The Coolest 8 II, Boggs Mountain, CA race reports

I've done plenty of 12 hour races and several 6 hour races, but I've never done a 8 hour race.  It seems like a petty issue, but all of those races are different physiologically and mentally.  Much to my displeasure, the temperature was above 100 on my drive to Boggs on Friday night before the race.  I have way too much muscle mass to cool off to feel that heat is any advantage for me.  My real advantage was my support crew.  I had recently joined the Xtreme Outfitters Race Team (so recently that I didn't even have a jersey), and there were 4 racers[including myself] from the team.  We created a pit area and an atmosphere that was conducive to a full day in the saddle.  My ace in the hole was my family.  Being able to hear 'go Papa go' every lap is the best motivation imaginable. 

The first lap was filled with too many people going way too fast for an 8 hour race, but of course I got caught up in the testosterone induced flurry an actually flew past a sharp right hander' and went down a fire road 100 meters past the turn before I realized how stupid I was.  So after retracing my error, I lost all the positioning that I worked to get in the first 6 miles.  But, being a veteran endurance racer, I calmed myself down and at that point settled down into my own pace.  It left me in 'no mans land' for several laps, but I knew if I rode my own race that it would pay off.  So for the next 5 hours I went at my own pace, drank all I could, packed my jersey pockets in chunks of ice, and nibbled food as my gut allowed.

Then I had a decision to make....7 laps or 8?  I knew I needed to do 8 laps to walk with hardware, but man it was hot!  I also knew that I would have to do 3 sub 1 hour laps back to back to back.  Laps #3,4,5 were all 1:05, so I had to seriously re-focus.  Lap 6 went well and I was on pace.  The temperature started to drop and I was actually feeling better.  Lap 7 was a gut check, but when I started to have doubts, I saw my good friend Chad who had been racing all day also.  We talked for a few minutes, then Bill from the race team came cooking by.  I told him my dilemma, and he said, "when do you need to get back to the pit to make lap #8".  I replied sheepishly, "13 minutes".  His retort was classic.  He said, "ok then hold on and I'll get you there".  Bill took off like a man possessed.  I has able to hold his wheel for about 10 minutes then he was gone.  I thought 'man that wasn't too cool', but then when I got back to the pit I realized what he had done.  He rallied the pit crew.  I had open gels, cliff bars, and ice cold drinks handed to me.  After shouts of encouragement and a good push off, I was off.  All I could hear over and over was my 6 year old saying, "go get 'em Papa".  That was all I needed.  I threw down my second fastest lap time of the day and landed on the podium in 3rd place.

Endurance racing is a sport that many people will never have the pleasure to experience.  And very few people realize that it's a team sport.  A special thanks to my fellow racers, pit crew, and family.

 Jon Pritchett on the podium with his 3rd place hardware!

Boggs 24 Hour MTB Race Report‏

I entered my first 24 hour race last year at this same event (held in June then) and learned a lot about what to eat, wear, drink, etc.  I was last out of 5 at the first one, calling it quits after about 17 hours of punishment and freezing cold weather.  After that experience, I decided I would take a stab at the series this year, which consists of two 24 hour races, a 100-miler and an 8 hour race.  The series is determined by the number of miles accumulated during the races.  At Cool, in May of this year, I had what I thought was a terrible run in the mud there, but found out after stopping at 18 hours into the race that I was in 2^nd place.  My goal has been to ride the entire time….a lot harder than it even sounds after seeing the sunrise on the tail end of the race.

This time, I had more motivation and experience to do well and I was set on riding out the clock.  I drove my car packed with gear/food/water to Boggs on Friday afternoon, through 107F temps through the hills on the way, wondering if I was biting off more than I could chew.  “It’s awfully hot to be in the saddle all day/night/day” I thought to myself during the drive, drinking ½ gallon of fluids just along the way.  After getting to the venue, it was noticeably cooler at only ~85-90F...how refreshing.  I set up camp and snacked for the remainder of the day.  That night it only cooled down to ~75F and I was feasted upon by every winged creature in the area, getting just 2 or 3 hours of actual sleep before the 11:00AM race start Saturday.  My pit crew, Steve Hulbert showed up early Saturday with extra ice and water…that becomes important later.

