Huntville Hammer 2010

Wow. What a great weekend in Huntsville State Park just south of Huntsville, Texas.

I has been about 6 months since my last 'real' Adventure Race. It seems like most of the Race Companies slow it down for the hot months and then crank the races back up again when the weather starts to cool down.

I'd been itching to race for a while as having a target race keeps me focused on my training. In the last few weeks I'd been spending time at a couple of Orienteering Meets to improve my navigation skills as I wanted to serve at the 'bus driver' for our next big race. The Huntsville Hammer was my first 'big' race as full time navigator.

My friend and Texas State Ski Team member Jordan had been asking me about doing a race since the spring so I convinced him and my regular training partner Ross that we should do the Huntsville Hammer...the long course. All 12 hours of it. For some reason they agreed. Sweet.

Ross and I drove down to Huntsville the night before the race and Jordan and his girlfriend Stacey met up with us early the next morning. Ross was just 2 weeks off of an amazing performance in the 24 hours of Rocky Hill where he rode 16 laps...for 24 hours straight. Ross had been so focused on training for that race that he could tell me exactly how many miles he had ran in the last 5 months. 2.25. Not 225 miles. 2.25 total miles. This was going to be interesting for sure.

To hedge his possible lack of performace, he wanted to try and set our expectations low by saying things like "I won't be fast" or "I'll run but it will be ugly." Never mind that a slow mile for Ross is a fast mile for me. And, well any miles that Jordan would run with us would be like going for a light jog for him.

Anyway, we met up in the morning, set up TA and got ready for the big day. They started us off on a 3.5k run on a trail through the forest to spread the teams out a bit. We all hung together on the run and tried not to go too hard too soon since we knew it was going to be a long day.

Above: Flying along on the first bike leg

Back at TA we picked up our first set of clues and set off on a marked bike course around the lake in the State Park. This ride was really just a matter of staying on your bike and trying to keep the pace with the groups in front of you AND getting out of the way of anyone that wanted to pass you. For a while we had a pretty large group riding together. One of the all female teams consisted of 3 women who were essentially professional mountain bikers. Ross told me this after the fact...of course. And I kept wondering why during that 7 mile loop that I felt like I was pushing it kind of hard. Little did I know I was following 3 pros. Sweet Jesus we were flying. We only had to pick up 2 checkpoints on this ride and it was back to TA. Man it was a fast ride though.

Once in we received our next set of instructions we set off on a trek for 4 checkpoints. We traveled some with Caroline and Raymond's team as well as Eric and Frank. All of these guys are from Houston and have raced with Ross many times. We picked up a couple of checkpoints together and traveled with them for a while. After one of the checkpoints, I couldn't figure out why the other teams were heading back up the same draw we just came down when the next checkpoint was in the other direction. Seeing this as an opportunity, I took the guys a different route and we nabbed the next checkpoint way ahead of the other teams and started heading back. We felt like we were moving pretty quickly but soon enough Eric and Frank caught up with us and we later saw Caroline and her team slide by us on another trail. Oh well. Guess we should have been a little faster.

Above: Coming in from the paddle section

Back at TA, we were surprised to see that both Eric and Caroline's teams were already out on the paddle. Believe me, it wasn't like we were just lolly gagging around out there and I couldn't figure out how they were putting so much distance between the teams. We hoped in the canoe and started hauling ass to catch up. At one point we pulled on shore next to them as Ross and Jordan ran inland to get a checkpoint. I think Jordan tried to kill Ross by running him in to the ground with his Ninja like speed. They were back in a hurry and we made up some serious time here. We paddled like crazy back to TA and got our instructions for what would prove to be the longest leg of the day....a Bike/Trek combo.

The initial part of the ride was out near I-45 where we were sent to a random checkpoint and then off to the Sam Houston Monument on 45. If you've never driven by this thing, it's huge. 77 feet tall to be exact. Anyway, Stacey had been sitting at TA all day long and Jordan's parents wanted to see what this Adventure Racing thing was all about so knowing we were going there, they decided to meet up with us at the visitors center. Adventure Racing isn't the most spectator friendly activity in the world so it's kind of nice to get a little cheer or boost along the way. After a quick hello and goodbye we were back into the forest for more checkpoints. On this leg we caught up with Eric and Frank again and we just stuck together this time as a group of 5. It was really fun racing with these guys. Good sense of humor about the sport and a lot of fun to travel with.

Above: Inside the Visitor's Center at the Sam Houston Memorial Statue

After a few more checkpoints we put our bikes down in the middle of the forest at the bike drop location and set off on the trekking portion of the leg. We found out later that the trek was about 8.5 miles. There were only 5 points on this leg and I experienced my first real navigation mistake of the day. On CP 3 the clue was "Fence" and on the map the fence was up a road that ran along a pipeline route. In the real world the "road" that was most traveled continued along with the pipeline whereas the road where the CP was bent off to the right slightly about mid-way along the road. We weren't the only team to make this mistake and after we pulled our hair out for 15 minutes, Ross looked at the map and said...we may be here....not here. Sure enough, we bushwhacked through along this fence line to the "road" where the CP was sitting bright as day. Wow. Thanks to Ross for saving us on that one. As we made our way down the road, it was easy to see how me missed the split. The road we needed to take was so offset and behind the treeline that you would have almost had to have stumbled upon it accidentally to know it was there.

Above: The bike drop in the middle of the forest

As the leg was wearing on, everyone was starting to get a little tired. On a trek or a run, my feet start to hurt about mile 7 or so and today was no exception. All I wanted to do was get back on the bike and get back to TA because my feet were taking a pounding. I took us on a couple of "short cuts" on the way back and while I think I saved us some time, it's tough to know for sure. I know Frank and Eric were happy about it because they had planned to go back a different route and my route choice was certainly shorter than what they were going to do. It took us a bit to get our lights on and get back on the bikes but once we did, we made good time back to TA.

This next leg proved to be our last leg. It was a simple 3 CP bike leg but it was already dark outside and it's tough to ride in an unfamiliar place with just a headlamp. We spun along pretty quickly for the first bit and had a little trouble finding CP1. Once we found that one we moved right along to CP2 which was right on the trail. It took a little longer for me to get us in the right spot for CP 3 on this leg because...well...navigating in the dark when you can't really see any terrain features is a bitch. The clue for this checkpoint was "Run Ridge" and we ran along a ridge....until it became obvious I had us on the wrong ridge. Back to the bikes and we ride over to the next ridge. Bingo. There we have it. At this point we knew we were getting short on time so I hopped on the bike and started setting a pretty good pace. Ross and Jordan didn't mind so much but remember we were also traveling with Eric and Frank at this point. I think Frank told me to slow down at one point. It was either that or he was telling someone to pass him. All I knew was that we had just seen Caroline and Raymond on the last leg and I really wanted to beat those guys back.

