Team Great Divide – What’s Happening?

Well, we have nearly wrapped up the 2011 cycling season. Great rides, races and comradeship all around. Many team members continue to ride nearly every day of the week, check out the Ride Schedule tab for more details. Most likely someone will show up to ride.

There are reports that some mountain bikers are riding even in the snow. The cyclocross team continues to race into winter. Check out some of the race reports below.

A couple of changes are being planned for 2012:

1. The team is adding a crit and time trial to our race schedule, these races will be in Helena and on the same weekend as the Cow Country Classic.

2. The Spring Meadow Triathlon will be on July 1, 2012 – registration is now open http://www.imathlete.com/events/springmeadowtri .

It has been great to see everyone out on the roads, trails and at the events. Thanks to all our great volunteers, ride leaders and participants.

Fun Group Ride: Heavenly Hell Ride Redux

All,

Sorry ’bout the spam.  I sent this plea for company for a ride thursday night…but must have got filtered by the cyber nazi at Yahoo and apparently the e-mail didn’t show up till today.  Thanks for all that responded.  We did the ride thursday night.

I heard from Randall and Jenn G.  and hope to catch you guys next week.

Keeping with tradition, here is a brief ride report.  I’ll call it  Heavenly Hell Ride Redux : 

What a great night!  Angels and SAINTS  were smiling on us for sure.  Surreal conditions abounded.  I can count on one hand how many times I’ve ridden birsdeye with that little wind. That is after 30years of doing that loop too. (Byron, It should be noted for historical sake that I uttered the W word a handful of times and it still stayed perfectly still…wierd huh! ).  At this point I began to wonder if maybe I had died unexpectedly and this was my eternal bliss.  After reaching silver city and not getting hollered at by anyone driving a hillbilly deluxe pickup truck, I was nearly certain I had made Saint Peter’s cut.  Not even an impatient honk!.  WTH!  OMG!  Those share the road signs really do work!!  Rednecks must be easy to brain wash??…

As for the duo of riders.  I was coming off spending the whole summer convalescing on the boat with alcohol to dull the pain in my back (rough duty I know!), and my partner was a college student who was up till 3am wednesday night pounding beers.  This made for a interesting yet familiar and soothing aroma of beer and jack daniels shortly after we crossed the tracks to the “game on” phase of the ride.  The scoolin’  started shortly after.

Lesson 1
Success in life is all about having key pieces of information.  Age and treachery prevailed. I won both of the sprints because young Zymba didn’t know where the sprint points were.

Lesson 2
Enthusiasm does not substitute for preparation.  Although I could muster momentary speed because of  my excitement about riding again,  I did not have the corresponding training.  My legs started cramping about the time we hit the firehouse.

Lesson 3
Choose friends wisely.  Even after being duped by the oldster, young zymba still had the sympathy to see the plight of my cramping quads and allowed me to sit on his wheel all the way to Lincoln road.

Lesson 4
Heaven and Hel-ena.  Rolled up over that last hill on lincoln road and realizing what a freeking awesome place we live in.  Yep pretty sure this in my blissful eternity.  If it’s not I hope it looks just like it.

Hope to see some folks out next week.   Tuesday night is currently open and weather seems to be holding.

Keith

__._,_.___

Race Report: XTERRA Utah and national championships

Dave had a day in the field last Wednesday for work and found himself getting off work at 1:30 Friday. Hmmmmm, we thought, that opens up a lot of hours on Friday eve…..he rode home from work and we deliberated for the next hour whether we were crazy enough to hop in the car and drive to Ogden for the race the next morning? The only way the scenario worked was because our friend from Great Falls was also roger-racing it down to Ogden to get there before 6 pm to register. Of course none of us decided BEFORE Friday to register (could’ve done it Thurs eve!). UGH. I spent most of the Friday noon hours on the phone with Kristina to see if she’d make it in time. She would have to sign Dave and I up if we hopped in the car.

After an hour, we finally decided, “LET’s DO IT!”! I had the Warren Miller quote going through my head, “If you don’t do it this year, you’ll be one year older when you do!” So, we left town at 3:30 hoping Kristina would make it in time to sign us all up. Sure enough, she got there about 5:50 and sacrificed her credit card on our entry fees! Not only did she do that for us, she ALSO let us crash her room at 11pm at the Marriot when we pulled into town! Talk about a gracious friend! 6 hours later we were all up at 5 am and leaving for Snowbasin /Pine view resevoir (Ogden Canyon) at 6am. Dave and I thought we’d miss the turn and spend an extra half hour lost before finding T1. Two transition races are such a nightmare to set up! The logistics of triathlons are always WAY MORE STRESSFUL than the race! By the time you’re racing, it’s like you are relaxing!

