2009 VQ/CC (vision quest/counting coupe) - Ride Reports - pics

that's a great shot of sanjay. it looks like he was on his commute to work and took a wrong turn onto the race course. :lol:

 

Mad photo skillz :bang:

Thanks for sharing.

 

Great job out there everyone. All the STR riders looked strong when they went past.

Pics are up at: http://www.ericfoltz.photoreflect.com

Here's a couple of familiar faces.



Beth looked a little surprised to see me.



Hope everyone made it through the course safely.

More pics at: http://www.ericfoltz.photoreflect.com

Should have everyone that made the MS cutoff.

 

Gene, Tim, Carl, did you guys finish ok?

We were a little worried about you guys at the finish.

 

WOW! Those are awesome pictures! You got skillz Mr. HighRevPhoto!:clap:

 

Awesome pics!

 

You forgot to mention that you have only been riding two years and you finished the Vision Quest on a Single Speed!!:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
It was good to meet you.

 

:clap: WOW!!! Great job people! and some really nice pics.
And as for HighRevPhoto, buy a good camera that takes a decent picture! 8-[

J/K the photos are some of the most impressive I have seen posted, truly fantastic work! thank you! :clap:

 

This is my first CC

Never thought I was crazy enough to try it but some how got sucked into it.#-o

Due to the rain training wasn't all that so I figure I'll just pace myself and take it easy. But it was so damn cold and all the riders giving their 100% was inspirational. Then of course Neil at top of BlackStar cheering everyone on with megaphone and a tazer sure got the blood flowing.....don't tazer me bro! :lol:

The first section went by surprisingly quick. I was at beeks little over 1:10 with Dubjay. Got to top of motorway just after 8am and still feeling pretty good. At aidstation 1 I grabbed a hand full of food and off I go. Started to bonk a little on the pavement.....really hungry even after 1 banana, 1 Hammer bar, 1 Hammer Gel. So I break out my bean burrito from Taco Bell and eat a couple of bites at a time. 3/4 of way up MS my legs almost cramped but work through it and got to 4corners at 10:06am. I thought to myself....wow I have a slight chance to make VQ cut off.

Off I go and the road to peak seemed endless. Got to upper holy jim and my lack of DH skills really showed. Had to walk a few sections. Lower Holy Jim was fairly event less and even passed a few people.

Got to Aidstation #2 at 12:18pm so missed the VQ cut off by 18 minutes.#-o But that mean no VQ next year!:beer:

Heading down trabuco creek road and got a flat 2 miles from the finish line!#-o Changed out the tube and missed the nail so second flat and 2 CO2s!#-o

Thankfully someone drove by and offered me a tube so I pumped it back up and off to the finish.

I think my official time is 7:38ish? So my goal of get under 7 hours is dashed but still very happy that I finished. It's off the list now!:beer:

 

awesome day. i had one of those days where everything clicked and the legs felt fantastic. came in with a 7:45 for the VQ... 53 minutes faster then last year.
stoked.

all the troupe came in with times faster then last year, too!

 

Defiantly or Definitely? Or both? :lol:

 

Hey Craiger,

We all finished. I'll post more up later need to sit in a hot tube and eat something with Bacon in it. But basically bad leg cramps and even worse bad stomach cramps after aid station #2. Got swept up by the VQ sweep but managed to finish 2nd to last. Just a few minutes in front of Doug (Pacman aka Abui) b/c he had a flat. :beer:

 

My first CC started out great, getting to beeks in just over an hour and to the first cutoff in 2:30. From there I fell off, feeling the fatigue in my legs and some twinges starting to come on. Maple springs kicked my butt. I was just pushing the easiest gear on my 1x8 all the way to the 2nd cutoff. Instead of averaging 6mph when riding fresh, I was at a measley 3.5 which killed my hopes of breaking 6 hrs. Everyone passed me on the way up to 4 corners, including CalEpic. Sierra peak was tougher, but I was comforted by the fact that I could see my goal in the distance. I walked several sections when I slowed to walking pace through the loose shale. By the time I reached the peak, I was at hour 5:30. Relieved that it was all downhill from here, I booked it down to finish at 6:42. The pickle juice and margarita shot bloks helped prevent full on cramping the whole way!
I would have made the VQ cutoff, but I'm still not up to trying it. I definitely undertrained for the distance.