I felt like we moved pretty quickly and we rolled back in to TA at 11:34 into our race. I was hopeful that we would get the clues for our next leg and one of the CPs would be close enough to go get it but after I took a quick look at them and plotted them, it was obvious we were done for the day. I turned in our passport and that was it. A great end to a great day.

Above: Back at TA realizing we have time to go out on one more leg

A little while later, the awards were handed out. While there weren't any awards given for 3 person all male teams, there was an award for the 2 person male teams. Our traveling partners for the better half of the day Eric and Frank took down 1st place in that division. I wish I could take some credit for that but those guys helped us as much as we helped them.

And, as it turns out, we took 1st place in our division as well and 8th overall! As for me hauling ass on the bike ride back to TA on that final bike leg. Well, that paid off as well. We finished 2 minutes ahead of Caroline and her team.

Last but not least, I wanted to thank my teammates Ross and Jordan. Jordan made us faster than we would have been without him which helped our weak points and we helped him be better than he would have been on the bike and in the boat. Even though it was his first race, he did extremely well, and if he sticks with us on this, we might actually get faster! And a special thanks to Ross for catching my nav mistake and getting us to that checkpoint sooner rather than later.

Above: Team "All Day" (Frank and Eric) along with us Team "Occasionally Lost" at the Finish

I also wanted to give a special thanks to Frank, Eric and Caroline and her team. Ross has always said nothing but good things about these guys and spending the better part of the day running around the forest with them proved that you can find great people that love to do the same crazy stuff that you love to do just about anywhere. Hope you all had as much fun as I did. Until next time guys....race on.

Easing into Fall

It's late October now and fall is officially upon us. Since the Camp Eagle AR in late May I have been absolutely swamped with all kinds of things. In addition to work and family related stuff I've been doing my best to ride, run, race and stay active. I'll let this update serve as a recap of some of the things done since the last update.

Skiing - I've probably been on the water more this year than I have in many years. I can't tell you how much I've missed it. We've finished most of the major developer tasks at the Ranch (www.SanMarcosRiverRanch.com) and have now entered into a new phase where I spend most of my time selling and speaking with builders about building out the community. The great thing about this is that I actually have some time to enjoy the fruits of so many years of planning and building. It's truly amazing to pull up to my boat, drop it in the water and ski on any one of 4 world record capable slalom courses. Our lot owners are the best folks I know and I feel so lucky to have found this old ranch to develop.

Mini Pyramid at Lake McQueeney with Luke and Jordan

This summer was also the first summer that my oldest daughter ever skied. She literally went from never skiing to learning to ski in June and then on to skiing the mini course on slalom in late August. In the middle of all of that, she was a part of Ski Bees this summer and learned how to do some show skiing acts. She skied in two different tournaments this year and if she keeps it up, it won't take her too long to be better than I ever dreamed of being. I'm so proud of her.

Racing and Working Out - Adventure Racing season quiets down in the summer so as a team we focus on getting together to do workouts when we can and doing other events as cross training. In early June I talked two longtime friends who had never done an Adventure Race into doing a Sprint Race with me. I'd serve as navigator and guide us through the race. All they had to do was survive and stick with me. Kyle had the benefit of the local trail knowledge and Leslie was looking to step up her racing to a new level. I don't think any of us planned on placing or actually being competitive in this event. Soon enough though we're clicking along on the checkpoints and we realize that three 40 something year old friends from high school are kicking the crap out of nearly 30 other teams. That's the fun thing about Adventure Racing. You can be a totally bad ass athlete. Fast runner, biker etc. but if you don't know where you're going or what you're doing, it doesn't matter. It's intelligent racing. Go figure that we actually take 3rd place! I know that Kyle and Leslie had a blast and so did I. Hopefully they'll keep training and become my newest AR junkie friends.

After that race we had two Triathlons at the ranch that I decided to do. I entered the "Fat Tire" division which means you did the race on your mountain bike. It's perfect cross training for me. It had been a while since I had done much swimming so I did some open water swimming to get up to speed. On the first race I totally blew my transitions and came in 9th place out of 16 people in my division. I'm used to doing Adventure Racing transitions where you come in to TA, get some water, grab a bite, plot some points, make a quick plan and go. Big mistake at a triathlon. I was happy with my bike time but I was not happy with my overall performance at all. 3 weeks later I cleaned up all of the mistakes from the first race and again entered the "Fat Tire" division. The swim was only 400m but I made the mistake of going out too fast for the first 200m. I basically did the breast stroke for the last 200m. I was certain this leg was going to ruin my race. I hit transition and was out in a flash. I rode my ass off and was only passed by a few 'roadies'. Nothing makes me feel better than to fly by someone on a road bike on my mountain bike. An out and back ride and a fast TA again. The run was only 5k but my legs were hosed. I ran with a guy for about a mile but couldn't keep the 7.5 minute pace he was running. My run time was slower than I wanted but it was all I could do. Still, when it was all said and done I placed 3rd in my division! When I looked at the splits I was shocked that my slow ass 400m swim time was actually the 3rd fastest of the group. I absolutely nailed it on the bike and was the fastest in the division. The two guys that beat me were runners and finished their 5k in that 7.5 minute pace. In order for me to have moved up to 2nd place I would have had to have finished nearly 9 minutes sooner. Not an easy task. Even so, all things considered I was pumped to place at a race that was hosted the ranch that I helped build. Awesome feeling.

Lisa Richter and me after the River Ranch Tri

Now, as the days start to cool off, AR events will start back up again. My goal for next year is to be in good enough shape to take on a few more Triathlons next summer. To do that I'll have to work on my running and swimming. I'll also need to take off that extra 20lbs that I've been talking about for a while. It's not that I'm overweight really. It's just a whole lot easier to move less weight than it is to move more weight. Plus you move it faster. I've been working on my running and my Orienteering which will help me all around. Throw in some bike races and a little more attention to my diet and I should be good to go. That's all from here for now. Enjoy Halloween!

Tougher Than I Remember

Over Memorial Day Weekend my teammates, Ross, Sebastian, Bernice and I competed in the 2010 Spread Your Wings Adventure Race at Camp Eagle. As a team we have done several 12 hour races together but this was our first 24 hour race together. While we all expected the race to be tough, personally it was a much harder race than I anticipated.

There were a number things that made the race difficult. Part of it had to do with the heat. Part of it had to do with all of the freaking rocks. And, the navigation was significantly more difficult this year. Out of the 24 hour teams, only two teams collected all of the checkpoints. Yes, as compared to past years, this was much, much harder than before.

Here's a race summary by leg:

We started off on a little run/swim down the river to retrieve a card with our team name on it. Running down a knee deep river isn't easy if you've never done it before. Sebas hit one end of the line, I hit the other and was able to find our card. We swam up and ran back to TA to get our map and plot our points.

