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!!