Shortly coming off my completion of the Counting Coup, I decided to give The Traverse a try, which is a mountain bike race that consists of 46 miles and 8000+ feet of elevation gain across the Santa Ana mountains.

I heard it was supposed to be a little tougher compared to the Counting Coup. What I wasn’t aware of when I signed up was that we’d be in the middle of a heat wave. That made it a LOT tougher.

Here are some memorable moments during the course of the race.

Mile 8: Rear tire blows off the rim. The Bontrager Dry X was supposed to be tubeless friendly with the Stan’s Arch 29er rim. WTF? I pop in a tube (the only one I got - remember this) and keep on going. Luckily, I was climbing and going slow.

Mile 13: I start feeling cramps in my legs - particularly my calves. I guess the heat is really getting to me. I was hydrating all week, taking in extra electrolytes and everything. WTF? I end up starting to walk some of the steeper hills, which is still tough, as that would trigger cramps in my quads.

Mile 21.6: I get to the first aid station at Four Corners 45 minutes before the cutoff. I really wanted to just roll down Maple Springs back to the car and call it a day. It was easily 100 degrees out already and my legs weren’t feeling well at all. I decided to keep on going.

Mile 25: I reach Santiago Peak, the highest point in Orange County. I’m rewarded by a few miles of downhill. I realize during the course of the downhill that my rear brakes may have been contaminated by the tire sealant that was ejected as a result of the tire blowoff at mile 8. Think of nails on a chalkboard, and amplify that by about 1000 times. That’s what it sounded like every time I got on the rear brakes.

Mile 29: I reach the 2nd cut off point with 45 minutes to spare.

Mile 31: The front tire (Bontrager Dry x) blows off the rim (Stan’s Arch 29er). WTF x3? This isn’t good. I’m out in the middle of the sun and I have no more tubes with me. I decide to start walking and looking for shade. Thoughts of quitting again crossed my mind.

Mile 31.25: Found a guy laying in the shade, with medic support staff around him. Apparently he was suffering from heat exhaustion or something. But luckily, he had an extra tube! I asked him what he wanted for it, offering him some cash. He replied “Just finish.” Thanks #141. I owe you one.

Mile 36: I finally get to the top of Trabuco. The climbing was finally done for the day. Only 10 miles to go, pretty much all downhill.

Mile 36.1: The amplified chalkboard scratching returned, only to be joined by 1000 banshees. I have got to change out these brake pads.

Mile 46: Crossed the finish line 8 hours and 30 minutes after I started. Received some sort of ribbon for finishing. I’m not sure how I placed, but I was just happy to finish.

I’m glad I didn’t give up. This quote rang through my head many times.

“Pain is temporary. Quitting is forever” - Lance Armstrong

My wife even sent me a picture txt message holding up a sign saying “Congrats”. What disappointment I would have felt if I didn’t finish. And having a DNF by my name on the Warrior’s Society site would have been a constant reminder.

Next year? Who knows…I just know I can barely walk right now.

Update: 2008 Traverse Results

April 2008
Total Distance - 166.98 miles
Total Time - 19:06:33 hours
Total Ascent - 19,636 feet
Total Calories Burned - 15,002

2008 YTD
Total Distance - 798.33 miles
Total Time - 94:12:27 hours
Total Ascent - 100,517 feet
Total Calories Burned - 72,359

Another month come and gone. Looks like I just broke 100,000ft for the year. I got the Traverse coming up soon and the 12 Hours of Temecula in another month. Training has gotten boring. I need to do more fun rides again, but I would feel guilty for not training. Weird huh?

Another month has come and gone. Is it just me or is 2008 going by super fast?

I was pretty productive on the bike this month. I think most of the additional riding was a result of participating in the Counting Coup.

