Bret, Dell, and I hung out at the first aid station this morning to check out the vq/cc race. It was pretty awesome watching everyone riding so hard through the cold and mud. Just some of the pics . . . Kipp & Steve Steve & Kipp Matt Warriors Society dude taking a swig Vision Quest/CC Album
My final time for the Counting Coup was 6:26, and I'm stoked with that time. I not sure what place that was, but it was only 16 minutes behind the 10th place guy.:bang:
Well, I finished the CC in 9Hrs 20min, about 2hours over my goal, but oh well, I really just wanted to finish. Almost turned around about 4 times!
I made the VQ cutoff by about 10 or 15 minutes (and that was with the 5:00 a.m. early start!) and finished in 9:33. It was a lot tougher than the CC I did last year due to the steep additional climbing on Trabuco Trail and hike-a-bike (aka death march) up West Horsethief. There were dudes cooking burgers at the top of Horsethief though, so I went for a quick one. I didn't see George and Co. at Aid Sta 1, but I did see Armando showing STR support at the finish line. I saw Kam after the race, and he said he had a lot of flats and mechanical trouble. I got lucky- no flats. My friend Mario (Warrior Society Race team) was in 4th place 3 miles from the finish. He hit that nasty rebar in one of the water crossings on Trabuco Creek Rd and went down. His front tire went flat and the rim bent. So he finished the last 3 miles on a flat with bent rim. Ended up 7th. By the time I got to that crossing, they had cones and people there to make sure nobody else did that.
I'm glad I got my butt out of bed this morning to come support you guys. I snapped a few pix and will post them on Monday. I cannot believe how COLD it was there at the base of the Motorway. HATS OFF to everyone who entered this event. We saw a bit of everything this morning including some dudes coming down with tubes over their shoulders, one guy had a tire over his shoulder. We saw a few tandom bikes, some guys on Cyclocross bikes, rigid 29er's, fixed gear singlespeeds, many people coming out of the Motorway with flats and even this one dude came down without a chain and rear deraileur and then continued to hike a bike beyond the checkpoint, not sure if he hiked all way up or not though. When we first arrived we caught up with Serge (Big Guy) and hung out with him most of the time. Dale then arrived and hung with us. We even got to help Serge out with recording riders numbers as they passed the checkpoint. We anxiously awaited our STR bretherens arrivals and the first to arrive was OCRIDER, followed a few minutes later by KIPP, then DUKETHENUKE, we then saw ARLOBURNS as well. It was cool seeing you guys out there and as weird as it may sound, I found it really cool being out there supporting you guys, I felt like we kinda belonged to the event or something....sorry to get all emo on ya. Anyhow, stay tuned for pix and again, congrats to all!!!
Good job Congrats to all you guys, sounds like a great life experience/ challange. I will definitely try to do it next year. Was it harder than you thought or very doable? Its nice to be back in so cal and I am looking forward into doing some single track again.
Congrats to all STR members that did the VQ/CC!! :clap: My GF and I were at the finish line seeing everyone come in, everyone looked very happy to be able to complete the race and receive their feather. \\/ we'll see you guys out on the trail!!
Thanks guys for comming out supporting us!! George, thanks for filling the camelback. And nice to meet you Armando at the finish, sorry I didnt know who you were at first. Twas a good ride and everything almost went smoothly. I had 1 flat comming down the back side of Saddleback where about 10 guys passed me](*,). Other than I felt pretty good thoughout the ride. I finished about 15-20min behind dukethenuke, my pedal time was 5:51. Good job to everyone! and thanks for all the STR comming out. Can't wait to see the official standings now.
Finished the CC in 7hrs9min. The morning was great, I loved riding as the sun came up. I had a flat on the pavement of Maple Springs, but other than that my bike worked well in the mud. I hit the wall on the way to Four Corners but ate some more and was able to continue. Thanks to Mytrustysteed for clueing me in and making sure we did training rides.
Finished the VQ in 10:12. Bonked pretty hard just before 4 Corners and again just below Santiago Peak. While doing a little walking before the Peak, somehow got a flat tire. ONly 25 minutes to come down Lower Holy Jim. Made the last cutoff by about 35 minutes. Once I made that cutoff I was in no big rush to get to W. Horsethief. As a Warrior member I stopped and chatted with a lot of the other members along the ride. Definately seemed to help. Was not as cold in the morning at Blackstar than I thought it would be. Got out in the front right off the start at the 5am start. Was the 5th person through the large mudhole. However that was after I took out my friend when he and tangled and I put my left pedal through his front wheel......pop, pop, pop. pop, pop. Took out 5 spokes 1 mile into Blackstar. All was good, he was able to get home and get a new wheel and still make it back for the the 6am start. The mud on Blackstar sucked. Felt like the whole time we were climbing that I only had about 10 psi in my tires. All I have learned, this was my second attempt at the VQ.....is that the VQ makes the CC seem like a walk in the park. That additional 11 mile loop we had to do is mind-numbing. West Horsethief just goes on forever it felt like. All in all, fun time was had. Never did see my "Vision" that I was suppost to see. Maybe next year I will do the CC with the wife. If not, I am going to be a volunteeer.\\/\\/ Congrates to all the started and finished and to those that went out and gave a go at it. These are not an east ride. You all earned your feathers at the end.:beer::beer::beer: mtnbikej
Unfortunately the tandem doing the VQ did not finish. At some point they broke the bike. The tandem for the CC fishised, but I do not know the time. mtnbikej
Not sure which, but I saw the guys on the tandem at 4 corners with what I think was their 4th flat. Great job making it that far! I'll be curious to see the final results
That was the most most fun I've ever had in my life! I got a flat on main divide and one on the Motorway that plus the mud nocked me back over an hour behind scheduale so I was very happy I did the early start. I descended faster than I ever had down Lower Holy Jim, I cleaned almost every switchback but not too fast because if pinch flated one more time, there was a good chance I could have missed the cut off. Man I agree with mtnbikej about how much harder vq is than cc. That lat loop up Horse Theif was way harder than I was expecting. Good job to everyone who did the event and thanks abunch to everyone who worked it. That was a great adventure that I can't wait till next year for. Matt
o ya and thanks alot for the the sctr guys for coming out and supporting me. George that beef jerky was very good. thnx
Haha, yeah. Watching it all just motivated me to want to do it next year. Bret and Dell said the same thing too.
You guys should all enter the race next year, it really is a great experience. Steve and I were thinking at the end, we shoulda done the Vision Quest as we both made the cut-off times with the 6:00 start. But we were glad to be done when we were. The Warriors Society website posted a couple new races comming up. One is a 24 hour race in June. Perhaps getting a STR team together?????
Congratulations For everyone that entered - You have my admiration. That had to be a true test of stamina. Especially with the mud. I was remembering the mud we had a few weeks ago near Trabuco but we only did around 18-19 miles that day. Like everyone else has said, I'm in for next year. C
