Ride Report 12 Hours of Temecula Race Report

The Race God has shown his face upon me....

WOW where do I start?

This is my first ever solo event. Last two Temecula events I was on teams and racked 1.5 and 2 laps perspectively.:lol: My goal is 6 laps.......I had the luxury of pre-riding the course with Dubjay the week before and figured I'm good for 5 and aiming for 6.

Didn't pre-register because of the weather but Dubjay's determination to race rain or shine........and won't answer my call friday night inquiring about the weather made me make the drive down. When I got there I was greeted by Traci with a huge and she told me was raining just few minutes before....too late now. I setup up my tent and went to sleep. 6 am I woke up to the sounds of rain drops on my tent......CRAP!#-o Luckly it stopped shortly and I figure I'll go register either way.:-k

Got to registration early and was going to sign up for beginner solo class but a little birdie told me there are only 2 people in the Clydesdale class. For giggles I joined the Clydesdale class. I figure I don't have much of chance there anyways because last year that class was very competitive with rider such as 1x1clyde. And I'm about 200lbs.8-[ Of course the news broke out at the camp and I was told I better start eating now!:lol:

The course is so much fun! First time on the parade lap and felt like a celebrity!:lol:

Lap 1-3 felt great! Made all the climbs except for the second tight right hand switch back. The down hill is just way too much fun!

Lap 4 walked the marlin ridge climb to save some energy but still felt ok

Lap 5-6 I felt tired and the onset of cramps but kept going because I don't want to fall over and cry like a little girl.....I'm in Clydesdale class after all.:lol: Lap 6 also got a little windy and chilly.

Lap 7 Felt like I got one more in me, put on the lights and off I go. Of course having having the pit boss and everyone yelling "get your a$$ back on your bike, pot roast isn't ready for another 3 hours" helped too!:lol:

Lap 8 I felt pretty good after lap 7, wind died down and wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. Checked my standing and I was just behind the leader at 6 laps. Hummmm.......I figure I got 2 hours and might as well put in the 8th lap for good measure. On the home stretch I was SO excited that I'm about to finish 8 laps and all I can think of is pot roast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:beer:

Checked in my last lap and promptly wolf down 2 plates of pot roast in seconds!!! WOW BEST POT ROAST EVER!!!!!!:bang:

Checked my standing on the score board..........I was leading with 7 laps!!!!!:-s This is when I go.......wow I could win the Clydesdale class. People is going to protest when they see me picking up the 1st place medal.....put him on a scale....as some of my pit mate would cry!:lol: So I did not attend the award ceremony to cure any possible civil unrest and have doris accept the award on my behalf.:lol::lol::lol:

Doris...won the beginner women solo at tender age of 65!!!!:bang: She is a true champion!

Dubjay...you are too fast!

Pho'd Up...way to go cranking out 8 laps with a bad back

1x1Clyde...you are an animal with 10 lap and 245lbs....and also ever the fearless ring leader!

Traci...BEST pit boss/mom ever! And of course made the best pot roast ever too!:beer:

SARBoats...thanks again for wrenching for us. I still got 20+ sam addams that got your name on them......will have them for you thursday.:bang:

Many thanks to everyone that came out and made the event absolutely dynamite!!!! Weather cleared up and was perfect just in time! Company was great and it just doesn't get any better than this!:beer:

 

What do you guys think qualifies a beginner to be a beginner?? Not trying to bring the hype down or bring the hate on anything, cause all in all it was a GREAT weekend and an experience for all of us and something to always remember, but I was amazed a beginner solo was pretty much competing with similar laps as sport solo. On top of that me and another beginner solo rider ran into the guy that won beginner solo on his bike and it was a single speed. He said he ran that bike when were checking his bike out and congratulating him, and he also said he had about an hour to spare and was ready to do another lap if he needed :?:. Much props for him winning and being able to do that many laps, but just wondering what you guys think??

 

That was my partner in crime Graham. He only rode the SS at night, not the whole day. He won out of shear nervousness of the first race jitters. How do you think it makes me feel, I talked him into racing at the last second, he sleeps in my motorhome, and I have to hear about it all day at work "I got a medal, I got a medal".

His screen name is "turbo". I think everyone should PM him and call him a sandbagger.
Just be glad you didn't ride near him, he would have crashed into you.

 

Wasn't this his 1st race ever of any kind???? If it was, then he was in the right place...

He *may* decide to move up, since he did so well.....

 

Neil's secret to being fast......

......is in the fire ring. :bang:

 

That was my bike that drank all the beer. That's why it's so heavy

I don't have an axe to grind, since I didn't race in Beginner...but having all 3 podium spots out doing 10 laps is pretty phenomenal.

I raced last January in Temecula as a Beginner. It was my first race ever - a true racing newbie. I ended up doing 5 laps before calling it quits. To put it in perspective, I was passed by Tinker Juarez maybe 10 times.

I slowly progressed throughout the year. I did 6 laps in June and 7 in November.

So a year later, and a few races under my belt, I moved up to Sport, and Tinker only passed me 3-4 times.

The course was a bit shorter and faster than the courses last year, but damn, 10 laps is still a lot - especially for the Beginner class. That's 90 dirt miles! Bump those guys up!

 

couple photos from our team... girls took a 2nd in the new all women's category. they had a flat that cost them some time, so maybe they could have won. next time!
more of the rest of the event soon...

