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September 2006 Team Santa Fe Activities
Races :
AdventureXstream 12 hour Vail Adventure Race
White River National Forest, near Vail, CO
September 9, 2006
http://www.gravityplay.com/axs
Team Santa Fe Bear Pair: Kim and Jan Bear 2nd/5 coed pairs/ time 6:55:00,
3rd of all pairs (25 pairs) and 6th of 57 teams overall.
By Kim Bear
This was the last race of the AdventureXstream series until the
AdventureXstream expedition race in early October. Jan and I had done all the
previous races in the series and our points had us leading the coed pair division
with a total of 230 points. The next closest pair had 125 points. As usual, Jan
and I entered with unknown expectations as in Colorado you never knew who
would enter or what the weather might do.
We had done this race last year, so knew there were few accommodations near
the race venue. We set up to sleep in the camper shell of our truck which
worked out fairly well in spite of the rain and mud. We camped close to the start;
the race was to begin at 7 am.
The race began with fairly good weather; no rain but overcast skies with mud on
the road, with a bike section of about 10 miles where after complete we dropped
off our bikes, received UTM's to plot on a map and then began a rogaine style
trek. We found the checkpoints (CP's) reasonably well except for one small
mistake which landed us bushwhacking straight up a steep incline which put us
right on the CP. After finding all the CP's we jogged to the paddle put in and
kayaked down the Colorado River to the next bike section. The rain had made
part of the bike route impassable because of mud, so part of the course was
eliminated making it an out and back mountain bike to the next kayak section.
The race finished on the river. We were in the lead until we got passed on the
river by another coed pair. They beat us by about 4 minutes as the rain
unleashed. As we crossed the finish line the inflatable finish line structure blew
over because of high winds, lightening and hail. We were happy to be done. We
also felt better after seeing the pair that beat us and realized their ages put
together did not equal one of our ages. They did a great job and are great
athletes which made us feel good about our finish.
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport, ThorLo,
GoLite, Gaerne, Camelbak, Montrail, Leki, Niterider, Dermatone, CW-X,
Princeton Tec, SofSole, Shain, Polar, Hydropel, Outdoor Research, Suunto,
Polar HRM, Maxxis, E-Caps, Wingnut Gear, Potable Aqua and Bolle.
Top of the World Mountain Bike Race
Red River, New Mexico
September 10, 2006
http://www.redrivernm.com/chamber/biking/mtn_biking.html
Jan Bear Expert 50+ category: 1st place and Kim Sport class: 1st place
By Kim Bear
Top of the World Mountain Bike Race is the 10th stop on the New Mexico Off
Road Series of mountain bike racing. The race consisted of a 5 mile loop through
the enchanted forest on cross country ski trails. Jan and I had just done the Vail
Adventure X-stream race the day before so we stayed in a motel in Taos and left
early the next day for Red River. We had tired legs for the race from the day
before but had heard that this course was lots of fun so we didn't want to miss
out. The start began at around 10 am. Jan was racing in the Expert 50+ category
and Kim in the Sport class. We both just had one competitor in our categories,
but it was still a hard ride. The start was fast, Kim would do 3 laps and Jan did
5. Our legs both felt tired. We both ended up winning our categories, but not
without a lot of discomfort. Once we crossed the finish we didn't hang around for
the awards as we were tired and wanted to get home and un-pack. We hopped
into our truck eager to finally get back home! The hot tub beckoned to us after
this challenging weekend.
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport, ThorLo,
GoLite, Gaerne, Camelbak, Montrail, Leki, Niterider, Dermatone, CW-X,
Princeton Tec, SofSole, Shain, Polar, Hydropel, Outdoor Research, Suunto,
Polar HRM, Maxxis, E-Caps, Wingnut Gear, Potable Aqua and Bolle.
Lungbuster 2006 12 hour adventure race
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
September 16, 2006
http://www.lungbuster.com
Team Santa Fe Women: Kim Bear, Angie Kline and Helen Morrell,
supported by Cricket: DNF because of injury
By Kim Bear
The race began with a check in at the Chamber of Commerce in Pagosa Springs.
The start was at 6 am the next day at Wolf Creek Ski area. Helen and Angie
plotted out the map and then we got a good nights sleep. We drove to Wolf
Creek to find it windy and very dark. The race began with trekking 20 miles,
beginning with a climb up the ski slopes. As we trudged up, it began to snow.