Biking was the next leg. First stop was the windmill. The freaking windmill. That meant climbing right off of the bat. Not some little pansy climb but a climb to the high point at Camp Eagle. Damn. Once at the windmill we had to jump in the water tank and grab a colored golf ball as per our clue sheet. Easy enough. Next clue wasn't a checkpoint but a "hint". The hint was "scaffolding" and in past races there had been scaffolding in place to climb over the high game fence. This is where we had our first nav issue. We went up and down the fence looking for the scaffolding that wasn't there. We kept thinking we were missing something or making a mistake because the scaffolding simply wasn't there. Big mistake. In retrospect, all we needed to do was get on the other side of the fence and bushwhack to the road to get to checkpoint #2. We wasted an hour or so here that would come back to haunt us later.

This is also the spot where for the first time in any race I (not sure about my teammates) encountered another racer who was just a prick. Upon seeing another team on the other side of the fence Ross asked "How'd you guys get to the other side?" 99% of racers would have replied with something like "Just climb it" or "Keep looking down that way...there's a way to get through". This guy replied with "Magic". Prick.

Anyway, once we finally decided to focus on the other checkpoints, we collected them pretty easily. We knew it'd be tough to get them all in the race anyway but didn't expect to skip one on the first leg. Oh well.

Back at TA we collected our new set of clues. Looks like we'd be doing a rope section and some land nav on foot. We hustled over to a new climbing section that was probably 30 feet or so high. The camp staff that was working this leg let us know that we were the first people to actually climb this section of wall. They had just set up the anchors days before and while the camp staff had done some climbing, that was it. We selected a route that we thought we could all climb and Bern went up first. Slowly but surely we coached her hand hold and foot holds from the ground. Soon enough she was done and it was my turn. As soon as I got on the wall, I knew it wasn't going to be easy for me at all.


I'm 210 pounds and at that weight it's hard to keep yourself on a wall...period. I managed along just fine for the first 3/4 of the climb. At that point I needed a handhold for my left hand to pull myself up and place my right foot on a ledge. I felt around with my left hand up over a ledge and grabbed a good hold. As I shifted my weight to my left and pulled with my hand, the unthinkable happened. That chunk of the wall gave way and sent a few football sized chunks of rock tumbling below. Fortunately my rope caught me. As soon as I gathered my wits again, I spun myself around and finished the climb and did a quick rappel back down the wall.

Once on the ground I noticed a few people standing around Bern as she sat on the ground. I'd been so freaked out about the wall giving way and me nearly falling that I didn't think about where the rocks went. Sure enough, Bern tried to jump out of the way but one of the big chunks bounced in to her left shin right below the knee. Ouch. Nothing was broken but you could tell right away that it was going to hurt like hell for a while. Bern's one tough chick and if she say's it hurts....it must really freaking hurt. Oh well. Race on or quit. Bern says let's go....and so we go.


We grab a couple of more checkpoints and Sebas takes the map for a while to lead us over to a checkpoint in the draw. We never, and I do mean never overshoot a checkpoint. If anything we come up like 10 or 20 meters short of it. I'm not sure how we did it but somehow we managed to shoot past the draw for the checkpoint by several hundred meters. We ran in to another team that was looking for the same checkpoint and they felt like we were too far as well. They thought that they had the right draw or close to it but just couldn't find it. At this point, Ross took over the map again and located a known point to help us find the checkpoint. Bam....15 minutes later the guy from the other team spots it and both teams punch it and go. From there these guys traveled with us towards the next checkpoint as they had to collect it as well. They helped us with one and we led them right to the next one in return. After that, we were even and off on our own again to grab the rest of the checkpoints.

Back at TA again we set off on the swim leg. Actually this was the fun part where we got to go down the big water slide and then collect a checkpoint on the river bank across from the pavilion and then on top of the iceberg. Almost immediately upon hitting the water we all started to cramp a bit. Not too bad but enough to hurt like hell. Feet, forearms, inner quads, calf muscles. Not fun. Anyway, the first checkpoint was a breeze and then on to the iceberg. Sebas went up and punched. Ross went up. I went up. Bern was the last to go.

Now, for those of you not familiar with the iceberg at Camp Eagle, it's this enormous inflatable floating mountain that you can climb. It has hand and foot hold handles. It looks big, fluffy, and easy to climb. It's not. Not even a little bit easy. Like many other things I had warned Bern about, I had warned her that climbing the iceberg was going to be a bitch. I don't think she believed me. If you see her anytime soon, ask her what the hardest part of the race was. If she says anything other than the iceberg I'll give you $100.


Anyway, so there she is with Ross and I helping her get started on the climb. She's no where close to climbing this thing when she says that she can't do it. Bullshit. We're not going to let this happen. At this point Sebas climbs to the top of the iceberg and holds on with one hand. Bern's sitting on the pre-climb area about to go. I've got my left hand on one side of her butt...Ross has his right hand on the other. We push her to the standing position and I hold one of the handles so she can get her foot in. Perfect. One more step up and Sebas can grab her. She slides right puts her left foot up pulls herself to the left and then reaches up with her left hand for Sebas to grab. She hangs on like her life depends on it and uses the leverage from Sebas to climb to the top. Freaking awesome. One of the coolest parts of the whole day was to hear the crowd on the deck behind us scream and clap when she made it to the top. Way cool. Way cool.

After a graceful dismount from the 'berg we head back over to TA and discover that we're doing a bike/rope section. Sweet. We gathered up our bikes and rode over to the climbing section where we were outfitted with our helmets, climbing harness and lobster claws. We set off on a nice traverse across along the rock wall and then climbed up an out of the river basin area.


Once at the top we made our way over to the rappel. Two years ago I made it to the rappel late and had to do the short rappel in the dark. Spooky but fun. This time we got there plenty early and got to do the full on 185ft rappel from the top of the cliff. What a view. I slid over and they set me up. I put on my gloves and dropped over the side of the cliff.


Awesome. I did a fair amount of walking down the wall until I was comfortable with how fast the device was going to lower me. After that, it was a few good bounces....a nice ledge and I was done. I think we all had a good time on this section and the nav issues seemed trivial after doing the rappel. After we finished the rappel it was an out and back bike section to collect a few checkpoints while riding through some beautiful scenery.

Back at TA we plotted our next move. How to NOT get lost in the woods at night. At some point on this leg, we traveled with a few other teams for a point or two and that certainly helped us locate a couple of the CPs. Unfortunately frustration set in as Ross, Sebas and I searched up and down a draw for close to an hour looking for a Checkpoint. Never have we been so sure that we were in the right place. Never have we been so frustrated. It could have been as simple of a mistake as turning your head before your headlamp shined on the orienteering marker but man it was depressing not to find this thing. We finally gave up and decided to head back to TA and embark on the next leg of the race. It was becoming apparent that if we didn't hurry that we wouldn't receive an official finish and none of us would have been happy to race for 24 hours and not have a ranked finish.

By this time it's about 1:30 ish in the morning and we're pretty whipped. Bern's leg is killing her. Sebas is losing the pep in his step and I'm tired and cranky. Ross was the only one of us with any real zip left and I can't help but think that it had everything to do with him leaving for Maui the next day. Rat bastard.