Xterra has this weird way of body marking where they put some sort of ink on you. This led to LONG lines and long waits. Dave and I didn’t get to T2 (about 20 minutes to drive up to Snowbasin ski area parking lot) until we heard all the shuttles were gone. AH. Again, the race to see if we miss our starts! We did miss the pro start but a lucky shuttle came back to our rescue. I didn’t see Kristina again until after the race! TONS of people there ! I heard the announcer say over 1000 with the xterra run nationals on Sunday.

To top off the whole event, Lance Armstrong was there racing his first tri in 22 years. Everyone thought he’d smoke the bike and maybe get run down or even win? (we thought this too) It turned out, he was smoking fast in the swim (Impressive!) and out with the lead pack, however, he had the top xterra men athletes riding with him the whole time. I don’t think he had the fastest bike split and he was already in 3rd or so getting off the bike. He ended up 5th which was very respectable for the TOUGH course. I saw him get out of the swim and was surprised how fast he was. (His swim/T1 times was 12 minutes faster than mine! (1500m); his bike was 35 min faster(18 miles w/ mostly climbing) and his run 9 min faster(6.3 miles with climbs and trails)….which led to AN HOUR faster total than me! Eeesh!).

All the media, TV stations, news, press, helicopters and videographers around to capture Lance made everything very exciting, but also a bit ridiculous! Haha, at one point Dave joked to me saying, “Is Lance gonna parachute down here from the helicopter now!?”

Three races were happening at the same time that morning. Those who qualified were racing in the USA nationals and they started at 9 am. Their course was the same as mine and Kirstina’s (Xterra Utah long course), but they started earlier. They were nice enough to the pro’s to make all of us wait until most of those racers came around their first swim loop (2 loop triangle for 1500m) so we started at 9:35 instead of 9:20. I was fine with that until they started the sprint racers about 10 min later instead of 20 after us. They were supposed to start at 9:40, but everything was later so the only complaint I had on race day was that we came through for our second swim loop and encountered a SEA full of green caps doing the short race that we had to swim through….breast stroking, back stroking, etc. No fun…made a lot of long course people mad….not only that, but we also had to spend the first 5-10 miles on the bike weaving through many of them. Not a good call on the race directors part.

I hadn’t swam a 1500 in a couple years….a few 1000′s this year and neither Dave and I had swam in over a month. So, we were a little scared on how it’d ‘feel’ but knew we could do it. The bike course for me was 18 miles with about 16 miles of climbing. 3400 ft of elevation. I think any Helenan could ride it…not technical at all, just grueling on the low back! Never even put a foot down. Dave smoked the sprint bike and beat his age group by 4 minutes on his bike split! He was flying! So cool! THe sprint had 2300 ft of climbing, too! Again, not super technical but those willing to ride the crazier and rockier lines (like Dave) got passed herds of sprinters in the easy line. I went through phases of feeling my legs on the bike and then not. I was told at the end of the bike that I was the 3rd women in the long race at that point, so that gave some wind to my spirits.

The run course may not have been loved by my Helenan counterparts that I wanted to come. Hehe, you know who you are. It started at the snowbasin parking lot and immediately out of transition climbed 700 ft straight up the mountain. Many many many people were walking this. I didn’t walk at all, but kept moving (probably could’ve walked faster). I was surprised I felt so good on the run and credited my runny friends back home for that continental divide run we did on labor day. The air was so high up there you could just tell there was less oxygen. That affected a lot of people I think…especially after such a tough bike course. I know that Randy and Landen Beckner would’ve ripped that course to shreds! But I’m sure they were here doing some max threshold jumping over barriers instead.

Once you climbed up, it was a beautiful trail run through the woods (amazing colors with fall coming) and a nice descent to the finish. I ended up 3rd overall in the long course race (not nationals) and won my age group. If I had been racing in nationals, my time would’ve had me at 2nd in my age group and qualifying for Worlds in Maui. That is exciting and something to think about! Dave ended up 3rd in his age group in the sprint and he had like 40+ people in his age group! To have beat all of them by 4 minutes on the bike is a testament to his biking skills and climbing! Pretty awesome. Kristina was third in her age group in the long course. Pretty awesome showing after all three of us ran Mt Helena last weekend (none of us would’ve if we knew we were going to Xterra, but perhaps it helped!? Dave thinks so) and so our legs weren’t fresh!

The post-event was really great with free massages (YAHOO! I’m sure that’s why we weren’t even sore the day after and I had a great run today! Felt like oxygen was everywhere here! haha) We had the choice of many different lunches, yum! And we watched the nationals awards and Lance-interview, etc. Lance was pretty cool in his interview acknowledging the event was very hard! He said when asked if he had fun, “NO!” Also, he said he could’ve stayed home to drink beer and play golf, but he chose to come play and suffer with the rest of us, but it isn’t any easier for him! He enjoyed the course/event and was very thankful to volunteers. It was cool to see him in person!

