This was the first time the Chamber of Commerce in Gallup put on this event. The trails used are called the High Desert Trail System, they consist of a series of single track loops that are on sand, rock, rough dirt, etc. a varied trail system, there were lots of steep short ups and downs, and the length was close to 14 miles. The weekend began poorly for Ries and I as the freeway from Albuquerque to Gallup was closed due to a fire and we had to be re-routed and didn't arrive in Gallup until after Midnight. The following morning we got up early for food and to find the course and the weather looked dismal, it was overcast, cool and windy. I was chosen to do the first lap of this course unknown to both of us; I dressed warmly and headed to the start, within 30 seconds of getting to the start the race was on. My first lap took about 75 minutes and it was time for Ries to get a shot at the course his first lap was close to 65 minutes. We alternated laps as the weather got worse and worse. By noon the wind gusts were up to 50 MPH and there was intermittent snow. We both were blown off our bikes in one spot on the course out on a very exposed bluff. The weather was so bad it was actually fun. The suttle difference in this event as compared to other timed races was that if you finished a lap after 7 PM it did not count, so even though it was a 12 hours race you had to watch the clock closely. So we ended up with 8 laps, 4 each in 10 hours and 43 minutes to finish in 3rd place for the 2 person teams about 15 minutes out of second place. When we finished the race we wasted no time packing up and heading home due to the poor weather, only to hit a closed freeway so it took and extra 2 hours to get home. The High Desert Trail system was great and the organizers did a fantastic job with the event and I would certainly do it again.

We would like to thank our sponsors for there support with our bikes from Litespeed, glasses from Native Eye Wear, bike parts from BTI, clothing from CW- X and other sponsors included; Boulder Bar, Valencia Sports Group, SealSkinz, Terry, GoLite, ThorLo, Polar, SealSkinz, CamelBak, Schrade, Hydropel, SofSole, Shain and E- Caps. Thanks!

We did this race last year. It was well run and a good event to keep the training going. Temecula is located 70 northeast of San Diego. The goal of the 24 hours of Temecula was to do as many laps on your mountain bike as you could starting at noon on Saturday and ending at noon on Sunday. Only one person from the pair/team was allowed on the course at one time. The total course length was about 10 miles. This year each mile was marked where as last year the course director named sections. I still remembered mile 7 from 2004-- a steep, steep incline which was appropriately called "burning calves". My favorite mile marker was number 9 as it marked a fast short descent into the transition area. We had planned to do this event differently from last year. In 2004, we ended up with 16 laps under our belts, but Jan did 9 laps and I did 7. We were in the open division racing against all male pairs, but were lucky enough to place second. It would be the same situation in 2005. The same pair that beat us last year by 2 full laps would be there again.

For 2005, we planned to share the laps equally. We would double up on laps during the night for one time so we could each get some sleep.

The race began with Jan running a lap around a dry lake bed, a "Le Mans Style start" to get to his bike. He took off completing the first lap in a little over one hour. From there we alternated laps until around midnight and Kim did lap 10 and 11. Then it was Jan's turn for the rainy part of the night where he rode laps 12 and 13. It was cold and wet into the early morning. The sun didn't really appear until around 10 am. Kim finished up with the 18th lap. We again came in second to the same male pair as last year. However both pairs did an equal number of laps (18), but we were 25 minutes slower than the winning team.

Both racers used their Litespeeds which handled well on the sandy trails. The pace of race worked muscles hard, but using the CW-X bike shorts really helped prevent quad soreness. We still had to push our bikes up a lot of the hills, so we were both glad to have our SofSole inserts supporting our feet. We also used Dermatone when the sun finally came out. Our SixSixOne gloves kept our hands very comfortable in rain, sun and on rough terrain. Our Golite jackets kept us warm while waiting for each other in the cold and rain. I also used by GoLite small pack for essentials like food. Other survival gear for us included products by ThorLo, Shain, E-Caps/Hammer Gel, BTI, Princeton Tec, Niterider, Schrade, SealSkinz, Terry, Bolle, and Hydropel. Thanks to these great sponsors for their support!!!

