Race Report 12 Hours of Temecula #3

So, how did everyone do in the mud-fest?

Weather aside, we had a great time out there! It was fun seeing a bunch of you out there. My race started out with a mechanical 2mi into lap 1. My rear wheel was dragging hard! I was nervous that I was blowing my legs out trying to get thru the rest of the lap and back to the pits so Greg could fix the problem. Problem got fixed (Greg is the best Pit Crew EVER!), laps 2-4 were super fun, the weather held, and the course was a blast! The rain and wind picked up before starting lap 5, and conditions got super sketchy, and the trails became a big Slip-N-Slide! Being on the SS was a blessing, as I saw a lot of guys having major chain-suck out there. Rolled in after lap 5, and was shuddering at the thought of heading out for a 6th. Found out my competition had tapped out after 3, so that cinched it for me, and Jason ended up calling the race at 4:20.

Huge thanks to Brownie, Fred, JSD, & Doris for the use of your huge space-heater! We had a blast hanging out with you guys! Congrats to everyone who gutted it out out there!!:bang:

soaked and muddy after lap 5

1st Place Female Solo SS

MnMDan

Fred killing it!

 

What a wild day...started out with rain, then it dried out and the trails were the best I have ever seen...then well the rain came and it went south fast. Started the last lap for the MVMG-Crusty Cabras after 3. The ride up the dam climb was'nt too bad but from then on it was an adventure..anything steep was a "slip and slide" like Kimmi said. Jason made the right call in calling it short, I can't imagine what a night lap would have been like. Jason and his crew did a great job as always especially in these conditions. Great job by all the racers and there was great encouragement out there on the course all day. Congrats to all the Meadowview Mountain Goat (MVMG) teams for a great year of racing..GO GOATS

 

Untrue. Dino is the best pit crew ever!

Had a blast spectating out there. HUGE congrats to everyone racing. It got brutal for those last laps. MVP goes to Doris, taking that last lap for the team right as it started raining, what a champ!

 

Showed up later than usual for me and setup the lightweight shelter just in time for the rain to start rolling in prior to the start before it let up in time for the festivities to begin. The drizzle at the start stopped and I was quickly overheating (along with everyone else) on the Dam(n) Climb. Super-tacky going uphill, but as is usual with the first lap, on the granny-gear sections somebody loses traction and you might as well walk it rather than burn that match stopping and starting. Thought I was doing well hanging back from all the teams nailing at the front. Once at the top of the climb and through the fireroad descents (watched a few I was following nearly lose it at the still-slick ruts with the pink dayglo DANGER signs), I found my way into the ridgeline snot. Missed a line and with horror saw my front wheel slide from the inside to the outside of the right-hander, hooking up just before pitching me over the edge. So, I spent the rest of the first lap settling in and seeing where the groove was developing. A few sections that were normally high speed turned into sitting way back on the seat and using the front wheel as a rudder just to go straight. Shed the raincoat and tucked a lightweight vest into the back pocket for lap 2.

Lap 2 went better, with the dirt hooking up nicely and everyone spread out by now. Spent most of the lap with more than few other solos and a few solo single-speeders rolling through the terrain. Flew down the fire-road from the top of the Dam(n) Climb, pedaling hard through the flats and on up the slight incline where the mud turns red when I clip a pedal at 15 mph and launch face-first into the rock garden down the middle of the fireroad. Must have looked pretty bad, face covered with mud. Gave myself a few minutes, checked the helmet, glasses, face, nose, bike. No bleeding, no cracks, nothing broken, so after a few minutes I soldiered on, enjoying the tackiness of most of the dirt. The few sections that weren't going to dry out stayed slick through the next few laps. The shoulder and left arm were sore from the sudden stop, but nothing felt too bad.

Lap 3 and 4 went by without the excitement of Lap 2, although I was feeling the effects of not putting enough long-distance miles on the MTB leading up to the event. 200 Miles on a road bike in Death Valley is easy...cadence and point the bike straight along the road...it doesn't tax the entire body like riding a Mountain Bike where you may not be pedaling all the time, but the body never has a chance to relax.

