Pima Mormon National Buena Vista and Back

Early morning ride (6am) with Kevin. Headed up to Buena Vista and back. Kevin fell just before the waterfall and hurt his hand - seemed like it hurt a lot.

Forgot to turn on GPS until we were a couple miles into the ride.
Pima Mormon National Buena Vista and Back at EveryTrail

Desert Classic/DCX/National Loop

Love this route:
Desert Classic/DCX/National Loop at EveryTrail

CrossMax 29ers suck!

Converted my bike to a fixie! Without tools! On the trail! Again! Crossmax 29er hubs FAIL!

Pivot eye bearings

These guys are based in Tucson. High end after-market bike parts: custom seals, bearings, bushings, BBs, etc. SMC installed shock eye needle bearings on my mtb. It definitely changes the way the bike handles - rear suspension is a lot more active. I can tell you in a few days if it is good or bad: ENDURO FORK SEALS AND BEARINGS: YOUR ONLINE SOURCE

>> UPDATE:

The Sultan is better than new. Made it up Javelina and Mormon with zero dabs. I can barely walk though...

Ride with Rylan

Rylan persistently asked to ride his bike today. So we dodged the rain storms and got out for a ride. We tooled around on a half-pipe (concrete drainage ditch) for 15 minutes. Then he chased birds with his bike on a soggy grass field for a half-hour. He has LOTS of energy and loves to ride his bike. Awesome.

Great weekend

Great weekend so far: perfect Pivot 429 demo ride in Sedona yesterday and a 35 mile South Mtn TV towers road ride this morning.

Ride with Nelson

Outstanding mtb ride with Mr. Nelson last night. That dude has gotten WAY faster.

DC + National

Desert Classic (west), Telegraph Pass, National east loop. 1 hr 45 min. Gotta be my best time.

busted shock on the Sultan

Rear shock on the Sultan is busted again. 429 doesn't arrive for a few more weeks. The Dambala finally gets a chance to fulfill its purpose.

Desert Classic night ride

Solid Desert Classic ride last night (DC >> Secret >> Helipad >> Telegraph >> home). Weather is PERFECT. Why was I the only one on the trail last night? Oh, and a nice bike ride to work this morning too.

2010 Old Pueblo

Had a great time in the Old Pueblo. It was nice to have a bigger group this year. Thanks everyone!

24 Hours in the Old Pueblo Pre-ride

Great 24HOTP pre-ride yesterday. Thanks Matt, Kevin, Ryan Z, and Ryan N.
24 Hours in the Old Pueblo Pre-Ride (2 Laps) at EveryTrail


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DC + National ride

Great mtb ride Tue afternoon. Desert Classic to Telegraph Pass. Hike-a-bike up Telegraph Pass. Road to Buena Vista. Down National. Over Beverly Canyon saddle. Home. 2 hours. Schweet.

DC after work ride

Cut out of work a little early and sneaked in a Desert Classic ride. Trail condition was outstanding -- hard-packed and grippy from the rain -- and weather could not have been better. Just an awesome ride.

2009 White Elephant Parade (WEP)

No one was airlifted off of South Mountain so the 2009 WEP was a success!
2009 White Elephant Parade at EveryTrail

White Elephant Parade - Projected Route

I posted a projected route for the 2009 White Elephant Parade. I didn't have data for two segments:
1) National Trail from Buena Vista to Telegraph Pass: Stay on National. The GPS data follows the road.
2) Bottom of Javalina: Take Beverly Canyon all the way back to Desert Classic. The GPS data follows the East Loop.

Other than that, the GPS data should be pretty accurate. GPS route is ~32 miles. I think it will be just a couple miles longer because of Beverly Canyon. Let's call it 35 miles. Still, that is 5 miles less than I thought it would be.

See you tomorrow morning! It's gonna be cold...40 degrees @ 8am.

Short trip up and down National Trail from Pima, SOMO

Didn't have a lot of time to ride but wanted to put in one more ride before the White Elephant Parade. Kevin and I rode up National to the saddle just before Buena Vista and back. Saw a downhiller clear a big step...UPWARDS. Didn't think you could do that kind of stuff on a downhill bike. Jeesh. I cleared that step on the descent for the first time (scared the heck out of me). First ride on the GEAX Saguaros - not bad.