The few hours before the start somehow always end up being a frenzy of “I can’t believe I almost forgot to do that” last minute preparations.  I guess that part of racing never goes away, no matter what the race distance and amount of planning.  The heat was already building quickly during morning prep and again I was getting a little concerned about cramping, dehydration, etc.  11:00AM came, everyone started pedaling and it was obvious that there were two groups after about 100 yards - 24 hour solo racers and everyone else.  It was easily 85F at the start and climbing fast.  The first lap was taken very easily and I brought just one water bottle as the laps were “only 8.6 miles and 1200’”…I could do that standing on my head I told myself.  After rationing water and finishing the bottle with about 2 miles to go in the first lap, it was obvious that I was going to have to take two fresh bottles per lap, topping off with a big guzzle in the pits each time through.  It quickly rose to the mid 90’s as forecasted.  The two bottles were gone before the end of the second lap, so I decided two things: A. drink more in the pits, and   2.  Ride slower.  I did both for the next 6 or 7 hours, downing (2) 28-ounce bottles with big chugs of various “ade”-like drinks and Endurolytes each time I came through my pit area.  During the day, I came across few people per lap one the edge of the trails with cramps, overheating and the like….it was really hot.

The three other guys from our team, Xtreme Outfitters Race Team, Jon Pritchett, Bill Purcell, and Hyland Fisher, took 3^rd/4^th/5^th respectively in the 8 hour solo Pro/Expert class!  The sun went down a short while after the 8 hour racers finished at 7:00PM, then it got very “quiet” out on course…much less “on your left” kind of calls from behind.  As it got dark, lap after lap, the heat became more and more bearable.  The night laps seemed to take much longer even though most all lap times (actual time spent outside the pits) were within about 15 minutes of each other for the entire race, ranging from a fastest of :58 to a slowest of about 1:15.  The night took its toll on me as I started having more trouble getting back on the bike after each stop to refuel, sometimes spending an extra 20 min regaining my composure.  There were two times early morning that I took 1 hour breaks to get some rest, hoping to catch up on much needed sleep not gotten the previous night….not to happen – even after riding for 16 hours, it was impossible to fall asleep, argh!

The last lap I did (#15), after the second 1 hour break, and at about ½ way around the course, I was mentally prepared to blaze through the pits, grab water bottles and push out just one more lap before I could give myself a chance to call it quits.  By the time I finished that lap, I was a changed man, having absolutely none of the resolve I did just 3o minutes earlier.  All in all, still a solid run at 21 hours, ~130 miles, ~17,000’ of climbing, 13,000-14,000 calories burned, and over 6 gallons of water consumed (yes, that’s right).   I still could not beat Kyle Shild, the rider who beat me in Cool in May.  I found out he was 2^nd in our class and 7^th overall in last year’s series out of 335 racers, so I’m in good company.  Kyle Shild is an absolute machine, turning 19 laps in and going about 1 hour longer than I did.  I was second in the race and solidly in 2^nd place for our age group in the series going into the Tahoe-Sierra 100 on Sept 11^th.

The bike, is not so happy right now.  It’s in need of some serious TLC.

Big thanks to Steve for feeding me and the bike for the duration, and for kicking me in the ass occasionally.  And thanks to Hyland, Jon and Bill for their help with additional drink mixes (much needed), bike maintenance and motivation boosts.

Kyle, I’m gonna beat you some day!

 Chris Rose on his way to 2nd place at The Coolest 24 II, Boggs Mountain, CA

TBF Racing Friday Night MTB Race

A couple of our racers at the TBF races in Granite Bay: You can see Maxx @ 2:16, Troy @ 2:23, and Cord @ 2:33.

2010 Coolest 8 hour race report

The training program that I put together last November was designed for me to peak starting at last week's Lemurian through this week's Coolest 8. The Lemurian was a disaster. I blame the experimentation with nutrition, just as I did at Boggs V, and pretty much got the same result; running out of gas during the race. For the Coolest 8 I went back to what I had previously been using: energy bars, energy gels, Clif Blocks, Hammer Perpetuem and an electrolyte drink.