 

as someone that completed 10 laps (and had time to do an 11th, but no gas) i can honestly say that if you are doing that many laps you ARE NOT A BEGINNER. SPORT maybe.

btw... this is not a bash on those that have no idea where they stood going into the race. just saying that they should definitely bump up and give real beginners a shot at a win.

 

I kind of wondered the same thing. I am not new to MTBing or riding a bike for sure. But this was my first race of any kind and I had no idea what to expect. When I realized I was in 2nd at one point I thought if I take first I will talk to the race promoters and see if I was in the wrong class and let someone who is more rightfully a beginner have the metal. In the end I was 4th or lower so it was a non issue. While I would love to go for gold next time in the beginner class I think it is only fair I should compete in the Sport class next time.

It might be helpful if there were some type of recommended guidelines so we can class ourselves. Do others think that would help clear up some confusion?

 

One word...

escrow

(the first 3 or 4 days of it)

'nuf said :lol:

By the way, awesome pics as usual Shud!

 

A few pics to get started with...

Shannon heads out for a loop.



dubjay gets rolling.



towmater gets moving.



Willie and a friend swing by after lap 1.



SAR_boats wrenches throughout the day. Here working up Neil's first SS bike (I think).



Pho'dUp gets his game on.



steviebfromtheoc looks just too damned happy after rolling in from lap 1 (but a good indicator of how great the course was!).



Willie begins his second lap.



I followed Will out on his third lap. I can tell you it's definitely official now -- I had fresh legs and the kid dropped me like a boat anchor. Damn it -- I thought I'd have another year before that started happening. Willie lost a cleat screw from his shoe and could not clip in while we were on the climbs above Bridges. We stopped and I took out one of mine and got him rolling again, then I sat around up there shooting pics of passersby. Here's a few of those...

Doris rocks it up the climbs after Bridges. I got a lot of pics of Doris during the day, so this will be the first of many. Folks like her, Wendy Skean, Stan Ford and my nemesis in the 50+ Masters category, Pete Masiel, just blow my mind with their abilities.



Off to the east from the climbs above Bridges we could see some of what I think is Eric Carter's work on the hills. This was not part of the course, but they make for some nice pics of the place.





Unknown rider -- I just liked this pic.



Lifting a tire on the climb.



m210 (Troupe) lifts some tread and makes up some time on the climb.



I looked across to the west and saw this Hammer rider in the far distance (on Marlin ridge I think) and thought it made for a cool shot.



That's it for now. More later...

- shud

 

Hey My STR family

Results will be up by this evening! You'll be the first to know.
Mike ( Shudder ) I gotta tell you - your photos impress me every time I see em'. They are more like art! You have some serious talent my friend!
Anyways I will be posting a big thank you and ride report later this evening.
But in the mean time to all who came out and supported the first 12 Hour of 09' I salute you!
Jason:beer:

 

Awesome pictures Michael!

Do you happen to have some pictures of me? I'm plate #129.:wave:

thanks!

 

Great shots!
It's cool to see a different perspective of "a race course". While your in the heat of the moment racing, looking at the fawn and flora just off the trail is just not part of the plan.

The last shot should be the cover page on the 12hr web site. I'm just say'n.

The views are great out at Vail. I guess that's why I live just down the street.

 

excellent work shudder.
do you have a site where you'll post more?

 

Thanks for the good words, Jason. I really wanted to roll in the race, but the back was off on vacation somewheres, and I knew it just wasn't in the cards for me to ride (except behind Willie for a little while). I do much better at taking pics than racing anyways. #-o

As always, you are welcome to use any of these on your site or in your promo materials, etc. It was really cool when I saw my shot of the sunset over the creek bed on the MBA site before the November race!

Thanks! I'll look, Chen Yu. I have a whole long list of numbers to look for that folks PM'ed to me, so you are now added to it! If I find one I'll work it up, for sure. It's going to take me a while to work through all the pics, so I hope folks don't mind if this thread keeps popping up day after day with a trickle of pics from shudder each morning... 8-[

I just can't work them all up at once, so thanks for your patience (and continued interest in the thread, of course).

Flora and fauna are two of my big suits, mr.hobbs! So is sitting on the side of the trail shooting pics and slapping backs as they roll by. Glad you like the pics. There will be more soon. Jason has actually used some of my pics on his home page occasionally.

Tim -- I really need to redo my home site one of these days (you can see my site at mmcphoto.com; or my 2003 one-man fine art show at e.motion pictures).

I put my site together several years ago and did fairly well selling kids' sports pics for a few seasons, but I burned out on it after a while. I would really like to take some time (soon!) and redo it to show off my work again, but it is a lot of work. One of these days...

So for now, just look in here, or send me a PM for one you like and I'll send it along. Same goes for anyone.

 

steviebfromtheoc, we met several times out on the trail. I was in the red/yellow/white Hammer jersey riding a brown Niner hardtail. Plus out pits were pretty close as well. You guys were at the other end of the pool from me on the same side of the track. Nice to unofficially meet you!

 

I rode with you for a bit also. I think on the way up to Marlin. I was being heckled by Graham as we were riding if I remember correclty.

 

Were you in a blue and black jersey? Graham was a taller guy? If so yeah I remember.

 

Jordan AWESOME post. I know I'm late to the party here but your post was a great read. I really enjoyed it. Thanks to all the others for postn pics. STR is such a great site.