Then the winds picked up and it was soon a white out up at the top of the ski
area. We were relieved to finally get into the trees to avoid the wind. As we hit
the ridges, the wind tried hard to blow us off the mountain. This was Helen's first
race and we were concerned about the strength of the wind. However, Helen
hung tough. Angie and Helen were the co-navigators and got us right to our
checkpoints. Once we got off the top of the mountain and on the continental
divide, the views were gorgeous. We really began to work well as a team. We
finally jogged down to our transition area to get on our bikes. Feeling good, we
began climbing on our bikes which turned quickly into downhill riding. Helen and
Angie love to go DOWN and FAST! We were making good time and then IT
happened. Angie slowed down a bit to take a peak at her map, Kim was trailing
to close and could only veer off down a slope towards a river. Kim was fine,
Angie was NOT. Angie ended up in the river knowing immediately that she had
broken her hip. After a trip to the Del Norte ER, where the physician was none
other than a local Santa Fe doc that we all knew, Angie was diagnosed with an
acetabular and pelvis fracture. She was airlifted backed to Santa Fe ending the
race. Luckily, the fractures were stable (all 4 of them), but Angie would be non-
weight bearing for awhile. We felt very lucky that she was not hurt worse. Kim
just had a shiner. Cricket took care of all of us and we couldn't have done any of
this race without her. We may have been DNF for our first race, but just wait until
our next race together. We will be back as soon as Angie doesn't need her
walker and is comfortably seated on her bike.
Is that snow in mid September?
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport, ThorLo,
GoLite, Gaerne, Camelbak, Montrail, Leki, Niterider, Dermatone, CW-X,
Princeton Tec, SofSole, Shain, Polar, Hydropel, Outdoor Research, Suunto,
Polar HRM, Maxxis, E-Caps, Wingnut Gear, Potable Aqua and Bolle.
Cedro Peak Mountain Bike Race
#11 in the NMORS
Albuquerque, New Mexico
September 17th, 2006
http://www.nmcycling.org/results/Cedro.pdf
Jan Bear 1st Place Expert Men 50+, 2 hours 12 minutes and 9 seconds.
By Jan Bear
It had been years since I had done any mountain biking at Cedro Peak so this
was going to be an almost new experience as I didn't remember any of the trails.
This race included several of the classic Cedro trail sections. The race began
with a short 2-3 mile loop that brought the racers back by the start/finish area
before heading out on the main course. Unfortunately I start with the pros and
experts and I'm dropped quickly off the back of the pack hoping to make up time
as the race progresses. The course had some very fast downhill sections then
some short hard climbs; so it seemed like a fast course. Well it seemed like a fast
course until the last 2 miles with included a very steep rocky climb up to a fairly
level but technical section to the finish, whew!! I was done in 2 hours and 12
minutes. This was a great course but I had to head into Albuquerque to meet my
daughter for a quick hike.
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport, ThorLo,
GoLite, Gaerne, Camelbak, Montrail, Leki, Niterider, Dermatone, CW-X,
Princeton Tec, SofSole, Shain, Polar, Hydropel, Outdoor Research, Suunto,
Polar HRM, Maxxis, E-Caps, Wingnut Gear, Potable Aqua and Bolle.
Frazer Mountain Madness
Hill Climb & Cross Country Race
Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico
September 23 and 24th, 2006
http://www.frazermountainmadness.com
Jan and Kim Bear, Deb Werenko, Gary Johnson
By Jan and Kim Bear
This was the second year for this hill climb event. This turned out to be a sprint
as well as climb. It had SNOWED! The website posted a delay in the race with
an afternoon start because of the snow and Kim and Jan slept in. Deb called to
update us and the start was to be at noon. It was 10 am and we were still in
Santa Fe. We made the dash to Taos Ski Valley and made the start with only
about 10 minutes to spare. The route was a challenging, snow covered, 3.0 mile
sprint to the Bull of the Woods pasture. The finish came quickly, so we enjoyed a
pleasant snow ride back down on the cross country course. Hill climb results: 9th
Jan Bear 00:37:38 Expert 50+ Men, 12th Gary Johnson 00:41:54 Expert 50+
Men, 13th Deb Werenko 00:42:04 Expert 40+ Women and 17th Kim Bear
00:45:23 Sport 40+ Women.
The cross country race was scheduled the next day. The snow melted a little but
the cross country course was still muddy and had snow as deep as 8-10 inches
in places. The course began with the same hill climb that was the prior day's race
and then there were three distinct loops with the finish back in the ski valley. It
was hard and wet but a lot of fun. The bikes were covered in mud at the end of
the event. Our results were: 1st Expert 50+, Jan Bear 02:34:12, 2nd Gary
Johnson 03:06:14 and 1st Expert Women Deb Werenko 03:00:46.
Deb and Kim ready for the hill climb!
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport, ThorLo,
GoLite, Gaerne, Camelbak, Montrail, Leki, Niterider, Dermatone, CW-X,
Princeton Tec, SofSole, Shain, Polar, Hydropel, Outdoor Research, Suunto,
Polar HRM, Maxxis, E-Caps, Wingnut Gear, Potable Aqua and Bolle.
Training Events:
NM Orienteers Meet
Los Alamos, NM
September 16th, 2006
http://www.nmorienteers.org/20060916.html
By Jan Bear
I was unable to do the meet because I wanted to attend my daughters soccer
game so I thought the next best thing would be to pick up the controls from the
Red course; 7 kilometers and 330 meters of elevation gain. It was a great course
with some of the controls tough to find. It was a great work out as it was a very
hot afternoon and the downfall in this area outside of Los Alamos continues to
pile up as now almost all the trees are down from the forest fire 3-4 years ago.
It's always a great time helping out the New Mexico Orienteering Club.
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