I had a good start position as the race began and I tried to maintain that as long as possible. All of us tried to find the best lines as there was quite a bit of mud on the trail, left, right, center.... Though I had to deal with some traffic on the first lap, it was fast.

First lap: 57:54 minutes, average speed 12.3, max speed 32.1.

My second lap was pretty fast too and I was feeling good.

Second lap: 59:02 minutes, average speed 11.6, max speed 32.4.

My third lap was going pretty good for the first 15 minutes. After one fast small creek crossing with lots of sharp rocks on the other side I saw a couple guys fixing their flats. Bummer for them, I said to myself, and was happy about my decision to run Stan's sealant. Cocky bastard. Right afterwards as the rear end of my bike was feeling a little soft I decided to get off the bike and check the rear tire. Going flat, of course! I pulled out my CO2 inflator, tried filling it but the o-ring in the inflator came out. First CO2 cartridge emptied. I got the o-ring back in and filled the tire to about 15-20 pounds with my second CO2 cartridge. I took it easy and slow to the aid station, half way through the course. There was a floor pump at the aid station and I filled my tire to about 30 psi and took off. I could tell the tire was going flat again and tried to get back to the start and my pit station as quick as possible.

At my pit station I filled my tire (which had only lost a little air at this point), got a new water bottle, more CO2 cartridges, some food and lubed my chain well. I took off as fast as possible, not happy about all the time I had lost messing with my tire.

Third lap: 109:49 minutes, average speed 9.8, max speed 31.6.

I was starting to get tired and my attitude turning bad at this point. I had plenty of nutrition in me, but couldn't put out the power like I wanted to, my heart rate was falling and I was toying with the idea of pulling out of the race. I pulled out of the Boggs V race in 4th place after doing 7 laps. I had enough time to do another lap at Boggs V but felt awful and decided not to. I ended up getting 8th place. Lesson learned.

Fourth lap: 109:44 minutes, average speed 9.8, max speed 32.7.

The fifth lap was pretty much like the fourth, tired, feeling like poo, etc. I still had enough energy and confidence to ride (instead of walking) out of Knickerbocker creek (I rode it every lap) and kept passing people on this climb and on the final climb. I was starting to get hot spots on my feet. This is a vulnerable time of the race and I was paying close attention to my hydration and nutrition.

Fifth lap: 109:45 minutes, average speed 9.7, max speed 31.5.

I started my 6th lap with two ibuprofen and an energy gel. At this point I knew I only had time for 7 laps and decided to push harder. The climbs were still hard, but I was able to go faster and faster on the descents and turns, pushing my comfort level each lap. On the climbs I put in both of my headphones and was helped up the climbs by The Faction, The Reverend Horton Heat, The Archers of Loaf, Bad Religion and other friends.

Sixth lap: 108:06 minutes, average speed 10.0, max speed 33.2.

I finished my sixth lap about 6:35 pm and was feeling good and ready for my last lap. Maxx showed up and helped me prep for the last lap, I think this was my fastest pit time. I left the pit in a sprint yelling and growling, ready to crush those in my way. I knew i'd been working my ass off for the past six months for this and wasn't about to let it slip by. I went as hard as I could.
I caught a team mate Tom Wood about 10 minutes into my lap, offered some words of encouragement and took off. About 15 minutes later I caught up to another team mate, Chris Rose (who was doing the 24 hours solo), and at the same time caught another 8 Hour Solo rider. This catch was at the top of the hill before dropping down to Knickerbocker Creek. I offered Chris some additional words of encouragement and to assert my strength against the other 8 Hour Solo racer I stood up and sprinted into the descent down to Knickerbocker Creek.

Though I was tired I was still feeling pretty strong on my last lap. I even noticed my heart rate was coming back up, closer to where it should have been. I passed a few riders on the flat section before the last climb, reeled in a half dozen or so on the last climb and even passed four more on the last 1/4 mile of the race.

