One last bike change for RTP

I've had some soreness in my lower back and a little sciatica nerve pain on my left side. I'm thinking it's caused by the fixed gear and I'm going to change bikes for the RTP Saturday.
The Doctor would say spend some time on the Couch so that is exactly what I plan to do.
I changed the setup on my Couch a little and have it configured as a 69'er. This gives me a lower gear for climbing and still have it setup as a "dingle speed" with 32x20 and 34x18 so I still have a road gear and a climbing gear.
The steel On One fork will stay and the small block 8 tire up front will help with the rough stuff.
I rode this setup yesterday and it felt really good with very little pain. Still had some pain but it was from the ride I did Tuesday on the fixed gear.
Here's a picture of the Couch as I rode it yesterday.

From 106 degrees to Fall

Seems like I was in the middle of Summer just a couple of days ago. 106 degrees in Scottsdale and upper 80's in Santa Fe.
Back home and signs of Fall are all around. Picked our pumpkin out of the garden along with some squash yesterday.
Trying to make some final tweaks to my bike for Saturday and the RTP ride.
Pics of my final setup to follow.
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Ride like a pirate day after.

Having fun, found this saber on the road while out riding. The day before was ride like a pirate day so I'm guessing someone lost the saber.
Was a good 50 + mile day, though really a hot one.
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AM 30 miler in Scottsdale

The furnace fan is getting hotter and by midday it will be 102 degrees. Glad I got out for a quick 30 miler around Scottsdale while it was in the upper 80s.
Nice easy mileage down here, I could ride all day if the temps were cooler. Got to get up around 5 am to get a really long ride in this week.
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RTP In 2 weeks!

With just a few days over 2 weeks to go the race is coming up fast.
I have not had a chance to ride the trail section up over Almagre peak mostly because of the afternoon thunderstorms.
I'd like to pre-ride this section of the race so that I know what to expect and also make sure I know the trail and which turns to make.
If all goes well during the race I will be through this section in the daylight. But if it's dark I'd like to be sure I'm familiar with this section.
We had some really bad rains yesterday with close to 2 inches of rain so I'm guessing things will be pretty mucky up there for a few days. We leave for Arizona Friday evening and will be gone for a week so I going to try to go tomorrow morning early.
On the bike front I've decided that I'm going to ride my Mongoose fixed geared MTB cruiser. The Mongoose is super light and very easy to handle so this will help with the hike a bike sections.
I can climb pretty well with the fixed setup at 32x18 gearing. And I have it setup as a 69er so the big wheel up front makes a big difference rolling over stuff. I won't get much rest riding due to the fixed gear "no coasting" but I have a way of relaxing my legs on the easy stuff that makes up for not coasting.
Arizona will be a nice break with some heat but fun flat training rides. Going to do one long endurance ride and a bunch of easy spinners to finish out my race prep.
Then back home and taper the last week and I should be good to go.

Vapor Trail 125 2011 Results and Thoughts

The 2011 Vapor Trail 125 was a great event this year,

sounds like everyone enjoyed the great weather, the bright moon and most of all the crew and aid stations provided by Absoulte bikes.

We have a new course record set by Jonathon Davis with a finish time of 13 hours and 42 minutes. Jon set out to break the course record this year and that he did, Jon came in an hour and a half a head of second place Aaron Huckstep and almost 2 hours a head of third place Aaron Gulley.

Kurt Refsnider finished in downtown Salida at 2:08 pm giving him a finish time of 16 hours and 8 minutes and 5th place. I thought that Kurt would pull out the overall win but it wasn't his day.

Eszter Horanyi was the first woman to arrive in Salida at 4:27 pm which gave her a fininshing time of 18 hours and 27 minutes.

The second place woman, Becky Sears rolled into Salida at 7:24 pm just under 3 hours after Eszter. Cat Morrison DNF'd some time through the night.

There was 38 finishers and 11 riders that DNF'd, this is a very demanding course and everyone worked very hard but also it sounds like they tried their best to have fun as well.

A big thanks goes out to the volunteers and fine folks at Absolute bikes.