Thanks to all the cheering fans and support personnel at the aid stations, Gene for the encouragement, and Sanjay, the mobile aid station, for the food offer when he saw me walking.
When I saw him armoring up at the peak, you know he was getting his DH on!

 

Great day today. Thanks Warriors and volunteers. Thanks Alpine Rob for the support today! :beer:

Overall had a great day. Saw the Salvation Army guy ringing his bell at Beeks. Glad he didn't know me well enough to try and taze me for not leaving any change.:lol:

Mario is a freak riding a BMX bike, I thought he was kidding about riding one until I saw him pass me in the dark with what looked like lighted reflectors on the spokes.

 

Made all the cut-offs , no cramps or close calls .. 1st CC is in the record books !! met some new faces and enjoying seeing everyone ....That was tougher than I thought

 

You can see a picture of the BMX bike in Eric's Photo Gallery. It's picture #48 (of 356!!)

 

Congrats to all of you CC and VQ folks!

 

Felt terrible from the get go. I was tired and cramping before Beek's. Fought it off with mustard. Got to the MW and rode with Craig. Got to Aid station 1 and refueled. Still cramping I almost turned around on the pavement. Finally on Maple Springs, Eric aka OTB_again gave me some pickle juice which worked so I dropped into a bigger gear and then the right knee this time gave in. I felt a sharp pain in my Rt ITB. Tried some Advil but didn't take the pain away. I thought about quitting at 4 corners, but rode on. Thanks for the pain killers Craig. Got to the saddle and saw Andy of CB stopped. He had a rock in his FD, so I helped him get it out. Got to the peak in time to give me chance to make the cutoff and ran into Doug aka Abui.

Headed down Upper and then Lower HJ and my knee was on fire. Heard a rattling noise and looked down and a branch snagged my bar and threw me, got up and rode on then realized I lost my Garmin. I dumped the bike and walked up about 60 yards, but no luck, got back to my bike and saw what was rattling. Turned out my bottle cage snapped, later losing my water bottle. Wasted about 15 min looking for my Garmin. Finally headed down again and got around one of the switchbacks and saw Trizz in the brush, pulled him out and made sure he was ok. Told him I had to go so I can make the cutoff. Made the cutoff, but didn't really want to continue, but I did.

At every check point I wanted to quit, but went on. Finally Trabuco I ran into Tim. I rode with Tim up Trabuco until I told him to move on as I thinking of turning around. Well I didn't. Got up WHT and saw Carl on WHT sitting there with stomach problems. We went up together and also Dave aka Kish Me, Collette aka IMPY, Vickie, kparsons, Larry, Abui and 2 others. We were the last riders. I stayed with Vickie all the way to Trabuco and descended with her just in case she had a mechanical.

Finishing as late as I did was worth it because I saw others who were on the bubble come through. They did well and I came in with 3 VQ 1st timers. Timmy, Dave and Collette not far behind. First seeing Vickie and then Collette break into tears as they came in made all worth while for me. This is indeed a great accomplishment. I saw so many helping others and encouraging others along the way. STR was everywhere! Too many to mention. It's just great to be a part of that.

Thanks C. We did finish, but I'm hurting for sho. Time to ice the knees...,again. #-o

 

Congratulations to everyone that rode both the VQ and the CC today. I did the VQ last year and decided to not sign up this year and after seeing all of these pics and reading your stories I'm so bummed I didn't do it this time. I think I'm inspired enough to deal with hours of cramps again.

I'll see all of you next year.

 

Today was my first CC, my time were right on as far as beeks and motorway. but when I got to 4 corners it was 4:10, 3 weeks ago it was 4:44 so I picked up 30 mintues. Got to the peak at 5:10 and finished around 6:25 or so.

To see Neil at the top of beeks was very motivational.

and to see Nan at the finish was awesome, I havent seen her in almost a year. WOW.

I'm so wiped, got home went into the hottub and fell asleep and just woke up at 8pm. and I could go back for some more.

Great job to all the riders out there ,

GENE thank you very much for pulling me off the bush on that switchback. I hope you made your cut off.

I saw Gene 3 times and each time he was helping someone including myself. He lost his Garmin on Holy Jim. I hope he finds it,

thats it for now, if anyone knows when the results will be posted im interested in that.