Lap 5 and the rain starts to come in while I'm on the ridgeline, and the little bit of snot that was out there to start is growing, affecting areas previously dry, the lines grooved by the hundreds of tires filling in and the loose holding onto the water instead of draining it. After nearly going down several times, I decide to stop.er.pause and change clothes to see if the steady rain is going to let up or keep on going. The shoulder soreness has by this time spread to the tricep and bicep on the left arm. After 30 mintues, dry jersey, socks, throwing on some glove liners to wear inside my damp gloves, and those heating pads in the gloves and shoes, I head back out with the thought that if I can get through lap 6 at a reasonable pace, it might be worth going on through the night-time laps.

Lap 6 quickly becomes a bad idea, with the chain losing the ability to run in the front granny gear without sucking up, mercifully at a point high enough on the Dam(n) climb that I can big-ring it. Anything else I was going to granny on the rest of the way around the course is either sloppy and slick so it'd be a hike-a-bike anyway, or I hammer up it single-speed style. The rain by this time is steady and heavy enough to grease most of the rest of the course, with the Tunnel of Love serving up slop the rest of the way down (sorry for the visual) as whatever was firm was now wet and getting chewed up by the rest of the riders left on the course.

Rolling in to conclude lap 6 in time to put the lights on the bike and head back out, I hear that I'd better go now, because the race is on the verge of being called. I'm thinking, if its going to be called, why would I head back out? Live to ride another day.

As the rain picked up around 4:30 when they called it and poured until a little after 7pm, Jason and the crew made the right call. Night riding in a driving rain on a course with slick ridgelines would have made for some tricky aid situations. While there are a hardy few who wished they could have kept on going, it would have been nigh impossible to get to anyone who's wheel suddenly slipped out from under them on a slick descent. Hell, i crashed on an UPHILL section.

This race is like Heroin for me. Every year I look forward to the solo 12-hour races and every year about half-way through I wonder why the hell am I doing this? Wouldn't a team be more fun?...and then it comes time to sign up, and there I am, riding solo, hoping I've put in enough training to be competitive and ride the full 12-hours.

Maybe January.

Good job all, including those who went out for that last lap and rode most of the course in the dark.

http://app.strava.com/rides/2309442

 

The conditions reminded me of my tenure in the NW racing Cyclocross. It was fun (even with my bike starting to make grinding noises in the mud). I was pleased with my ability to pick good lines in the muck and was able to stay on the bike for all the steep sections of the climbs. Our 4 person team was operating on 3 cylinders (one teammate couldn't make it) and we didn't do all that well, but good enough to get 3rd overall for the series in the 4 person open... not bad for a few geezers.

 

I believe you where on my buddies team, "Like Last Night". I heard from Shawn and Mike F. and wish I could of gone and watch the the mud fest. Good job to you and everyone else who raced!

Stan

 

Team Shift Happens was there yesterday racing in the 5 man open division. My 13th race out at Vail. Should that number have told me something?

Got to the course around 7 am. Was raining all the way there. Weather stopped long enough to set up the pop ups and get the heater going. Then a downpour came for about an hour leading up to the start of the race. I had signed up for going first but now was a little apprehensive with the weather. The race started at 9 am with about 250 riders in a mass start. I got majorly bogged down in traffic but managed a respectable 56 mintute lap coming in full of mud though on the bike and myself. Luckily the rain held off for about 5 hours and the course drained well. My team mates were able to hammer out some fast laps and keep us in the lead over the 2nd place team. For 2 consecutive laps we remained a mere 2 seconds ahead of them, then later pulling to a 20 second lead. Then it was my turn to go out again. I was determined to hammer out a fast one since my earlier lap had so much traffic and mud. Waiting at the start line I looked at the skys and watched a light rain begin to start. Just my luck. I got out on course and gave it everything I had. The rain wasn't too bad for the first half but it didn't take much to loosen up the already soaked course. Descending on some of the fast ridge lines in the mud was interesting. Some of the mud is what they call ego dirt and it sticks very well, while other spots you'd just slide. I kept a good pace and finished my lap in about 52:15 which I was pretty happy with. It was really pouring by the time I finished and our last two laps (lap 7 and 8 began. The course at this point was becoming basically unrideable with zero traction in the climbs or decents. They both managed to survive but I think they spent as much time off the bike as one the bike running at least 10 minutes longer than their previous laps. Our rider on our last lap actually just got off his bike and ran the whole damn climb getting to the top in a respectable 22 minutes. While we were out on our 8th lap the race director called the race due to unsafe conditions. So it became the 8 hours and 20 minutes of Temecula. Well pulled a respectable 8 laps and put 2nd place down by about 30 minutes. This gave us 1st place for the race but even better 1st place for the season so we went home the 5 Man Team Champions. Awesome time in the mud that will make a great story for years to come.

