Race Report 2011 Vision Quest/Counting Coup reports

Specialized over Rocky Mountain? No bueno Good to see you FINISH!

 

Yeah, what fun. Thanks to the Warriors Society for putting on a super fun event.

Was my first VQ and did it on a rigid SS, wasnt feeling too good but thanks to my buddy passing me 1600mg of Ibprofin I was able to finish. Hopefully pretty decently too.

Think I died twice on the hike a bike up WHT trail, what a bitch!

So if this is a different course are there going to be all new course records?

Thanks again Warriors Society and everyone who volunteered their time and all the racers for an awesome day!

 

WHAT a day.... Broke 4 spokes picking up a rock on Motorway and and smashed into a boulder, broke my Crank Brothers 4ti's sooo couldn't clip in on the right side too well half way thru and I thought my hub was broken as it was fixed the whole rest of the way so I could not coast, so took the chain off for UHJ and LHJ; Well, LHJ has some Ups so that didn't work to well. Soooo, that slowed me down quite a bit. Turned out that a spoke was freezing the cassette I think.... Crashed twice, sat in the jacuzzi for an hour, good to go...

Perfect weather, great ride !! Ohhh, ya inhaled a bug in the nose and mouth; Then sucked one in, spit it out and it flew off ! had a good laff there !

Good seeing you Gene and Thanks to you and all of the Warrior society for another awesome day !!

I think Tinker is 50 right !? Man, is that ever inspiring ! I think he was averaging just over 10mph....

 

Wish I could have ridden this year, but it was fun to hang at Motorway and the finish area. This is such a well-run event, and there are so many great smiles and stories at the end of the day, that it's well worth it to come out in support of the riders. Congratulations to everyone, riders and Warriors alike, on another epic day.

 

OK, first off; I've never done VQ/CC but have watched the finish a number of times.
From the new finish description, I thought they would follow the creek bank or go thru the equestrian center. Was a bit surprised to see the wrong way along the road. I've got mixed thougts on the change.
So, I went to the end to watch a couple of friends finish after my 4H business earlier in the day. I've had a nasty sore throat for about two weeks. So my plan was to ride up Trabuco Creek until my friend Eric (doing the VQ for the first time after 7 or 8 CC's) came down. I started up at about his optimistic finish time and thought I'd see him before getting to Holy Jim TH.
Well, I kept going and saw a few CC'ers I knew, but no Eric. I got to the TH and checked in with Tony volunteering for the WS. Eric just made the last cutoff and was in the last 20 or so by his report.
I decided to ride up towards the WHTG/Trabuco split - territory I've never been on. I got to the road end and passed a few Questers and offered encouragement. One said he thought he was in the last 5. I told him I was looking for a friend who then must be bottom 4.
I yielded to every rider coming down, one mentioned he would have yielded to me coming up. I told him he was in the race and I wasn't, he answere touche. I hope he felt good finishing.
A mile or two later of crappy chunky singletrack, (I really suck on that) I finally found Eric. He was proud to acclaim that he was last and was accopmpanied by three sweeps. I encouraged him to keep going and then promptly dropped my chain descending.
So, I rode up about 7.5 miles solo to look for Eric and down 7.5 miles solo after I found him.
I caught up with Eric after he finished - but he did finish te VQ! and he was given a lot of swag for finishing last - people might sandbag more in the future if they know this.
Thanks to the WS for putting on this event - hopefully next year I'll make it in the CC.
Please keep allowing transfers as I heard discusion of that being ended going forward.

 

It was an awesome day. Was fun taking the wrong turn at the bottom of Wholly Jim. Tacked an extra 12 miles, 1500ft and 75 minutes on my day, found out that road is called 'The Wall'. Got a lot of apologetic responses for that checkpoint not being monitored but it was all good and fun. Awesome getting a burger at the top of the hike a bike with everything on it, and everyone knowing me already. Should have preridden the course, or at least known the names of the trails. Would have been in at about 6hrs 10 minutes but ended up close to 7 hrs 30 minutes. Definitely want to do it again.

Thank you all the cheering fans, volunteers and everyone involved.

On top of that I got back to the car and realized I locked the keys in the car. Thanks AAA for the rescue.

 

My thoughts exactly. All that to avoid the bridge?? Hope the WS can find a better way next year.

Great event, though. Weather couldn't have been better, and the trails were in great condition (thanks to WS and the rains).

