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

So I've literally just woken up after getting home yesterday afternoon. What an amazing ride and thanks to everyone that offered support, cheers, company, food, etc. Also to everyone that was out there taking photos, that was really impressive that you hung out there all day to support the riders. Much appreciated.

As for the VQ, I'm really glad I gave it a try. It's something I signed up for a while ago but then moved to Oregon a couple of weeks later. I finally moved back down here again last week and thought I'd give it a go. The entire course was a first for me so the whole time I was totally in awe of the scenery, which I think is pretty much what got me through the event. Highlights were the peak, riding through the snow, and lower Holy Jim. Lowpoints were the pavement on Maple Springs (being out of the saddle the whole time was misery) and the final decent on Trabuco (I think all of my teeth rattled out). WHT would have been more brutal if we didn't have a nice little crew going for the hike up. That definitely took away some of the pains of it all.

Will I be doing it next year? If I'm around, definitely. The only change will be a little more than the "mental" training I went with this year and a bike with suspension. The fireroads were smooth but I had no idea the singletrack would be as jarring as it was. Fun fore sure, just a little numbing on the body. Overall, this was a great, well supported ride and was so much fun.

MtbMaven, it was nice meeting you too. I'm glad you had that nametag on the back of your seat there. Thanks for helping to push me along up those hills.

 

I was one of those guys that offered you a tube. 29" w/ presta valve. And I had tire boots and CO2 too! :lol:

Good job getting across the line regardless!

 

Thanks to everyone that supported; from the official volunteers to the family and friends that came out to push us on. THANK YOU!!

This was probably the hardest VQ for me to date. I didn't train like I would have liked to. It was great getting to meet some of the STR people along the ride.

I recall descending UHJ and seeing some credit cards on the trail. I stopped and thought about running to Target and charging up $1200 on the card. :-k Then when I got to the second Aid Station I looked at the cards and found out they were Keith's from the Warrior Society. He was actually standing next to me at that point. I showed them to him and we both laughed in amazement. He owes me dinner!!!:bang: :beer:

Huge props to Gene for hanging in there. Timmy you are an animal. Congrats. Vickie and Impy it was amazing watching you finish. That is what the VQ is really about.

I figured I would make this one a short one. :wave:

 

All day I was chasing my good friend and training buddy, Kyle. At check point 1 he was leaving when I just pulled in. At check point 2 he had already pushed off towards Horse Thief. I really pushed myself up HT without stopping and eventually caught him on the last climb to Trabuco. For me the coolest part of the whole day was being able to bomb down Trabuco with Kyle and then cross the finish line at the same time.

Cold beer at the end was oh so nice. 8:39 was not the goal but we finished and got our feather. Great ride, thanks Warriors and all volunteers.

 

Great day!

I still can't believe the weather we had yesterday. I watched the weather forecasts all week and never thought it would be that perfect. Every bit of the ride was fun, painful at times, but still had fun the entire day. Black star was cake and in great condition, motor way was a bit loose, but manageable, Maple springs was was a slow easy climb except for the pavement (I hate that part). The climbs to the peak were pretty uneventful. UHJ was pretty torn up by the time I got there and LHJ was perfect! I stopped at the bottom of HJ because there was a guy that was pretty banged up sitting on the side of the trail. I clocked the miles and let the WS know about him. I hope he's ok. One of the best parts was seeing my family and friends(with dry clothes and beer!) at O'Neil.

All in all, I went from a DNF in 05, 9:20 in 06 to 7:11 in 09! The views along the way were incredible, the people as always were great and the WS and volunteers were incredible...THANK YOU!!!!!

Also, Gene- I rode up most of Blackstar with you and meant to thank you for maintaining the standby list for the last few months, just didn't get the chance...so thank you too!

 

They started the event and made it up to the Main Divide. A little less than half way across they destroyed the freehub on rear hub.....pooof!!!!! #-o They were done.

Sucks because both Tim and Spencer were feeling great and motoring along.

 

Was I alone?, or did anyone's a$$ start talking to them asking a single question - "Why?" I think with every couple of pedal strokes, my butt said "Why?" This was my first CC and my first Warrior Society event.

I loved every aching, twinging, spazming, cramping, minute!

