"Missouri mudfest"!

It's 9:40pm Sunday night and Karen and I just unloaded the car and completed the initial unpacking after seeing the state of Missouri and enough mud to last the rest of the year!
There were two races this weekend and it was a road trip. I of course obeyed the doctors orders and did not race, but Karen was on a mission!

Karen was in Columbia, MO for a work conference Thu-Fri so I rode out to KC with Mitch Johnson, Greg Ott and Dwayne Goscinski and met up with Karen at race HQ.

The weather forecast was not promising for the weekend and it did not go back on it's word!

- Sat - Bone Bender 6 hour in KC - absolute mud! Karen chose to ride her geared bike and save her single-speed for Sunday. People were dropping out within the first 30 minutes because it was nearly impossible to ride more than a few minutes without having to scoop the mud out from between you wheels and frame. Karen flatted in the first 15 minutes, came back to the start and swapped out her whole wheel from her other bike. Then the girl suffered a broken derailleur and like a pro turned into into a single-speed. But after a couple more miles the chain broke. There was just too much mud, sticks, and debris to get everything working again so she had to bail. But the girl gave an A+ for effort!! Dwayne once again proved to be inhuman taking 2nd overall and 1st on gears. Mitch got 2nd on gears. Greg was smart and stopped after the fist lap to save himself and his bike for Sunday.
- Sun - Tour de Tick in Neosho - Very wet and muddy but the trail was accommodating. Karen proved to be a force to be reconed with on her new singlespeed. As usual she was steady and strong. Three girls got a lead on her in the first lap but by the end of the race Karen locked in a solid 2nd place finish. At-a-girl!!! Congrats babe!! By the end of the race all were covered head-to-toe in mud. Dwayne got 1st, Mitch got 3rd, and Greg got 4th. The STL crew may have been small at Neosho but they represented and brought home some hardware!!

Here's some pics..

And my personal favorite... Jim taking time out of his busy day to point out to Karen that in order to ride a bike like that it requires a chain and a derailleur!

Karen's new ride

Well, this was the first weekend sitting on the bench and it sucks!!! But the shoulder is getting better each day.

Karen on the other hand was out riding her new single-speed on Sat and Sun. The girls got a new ride and she's liking it! Its the Specialized Stumpjumper Marathon. Very nice!

Ouachita 2010!

Well, Ouachita 2009 was an absolute bust for us! We (Karen, Loreen Matson, Kerry Rascher, and myself) made the 8-hour drive down to Odin, AR to race in the Ouachita Challenge. It's absolutely beautiful country down there. Karen and Lo were entered in the 60-miler. Kerry and I were stupid enough to enter into the 80-miler. We pulled into our luxurious 1970s resort The Shangri La at about 5pm, met up with Keeven and Sonja, then headed over to eat the provided pasta dinner and get our race numbers.


blah, blah, blah, we ate, registered, got bikes gear ready, went to bed, got up, and lined up to start the race.


Let's just get to the race... The race started at the local high school. We road maybe 2 miles on pavement then another 3 on gravel. Most of this was uphill but not too bad at all. Then we entered onto some double-track that was more climbing. At this point, Karen, Lo, and Kerry were somewhere behind me. I was making good time climbing up the field - maybe going too hard from where I had started - I could see the lead pack in front of me.


After more climbing on the double-track we hit a long straight section of downhill. We were finally able to let it rip a little. However, about half way down and at about 20mph the guy to the right of me hit a stick about 2" in diameter. The stick broke in two and half of it shot right into my front wheel. Yep, I immediately turned into Superman and flew over the bars, landed on my shoulder before doing a couple flips on the ground. My bike actually flew over me and landed about 6 feet down the trail! I immediately felt the pain - it f'n hurt! Everyone around me was very cool and asked if I was allright. What was I going to say, "no, I'm a wuss and I'm going to cry"! Heck no, I caught my breath and jumped up like a gymnist.


I waited for Karen to come by (she is a Nurse Practitioner) to check me out. She stopped her race for a couple minutes to look me over and confirmed that nothing was broken. She even pulled the stick out from being wedged between my fork and wheel.


After sitting there for a bit and contemplating my situation in this 80-mile race, I gathered the following facts: shoulder hurt like a #$#$, I busted my camelback bladder when I fell so I had no water, I broke 1 spoke and bent another, and I had a throbbing headache! With all of those facts, I grabbed the bike and was calling it a day.


You'd think the story would end there but it doesn't. After getting back to the high school and having the EMTs clean up my cuts I drove out to the first aid station to see other racers come through. I was hoping to catch Karen and the crew to cheer them on.


I got to see quite a few people I knew. Sonja came through, Matt Hoffmeyer came through, but where was Karen, Kerry, and Lo. Finally they call came out of the trail together. Kerry had fallen and was bleeding very bad on his arm. Karen used her nursing skills and savviness to tape up Kerry's arm with duct tape. Kerry needed stitches pretty badly.


There were two hospitals close: Hot Springs (45 mins away) and Mena (30 mins away). Since Hot Springs was on our way back to STL we all hopped in the car and headed to Hot Springs. the race was now over for all of us. Lo had already had 2 flats and was out of tubes anyway. Plu Karen and Lo had spent so much time helping me and Kerry, their race was over anyway. Kerry wound up with 10 stitches.

