We had another EPIC weekend of racing, with the Boggs Mountain 8-hour Race on Saturday. It was the longest race most of us had done (with the exception of one dad, who's done the Leadville 100 (a 100-mile mountain bike race).
We had 8 racers total (9 if you include Isaiah, who raced for his East Bay team), with the Team AC racers comprised of 4 teams, totaling 5 Junior racers (Bob, Alex, Spence, Skyler, and Jack), and three Masters (me, Jeff and Ken).
The race course was a fast cross-country mountain course, not too technical with about 70% single-track, 30% fire roads, about 1150 feet of climbing per lap, and laps of about 9 miles. Total time out was between 8 and 9 hours (it started at 8:30, so total time was depending on if you made it in before the 4:30 PM "last rider out" cutoff - last rider in by 5:30 PM).
It was a long day, as we left Mill Valley at 5 AM, and got to our house a bit after 10 PM. Everyone was pretty tired, but overall it was impressive how well everyone fared for such a high level of effort sustained over a long time.
This was a great demonstration of the importance of the nutrition and hydration (thanks for the tips, Jeff!) over this kind of event. We were very fortunate with the weather, as it was in the high 40's at the start and high 60's during mid day - just perfect conditions on the trails - nice and tacky, and very little mud!
Since it was pretty hectic, with 4 riders out on the course at all times, and four racers "resting" in the popup during each lap, we really didn't get any pictures of note. However, there are some pretty amazing statistics for the overall race:
Total laps ridden: 35 laps
Total miles ridden: 315 miles
Total elevation: 40,640 feet
Fastest lap: 46 minutes (I think)
Youngest team age: 26 years (Skyler and Jack)
Oldest team age: 102 years (Ken and Rich)
Most laps/Master: Jeff (6 laps, 54 miles, 6936 ft climbing)
Most laps/Junior: Bob (5 laps, 45 miles, 5780 ft climbing)
Most laps/team Jeff/Spence - 10 laps, 90 miles, 11,560 ft climbing
Finish order out of the field of 49 two-man teams (my best recollection) was:
11th Place - Jeff and Spence
19th Place - Bob and Alex
32nd Place - Skyler and Jack
39th Place - Rich and Ken
Here is a GPS recording of the race (my slow laps, but you get the idea):
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7890339
Everyone was generally pleased with their results, and we had no injuries of note, no flat tires, and no disabling mechanical failures over the entire 315 miles of racing. It really helped that we were very well organized, and everyone was very careful the week before to have their bike sorted out, and not make any last-minute changes.
Thanks to Jeff for organizing this great event, and I'm really looking forward to the next race - Napa Valley Dirt Classic this weekend - register today to get the free T-shirt.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Cool MTB Race - Auburn, CA - Big Muddy Fun
Yesterday was all about mud. Lots of mud. It felt like a cyclorcross race at times, with steep runups (well, I had to run them ;-), deep puddles, stream crossings, and in my case, a full endo into a 2’ deep pool just 50’ before the Finish line!
The Cool MTB race took place up in Cool, CA just outside of Auburn. The race was about a 10 mile loop of a mixture of single track, double track and fire roads, with a bit of bumpy pavement thrown in. The course was overall pretty fast – lots of places to pass, many clean fast descents, nothing very technical, and many short, pretty intense climbs. It definitely kept the HR up, and held it there the whole time.
We had five riders yesterday, with Alex out on a sick call. Our Junior racers included Spence, Bob, and Skyler, and our “senior” racers included Jeff (running Sport Men 40+) and me (Beginner men 50+). Early on in the boys’ race, Skyler did a spectacular endo down one of the fast descents, and miraculously was unhurt, though his bike was down for the count. So Spence and Bob pushed through two laps (20 miles!) and finished First and Second respectively. It was a pretty tough ride for them, but they passed a LOT of other riders and both seemed to enjoy this tough but fun race.
Jeff stayed with the front of his pack, and hammered out two very fast laps, finishing quite strong.
OK guys – FOUR podiums! Who would have guessed (certainly not me!).
