Thursday, July 31, 2008

NEXT UP? BERRYMAN!!!

Which race is the biggest, baddest mamajamma in the midwest? Which one sends shivers down the spine of every racer who has survived it? Which race do I look forward to the most each year? The answer to all of these is the Berryman Adventure and it is only two months away. Off Road Fixation will be sending a four person coed team, consisting of John Clausen, Ryan Netz, Michelle Elliot and I. Personally, I don't have any dreams of winning it all with all the top notch talent that has been showing up there in the past few years. My goal is to navigate well as a team, stay energized and complete the full course of this 36 hour monster. If we happen to surprise a few teams in the end, so be it. To my team mates, train hard. This is the year that we go all the way!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

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.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

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.

Friday, July 4, 2008

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.