Big Wheel Racing

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!!

Posted by Doug Young

I thought I’d take this opportunity in the relative off season to introduce the bike I’ll be racing for the Big Wheel Team on smoother terrain.  I have been piloting a Ti Seven Sola 26er HT for buff single track courses, but last fall I began to think about getting back on a 29er.  I had in the past ridden a Ti Airborne B29 with a White Bros fork.  Unfortunately, in the early days of the 29er revolution the bike was relatively heavy at 24-25lbs and steered like a truck.  That drove me to the Seven Sola.  A world class racing frame no doubt and at 22lbs one of most responsive mt. bikes I have ever ridden. 

I had heard that the newer 29er forks had greater offsets designed to improve their steering response and that there was now a few frame options that would rival the Sola in weight.  So I began looking for my next race chassis.  I decided to go with the lightest 29er frame on the market; an Orbea Alma 29er (available at High Desert Bicycles).  I had never ridden a carbon frame and I had some concerns, but I decided to take the plunge.

To keep this short and to the point, the build came in at 22.6lbs as you see it here.  The few rides I’ve done so far have exhibited a nice neutral type of handling that for the most part feels like riding a 26er.  Yes, there’s still the tendency to go wide on the apex of turns that you have to correct for in your line, but the small steering inputs required to maneuver in tight technical sections is as reactive as any of my other race bikes.  The days of a 29er feeling like steering a John Deere Tractor are gone.

The carbon frame (and perhaps it is the parallelogram design of the Orbea) feels soft but responsive.  It’s definitely not as harsh a ride as an aluminum frame, but I’m not ready to say it’s as smooth as a Ti ride.  Some where in between.  However, the acceleration snap is there.  Obviously with the 29er wheels, not as sharp as the Sola, but pretty responsive none the less.

The build includes Bontrager Race X Lite Cranks with their XXX Lite stem and bar.  The transmission is controlled by SRAM XO grip shifts and derailleur’s.  Also on tap are Avid’s Juicy Ultimate brakes.  I’ve matched these to a set of Stan’s Aluminum Rotors and Kool Stop Organic brake pads. 

This combination really woke me up.  Not so much because it’s a really light weight setup, but more because of the nice soft braking modulation of organic pads on an aluminum rotor.  The modulation on this setup is awesome.  I can’t say enough about this; it really does feel smooth without being grabby.  Perfect for giving you that minor adjustment through the technical descents.

The bike is presently fitted with Fox’s new F29er fork which feels great.  The compression damping is spot on and with the lockout you can really hammer well on it.  Unfortunately for Fox, I’m planning to replace this fork with a Rock Shox Reba 29er Race.  Why?  All the major forks today have great dampening systems, but Rock Shox is the only company offering a remote lock out.  I have come to really appreciate their Pop-Lock on my other bikes and how it allows you to lock and release without having to take your hands off the bars.  It makes me wonder why the other brands haven’t followed suit.  Oh well, their loss in my book.

I’d also like to acknowledge with a special thanks to Matt Turgeon for his insight into wheel selection.  I fitted the bike with a set of American Classic MTB 29er wheels and I couldn’t be happier.  These turned out to be some of the lightest wheels around.  And they feel smooth over the rough stuff.  These replaced a set of high dollar Reynolds Carbon Fiber wheels and they seem to have a smoother feel to them.  Then again, it may be my brain not worrying as much about blowing up a rim on a rock.  I guess I’m not ready to trust carbon in a wheel set.

I combined these with the Specialized S-works Captain rear tire and a Specialized Fast Trak up front.  I have a similar combination on the Sola with a Roll-X rear with Fast Trak front tire.  I’ve had a couple rides on the Captain/Fast Trak combination and I can say without a doubt that they are great together.  The blocky rear tread design of the Captain grabs well on the loose granite conditions of Albuquerque’s South Foothills trails.  The tight knob pattern of the Fast Trak with its nice side ribs allows the front tire to track effortlessly, roll smoothly, but bite well into the tightest turns.  I never feel like I’m going to push the front end out.

At this point all I need to do is fit a set of Ergon GC2 Grips on my bars and it will be ready to rumble.  Mas-o-Menos here I come.     

Polar Bear Sprint Triathlon was held Dec 8th, with Nate in attendance for his first sprint tri in nearly 3 years. With distances of 7km (4mi) run, 30km (19mi) bike, and 400m (1/4mi) swim this was exactly the opposite type of racing to the 135mi brevet the previous weekend. A finish time of 1:26:02 was good enough to get 2nd in the 30-34 age group, and 4th overall out of 60 male finishers. Wind on the bike proved to be the primary challange, after running a steady 30min 7k Nate made up ground in the wind with a 46min 30K bike. Kona Cola nuun provided the hydration with that little extra kick from a small amount of caffiene. The Zipp 404 wheels proved once again why they are the choice of so many riders for everything from sprints to Ironman, handling the cross winds well while just being plain wicked fast. High Desert Bicycles in Rio Rancho just happens to have a demo set of 404’s, so you can try before you buy….