I must thank - Pho'd Up, you saved me on the paved road up Santiago I never actually cramped but was on the verge for some time.

Gene - you were suffering and still threw positivity at me telling me I was keeping great time. You are a very cool guy!

Dubjay - even though you were cramping and massaging out some soreness you took a moment to shake hands with me.

Neil - I thank you cuz you are an a$$. Seeing your face so early in the morning was almost like a bad dream! But really, you rock my friend. I appreciate your stoke and enthusiasm for all that were racing.

Dean - cuz' yooz like a brudda' to me. Seeing you smiling at the first aid station, being out there supporting everyone was really kewl. "I love you man"!

The Dark haired lady from Troupe Racing - cuz I could never keep up with you! And whenever you stopped to stretch you were smiling, then you would pass me, again, and again, and again....

Ducati Racer Guy - I tried to stay on your wheel to the finishline but you rolled away from me with half a mile to go - BTW he was finishing the VQ and I was stomping to the end of the CC#-o.

Thanks to all that came out in support of those Questing and Couping. People clapping in the most desolate of places was INCREDIBLE!

Oh, by the way, I'm the idiot with the cow-bell. It was fun for about half an hour then it was torture. However, the hikers on Holy Jim thanked me!

Thanks.
Simon - (Lkn2Ryd)
aka "aNimrod

 

My CC story includes a generous portion of MP3!! Wow, that has to be on of the craziest/most inspiring things I have seen in a while.

In the morning my first thought was 'who is the guy in pajamas?" hey, it was kinda dark out and I hadn't got much sleep!

I had some tire issues at Maple Springs, and someone pumped my tire up after I fubared my C02 (thanks!!!) I head out and MP3 passed me like a rocket standing and hammering (damn!). At that pace I figured I wouldn't see him again (but nooooo....)

Saw him on UHJ, asked if he was good and he said he had a tube. I was wearing tunes, so if he asked me for a pump too I didn't hear it. (I like tunes, but feel a little stupid if can't hear OK)

Turns out I had more tire issues on HJ, I pumped up and run into him again on the lower section. With no bottle cage or camelback I could see, he seemed like some kind of terminator robot on a BMX bike, unstoppable!!

I checked out the bike at the finish, too funny, SS, totally rigid, V brakes, flat pedals with straps, NOT light (it did have what looked like carbon fiber bar ends though )

check out Eric's shot to get an appreciation for this crazy dude!! that was wild!!!

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage.aspx?pi=0EFA003H000047&po=47

 

the long and verbose version

Reading this whole thread through before writing this up, i've still got this big stupid grin on my face. It's pretty much been there since yesterday morning, but got a bit bigger once i finally hit that finish line yesterday afternoon, and now reading everyone else's stories from the race (excuse me, event) makes it all that much more fun.

I pulled into the tree farm about 4:45, after driving behind gabe and lety most of the way there. Spent a little time talking story with Gene, and then davidB right before the start. Once it started, never saw david again - i want to see his rr about how he liked going rigid. Blackstar was the same as usual, except it was FREEZING in hidden valley. Thanks for the cheers and cowbell brian and hugh, having the encouragement that early on was really cool. Topped out to Neil telling me 'there's no smiling in the vq!', refueled with a gu, and headed up main divide. Walked a fair number of the steeper hills, but realizing that pushing the ss was nearly as fast as spinning in a granny gear made it fine by me. Saw craig, carl, dubjay all along MD; we all seemed to leapfrog for most of the day.

Motorway with the rigid fork sucked. There is no other way to put it. The trail itself was fine, but damn, it beat me up. I did it rigid a couple weeks back, so i knew what i was expecting, but man it was still rough. Refuelled again down at Aid Station 1 (hit it at 8:15, which made the time i wanted right on the nose!), saw my dad :steppie:, and headed back out. Thanks again for all the encouragement down there too...you can't bust my balls about not finishing anymore scotty!