Anyway, the next section was a paddle for two CPs. We decided to skip the portage and just grab the CP closest to us and then head out on the next section. In and out uneventful paddle and we were done.

Next up was a night biking section. The trails at Camp Eagle have pretty benign names like "Moon", "Boot", "Texas" etc. They might as well name them "Rocks of Death" or "Blood on Your Bike" because those would be more appropriate. Mostly this section turned out to be ok with a few things worth mentioning. One, it was cool outside...finally. Especially in the draws and on the down hills. Two, I was leading the ride and there were ENORMOUS spider webs across the trails with ENORMOUS freaky looking spiders in them. I had Ross take a picture of one of these things because it was so bizarre looking.


And lastly, the last section was called "Armadillo" and was down a dry draw that fed into the Nueces. This ride is hard during the daylight. It's really tough at night with the shadows and limited sight distance. At one point I yelled back to Ross to walk a section that I'd just sort of ridden. I turned around just in time to see him roll off his bike. Ouch. At another point we stopped and all turned around to see that Sebas was kicking his bike. No one is really sure why. Anyway, along the ride we had to collect checkpoints at various locations. The "old mine" and "the cave" were two pretty fun CPs. Once out of the draw of death we headed back to TA.


Once we rolled back in to TA, it was 4:30 a.m. We asked Robyn what the closest CP was and she said it was the hilltop. "Fine....let's go get that and be done" Ross said. No one disagreed. We probably could have grabbed one or two more but we were just totally hosed by this point. We plotted the points and then made our way across a dam to the general area of the CP. Sebas wanted to free climb the cliff...at 4:45 a.m. .... after nearly 21 hours of racing. We thought about it and then just went for it. Good call because what a blast this was. Pitch black outside. Climbing a cliff in a little climbing line with nothing but your headlamp. It wasn't too tall maybe 40 or 50 feet. Just enough to hurt you pretty bad if you fell which made us all extra cautious. Once up at the top, Ross and I climbed the rockiest hill on the planet to the CP. We down climbed the same route we had climbed up and headed back to TA. Official time of finish 5:21 a.m.

Back in our room we were all beat, smelled horrible and not very talkative. We rotated turns in the shower to clean up and then crashed out for an hour or so before breakfast. Man what a difference a couple of hours sleep make. Not that I was overly refreshed, but when 8 a.m. rolled around I felt almost human again. Almost. On any other day, a big meal has the potential to be completely disgusting but today...well today it was the best breakfast I'd ever eaten in my life!

When it was all said and done, we had a pretty good race. Other than Bern getting struck by falling rocks, no one had any performance issues. No major injuries. No major cramps. No significant dehydration. This was a tough course. Robyn and Art had said so from the beginning. Out of 20 teams in the 24 hour race we placed 6th in Co-ed and 11th overall. 6 teams were unable to complete the race. Only 2 teams collected all of the checkpoints. If there was anything that really slowed us down, it was the heat. It was the hottest day of the year so far. Thanks to my teammates for putting up with my cranky ass in the middle of the night. And a huge thanks to Robyn and Art at Too Cool Racing and all of the volunteers at Camp Eagle for putting on an awesome event.

It's Only a Number

So in exactly two weeks I'll be 42. Yep...42. Not 21, not 24, but 42. The last year has been spectacular in a lot of ways and a disaster in others. While it's great that my hand is healing extremely well after surgery, I've had to have a cortisone injection in my right foot and with all of the running I've been doing, my left knee is bugging the crap out of me. Not fun for sure but it appears to be part of this thing called life.

Anyway, this whole pending birthday thing started me thinking last night about one of the guys that I mountain bike with. Those of you that see me regularly have heard this story before but I'll tell it today for the masses. The story goes like this:

A couple of years back I was just really getting serious into adventure racing. I was riding and running at every opportunity I could find. The way that rides usually came together was that during the week, someone would send out a blast text message that said something like "Wheels down at the park and riding at 6....be there if you can." And that was it. A few texts would fly back and forth and a group would come together. Between Bob, Erika, Ross, Dina, Sebastian and a few other folks we almost always had someone to ride with. Sometimes we all made it, sometimes just a couple of people made it, and sometimes you just rode by yourself.

As time went by, we all got to know each other a bit. Husbands, wives, girlfriends, kids, jobs etc. All just a part of becoming friends. It didn't take much to figure out the following: Dina is the hardcore racer. Erika is hot on her heals. Bob can climb damn near anything. Ross had the most adventure racing experience and Sebastian was fast but crashed a lot. Still does actually.

So anyway the story goes like this. I send out a blast text one day and get a few responses. Come 6 o'clock, it's wheels down and Bob and I are the only two folks at the park for the ride. Sweet. Riding with Bob makes me a better rider because he pulls off some climbs and lines that in my mind just aren't possible only when I follow him, I can make it.

Now, as we're riding and talking I recall that Bob had mentioned a couple of daughters and a son. So I casually ask him if his kids go to O'Connor High School or are they going to UTSA. My logic was that I figured Bob was in his late 40's or early 50's which might put his kids in that age range. So Bob, gets kind of quiet and then says "My kids?....Shayne my son is 41...he's older than you are." Needless to say I was a little shocked. Bob had been kicking my ass on a mountain bike for well over a year and he has as son that's older than me? What's wrong with this picture?

So I casually ask..."Bob...just how old are you?" To which he says...."I just turned 60." Are you f***ing kidding me? Apparently not.

That little nugget of information set off about years worth of random outbursts. I'm sure people thought that I had Tourette's Syndrome when I would just blurt out "The man is 60!" If I heard someone less than 60 complaining about how they couldn't do something because they were too old, injured, tired, or fat, I'd tell the story above and let them know that my friend Bob was 60 and going strong. In fact, I told the story so much that I could ask my oldest daughter the following "How old is Bob?" to which she would reply..."The man is 60!"

I say all of this and write this little update today because while I may sometimes get caught up in the fact that I will soon be 42, my friend Bob turned 62 yesterday. The man is 62, still riding, still racing and still making me look bad on technical climbs. He's proof every time I see him on the trail or go for ride with him that your physical age, well, it's only a number. Happy Birthday Bob. I hope to be doing what you're doing when I'm 62. See you on the trail.

Hell's Hills and a Stiff Thumb

So just for fun this past weekend Patricia (one of my teammates and training partners) and I decided to do the 25k "Hell's Hills" Trail Run at Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville, TX. Originally, Ross, Bernice, Patricia and I were to all do the race. At the last minute Ross caught a stomach bug and Bernice opted to workout with Jay a little closer to home.

