Big Wheel Racing

Last weekend was the Sandia Peak Challenge cross-country race.Stop #5 on the New Mexico Off Road Series.Big Wheel Racing had a good showing with four racers all entered in the expert class.The 28mi. course consisted of two laps around the ski area.An 8 mi. climb up King of the Mountain, a 6mi. descent down Golden Eagle.And then do it all over again.Donnie Cole finished 3rd overall expert,                           Mike Mangan 4th 40-49 expert, Lenny Goodell 5th 40-49 expert, Chris Herford got in one strong lap before having to rush the kids off to the movies. Our Specialized tires from High Desert Bikes kept us hooked up in the wet conditions out on the course.Donnie and Mike were both running their Ergon GX2 grips, which they are both raving about.

The Santa Fe Big Friggin loop was held on Saturday July 5th. Big Wheel had a great showing of 7 team members attempting this grueling 70+ mile 14K+ feet endurance event.

Last year, I (Lenny Goodell) DNFed when I bailed at the bottom of Pacheco Canyon and had been kicking myself for a year for not “Manning Up” and doing the climb. This year I man’ed up and did the 7.2 mile, 2000ft climb after almost 9 hours of riding. It was not nearly as hard as it looks from the bottom. I got to the bottom of Pacheco canyon about 15 minute earlier than last year, but this year I also did the optional Rancho Viejo portion which added about 30mins. My goal was to complete the whole route, including Rancho Viejo in under 12 hours, which I missed by 10 minutes… My bike work flawless with my new American Classic 29er rear wheel that I picked up on Thursday from the great folks at High Desert Bicycles.

View for from the top of the Santa Fe ski area at 12,000 feet.

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.

Our BWR-Europe team member, Mike Cleveland, represented well.

Here are some more pictures from the event!

The Moab Rim Ride, an informal endurance mountain bike event, began a little after 6am at the Colorado River, just outside of Moab. I missed the starting roll out but was able to catch the pack and tuck in with a little effort just before everyone turned onto the old highway and began climbing away from town. As the incline increased, the pack began to spread out. After the climb we hit the first dirt road, Bar M loop, and quickly entered a new single track trail Rockin’ A. This was on slick rock and was a bit of a challenge to follow. Another challenge was getting used to the bike while carrying more weight than usual. Immediately after Rockin’ A, the course entered another new trail, Circle O. This one was easy to follow and was also on slick rock. The next trail, after a small section of dirt road was Sovereign. It started a little sandy, but soon became hard pack intermixed with in-bedded rock. This had some technical sections and a few steep climbs that became hike-a-bikes. Last year there was nasty mud on this trail. After Sovereign, the course passed under Highway 191 and joined dirt roads for several miles eventually turning onto a technical climb on a jeep road called 7 Mile Rim. Just before the end I took a wrong turn and nearly ended up a the Uranium Arch. Returning to 7 Mile Rim required a climb, but not too much time or energy was lost. The end of 7 Mile Rim has a nice descent on slick rock with multiple discontinuities on the sheets of rock where you get to fly over some small drops while passing jeeps. With a short section of a sandy dirt road, the course returned to slick rock, this time with some amazing mounds followed by a really steep slick rock descent that ends at top of Wipeout Hill, a jeep rock climb that I walked down. At the base of Wipeout Hill the course followed a dirt road that, in places, the sand was too deep to ride. Before the sand became unbearable, the course transitioned onto slick rock that was sparsely marked with rock cairns undulating up and down eventually dumping us out on highway 313.

On 313 we had 5 miles of riding into a headwind with a couple of gradual climbs. While on the road, it was a good time to really hydrate and refuel. Between the wind, getting tired and trying to multitask I managed to drop a bottle and latter electrolytes. Retrieving them wasn’t a problem, but I was began to feel like a bumbling fool, which isn’t the mental state you want when heading to the more technical portions of the course. Turning off the highway onto the dirt Gemini Bridge Road was a time to rest, although while bombing down it high speed. After 4 miles of a fast descent, it forked off to Metal Masher and the work load began to increase. Getting to the point referred to as “the widow maker” had the riders wondering how to get down this ~10 foot rock drop. Basically you drop your bike over the edge, then scoot yourself over edge and hope for a descent landing. After widow maker, Metal Masher seemed to just keep progressively climbing while getting more technical. Eventually, Metal Masher began to descend. Somewhere in the descent I managed to crash in a transition from rock to sand. Other than being a little shaken, I wasn’t hurt and the bike wasn’t damaged. Finishing Metal Masher was the point where I mentally knew that I could finish the course, although it is only a little past the half way point.

After Metal Masher, the course rejoins Gemini Bridges briefly, then turns onto Bull Canyon. If you’re paying attention to the course markings (blue ribbons) it is clear that the course goes left and begin a descent to Gold Bar. This is where I was flaking out and ended up going down two different dirt roads , both of which end at canyon overlooks. Scenic, cool views, but not on the course. After back tracking, I eventually found my errors and rode on to Gold Bar Rim. Now the course started to get very difficult – very steep, ledgy, jeep traffic, an occasional cyclist coming from the opposite direction. After slow progress, we turned onto Golden Spike and then on to Gold Bar Singletrack, where it is REALLY exposed! Imagine a portion of trail about 2 feet wide with a 400 foot drop on one side. I walked my bike there. When this ended, the course joined Poison Spider. There are parts of Poison Spider that are really fun and challenging but there is also a lot of sand!

