour improvement from last year on my FS geared bike.

The other lesson learned today... Lemon Cytomax and Vanilla Hammer HEED do not mix well at all. @ the Maple Springs aid station handed my bottle over for some mix, realized I still had 1/4 of my Cytomax remaining. Suffered through a few dry heaves before I gave up on it.

 

Long tired day and beer never tasted so good. Another long ride on the SS and this year I actually did some training on WHT, did it help ....NO. It was still horrible and just a suffer fest but made it to the top. I took last years times and cut a few minutes off of major points along the race and hit or beat every section but the top of WHT, missed it by a minute and a half. Still finished the day pretty strong for me and this year got that sub 8 hour time with a 7:40 beating last years time by 29 minutes. I am sore, tired and right now swearing never again but I am sure a few days and I will change m tune. Thank you Warriors for another great run event, all the aid stations were more than helpful and the burger at the top of WHT what AMAZING.

 

Great day. Conquered cramps (finally) with pickle juice -- it really works! Finished in 6:20 -- exactly on my planned schedule. Was ahead of all of my scheduled split times by 2-5 min, got a little lazy up WHT and had to give it full gas at the end to come in on time. Weather was perfect -- never really got that hot on the mountain. I have a real love/hate relationship with this race. Good thing the signups are many months (and memories) away...

 

On a serious note. I freakin love the Pow Wow. There is nothing in the world like charging Blackstar with that many riders. The sun rise and moon set will be a cherished memory from today (Not so cherished was the numerous bike issues I had).

I love the fact that I've come to know so many people through STR, and I get to see all of us out there pushing our limits as riders.

Dave, Charles, Roger, Joe, AJ, Mark, Kimmi, Gene, Gregg, all did awesome today (I don't want to hear any rubbish about not making cut offs!).

Big thanks to the warriors and all the volunteers, especially the guys on the motorcycles on the divide. I didn't mind sucking up your exhaust once I realized you were like mobile mechanics. Extra big thanks to everyone at the finish line for the cheers, I really needed it at that point.

 

First time for me. What a great race, had a lot of fun. Front tire washed out on main divide about 1hr and a half in. Bike ok and i just lost some skin. WHT is tough, I should of done some hiking training. Finshed VQ 7:07

 

Earned my 5th feather (the very right one) with a time of 5h19m (unofficial) today. My best finish time ever since I started doing CC back in 2008. Last year was the first year on a SS (32x20). This year I stepped up to 32x18 and beat my last year's time by ~23 minutes. I think I will go back to 20 next time, though.

It was pretty windy in the beginning but no problem later. Overall the weather was great. The support was great. Thanks Warrior's Society. Thanks (I think his name is) Cameron, the shuttle driver.

Every time I do this event, especially when I look down the trails I just rode through, I feel how lucky I am, doing what I love. I don't take it for granted. There are so many people out there who can't do what they want to, for whatever reasons.

See you all next year.

O

 

First off, I have to say Thank You to all the volunteers that put on this great event. This was a wonderful day. The temps were nice, the moon looked awesome in the morning, The lights serpintined up Blackstar Tr. I did have a couple close calls; the first was before Motorway, when I was going fast downhill and realized there was a deep rut at the bottom. I was not on the right line and grabbed a bunch of brake. Fortunately for me I stopped as I dropped into he rut and did not fall. The second was very acrobatic; I was going down Motorway with too much pressure in my tires. I got a little out of control and did this big sweeping slid that turned me around and put my backwards into the bushes, off the trail, with one foot still clipped in. I got lucky there. Then I had a flat on Lower HJ. What a fun day.

Also, my day started off with an embarrassing moment: I forgot to lock the porta potty door and I was standing in there with my junk hanging out when someone open the door. There was a little laughter from the folks on line. That will teach me to lock the door.

 

great day to be out...was worried my training (read lack of) may hurt me and I only wanted to hit the check points. 3-4 miles up, my buddy's frame breaks...his VQ is over After tossing him the car keys, up I go. Felt pretty good..walked 2 sections (planned) and ended up bottom of MW sub 3 hours (first time ever). Refueled by Waldo, DZ and some awesome Trail Angels and up MS I go. Kill some time talking with Patrick before arriving at 4 Crnrs at 1015. Take a break/refuel and up to the peak..down to UHJ..walk parts of that (been 2 years since I've been there). Down HJ where the one crash I had may have resulted in the loss of my phone. Starting to cramp a bit..stop at the last check point for fuel...out the road..finisn 7:11...40 minutes ahead of my last CC...feel GREAT since I was worried about making cutoffs. All in all, a great day (except for phone). Prob won't do again for a while...but proud that with 3 decades of fighting Multiple Sclerosis, I was able to finish my 3rd CC. Hats off to all that rode today and bigger thnx to the WS for organizing such punishing/rewarding events.

