3 days of solid British Columbia mountain bike riding. Day 1 was 28.6 km with 1000 meters of climbing.
Day 2 was 47.5 km with 1000 meters of climbing.
Day 3 was 29.4 km with 1400 meters of climbing.
Day three had some pretty technical riding for us riders from the American Southwest there were wet slippy roots, steep downhills and big drops.
This was our first time back to the Ridgway Area Trails since the first race on this trail network in 2017 which we did with our friend Don. The trails have been expanded and are pretty cool. There are some steep ups with awesome switchbacks and long winding descents. There was also a short technical section with some moderate drops, downhill switchbacks on slabs and lots of big rocks. The race consisted of a one lap 22 mile course that Kim did and a 35 mile 2 lap course that Ries and I did.
This is a fun 12 hour event. The course this year was only 5.75 miles ong but had 585 feet of climbing per lap in steep punchy climbs that rewarded you with some fast twisty downhills. Some of the uphill switchbacks were very steep. Kim did the race with her friend Kim and I did the race with Kim's husband Scott. It was a fun day as our Colorado friends Keith and Jim were also racing.
Scott and I rode hard and were also a well matched pair with my total time of 5:33:55 and Scott's total time of 5:34:24. 10 laps each was hard, not sure we could have done much better. We had time for one last lap before the 12 hour deadline but it would not have changed our category placing. We were pretty happy with our place considering we were the oldest pair.
Kim & Kim were the only female pair and they each did 6 laps for a total of 12 laps. Kim B's total time was 4:39:27 and Kim K's total time was 4:42:39. So they were a well matched pair.
The classic Iron Horse mountain bike race, with the steep climb up to the Fort Lewis College loop, rocky descent, a little road section and then the ride through Steamworks Bar. It's a fast and fun downtown race with lots of spectators.
There were several events to choose from for this race. Kim did the 40 mile route and I did the 99 mile course. The area was very pretty with long descents and long climbs. The heat made for a long day as I cramped during the second half making my progress very slow.
It was a hard day out. We spend about 15 minutes helping a person who crashed at about mile 17. Then I started to cramp about mile 50 and it was a struggle the rest of the way. Ries took care of me and made sure I finished!
This race is always hard, the baby head climb, the tight twisty sections and the short steep climbs mixed in with some steep rocky descents. It is a real locals race and has a great vibe.
An interesting gravel race near Magdalena, NM and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory VLA(Very Large Array). The race consisted of a 4K elevation gain over 39 miles. The course route was via GPS as there were no course markings. At the end of the race my head unit device showed 4300 feet of climbing over 40 miles. We signed up for this event last minute as we had never been to that part of the state previously. The ponderosa forest was beautiful. Mt Withington elevation is 10115 feet. The first climb of the route was about 1500 feet over 6.5 miles. There were two other big climbs and the rest rolling terrain.
This annual rece raises money for trail maintenance and trail building in the Galisteo Basin Preserve. The race uses a 9 mile loop with about 900 feet of climbing per lap. The goal is to complete as many laps as possible in the 6 hour time limit. This year I raced with my brother Todd. We were in the male team category because aur third team member was unable to race. Kim raced with our daughters Sam and JJ in an all womens team.
A tough 10 hour mountain bike race at a former WW1 military base. The trails are fun with some pretty twisty sections and some open super fast sections. Each lap is about 13 miles with just under 1000 feet of climbing per lap.
Kim did the race with Christina H. Kim did 4 laps and Christina 3. They finished 3rd. Kim's laps were 45:00, 1:15, 1:22 and 1:32. The first lap is shorter and uses a road climb for about 5 miles to spread out the racers.
Mountain Bike
Bosque Mountain Bike Stage Race, Stage 3, Atrisco Circut
A very twisty and sandy 3 mile loop along the Rio Grande just north of Central Avenue in Albuquerque. Due to the dry weather the sandy sections were very soft and deep requiring lower tire pressures and good handling skills. Kim ended up in 1st Place for the Open Women and I was 2nd in the Men's 50+ category for the 3 Stage Event.
Kim was the only 60-69 year old female to finish both the 25 mile and 20 mile races and collected 35 seconds of time bonuses. So Kim won the Mini Cactus Cup.
This year I did the almost 43 mile mountain bike race and Kim did the slightly shorter 25 XC mountain bike race. There were two time bonus segments on the course where if you were 1st, 2nd or 3rd in your age group in the timed segment you received a 15, 10 or 5 second bonus. The 40 mile and 25 mile courses are similar just the distance is different. This year the temperatures were really warm for mid March with the midday temperature reaching almost 90 degrees.
A fun 5.2 mile loop with a little bit of everything except climbing. Sand, twisty, gravel, logs, super fast sections and super slow sections through heavy vegetation. The men did 5 laps and the women 3 laps. A fun course!
A fun self timed gravel race in the Albuquerque South Valley alongside the Rio Grande. I did the 5 lap 42 mile event and Kim did the 3 lap 25 mile event.
This 24 hour mountain bike race is on a fast 16 mile course with lots of twisting turns and jumping cactus! This was the 26h annual race. I was on the 5 person co-ed team with the sum of the racers age greater than 250. Our team was Dave's Not Here. There were 22 teams in our category, we finished 5th this year. Kim also had a team (Team Santa Fe) entered in this category and they finished in 11th place.
Team consisted of Sara Ann Parks, Dave Million, David Jordan, Josh Propfe and I. My 4 lap times were, 1:09:23, 1:13:13, 1:14:02 and 1:11:42. The two longer laps were my two night laps.
This was a long course, about 4.5 miles, it included singletrack, ditch bank double tracks, several run ups and downs with barriers and sand. Lots of fun but only time for 3 laps.
A good race in warm weather! It's always nice to visit Tucson in January. The course has minimal climbing and is fast but you need to pay attention, lots of twists and turns. There is about a half mile that is more technical with some bigger rocks and drops that has the majority of the climb.
I did this race with Keith Bushaw. Keith and I did the same number of laps as last year. I felt bad that I didn't go out for the last lap as it dropped us from 9th place to 11th place. I probably had time as the two teams behind us went out and made it.