 

Long time listener, first time caller. Awesome event - thanks to all WS members and the people who came out and cheered/supported. I had a goal of finishing the CC in ~5hrs and I think I came in at 5:15 so I'm stoked. Tinker passed me right before the creek crossing at the end - I was stunned.

I'm happy w/ my race except for how I became a bit sloppy on UHJ on a switchback in which I went into a low-speed OTB and my bike followed on top of me. Lying prone facing downhill I go through the 1-second pain diagnostic and realize I'm all good but then it hits me: my calf feels like it's on fire. Turns out it was actually burning! My rear rotor was flush against my calf and after all the descending it had some venom in it. I now have a burn/blister the shape of my rotor. My CC tattoo!

 

Front tire blowout on Motorway never ends well.

 

Thanks Warrior's Society...

... for putting a great event again.

Got my 4th CC feather yesterday, but this is the sweetest one since yesterday was my first time on a single speed. I was hoping sometime around 6 hours to finish, but I finished well under the goal (about 5:43 - waiting for the official results).

All the changes (March -> April, finish line, etc.) were good to me. The weather was ideal, I thought.

There is something special about this event, and that's why I keep coming back.

Again, thanks Warrior's Society, and see you all next year.

 

I got that same feeling 6th CC feather...first on SS...and I had doubts right up till the start, but had an awesome day...Congrats to Us!
And way to seriously fly man!

 

Congrats to everyone out there yesterday! :clap:What a day. Thanks to the WS and all of the volunteers for making this event possible. I promised a more detailed report, so here it goes.
VQ #2 on my SS started out pretty good, I even got to meet a few STR guys at the starting line!:wave: A bit humid going up B*, and I knew things would be a bit slower because of all the rain damage, but managed to pass the Golf Ball in 1:10. I have 2 favorite parts about every Pow Wow.... The finish line, of course, and the breath-taking views of the sunrise while riding along the Pain Divide. So, tho I didn't get to make it to the finish line, the sunrise was spectacular this year! Felt stronger than last year coming up MS, and I bagged the peak in under 5 hrs, (the flies always seem to make me go faster up the final stretch). I felt really strong coming down UHJ, even passed a few guys, until something caught me, I think my front tire got stuck in a rut. And, because I was going faster than usual, I got rocket-launched off my bike, onto (what I'm pretty sure was) a cut branch sticking out from the ground. I didn't feel like I got cut at all, I just laid there thinking," Wow, this is gonna be a gnarly-rad bruise. Ok, Kimmi, get back up and check your arm." Got up and looked and saw a ton of blood oozing out of what looked like a 2" laceration w/ a bunch of soft tissue coming out of it. Gross, right? #-oI kept my wits about me and instantly put pressure on it w/ my left hand and thought,"This isn't good. I wonder if I can finish if I get this wrapped up. What do I have in my pack to wrap this, cuz I've got a long way down". I gave my husband my arm-warmers at the bottom of Motorway, and I didn't have any tape or anything in my pack. Fortunately, a very nice woman came up and offered help. Her husband (I think) had stuff to bandage it up with, and I owe MANY THANKS to them. :clap:They sacrificed a few minutes of their finishing times bandaging me up & making sure I could walk ok. The walk down UHJ was excruciating, as I realized there was no way I could ride the rest of the course and finish.](*,) I was able to get on the bike and ride (slowly) down most parts of LHJ, couldn't handle some of the chunkier sections. Kona Dupee caught up with me, and I told him to tell my husband why I was so late (he was waiting for me at the bottom of LHJ). Thanks so much, Dan!! You did awesome yesterday!!:bang: I rolled into the Aid Station, and I have to say, everyone there was so sweet. EMT Robert (SQRRRL) hung out with me for a long time, and gave me a home-made Solly Bar from his secret stash that was amaaaaazing! MANY THANKS to him for his patience and kindness.:clap::clap: These volunteers out on the trail are our unsung heros. They take a beautiful Saturday, and spend their time hangin out, cheering us on, telling us where to go, cleaning up the trails, and caring for us if we're hurt. I appreciate you all!! 5 hours later, ER docs had my arm all cleaned out, ready to stitch up. He glared at me when I asked him,"So, when can I get back on the bike". Greg took lots of pix for you all, but I'm not gonna post the gory ones here, (that's what "Rider Down" is for). This morning I feel like I got hit by a freight train, but I feel very blessed. Stitches heal much faster than broken bones. And now I have a rivalry with UHJ that will be more fuel for the fire next year.:bang:

Here's an "after shot"

 

Get better soon glad it wasn't worse, way to stay calm. We worked the STT trail work together (remember the machete'), I remeber you said VQ on SS, I was rooting for yah.