Spence Peterson – Sport Men 1-15 – First Place
Bob Siegel – Sport Men 1-15 – Second Place
Jeff Taylor – Sport Men 40-49 – Third Place
Rich Siegel – Beginner Men 50+ - First Place (no, that is not a typo ;-)
Overall, it was definitely one of the most fun MTB races we’ve had, and a great course to ride – super fast and flowing, and lots of great racing to be had. Sorry there are no pictures this time – I was too busy riding!
The Cool MTB race took place up in Cool, CA just outside of Auburn. The race was about a 10 mile loop of a mixture of single track, double track and fire roads, with a bit of bumpy pavement thrown in. The course was overall pretty fast – lots of places to pass, many clean fast descents, nothing very technical, and many short, pretty intense climbs. It definitely kept the HR up, and held it there the whole time.
We had five riders yesterday, with Alex out on a sick call. Our Junior racers included Spence, Bob, and Skyler, and our “senior” racers included Jeff (running Sport Men 40+) and me (Beginner men 50+). Early on in the boys’ race, Skyler did a spectacular endo down one of the fast descents, and miraculously was unhurt, though his bike was down for the count. So Spence and Bob pushed through two laps (20 miles!) and finished First and Second respectively. It was a pretty tough ride for them, but they passed a LOT of other riders and both seemed to enjoy this tough but fun race.
Jeff stayed with the front of his pack, and hammered out two very fast laps, finishing quite strong.
OK guys – FOUR podiums! Who would have guessed (certainly not me!).
Spence Peterson – Sport Men 1-15 – First Place
Bob Siegel – Sport Men 1-15 – Second Place
Jeff Taylor – Sport Men 40-49 – Third Place
Rich Siegel – Beginner Men 50+ - First Place (no, that is not a typo ;-)
Overall, it was definitely one of the most fun MTB races we’ve had, and a great course to ride – super fast and flowing, and lots of great racing to be had. Sorry there are no pictures this time – I was too busy riding!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Boggs Mountain pre-ride report + some tips for the race
Great ride yesterday – it was absolutely perfect conditions up at Boggs!
For those who weren’t there, Jeff and I did about 3 hours of riding up at Boggs, covering about 16 miles, and with about 1600 feet of climbing total. We didn’t know the exact route, since it is not announced yet, but we covered territory that is “similar” to previous years.
Here is a GPS recording of our ride: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7761107
I’m sure Jeff will have more to add, but here are some impressions I took away:
General riding conditions are excellent – nicely cut single track or fairly wide smooth fire roads. There are about 40 different trails that criss-cross the mountain, most of which are graded as Intermediate.
Like other XC courses, there are some pretty serious climbs. In my case, I had to get off an walk a couple of them, though Jeff was able to ride everything.
None of the climbs covers more than about 200-300 feet, although we did manage to find a 900 foot climb at one point! Based on past years, I don’t THINK this will be in the race.
Technically, there isn’t too much difficult stuff, though there are a LOT of rocks, baby-head size, all over many of the trails. We found one especially difficulat trail right at the start of our ride, but didn’t see anything else like it, and don’t expect they will use it on the race.
Trails are soft but not muddy. I was using Nevegals and they seemed to work fine. Much of the “flat” single-track will be pretty fast, and a good carving front tire is going to be an asset here.
In terms of the race, some things to consider:
Doing four laps of this is likely to be one of the hardest things any of us, except perhaps Jeff, has done to date. Just doing one lap will take a lot out of you, and by the fourth one comes around, it’s going to feel pretty brutal. Also, it requires a lot of attention as you are often dodging trees, boulders, or overhanging branches. That will be tough late in the afternoon.
It’s COLD there in the morning – it was 37 when we arrived at 10 AM, and likely closer to freezing when the race starts. We saw SNOW on the ground and a couple of the trails we had to ride through a few inches of it!
Bring LOTS of layers – I had four layers on top, with shorts + legwarmers – just about right for the start, then too much later – you will want to put on and take off stuff throughout the day. And when you stop, it gets cold, so you’ll want to also bring a warm jacket and jeans to put on over cycling clothing while you wait your turn to ride. I think bringing some inexpensive blankets to wrap up in during the morning would be a good idea as well.
Bring LOTS of water – there is NO water there, and the altitude (about 3500 feet) plus the cold can dehydrate you faster than down here. We need to bring at least a gallon of water per person to cover the whole day.
