Inaugural Spin on the MXYBB

Over the Hump 2011 - Summer MTB Race Series

This was my first year racing in the Over the Hump summer series at Irvine Lake...not sure short track is for me, but it was a good experience nonetheless. Raced the YBB 26 for all the races and it treated me well! I raced in the "Super Sport" category (between Sport and Expert) and everyone was really fast! Ended the series 7th overall in the Super Sport cat. Each week some local pros would should up to race which is always cool to see and ride on the same course at the same time. 

2011 OTH Super Sport Results:

Race #01 05/24: 10th
Race #02 05/31: 13th
Race #03 06/07: 11th
Race #04 06/14: 18th
Race #05 06/21: 12th
Race #07 07/26: 7th
Race #09 08/09: 7th
Race #10 08/16: 10th
Race #11 08/23: 6th
Race #12 08/30: 8th 

Rim Nordic 2011 XC Series #4

My first race up at Rim Nordic...course was a lot of fun and all the organizers and racers seemed really nice...took a little spill near the end of the second lap. Ended up 5th in Cat 2 30-34. Will definitely have to do the whole series next year.

Ride Stats: http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=49378

GPS Playback: http://www.geoladders.com/gps_route_racer.php?route_id=49378

Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/1324466

Okole Stuff Cup 2011

The first annual Okole Stuff Cup and the first ever mountain bike race in an OC Park took place this past weekend at Irvine Park and Santiago Oaks. To be honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to the race. I think I have felt this way about all of the races I have done this year, but afterwards I am always glad that I did it.  It was really cool to see all of the people cheering everyone on as we tackled the technical section at the top of the Chutes ridgeline trail. I ended up with a total time of 1:34 which put me in 2nd in the sport cat. (Age 30-39) out of 27 total riders and 5th in sport cat. overall out of 87 total riders.

Chutes Ridgeline...my backyard

70 Miles & 10K of Climbing

Main Divide just east of Santiago Peak looking east towards Trabuco

Today was my longest mountain bike ride to date. Nice long day in the Santa Anas. Got a bit of rain on our way to Cooks. The sun came out about half way up Holy Jim. The flies were horrendous from the top of Holy Jim to the peak. Went back down into the marine layer about halfway between Motorway and Blackstar. My first time riding north on Main divide between Motorway and Beeks...there is still a lot of climbing going this direction - don't be fooled :) after Motorway the climbs seemed to be a bit shorter but much steeper vs. going the other direction. All in all good day in the saddle.

Ride Stats: http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=47428

GPS Playback: http://www.geoladders.com/gps_route_racer.php?route_id=47428

Strava: http://app.strava.com/rides/723993

The Traverse 2011

The finish line

This was my first time doing the Traverse - wow what a tough ride. 46 miles and over 8,300 feet of climbing. The day started off a little weird. Got to the start at Blackstar and it felt like it was empty compared to the start of Vision Quest & Counting Coup (VQ/CC). Went up to the starting gate at about 10 minutes to 7:00am and there were not that many people lining up. Stood there a few minutes and more and more people started to come up to the start. Talked to Manny Prado for a few minutes which was cool. He ended up taking 2nd overall with a time of 3:54 (over an hour faster than me!).

The start out and up Blackstar was fast similar to VQ/CC, but a little less hectic with a lot fewer people. There were 123 Traverse riders compared to over 300 VQ & CC riders. I made it up to Beeks in 48 minutes and was able to pass a few riders on the way. Kept a steady pace up to the ball, over to Pleasants Peak and eventually the motorway turnoff where there were a few Warrior's Society voluteers that were filling up water bottles. I opted to push on to 4 corners where I would re-fill the two bottles I was carrying.

This was my first time riding this direction on the section of main divide in between motorway and 4 corners. I've come from 4 corners to motorway which is mostly downhill so I knew this section had a lot of climbing.

After Motorway turnoff point looking towards 4 Corners

I hit the aid station at 4 corners at 2 hours 32 minutes, quickly emptied the last bit of my perpetuem that I hadn't finished and filled up the bottle with some sustained energy drink mix from hammer nutrition. Re-filled my second bottle with water and was on my way. The climb up to Santiago Peak from 4 corners is a grind and I knew it would be no different today. Got to the peak in 3 hours 15 minutes and kept on riding towards west horsethief and trabuco where we would turn and head down the single track and then out trabuco creek road to the finish at O'Neill Park. I was taking it easy on a lot of the downhill sections of main divide and had a few close calls as it was real loose, rocky, and rutted out in many sections.

After Upper Holy Jim looking towards West Horsethief and Trabuco Trail

Finally made it to the Trabuco turnoff at 4 hours 22 minutes and started heading down. The Trabuco Trail singletrack descent is a lot of fun with a lot of loose rock and exposed edges. This is one of my favorite trails in OC, however today I felt really slow on it. It seemed more loose than normal and I was taking it slow as not to fall after already being on the bike for over 4 hours at this point. Finally made it to the bottom of the singletrack and started heading out Trabuco Creek road to the finish.

All in all the Traverse was a great experience and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was fun seeing all the pro riders at the start...even if it was for just a few seconds before they took off. Thanks to the Warriors Society for putting on a great event.

Splits: Beeks 0:48, Motorway 1:44, 4 Corners 2:32, Peak 3:15, Trabuco 4:22, Finish 5:08. Ended up 6th place out of 50 riders in my category (Intermediate, Ages 31-45) and 36th out of 123 riders overall.

Counting Coup 2011

Perfect weather for my first Counting Coup race. We left the house at 4:30am and drove out to the start at Blackstar. Got to Blackstar and was amazed at how many people were there. I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised with 175 Counting Coup riders and 175 Vision Quest riders.

Started off strong and made it to Beeks in 48 minutes and was feeling good. Once I got on Main Divide my chain was bouncing around between gears. Tried messing with the cable adjuster and couldn’t get it to stop. I was trying to be careful not to pedal too hard on the uphills, but much to my dismay my chain snapped a little before the Motorway singletrack and just before Eagle. Lost a little over 10 minutes fixing it. Then took a sweet OTB on Motorway. Court was there to meet me at the bottom of Motorway and I was able to quickly find her change out a few items and I was off for the main climb up to the Peak.

Ended up with a total time of 5:06 and 16th place overall out of 155 total riders. Thanks to the Warriors Society for a great event.

Sunrise at the top of Blackstar Canyon

The Main Divide


2011 Vision Quest Mountain Bike Race from A J on Vimeo.