Unfortunately we didn’t stay for our own schwag as we hopped in the car and drove home the same hours as the day before! Arrived back in Helena at 10 pm Sat. eve and slept like babies! In retrospect, we admitted it seemed a bit crazy how fast our adventure was, but it was totally worth it! We loved seeing the new area and the course was beautiful and fun! The Xterra athletes are very laid back compared to road tri’s and are super friendly and fun to be around. We would’ve liked to spend more time at the expo, etc., but responsibilities awaited back in Helena. You only live once and that decision sure made us feel alive for those 24 hours!!! Unfortunately we didn’t get many pics, but here a few. Hope you come next time!

Last Chance Cyclocross Race Report

Your team brought a great start to the MT Cyclocross season.  The team was led by wins today from Aubrey Curtis in the Men’s Cat 4 Category, a second place by Wendy Brooke (women’s Cat 4) and thirds by Will Snider (Master B), Jennifer Griggs (Cat 4), and Mark Brooke (Cat3).  Notable was the fact that this was Aubrey and Will’s first cross race and Mark’s first foray mixing it up with the 1/2/3s.  We will be expecting great things from Aubrey in future showings and hope to see Will at future fall throw downs.  Mark will need to spend some time getting his tire pressure regimen figured out and has been desperately looking for a spare set of lungs on Bonktown.com to no avail.

Weather was great and brought the fans and neighborhood out in force.  Cowbells were generally controlled in spite of the calls for “more cowbell” by the more seasoned members of the MT cyclocross scene.  Dear readers should know that exceptions to the traditional last lap cowbell were strictly not condoned by the promoters of the Last Chance Cyclocross.

A truly heart felt thank you goes out to all the volunteers who helped with the race.  This is an awesome team and these race undertakings would not be possible with your efforts, the efforts of our sponsors, and the strong leadership of the team.

Go Team Great Divide!

Grand Columbian Super Triathlon report

Hi Team Great Divide peeps! Here’s my post-race report…

Friday morning I headed west with a friend to Grand Coulee, WA, to take part in the “Grand Columbian Super Triathlon”. Race check-in was at the starting line on the shore of Lake Roosevelt/Columbia River, just a couple miles north of The Coulee Dam @ Spring Canyon Campground. (We camped here both Fri & Sat).  The race was boasting a myriad of distances: Olympic, Aquabike, Half-Iron, Full-Iron and (dun, dun, DUN) a “Super Tri” that was just a bit farther than an Iron: 200K bike, 5K swim & 50K run. (Seriously? An Iron distance isn’t far enough???)

Race day was dark and a bit chilly @ 6:30am. The water was a balmy 68 degrees. The coolest thing about the 2.4 mile swim was that there was a white rope about 5 feet below us that held by anchors & buoys so there wasn’t the perpetual search for site markings. It felt more like a pool swim, just following the line with a teensy beach run over the timing matt in between the 2 laps. 1 hour 15 minutes later, out of the water I ran to the women’s transition tent.
(Never have I been in a tri where there were fancy-schmancy “his & hers” tents.  Pretty luxurious! T1 was especially slow as I tried to quickly apply compression socks to damp legs with poor fine motor skills due to chilly, sleepy fingers.
On to the bike leg. The weather was overcast and high 60′s. Perf! The race started off with some good sized hills that were so intense that in years past athletes were caught WALKING their bikes. (Scoff! However, I didn’t see such behavior The ride was windy and on slender country roads with barely a shoulder. I feared for my life as a semi-truck passed hauling hay & didn’t move over an inch. The draft was frightening and nearly knocked me over! Yikes! This 112 mile bike took just under 7.5 hours.
T2 was in a different location that T1, just below the Coulee Dam near the Visitors Center @ the finish line. The area was festive with music pumping through giant speakers.
Next came the 26.2 mile run. Fortunately the course was flat as a pancake with only one hill as we made our way down to the “downriver trail”. Unfortunately it was a 2 lap ordeal. Mentally it would be so much easier if it were 1 large lap. The nice treat for some of the racers and the spectators @ the finish line was the laser light show that took place @ 8:30pm. They let some water flow down the dam which makes a white backdrop for the show. (I missed it race night but saw it the previous night.) As darkness fell the aid stations handed out flashlights for athletes to navigate their way down the dark river pathway. I walked a TON of the marathon as did many others. Whatev. In the end I finished in 15 hours. Yay!
After crossing the finish line I went to the EMT tent as planned. I had prepaid the $35 fee for a 1,000 ml bag of IV Lactated Ringers. Hallelujah! Bring on a speedy recovery!!! I think it helped. As I sit here typing this I’m wearing compression socks and was on my feet all day at work but didn’t have the “Frankenstein walk” or “fall to the toilet” that I’ve suffered from in the past.
I would recommend this race to anyone considering an Iron-man but frowns when they realize they can’t get in because they needed to register 1+ years prior.  There were only about 50 Iron-distance racers & 20ish “Super Iron” racers.