Had my wife read your RR...she just looked at me with that twinkle in her eye and said "Chicks are tough!" ...yup!

 

Great Event and Memories

Yesterday was my first Pow Wow and VQ. Thank you Warriors for such a great event. There was a true sense of community amongst the riders and volunteers. I finished in 8:45 and had a great time out there. For me, one of the great highlights of the day was watching the sunrise. Climbing up Blackstar we passed through the clouds and we were riding above them on Main Divide. Both the coastal and inland sides were completely covered in clouds below while we were above it all and could see a spectacular sunrise.

I felt pretty good all day long. In hindsight, I probably went a bit too hard early on which kept my pace a bit slower up to the peak. 1:00 to the top gate at Blackstar and 2:30 to the bottom on MW were both personal bests for me. I passed about a dozen people going down MW which always feels good. The creek crossings were awesome for cooling off, I wish there were a few on WHT because it felt like H-A-Bing inside an oven. One foot in front of the other and looking forward to possibly the most well deserved burger I had earned in a long time. I enjoyed a nice quite pedal out to the top on Trabuco all by myself and had Trabuco to WHT all to myself pretty much the entire way. From there on out I did not care how wet wet or muddy I got, I was just looking forward the finish. I did a bit of soil testing on lower Trabuco when my front tire washed out in some mud and lost the edge of the trail. Somehow, I managed bend few links in my chain and got to enjoy the pedal out the wash with my gears skipping once every chain revolution. It brought a whole new meaning to timing your cadence. I had fun charging across the creek at the end while others were walking their way through. Then on to the street crossing with hardly any delay and into the finish line.

THANKS AGAIN WARRIORS:clap::clap::clap:

 

I walked across that brigde a few time early in the morning while helping to mark/tape/set up that creek crossing.....was nearly clipped a few times...and that was early when there was very little traffic.....that bridge is way too narrow for us to use as a crossing.

We had plans for a better entry/crossing into the park....but the rains removed the area we had planned to put our trail......and the park felt it was no longer safe/stable to use.

VQ/CC is all about adapting......you never know what kind of conditions you are gonna have to face and deal with......this year it was one last creek crossing and short HAB.

Finishing in the park was a success.....we need to work on a few tweeks from our standpoint, but everyone seemed to like having a safe and comfortable place to watch and wait for friends and loved ones to come across the finish line.

Thanks to all that came out played today.

 

Congrats to the proud Papa Jeff. I am happy to hear your son finished and had such a great experience. What a cool way for him to finish. Congrats.

 

Jeff,
I walked up most of WHT with your son. You have an exceptional young man there in Kevin. He reached down deep enough to help a woman who was feeling defeated and said some very encouraging words to her that helped her to keep pushing. So from one father to another, WELL DONE with Kevin
Mark

 

Congratualions to all the finishers and participants. Also to the WS for 16 Vision Quests over the years. Very cool.

DW

 

My boyfriend Mike and I were your first aid. Hope you feel better!
Laura

 

What a spectacular day! The weather was perfect.......early morning on the Main Divide was amazing with the pink sky and above the clouds....made me almost forget the pain....other thing I recall is going down UHJ and seeing a hawk flying parallel to me but below me as I rolled along a straight section....truly memorable......the flies were annoying but good motivation to move along......broke my shoe buckle on LHJ so had trouble keeping shoe on, thankfully all the climbing was more or less done......some guy had stopped due to a fly in his eye, so I stopped to look at his eye, he kept going.....Some guy in an ireland jersey came flying by trying to make that last VQ cutoff I hope you made it guy.......the creek crossings were crazy but felt good, was afraid they'd take my shoe off though!....the final wash crossing was crazy.....I think i stopped and said OH MY and some lady said "that seems to be a common sentiment"....loved the finish in o neill.....kudos to all you super fast guys and girls who were done with VQ before I even finished my CC, simply amazing athletes, you are very inspirational!...and thanks again to Warriors society for another great event.....even Rut who smashed my hard boiled eggs