# 24 HourSS in wet lycra near Tucson (lots of pix)



## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

There has already been a lot mentioned about the weather, but I have another regret to add, much more serious than the weather. This year, we raced without the presence (and camera) of brianc who was out playing with his new bike. Your pictures and race write-up are sorely missed...

After listening to the rain Thursday night, we had a reprieve, and actually questioned the accuracy of the weather predictions...

Friday morning at dawn.

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/OPFridayDawn008.jpg"> </src>

Feeling a sense of euphoria, my gf and I rode the course..There were a few puddles, and standing water (off of the trail)..

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/carriefridaymorning.jpg"> </src>

but, unfortunately, especially for everyone that brought their gears to OP, the predictions were dead on, the gloom set in on the start line

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/start_line.jpg"> </src>

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/andtheyreoff.jpg"> </src>


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## appleSSeed (Dec 29, 2003)

Great Pics!


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

*wet lycra continued*

My strategy (if that's what you want to call it) was to get in 5 laps before needing lights. Of course, I didn't tell anyone this, so that I wouldn't look foolish. A flat tire in the exchange area of ther first lap, and a broken eggbeater going up the b1tches in the 4th lap ended this strategy..

broken beater with Adam wrenching through the storm and Ariana watching on...

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/broken_edal.jpg"> </src>

after that everything settled down. It was dark, and it was raining (or hailing). The race support was tremendous. Here I am getting much needed assistance from the Light & Motion rep.

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/scottatL&Mtent.jpg"> </src>

A few very wet laps sent many of the sane and reasoning riders deep into their RVs or tents and sleeping bags. Most of the riders that I rode with through the night were ssing it. I'm not sure exactly what that says about ssers, but it is an accurate observation. Those of us out around 2 am enjoyed the most spectacular lap of the race (I didn't have a camera). The clouds parted, the wind stopped, and moonlight bathed the course. I was even blessed to see a coyote running down the trail, obviously wondering what we were doing on its trails. I rode most of the lap with a team sser whose lights had died. With the moonlight and my lights, he didn't need them. I felt bad for slowing him down..

Of course, we paid for this lap during the next lap when the worst of the rain/hail rolled through. The gods (whatever) were fickle..

I think that this is how most people rode out the storm..

Roger of the Los Alamos Tuff Riders..

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/rogerwithbeer.jpg"> </src>


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

*more wetness*

Personally, my moment of tribulation came around 5 in the morning. I was out of dry rain gear, no more dry tights, the trails were empty. I would've crawled into my sleeping bag, but I knew that my daughter had already claimed it. I removed everything wet, wrapped myself in a wool blanket and crawled into the back of the element where my clothing was. I wanted to wait until the sun rose before going back out, instead I put on what I could, wrapped my feet in plastric and went back out. Dawn broke as I was climbing the last b1tch and I could've kneeled and kissed the ground, or slurped the mud as the case may be. Of course, i knew that I would never get back up so I kept rolling. I don't think that it rained the rest of the race..

By the time I rolled back through tent city, everyone was getting up and the trails were filling up with riders again. It was beautiful!

Some people were overjoyed

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/ariana_laughing.jpg"> </src>

Some racers were serious..Glenzx preparing to blaze a lap just so that he can ride another before the cut-off

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/glen_trainer.jpg"> </src>

one of glen's teammates (Mark) pushing the pedals to get the baton to glen..

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/Mark_through_site.jpg"> </src>

although he did pause to reconsider the rock..

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/Mark_second_thoughts.jpg"> </src>

and a rider that sseemed to never pause..

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/SS_drops.jpg"> </src>


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## OneGearGuy (Jun 15, 2004)

superb report and photos! i could spend the rest of the afternoon looking at more!
thanks for sharing. i can only imagine the strength and fortitude it takes to keep going at 5am with no more clean, dry clothing. i lift a cold, frosty beverage in your honor!


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

*festivities*

And then..

Finally..

I'm blasting down the final descent into Solo Alley..and I hear.."Do you want a beer?" After 24 hours and 10 minutes of racing without inflicting serious bodily harm upon myself, I almost went through my stem.

Who would've thought that after hours without brakes that they would actually grab now. Thanks for the beer from the red tent. It was excellent, and it survived one last descent down the rocks with no significant spillage..

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/finish.jpg"> </src>

Everyone that stuck around was treated to a talent contest sponsored by Jericho. 2nd place received sufferings, but 1st place won a custom frame! I wish that I had a talent (but I do have pix of other's talents)..

Always a crowd pleaser, Jen from Ohio (I think) not only rocked on the bike, but she treated us all to tongue gymnastics.. I'll go straight to the finale, as she touches her nose with her tongue...

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/tonguetonose.jpg"> </src>

She didn't get a prize, which was flabbergasting.

the winner was on a bike shop team, I think from San Diego. It appears that he has used his time wisely during CA recent monsoons, by perfecting a unique talent. Somehow, he had discovered that he is capable of imitating a velociraptor
.
I'm actually going to rent Jurassic Park this weekend and check to see if he was indeed an extra. If not, the spielberg should sign this man up..

