Big Wheel Racing

December 4–Kansas City received some long overdue rain on December 1, followed by a nice cold front with high winds and low temps to make for a tough day of cross racing on December 2. The 2nd race of the season for the Boss Cross Series moved to Parkville, MO and English Landing Park. A rolling course with multiple sand pits (some rideable (if you were lucky), some not), a one-lane bridge complete with indoor/outdoor carpeting and a trip up onto the park stage (no singing please) followed by a plywood ramp off the side made for lots of fun—then add in a howling wind coming off the river and temps in the low 30s, wind chills in the low 20s. Brrrrrr…..

Cat 4 saw 33 entries this week and despite nearly being knocked off the stage on lap 1, Big Wheel Racing’s Brad Davis managed an 8th place finish, followed quickly by some hot coffee and time to defrost in the car. Thanks to those who came out to support and cheer on the racers (lots of cowbell) and the usual BWR sponsors—Moots, BikeSource and Hammer Nutrition.

BWR had a good showing for the 3rd 12 Hours of Temecula series race on Saturday, November 17, 2007. Scott Sportsman and Jeni Turgeon rode duo singlespeed and Matt Turgeon rode solo singlespeed.

Scott and Jeni won first place duo singlespeed for the race and also won the 12 Hours of Temecula series for the year in the singlespeed team category!

The day was great and the weather was perfect for riding. Honey Stinger and Hammer products kept the team members well-fed and the team gear was perfect. Thanks to Avant Garb for the hoodies that kept us warm pre and post race!

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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.

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. 

Image from Adam Lisonbee. 

The Vapor Trail 125 is a grueling ultra-endurance mountain biking event in Salida, Colorado hosted by Absolute Bikes and organized by Tom Purvis and shop owner, Shawn Gillis.  Matt was fortunate enough to be invited to this, which required a resume of accomplishmenst in endurance racing. 

A total of 33 individuals lined up at the start, in downtown Salida at Midnight, Sept. 8, 2007.  18 would finish the course with the others dropping out at checkpoints along the way. 

Matt finished with the 5th fastest time over all, and also had the 1st fastest finishing time for singlespeeders.  

 Matt rode his Moots Mooto-x Singlespeed complete with the Kenda Small Block 8 tires. 

Honey Stinger Energy and also Protein Bars were a big part of Matt’s nutrition plan. 

Diet Power has kept the team members fit and trim all year, and we have truly enjoyed the support from Terry Dunkle.

In addition, Matt stopped by Santa Fe Brewing Company on the return trip and was rewarded with the team favorite - Santa Fe Pale Ale - thanks Ty and Brian!

The Vapor Trail 125 is one of the most grueling ultra-endurance challenges out there as it covers 125-miles of mountain bike trails, and rough primitive roads, with over 20,000-ft of climbing and at elevations between 9,000-ft to 12,000-ft.

A very detailed course description is located at the Vapor Trail website.

Jeff Hemperley raced on his singlespeed bike in the Escalante Days Cross-Country Mountain Bike Race in Dolores, Co.  Jeff captured 2nd place in the category and did very well representing Big Wheel Racing again in southwestern Colorado.  Way to go Jeff!

The Big Wheel Racing Team had great numbers at the 2007 edition of 24hrs of Sage in Gunnison, Co.  The 24 hour mountain bike race took place at Hartman Rocks on a 13-mile looped course, and the goal was to see how many times racers could complete the loop in a 24-hour period.  Big Wheel Racing team members Jen Albright, Jeff Hemperley, and Matt Turgeon all raced as solo racers on singlespeed bikes, and Lisa Wishard raced as a solo rider on her geared bike.  Lyn Alter and Jeni Turgeon raced as a duo in the women’s duo category.  198 entrants competed in this, the largest field ever for the 5th annual http://www.24hoursinthesage.com/.

The team did quite well, with Matt taking 1st place in the solo singlespeed category, and 3rd place overall.  Jeff took 8th place solo singlespeed, and Lisa and Jen took 6th and 9th places in the Women’s Solo Categories.  Way to go solo riders!