Seventh lap: 104:47 minutes, average speed 10.5, max speed 35.1.

Unsure of my placing, I was pleased with my performance. I gave it all I had and was annihilated.

Though my seventh lap wasn't my fastest, it was my third fastest average speed and fastest maximum speed. Not bad after having raced for 6 1/2 hours.

The result? I finished in 2nd place in the Men's Solo Pro/Expert. Let me repeat that, Pro/Expert!!! Biggest result so far. The first place racer beat me by 7 minutes...and a LAP! Now that is a pro!

I would like to mention that i'm vegan and have been for 14 years. That is all.

2010 Boggs V - 8 hour race

Xtreme Outfitters Mountain Bike Race Team
Hyland Fisher - 8th place of 21 - Men Expert

Chilly morning temperatures meant ice on the course and warm clothes.

 It warmed up a bit, but we had hail in the afternoon.

Hyland was in 4th place after 7 laps and 6 1/2 hours, but wasn't able to go out for another lap and was thus relegated to 8th place as the other racers did another lap.

2009 Coolest 8 Hours

Xtreme Outfitters Mountain Bike Race Team
Eddie Cruz - Solo 8 Hour Open Men 50-59
6th Place of 19 Entries

Eddie refueling between laps. He's a bit muddy.

Hyland Fisher - Solo 8 Hour Open Men 30-39
1st Place Place of 20 Entries

Hyland at the very start of the race.

Hyland descending, still lap one.

Hyland refueling.

Hyland at the end of the race.

Troy Groves - Solo 8 Hour Open Men 30-39
3rd Place of 20 Entries

Troy refueling.

Our pit.
The crowd during the pre race meeting. Note all the rain jackets and umbrellas...

Some of the pit crew & Troy & Hyland.

SSWC08 (Single Speed World Championships 2008)

SSWC08 Race Course at Skyline Park


24.13 Miles
4674 Feet Climbing
2:59 Hours
2197 Calories
175 Average HR
192 Max HR
No cadence sensor on singlespeed

I found out Saturday morning as I left home that I would be racing Sunday. I tried to get into this race on New Years Eve. I submitted my entry at Midnight and 05 seconds. I later found out that, somehow, I didn’t make the cut and have been bitter about it since. I was very please to find out I got in and I am in debt to a few people now (thank you Cruz brothers and Curtis!!!). Gladly so. Racing on Sunday changed my drinking plans for the weekend, which was kind of disappointing, but I was excited to race.

We arrived around 2:pm on Saturday and our friends had found a great campsite under some big oak trees about 100 feet from real bathrooms and showers. Socialized, drank beers and walked around for a few hours. Did a short pre-ride, but could only find the first small loops of the course. Got to see a Swedish fellow perform a spectacular crash in one of the switchback descents. Spectacular!

Right when we returned from the pre-ride we headed over to the bowling alley to watch the Decider. (btw, I thought G.W. was the decider... I guess this isn't a trademarked term...). Left towards the end of the first frame, headed back to camp to fire up the veggie bbq. Camp was quiet around 9:30 pm and started to get sleepy. Around 10 I decided to head to the tent. I then started to realize the partying was starting. Big bonfire around the corner, some yelling and boozing. People yelling at boozers that "there is a race tomorrow, i'm trying to get some sleep!" etc.

I was woken up at 3:00 am on the dot by some very violent vomiting a few tents over. This fella was having a rough time of it. It was loud and juicy! We didn't confirm, but I hope he survived.

Got up around 7:30, had some breakfast, made Mimosa's for my campmates and myself and sought out some coffee. Found the caffeine (thanks Pat!) and got ready for the race.

I had about 20 minutes to warm up before the race so I did some hill climbing and found my heart rate was very easily going high, a good sign.

Ding and I right before the race.