Race Report for USA Cycling National Masters Road Racing Championship 2011 – Bend Oregon

Race Report for USA Cycling National Masters Road Racing Championship 2011 – Bend Oregon

The Masters (>30 years old) National Road Racing Championship consists of time trial, criterium, road, and tandem race venues.
This was my first National competition, and although I wanted to do the time trial and road race, the TT venue for the 55-59 age class was scheduled for Wednesday, the criterium Friday, and the road race Sunday, which really spread out the race schedule, and I didn’t want to take all that time off for the race series. So Fran and I drove to Bend on Thursday (an 11-12 hour drive) and I skipped the idea of competing in the TT. On Friday we went to watch several of the crits, including my age group (10:45 AM). I was a bit “disturbed” to see Mike Longmire, who races in my age group and always kicks my butt, work really hard to keep in the main group and finish 38 out of 49. That definitely put some perspective on the group that I was going to be racing with on Sunday. Ouch.
I took some time to find a good street map of Bend (and a map of the Three Sister’s Wilderness for a hike), and Fran and I explored Bend which is a very tourist oriented community (i.e. lots of good restaurants and shopping opportunities, including a Pearl Izumi outlet). And they have 9 micro-breweries.

So Friday afternoon after drawing out the course on the street map, I rode the course which was a circuit of about 17 miles plus a lead-in and finish separate 1 1/2 mile section – 84 kilometers, or 52 -plus miles. Two very significant descents and climbs, for a total of about 700′ per lap, plus a 150′ quick drop and climb at about mile 2.5. Although the course was marked, I was checking the map a lot to make sure I was on-course. And on the second lap I actually missed a hard right turn and had to double back about 1/2 mile to find my missed turn. I was pretty googly-eyed at the descents which I was taking at 30+mph and thinking about being in a peleton of 40-plus riders. Also, even though most of the course had great shoulders and smooth surface, there were some sections of bumpy road, no shoulders and crumbling edges, duly noted.  Of the two climbs, the first was not to my liking as it was fairly short (less than a mile) and then tapered into a gradual long 3 mile incline – better for bigger boys. the second was better for me – steeper and longer – but then it ended in a downhill run-out. The final mile-plus finish looked to be flat/downhill, and not in my favor. Definitely an attention grabbing course with a need to pay full attention to turns, curves, road surface, and gradient changes – it had it all.

Saturday Fran and I went hiking in the Three Sisters Wilderness – we did a 9 mile hike up Falls Creek to Green Lakes and had a picnic lunch at the big Green Lake. The trail head was about five miles past Mt. Bachelor, and about 25 miles from town. Beautiful stream and lakes, with Falls Creek well named for the numerous (small but enchanting) falls that the trail runs along-side. Lots of runners on the trail and great tread – smooth hard sand.  Very popular: as we were coming down, we must have passed at least 100 people. Later in the day on the way back in we drove the course so that I could take another good look and pay more attention to the course layout than on the bike, and so that Fran could get a sense of the course.

Sunday morning early – did I mention that the 55-59 age class was scheduled for an 8 AM start? – we headed over to the start. I set up the wind trainer and was warming up at 7:15 AM with the temperature about 45oF (Fran reading in the car). Others were doing much the same.
At 7:40 I headed over to the start, but not much info – no sign-in needed (did that when I picked up my packet), just make sure timer chip and race number on bike, etc. Talked to another racer from Texas and rode around looking at what other were wearing. OK – pull off the leg warmers, keep the arm warmers, don’t bother with the vest, it’s going to warm up… back to the start/finish. Lots of folks lining up. Don’t need to be near the front – hey there’s Mike Longmire, but too many to get over to say hi…

Pre-race instructions from the refs – the big news (for me): rolling enclosure – we have the whole road, no “yellow line” rule – ! This is great news for me- thinking about those descents and the number of folks that will be blasting down those twisty-turn roads trying to go as fast as possible. note to self – stay with the group. Neutral to after the second round-about (about a mile) and then wait for the whistle, …the rest… yeah, right… the gun goes and we’re off…

Next 53 miles were somewhat a blur. Intense concentration, some levity (say hi to Mike, “hey big guy”, etc.) but lots of output. The rolling enclosure was awesome: full road width, with police in front and behind, along with motorcycles. This allowed for downhills at 40+ mph, although disconcerting with folks with carbon rims that make awful noises with brake pads right next to you – sounds like they’re about to crash (squealing/shrieking sound). The uphills were all-out efforts, and no recovery allowed on the crests: that  was where the top riders pushed to create gaps. I had to chase several times after both serious climbs (with others). I was with the main peleton the first two and 1/2 circuits and feeling OK. I tried to keep Mike L. in sight during the race – he was a good reference for me. One rider broke away from the pack at about 15 km to go, and before the big two climbs, and on the first climb the motorbike rider announced that the leader had 30 seconds on the field. And at the feed zone (past the first big climb) on the third lap I got gapped and was not able to get back on the main peleton. I kept them in sight along the last climb, but was loosing distance. One guy was on my wheel for about a 1/2 mile, then dashed away with about a km to the finish. About 500 m before the finish I looked over my should and saw someone behind, and so pushed it hard to keep in front and finished… in 2 hours 13 minutes and 25 seconds.