Contrary to most everyone else's rr's, i felt like maple springs was my strongest climb. I was already starting to battle cramping at this point, and stopped at the end of the pavement to put down a banana to see if that would allevaite them somewhat, which is where i first ran into Gene. We rode a while, and eventually i latched onto Carl's pace up maple after the second switchback, since he was just killing it on the climb. Pushed on to the peak, where i took to pacing with a guy named Chris all up that climb. The decent down UHJ reinforced my rigid lesson - do it once, learn from it, and then you don't have to do it again! Lower went by in a flash, though i ran into cramping issues again part way down and had to stop and try to work them out. I was getting these cramps on the inside of my legs that were damn near impossible to stretch out, but weren't as bad if i stood and hammered instead of staying in the saddle. Just what i needed, forced hammering. Made the cutoff at LHJ at 11:40, i think. Beat my time from last year by 50 minutes, which made me smile.

Started the climb up trabuco to WHT with Gene, whose knees were killing him at this point. Eventually I went on ahead, alternately walking, riding, and avoiding descending riders until i made WHT. I wish i could say WHT was some sort of zen like experience, or a transcending the pain moment, or even the acquisition of the vision i was questing for. Nope. It was just a brutal abuse of my already weary body. I did snarf one of those burgers down along with gatorade, which really helped with my cramping issues for the remainder of the climb to Trabuco and the descent. The descent itself wasn't too bad, i just had to keep myself focused - i could feel the exhaustion and weariness creeping in and faught it all the way down. Kathy and Randy caught me at the bottom of Trabuco, and i rode down with them to Aid Station 2, where Kathy's tire let go as we pulled in!

The dirt road ride back was my own little euphoric moment of happiness. I had done it, finally. Made it as hard as i could (not 24" bike hard, but still) and still made it. At one point Gene, Vickie, et al came blasting by, hammering home - great job killing it all the way to the end guys. Eventually I crossed the line, Andy handed me a beer, and life was good.

Kudos to everyone that was out there yesterday. I saw the same group regularly; craig, carl, dubjay, gene, dell occasionally, scott. You guys all killed it out there. Great job to everyone that did it, vq or cc.

 

Believe be I do REALLY appreciate everyone who offered their support.

Me and tubes with this wheelset have been an issue from the get go. I need to figure something out. It's not like I don't know how to install a tube but for the life of me I can't do it in this case.

 

Before my mini ride report I wanted to add one separate thought

I was appalled at the amount of trash discarded along the course.

For a sport that is supposed to have a pretty eco-friendly base it really disappoints me.

The 3 seconds it takes me to stuff my spent GU back in my jersey doesn't cost me the race so maybe I just don't get it, does it really cost the leaders the race or is it just a entitlement thing?

I know the WS has a crew that "sweeps" the course, but I think they should write in a "Ride out what with what ride in with honer system clause" or something. Not sure that would have any effect...anyways...

 

Here here. There was a LOT of trash out there. My hope if that the empty packets fall out of people's pockets when they reach for another one. I for one cannot image littering out there, but then again maybe that's just me. I really wanted to stop and pick them up but they were everywhere.

 

congrats!

:clap::beer::clap:

Red Ryder for finishing and beating your time!
Way to go big brother. Great brownies Dusty.

Thanks Warrior Society and all the participants for hosting the event and all the trail maintenence.
A few pictures:

 

What a perfect day for an awesome event. Just a few highlights, Tim and his silly grin (you can almost hear his laugh), Gabe and Steve racing to the finish, proud moments with Troy and Beth and the finale with Red Ryder and Shorty exchanging a kiss at the finish and the crowd roared.

 

Nan, it was soo cool seeing you at the finish, I havent seen you in forever, i was very excited when I heard you say my name, I felt like a celebrity with all the photos you took of me, Thanks so much for being out there and for your support.:bang:

 

I keep trying to remember who all i saw out there yesterday...Zippo passed me heading up Blackstar; Dusty, Duke777, dell, a whole bunch more at aid station 1; Debbie (db250f) up on Main Divide and a few more times; Kathy multiple times; Randy a bunch too; Eric screaming down Trabuco as i was heading toward WHT; Troy (Trizz) climbing maple springs; Carl, dubjay, gene, and craig all over the place; oneredbike on maple; vickie blasting past me on trabuco road heading for the finish; Steve (autoduel) at 4 corners; Scott (stjunkie) at Modjeska...there's more, i'm sure...

 

Thanks! :beer:



The guy behind me was my buddy for LHJ and the road out. Furthering my belief that this ride by yourself would not have been any fun, everyone involved, especially other riders make it a very enjoyable ride When we both finished we looked at each other and laughed, we were both covered in mud!