 

2nd CC, great ride, great organization and volunteers, props to all of you that were working today, seemed like there were 25-30 people out there today, who knows how many put in the work up front and in the background- THANK YOU. However, I do miss the cowbells up blackstar and maple springs from the last time I rode it

A few lessons learned for me this time around:
1. training is required to "enjoy" the ride.Can prob finish CC (prob not VQ) w/o training, but you'll hate yourself for it on ALL the climbs. Ask me
2. riding all the sections separately is great, but probably need to ride longer than the 2+ hour section rides to feel good on a 6 hour ride.
3. check your ego at the door- there are some FAST riders out there, wow! it's not about the bike

great ride, great people!

till next year (if I train better)

 

I've got dinner in my tummy, comfy clothes on, and I'm reliving all the rad details about today. Being around Greg and friends at the starting line helped calm my jitters a bit. I had a few goals for the day: 1) enjoy the gorgeous scenery (Check!), 2) have fun (Check!), 3) try to improve my splits (Check!), 4) pay attention to how awesome other people are doing out there, and let them know (Check!), 5) don't crash and end my race (Check!), 6) say HI to EMT Robert, who helped me so much last year after my crash (Check!), 7) try to finish in under 9 hours (Check! 8:31, 1st Female SS to finish).

I have to give a shout-out to a few friends who I was super impressed with today. AJ absolutely KILLED IT! I'm so proud of her! Your win was well deserved, Sister! JoJon and I had a blast out there. He blew me away with his killer pace thru-out the day. I love seeing all that training he's been doing pay off! You're awesome, JoJon, and you should know! Steve and Neil were amazing! Neil never fails to blow me away by his strength, and positive words, and Steve battled thru the whole VQ with a very impressive time, even though he was sick! And my amazing Greg, despite 3 flats, and a bunch of mechanical failures, still had the spunk to push me on, and yell at me to pedal when I passed him walking all the way down the Wash to the finish line!

I was stoked on the way the new Selma Ti SS handled all the chunk out there. I did battle some lower back pain though, but still tried to keep the pace up where I could. I took some UHJ dirt to the face on one of the switchbacks, but only a few bumps and scrapes. WHT was WHT. Like Mark said, there's no way to train for it. It is what it is. Unfortunately, both of my heels are covered in giant, gross blisters, which made continuing to hike up it uncomfortable. But seeing Giddy, Will, and Steve out there made the pain lessen. I was super stoked to see more women on SS this year, a few doing CC, and another doing VQ!

I consider myself blessed to be able to participate in such an awesome event. It wouldn't be possible without the countless hours spent by all the volunteers who make it possible! Thank you, Warriors. Hope to be back next year! Congrats to all!!

 

I used to hear rumors about this crazy group of people who'd ride this race through the Santa Ana's back in the early days of the interweb...you know, when you just prayed that dial-up connection in the college dorm would stay connected, hoping that the two hours it took to download one free porn pic was worth the title of the file only to find out it was something more akin to what Fearless Fly would post....but I digress.

So this year I finally logged on like everyone else and hit the "Register Now!" button on multiple computers, tablets, and phones in the hopes of scoring one of the few Counting Coup spots.

Check.

Getting to the start line in enough tie (no excuse there...I live 10 minutes away).

Check.

Suffering through the 45 miles.

Check.

Making sure I made up more time on the climbs than I lost on the descents.

Check.

What I didn't expect was the cool factor of seeing all the lights charging up Blackstar with the setting moon in the background, the lights of OC below it and the coastline beyond.
...the simultaneous Sunrise and Moonset from Main Divide.
...the throng of people at the bottom of Motorway, cheering everyone on through.
...upper Holy Jim (it sucked for me the last time I rode down it on my GT LTS-1 DH bike in 1996...and that middle 1/3rd took me out again...I never like Manzanita so much)
...I still can't turn right on switchbacks...not an ambiturner.
...the unrideable water crossings (they were rideable in 1996)
...the drag race and 3-way sprint finish after almost 5 hours of riding...hitting my max heartrate for the day in the process.
...a (barely) sub 5-hour time.
...the thought that if CC was this much fun, VQ must be that much better...'F that, I'm only doing VQ if CC fills up before I can nab a spot.

Great job to every 5 people (Volunteers, Family, Friends) behind each racer who took part today.

Kudos to all.

I'm off to sleep.

 

First of all, thanks to all the Warriors and volunteers! I didn't feel that great on the bike today, but the sunrise and full moon were awesome this morning. I rode a new Niner rigid fork today and it was quite a different feeling than last year on a suspension fork. I love the RDO Niner fork, and I was about five minutes faster this year than last year(whoduh thunk?). I was doing pretty well on the climbs (for me) but had to pick careful lines on Motorway, or I would have been pinballed off the mountain. (sorry if I slowed anyone down). I started cramping before four corners, and never found my groove until the Peak. Upper Holy Jim was tough on the rigid, and there were some good riders who were showing some great downhill technique as they passed me ( I wish I had that skill, but I don't, and at my age, I don't think it's coming)
After UHJ, Lower Holy Jim was in good shape, and many thanks to the courteous hikers, who were great at accomodating me coming down. All I could think about, was the poor people who thought they were getting out to nature on a beautiful spring day, and instead, they had to see me coming down the trail. So sorry. Thanks to John from Rock N Road for filling my bottles at the bottom of Motorway, thanks to all the sponsors, and thanks again to the Warriors and volunteers who make this an event I look forward to every year! See you next year!