Silent Sundary Road Ride, TV Towers Out-And-Back, SOMO

This was a South Mountain Silent Sunday ride (no cars allowed in the park!). Ryan and I rode to the TV towers and back. This was my first ride with Ryan - he and seem pretty well matched on road bikes. Hope we can ride together again. Another great ride!

Desert Classic + National + DCX, SOMO

Kevin and I rode West on Desert Classic to Telegraph Pass. Met up with Matt. Kevin turned around and rode home. Matt and I hiked up TP. West on National Trail. Hooked up with the Desert Classic Extension. Headed east. Dropped Matt at his house. Took Desert Classic home. Got home just before dark. This is the first time I cleared everything on the descent from the ridge on National (west side of the trail). Outstanding ride!

Huckaby and Jim Thompson, Sedona

Squeezed in a Sedona mtb ride during Tessa's tour de AZ trip. Parked at Tohawkaloogie, crossed the bridge, rode up the base of Schnebly Hill Rd. Jumped on Huckaby. Crossed the Oak Creeek (brr!) and climbed up under the bridge to Jim Thompson. Back into Sedona on Jordon Rd back to start.

Desert Classic Extension >> San Juan >> National Loop, SOMO

Jonathan S was our tour guide on my first Desert Classic Extension ride. We started near Pima Canyon and took Desert Classic to Telegraph Pass. Took the road for a ways and then hopped on the Desert Classic Extension. It wraps around the west end of South Mountain and hooks up with the west end of National Trail. Took National to the San Juan road. Road up to Buena Vista and then down National and Mormon and Pima Wash to home. Awesome ride! Thanks Jonathan.

Fury and Dawn To Dusk, McDowell Regional Park

The 24 Hours of Fury went well. I completed 13 laps. Finished 7th again. No mechanicals. No injury. Cramped up again - I think I just need to take longer breaks and go slower on the first couple laps (which is much harder than you might think).

I was in good spirits the whole race but the 3am lap was mentally challenging. Had to get off the bike for a while and nap. Felt much, much better after a ~3 hour nap. Got back on the bike and hammered out lap after lap until I ran out of time.

My left big toe is still numb from the race - might be permanently numb. I think my days of 24 hour solo races are over. Next year, I'm thinking 12 hour solo.

My friends, Kevin and Ryan, who raced in the 12 hour duo category finished 11 laps. They were flying! Great job guys!

I haven't ridden since the race. I had planned to avoid riding the week after the race but then I got sick. Had a bad sinus infection, then a cold, then pink-eye. Now everything has cleared up except a persistent cough...I feel fine, I just cough frequently.

Worst thing about being sick: I missed the Flight of the Pigs this year. :( Major bummer.

The Dawn to Dusk race is tomorrow (Dec 5th). I plan to participate. We'll see how it goes.

Strategy: 2009 24 Hours of Fury - Solo

The 2008 24 Hours of Fury was my first solo 24 hour race and I really didn't know how I'd hold up. I'd be satisfied if I didn't just give up and go home somewhere around 2am. I surprised myself and completed 12 laps or ~120 miles. That was good enough for a 7th place finish in the male solo geared category.

At first, the misery and exhaustion made me think, "Ok, I completed a 24 hour solo race. Don't need to do that ever again. Been there, done that." After a couple months, I looked at the results again and realized if I'd completed 1 more lap, I would have finished 4th. Given that I slept from midnight to 4am during the race, I thought, "I could do that. 13 laps is do-able. 4th place is possible."

So, when registration opened for the 2009 12/24 Hours of Fury, I immediately registered for the solo category. I've trained harder for it this year and now I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

I sat down today and came up with a strategy for the race. First, I should say, that if I get 12 laps again this year, I'll be very happy. That is still a big accomplishment for me. However, I'd like to figure out what I could potentially do in this race if I play it smart and have a little luck.

2008 was the first year for this race. I think there'll be more people participating this year and the level of competition will be higher. That means, 13 laps will not cut it for 4th place. So, what can I shoot for? My average lap time last year was around 120 minutes. Here's a table with time of day and lap times:

I had some unnecessarily fast laps in the beginning. I'll keep it to a ~70 min/lap pace.

Then from 5pm to 6:30am (pretty much all night) I was moving SLOW. I remember cramping up a bit on the fourth lap and then feeling bad after that until after I took a nap and did my first morning lap. Also, I didn't pay attention to my battery charge and ran out of light on the last lap before midnight. I was moving very slow on that lap.

