Just want to let you know that you all that rode the VQ/CC today rock! Just maybe one of these years I will at least attempt the CC. Cheers to you all.:beer::bang::clap:
Congratulations to all who rode the VQ/CC whether you finished or not. It takes a lot fortitude just to enter and pedal off onto either one of these adventures. Many personal goals were met or bested today and to that I raise a glass to those.:beer: And to those that fell short of their goals, do not be too hard on yourself, just set your sights for next year and keep on training!:bang: I have tons of photos but will only post a few tonight since .... After a full day of shooting finish line portraits and then shooting the O'Neill festivities, then margaritas at rose Canyon Cantina and then a Rock Band party back at my house...I'm spent. The goal of many today. Chris Vargas, exec director. Overview of the finish line. Shinken showing his coup feather. Danielle Pho'ed Up and Shinken Vickie proudly showing her coup feather. Vickie again. The girls with their feathers. Sherry from Switchback, event director. Gene with war paint on. Allison, with Justin behind. Allison and Mechmann. Rachel aka Wrecker. Dan and Stephenie aka sdyeti Stay tuned tomorrow for more photos...
Started out really strong. Made it to the Beek's in about 50 min and saw Brian, Hugh and Sarah(in a mask). Good seeing you guys and gal so early to support. Knees felt great at this point, saw Troy(Thinkfast) and Jason(Rushak) along the way and made it to the top of Silverado Trail, said hello to OMR and started my descent and was at Maple Springs by 7:40. Got refilled by Andy, Heather, Drew and others and was on my way. Like Steph, Maple Springs was my undoing. My knees really started to feel it on the Pavement so I had to really dial it down big time. Got passed by many and played leap frog with Dan until I could no longer maintain the pace. Rested at 4 Corners a bit and took another Advil. I manage to make up time and was at the Peak by 10:15. Made good time on both Upper and Lower HJ, but took a spill trying to avoid some hikers. Made it to the 2nd aid station by 10:50. Got refilled once again and started my way to WHT. I was not looking forward to this as my rt knee hurt when I walk or climb. It's fine on the descents or just level pedaling. Saw Mario and Pua on my way up and got to the cutoff at 11:30. Stopped and rested the legs and Matt(ocrider) came up and we headed up. My knee was really hurting on this HAB. It took me forever to get up there as I made several stops. Thanks to the guy who gave me some Motrin. When I finally got to the top, I rested and had a cheeseburger and soda. That hit the spot! Suzanne(WS member) came up and we road to Trabuco together. Trabuco was fun and when we rode past the 2nd aid station, I got a flat #-o. I told Suzanne to go on ahead. I broke my 1 of my tire levers, but managed to get the tire off. When I finally got the tire on and tried to fill the tire, my c02 cartridge wouldn't work ](*,) so I had to walk back to the aid station to used a pump. As I got ready to roll, I saw Justin, Allison and Steph ride by. Don't know my exact time but it was well over what I wanted to do. Still, the experience was great. I had fun training and riding with many and it was nice to hear they all did well even the ones that didn't get a feather. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped out and congrats to all who participated. :bang: The thing I will remember are the string of lights coming up Black Star, the spectacular views on the Pain Divide and the tears and laughters afterwards.
Sorry I missed you Sam. Guess I had my nose into the back of my camera too much today. Would have loved to trade good beers with you. The Warriors Society always makes a point to schedule a clean-up ride or a sweep by motos to try and police the trash left over by accident or litterbugs.