Bernice, Patricia and I had done the 25k Bandera Trail run back in January when it was like 14 degrees outside. That really sucked. This outing was much, much better. Patrica and I were able to shave a full 67 minutes off of our time. We should have come in around the 3 hour mark but everything after mile 10 was pretty painful for me since I haven't been able to do any hard workouts. Still at 3:38 we were well ahead of those that finished at the 5 plus hour mark. The Hell's Hills part of the race took place in the last couple of miles of the race with a couple of good climbs and descents. My biggest concern was falling on my thumb. Even though it was braced, I still didn't want to trip and fall. Thankfully Patricia was nice enough to do plenty of falling for both of us. What a gal that Patricia is.

Above: The thumb spica

That brings me to the thumb update. I'm just over two weeks post op and in a spica hand based cast. Man am I thankful for this thing. Having my wrist and forearm wrapped up sucked in a major way. Essentially for 2 weeks I wasn't able to do anything. I wasn't supposed to get the incision wet so it could heal which meant I couldn't get all sweaty working out. That meant no running and left only light weight workouts and stretching.

Above: Steri Strips holding the incision together

On Monday I was able to take the stitches out. Pretty simple really. I removed the steri-strips to expose the incision and wow...this thing looks spectacular. I'm not sure what Dr. Rust used to make the cut or how she stitched it up but my career as a hand model should be intact. I'll be surprised if there is really much of a scar at all. Anyway, to get the stitches out it was just grab one end and pull. No pain, no fuss, no drama. Just a clean incision that's healing nicely.

Above: Parker pointing to the incision after I took the stitches out

Right now the thumb is still really stiff and I can't do much with it for another 13 days or so until I start rehab. I'm not sure but I'm told that rehab may consist of gripping a squeezy ball and playing some low intensity thumb wars. Should be fun. I mean really, what's not to like about a squeezy ball and thumb wars?

UCL Surgery Update

Above: Thumbs up before surgery

Ok first of all, please excuse the typos and all of the mistakes I’m sure will follow. My left hand is my new ‘dominant’ hand for the next 10 days or so. Typing will be slow and arduous for sure so don’t expect my usually long updates!

Also, a warning on a couple of the pictures. They are fairly graphic pictures of the inside of my thumb. Not any blood or anything like that, just the hole in my hand where they did the repair, a ligament and some sutures. Still, if pictures of surgery freak you out, you should just close the page now.

That being said, the surgery on Tuesday went well. 70 minutes in total from start to finish. Even thought I had a local block for my arm and was sedated, I remember some of the procedure which is pretty cool.

Above: My UCL ligament being pulled back into place

According to Dr. Rust the UCL rupture was very clean. A very tiny fragment of bone came off with the ligament which made it really easy for her to know where to place then anchor for reattachment. Once she had that figured out, everything was set in place and I was sutured up and in recovery in no time. Between pre-op, actual surgery, and post-op recovery, I was only at the facility for 4.5 hours total. Not too bad.

Above: Suturing the incision site from the inside out

Currently I have on a huge splint to immobilize my thumb. I can’t tell you how bad this sucks. Try to NOT use the thumb on your dominant hand for a while and you’ll understand. Fortunately the splint comes off on April 2^nd when I go into a spica cast. Still, it’s amazing what I can do with just my left hand. I’ve even switched the mouse on the computer over to my left hand for the next 10 days which is working out quite nicely. Anyway, I’ll post more soon as things progress.

Ruptured UCL / Torn RCL - Ouch!

You may recall from my last post that I took a spill off of my mountain bike at my last Adventure Race in Perdenales Falls State Park. Yes I bent my thumb back and it hurt like hell but I didn't think anything of it other than it being a bad sprain. Sure there was some pain and swelling but my range of motion was still 95% and it was getting a little better everyday.

Enter my old friend Hoss who happens to be a physical therapist. Hoss saw my update and called me up. In some fairly colorful language told me I needed to go have it looked at. I quote: "An opposable thumb is what separates us from lower life forms....you don't want to f*** around with your thumb." Got it. So a couple of days later when it didn't feel like my thumb was really improving I made the call to have it looked at.

A few X-rays later Dr. Saenz said it was questionable enough to get an MRI done on it. Ok...better safe than sorry. I had an MRI done last year on my elbow and it was no big deal but the machine they used to do my thumb was super powerful compared to the one from my elbow. I could literally feel the magnetism of the machine pulsing through my body. Pretty weird. Anyway, I left with the films in hand to go see the hand specialist. I'm fairly good with pictures so I pulled them out to see what I could make out on them but with 100 or so images I could only narrow down the scans to the page that had the ligaments on it. From there is wasn't sure if the orientation of my hand would show a ligament in one image and not the other.

Oh well. Better to let the experts do this I suppose. Fortunately I was lucky enough to get a referral to Dr. Rust at the Hand Center here in San Antonio. The Hand Center is the facility that treats all of the NBA players and other professional athletes in the area. If you mess your hand up, this is where you want to be sent.

After the initial exam, Dr. Rust order up a couple of more X-rays of the thumb and pulled out the MRI films I had given her. With the new X-rays and the MRI film in hand she put them up on the light board and explained what we were looking at.

Here's how it went. If you hold up your right thumb in the "Thumbs Up" position and go to the big knuckle at the bottom of the V between your thumb and index finger, there are ligaments on each side of that knuckle that extend just over the joint of the bone in the pad of your thumb to the next bone in your thumb (towards the tip of your thumb). Looking at your own thumb, the ligament on the right is the Ulnar Collateral Ligament and the one on the left (toward the pad/palm of your thumb) is the Radial Collateral Ligament. These ligaments give your thumb lateral stability which prevents that joint from moving excessively from side to side. My RCL is torn on the lower end and should heal on it's own. However, my UCL is ruptured (torn completely away from the bone) and has to be surgically repaired. She actually pointed at the MRI and said, "See this ligament over here....there should be one on the other side just like it. Yours is now down here just flopping around. We've got to go in and fix that."



Well crap. She went on to explain that if I don't repair it now it'll just get worse and she'll have to use a cadaver ligament later on to reconstruct it. That would suck. I prefer to keep my own body parts and not add some stranger's to the mix. Or, I could also do nothing and have a floppy thumb for the rest of my life which some people opt to do. The problem there is that if you try to pick up anything heavy (imaging picking up a really heavy water bottle or something that requires your hand to be in that same position) the downward weight of the object will pull your thumb down (no lateral stability) as you try to grip it and over time you eventually won't be able to hold anything normally. That's not good no matter how you look at it. As you've probably guessed, I've opted to get this thing fixed by the hand specialist.

I told my AR Teammates that if there were any good news it's that I'll be forced to work on my running since I won't be able to ride my bike for a while! I've guess I've got to look at the positive side of this because I'll basically be giving everyone the "Thumbs Up" for weeks whether I'm in a great mood or not. Cut me off in traffic? Take this "thumbs up" buddy. Don't like the way I drive? "Thumbs up" to you too!

Anyhow, surgery's scheduled for Tuesday. I'm hoping to have pictures and post updates as I work through this little set back so stay tuned for that. And just to entertain myself while I'm healing, I'm thinking of mixing up the answers whenever someone asks me what I did to my thumb. You know...I was spear fishing on the Great Barrier Reef and was bitten by a shark.... fun stuff like that!

