TRAINING RIDE

Took a long training ride with Ryan, Nancy and friends around KC yesterday. We ended up doing 75 miles or so on paved roads. This was my first long miles since I was .....uh.....er......in high school or so. All that traffic reminds me why I love mountain biking so much but I was also reacquainted with the added scenery you get while pouring on the miles. We started about 6:30 AM and finished near 11:00 AM, just in time for some burgers and brats on the barby. There were beers to be had as well but I passed as usual...training you know. OK, I just don't like beer. I think Nancy got some pictures I'll post later.

OFFROAD FIXATION TAKES THIRD AT DUSK TO DAWN

Team Off Road Fixation took third place in the premier four person coed division in the Lake Perry Dusk to Dawn Adventure Race with a time of 9:43. Our time was also good enough to place us sixth overall against all teams combined (37) including the all male divisions.

John Clausen and I shared navigational duties with John at the helm most of the time. This was my first race with John's wife Amanda as a teammate and I was pleased throughout as I never heard a peep from her as we bush and bike whacked through poison ivy infested forest on our quest for gold. She pushed through some severe cramps at the end of the race and helped to beat out one of the two man teams in a sprint to the finish line. Well done girl.

My son Matt notched his first race here and got the full meal ticket in my book. He was lucky enough to enjoy all the things I love about adventure racing, all in one race. The thrill of night navigation on a surreal trek through backwoods and then meeting a friend from another team in the middle of nowhere looking for some obscure CP. He also commented more than once on the beautiful moonlit paddle we took over Lake Perry, blindly paddling up to fishing and pleasure boats on the dark waters. He also got a taste of some splendid singletrack mountain biking, although it was a tad short.

Jason of Bonk Hard Racing put on a great race as always. I'd have to say these were the BEST maps I've ever seen. :-)

Many thanks go out to our friends and fellow racers, Team Inertia. Ryan and Nancy donated a bike and light for my son and some signal flares to the team. The Dinotte Light was everything that Ryan brags about. It was the only torch burning when we finished the race. Luckily it was bright enough to light the way for all four of us until the sun came up.

Fellow ORFer Justin Montgomery turned traitor for this race and joined long time racing legend and friend of ORF/BAMF, Mark Alf of GCAR. Mark was still recovering from a recent finish at the Primal Quest race in Montana. It looked as though his toes were just starting to mend. Tough as nails, that guy is.

We also bumped into Todd and Karen Holtman of Team Subaru out on the trekking section. We shared some thoughts on navigation and then went our separate ways. They later beat us out of the bush and hammered it on the bike to beat us by about 30 minutes. Always great competitors and great friends those guys.

Great job Team! I'm looking forward to the Berryman.

Check out the result at Bonk Hard Racing.

Here are some pictures from the event.

D2D Training

I went out to Lake Perry for some training and to reacquaint myself with the terrain and trails prior to the Dusk to Dawn race on the 19th the other day. I have the week off and have been bumming around the house and decided to get in a few miles instead. I picked the hottest day of the year and there was absolutely NO wind to help cool me down in my mid-day ride. I expected the worst as most trails suffer from overgrown brush and grass during the summer months around Missouri. I slathered on the bug spray and hoped for the best.

I started out biking on the State Park trails with plans to ride all of them. I did the Wild West and the Great White Loop and then headed up the shore on Logans run before I was overcome with the heat. I popped out on the service road and and road pavement back to parking lot. I got eight miles on bike. Seemed like 30.

I was pleasantly surprised that the trails were mowed back and trimmed to immaculate condition. Props to the trail managers. If there was poison ivy out there, it never made it near the trails.

The ticks were another story. They were thick enough to carry me away and they tried on several attempts. A large one actually tried to steal the keys to my car. I stopped regularly to pull them off. They seemed to have grown resistant to DEET.

I juiced back up and decided to go back out on foot to map out the remainder of the trails near the trail head. I hit the Skyline, Willow and the Mad Mile and had racked up another 5 miles before calling it a day.

I've done the D2D twice before and this had to be the first time I've ridden these trails during the day. I can't say that I look forward to crashing through all the spider webs while picking my way in this maze of trails in the dark later this month...but training sure was fun, even in the heat.

THAT'S MY BOY!

Off-Road Fixation is gearing up for the Dusk to Dawn Adventure Race at Perry Lake State Park on July 19th. I am very proud to announce that we will be sporting a new young gun for this race. My son Matt will be giving adventure racing a go for the first time. He has done some light biking and has always been an endurance junky with cross country, track and soccer. He is also a fairly proficient navigator in his own right but his experience is limited to short orienteering races in the KC area. John, Amanda and I will fill out the rest of the team. I can't wait!

GETTIN DIRTY

Off-road Fixation fielded two teams for the Dirty Duo at Shawnee Mission Park last weekend. Bonk Hard racing has put together another big hitting race as 123 teams of two showed up to toe the line. The race consisted of a six mile course where the two person teams took turns running or riding, exchanging the bike after completing a mystery challenge at each mile marker. The race ended with a 25 yard mud pit that the athletes had to crawl through. Fun stuff for sure!!

John and Amanda took third in their age division for coeds and placed about 12th overall. Amanda's brother Augey and Justin Montgomery entered the all male division. They must not have raced under the ORF name as I couldn't find them in the results but they looked like they did well when they passed me about mid race.

Nancy Day and Amy Elmore raced together for Amy's first adventure since I did my first race with her back in 2005. They ended up taking 1st in their age group and 2nd overall female team. Nancy's daughter, Hannah joined in the fun and did the Jr race. You guys rock!

I ended up volunteering for this one, putting my camera to good use. I also roped racing newbie Pamela Diego into volunteering. She was hooked and this isn't even a real adventure race. Check out the full results and links to all my pictures and more at Bonk Hard Racing.

TANDEM RIDES BEGIN

John, Amanda and I volunteered with Campfire USA today to pilot a few of the their older athletes around the bike trails of Longview Lake. We got to put the first miles on the new tandems that were purchased recently from Precision Tandem of KC (913.962.8866). Much thanks to them as they gave a hefty discount for the Campfire USA and we were able to buy five brand new KHS tandems for under $5000. Sweet rides for sure. It was John and Amanda's first time volunteering and they had a blast! It was really nice to make it all the way out and back without something major messing up with the bikes, something we always have struggled with on our past rides with our old bikes. Riders included John, Amanda, Dan Jackson and I. Stokers were Casey, Chris, Bryan and Kansas City's Campfire USA director, Andrea. Dan's son Corey rode solo.

A funny side story....I gave Corey a Gu pack during one of our rest stops and he offered to tow us all back since he had so much energy to burn after eating it.

Anyway....here are some photos of the group and three of the new bikes.

OFFROAD FIXATION (aka Inertia 2) MEMBERS IN ADVENTURE WORLD MAGAZINE

I found a new adventure racing magazine last night online. WWW.ADVENTUREWORLDMAGAZINE.COM This type of magazine has tended to come and go as people quickly realize how much work goes into filling pages and acquiring advertising. I was excited to see that they had a short article on the US Adventure Racing National Championships that were held in Potosi, MO last year. I was even more surprised when I saw the article lead off with a full page (page 15) image of Shalom Shoaf and I (I'm sure John Clausen was up ahead leading the way) riding the Berryman Trail. I'm the blurry one. We struggled through some medical issues in that race but finished the full course in 30 hours and 31 minutes in 49th place out of 77 of the top teams in the nation. This reaffirms what I tell my kids, it doesn't matter how fast you are, just how good you look while you are going fast. :-)

Kelly