Race Report Traverse Ride Report

lol this bubb came into adrenaline after the race and said he was so exhausted and light headed when he came in and in the craziness of people, bikes laying all over the place that he lost it..

 

It happened between 1 and 1:30. Jake took the photo and deserves credit for it.

 

Yes, that's me.
Arrived at the finish about 1:15 and had complete brain fade. Came rolling in to finish still pedaling (on autopilot I guess) and realized I was going too fast to stop in time from running into the canopy after the finish and grabbed a handful of brake. Unfortunately, it was the front one. Guess I was just so glad to finish I stop paying attention to my riding.

This has to be one of the hardest rides I have ever done. Thanks to the Warriors and all the volunteers for putting on such a challenging event. I will definitely be back next year and hopefully get a little better with the bike skills. :lol:

 

The course kicked my butt this year, well mostly the heat. I want a rematch!

Only 4 months on the bike and you finished in 6:15! That's awesome!

 

Warrior Society Member Bob McCarter was taking the pics around Beeks Place

He will post them available to view.

If anyone wants to purchase one, the money will be donated to the Freedom Alliance.

These should be up soon.

 

Greg, sorry dude! I remember you saying, "this is gonna' end up on the internet isn't it"...
I really didn't think it would...#-o

 

Hey, at least some one was there to capture my "Kodak Moment" finish. :beer:

 

Looks like preliminary results have been posted on the Warrior's Society site.

http://warriorssociety.org/events/2008_traverse_results.php

 

I usually do about 200 miles a week on my road bike so I do have some base training. Got bitten by the MTB bug and seem to be putting more and more miles on the the MTB and less on the road bike. I decided to do the Traverse after talking with Gene at the Fully Loop one Thursday. He said it was a very difficult ride but mostly fire road so not too technical. I have to say the difficult part was an understatement.

 

Am I reading that right? Only 134 out of 180 even started? And of them, 98 finished?

Almost 50% attrition if you factor in the DNS?

Bru-tal.

 

Good to ride with ya Chris, I kept looking back to make sure I wasn't holding you back. It's always great to meet others as w all suffered together. From the other racers and volunteers, everyone was great and that's what keeps me coming back for more suffering.

Greg, you did a great job, congrats on your 6th place finish. We kept leap frogging along the way, but after the crash I had just before WHT, I had to sit a bit as my right thigh locked up. See you on the Fully maybe this Thurs.

Thanks again to Clarke aka Zippo for stopping and making sure I was ok and for the Advils. I owe you one. :beer: :bang:

Yup. That's what makes it tough. The VQ is even tougher because of the cutoff at WHT which will be moved to the HJ parking lot and moved up by 30 min. Care to join me in somemore suffering? :bang:

 

Oh, you have no idea. Now that the pain has started to go away..methinks I'm hooked.

 

12hours of Temecula. June 14th.

http://www.12hrsoftemecula.com/12hrsoftemeculapage1.html

 

I'll be in Yellowstone with the wifey...but that event did get my attention.

 

Sorry man.

[edit: removed pic on my own. Nobody asked me to remove it.]

 

Traverse was a last-minute training ride for Temecula for me. I'll see you there!

PS, your avatar is t3h funn3h! :lol:

 

Just saw the results in print. My bud Adawg got 7th EXM31-45. No wonder he near killed me on SJT. You all rule for even making the start!

 

I think this event was harder for me than any other event ive done.(cause of the heat stroke) I went out pretty fast and paced myself on MD. I was making pretty descent time. Less than half a mile after the motor way I sucked my camelpack dry. I brought 2.5 liters fluids. I was not expecting the heat to be so killer or I would have brought a bottle. I was still feeling good and haveing a great time till about 3 miles later. I started to walk so I wouldnt get to dehydrated. I was getting dizzy and felt terrible. I started to get chills. On the last mile before the aid station at 10 oclock I felt like I was gonna fall right off my bike. When I got to the aid station I was shivering covered in goose bumps. Someone told me my pupils were uneven to. I dont remember much of the aid station its still a daze to me. Thanks to Chris Vargas and Barry Wood for taking care of me. I layed down with my feet up covered in ice. I figured the race was over for me. I felt so bad I didnt no if I could finish. At about 11 40 my goose bumps were gone and I wasnt shivering. I still wasnt sweating and felt a little cold but I could not accept defeat! I have never DNFED b4 and I wasnt going to that day. So I took off spinning up to the peak. At Holy Jim trail OMR and Wrecker refilled my water and thermotabs. Wrecker took my temperature and I was normal again! I was feeling alot better and having fun. I wasn't racing, I was just enjoying the ride. Just after the wall I saw a 15 year old kid laying on the ground and I asked him if he was ok. He said no but his brother went to go help. About a mile or 2 later I found his brother laying on the ground. He was tottaly red and couldnt stand up. I gave my water to dump on him to him cool off and hammered to horse theif and told the ham radio guy who promptly sent a truck with a paramedic to evac them to mission hospital. I spun easy and smiled for the rest of the race. Trabuco was so much fun! The road was miserable though. It was like riding into a hair dryer. I finished in about 7.5 hours. I had a ton of fun. It would have been a great if I had more fluids! Next year i'll have a bigger camelpack. Thanks to the warriors society and their sponsors and all the awsome volunteers. Thanks to infinit for my custom nutrition it worked great while it lasted. Thanks to eregon my grips kept my hands nice and comfy. Thanks to felt the virtue bike climbed like a goat and descended awsome. And thanks to Switchback for getting my bike running smooth before the event. Congrats to everyone who came out and gave it their best shot. cya on the trails :wave: Matt aka Soaring Falcon

 

Excellent judgement, grasshopper Matt... you are learning great wisdom in your young life. This was only a race... not a life and death event. Ensuring that others are taken care of is the responsibility for all of us.... not just the volunteers. There have been many such stories that have come out of this event. I know that you have represented the Warriors well in your racing... now as well in your concern and action for others.

Good job Soaring Falcon!

 

For those that raced The Traverse. Its up on Athlinks now.

Click the 'C' to claim your results and create a profile. I tried posting about this site a while back but got no interest. Its defintely an awesome website if you race.

http://ww2.athlinks.com/results/51274/76875/The-Traverse-40Mi-Mountain-Bike.aspx