Recently, I've noticed when I ride between 5pm and 8pm, if I haven't eaten dinner, I can bonk (psychologically) very easily - I think low blood sugar makes me feel extremely demotivated to ride. [I don't have that problem in the morning with breakfast.] To avoid a low blood sugar bonk, I need to stop and eat a substantial dinner. Probably a good idea to do the same for breakfast.

I think going slower (staying out of the anaerobic zone) on the early laps along with correct and consistent use of electrolyte capsules and drink mixes should help me avoid leg cramps. [Last year, I didn't know about electrolyte capsules.]

I'll go a bit fast on the first couple laps because the legs will be fresh and the adrenaline will be flowing - so assume a 70 minute lap for the first 3 laps. Then assume 90 minute laps from 5pm to 6am - all night long. All other laps, assume 80 minutes - don't under-estimate solar power. Add 20 minutes for laps where I need to eat.

The table to the right shows the results using those assumptions. 17 laps would be AWESOME! I don't really expect to achieve that number of laps but I'm going to pretend that I can until my body tells me, "NO!" or "STOP!"

How many laps will it take for a 4th place finish this year? Last years' winner completed 21 laps! I expect 2nd and 3rd place will finish 20+ laps this year. Using top 10 spreads from last year and from previous years' 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo results, it seems like 4th place will come in pretty close to 3rd. Usually, there's a race for 1st and 2nd place and then a race for 3rd and 4th.

It is extremely unlikely that I'll place 4th; however, there is a good chance that 16+ laps will land me in the top 10 again. With a bigger, more competitive field this year, I'd be very, very happy with that. [Heck, I'll be overjoyed with 16+ laps even if I place last.]

Bring on on the Fury!

White Elephant Parade, SOMO

Information available on facebook.
This is a Flight of the Pigs inspired ride for the Christmas/New Year holiday. Join us December 26th for a challenging ride followed by lunch at my house.

We will cover some less used and difficult trails on South Mountain. Due to its difficulty, beginners should not participate. Participants should be able to ride from the ramadas at Pima Canyon to the Buena Vista parking lot in less than an hour. If you can't do that, please don't attempt this ride.

This is a totally unsupported ride. You must bring everything you need and ride at your own risk. Suggested items: lots of water and food, spare tubes, pump, first aid kit, cell phone, etc. You are expected to carry everything you need - even in an emergency.

MUST READ: National and Geronimo are fairly technical trails. If you aren't familiar with those trails and/or you aren't comfortable with technical riding, I strongly recommend that you pre-ride National Trail from the Pima Ramadas to Telegraph Pass (stay on the trail the whole way). Otherwise, please stay home. We want to ride bikes, not helicopters and we want lunch afterward, not a cat-scan at the trauma center.

We'll meet at Western Star Park at 8am. Route: Get on Desert Classic at Olney. DC to Pima Canyon. Head up the National Trail access road. Up Mormon/National to the Buena Vista parking lot. National Trail coast-to-coast (almost). Take the Desert Classic Extension (west side of South Mountain) and then a bit of road back to Telegraph Pass. Hike-a-bike up Telegraph Pass. Road to Holbert to National to Buena Vista. Down Geronimo to the Scout Camp. Road/canals back to the bottom of Beverly Canyon. Beverly Canyon to Desert Classic. East on Desert Classic to Olney to your vehicle at Western Star Park.

Approximately 40 miles. We should be done by 3:30pm. No guarantee.

Everyone must RSVP on facebook or by email at least a week ahead of time so I know how much food to provide.

SRAM XX Prices

JensonUSA is selling the new SRAM XX components. Thought you'd like
to see the prices:
$328 for an 11-36 cassette (9 hours of machine time...)
$276 for a pair of shifters
$430 for a crankset (26/39)
$1034 total

For reference XTR parts cost:
$239 for rear cassette
$249 for pair of shifters
$500 for crankset (44/32/22)
$988 total

The price is not THAT much different...especially given that the XX
parts are _really_ different (and probably better) than what you have
on your bike now whereas the XTR stuff is just lighter.

Stuff on my bike (that I'm quite happy with):
$225 XT crankset
$90 SRAM X.9 shifters
$70 SRAM PG990 cassette
$385 total