Jeni and Lyn raced in the duo category against teams comprised almost entirely of men.  They captured 2nd place in the women’s duo teams, and 10th place in all duos. 

Thanks to all the team supporters for this effort!  Big Wheel Racing had a great day and represented quite well.

Despite very limited knowledge of the courses, a 3 -stage mountain bike race at the Rim Nordic area, near Bear Lake, summoned me like a sailor to a siren. All of the ingredients for a great weekend were available; hillclimb, short track, x-country, typically a stellar single speed field (lots of pros in SoCal), cooler temperatures (nights in the 40’s, highs in the 80’s), camping in the woods, beer, new friends to meet..

The race was well-organized, and run by a crew full of infectious excitement. But, it was short..way short.. The hill climb was just under 2 miles, mostly jeep road, not very steep. The short track was 10 minutes plus 3 laps. After pre-riding the bottom half of the hill climb, and the short track loop, I realized that my 34×20 was way undergeared. A quick trip back to the car revealed that although I had my 18tooth cog, I didn’t have the spacer combo that I needed to install it. C’est la vie. Race what you have.. 1st and 2nd place in ss were pushing 32×14 and 32×16. I spun with them for a while but I couldn’t hang on as they pulled ahead. I couldn’t have hung onto 1st place regardless of my gearing. The short track was worse, but it was fun. As we sat on the line, ssers were racing with the sport class, the announcer suggested that we ride easy for a while, and turn it into a race after 10 minutes. Some guys in the group liked that idea. I didn’t He said go..I went.. for 3 laps, I dervishly spun my little gear, knowing that I couldn’t sustain this anaerobic hell, but also knowing that group was shattered. Finally, Trevor and Mark, and a few of the top sport guys pulled around, and how I envied them as they spun up the road at half of my cadence.. Another 3rd place awaited..

Two races down, less than 30 minutes of high-intensity effort.. Sunday’s cross country race was more suiting to my gearing, two 6-mile laps. The course was great, essentially 15 minutes of single track/double track climbing (with some very steep, loose, sandy pitches) , another 8-10 minutes of mostly gentle (ie. spun-out climbing) on a gradually climbing jeep road, which was the prefect place to suck down a few Honey Stingers. Then 10-12 minutes descending loose jeep roads and single track, with some wicked nasty, sandy, stutter-bumpy switchbacks near the top..just stick your front wheel into the rut and hang-on. 68 minutes later I finished in 4th place (a new pro showed up and wasted us all). My effort was good enough to hang onto 3rd for the stage race..

This gives me points in the SoCal Triple Crown series, meaning that there are a few more shorter races in my immediate future, so I need to start hitting the intervals. I finished the cross country race feeling all warmed up and ready to start racing

Big Wheel Racing Team Member Donnie Cole won the 2007 Sandia Crest Dualathalon riding a Singlespeed bike!  The course consisted of a mountain bike race up the legendary 8.5-mile King-of-the-Mountain trail to the top of the Sandia Crest Ski Area.  Once up on top, the racers changed over to running and loop on the mountain top (all at over 10k elevation), and then the racers returned to descend back down King-of-the-Mountain.  In Donnie’s own words, he wrote;

Saturday morning I lined up at the starting line for the Sandia Peak Challenge duathalon, which consisted of a ride up King-of -the-Mountain, then a change into the running shoes for a 2 mi. run on the service road to the Ellis trail head parking lot and back, change back into the bike shoes and head back down king of the mountain.  I rode my single speed Gunnar with a 19×32 gearing and threw a couple of Honey Stinger gels in my jersey pocket in case my energy level got low. I was second off the line and was able to maintain my position to the top. My Maxxis Cross mark tires hooked up great. The first guy to the top was doing a two person team so that put me in first place for the solo class. Had a good run and an ok descent and finished in 2:06 which was good enough for 1st place overall.  All in all it was a very challenging event. The Sandia Peak Challenge raised $26,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Jeni Turgeon also raced Sandia Crest Mountain Bike race which consisted of just the 8.5-mile King-of-the-Mountain trail and it’s infamous 1700-ft of climbing!  Jeni raced in the Women’s Sport Category and took 4rth place.