Bring eye protection – there is a lot of debris on some of the trails, which will be kicked up by other riders you are following, plus there are overhanging branches which WILL smack you in the face (how do I know this?). The light on the trail is quite variable from full sun to full shade, so bring medium darkness (or photochromic) lenses.
Make sure your derailleurs are in perfect shifting condition – this is constant shifting territory, and you will be depending on quick shifts to get by others that are struggling. It will make a difference when you need it most.
Tire pressures can be fairly soft. If you have tubeless, this is the course for you! I think I was running about 28-30 and it felt perfect. A little bit of “squish” worked well on these forest trails. Think Tenderfoot plus pine needles.
No big downhills but lots of fast XC that sweeps and flows up and down – the good bike handlers should be able to pick up a lot of time in those areas. Reading the trail requires a lot of concentration because of the twisty nature of it and in some places the trails were almost invisible, though Jeff and I think they are not going to be used in the race. It seemed like the trails for the race may be much easier to spot (they’ll have to do that, we think).
For those who weren’t there, Jeff and I did about 3 hours of riding up at Boggs, covering about 16 miles, and with about 1600 feet of climbing total. We didn’t know the exact route, since it is not announced yet, but we covered territory that is “similar” to previous years.
Here is a GPS recording of our ride: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7761107
I’m sure Jeff will have more to add, but here are some impressions I took away:
General riding conditions are excellent – nicely cut single track or fairly wide smooth fire roads. There are about 40 different trails that criss-cross the mountain, most of which are graded as Intermediate.
Like other XC courses, there are some pretty serious climbs. In my case, I had to get off an walk a couple of them, though Jeff was able to ride everything.
None of the climbs covers more than about 200-300 feet, although we did manage to find a 900 foot climb at one point! Based on past years, I don’t THINK this will be in the race.
Technically, there isn’t too much difficult stuff, though there are a LOT of rocks, baby-head size, all over many of the trails. We found one especially difficulat trail right at the start of our ride, but didn’t see anything else like it, and don’t expect they will use it on the race.
Trails are soft but not muddy. I was using Nevegals and they seemed to work fine. Much of the “flat” single-track will be pretty fast, and a good carving front tire is going to be an asset here.
In terms of the race, some things to consider:
Doing four laps of this is likely to be one of the hardest things any of us, except perhaps Jeff, has done to date. Just doing one lap will take a lot out of you, and by the fourth one comes around, it’s going to feel pretty brutal. Also, it requires a lot of attention as you are often dodging trees, boulders, or overhanging branches. That will be tough late in the afternoon.
It’s COLD there in the morning – it was 37 when we arrived at 10 AM, and likely closer to freezing when the race starts. We saw SNOW on the ground and a couple of the trails we had to ride through a few inches of it!
Bring LOTS of layers – I had four layers on top, with shorts + legwarmers – just about right for the start, then too much later – you will want to put on and take off stuff throughout the day. And when you stop, it gets cold, so you’ll want to also bring a warm jacket and jeans to put on over cycling clothing while you wait your turn to ride. I think bringing some inexpensive blankets to wrap up in during the morning would be a good idea as well.
Bring LOTS of water – there is NO water there, and the altitude (about 3500 feet) plus the cold can dehydrate you faster than down here. We need to bring at least a gallon of water per person to cover the whole day.
Bring eye protection – there is a lot of debris on some of the trails, which will be kicked up by other riders you are following, plus there are overhanging branches which WILL smack you in the face (how do I know this?). The light on the trail is quite variable from full sun to full shade, so bring medium darkness (or photochromic) lenses.
Make sure your derailleurs are in perfect shifting condition – this is constant shifting territory, and you will be depending on quick shifts to get by others that are struggling. It will make a difference when you need it most.
Tire pressures can be fairly soft. If you have tubeless, this is the course for you! I think I was running about 28-30 and it felt perfect. A little bit of “squish” worked well on these forest trails. Think Tenderfoot plus pine needles.
No big downhills but lots of fast XC that sweeps and flows up and down – the good bike handlers should be able to pick up a lot of time in those areas. Reading the trail requires a lot of concentration because of the twisty nature of it and in some places the trails were almost invisible, though Jeff and I think they are not going to be used in the race. It seemed like the trails for the race may be much easier to spot (they’ll have to do that, we think).
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