In the pre dawn hours, over 150 runners gathered to begin the Zane Grey 50 mile race outside of Payson, AZ. At 5:00 a.m., with lines of folks still at the outhouse, the race began up the rocky Highland Trail and never veered off. The touted difficulty of this race stems from the facts that: the entire race is on a trail, no respite on roads; the trail is extremely rocky, so much so that long stretches are not very run able; the race has over 12,000' of ascent; it is very hilly, few stretches are flat terrain; and most say it is longer than a mere 50 miles.

The course runs along the Mogollon Rim, in northern Arizona, at over 5000' of elevation. Drainage off of the rim is perpendicular to the trail, so you endlessly run up, over and down into the next drainage. Very large climbs come early in the race and after the 33 mile aid station. Creeks were flowing but logs or rocks provided dry crossings. Views off of the rim were spectacular into the lower surrounding forests. Many varieties of thorny plants keep you on the trail, but shred your legs and arms. These were mitigated by the colorful bounty of wildflowers, at peak bloom in a wet year.

Running for so long provided every weather condition. Cold and dark at the start; bright, sweating and broiling midday when running through the burned area; then wet and shivering in the evening after being hit unexpectedly by rain, then hail, then a thunderous freezing downpour. Mostly, however, weather was calm and skies were that scrumptious desert cloudless blue. At the 33 mile aid station, I had a poncho - but skies were clear, sun bright, and no clouds in sight. At the 44 mile aid station, near sunset, I had a long sleeve shirt - but only picked up my jacket. Mistake. About 2 miles away, gray skies descended, rumbling came, followed by cold rain showers. They abated, only to be followed by torrential bone-chilling rain with pea-sized hail. It was miserable. I finally finished, frozen, cold and wet. The weather was no doubt responsible for the high attrition rate (150 starters, 96 finishers) that was higher than normal.

Carl Gable provided support. He quickly got me through the early aid stations at miles 7 and 13, and then joined me at mile 33 as a pacer to the finish. The Mile 25 aid station, in the midst of the burn area, did not allow crew access so he had time to enjoy the sights. In the miserable cold, lightening-stricken night, I was grateful for the company. After the rain stopped, the full moon rose under the clouds to add a dramatic finish to the evening. I knew that I wasn't in shape for this run (training from -10 feet to +30 feet of elevation) but managed to finish in 15:05:52 - about 45 min slower than my target.

The Zane Grey Highland Trail 50 is part of the Trail Runner Trophy Series and the Montrail UltraCup race series.

Ries and I thought that it was time for another training event and the 45K mountain bike race in Socorro was just the ticket. Socorro is about 70 miles south of Albuquerque along the Rio Grande River. We knew nothing about the course or the organizers or even where the event was to be held despite a map being on the web site as well as an elevation profile. The course turned out to be a combination of jeep trails, single track and sandy arroyos with a 1340 foot elevation gain and loss. Ries and I got to Socorro in plenty of time to register and go for a short warn-up ride prior to race start. The race began at 8:20 AM under cool sunny skies and the weather was great for racing. We began with a controlled start behind a police vehicle for about 1 mile then the police car turned off and the race was on running next to irrigation ditches on a very rough dirt road along the Rio Grande for about 3-4 miles then headed east into the hills for another 4-5 miles along dirt roads. Then there was a quick transition to newly cut single track for 4 miles then dirt roads/jeep trails to sandy arroyos and finally back to the dirt roads along the irrigation ditches to the finish line. Ries finished first in the Sport 40-49 age group in 2 hours and 36 seconds while I was 2nd in the same age group in 2 hours 3 minutes and 59 seconds (a fall on the single track must have slowed me down). We had a great time because the weather was so much better than our last race together in Gallup. Right after the race we headed home happy.

Thank you to our great sponsors, Litespeed, CamelBak, Boulder Bar, Hammer Gel/E-Caps, Valencia Sports Group, BTI, Native Eye Wear, ThorLo, SealSkinz, Terry, CW-X, Gaerne, Shain, SofSole, Hydropel and Dermatone.