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Team Santa Fe Newsletter
October 2005
RACES
Road Apple
Rally Mountain Bike Race
Farmington, NM.
October 1st, 2005
http://www.roadapplerally.com
Team Santa Fe/Jan Bear
1st Place Senior Sport Masters, 2:10:37
By Jan Bear
The Road Apple Rally is the longest running annual mountain bike race
in the world and this year celebrates its 25th Anniversary of this event
that started in 1981. Pro mountain bikers such as last year's winners Ned
Overend, and Jennifer Smith have enjoyed the fun fast course. The sport and
expert riders ride a loop about 30 miles in length, there is not much climbing
but when there is a little it is usually a push. The race began at 9:3o
AM but for me and my friends from Santa Fe it began much earlier. I was
in Dallas, TX. On Friday at an Orthopaedic meeting and went to get on the
plane home and my wallet was gone, fortunately I had a hospital ID and was
able to get on the flight home but had no cash or CC as I had planned to
drive directly to Farmington from Albuquerque but change of plan. I went
home to Santa Fe got some cash, cancelled my CC's and asked for a ride
to Farmington with friends, we left at 4:00 AM and I had not arrived home
from Dallas until 10 PM. Needless to say I was a little tired and had never
done this course before but had heard a lot of good things about the event
and that the course was a lot of fun. The start included all classes so
it was quite a big group but I was able to weave my way through to a good
spot by the time we hit the single track. By now my heart rate was in the
high 150's to low 160's thanks to my Polar HRM and I could tell that I needed
to slow just a little so I would not bonk. There was a lot of shot climbs,
quick drops and tons of woops. By the time we reached the far end of the
loop and pavement for about 1 mile I was in a small group of about 6 riders
and there was a lot of shuffling while on the pavement but then back to
the single track were passing was much more difficult. I was in the middle
of this small pack and held my position for the next 15-20 minutes. The
trail then changed to round river like rocks of all sizes and the passing
was near impossible. I could tell we were getting close to the finish by
the view but it was certainly longer than I wanted. About a mile before
the finish the course opened up to a dirt road then pavement for a couple
hundred yards then back to dirt road to the finish. Because this was also
the start I knew exactly how far it was to the finish, thus up out of the
saddle to power to the finish, I ended up passing everyone in my little
group and finishing in 1st place in the senior sport master category, this
finish also helped me win the New Mexico Off Road Series Senior Sport Master
Category with three wins in three races out of eight and garnering enough
points for the win. The award ceremony was very nice with a good meal and
I got my 1st place prize for the event and a NMORS Jersey for the series
win. It was a long drive home but the conversation was good and I forgot
all about my lost wallet.
Thank you to our Team Santa Fe Sponsors, BTI, Bike & Sport, GoLite,
Corrales Sports(Gaerne), ThorLo, Bolle, Dermatone, CamelBak, Shain, SixSixOne,
Litespeed, Polar, Boulder Bar, SofSole, CW-X and Hydropel/Genesis Pharmaceuticals.
AdventureXstream Expedition
Adventure Race
Moab, UT
October 6-10, 2005
http://www.gravityplay.com/axs/
Team Santa Fe Bear Pair: Kim and Jan Bear, Chris Garcia Support.
1st Place Pairs/ 3rd Overall of 17 teams, race stopped due to weather.
By Kim Bear
Team Santa Fe Bear Pair entered the AdventureXstream expedition race
for the second year in a row. We would be more prepared the second time
around. We rented an RV in Moab so we could have a better space to transition
out of during the 4 days and decided to get an early start to Utah from
New Mexico. Last year we arrived at 7pm to find out that we would be leaving
at midnight. At the check in we found that our start would be at 7am the
next morning. We got to enjoy the "dude ranch" at Red Cliff Lodge for one
night. The 250+ mile race was to begin with one person running to get a
check point while the rest of the team awaited their arrival at the rubber
kayaks. Since it would be Jan doing the running, I was feeling like this
would be one of my favorite races! (I do not enjoy running much.) We woke
up to a beautiful clear day; Jan made the run and got us onto the river
for a 35 mile paddle in good time. The paddle had some class 3 rapids right
out of the start. It took us a little under 5 hours and we arrived to quickly
change into our CW-X biking clothes. CW-X makes the best clothes to race
in. The bike clothing breathes plus the shorts give compression to the
quads for comfortable running. No matter how hard we work, the design gives
a professional look.
