This is a little video I put together one day with some co-workers. We headed down to Pole Position in Corona after work for some racing action. I gave Rafael my old GoPro camera while I used my new GoPro HD camera. We did a total of 3 races and used a different mount each race. Some mounts worked better than others, but I think my driving style just wasn’t smooth enough for good video.
Pole Position Karting
This is a little video I put together one day with some co-workers. We headed down to Pole Position in Corona after work for some racing action. I gave Rafael my old GoPro camera while I used my new GoPro HD camera. We did a total of 3 races and used a different mount each [...]
Palm Canyon Epic, Black Friday Special
A good ride with the bomb squad down PCE. Casualties? 2 flats from a stubborn kid who refuses to go with the NOW (i.e. tubeless tires). Another guy in the group took a few spills, but as far as I know, nothing was broken. The weather started off perfect, but warmed up as the day [...]
12 Hours of Temecula, 11.12.11
Last Saturday was the finale of the 2011 12 Hours of Temecula series. The weather men were forecasting rain. Turns out they got it right, for once! I managed to snap this quick vid on my 4th lap. The first lap was a little muddy. Laps 2-4 were superb. Lap 5 is when the rain [...]
San Jacinto Enduro, 2011
Pre-dawn start. Immense feelings of remoteness. Sweet wooded single track. Two different loops. 75 miles and lots of climbing. Sounds like a good combination for a great race, right? I think so! Last weekend was the 3rd (I think) annual San Jacinto Enduro. I participated in ’10 and had a blast. I couldn’t wait for [...]
ITT, Trabuco, Holy Jim, ITT
I was heading out last weekend to do the Skyline, motorway, blackstar loop, when I decided to give an old friend a call. Turns out, him and some other guys were going to be riding up indian truck trail. I had been thinking of doing an indian truck trail, holy jim out and back, so [...]
A Great Quote
December 19th, 2011 
ChrisAV2 “if you want to be in the top 0.1% of your sport, then you need to be willing to do what 99.9% of your competitors are unwilling to do.” -Gordo Byrn
Building my calendar
December 14th, 2011 ChrisAV2 I started building my racing season for 2012. I am again focusing my training around endurance racing, but I have also added some cross country races in there too. They will force me to get in some of those high intensity speed workouts.
I am also adding in a few centuries and some double centuries. I think they will be good training for when I finally get my opportunity to race a 24 hour race.
I am getting pretty serious about racing, but I also need to remember to have fun. So, I will also be adding some other random stuff to my calendar.
So, what am I missing? Races, events, meetings, movie screenings?
Seven, Sept, Siete , Sette
December 13th, 2011 ChrisAV2 So, my Sette might be nearing the end of its life.
It had a good run.
I was riding last weekend up Skyline. My plan was to then traverse the main divide, descend motorway, climb maple springs up to santiago peak and then traverse back across the main divide, to skyline and back to my car. Well, I wasn’t riding very well and crashed on the short downhill near the top of skyline, scraped my whole right side and bent my derailleur hanger.
I got up, had some blood but just covered it up with my knee warmer and continued on. I made it across the main divide and descended about 90% of motorway. Then, when it flattened out, I started pedaling when all of a sudden….
BAM!!!!!
My rear wheel locks up. So, I slam the brakes on and come to a stop and my rear derailleur is just mangled in my rear wheel. I walk down the rest of the trail to the road and check out the damage. I get the master link off the chain and get it out. Pull the rear derailleur out of my wheel and notice that I have about 6 broken spokes and my wheel is completely out of true. My hanger is of course snapped in two. My front derailleur got bent when the chain wrapped up around the cassette. Lastly, I noticed that part of my frame got chipped.
So, my wheel is being rebuilt at Don’s Bikes of Rialto. I am assuming my rear derailleur is OK and that just the hanger broke. My front derailleur needs to be replaced. My frame might be able to be repaired. If it can not be repaired, I sure hope Sette has good customer service!
So, once I pulled the rear derailleur out, I started walking. I had parked in Corona and was now stranded in Orange County. I had one guy ask me if I needed anything. I replied, “A ride back to Corona!” He laughed and rode off. I then walked for approximately 10 minutes down silverado canyon road before someone stopped and asked if I was OK. Several other cyclists passed me, waving, saying hi, ignoring me. I got a ride to the Christmas tree farm and called my dad for a ride. I walked around and chatted with some guys from RSS, who were out testing some parts on their GT3 test car. Drool. Sadly, they got a flat just as they started their drive and were stranded, waiting for a tow truck.
As I was driving home after finally getting back, I get a call from Don’s letting me know my new bike was ready! So, I picked it up, got it all set to good and took it out for a nice little 45 mile shake down ride.
I felt good the entire ride, even after my feast at the Hemet market (Limon Lays chips and a giant slim jim).
In other news, I got official confirmation that I will be attending the Whiskey 50 in the pro field. So, I will be taking part in the fat tire criterium on Friday evening and the 50 mile pro race on Sunday. I am very excited to be lining up with the guys I have been reading about and admiring for so many years. I guess I better start training for reals.
2011 Whiskey Off-Road Endurance Mountain Bike Event & Festival from Epic Rides on Vimeo.
Palm Canyon Epic, Black Friday Special
December 2nd, 2011 ChrisAV2 A good ride with the bomb squad down PCE. Casualties? 2 flats from a stubborn kid who refuses to go with the NOW (i.e. tubeless tires). Another guy in the group took a few spills, but as far as I know, nothing was broken.
The weather started off perfect, but warmed up as the day went on. We bailed down Cindy Whitehead because everyone was running out of water.