Overall, Dave Zimbelman, from the Dalles, OR, finished 1st in 2:10.47′. 2nd – 24th place all finished with the same time, 1 minute and 9 seconds back – including Mike Longmire. I finished in 31st place (of 57),  with a time of 2:13.25′, 2’37″ behind Dave Z, and 1’28″ behind the main peleton. As a ranked Cat 3 rider, I finished 13th of 26 that finished.

Others from Montana, Mike Longmire, Walt Chauner (raced 60 – 64 age group, 9th place in his road race), Brian Frykman (40-44, Bozeman – 5th in TT), Pat Dowd and AnnJo Dingman, both women from Bozeman. AnnaJo (30-34 age cat.) placed 5th in the road race and 8th in the crit.

So there you have it. I believe that the Nationals will be in Bend again next year and I sure hope to be there mixing it up with the best of the best. You should too!

Robert Ray

Mac Pass Clean Up

We had 7 brave soles to tackle the 2 mile stretch of Highway from the base of McDonald Pass to the shooting range. Byron, Randell, & Paul drove up to the shooting range and worked down the Westbound lane. While Trever, Alisa, Jeff and I worked the Eastbound lane.  Paul provided the vests, had put up the signs and also gave each of us a couple of garbage bags.

It was a bit windy walking up the Westbound lane, but other than the grasshoppers attacking Alisa it was a pleasant evening.  Jeff and Trever kept working a long way down the back – I thought maybe they were hoping to find a corpse or something.  Nothing like that was found, lots of beer cans and bottles. No money or new Wiler frames, darnit.

Anyway, we fulfilled our annual obligation for the Adopt a Highway program, and enjoyed a luke warm beer in the end.

Remember, no meeting this month. See you at WERKS or the Cyclocross race.

Mike Jacobson

Team President

Race Report: Xterra Wild Ride, Mccall, ID 8-21-2011

I’m pretty sure all of you know just how blessed we are with the mountain trails we have in and near Helena.  That is why you’re on this listserve, and, hopefully, part of our team.  Last weekend, Dave and I got another dose of gratefulness of just how awesome we have it.  I seriously don’t want to sound better at mountain biking than I am, because I have A LOT to learn, and I fall, A LOT.  But, it became most apparent just how amazing our trails are near Helena, when I started biking past people (who I know are legit triathletes) on the technical and climbing sections.  It wasn’t because I was stellar, it was because I had seen the crazy jutting-out rocks and gnarly trail ideas before (ridge trail, rocky road, contour, etc. come to mind), and I just tried them.  I fell a few times, luckily not bad, and I fell in Helena Thursday before the race (hit my knee on the handlebars, ouch, the bruise still hurts).  I think most of the people who didn’t try to ride the technical stuff probably didn’t have the glorious practice arena we do in Helena.

As for the race:

   This was our first long Xterra.  I had done the short Bozeman xterra and a sprint in Canada last summer.  I have to admit this was the most nervous I’d been before a race in a long time.  Why?  Because of the technical bike section!  I had heard some stories of people being unable to ride the middle of the course, notably one of the packet pickup women riders who’s raced this race 4 years in a row!  This was a new fear for me, as this doesn’t come with road tri’s.  Maybe nervousness is good?  Or maybe the lack of expectations or pressure?  Just hoping to live!  The first real wig out I had was when I walked up to pickup my chip, and none-other than Samantha McGlone’s name was under mine.  Holy Crap!  I’ve always wanted her autograph!  I think she has podiumed at Ironman Hawaii and has had stories written all over tri world about her, and particularly about her getting into Xterra in recent years (I think).  I totally recognized her in the bathroom and ooo-ed over the compression garb she wore as she setup her bike near mine in transition.  The pro guy next to her was very cordial to me and told me he won the race on my bike last year.  Overall, the general consensus this year, he said, was to use a hardtail 29er in the xterra world.  My bike has handlebar lockouts on the suspension which worked amazing for me.  I helped Dave set up transition, googley eyed up some more pro’s and their bikes, and we were down on the beach in our wetsuits before we knew it.