Since I was camped at the bottom of Poison Spider, after riding that trail but before heading down Potash Road to the finish, I stopped to let Isabelle (my dog) out of the camper. Derrick, a rider from Utah that had been riding with me for the last 15 mile also stopped. After that brief break, Derrick and I rode a 2 person pace-line down Potash Road to the finish. Derrick and I finished the ride just before dark, logging nearly 13 hours of saddle time over nearly 100 miles and finishing tied for 10th.

It rained, it snowed, it froze, the sun shone and through it all Big Wheel Racing rode. And rode, and rode and even rode two team members right onto the podium!  As well, 3 other BWR riders and teams gained top 10 finishes in their class. Collectively Big Wheel Racing rode 82 laps:

Jen Albright: 7 (2nd Place Female Solo Single Speed)
Lisa Wishard: 10 (6th place Female Solo)
Jeff Hemperley: 15 (2nd Place Male Solo Single Speed)
Scott Sportsman: 3
John Mazzola: 13 (8th place Male Solo)
Mike Mangan: 11
Donny Cole: 6
Nate Berg and Rich Capener: 17 (6th place Male Duo).

At approximately 16 miles and 1,200 feet of climbing per lap that is over 1,300 miles and nearly 100K of climbing! A Big Wheel weekend to be sure. We could not have done this without the amazing help of our crew, and sponsors. Nuun, Hammer and Honey Stinger products kept us hydrated and fed. Boy those Honey Stinger ‘Peanut Butta’ protein bars hit the spot at 3 a.m. and Nuun, warm or cold, kept us cranking. Along with our Hammer Perpeteum mixes–some of us run it as liquid and some of us as paste–either formula sure helped to keep us going. Our Maxxis and Kenda tires proved worthy in the mud, the ruts and when things finally did dry out were smokin’ fast on the course.  Our Ergon grips kept us in the right positions and kept us from the dreaded tingly fingers. High Desert Cycles came through with many accessories used throughout the race from water bottles, to saddles, to fork pump nozzles these guys have hooked us up! And, a big toast was raised, around the post race feast, to Santa Fe Brewing for supplying the ever excellent recovery drinks! And a few spines were realigned at Gonstead Family Chiropractic of Albuquerque in order to get us ready for the next collective glimpse of the team in April at the Dawn ’til’ Dusk race in Gallup, NM. Until then, keep the rubber side down. Team Big Wheel.

Team Big Wheel Racing is preparing to make its presense felt at one of the country’s Premier early season Endurance Events. In its 9th year the Kona 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo is one of the largest 24 Hour events in North America. The race will take place starting at noon on Saturday Feb 16th in Oracle, AZ outside of Tucson and won’t finsh until Sunday at noon. There’ll be lots of crankin’ going on.

The Big Wheel Team Roster will include:

Jen Albright - Solo SS Female

Lisa Wishard – Solo Female

Jeff Hemperley - Solo SS Male

Scott Sportsman - Solo SS Male

Mike Mangan - Solo Male

Donnie Cole - Solo Male

John Mazzola - Solo Male

Nate Berg & Rich Capener – Open Duo

(Team Name: Big Wheel Racing - B100 addition)

Starting at noon on Saturday, Feb 16th, you can follow the real time tracking of the lap results at the following site: 

http://liveresults.epicrides.com/

Here’s to wishing the entire Big Wheel Team much success.  Stay tuned here for insight into all of the action. Gonna be a great time in the Ol’ Pueblo for sure.

January 6, 2008–Here we are 6 days into the new year and recovery from the holidays is just getting started, but it is time to take out the cross bike for one more race to wrap up the season. The Grote Prijs race is the traditional year end race in Kansas City (at least for the past 3-4 years). Last year this race was brutally cold, this year was to be different–temps in the low 50s!! Great, but for the fact that all the snow/ice that had been around was now pure mud–this race turned into an epic mudfest and was generally an all around great way to finish the season with some classic cyclocross racing conditions (note I said generally, more on that below).

In typical fashion for me I got to the start line late, but snuck into the third row behind a couple of folks I planned to try to grab a wheel from (approx. 38-40 riders)—the start takes you down a long straight pea-gravel straightaway and into a big parking lot for an uphill paved sprint then into the grass (mud). I was in the top 12 by the time we hit the grass and within the first lap pulled into 6-7th and up to 4th-5th by lap 2. By this time we were pretty well covered in mud and the field had spread out pretty widely with a group of two guys chasing me while I tried to reel in the top guys, but was unable to do so. The final couple of laps turned into a cat-mouse game with the two guys chasing me–they would reel me in and then I would pull away–I tried to use some of the super long/thick mud bogs as a chance to really put the hammer down and pedal through to pick up some time from them and it seemed to work. I backed off a tad on the final lap figuring if they caught me that they’d be gassed and I would then be able to put in an attack and would be more rested. The plan worked to perfection (almost) as we were neck in neck entering the final obstacles and all three jumped on our bikes for the pea-gravel/pavement finish stretch.

Thats when the wheels came off……my bike which had been flawless (despite all the mud) suddenly didn’t want to shift. Once it did, the rear cassette decided it didn’t know what gear it wanted to be in and I suddenly found myself behind two guys sprinting away as my bike started pumping out skipping noises and generally letting me get about 40% of my power (what was left of it) to the road. Needless to say, I lost the sprint before it started. Final placing “should have been” around 6th or 7th, but in fine form and tradition (started at last year’s GP race) the race officials once again placed lapped riders directly behind the podium finishers in the final standings. This blows my mind as they did it last year as well and despite complaints this year they did it again so go figure….Not sure what my “official” placing was, but my real finish was around 7th–right about what seems to have been the norm for me the past few races.

Here’s to a successful season supported by our great sponsors and hoping for a successful 2008/09 campaign that hopefully includes Big Wheel Racing team members racing at the National Championships!!