Well today was my first ever attempt at VQ (or any endurance race). I say attempt as I didn't make the cutoff (so close!) but the ride was a success for me regardless...with a recent ankle injury I was just grateful to be out there! Every climb seemed 4x longer today than in the pre-ride, and I know I was working harder and going slower, it wasn't my day. Blackstar was wierd - my HR was super high but I was in a low gear - unfortunately by the time I got to Beeks I kind of knew I was in trouble time-wise. So I pushed it on MD, but my legs were not giving what I was asking of them. Soon I learned about cramps I never cramp, but oh boy today was the day. I had a nasty brief quad cramp coming down silverado, but didn't think too much about it. Then after aid #1 it started. My hamstrings were twitching and trying to seize up. It was crazy. Luckily I had soem endurolytes and I was able to climb still. I made it to the peak but knew I'd have a very hard time making the cutoff. On the way down on UHJ I ran into my friend ryan who had just had a crash/cramp spasm and so we rode down much of HJ together to the aid station. They didn't turn us back at aid #2 but we had about 30 min to make it. Paul who was sweeping thought we might make it so I tried my best and did get up to the base of west horsetheif but they were taking off plates at that point. We were less than a mile away when the cutoff hit. We knew they were turning people back but I just had to get there myself regardless. I was actually relieved at this point because I don't really think I could have walked WHT anyway, either from the cramps or from my ankle, which was throbbing by then. HUGE props to all you finishers out there! :clap: This is one brutal race, whether its the VQ or the CC. Thanks to everyone who volunteered and helped. Hugh thanks for the uncrustable. Andy, thanks for being you.:beer: Next year? Um, not sure about that one, ask me later.
This was my first VQ and endurance race and I had a blast despite my mishaps. The early morning started out great despite still feeling ill from the flu the day before. Had a good pace going on BS and made it to Beeks under 55 minutes. I ran into Troy (Training Buddy aka Thinkfast) not too far from Beeks and he was looking good. Saw Gene on MD just past Beeks and introduced myself. After all, he is an internet celebrity and is hard NOT to recognize. He encourage me to go for it and I did, but 30 minutes later I decided to go for it and crash into a big rut on one of those downhill sections on MD before Eagle. I was probably going 25 or 30 when I did a superman into the dirt. Probably my hardest crash to date. I got up quickly and immediately felt nausea. Alot people stopped to ask if I was ok, but I didn't have an answer cause I wasn't too sure. My arm was scraped up really bad among my side. Then I started to feel a sharp pain in my clavicle and I thought I may have broken something, but I knew I didn't because I think I would have been in alot more pain. Troy came by to help gather my thoughts and clean my wounds. Matt (Hermit) stopped by a couple minutes later to check on me. So after sitting there fro 10 mins, I decided to get back on the bike and let's do this. Got to Motorway and boy did that hurt. I felt every little rock I had to go over in that sharp pain just below my clavicle. It really killed my time. I had to dance around everything and take things really slow. I get to aid station 1 and mucho props to all the workers. They helped my wash my wounds again. Saw Matt and chatted for a minute and he was off to the races up MS. I soon followed, but kept my pace moderate. It was nice to climb MS again. I actually enjoyed that climb today. Once I got to 4 corners, I saw Troy again with his candid camera out. It was pretty funny. Did I mention how much he kicked ass today? So onto the peak and I started to slow down a little, but was still middle ringing it. I was so glad to finally get to the peak, I took a little breather and ate my PB&J sandwich. It tasted soooo good. Tiptoed over to UHJ and asked the kind gentlemen if anyone had Tylenol. At this point, my chest/clavicle was killing me and I had very limited range of motion on my left shoulder. One kind sir had some Ibuprofen which I gladly downed 2 of those magic pills. UHJ was tough for me cause of all the obstacles. The pain just got worse with each obstacle. I had to walk alot of it or I would have been crying in pain. I was bummed too, cause I love doing that trail and was hoping I could clean everything again. I've only done that once. Once I get to LHJ, those magic pills start to kick in and the pain is now hardly noticeable. I started to feel like my old self and I try to make up some ground. Get to Aid Station 2 and I grab some Cytomax and eat a small bananna and start the climb up Trabuco. That climb sucked, but I knew I was going to be fine with the cutoff. I think I got to WHT just past 11:30am. I started the hike and felt really good still. Legs were doing fine so I'm sure I made up some time on that