 

Yep, that was us. Good group of guys. I hope I didn't offend anybody with the geezer statement... but we are what we are! Well, Shawn is still young.

 

Congratulations Kimmi on your race. It was nice meeting you and Greg - my friend and I were set up right next to you guys.

We did not have enough riders to field a 4 man team this time around so we decided to do the 6 hour solo race - a first for me. The track conditions for the 4 laps that I finished were actually superb. The traction was great - my tires always stayed planted underneath me and I was able to clear all of the climbs except a small section of the Dam Climb on the first lap where it bottlenecked really bad. I was contemplating going out for a 5th lap, but it was starting to rain pretty steadily and the riders who were coming back in were saying that it was getting pretty ugly out there. My legs were going in out of cramps and my back was starting to hurt so it really was not that tough of a decision to call it a day. Plus, it would have been real close on the 6 hour cutoff and I couldn't even fathom coming in a few minutes late and not having the lap count.

Jason and his crew put on a great race and I look forward to their future events.

Congrats to all of the racers.

I cannot imagine doing a whole 12 hour race, let alone on a singlespeed!

 

Always nice to put a face to an STR member. Nice meeting you guys! This January is the perfect time for your first solo 12 hour.

 

I can't imagine doing one lap and clearing the last steep climb even in my granny gear. Singlespeed would be brutal. I got a long way to go before i'm ready to ride beside you all. Congrats on racing hard everyone.

 

Slick Mud

The race was fun, until about 2pm. Then, it was still fun, just kind of dangerous. Well, I thought so at least.

Lap 1 was cool. It was fun watching everyone in front of you slipping and sliding around in the slick mud. I remember trying to avoid as many mud puddles as I could.

Lap 2-4.5 were perfect. Most of the mud was off the course and the dirt was just tacky. These laps were fun railing the turns. Making it up all the climbs.

Halfway through lap 5 is when the course started to get muddy. It wasn't too bad. All ride-able, just slippery. It was now raining. I stopped to put on more clothes and told myself I wouldn't let the weather beat me.

Lap 6 was pretty bad. I started off with a rain jacket, but got too warm and had to take it off. I wasn't cold at all and the temps were pleasant. The rain itself wasn't bad, either. When it came time to descend, my glasses had gotten so fogged up, I could hardly see. I tried wiping them down, but it barely helped. I tried descending without them on, but get mud in my eyes. So, I descended at 1mph trying to stay on the trail. It got worse each descent. When I finished the lap I decided to call it. Not because of the rain, but because I felt like I was going to ride right off a cliff. I could hardly pedal because my chain had so much mud caked on it. I figured it best to stay safe and keep my bike safe for another day. I had no chance of moving up in the overall series and made sure to not fall back, so, mission accomplished.

January should be better. If it does rain, I will bring some fenders and some anti-fog solution for my glasses and be ready to go.

 

The popcorn was hot and buttered and the show was awesome!

 

I found some pics posted from one of the photographers that were out there:

http://pinkshortsphotography.smugmug.com/BikeRaces/November-2011-6-12-Hours-of

 

Lap #4 in 7 minutes

[youtube]9VqE8Ce1BMg[/youtube]

 

More pix are up.

https://vando.imagequix.com/proof.html?id=X9GSR9K&eventid=1042-3110-0031#index