We then took off to run 3 miles to Corona Arch. At the previous races
we had rappelled next to the Gemini bridges. Much to our surprise, we were
going to rappel directly off the arch. It was a spectacular rappel. We
did a small via ferrata up to the top of the arch. We then free rappelled
down and ran back to the boat ramp. We got on our bikes and headed off
for Poison Spider Mesa. Kim ran out of water after a couple of hours. It
was 80 degrees with the sun beating down on the mesa. The ride was as sandy
as it had been years ago when we often did Poison Spider Mesa and Gold
Bar rim. There are many sand traps that you have to push bike through to
make it. You get done with one and then ride into another. The jeeps have
always been a nuisance as you are competing with them for the best line.
HOWEVER, on this trip the jeeps became our friend. They had cold water
which they readily shared with us. We rode all day and ended up going back
down Long Canyon to the boat ramp for a third time. We arrived at around
8 pm in third place.
We then took off into the night for a 30+ mile trek. After ferrying across
the Colorado River beyond the Potash Plant, we bushwhacked through swamp
vegetation for about 30 minutes. This put us on track to Jacobs's ladder
which took us to Amasa Back. I had never done that without a bike. It
was a little sad to miss out on that great riding! We finally ended up
at the race course for the 24 hours of Moab (which would be going on the
next weekend). The next transition was at Ken's Lake. After running down
the freeway, we then hiked to our RV and Chris where we found that we had
lost several places. We stayed for several hours to get ready for the next
segment and took off again in 3rd place. The other teams were still resting?
We biked to the La Sals which was about 16 miles of ascending. It began
to rain and storm. From Warren's Lake campground check point, we took off
to climb the mountains of the La Sals. As we climbed the switchbacks in
the rain, we ran into the second place team who encouraged us to turn around
because of bad weather. It seemed to be clearing so we continued and got
the CP which was low first. We started to climb and the lightening and storm
released its fury on us. After a long discussion, Kim convinced Jan that
going back to the campground at Warrens Lake was best. It just felt too
dangerous. Jan reluctantly agreed with "his wife". The whole way back Kim
had many conversations in her head about having made the best choice. We
hoped to be able to take a time penalty or wait out the storm and return.
The other scenario could be that the mountain was closed and then they could
just continue on the race. Much to both of our surprise, the whole race
course had been shut down. We would be shuttled back to Red Loge Inn and
meet the next morning at 7:30 am to resume the race. The next morning we
were given the choice of continuing the race "for fun" and retaining our
rank of 3rd overall and 1st in pairs, or just retaining our rank and not
continuing. We had done the exact same course that was remaining last year,
so opted to not continue and go to a hotel. We retained our rank, plus
got to do all the new parts of the race course. It was a great race. We
enjoyed working with the other teams during the night of the trek. Will
Newcomer, race director put on a well supported race with new challenges
every time.
Thanks to all our sponsors who we could not have done this race without
their help! CW-X makes the best clothes for biking and trekking to race
in. Our Litespeed bikes performed efficiently and handled the sand and rock
of Moab well. Other great sponsor gear used, BTI, Bike & Sport, GoLite,
Corrales Sports(Gaerne), ThorLo, Bolle, Dermatone, CamelBak, Shain, SixSixOne,
Litespeed, Polar, Boulder Bar, SofSole, CW-X and Hydropel/Genesis Pharmaceuticals,
Montrail, Sunnto, Leki, Princeton Tec and Wenger USA.
Training Events
Oktoberfest 3 Mile Run
October 8, 2005
Baton Rouge, LA
22:20 1st 45-50
by Barb Dutrow
At last, a fitness event in our region that was so heavily impacted by the
recent hurricanes. This was the first race post-Katrina and Rita; all other
events had been cancelled as are most this fall. And, folks were ready.
At 6pm, about 600 runners congregated at the Mockler Beverage plant, on the
outskirts of Baton Rouge. As in past years, it was superbly well done. The
race began near the warehouse, and after a loop around the grounds, took the
runners through a giant warehouse/truck garage with floors so polished that
you had to be careful not to slip, then out into the surrounding neighborhoods.
The course was fast, despite its many turns, then finished back at the offices.
After the race, it was Oktoberfest, with on-the-spot grilled Manda sausage,
all the beverages you could drink, a giant bouncy pen for kids, a great dancing
band, and a huge, wide screen TV broadcasting the LSU football game. The night
was glorious, with temperatures in the upper 60's, and a clear starry sky.
It was just the kind of relief from the chaos and disaster that was needed.
(Due to Katrina, the website has not been updated so I don't have the overall
race results).
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