The swim was short and surprisingly, I felt no need to push it.  This was unlike the other two swims I’d done this year.  I guess I figured the mt bike leg was long enough (20 miles/2 hours) that I didn’t need to go hard in the swim, or, I just didn’t have it?  The water was clear, cool, and a little wavy from boats.  I got sandwiched once and couldn’t go anywhere.  I had a nice warm up and left in about 16.5 minutes (short for an xterra).  Being so new, this is where I made my first big mistake (turned out to be a blessing I think).  I took way more time in transition than normal (even put on gloves for better grip and socks, I never do that!…nearly a 3 min Raz transition), and somehow after ALL that time, I FORGOT the one necessity: FLUID.  I left my camelbak in transition before a 2 hour ride.  Hmmmm.  (note to self, put water on your bike!  I vaguely recall hanging the camelbak on my bar in Canada, MUCH better idea than off to the side!)  So, I spent the first few miles (road climbing up to trail) wondering how to hydrate.  There was an aid station before the singletrack climb at about 4-5 miles in.  I stopped and asked if they had any bottles.  Lots of men passed me here as the volunteer dug me out (I think his personal) a plastic water bottle.  I was SO grateful and thought, well, I’ll throw this in my back pocket.  I started riding up the single track for a couple more miles and realized how it wasn’t going to work with the screw cap and bobbling in my back pocket on the technical terrain.  A couple miles later, I saw a nasty old discarded water bottle (we hope it wasn’t there for weeks and Dave is still joking I might get sick from it).  I stopped again, got passed by some men, and spent the next mile riding (yeah, DUH, should’ve stopped there) with trying to unscrew the new bottle in my cage, unscrew the plastic bottle in my teeth and then pour it into the bottle while smashing the plastic and losing most of the water, all still riding.  (and getting passed more and feeling TOTALLY retarded).  Most everyone was very nice though and chuckled with me…at this point I could only laugh at myself.  My retrospective thoughts are that it was meant to be because I definitely would’ve overdrank on the bike with my camelbak and had a terrible, stomach sloshing run.  Instead, I only had about 6 oz of water, was dehydrated, and ran great.

OKAY, now I can focus on riding!  By now, it’d had been about 8 miles of climbing (nothing like Helena steep, more gradual so it felt fairly good) and we were getting into the technical stuff.  Oops, first spill on the elbow when a dude ran up my back and bumped my tire.  OH well (my biggest fear before the race was getting in people’s way on the bike)!   I let a few men pass me and then I started to ride stuff that looked scary and gained a little confidence.  Before I knew it, I passed some people and came upon someone in full blue gear with MCGLONE written across her back…this was my second Holy Sh&t! moment.  Third came when I noticed she wasn’t trying to ride much of the technical stuff!  At this point, after being stuck behind her while she’d get off her bike and walk it over stuff, I hear this “GO LO” come up behind me.  It was Dave!  YAY!!  Team Great Divide representing!  We were both stuck behind her at this point (she did not want us to pass) and so I proceeded to chat with Dave and tell him my camelbak story.  Finally, she let us pass and I said bye to Dave and didn’t see him until this finish line.  It got crazy technical with big rocks, drops, two creek crossings, STEEP sandy climbs (not sure how anyone would ride that!…do you RANDY!?), and then, after about 5 miles of technical stuff, a wicked descent.  I say wicked because my husband told me after the race he spent the whole time worrying about how our insurance was outta state because he KNEW i’d break an arm.  That poor man! haha….I REALLY went slow as I have a very skiddish bike without grippy tires….I got passed by a woman on this squirrly section and she told me nice riding….at that point, I thought I was just back of the pack, so it gave me a nice ‘up’.  The descent was full of swooping switchbacks, not tight, but VERY loose, deep sand.  I heard some people say it was worse than the Maui sand.  We got down to the pavement and I hammered (haha road skills on the mountain bike, big ringing it) and caught her w/ about a mile to transition.  T2 went fine and I was glad to see Dave’s bike back and he was out on the run sporting the awesome TGD colors Greg so kindly borrowed him, thanks Greg!  P.S. did you have a baby yet!?

The run was a blast.  I’ve decided there’s nothing more fun than these Xterra runs.  Wood stairways, roots, winding trails, trees, turns, short ups and downs, the fun doesn’t end!  I usually suffer on triathlon 10k’s…they can be tough after a hard ride.  But I just LOVE these xterra runs and they go by so fast with all that’s going on and the footwork to negotiate.  I actually passed a lot of men (most of them bonking, or used too much legs on the bike) but I was just having fun.  I was thinking of people in Helena who would rock these races like Wendy and Mark Brooke, Michelle R.,  Michele B, Evan, Aubrey, etc.  Even the road tri people like Ann, Janet and Raz would love it with those trail runs!  I’m not sure there’s an excuse with our backyard to play in!  Anyone who loves trails would love these Xterras.