For complete results with check in times at each aid station go on over to the Vapor Trail site at www.vaportrail125.com/vaporResults.php

My Vapor Trail 125 Race Day Report on US Cycling Report

Vapor Trail 125 Race Day Report

September 11 2011 the race started in the wee hours of last night at 10 pm with a waining 97% visible moon.

As bright as the moon was here at my house I'm sure the riders enjoyed the spectacle and the added illumination of the trail. Leaving Salida they had a few miles of pavement then several miles of forest service road till they hit the Colorado Trail. I've been following the riders on thetrackleader.com site since last night and noticed that not everyone has a spot tracker including some of the favorites. The trend lately has been to go stealth so that other riders won't have a advantage. Though it may not help on this type of course, and it could be that they just could not afford the trackers this year.

So it will be hard to tell who really is in the lead but as I type this Jonathan Davis is shown as the leader on the spot tracker site. My guess is that Kurt Refsnider is leading but by how much is anyone's guess. Jonathan is a very strong rider and trains with Jeff Kerkove who won the race last year. On the woman's side Eszter Horanyi has a strong lead as she crosses the Monarch Crest Trail. Becky Sears is the only other woman with a spot tracker and is just starting the climb up the old Monarch Pass road. Cat Morrison is in the mix somewhere but without a spot tracker and no updates on the Vapor Trail blog it's hard to tell where she is on the course.

Most riders seem to be spending a little extra time at the last aid station on Marshall Pass, most likely to warm up a bit and take on some fuel for the last long leg into Salida and the finish. Once the come down off Marshall Pass they have a fun single track descent on the Rainbow Trail, then a very fast roll down hwy 285 into Poncha Pass. From Poncha it's an easy spin to the finish line.

Looks like the front runners are setting a pace to finish around 1:00 which is a very good time.

Check back tomorrow for my race results report and I will try to get some comments and highlights of the ride. 

The Vapor Trail 125 Article I wrote for US Cycling Report

 

Vapor Trail 125 - Salida, Colorado - September 10 - 11, 2011 The Vapor Trail will start in downtown Salida on the F St. bridge at 10 pm. Most riders are expected to finish some time on the 11th but some may finish in the wee hours of the 12th.  This is a benefit ride that travels over the Continental Divide multiple times and reaching altitudes over 12,000 feet. The bulk of the proceeds will benefit local trails in the surrounding Salida area.   "The Vapor Trail 125 will give us a chance to showcase some of the best trails in the area" said Shawn Gillis owner of Absolute Bikes in Salida. Absolute Bikes is hosting the ride and providing aid stations and support along the route. There are 4 aid stations manned by different groups, aid station #1 is always manned by Dave Wiens and his group of volunteers. The Monarch aid station is manned by the Salida High School MTB race team with about a dozen volunteers. This is definitely a community event with community support. So far there are roughly 42 riders entered in the ride with ages ranging from the mid 20's to mid 50's and about 4% women riders making up the field. Kurt Refsnider, the Tour Divide 2011 winner, has committed to riding as well as a couple of very strong women contenders, Eszter Horanyi from Crested Butteand Cat Morrison of Grand Junction. Shawn said that he expects a few last minute entries and I'm hoping that maybe a few well known Singlespeeders will show, like Jefe Branham or Kevin Thomas of Salida who won the CTC this year. The course is a very challenging one with over 20,000' of climbing.  As they say on the entry form 'you need to bring an extra lung if you have one'. The riders will take the Colorado trail up to Blanks Cabin then over the Alpine Tunnel, on over to the old Monarch Pass Rd and climb up to the top to connect to the Crest trail. Then descend over to Marshall Pass connecting to the Rainbow Trail and on back into downtown Salida. This is a very demanding course and a ride/race resume is required to enter with recent ride/race finish result simialur to the Vapor Trail course. If you would like to see the course or keep track of the riders through the night and next day you can head on over to www.trackleaders.com/vapor125, most riders will have spot trackers with them. This is a very good resource for keeping track of long distance remote events but it does cost money. So you may not see every rider on the course due to the expense of renting the spot trackers. There is a "donate" button on the trackleader site to help off set the cost so if you have some extra cash and feel generous you know what to do. US Cycling Report will have a race day report and list the results of the ride as soon as we get full results. Most likely the following Monday or Tuesday so wish the riders luck and check back for more info on ride day.