12 Hours of Temecula, 11.12.11
November 18th, 2011 ChrisAV2 Last Saturday was the finale of the 2011 12 Hours of Temecula series. The weather men were forecasting rain. Turns out they got it right, for once! I managed to snap this quick vid on my 4th lap.
The first lap was a little muddy. Laps 2-4 were superb. Lap 5 is when the rain started to come back and the course got slick. Lap 6 was when you couldn’t see, mud was being flown everywhere and the trails were so slick you’d think BP did the trail work.
“Yeah, that’s it. Just relax.
Have another drink, few more pretzels, little more MSG.
Turn on those Dallas Cowboys on your TV.
Lock your doors. Close your mind.
It’s time for the two-minute warning”
What song and by who?
San Jacinto Enduro, 2011
November 3rd, 2011 ChrisAV2 This was my second installment of the race.
Last year, I finished in a total time of 8:22.
This year, I bested that time by almost 30 minutes with a time of 7:53.
My training was kind of lackluster leading into this race, so it was more or less just a test for the upcoming 12 hour race. I started out strong and stayed strong until about mile 40, when I started to get discouraged a bit due to missing the trail a couple times. I also started to lose my front brake. My rear brake was never strong.
Ultimately, I finished 6th place against a really strong group of riders. Worse placing than last year, but a much better race overall. It gave me a bit of confidence going into the 12 hour race. If I pace myself correctly, I should stay strong the entire race and ride at a pretty decent pace, too.
For a full race report (and a little video I made from footage from the race), follow the link here.
San Jacinto Enduro, 2011
November 3rd, 2011 ChrisAV2 Pre-dawn start. Immense feelings of remoteness. Sweet wooded single track. Two different loops. 75 miles and lots of climbing.
Sounds like a good combination for a great race, right? I think so!
Last weekend was the 3rd (I think) annual San Jacinto Enduro. I participated in ’10 and had a blast. I couldn’t wait for it to come around again. I was a little more prepared this year, but so was everyone who showed up.
The first lap covers about 48 miles and 6500ft of climbing on my GPS (Garmin Edge 500). We rolled out at 6:10am, a little later then planned. We then had a very cold roll down the 74 to the dirt we would be riding. The race was neutral until this dirt and once on the dirt, everyone took off. I don’t think everyone takes off because they are racing as fast as they can, I think it is to try and warm up! (Just a note: the temps were in the mid 30s).
I saw Guy Sutton take off and break away from the group. Then, I saw another group of two guys split off, and another guy got up the road a bit. I was sitting 6th, right behind the guy in 5th. I yo-yoed with him a bit and eventually pulled away and caught 4th. Later on the descent, I was caught by the guy who I’d passed in the beginning, Landen (sorry if I spelled that wrong). We rode up the road until we were caught by Ryan Odle and another rider whose name I didn’t catch. Once back onto the dirt, Ryan took off and showed us the fitness he’d been working on since the last SJE. I tried to keep with him as long as I couldn’t but his pace was more than I could handle. As he rode away, I caught and passed another rider, the guy in red.
I finally made it back into Idyllwild, onto the May Valley fire road. I must have enjoyed this dirt road because I didn’t make the turn off for the log-pile singletrack. I finally realized I missed the turn and flipped a “U”-ey to make it back to the trail. I caught and passed the guy in red again because he got by me when I got lost.
I got in from the first loop at 10:30, not far behind the leader (Guy Sutton). I took off on the powerline trail and had a good pace. I felt like I could just keep going, so I did. In fact, I missed the turn off on this trail too. When I finally realized I was off course, I turned around and found my way. I only found my way because I saw a pair of riders heading up Forbes Ranch Rd. I rode up to them and hung with them until one guy dropped back. He wasn’t feeling well and ended up abandoning the second loop. I rode with the other guy, Landen until he pulled away on the descent. I saw him up the road a few times before hitting the Climb up to the Ramona Trail, but never caught him. I was still riding decent, but walked a few times to keep the cramps from coming. I powered back up the road and finished just after 2pm and 2:03. A time of 7:53, almost 30 minutes faster than my time from last year.
Before the Sun Rises
October 25th, 2011 ChrisAV2 Trying to find time to train is a pretty tough thing to do. Well, I suppose the Pro racers whose job is to train don’t have a hard time finding time to train, but for us regular40+ hour work week folks, it is difficult. My solution was to try waking up early to get in my training. It has been working well, er, somewhat well.
Lately, something has been up with mother nature. I think she forgot that I live in Moreno Valley and has been giving me the weather that I experienced when I was in San Francisco. It has been progressively getting worse.
It started out last week with some fog. Fog is no big deal. I live up on a hill, so if it is foggy when I open the garage, I ride down hill and stay in Riverside, below the fog. If it is clear when I open the garage and I run into fog as I am heading down the hill, I turn around and stay up in Moreno Valley, above the fog. So, the fog is a little annoying because it destroys any visibility I have and makes me feel even more invisible to cars, especially at 5am, but it is manageable.
Well, the fog has been getting worse. More dense. I can’t escape it. Then, today, it is so dense and moist that the streets are soaked. It’s almost as if I am riding in a small amount of rain. I head down towards Riverside and it gets worse. I turn around, pit stop at home to wipe off my glasses and lights. Start heading east to stay in Moreno Valley and it stays dry for a bit. Eventually (a very fast eventually), I hit the dense fog/mist in Moreno Valley. I keep riding and it is not getting any better. I decide to turn back and ride home.
I’m not ready to ride in the rain just yet, especially when it will be a nice clear 85°F this afternoon.