With great pleasure Big Wheel Racing would like to announce that High Desert Bicycles & Specialized Bikes have teamed up to provide sponsorship for our team. We are truly thankful for the opportunity to work with High Desert Bicycles of Rio Rancho, NM which is by far the top shop in central New Mexico. With a line up that includes America’s top bike company, Specialized Bike, and their innovative products, High Desert also provide bicycles from Spanish cycling giant Orbea, and American mountain biking companies Yeti and Titus.

Here is part of the now full line up of women’s bikes from Specialized, the carbon fiber Safire!

Since a good majority of the BWR team likes to singlespeed, this bike caught the attention of several team members!

Drool at the Specialized roadie bling!

The women are a huge part of BWR’s team, as we currently have 6 strong female riders. We are always trying to grow the number of women on the team, and now thanks to High Desert and Specialized our teamates can ride in style!

Since we are Big Wheel enthusiasts, no post would be complete without a 29er!

Rich can hardly contain his excitement!

You can even buy a full team kit from High Desert’s road team, which are our new partners in crime!

Nate and Donnie talking with one of the store’s owners, John Kibodeaux.

High Desert Bicycles chose to sponsor Big Wheel Racing because, according to John, they wanted to support the local mountain bike and endurance racing scene. We are very appreciative of this support and we will strive to do our best to represent the shop. We can only hope that we can display a level of generosity back to the shop in equal to the faith they have shown in us. Thanks High Desert and Specialized!

If you visit, the shop, please tell them that you saw this post on the Big Wheel Racing website.

Big Wheel Racing’s newest sponsor is Albuquerque Costmetic Dentistry’s Dr. James Slaman. Dr. Slaman goes way back with team member, Jeni Turgeon. He fixed her two front teeth that were knocked out after a bicycling face plant a few years ago. Jeni’s teeth now look good as new, thanks to Dr. Slaman. Jeni now has two really great reasons to call Dr. Slaman her favorite dentist of all time!

nuun solves hydration! Convenient, easily packable, and great flavors. An optimum blend of electrolytes to keep you hydrated without all the sticky sweet sugar of sports drinks. nuun allows you to decouple your hydration from your nutrition letting you choose how to refuel.

Use it for an all day epic, or keep a tube in your gym bag for those short workouts where you require hydration but don’t need the carbs.

Big Wheel Racing made a big showing at the inaugural Black Mountain 300k Brevet as part of the New Mexico Brevet Series, founded and run by Big Wheel Racing Team members John and Liz Mazzola. John, Donnie Cole, Jeni Turgeon, and Matt Turgeon all completed the 186.6-mile route, with nearly 12,000-ft of climbing, out to the remote back roads near Beaverhead, NM in the Gila National Forest. The New Mexico Brevet Series is an affiliate of Randonneurs USA which is a relatively new organization and style of long distance riding in the US that emphasizes completion and camaraderie rather than competition. The origins of randonneuring are over one hundred old from France and this year is a Paris-Brest-Paris year, the culminating event held once every four years.

November 3, 2007–BigWheel Racing team member Brad Davis raced Day 1 of the annual Riverside Cyclocross Festival today. Despite multiple pile-ups caused by the dry/slick conditions and sand pit, Brad managed a 12th place finish out of 47 racers (Cat 4) to improve upon results from last week’s event.

With several races remaining in the season, Brad’s goal of a top 5 finish at at least one event still looks possible thanks to the continued support of BigWheel sponsors such as BikeSource, Moots and Hammer Nutrition. Stay tuned for more exciting cross results in weeks to come (and hopefully at least one race in ‘real’ cross conditions with some good mud, snow and muck!)

October 28th, 2007—BigWheel Racing team member Brad Davis experienced first-hand what the nation’s top cyclocross racers will encounter this December by racing in the early season Boulevard Cup Cyclocross Race held near the Wyandotte County fairgrounds in Kansas City, Kansas. This event was a huge success with 200+ crossers competing on Sunday and saw BikeSource, a Big Wheel Racing sponsor, on-site as a major sponsor of the event.

The course, set up along the shores of an area lake, should prove to be a real challenge at the National Championships later this year as it includes plenty of off camber sections and the ‘infamous’ double run-up (think straight up one hill with a barrier mid-way, then straight down, then back up again with another barrier). This site was also were Steve Tilford took a swim in the lake after falling through the ice on his way to win last season’s KLM race at this venue!

Brad, racing in his first cross race of the season started near the back of the field of nearly 70 entrants (Cat 4) and despite the narrow course managed to pick off a number of riders during lap 1 and continued to steadily advance throughout the race to finish 23rd. Racing next weekend turns to the Riverside, Missouri course where Brad managed a top 5 finish last season racing singlespeed and hopes to improve on his placing this year!

Thanks to all our sponsors for the support at this event–notably BikeSource, Hammer Nutrition (yummy stuff), Moots (Brad rides a PsychloX) and Sock guy–note the classic socks in the photo!

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.