 

Rode out under his own steam.

Vargas and I were charging up the trail with splints and a first aid kit within about five minutes of your report. In Chris's words the rider had "Rung his bell pretty good". Aside from minor abrasions and bruises he was coherent and back on the bike before we reached him.:clap:

 

so I get "singlespeed rigid" next to my name now right?

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage.aspx?pi=0EFA003H000307&po=307
(going to order that one, thanks Eric!)

I got up at 3am and my heart was pounding in excitement. Hit up the 24hr Walmart for some uncrustables that I forgot, and pulled into blackstar quite early. There was very few people when I parked, which was good because I'm usually in a rush at every "race."

In the darkness of blackstar canyon at 4:30 in the morning, there could have been 100 STR members and you would only recognize 2 or 3 if you were lucky enough to bump into them.

I saw Tim (jasonmason) before the start, but lined up without seeing anyone else really. Steve (autoduel) found me at the start, and I spotted Gene as well, I could hear Andy aka Rut out there somewhere as well

steve


myself


gene



My goal to turn it into a social ride of sorts was in jeopardy because as we started I couldn't find anyone I knew. So I chatted it up with a couple strangers on the first couple miles. Then my tubeless tire goes flat and I had to troubleshoot that for a while. Ken (freekengo) stopped to strip some layers where I was at and I saw a few other STR members out there I didn't know were going to be there. It was comforting seeing familiar faces I could talk to later on. I felt good, but cold, so when I got rolling again I would find someone else to chat it up with. I found a guy doing the CC on a 37lb 6" bike, came up on the guy on a beach cruiser, and saw Hugh and Brian from the Path out there by themselves. I stopped for a second or two with them until Brian let loose the airhorn right next to my head, so that was my cue to keep going. I was bored and it was only 4 miles or so into the ride.

My goal was to catch other riders, not to pass or beat them, but to have someone to keep my focus on and ride with. People are much more friendly and willing to talk 3 miles into the ride, as opposed to 30 miles. :lol:

Somewhere up Blackstar I came up behind Beth (Elisheva) and hung with her for a bit talking about cutoff times and such (you seemed worried beth!), told her we'd be fine as long as we were moving, and caught up to Ken again and bugged him for a bit until we hit Beeks.

Oh joy, more climbing that I remember being pure hell when I was out there a couple weeks ago with Gene.


Ken (freekengo)


a few minutes later, Beth


by beth!


I was "in it to finish it", so I kicked it at Beeks for a bit until I didn't see anyone else come up and went off to go bug some more riders. I ended up walking less of the Main Divide than I did on my one other ride there. It didn't seem as hard as I remembered it but to say it's not hard would be a lie. I remember playing leap frog with Beth and a handful of other riders as I would stop for no other reason than to just stop and smell the roses. I had told myself to "keep moving" but yesterday I got the "what the hell enjoy yourself" attitude and just watched other riders climb hills and encourage them, and they would return the favor after seeing me with 1 gear.

The end of MD came sooner than expected, so i sat there for a bit and went through my various snacks but didn't feel like eating. I gave some beef jerky and a baby ruth to another rider that wasn't doing so well, and knowing that Motorway and it's lovely rocks were awaiting my rigid fork, I was in no rush but took off eventually. After what seemed like forever, I got to the end of MW, and was greeted by CC and Dean taking numbers and times



but the best part was seeing this


I had no clue what the "aid stations" would consist of, but was overwhelmed at strangers encouraging words.


Special thanks goes out to Nan (on the right with another rider), I barely know you but seeing you at Aid Station 1 was a relief! I never got that brownie at the finish though! I grabbed some chex mix, filled up on water, and found the most delicious Apple Hammer gel ever.

I was warned about two sections of the CC on a singlespeed. The paved road out of there was one of them. However, I didn't know exactly how long it was so I just went at it and stood up and climbed. When I got to the end I found 4 other riders standing at the dirt. I had to ask them what kind of dirt I was to expect and if it was anything like MD. I was told it was mellow, and they were right. Getting to 4 corners was cake. I felt really good, and passed quite a few people. This was all new dirt to me, but I would eventually get bored again out ahead by myself until I found a Brit out there by himself as well and talked to him about his experience last year. Getting to four corners seemed pretty easy, but on the way I found a girl with some sweet pink and black socks I came down Motorway with, and reunited and talked about what was to come. Her and I got to Four Corners where I found Ken again, went and bugged him and he warned me about how it was about to get loose on the climb.