One Dislocated Thumb, Two River Crossings....

Above: Sebas, Bern and Ross re-enacting the great river crossing of 2010

Murphy’s Law states: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong”. While that may be a generalized overstatement of our experience at the 12 Hour Eco-Lonestar race at Perdenales Falls State Park this past weekend, it was a tough day at the office by our high adventure racing standards.

Race day. Up at 5 a.m. and off to the race. At the race, unpacked and ready to roll we receive our instructions and boom, the race starts at 7 with a little 2 mile run down by the river and then a little climb back to TA. Sebas and Ross took off and Bernice and I did our best to keep up. Running down by the river I somehow managed to find the lone thorn vine which conveniently ripped my lower right leg to shreds. Awesome! First blood less than 5 minutes into the race. What else could go wrong?

Back at TA after the run we received our next set of instructions which consist of finding one checkpoint on a 13 mile bike loop. Less than 3 minutes into the ride and BAM…Ross breaks the chain on his bike. I’ve heard of this happening, but I’ve never seen it firsthand. Fortunately, Sebas had a chain tool in his pack and between the two of us we had the chain fixed in maybe a minute or two. Sweet. A total of two links were removed from Ross’ chain. This would unfortunately prove to be problematic for the next 11 hours.

Thinking the worst was behind us we set off on great ride around Perdenales Falls State Park. This place was a great mix of climbs, down hills, nice single track, Jeep roads, and some technical and not so technical spots. About mile 9 of the ride, I had taken over the lead on some technical areas and was cruising nicely through some flowy sections of the trail. I’m still not sure what exactly happened next other than my front tire slide out while I was moving along pretty quickly. Next thing I know, I’m on my way down and trying to brace my fall. My right hand hit the ground first but then collapsed when my right thumb decided to bend backwards towards my forearm. Sweet mother of pearl that hurt. My elbow, shoulder and head followed next. I’m not sure how I came unclipped from the bike but there I was after the tumble, flat on my back thinking that I had just broken my wrist or at a minimum had dislocated my thumb. Shortly thereafter, Sebas, Ross and Bernice showed up as I rolled around the dirt trying to get a handle on the pain. After a few choice expletives, and some jumping around it was clear that my wrist was not broken. My thumb was less fortunate however. Still fully functional but extremely sore we made it back to TA and my onboard pharmacy. I’d make it through the day with meds, but it was going to be painful.

Out on our bikes again for the next leg, we quickly ran down 2 checkpoints and then met up with a group from Houston as we went for a couple more checkpoints. Together we found another checkpoint and then set off downhill to find the last point across the river. Ross made the comment as we got to the river bank that in the previous 2 races he had done here that the river crossing had been dry and he thought it was funny that they called it a ‘river crossing’. Today however was another story. On this day, the Perdenales River was raging. Later in the day we saw signs warning of “Swift Water” and “Stay Out of the River”. It would have been nice to have seen those earlier in the day BEFORE we decided to cross the river.

Above: Me trying to smile through the pain and step aside so Bernice can take a picture of the rapids where we crossed the river.

So there we are at the river bank with the team from Houston. The checkpoint is on the other side of the river and there’s simply no other place to cross the river. Time to hike a bike. So one at a time we throw our bikes on our backs and start to make our way across the Perdenales. This is by far the fastest moving water I’ve even attempted to cross and by fast I mean when you picked your foot up to take a step, the water would literally sweep your foot and try to take you downstream. It was a fight just to stand there let alone walk. One by one we made it to the other side and the off we went to look for the checkpoint. We went to the left; the Houston team went to the right. We’ve got ‘em I thought. We’ll get the point and be done in no time while they’re lost. Right? Wrong. An hour or so later, we realized that BOTH teams were wrong. Both teams (us and the Houston team) plotted this same checkpoint wrong as the checkpoint was actually on the OTHER side of the river right next to TA where we just came from. We didn’t have to cross the river after all. Wow. Irony had dealt us a big blow as the Houston team was confirmation for us that we were headed in the right direction for that checkpoint and we in turn were confirmation for them that they were on the right track too.

Above: A couple that thought we were crazy to be anywhere near or in the water was kind enough to take our picture

Bummer. At this point we realize that our day is done. Done meaning that we won’t be competitive at all time wise. We were racing as an “Unofficial” 4 person team in a 3 person team race anyway but we really wanted to hang with the 3 person teams if we could. Oh well. I suppose lesser teammates would have packed it in and called it a day but we did the only thing that we know how to do. Deal with the mistake and just keep going. One small obstacle remained in our way…the river…again. Learning from the first crossing the second crossing went a little easier. Depending on where you crossed the river it was anywhere from just above your knees to waist deep. Again we somehow managed to make it across the river without anyone getting swept downstream.

And while I may write about it like it was a non-event, crossing this river was no joke. It is by far the most dangerous thing I’ve done in a race. Crossing that river was a little bit of a reality check. Had any of us been swept downstream, it would have been a potentially dire situation. I don’t think anyone would have drowned but we would have been beaten up pretty badly. Still, debris (logs, trees, brush, old fence lines etc.) was everywhere in the river. Get swept away and then get hung up, snagged or trapped under that stuff and you’re done. That being said, while it was the most dangerous thing we did all day it was also the most fun thing we did all day. I was proud of our team for working together to get across safely.

As the remainder of the day unfolded in front of us, Ross probably had the roughest day. Ross had the misfortune of the broken bike chain right off the bat which led to non-stop shifting problems for him ALL DAY LONG. His bike either shifted randomly or not at all. How he was able to stick with us for most of the race is a tribute to the great racer that he is. Add to that tummy trouble from a chick-fil-a sandwich the night before and Ross easily gets the “Badge of Honor” for continuing to race on in the face of adversity.

Sebas gets the award for falling in the river, completely submerging himself with his bike on his back, managing not to get swept away and then being able to stand back up again. How he was able to do it I don’t know. Water temp? 50ish degrees or so. Percentage of dry clothing on Sebas after the river crossing? Zero. Therefore, Sebas gets the “9 Lives” award with a note that he just used one of them.

Bernice? Well her race was flawless. She was tan, rested and ready to roll. In fact, this girl rode like the wind. She even cleaned a steep rock/gravel hill like it was nothing and schooled us on how to ride a mountain bike. When we were riding on the roads, she basically went into her ‘zone’ and pedal stroke for pedal stroke pulled away from us all slowly. She’s a machine on the bike and I know she was happy that we spent most of the race on our bikes. Bernice definitely get’s the “I’ll Show these Boys How to Race” award. Great job Bern.

