Big Wheel Racing

We had a great BWR turnout for this event which was hosted by Gallup Trails 2010! The Zuni 86 and 43 took place in the McGaffey Lake area. There’s an entire network of trails that cover a variety of terrain.

Jeff Hemperley scored second place in the 86, racing singlespeed, in 9 hrs, 36 min. Other BWR members on the men’s team, Nate Berg, Donnie Cole, and John Mazzola rode the 43 mile version or some version of it. Donnie ended up with a 49 mile version at 6 hrs on the singlespeed.

The women’s team, also attempting a 43-mile version ended up with Jen Albright completing around 27 miles, and Lyn Alter and Jeni Turgeon completing 38 miles.

The day started out a bit chilly, but nothing the BWR gear (the jackets were great!) couldn’t handle. 1 pair of the Sock Guy wool socks were perfect for the feet; Jen opted for the 6″ rasta colored Sock Guy socks, which also did the trick. Some of us were decked out in our new Bell bike helmets, courtesy of our sponsor, Bike Source. Rather than carrying my ID with me (which I’d most likely lose some time during the ride), I opted for my Road ID ankle strap.

By the afternoon, the weather was beautiful, warm and sunny! Honey Stinger Protein Bars and Peanut Butter Energy Bars came in handy as trail food for the day. During the afternoon, I was getting a little tired and ate 1/2 of a Protein Bar. About 30 minutes later, Lyn asked, “what the heck did you eat that gave you all that energy?!?” These bars do the trick!

We finished up the afternoon visiting with the locals, and wishing we’d brought some Santa Fe Brewing Company beer along to share with folks, since they were so generous to share their local brews. The were holding their annual micro brew tasting contest at the end of the Zuni 86 event.

The California Chapter of Big Wheel Racing (Scott) completed the 21st annual Bakersfield Spooktacular Century on October 20th 2007. Of six ride options, I completed the Hideous Hundred option, which nearly met its advertised 10,000+ feet of climbing, over 102 miles (it was really 10,487 feet of climbing across 106.1 miles)

The BWR team member rode together for most of the day, allowing for a few miles of mental separation from my body. The team was resplendent in the Big Wheel Racing gear, completed this day with the BWR striped socks and the vest. Both of which were essential as the as the cloud level was reached at 3000′, coinciding with the end of dry clothing for the day, yet I was never cold, just a little chilled during the descent. The vest is excellent at keeping the body’s core temperature up (and the pockets are invaluable, used this day to carry gobs of Honey Stingers), and the socks had a frosty layer across the front of the ankle, but the cold never penetrated to my feet..

In Juarez Mexico the Chupacabras 100km race took place on Saturday October 13th. I, Rich Capener, raced with five friends and over 2300 riders on a nice hot day in Mexico. There weren’t any divisions, just one big field of riders looking for a race. We got to the starting line about 7:40am and the race started at 9. There were a few hundred riders in front of me and more keep squeezing in as you could see bikes pass over head, over and over again. After the start the riders shot over to the levy for several fast paced dust filled miles. Well things were going quite well after the levy and lots of local people cheering everyone on calling you “Animal, Animal”. For the most part it was two track most of the way till you got to King Kong then you started the first hike-a-bike. This wasn’t so bad and wasn’t too long and I still felt good. After dropping off this mountain to the bottom you had to deal with the dry, dry stream beds that had small rocks that acted like sand making it hard to pass. Next was the trip to the church in the middle of no where.Swear that church was in some old Clint Eastwood movie. Shortly after the church I had my rear tire blowout. It had a half inch cut in the sidewall so I had to boot and tube it to get back in the race. Next was the hike-a-bike from hell (Asphyxia). I think it must have been like one mile of pure hiking on a hot day with no signs of shade. Can you say cooking your brain. After getting to the top that’s where the fun started again. There where two corners that were a little tricky but I was forced to stop due to rider backup. After descending, things got really thinned out and only saw a few handful riders the rest of the way back. In fact, there were a few times I thought I was off course but soon would see event staff every mile or so. I ended up coming in 168th out of 2300+ riders. Not too bad for my first year at this event and I’ll be back next year wanting to break into the sub 100.

Big Wheel Racing team members Jeff, Jeni and Matt rode in the 2nd Annual Durango Fall Blaze Century Ride in Durango, CO.  The ride is hosted by professional cyclists Tom and Kristin Danielson.  Tom races for the new Slipstream/Chipotle Team and Kristin races for Velo Bella, and together they host this charity ride to raise money for their alma mater, Ft. Lewis College.  The ride brought in over $22,000 for the college and will be used for scholarships. 

 The BWR team members rode together for the century, wearing our team clothing, and now getting to wear the team jackets and vests because of the cooler weather.  Our Maxxis tires worked well on the road pavement, and also some packed dirt roads that Tom threw into the great course for this year.  We all used our Honey Stinger products and really appreciate the support from them over the years.  Honey Stinger has been a supporter of Big Wheel Racing and also FooMTB, the local trail advocacy group that Matt & Jeni founded.  Their energy bars and honey gels are just really great tasting and packed full of the power needed for endurace events.