Big Wheel Racing

I took off on a solo century from Montrose, CO this weekend. The Mission to Ride Century was a great event!

I had a great, scenic ride through the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park and then through Montrose to Olathe and back again. Thanks to my favorite dentist (and sponsor), Dr. James Slaman, for making sure I have a smile I can be proud of at the end of a ride.

A big thanks to our sponsor, High Desert Bicycles! I wore my Specialized Cortina sunglasses with Adaptalite lenses and my fingerless Specialized gloves on this event. Both proved to be excellent equipment for my ride, which was a warm high of 83 degrees F for the day.

The final reward of the century?? BBQ!

Four BWR team members (Rich, Lenny, Chris and Nate) completed the Santa Fe Century on thier single speed road bikes. They were joined by a couple of geared riders of which one was BWR team member Mike (not in the picture). All had great fun suffering up Heart break Hill and stuffing our faces at each rest stop.

All the pictures can be viewed at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/505live/sets/72157605125502900/

Come join us at the Albuquerque version of the Psycho psynglespeed psyntury on June 7th.

Big Wheel Racing sent two members across the wilds of eastern Utah and western Colorado on an unsupported quest of the Kokopelli Trail between Moab, UT and Loma, CO. The journey was approximately 142-miles over some very difficult and demanding terrain on a mountain bike. But since the team is comprised of quite a few singlespeeders, this journey of course was completed on 29-in. wheel, single-speed bikes.

I rode my second ever competitive road event Tuesday, May 13. The Tuesday Night Crits began for 2008 last week, and will be held each Tuesday until June 24. I had wanted to race my Specialized SingleCross, but have not had time to change out the gearing. My wife has graciously allowed me to race her Specialized Allez Elite, that Santa Claus brought her last Christmas. It just happens to fit me, too.  At the first race on May 6, I learned a lot about crits, and got lapped in the process. I didn’t get to warmup either. Helping with race setup, officiating, and racing, leaves little time for preparation. Lenny helped me a lot in that race, keeping me in position, and trying to help me conserve some energy. 

At the latest race, I did much better. I got to ride about six laps before the first race, and another during the kids race. I met my goal- not getting lapped, and finished not too far back from the main pack. I worked hard with a few others in the second pack and had a great race. I’ll be there every night of the series, as the other three in the family race also. Even Vianne got to do the kids race last night on her Specialized Hotrock.

Chris Hereford

12 HMVThe 12 Hours of Mesa Verde was what I’m calling my first successful 12 hour event. I raced Dawn till Dusk, but dropped out after 5 laps, with plenty of time left on the clock. For MV, I put a few more new parts on my 12 year old Specialized S-Works M2 SS. I had replaced the 12 year old brake cables before DtD, and that made a difference. I had converted the bike to SS in August of 2006, for the upcoming cross series in Albuquerque.  And now, since I would be racing it in mtb events, it needed more goodies, and pampering.  The race started good for me, a slow “course learning” first lap, following and passing when possible. On the fourth lap, my brain was fading. I caught up to my wife and decided to walk with her to insure she got to the finish OK. She had ran out of supplies, and it was her weekend, Mother’s Day. This walking break was just what I needed.  

At the pit, I fidgeted with the chain, ate some stuff, drank some stuff, ate some more stuff. And decided to hit the course again. I had to make up for DtD at this race, I had to do more laps. After lap 5, I thought I could do two more, especially since there was plenty of time. After lap 6, I had time for another one, refueled heavily, and took off for my cool down lap. I finished in 6^th for Solo SS males, and 16^th for all Solo males. It was a great race, the course was amazing, and that 12 year old Specialized is my favorite bike of the my three, (Specialized S-Works Enduro and a SingleCross). I may have been not only the oldest solo male SS, but possibly on the oldest bike too.

Chris Hereford

The Big Wheel Racing Team rolled in Cortez, CO for the 2nd annual 12-hours of Mesa Verde Mountain Bike Race. Representation from the team was very high with Mike “Maniac” Mangan entered in the Solo Men’s Category, and Donnie “”Cyclone” Cole, Lenny “King of Gondor” Goodell, Jeff “El Freako from Rico” Hemperley, Chris “C-Cow” Hereford, and Matt “The Fish” Turgeon all entered in the Solo Men’s Singlespeed category, and finally Doug “Da-Goat” Young entered in on a team of three. Big Wheel Racing had some great results and even received recognition from the race organizers for our high level of participation. BWR has a great relationship with the Cortez race and has been very supportive of this race that supports local charities in the community.

Afterward the team distributed a gift box of items from Specialized Bicycle Company, courtesy of our great relationship with High Desert Bicycles in Rio Rancho, NM as they sponsor the team and help prepare our racers for events. We take great pride in partnering with the shop and are very please to also have access to fine quality Specialized components.

Many of the team members were also racing for the first time with their new titanium King Cages made in Durango, CO and also a sponsor of BWR. Nuun and Honey Stinger products fueled the team, and as always we are very thankful for the support of all our sponsors and supporters.

Well I needed a new helmet and the guys at High Desert delivered. Stener and Jeff put their best efforts forward and helped Jeni pick me up a new lid. Great karma from these people and the shop is top notch in the Albuquerque area. The stuff that you need is located no further than here. Trust me.

Awesome lid amigos. Thanks for the help!

By Nate

Went out to Paso Robles, Ca last week for the 2008 Wildflower Triathlon Festival to race the long course.

This being the first big triathlon I’d done since 2006 and having arthroscopic hip surgery in July of 2007 I wasn’t sure what to expect. As usual, Lake San Antonio was a little brisk at around 65 degF, but in the wetsuit it isn’t a big deal once you get going. The swim was relatively uneventful, and completed in 34:29 for the 1.2mi. T1 was a little slow at 4:41, but I had long way to go barefoot from the swim exit to my transition.

Once on the bike I settled in reasonably quickly. I’m loving the new gear from High Desert Bicycles in Rio Rancho. The Specialized S-works helmet and BG Tri-vent shoes are awesome (Oh Varus Wedge, where have you been my whole life…). Nutrition worked well, a combination of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem and nuun provided the primary fueling. 56mi bike was covered in 2:48:01 on the brutally hilly course.

T2 was much better at 2:09, heading out for the run it was starting to heat up, staying hydrated was a challenge. Honey Stinger gels was the calorie of choice for the run (if you haven’t yet tried their new chews, they’re lovely..). The Wildflower run is the toughest I’ve seen, an extremely hilly course with quite a bit of off-road. Given I’ve only been back to serious run training for about 5 months, my time of 1:57:42 was satisfying.

Total time was 5:27:04, good enough for 47 of 260 in the 30-34 AG, 260 out 1760 overall.