My camp mate (Ding) and I put our bikes down the hill in the field as instructed and walked back up for the start. Go! We ran around the horse corral and back to our bikes with everybody else. It took some work to navigate through the runners headed to their bikes and the riders headed to the course. Got on course and started my GPS. I was immediately passing riders on the flat gravel road. As the gravel pointed up I kept passing people, but not as quickly. Since I’ve raced at this location a few times I knew what to expect, so I was able to navigate some of the slightly technical sections of the climb better than others and was able to keep passing. The fire road got real steep and loose and everybody started walking. I figured that I might as well keep my heart rate pinned so I walked as hard as I could and kept passing people. Walk hard! My goal on the climb was to find as many shaved legs as I could and pass them. From my experience on this course, I descend the tricky sections better than most people so as to not lose time I have to beat the roadies to the top (same strategy as Downieville). We got to the top and the trail pointed down, steep down, real quick, with really tight switchbacks and rocks in the middle of them. I passed Tiffany (1x SSWC champ) in the first switchback and hit the gas. There were (of course) many riders in front of me and I couldn’t get around so I took it easy, relaxed and rested.

Next was the single track climb back to the top, I was able to ride with Tiffany during this section, we picked a few people off, some passed us. Made it to the bagpiper (I was very pleased to hear this guy and was surprise how much I liked the sound) and took a left. Fast, fast, fast into the corners, keep the momentum on the dips and don’t lose any ground. Felt good going into the lake section. On the backside of the lake on the hike-up-the-slickrock section I saw Linda (2x SSWC champ) a few switchbacks up. This would be the only time I would see her.

Climbing, sweating and grimacing.

Got bunched up behind some flailing rider on the next flowing, tight downhill section. The first guy pulled off when he realized he might die if he tried to go the speed we wanted to go. We then spread out and I had some space in front of me for the first technical drops / switchbacks. Rode them clean with some cheers from spectators.

This is when the memory starts getting a little blurry.

I made the next section of switchback / drops cleanly with encouragement from Shannon from PDX. Made the next switchback section clean and flew down the rocky fire road to the next section of…. Ok, I made all the technical descent and did them fast, enough, eh?

After a water feed, beginning of the second lap.

Back through the start, picked up my water (thanks a MILLION Max!) and headed out for my second lap. I ended up walking a bit more of the singletrack climb this time than on the first lap, but was feeling pretty good still. Before the lake I noticed a guy in front of me was riding a fixie! Idiot! Parents, give your kids the love they need or they’ll end up like this guy. I stopped at the water station near the lake and filled up my bottle with more water. It was really hot by now and I was covered in sweat and dirt.

Picked up my third bottle at the start of my third lap. I declined the Clif Blocks because I was felling pretty good. 300 yards further I started to feel the first sign of cramps. Doh! Shoulda grabbed the Clif Blocks!

About a mile further my right hamstring cramped. I got off the bike and started hitting it, drank a bunch of water, forced my leg straight and started pushing my bike. I had it worked out by the time the trail eased up enough to ride. Made it up to where the bag piper had been, but sadly he was gone. The course was getting pretty empty at this point. I was running into fewer racers and far fewer spectators.

I was starting to have some real trouble clipping into my pedals because the dust had scrubbed all the oil off my pedals and cleats.

I caught Nacho Libre from Texas and we chatted a bit heading into the water station by the lake. I filled up with more water here and asked the spectators if they had any chain lube. All I got in return was laughter and hazing. As I was leaving I heard a racer come in and say “there is some real seriousness out there.” Referring to the idea that people (who were clearly not going to win, myself included) were taking the race too seriously and maybe should have been focusing more on having fun.

Got to the creek crossing before the lake, saw a giant pink bunny holding a can of Tecate and asked him and his crew if they had any chain lube. I got the same laughter and hazing from this group.

I was starting to see a theme. There is very much a scene at this race, a scene I was hoping would not be here. A very ‘cool’ scene. I was clearly not very ‘cool’ because I was asking for chain lube.

We all need love. Especially the kids. Parents, love your kids. By the way, have I mentioned that I think that people who ride single speeds on a regular basis were not shown enough love by their mothers?

Where was I? Lap three.