Not until some guy in a white outfit got in front of me about a mile from the finish line and said, “first woman or relay?…to which I responded with a shrug and said, I have no idea?, and he said, “well, are you a relay?” and i said no,” did I realize what type of race I may have just had.  I was mostly alone on the run besides about 5 bonking guys I passed.  It turned out that was Sam Mcglone’s private coach who flew up with her from Tucson for the race.  I just kept smiling and ran through the finish and even then didn’t really know I’d won.  I don’t think the calibur of pro women who’d raced in the past were there this year!  HA.  Oh well, I’ll take it.  Dave had an amazing bike leg (as expected) and bonked a little himself on the run.  He got 2nd in his age group!!!  A TOUGH age-group!  Greg said he had to if he borrowed his TGD tri top.  Way to go HUSB!

Okay, I know, I’m getting close to writing another novel so I better wrap it up!  But when you only do one big race in the summer, you gotta write a lot about it! haha.  I’ve also decided that sushi is the best pre-race meal ever this summer, and we had some delicious sushi in Mccall Friday night.

The volunteers, race directors, and chip timing were perfect and did a wonderful job.  They were easily in touch with us and very friendly.  The setting and scenery at Payette Lake was spectacular, and if you’re up for a challenging ride and an exciting run, I highly recommend thinking about trying this one next year.  With the short swim, it really is feasible for anyone…Dave swam about twice before the race!  The schwag was amazing, too, I can’t even list all that I came home with!  Thanks for reading and being our teammates!

8-23-2011 Last Hell Ride of the Year

I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!  Well, these days maybe anything is better than Cats but the 2012 Hellride season ranks right up there with some of the most exciting seasons ever.  There were several elements that made it enjoyable this year.  The major change that I noticed this year over previous seasons was the depth of talent on the bench.  Between the triathletes (strongly represented by Aubrey, but also having nice support from outgoing president Mike Jacobsen and Greg Wirth), some new comers like Jamul Hahn who changed the dynamic some and gave seasoned riders like Robert Ray, Jason Ames and Mark B. an opportunity to do some higher math, and the marked improvements from the ol’ regulars (especially Bryon and Randall Green) each leg of the race was pretty much up for grabs.  Several new tactics were tried throughout the season including several attacks from the start (especially on the 3^rd leg), earlier attacks, some team lead outs on the second and third leg, and folks were better at working the wind to their advantage against their competitors.  There were also several great rotating pace lines that ripped the pack apart and were exhilarating to organize on the fly and work in.    Some folks learned that they had newfound skills and roles.  I think Byron could be our new lead out man, Randall the green diesel engine is great at not blowing up and working guys back into the group, and Mark learned he was a sprinter.  Robert as always is the metronome for setting the tempo on climbs (his pace and ride over the top of the hill on Cow Country was a defining moment of the season), Aubrey is mister TT and is becoming a great roadie and able to get in tighter with the pace lines.  Jamal, aka the hand of God, brings a great spirit and tactical mix to the group.     Several women also participated on many of the Hellrides Jane O., super spirit Rebecca Shaw, Megan, Jennifer were in attendance and we missed the X-chromosomes when absent.

 

In attendance from your team for the last ride were Randall, John (I don’t wanna run no more) Tietz, Aubrey, Mark, Byron the blowtorch, and the leader of the 2012 Hellrides, Robert Ray.  Others in the mix included Buck Rae and his son Silas with the junior Velo team, Jason Ames and Jamul Hahn.  The number of yellow and red jersey’s was pretty cool to see and bespeaks well of the camaraderie developed over what has become a long road racing season.

 

The Velo boys also showed up for the last ride of the season.  That band of brothers consisted of the first showing of Jeff Proctor for the year and the enjoyable return of Landen to the group and Scott, the other elder statesman of that worthy group of competitors.

 

As the lucky 13 rolled on course temps were about 90 and we were bucking a 10-15 mph headwind from the west.  Most folks were trying to keep their nose out of the wind and save their matches.  Robert graciously offered to ride with the slowest group (a new role instituted at the end of this season for one elected individual per ride) and brought Silas and Buck through thick and thin.  For the first leg I recall seeing Jason, Byron and John up near the front early on, then Landen kicked at the base which brought Scott, Jeff, Aubrey, Mark, and Jason to the scene like sharks to blood in the water.  Jason and Landen were mixing it up for a while and then Scott decided to see what gear everybody was running in and attacked the group.  I fell off only to be paced back up by Jason (I think) and then getting dropped at the false summit but could see Scott and Jeff trading blows in what was I believe a Scott, Jeff, Landen finish with no contest from me for the podium.  Jeff and Scott demurred confirmation.

