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April 2008 Team Santa Fe Activities
April 2008 Team Santa Fe Activities
RACES:
Winter Orienteering on Valles Caldera National Preserve
Valles Caldera, NM
February 2, 2008
http://www.nmorienteers.org
Team Santa Fe Members: Angie Cline and Helen Morell racing with, Randy Harmon, Cricket Harmon.
Place: 1st place/7 teams: Long snowshoe course Time: 1:45:15
By Angie Cline
The New Mexico Orienteer's did a great job putting on this event.
Despite the recent temperatures of -20 degrees, 30+ people
participated in the event. There were 3 snowshoe courses, long,
medium and short. We chose the long course. The snow had crusted
over so every time we tried to pick up speed, we fell through the top
layer! Our shins were bruised but we had a great day. We put "the big
guy" Harmon in front to pack down the crusty snow. We managed to
find all of the checkpoints. It was little a tricky because each course
had different flags and sometimes they were very close together. It a
good course for taking bearings across long flat terrain. We are
looking forward to the club's next event.
AdventueXstream 12 hour Moab Adventure Race
Moab, UT
April 5, 2008
http://www.gravityplay.com/axs
Team Santa Fe Bear Pair: Kim and Jan Bear, 3rd Place Co-ed Pairs/ 26
pairs 7:54:37 11th Place of all teams both 4 person and 2 person co-ed and
open, 114 teams total.
By Kim Bear
AdventureXstream is a 6 adventure race series with races in Moab,
Buena Vista, Breckenridge, Durango and Vail Valley. The venues
are mountain biking, kayaking, trekking, rappelling and
navigating/orienteering. Other races have had us rollerblading.
Racers/teams accumulate points; more points are awarded for the
longer races. The series ends with the "grand finale" in Moab and is
an expedition style race which takes 3-4 days to complete. Jan and I
had last done the Moab race 2 years ago and came in 3rd place. This
year, we thought we would be very lucky if we placed top 3. This
would be our first adventure race since Jan broke his hip racing in
Leadville back in August. He had been recovering steadily from this
injury, but at the San Ysidro Dirty Century he had hurt his back. It
turned out he had herniated a disc at L4-5, making him a little
nervous about this one.
The race began a little differently in that we had staggered starts
which allowed us to be with our competition right from the start. The
first venue was a 7 mile paddle; we were the second pair out of the
water. Somehow we ended up being the third pair out of the
transition onto mountain biking where we climbed out of Long
Canyon. We eventually caught up with the couple in second, passed
them right before Gemini Bridges but then lost our momentum when
we had a flat tire and then figured out we had to ride to the bottom of
the canyon, then run back up to the rappel. We would remain in third
to the finish. Jan was very strong throughout the day, even pulling
me on the 6 mile run. His back problems did not seem to be slowing
him down. It was fun to see the other couple from Santa Fe in fourth.
We rappelled back down into the canyon, rode our bikes out and
finished around 4ish.
The competition felt stiffer this year; we were very happy with our
third place finish.
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport,
ThorLo, GoLite, PokerJunkie.com, Camelbak, 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.
Catalina State Park 11 Mile Trail Race
http://www.everyoneruns.net
Catalina State Park, AZ
April 12, 2008
Barb Dutrow 1:34:38 1st 50+ F, 20/129 overall
By Barb Dutrow
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Catalina State Park 11 Mile Trail Race
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Several of the favorite running trails near Tucson were the setting for
the Catalina State Park 11 and 5.5 mile trail runs. A rather small field
of 11 milers set off 5 minutes before the 5.5 mile runners so as not to
overcrowd the trails. This was an incredibly scenic course set in the
foothill of the Catalina's. The anastamosing and criss-crossing course
map made for some pre-race anxiety but critical turns were well
marked with flagging or staffed with people. One pre-race warning -
never run up a wash, only cross them proved critical on several
occasions. The course had some deep sand portions, several hill
climbs up rocky terraces, and the famous 92 step stair climb - with a
repeat of the loop. The desert was in bloom, the mountains towering
majestically, and the weather perfect. Five water stops were
scattered about the course. The post race eggs, beans and
homemade tortillas were excellent.
The race went well but the results were incredibly messed up. Race
organizers claimed it was because people switched distances. This
wasn't helped by the fact that the results guru was trying to read age
group awards off his PDA, which he couldn't see in the ambient light.
Many people waited around to check results. Knowing that I'd
finished 7th overall female in 1:34, I should have claimed my age
group but it went to someone who ran a 1:54. When they posted
results, I didn't even appear! Several emails got it straightened out -
apparently they "lost" tags for five people. The race was beautiful and
challenging; I'd do it again - but the organizers need to deal with
results. Sometimes paper and pencil is much more effective.
Thanks to Thor-lo socks for padding my feet.