I went to to see the great Dr. Matava yesterday and yes, I tore a ligament in my shoulder and have a separated shoulder. Now I'm off the bike for 3 weeks and prone to arthritis when I'm old!! Fortunately, it wasn't bad enough to require surgery. That would have really sucked donkey balls!

So, Ouachita Challenge 2010 here we come for some sweet revenge!


By the way, in case you hadn't heard yet, the amazing Keeven finished the race riding on his back rim with no tire or tube for at least 4 miles after getting 3 flats. I belive he still wound up 5th in the 80-mile single-speed class. Right on Matt!

Lost Valleu Luau

So the first mtb race of the year is finally under the belt and the series is underway. The Lost Valley Luau had a huge turnout! Hopefully, this is a sign of the newly formed series and not just a fluke. Sure, it brings more competition out, but it’s good for the sport. The true indication that it was a great turnout was that Team Segal ran out of tall cold PBRs!!

The weather was great. In fact I should have dressed down one layer. The course was in good shape. They threw in a brand new 1+ mile section of single-track that was just built “yesterday” by Gorc. Many thanks to Gorc for building the trail. It looks like it’s going to be a great section – once it gets packed in. I would have preferred to not race on it yet – still way too rough and soft in some spots.

Karen and I both switched to racing in the Endurance/Marathon category this year, which is a big step for me from Beginner last year. But I hoped my endurance base from years of Adventure Racing and my recent training would pay off.

Plus Casey stepped up her game and took on a very competitive field.

So now to the results.. Overall, I was happy with my finishing place (13th out of 31). I finished right behind Eric Shuck who has historically done very well in the endurance class. He and I actually worked together for quite a bit of the race. That was fun, until I put some distance on in the rough new single-track section then decided to keep hammering. Of course he then later came past me working with one of his other teammates and I was too gased to hang-on. Lesson learned! I also got to work with Ghisallo teammate Greg Ott a little bit. Greg gave me some good advice on throttling back a little at one section in anticipation of an upcoming hill. I think I forgot his advice too quickly, because at the subsequent hill he blew by about 3 of us and I never saw him again. Great job Greg!!

The endurance format is to do as many laps as you can in 3 hours. I finished my 4th lap in 2:40 and was really starting to fatigue. The 5th lap was painful as I really started to cramp in my groin, quads, and hamstrings.

Casey was the star of the day and took home some hardware with 2nd place! I wound up 13th and Karen got 3rd. Karen was of course looking as strong as she normally does!

Here’s a link to the official results: http://mwftcs.com/images/stories/2009results/2009Race1LVLTotalResults.htm

So, next is Rim Wrecker down at council bluffs. It’s an entirely different course with 99% singletrack and more hills.

Another multi-hour effort in the saddle!

Went out to Lost Valley with Karen this morning and we rode three laps in hopefully the same direction as the race next weekend. It's always fun to get out and ride with the Mrs! I'm pretty lucky like that - she actually likes to mtb as much as I do.

After three laps with her, Peiffer came out and rode 2 with him. I have to admit that the 5th lap was hurtin'! The legs and arse were screaming! John then peeled off to head home and I was able to get more riding in. My goal was to get in 5+ hours and I hit it.

There were a few muddy spots in the typical spots but the trail is in great shape.

Christmas in March!!!

It's been like Christmas here in the Holtmann house the last few days. Karen is building up a new 29'er singlespeed (frame yet to be decided) so her "new" Reba Race came to the doorstep yesterday. Picked it up off eBay for $294. Apparently, Santa Cruz Bikes were cleaning out there garage. They sold a ton of stuff!

Also, 2 new frames showed up for me. Schweeeet!!
My new Cannondale (Ghisallo team) road frame and my new Ellsworth Cross bike. As much as I want to ride my mtb, I can't wait to ride these jellys!!





I'm guessing I have a new thing for the color "white"?!? Never really new this before. Maybe I just really like cleaning my bikes.

Finally!!

Finally got in a long ride today. John Peiffer and I set a goal of getting 50 miles in. Which I desparately needed since my season so far has been limited to 20-30 mile rides. Not good considering I'm planning to race endurance this year as well as races like Bone Bender and Ouachita (80 miler)!! Am I nuts or just happy with pain?!

Peiffer and I rode from our houses into C-wood. We rode rollercoaster, down grotpeter, then out riverscene. Just past the wash-our area I broke a spoke. We were less than 10 miles in! So we road back to Johns house via the Love trail and I put on one of his spare wheels. Thanks again John!

So we took off one more time but went straight down Ries this time. Our goal was to get to Greensfelder and back before 1pm so we needed to get out there. We headed out on Al Foster then took 109 to Melrose. After some good climbs and road work we were at the Greensfelder trailhead.

After one loop on Greensfelder we decided not to do another. The horses and weather have really taken a toll on the trail. Rough as crap! So we rode back to Castlewood.

Once back into the wood we had to take on Blue Ribbon and Lone Wolf. Then back home via Justins. Once back into the neighborhood we were about a mile shy of 50. So we did some laps in the hood, hit 50, and called it a day.

John was man enough to ski at Hidden Valley the next day. I took the day off to recover. Yes, I need more rides like this prior to Ouachita!!