 

Off again on the second leg and chaos ensued!  Speeds of 30 mph were achieved through the Silver Creek crossing and Byron was out in front with Jeff and Landen!  Scott was hanging back in 4^th wisely not attacking his teammates and waiting to see what Team Great Divide had up its sleeve.  Aubrey and Mark were pacing Scott and Mark was pushing Aubrey to the front to bridge to save his legs for a duel against Velo for the sprint finish.  Aubrey must have been overheating and fogging his glasses because I later found out that he mistook Byron for John in the front.  When Aubrey kicked, it pushed the pace up through the drainage and then as your team started to flag, Jamal gave Mark the hand of God boost which spurred Scott into a counter attack and we swept up Bryon like he was standing still (which he wasn’t).  Fortunately he held his line like the master he is but Mark could not stand the heat that Scott was throwing down and ran another 4^th to the Velo boys.

 

The third leg was going to be different, somehow.  That is when Jason rode up to Mark and said he was just going to TT to the base of the hill at the end of the third leg.  True to form Jason laid out four miles of watts and kept the pace going above 30 mph and peaking around 37 mph the entire way!  Granted there was a tailwind and it is a downhill reach but it was not a 30 mph tailwind…  When he pulled off the front Scott and Mark were looking at each other waiting for another wheel when Byron stepped into the chamber.  Click, click, boom!  The pace jumped to almost 39, yes 39 mph as Scott and Mark were turning it over looking forward, never looking back, running for the line.  Scott, Mark and John were 1, 2, 3 cresting the hill at 28 mph over the line.  The last stage was covered in seven minutes flat.

 

It was nice to get on the podium and a worthy second in some respects is better fuel than the bragging rights of first.  If the Hellride is a lab to try new techniques and strategies, your teammates got passing grades for the season.  This series is a forge that tests the mettle of everybody on the road, from the first guy to the last.  If you watch what is going on and train regularly the series quickens your reaction time and uncovers new strengths.

 

The fires that burned this summer around Birdseye will light the spirit during the darkest days of winter training.  Hope to see you next year!

Scott Fisk Time Trial 2011 Series Results

Thanks for those riders that showed up last night to ride a shortened course.
Results are as follows:
Men:                      Women:
Greg 7:39            Jane 8:28
Aubrey 7:45      Ann 8:49
Robert 7:47       Hanna 9:19
Randall 8:22

Scott Fisk Time Trial Vally Champions:
Men:                                  Women:
Randall 44 pts               Jane 58 pts
Evan/Greg 30 pts        Rebecca 36 pts
Aubrey 28 pts               Ann 25 pts

and for anyone who is interested, the overall points scored as follows:
Men:                         Women:
Robert 86               Jane 91
Aubrey 76             Hanna 71
Randall 70            Rebecca 67

Thanks for participating for another year!!
Sarah

8-9-2011-Hell Ride Report

So you all missed a great Hell Ride and a chance at prizes. Great riding temerature, partly cloudy skies, just a bit of breeze, too bad most of you missed it…
Byron and I got to talking at the gathering parking lot and decided that neither of us wanted to “race” and we were going to have a good work-out ride – but not race – no matter who showed up. Well there were only three of us, as Jason Ames showed up with five minutes to spare. As we rolled out I noted that there was a pretty stiff wind out of the west/north west, 10-20 mph. So the paceline out to the railroad tracks was wind on the nose, with us all taking pulls and keeping things cool. Even after the tracks and to the bottom of the hill, nobody was pushing too hard, just a steady paceline. Once on the hill, Jason took the lead and raised the tempo a notch, but I guess Byron wasn’t quite satified as he kept up wind of Jason and routinely pulled ahead. I kept thinking “this is faster than I thought we were going to go”. There was a short sprint to the fire station, with Jason clearly ahead and Byron and Robert neck-a-neck.
Short stop and then we battled a cross wind for the next hot spot. Lots of time to try out the echelon formation in the front-to-cross wind on that leg. Again, we stayed together and battled the wind together until the last 1/2 mile or less to the hot spot line at Anna Brown road. On that sprint I sat on the back for a while and then took off about 300 meters from the line and stayed out front.
Final leg, tail wind and smooth running, again staying together and rolling along trading pulls at a 30 mph clip. Final climb sprint, Jason sits on the back for the last 1/2 mile, and Byron out in front pulls down the hill and decides to try and break away. Isn’t able to stay away and I pull past him on the uphill and then Jason pulls past me in the last 100 meters.
So Bryon got the Windbag gift certificate prize, for his consistency in showings at the Hell Rides and attitude.
‘Till next week.
OH, and lest I forget, after the final Hell Ride of the season which will be August 22nd (daylight getting short for evening rides on the road), we’ll be going over to the Windbag to share stories, beer and food.
So only two more “official” Hell Rides this season, so get ‘em while you can. And please join us at the Windbag (around 8-ish) to celebrate the 2011 cycling season and Hell Rides.
Cheers,
Robert