Big Wheel Racing

Big Wheel Racing had a great presence at the Atomic MS150 this past weekend. Chris,  Claudia, Lenny and Rich made up the “A Gear for A Cure” team with the guys riding single speeds.

and Lizz was on the ‘Mixed Nuts’ team.

This MS ride is touted as the toughest MS ride in the country. On day one it goes from Bernalillo NM up through the Jemez Mountains and down into Los Alamos NM for ~78 miles and over 5500ft of climbing.  The evening of day one was spent eating and drinking with fellow riders.

Claudia achieved her goal of completing the day one ride.

On Day two the ride returns opposite of day one for another 78 miles and over 3000ft of climbing. The second day started out with a tough 13 mile/2000ft climb out of Los Alamos and then some very fast descending out of the Jemez Mountains.

The guys met up with Lizz after the lunch stop (really 2nd breakfast) and the four rode the rest of the way back to Bernalillo together, each taking their turn pulling.

All together the BWR team members raised over $2200 in donations for the National MS Society.

Click here to view more pictures from the ride.

Big Wheel Racing was in full force at 24 Hours in the Sage in Gunnison,Co. on August 16th-17th.The race course consisted of a 13 mile loop out at Hartman Rocks recreation area.the weather was perfect and the course was in great shape thanks to a little rain the night before.Donnie Cole came in with a 6th place finish solo male (13 laps),Gavin Flury 7th solo male(13 laps) John Mazzola 11th solo male (12 laps), Jen Albright 4th solo female (6 laps), Lisa Wishard 5th solo female (6 laps) and Jeff Hemperly 4th solo single speed (10 laps).As if these 24 hour races weren’t tough enough,they would be even tougher with out our great sponsors like High Desert Bicycles, Nuun, Honey Stinger, Maxxis, Ergon, Kenda and Specialized.

The Hermosa Creek Off-Road Classic was a race put on by the Fort Lewis College cycling team as a fund raiser for their team. As most know Fort Lewis College has some of the strongest riders in the country, so for a fund raiser the level of racing was very high. I went up knowing the competition was out of my league but also knew that I’d have a great time racing on the course and hanging out afterwards. Additionally, this was my pre-Leadville race tune-up.

Heading up to Durango with my Fun Finder camper, two dogs and bike for a weekend excursion seemed like a great weekend get-away. But from Aztec to Durango the drive was in the rain, which cast some doubt on the plan. In Durango, the rain was a light drizzle that continued through the night guaranteeing some mud on the race course. Thanks to the camper, the dogs and I had a good (and dry) night sleep.

There were two options: the short course that consisted of the Hermosa Creek trail and an extended course that tagged on another 18 miles and 2500 feet of climbing. I opted for the long course (which effectively was racing down an age group.) Compared to last year there were fewer people racing, but the level of riders was still top notch as you would expect for Durango. I finished about 10 minutes faster than last year. This year I didn’t loose my water bottle, unlike in last years race, thanks to a recent switch to a pair of King Cages. Also, I gained a new appreciation for the Specialized S-Works mountain bike shoes. After being submerged the shoes didn’t stretch and dried out quickly, which was an important features for this race since there were three deep water crossings.

Thanks to Ron for supporting BWR by hooking us up with the King Cages and High Desert Cycles for helping BWR with the Specialized gear.

-Mike

The Leadville 100 is one of those races you just have to do once in your life if your into the endro mountain bike racing scene, sort of like the Boston Marathon if your a runner. Adding to the excitement this year was the fact that Lance Armstrong raced it. This year I took on the challenge along with several other Big Wheel Racing members (Lenny, Doug and John.) Conditions for the race were nearly perfect with cool weather that remained dry for most of the day. The course had some paved sections, lots of dirt road and double track and consisted of fast descents, elongated flat sections and lots of climbing on an out-and-back course. Since it had rained the day before, the course was packed and tacky. Running the Maxxis Crossmark on the rear worked really well in these conditions. For this length of a race, having the ability to shift hand positions was important and the Ergon GX2 grips, with their small bar ends, did the trick nicely. When bombing down the rougher sections of the course, the Ti King Cages held my bottles snugly.

Aside from the fun had while bombing down the fast descents, there were a few highlights. While climbing Columbine, seeing Dave Wiens and Lance Armstrong battling for the lead on their descent from the Columbine Mine had a surreal feel to it. Imagine, for about a second, seeing two world class athletes blasting down a hill only centimeters from each other while heading right at you. It’s pretty amazing. It’s hard to appreciate how good it was to see our supporting volunteers Claudia, Amy and Lindsey after missing the 2nd water stop just before starting the climb up Columbine. Without that bottle of fluid I would have had problems making it to the water stop at the top of the climb! After riding in the cold afternoon rain and being on the bike for 102 miles, I was elated to finish the race.

Thanks Claudia, Amy and Lindsey for the support on the course. Also thanks to our sponsors for their support (Ergon, Maxxis, High Desert Bicycles, Sock Guy…)

-Mike

The XC race in Dolores was stacked with competition. The course was in great shape despite the previous days heavy rains. Jeff Hemperley took 2nd in the SS class.  A record amount of racers showed up for this event at a number of 139 racers. Very awesome time according to Jeff.

Well, the 12 hour race at Steamboat is complete, with 4 hours knocked off the end due to VERY inclement weather. The day started out great, and the sun came out, making it necessary to seek shade and sunscreen. I kept checking the forecast, and the chance of rain actually decreased! Seemed like it was going to be a beautiful day. The sure sign that things were to go downhill? They had all the riders’ pits set up on loose dirt. No grass, just dirt.

Here’s Matt doing the Le Mans start:

And Matt still running:

And Matt heading out on his bike. Thanks to Carrie for the pics!!

Matt was riding well, and as I sent him off on what was to be his 6th lap, the storm hit. Hail and rain with high winds made for flying EZ-Ups everywhere. Luckily I was able to hold onto a leg along with Matt (Cat’s other half) and another man who had been crewing next to me for his son. It took 3 of us to keep a staked down EZ-Up from taking flight. Good grief!

Despite the race being called off early, I must say that this was a nicely run event. It’s got that “grass roots” feel to it. Just the right amount of entrants…from my perspective. There were lots of categories and options as well. Both a 6-hour and 12-hour event were offered, and both offered multiple options, including teams. Only problem? Not enough singlespeeders, so they had to compete in geared classes. That was the only bummer.

RESULTS ARE UP

A big shout out to our awesome BWR sponsors. High Desert Bicycles has been keeping Matt well clothed with a very nice Specialized, red brain bucket, great gloves, awesome shades, and other necessary items that keep a rider prepared on the bike. The Sock Guy socks kept the feet nicely dry…until the rain hit. The Ergon grips have been treating the hands well, and now the bright Ergon green is again it’s bright new green hue thanks to all the rain that washed all the grime off. King Cage did a superb job of keeping the waterbottles in place for the 2000+ vertical climbing involved with every 11 mile lap. Finally, the Nuun provided just the right amount of electrolytes to keep the cramps at bay. Without our great sponsors, racing wouldn’t be quite the same. Thanks to you all for your support!