March 2008
Total Distance - 246.11 miles
Total Time - 28:41:04 hours
Total Ascent - 32,284 feet
Total Calories Burned - 22,760

2008 YTD
Total Distance - 631.35 miles
Total Time - 75:05:54 hours
Total Ascent - 80,443 feet
Total Calories Burned - 57,357

Although it seems like I’ve been spending plenty of time on the bike, I don’t know if I would consider it training. I have a few events coming up where I feel totally unprepared. I got The Traverse coming up in May and the 12 Hours of Temecula in June. I’m not so much worried about Temecula, but The Traverse is getting me a little nervous. They have some semi-aggressive cut-off times. I don’t know if I’ll be able to ride fast enough to meet them all. We shall see..

Last October, I signed up for the 2008 Warrior’s Society Counting Coup. It’s a 44 mile mountain bike race with a bit over 8000 feet of elevation gain.

So after a a few months of limited training due to fires, forest closures and above average rainfall, March 1st came faster than I would have liked.

My day started at 3:23AM. The alarm was set for 3:30AM, but for some reason, I just woke up. Maybe it was the anxiety? They say you are supposed to eat a few hours before a race to allow food to digest. So down goes two servings of Trader Joe’s Organic Instant Oatmeal w/ Flaxseed, along with a peanut butter sandwich and a banana.

By 4:15AM, I’m on the road and I’m on my way to Blackstar where the race begins. The drive was pretty uneventful until I almost took the wrong freeway. There was a moment in time where I thought I was supposed to take the 241S from the 133 instead of the 241N. Call it a brain fart - or maybe my mind was just foggy from being up so early.

I get there and start getting the bike ready along with the rest of my gear. The opening ceremonies start and a speech was given about challenging ourselves, and I realize that what he said was true. We don’t challenge ourselves enough.

At 5:30AM, the race begins. The faster guys and gals take off like a bullet. I hang in the back where I belong.

The initial climb up Blackstar was dark and foggy. The mist would help fog up my glasses as well, so seeing more than 20ft ahead was tough. I think that did help flatten out the hills slightly, since I couldn’t see what was coming up.

By the time we got to the Main Divide, we started to climb above the fog, and the view was absolutely gorgeous. Sunny with an ocean of clouds around you, with a few mountain peaks poking above the clouds.

I got to the first checkpoint at the bottom of Motorway at 8:23AM. If you don’t make it there by 9:30AM, they don’t allow you to continue.. After refilling the hydration pack and mixing a new bottle of Perpetuem, I started up Maple Springs. I got to the 2nd checkpoint at Four Corners at 10:11AM, which is the last and final cutoff (11:30AM) for Counting Coup.

I got a second wind and was able to pick up the pace a bit on the final climb up to the peak. I kept looking at the antennas and thinking to myself that it’s not much farther now. When I finally reached the peak, I was glad that the majority of the climbing was over.

I started the long descent down Upper and Lower Holy Jim. My back started to stiffen up and my hands were getting sore - but it sure did beat climbing.

I trip the finish line at 6:38, good enough for 49th out of 150. My actual roll time was 6:22 and I had only stopped and rested for 16 minutes total. Being on the bike that long continuously isn’t very comfortable. I had to keep reminding myself that I liked to ride bikes.

Regardless, I’ll be back next year. I will challenge myself again. Perhaps Vision Quest will be on my calendar next year.

February came and went real quick. I tried to squeeze in as much riding as I could while ramping up for the Counting Coup. But rain dampened most of those plans - relegating me to some spins on the Irvine paved bike paths.

February 2008
Total Distance - 183.65 miles
Total Time - 22:56:14 hours
Total Ascent - 25,177 feet
Total Calories Burned - 17,425

2008 YTD
Total Distance - 385.24 miles
Total Time - 46:24:49 hours
Total Ascent - 48,159 feet
Total Calories Burned - 34,597

Meet Yuri.

I ran into Yuri who was riding a mountain bike at Peter’s Canyon yesterday. I was out trying to get in a low intensity ride in preparation for the Counting Coup this weekend and came upon Yuri on the main fireroad.

I tried passing a few different times, but only to find him speeding up each and every time I tried to pass.

Eventually the fireroad started to steepen and Yuri must have run out of gas by then, because he finally let me zoom by. A leisurely afternoon ride at Peter’s Canyon is not a race. Don’t be a Yuri.