hike. It was such a relief to get to the top of WHT and the staff there really took care of me. I got my wounds cleaned again and told them what happened. I was offered a burger, but I declined. I wanted to keep going. I was surprised to see Doug House (another training buddy) at the top. He was surprised to see me. He had no idea I went down and thought I was ahead of him. I got my wounds cleaned again and told them what happened. I was then off to Trabuco and it was beautiful site to see Trabuco. I bombed down it at a fast but cautious state. Last thing I wanted was to take another spill and injur myself any further. I believe I ended up crossing the finish around 7:48 or so. I didn't meet my goal of sub 7:30, but I'm sure I can beat it next year. I lost quite a bit of time on the DH's and I took more breaks than I really needed. Thank you Warriors for a great event! I had a blast and am looking forward to next year. BTW - My buddy lost control and crashed his car on Live Oak on his way to see me finish. I hope no one here was involved with that. Luckily there were no major injuries. I went up to see him at the Western Medical Center in Tustin and then I proceeded to go the ER to get myself checked out. I had a lovely trail angel, by the name of Nancy take care of my abrasions since she is a doctor there. It was pleasant meeting her and talking about mountain biking. Looks like nothing is broken and it appears to be a bad bruise. Hopefully I can recover soon to get out and ride! :bang:
VQ time ~6:20...not sure because I was looking for medical; not time. Afterwards I realized I missed the time and had to check my bike computer for elapsed time. There was a lead group nailing the Blackstar Climb - maybe 25 strong. Quite a site to be sure. The trails were in remarkably good shape. Even the climb after four corners up to the peak was much, much better than years past.
Actually....yeah....that was my Girlfriend, 2 friends of ours that had just finished racing and 2 small children in the Volkswagen Jetta(the 2nd car that he totalled). Everyone in the car was fine....but I think they'd all like to tell him that Live Oak is probably not the best place to be driving 80MPH on a busy(really busy?) Saturday afternoon. WTF Congrats on a solid VQ ride....sounds like you put in a really solid effort. B
Nice work you two!(Steph and Dan too). I had a feeling you guys would do great.....and I bet you $10 that you're back next year. B
Thanks to all of you who volunteer and make this such a great event (not a race … right). I especially want to mention Andy who made certain that I knew there was a girl on a single speed way ahead of me. Of course then had to name off each woman who was kicking my butt. :-({|=Thanks for the motivation, I think. Anyway … I had a great ride and met my goal of finishing VQ in under 6:30.:beer:
Many thanks to the Warrior's Society for organizing such a great event. Hell, I stopped for some OJ before WHT and while I was chugging OJ, they were offering to lube up the bike! Also thanks to Switchback cyclery for the 4 granny chain ring bolts. I needed my granny more than I thought I would have! Yesterday was far from my best day on the bike. My goal of sub 6 wasn't reached(6.33 or so). I missed the start to I had to pick my way through the field from the back. Even with my troubles I persevered, managed to ride most of the hike o bike, and came through stronger at the end, which is what it is all about. Got to meet OMR. Good times! Saw Aosty, Endo, and I think a few others from this board.:bang: Congrats to all finishers.:beer: paz afuera
Yeajh, that's what you say now. Good job. I knew you guys were going to do good. Very proud of you all.
It was a sight to see and all I could do was watch. I had absolutely no legs at the start and I kept falling back until slightly past Beeks. But I had my tunes and I knew the legs would eventually warm up (these "shorter" events kill an ultra endurance rider like me ) I just had to be patient and do my own thing, ride my own ride. It wasn't until the end of the pavement on Maple Springs that they started to come alive. I was able to keep increasing my pace until I hit a rock on LHJ that let all but about 10lbs of pressure out of the front tire (thanks to Guy Sutton for grabbing my jersey and stopping me from going over the edge ). I had to ride carefully the rest of the way to aid #2 and down trabuco stopping to put air in when I needed -- big thanks to the guys at the top of WHT for pumping it up. Eventually, I was able to reel in all but 3 of my teammates...they were flying and Manny was riding like the wind.
Sweet... Good job MP3....I'm gonna have to give 'ol Guy a congrats...good to see he did it. That boy's fast..and my dentist :bang: Awsomw job everybody!
The best story I heard yesterday was from a rider named Javier. He apparently took a header into a water crossing. When his hand hit the mud in the water, it just kept sinking. He was a great sport about it and was laughing as he told the tale. Good job Javier, where ever you are.