Dawn til Dusk 12 Hour Endurance Mountain Bike Race, Rocky Mountain Ultra Endurance Series
Gallup, NM
April 12, 2008
http://www.dawntilduskrace.net
Kim Bear 1st/8 solo women 8 laps 11:52:13
Jan Bear 6th/16 solo men 45+ 8 laps 11:01:24
By Kim Bear
Jan had done this race for the last 2 years and kept telling me I would
love the trails. The previous years I was doing the Ironman in
Phoenix, but this year decided to do the ½ Ironman with my daughter
in California. I was eager to check out this course. It consisted of
one large loop on the High Desert Trail System atop a series of
mesas. The entire course is single track. It was a 13 mile loop with on
several mesas. The elevation gain was 1700 feet. It was primarily
hard packed clay, with areas of slick rock and sand. The start spread
out everyone on 5 miles of dirt road before turning off for single track
only for the rest of the day. I loved it. The first 5 laps were great; it
seemed that the trail was all "doable". By the 6th lap, the climbs out of
the canyon were getting more difficult and I ended up pushing my
bike a lot. I also was getting discouraged as the slower rider had to
accommodate the faster rider and let them pass when it was safe. I
felt like I was become an expert on being passed. Deb and Jen were
there doing a pair so they helped me through the transitions. I
stopped every other lap. When I came in for number 7, Deb told me I
could do one more…so I did. I got a second wind and was a little
unclear about what place I was in or even who I was racing. I came
in at 11:52 and I guess the women I was competing against went out
to do her 8th lap and got in at 11:59:53. I barely won the solo division,
but was happy with the win just the same.
Jan also had a pretty good day. He fell hard once, but otherwise was
only a few minutes slower than last year. Considering all of his
medical problems, he did great.
Thanks to the pain center for taking care of Jan's herniated disc.
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport,
ThorLo, GoLite, PokerJunkie.com, Camelbak, 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.
Dawn til Dusk 12 Hour Endurance Mountain Bike Race
Rocky Mountain Ultra Endurance Series
Gallup, NM
April 12, 2008
http://www.dawntilduskrace.net
Team Santa Fe Dirtgirlz: Helen Morell and Angie Cline, Female Duo 6th place out of 9 teams
By Angie Cline
Again, it was a pleasure to ride my favorite New Mexico trail over and
over! I rode 4 laps and Helen 3 laps this year. We tried to get in an
8th lap but did not have enough time. Unlike other relays, all racers
had to be finished by the 7PM cutoff. The course was sandy and our
chains sounded like they would break at any moment! But our
Specialized Epics have never had a major mechanical problem and
we pedaled on regardless of the fine silt building up on our drive
trains. My legs were tired and I was happy to complete my last lap.
The atmosphere was exciting and we had a good race. Thanks to our
sponsor Hammer products. I was fighting hamstring cramps
throughout and the Endurolytes kept my muscles OK throughout the
day. Thanks to New Mexico Bike and Sport for providing the absolute
best mountain biking gear available!
Tour of Socorro Mountain Bike Races
Socorro, NM
April 19 and 20, 2008
http://www.socorro.com/ssr/coyote
Cerrillos del Coyote (NM-OR series #2): Jan Bear 4th/9 men in Expert Men
50+ category 2:35:35 (3 laps), Kim Bear 1st/ 10 women in Sport category 1:53:56
(2 laps)
South Baldy Hill Climb (NM-OR Series #3) Jan Bear 6th/7 men in Expert Men
50+ category 1:32:55, Kim Bear 3rd/8 women in sport category 1:52:56
Ominium Final Results: Jan Bear 5th/10 men Expert Men 50+, Kim Bear 1st/14 women Sport
By Kim Bear
The second race of the "New Mexico off road series" (#2 and #3)
were held in Socorro, NM. The first day was the Cerrillos del Coyote
The first leg went east on the Quebradas Road, over rolling hills,
which gave the pack a little time to break up. Then you rode south on
rough two-track roads, crossing a number of arroyos. This led you to
single-track over two hogback ridges, returning for a short time to a
road, then back to the "Madre" single-track. The Madre then turned
north, to return you to the start or next loop. The Sport course was
30 km long, i.e., two loops and the expert course was 45 km or 3
loops. I remembered last year and took off quick off the starting line.
I got passed once, but regained the lead as we turned onto the single
track. I felt really good and never saw the rest of the pack, but could
just visualized them right on my tail. I was lucky and did not get any
mechanicals this year and happily crossed the line first of the sport
women. Jan took off a little slower as he was just recovering from
getting an epidural 2 days previous for a herniated disc. He is still 8
months post op from breaking his hip. He wanted to maintain his
pace throughout and felt pretty good. The third lap was very sandy
from all the riding and he finished just a few minutes slower than last
year putting him in 4th.
On Sunday, we climbed to the South Baldy which was approximately
8.3 miles long. The ascent was nearly 4000 feet to the 10700'
summit. We went all the way to the summit where the wind chill
factor quickly made you cold. There were approximately 13 women
at the start. I came in 3rd in the sport category and Jan came in 6th
in the expert men 50+ category. The view was spectacular and the
weather much nicer this year than in 2007. I had forgotten what a
major grunt/climb this ride entails.
Thank you to Team Santa Fe Sponsors: Litespeed, BTI, Bike & Sport,
ThorLo, GoLite, PokerJunkie.com, Camelbak, 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.
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