Heading away from the lake on the hike-up-the-slickrock section I saw Tiffany one switchback below me. We tugged back and forth a bit and she got in front of me going down a technical section, then, then, then she was frickin’ gone! She completely dropped me. Well, I’ll be. Hammer time! I caught up with her at the dry creek crossing and passed her shortly thereafter. Flew down the fire road with water breaks and across the bridge. Coming up to the last climb a gentleman in a t-shirt that read “WHITE TRASH” encouraged me to dig deeper and informed me that there were only 500 meters to go. Meters? What kind of white trash American gives out information in metric units? The next guy up the hill informed me in a clear fashion that I had about ½ mile to go. Sweet, pass anybody in sight and don’t let anybody by.

I caught the fixed guy at the paved road crossing right as both of my calves started to cramp. He had his feet resting on his top tube. I spun as fast as I could and put my hand on his back helping him forward a bit. As the fire road turned up for the last little section before the finish I went as hard as I could go to the finish.

Some stranger put a bottle opener in my jersey pocket that said Finisher #94. According to my GPS I finished in 2 hours 59 minutes. I laid down my bike, chugged a Coke and searched for a beer and a shower.

This is me, cooked, at the end of the race.

2008 Howell Mountain Challenge - Race Report

From Hyland Fisher - Xtreme Outfitters Mountain Bike Race Team

Downieville was my first long race in Expert. I've done some local series in Expert, but those were limited to about 1 1/2 hours at the most. I was really curious how this would shake out.

Got the bike ready the day before, got up at 4:45 am for the 3 hour drive from Nevada City to Angwin. Had plenty of time to warm up and drop off some bottles for the 2nd and 3rd laps. About half way into my warm up my rear shifting started acting up. I've been having problems with my rear shifting sticking very badly, I have new XTR rear der, put on new housing and the cable is relatively new. I've also had trouble with my SunRace rear cassette coming loose and the chain jumps around when this happens. My drivetrain is a mess!

Tightened the cassette and went to the start line.

Started at the very front of my group. When we hit the first bit of singletrack there were only two people behind me. I started flailing early on. I started passing people right after that and kept passing. First lap I kept slipping and sliding around the tight corners and kept my HR around 183 on the climbs. Traded pulls with a few people on the first lap but didn't catch anyone else.

Second lap I dropped dumped a water bottle and decided to race with just one bottle and rely on the water feeds for the rest of my hydration.

The second lap started out pretty good. I was feeling tired but pretty strong around the reservoir and hammered into the singletrack. I was having some serious shifting problems now and only had about four gears in the back, not always the same four, just a random four. I mostly relied on my front three.

After the first water zone a single speeder caught me and suggested we should catch the guy in front of us. So, I hammered down the fire road descent, the one with the water breaks and gaps. Fast, so fast. Didn't exactly realize I could descend that fast that comfortably. That was fun! Caught the guy we were trying to at the start of the last climb before the giant whoop-de-doos.

Third lap I dumped my empty water bottle and grabbed a new one. I was very tired now, my shifting was getting even worse (I was now having trouble with my front shifter now too, so much stiction my thumbs were hurting from shifting), my shock was getting a lot of stiction and my (five year old Crossmax) slick ceramic rims were locking up in an unpredictable manner. Awesome! So, I just trudged along, keeping my HR between 165 and 177. I downed Gu packets and keep my head together. I had some *almost* cramping in my legs. They would hesitate a bit when I pushed them but never actually went into cramping. A good thing.

After the second feed station I went as hard as I could and passed a few people on the last climb, the whoop-de-doos and the road leading to the finish.

According to the prelim results I got 4th, out of how many, I don't know. They only showed four deep. I was 3:08 off of third place. Not bad for my second real Expert race.

I am thrashed. I feel worse than I did after Downieville.

My time on my Polar HR was 2:46:16, average HR of 174, Max HR of 238 (the Polar has a tendency to get this REALLY wrong).

First Lap – 54:52, Av HR – 175, Max HR – 238 (wrong!)

Second Lap – 50:49 (no HR data???)

Third Lap – 1:00:33, Av HR 181, Max HR 220 (wrong!)