As for me, today my right hand and thumb looks like a small bunch of bananas and my right leg looks like a cat used it for a scratching post. I’m 99.9% pretty sure that my thumb isn’t broken and according to my own self-diagnosis I believe that the ligaments and tendons in my right thumb are mostly intact however stretched and or slightly torn. I’ll live through the pain and keep doing what I need to do to get better and be a more helpful asset to my team. All in all it was a tough day but a great day just the same. We made a couple of errors that we’ll learn from and a couple of unforeseeable events (chain, thumb, shifting) that derailed us. Overall we did 50 plus miles on the bike, paddled about 5 miles and did probably 8 miles on foot. Thanks to Ross, Sebas and Bernice for having the right stuff to push on through the adversity that was the 12 Hours of the Eco-Lonestar. To me, that’s what it’s all about.

Beavers, Dinosaurs and Chicken Fried Steak

What a title for a blog entry. This past weekend I went to visit my parents in San Angelo, Texas where I grew up. Really, I don't think there is any other place on the planet quite like San Angelo. It's the only place that I know of where you can get an orange colored chicken fried steak with yellow cream gravy. Don't let the visual description fool you it's a GREAT tasting chicken fried steak.

Anyway, it had been about 6 months since I had made the trek up into West Texas. Having lived in San Antonio now for going on 15 years I am sometimes amazed by what I see and hear when I visit San Angelo. To start off with I have two gems for your consideration.

1. While enjoying my orange chicken fried steak at the original Henry's there was a large table perpendicular to ours where a large group was seated. Roughly 10 or so people. Some couples with their children and maybe the grandparents were there too. Seated at the end of the table directly across from me was a woman, probably in her mid 30's with her husband directly across from her. She had her purse hung on the back of her chair which didn't seem all that unusual until it was pointed out to me. There loud and proud on her purse was the Confederate Flag just as big as it could be. But wait it gets better. Across the flag written in rhinestones or some other exotic jewel was the word "Redneck". Wow! Maybe a Valentine's Day present from her husband? A little house warming gift from the last cross burning? I'm sure I lost IQ points just for being in the same room. Apparently the Klan is alive and well in West Texas.

2. While stopping to get gas I overheard the man in line in front of me utter this phrase to the cashier: "Thatn theres more gooder than da othern." (That one there is more gooder than the other one). I believe he was referring to one brand of chew or dip over another. Yes, he was serious. No, I'm not kidding. Clearly more IQ points were lost just for witnessing the event.

Yes indeed. What an interesting few days visiting the folks.

I did manage to get in a great ride while I was there with my buddy Kyle. I brought the single speed with me and we did about 25 miles at the State Park that surrounds what use to be O.C. Fisher Reservoir. In my 41 years I've never known this lake to ever really have any water in it. I think it's at around 10 percent of it's capacity right now so it's basically a puddle in the desert at this point. It's eerie as there are literally boat ramps that are MILES from the water.

Above: This would be a boat ramp...right down into the cactus patch.

While we were on our ride, Kyle pointed out a relatively new addition to the area. Beavers! Yes, beavers in the desert. While we didn't actually see the beavers first hand, there was plenty of beaver evidence to be seen. I had to snap a couple of pictures for proof. Pretty interesting stuff.

Above: Beaver evidence!

Lastly, on the ride back to the car we stopped off to check out the dinosaur tracks there in the park. It was kind of cool to think that we were riding our bikes in an area where dinosaurs used to roam.

Above: Dinosaur foot prints

I snapped a couple of quick pictures here too because...well...they were dinosaur tracks and that's just pretty freaking cool. That and beavers in the desert. I'm telling you, there's no other place on the planet quite like it.

30 Miles and More Mud

With the Eco-Lonestar Race coming up on March 6th, we've all been putting in more miles (on bike, foot etc.) and more workouts to prepare for the race. Two weeks ago Bernice and I did the 211 Loop from Roger Solers and added in a little bit of Scenic Loop for a nice 35 mile ride. Last week Sebas and I rode out to Government Canyon from Solers. At GC we did about a 7 mile run/trek. When we finished we rode back to Solers. All in all it was about 25 miles worth of a workout. On both of those training days, the weather was actually really nice. Unfortunately for me, Ross, and Sebastian our workout yesterday didn't take place in the sunny 77 degree weather we had in San Antonio today (Sunday). Allow me to elaborate.

So yesterday at 8 a.m. I arrive at Solers to meet Ross and Sebastian for a longer version of the workout that Sebas and I did the week before. Conditions? Miserable. 45 degrees with drizzle. On the ride out to GC we were all getting hit with that wet, road grime mist the cars kick up as they pass you. Riding the pace line, every speck of mud off of Sebastian's tires ended up somewhere on my body, face or glasses to the point where I couldn't even really see. I've officially dubbed this look as being 'bedazzled' and it seems to be happening to all of us way more often than we'd like.

Once at GC we stepped off the bikes and put on our trail shoes for a nice little run/trek. GC is more rocks than anything and the combination of the relentless drizzle along with the mud made this a trek to remember. At some point in our 12 mile trek, 3 bikers passed us. These guys didn't really seem like the kind of guys that could or should be riding the trails in these conditions. And, as the 3rd guy passed by me, the gaping hole in his left knee combined with all of the blood on his shin only reinforced the fact that I had just silently judged them. Seriously, in my head I was like "You've got to be kidding me." I'll ride in a lot of conditions but wet, muddy and slippery rocks whisper really nasty things to me like, "broken hip....broken arm....broken collar bone"....none of which are the least bit appealing to me.

Anyway, around mile 7, the drizzle picked up even more and it seemed like every step we took only added an extra layer of mud and more weight to our shoes. We turned back for the bikes and Ross and I did our best to keep up with Sebas. Not an easy task since that boy is a jack rabbit.

Now, back at the bikes after the hike, the allure of a cheeseburger sparked a little bit of energy in us all. The sooner we got back, the sooner we could feast on a cheeseburger at Floore's Country Store. Nothing like food to motivate you.

Finally, after another heavy misting of road grime and a final push up what has become known as the 'hill of death', we coasted back to our vehicles. How I managed to be the only one of the 3 of us to NOT have a real change of clothes once we got back amazes me. I normally pack my gear like a chick...just so I have "options". Maybe jeans and flip flops. Maybe shorts. Maybe cargo pants. No luck. Just me...bedazzled with mud from head to toe. Oh well, I'm sure the folks at Floore's didn't mind that I basically used the sink in their bathroom as my own personal shower.

We all ordered and sat down exhausted. But after some sweet tea and one delicious cheeseburger, all was right with the world. I was tired, muddy, and just had one hell of a workout but it felt great. Thanks to Sebas and Ross for pushing me hard yesterday. Pain...it's how you know you're alive!

The Muddiest Mountain Bike Race Ever!