 

After doing this event 5 other times with 1 CC, 3 VQ's and last year quitting at Maple Springs due to knee pains, I still haven't learned this lesson. I went out this morning with 1 training ride just last week. Due to knees and lower back issues,
I was unable to get any rides in, but after the DNF last year I thought I'd give it go.

I get to Black Star Rd and park, get my gear ready and realized I forgot my Garmin #-oIn the process of looking for it I finally gave up and went toward the start. The panic to find my Garmin, I lost some prep time and also forget to bring some Endurotabs and aspirin. Total rookie moves, but I probably had it coming since I woke up late due to staying up late. #-o

As far as my knee issues, I taped my knees real good with HT tape and it worked cause my knees felt good and I had no issues, but with little to no training, I had no legs or energy and lost lots of time not being able to push the taller gears and had too many stops. I made the turn at Santiago peak at 11:40 and had 20 mins to get down. wasn't going to happen even with PR of 32 min in 2008. Upper HJ was brutal. I probably lost 5 min on it cause I couldn't ride as much I usually do. It was worked on in Nov, but those rains we had did a number on it. With the ruts and loose conditions, today it took me 40 mins to get from the Peak to the HJ parking lot and missed being able to turn left and head up toward WHT by 20 minutes.

On a separate note, we'll be out doing some tread work on it if we get some rains soon.

Here are the pics I took. See you all next year.

Moments away from the start


John and Queen Willie


OMR was riding strong up Black Star. This is no ordinary 70 year old. He was attempting the VQ! :bang:


Trail Angel Nicky on her Coup Quest


Greg Hotchkiss and his happy face


Riders coming up Black Star Canyon from Hidden Ranch


Full moon shot on Black Star


Steve aka steviebfromtheoc


Other riders coming up.






Kevin aka xhuskr on hid 3rd CC


Kay aka H2oChick


Volunteers at Beek's check point


Sunrise at Beek's

 

More pics...,

Here's Greg's race face


The "Pain" Divide


Riders on Maple Springs


OMR still looking strong


The last few pics...,









Kevin had all sorts of energy at this point still. Nice job on your 3rd completed CC Kev :beer:


Stevieb on Maple Springs. Congrats Steve on your VQ finish!


All of this wouldn't have gone smoothly without the countless hrs preping the trails, tying/making the awards and the many event day volunteers who came out today to give us their time and support.

Hopefully those who have experienced this for the 1st time will continue to come back to beat their time or just come out a support. as they know how helpful that can be for all riders.

Thanks all. See you all next year!

 

I didn't do the event as I was away camping wen rego happened. Have never done the event and I'm not sure if I could pull it off.I had to work at a 4H event sown at the fairgrounds this morning. Got away when I could and got to Trabuco Creek a bit before 1 pm. I was gonna ride up and try to find and support my friend Chris who was trying CC for the first time.Checked at the finish and he wasn't in or DNF - good. Saw Gene come in on a Warrior train and he reported that Hotchkiss was about 4 miles out with a shredded tire. I rode up Trabuco Creek towards Holy Jim. A mile and half in or so I came upon Greg. I offered him some water and heard his troubles. He said he'd have to wait for Kimmi anyways. I rode on up and very soon saw Kimmi, told her that hubby was right ahead and walking. Saw a bunch of people heading down and cheered them on. Got to HJ TH and hadn't run into Chris. Inquired with the radio crew and they knew his number. He was last at the 4C cutoff, but just made it. A couple of minutes later and there he was. Gave him some water and pushed him on. Tried to ride with him, but my GPS rattled out and he dropped me. Caught him at the finish and gave him a post race beer. He ended up just in front of the last CC finisher (sorry, forgot her name). I think his time was about 9:45 or so. Not so bad for a guy with a fake new, eh? Congrats to all of you for taking this event on! Seemed pretty dang warm in the afternoon, too.

 

2012 Vision Quest Pics

My wife and I hiked up to the junction of West Horse Thief and Trabuco Trail to cheer on AJ (ajsura) and Neil (1x1clyde) and captured a bunch of pics of the participants as they went by (both on their way up and on their way down). If anyone would like the full resolution pics (which are way better than what you see here) just PM me your email address and I'll shoot them off to you. Or, if you recognize someone who might not frequent this board let me know their email address and I'll get the pics to them. We had a great time today and I'm in total awe of what these dudes and dudettes accomplished today.