I walked with Ken for a bit not because of the grade, but because at times it didn't appear to be a line to take with all the small rocks. I'm unfamiliar with that area, but I stopped at the next "peak" and enjoyed the new view.
*almost to the top*


pretty good views, with an even better day to ride. It actually got pretty warm in certain parts



I saw Dan (KonaDupee) at the "top" and found out I had made up some time on him but when it was time to enjoy the downhill I remembered I had some goodies to eat, and was actually trying to get to the end at about the 7:30 mark because that's when my girlfriend had said she would be at the finish. My Garmin said I would get there early, so I stayed at the top a little while longer until a few other riders came through. It seemed that none of us knew what was coming up.

nom nom nom


killing time


later dude!


sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet!


^that was a blast to ride through but it eventually turned into mud then we were back in the sun again

I rolled into the checkpoint at the Holy Jim trailhead and stopped to talk to the guy there. He was talking about the various people that had came through, what HJ was like, warned me about some drops not too far down, but I really didn't want to go down an unknown trail alone and fortunately Ken rolls up a few minutes later but I had no chance hanging with him. I found another rider pussyfooting his way down as well and heard him eat it ahead of me. He was laughing it off, but man UHJ is gnarly! I was walking some part of it and fell into some bushes pretty bad but finished eventually.


Lower Holy Jim = AWESOME :bang:

There were a few other riders riding up, and quite a few hikers out there as well, all with encouraging words. That trail never seemed to end! If I lived out there, I would ride that trail over and over again. It flowed, and even on a rigid bike, it was great!

It felt like any other ride when I pulled into Aid Station #2, I saw Gregg (OMR) sitting there with a few others taking numbers/times and was told I could grab something to eat if I wanted and that the end was down the fireroad 4 miles. I was still a little early on time and my better half was probably not at the finish yet. I put my bike down, grabbed some chex mix, and popped an Aleve for precautionary measures.

The fireroad out was the other thing I was warned about while single speeding it. It downhill, but still requires a considerable amount of pedaling which was frustrating as hell not having any gears. You can't really relax either coming down that thing as it's full of holes, mud, water crossings, rocks, and vehicles coming at you.

I passed up Duke777 fixing his flat but he caught me with those damn gears and pulled away with a mile to go.

I came through the finish at 7:20 I think, and could only think about getting off the bike as parts of me were getting numb. :-s

When I got home my gf asked what I wanted to go do, I said I want to go ride somewhere. I was going to do the fully loop group ride this morning but time change screwed me up. #-o Clearly I did not go as hard as I could have which leaves me wondering.

Things I learned
-I brought too much munchies considering what was available at Aid station 1
-I carried too much water, 3/4 of my camelbak was still too much. Next time 2 water bottles will be enough for the CC
-It's hard to go slow on a SS, which makes going at someone elses pace difficult if you want to talk
-It was beneficial to me not knowing anything about the 2nd half of the course
-I need to learn to descend better/faster
-Breaking the course down into small segments instead of thinking about 44 miles helps a lot
-It took me 44 miles to finally enjoy single speeding
-Every type of rider was out there yesterday. From the old to the young, the small to the big, weight weenie bikes to beefy all mountain rigs to a tandem, a bmx, and a cruiser.
-If you think you can do it, you can.

I don't know who specifically did what to help us riders out, but the numerous folks at the aid stations, or out at different checkpoints, heck even the guys on the motos telling us good job, the photographers on motorway, and everyone involved in getting us where we needed to go from the checking in to coming through the finish to get our feather and picture take, THANK YOU.:beer: I would have been miserable had it not been for some guidance and encouragement around every turn, it's not exactly a ride I would have fun doing by myself. I don't plan on doing it next year (maybe VQ in years to come), but I'd definitely like to return the favor in volunteering next year to do something.


No picture of me right after the finish yet, but my number plate and I had a striking resemblance when it was all over. Beat up and dirty, just the way it should have been.

 

DB - you done good buddy!