In the last month or so, it seems like I’ve had to answer this question about 100 times. “You have a race this weekend? What kind of race?” Depending on who is asking the question, most days I just say that I have a MTB (mountain bike) race and the odd looks and strange questions seem to be minimized. Occasionally I’ll give the more detailed answer. “I have an Adventure Race” I’ll say. The responses vary greatly but usually consist of a “Huh?” or a “What?” An Adventure Race… I repeat and then continue. We usually mountain bike, kayak, run, find checkpoints, sometimes climb or repel, occasionally swim or zip line etc. “In the same day?” they’ll say. Yep…same day I reply. “How far/long?” is usually the next question. So I say…Oh last week we rode about 30 miles on the bike, ran about 16, and kayaked about 8. We only did the short 12 hour race I continue. “A 12 hour race?” Yes…12 hours was the short race I repeat. From there the conversation typically gets a little more sketchy depending on who I’m talking to but generally degrades rapidly to topics like football or some TV program. On more than one occasion I’m sure these people have questioned my sanity. I mean really…sitting on the couch all weekend and watching TV is SO much more fun. Who wouldn’t want to do that? Please apply your preferred level of sarcasm to the previous two sentences.

Admittedly, when it’s 12 degrees outside and I’m halfway through a 25k trail run/trek I sometimes wonder what the hell I’m doing. But then clarity sets in and I remember all the gorgeous/beautiful/cool things that I get to do and see. For example, the millions of spiders shimmering as my headlamp shined off of them in Bastrop State Park. Yes, millions of tiny spiders that shined like glitter on the fallen leaves and pine needles. Pretty cool and a little spooky at the same time. Or the heron that practically landed on me while we were paddling. I was a literally a paddle stroke away from having an extra passenger on board with us. Yep, crazy, wild and interesting things seem to be happening all the time.

Such was the case yesterday when I participated in the Miles of Discomfort MTB Marathon Race just outside of Comfort, TX. Flat Rock Ranch is easily one of the most beautiful/fun places to ride in the Austin/San Antonio area. However, yesterday was a much different story. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Before I tell that story, I need to point out that one of the things about doing Adventure Races is that you have to do multisport training to survive let alone be any good. Example: a great runner is no good if they can’t MTB. An expert in a kayak is no good if they can’t run very well etc. As such, for training purposes alone you find yourself at a lot of other more pure events. “Pure” meaning a single sport event or venue. With that in mind, I like to train by doing the local MTB races. One of the more interesting facets about being involved in pure MTB races in Texas is occasionally the biggest names in cycling will show up to race the event as well. I’ve been lucky enough to be in races where guys like David Hanes, Bryan Fawley, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, David Wiens, Chris Eatough, and yes even Lance Armstrong showed up to race. No, I don’t actually race against these guys. These guys are professional racers and to them, I’m just some dude with a bike. And really, from my point of view, these guys are really nothing more than machines cloaked in some vaguely human form. How these guys ride a bike so fast is inconceivable to me. Hold that thought. Back to the Miles of Discomfort Race.

So yesterday at 9 a.m. I set off to do the Miles of Discomfort Marathon with my buddy Kyle and one of my AR teammates Bernice. Start time temp….29 degrees. Terrain…frozen. Trails…”reportedly” packed nicely but a little wet in some spots. That word “reportedly” would come in to play in a big way. I should also mention that I had a little bit of a monkey to get off of my back in this race. Back in 2008 I attended this same race and I DNF (Did Not Finish) because of severe cramps. Ask Kyle, he witnessed it and he’ll tell you how ugly it was. Anyway, I didn’t feel too bad about my DNF that year as Lance (Armstrong) also DNF because of cramps. Granted I did it at mile 14 and he did it at mile 40 but who’s counting? So, yesterday I was feeling really good and the staging area looked nice and dry so I decided to bump up to the full 52 miles instead of the 26. I did a 56 mile ride a few weeks ago so 52 miles should be a picnic right? It was supposed to be a little wet in some spots. I mean really, how bad could it be? Pretty bad as it turns out.

About 30 minutes into the ride the sun came out and the frozen tundra started to thaw. Around mile 6 or so the course took on the consistency of really thick peanut butter in some spots and super thick mostly frozen ice cream in others. Throw in the most slippery off-camber rocks you can imagine. Add a dash of sloppy wet 'mud wrestling' type mud and you have the muddiest, nastiest, hardest, longest day I have ever spent on a bike. More people didn’t finish the race than did. It was that bad. I saw two people that had their rear derailleur completely torn off of their bikes. Scott Henry was one of them and he wasn't too far behind Lance. He snapped his hanger at probably mile 48 or 49 of his race. Literally a couple of miles from the finish line. Needless to say, I felt bad for the guy.

Above: Kyle's bike right after the race

At mile 14 my AR teammate Bernice had enough and packed it in. Smart girl. I at least wanted to finish the original 26 miles that I had originally signed up for as it was clear that alone would be an accomplishment. So, Kyle and I set off together to tackle the last 12 miles. Soon enough it became painfully obvious that the conditions were only going to get worse. At around mile 19 or so my bike stopped working/rolling completely because of all of the mud around the tires, derailleur and chain. At 200lbs I don’t possess the 140lb superfast streamlined body that some of these hardcore mountain bikers do. The rest is simple physics. My extra weight pushes my bike down farther into the mud which means…you guessed it…more mud…on me…on my bike…everywhere. Lucky me.

Now, as the day would have it, while I’m standing there super pissed off that I’m completely stuck in this cluster freak nightmare of mud, I had one of the coolest moments I’ve ever had while racing in any event. Behind me on the trail I hear someone call out “Rider Back!” “Rider Back!” is MTB lingo for “Move your slow ass over so I can pass you” which is really no big deal to me because I get passed all the time. Then a few moments later, none other than Lance Armstrong flew by me like I was standing still. Well, technically I was standing still at the time but that’s not the point. This guy was flying. “Looking good, enjoy the ride!” I said as he passed. He crested the hill rounded some trees and he was gone. “Sweet” I thought. “I just got passed by Lance Armstrong in a MTB race. How many people on the planet can say that?” Suddenly the day got a whole lot better and I couldn’t help but think to myself...”I wonder if I can catch him?" Not so much really.

Above: Lance Armstrong finishing the Miles of Discomfort Marathon

After another hour of so which included carrying my bike for a half a mile on my back and stopping 3 more times to get the mud out of my derailleur so my bike would sort of shift, I finished my “original race” of 26 miles. On the official results I technically DNF because I bumped up to the Full Marathon that morning. The big mistake I eluded to earlier. Still, most riders would tell you that it was survival mode for anyone that wasn’t a professional mountain biker and I was thankful to finish the 26 miles I had originally signed up for.

All in all, it was a great day and a horrible day at the same time. The mud was the absolute worst I’ve ever experienced. Somehow, I managed to remain upright the entire day and as muddy as my bike got, nothing broke. Still, I don’t believe that I’ll ever knowingly ride in those conditions again. On a super positive note, I did survive 26 Miles of Discomfort, got passed by Lance Armstrong and enjoyed the company of my friends with a cold Shiner Bock and some BBQ after the race. Still, I can’t help but wonder if all of these people that kind of chuckle at my little races managed to find anything good to watch on TV yesterday? I'm guessing probably not.