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/raptor1.jpg"> </src>
<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/raptor2.jpg"> </src>
<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/raptor3.jpg"> </src>


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## NuMexJoe (Jan 12, 2004)

*You modest SOB*

I just looked at the results and see you claimed first solo SS. Congrats! Oh, and nice pics, although I do agree with your sentiments re: brianc.
- Joe


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

*last one*

Just to obtain closure.. Here is the Male Solo SS Podium

<img src = "https://www.losalamos.com/sportsman/sportsman/mtbrpix/MTBROP/SSPodium.jpg"> </src>

ssers represented the brethren well. We rode all night, we had fun, we helped those that needed help and rang our bells whenever possible. I rode with many of you briefly throughout the race, and it made the race enjoyable.

The course and conditions were perfect for a ss.


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

NuMexJoe said:


> I just looked at the results and see you claimed first solo SS. Congrats! Oh, and nice pics, although I do agree with your sentiments re: brianc.
> - Joe


now I blush. which isn't easy with my sun/rain/wind reddened face and all of the blood pooled down deep in my legs...


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## wooglin (Jan 6, 2004)

Phenomenal post. Just read all the threads on the AZ board and this one has them all beat. I love the pic of the guy on the (fixed?) bike w/ drop bars.

Phenomenal ride too.


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## wooglin (Jan 6, 2004)

NuMexJoe said:


> I just looked at the results and see you claimed first solo SS. Congrats! Oh, and nice pics, although I do agree with your sentiments re: brianc.
> - Joe


Errr, not knowing diddly about 24hr racing, doesn't finishing a 16th lap at 12:24pm beat finishing a 16th lap at 12:30pm? Which is when the first geared solo rider finished according to the unofficial results?


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

appleSSeed said:


> Great Pics!


thanks

my gf took most of the ones during the race. I carried a camera for a while, and then realized that I wasn't going to use it


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

wooglin said:


> Errr, not knowing diddly about 24hr racing, doesn't finishing a 16th lap at 12:24pm beat finishing a 16th lap at 12:30pm? Which is when the first geared solo rider finished according to the unofficial results?


the ssers were well represented .

also beat all of the duos. The 4 man teams were too fast though. something to shoot for


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## Casual Observer (Jan 12, 2004)

Don't tell me, another New Mexican? I think we should ban all you...you...you...what do you call New Mexicans?...taking all our prizes away.

Great job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

What happened to the pedal? My eggbeater came off it's spindle on lap number one. I felt a small hitch, looked down, and realized the pedal was gone. I looked at the bottom my my shoe, and there is was.

What gear did you run? I found I was passing gearies left and right. The course was ideal for the SS (especially on the bithces, when shifting was a bad idea)


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

skinny-tire said:


> Don't tell me, another New Mexican? I think we should ban all you...you...you...what do you call New Mexicans?...taking all our prizes away.
> 
> Great job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> ...


guilty..another NMican. We had to suffer this year to train for a race in February. It has been very wet in NM, and cold.

I stood up to go up the b1tches, and my left foot just hit the ground (I was so lucky to have so much stand-over). just like your, it came right off the spindle, still attached to my shoe. Luckily, I actually brought back-up eggbeaters.

I ran a 34:18 rigid. It might have been a bit too tall, I suffered a lot. I only wanted suspension for 2 minutes or so per lap.

hopefully we said hi a couple of times here or there..

scott


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## rockcrusher (Aug 28, 2003)

*Yeah, that is about right.*



sportsman said:


> guilty..another NMican. We had to suffer this year to train for a race in February. It has been very wet in NM, and cold.
> 
> I stood up to go up the b1tches, and my left foot just hit the ground (I was so lucky to have so much stand-over). just like your, it came right off the spindle, still attached to my shoe. Luckily, I actually brought back-up eggbeaters.
> 
> ...


While not solo I rode my full rigid SS with a 34x17 for two laps and a 34x18 for two laps. The 2:1 killed me and the 34x18 was still a little tall after the first two 2:1 laps. It kicked some serious A__ passing those gearies with a broken chain at every hill.

We were camped on a main road area and every time I was working in our paddock area I would spy multiple competitors returning from their laps, pushin' a chainless bike along. You would think that eventually people would realize that shifting is evil and just embrace the SS, now wouldn't you.

Power to the SS and the most power to Rudy on his fixie drop bar crosser/29er thingy. Pedalling up and down every mud and rock encrusted hill. I passed him at around 1:45am and was sorrily humbled to watch him ride the starting single track as he stood and pedalled where I coasted through all those slippery rocks. Absolutely crazy!! Absolutely.


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## glenzx (Dec 19, 2003)

*Viva Neuvo Mexico!*

Scott, superb ride, great scouting & camp staking, awesome to see you out there.

Excellent write up, great shots here and over on the passion board - especially the nerd on the trainer. Well, actually, the Jurassic Dude looks even freakier than in real life! .01% BF will do that I guess.

I'm humbled by the remarkable feat that you pulled off, and that you'd stick some shots of our Traumatic Acid crew on your post. Mark indeed pulled out an amazing last lap after riding out the worst of the night weather - giving me plenty of time to rock a fast lap before noon - in time to check out and cruise out for the last lap. Sorry I was in such a hurry, as it would have been VERY cool to ride w/you on your (3X over) victory lap. I tried, but couldn't "lap" you and catch you the next go around, even though you had already ridden 220+ miles!

regards,

glen

(report coming tonight)


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## glenzx (Dec 19, 2003)

rockcrusher said:


> While not solo I rode my full rigid SS with a 34x17 for two laps and a 34x18 for two laps. The 2:1 killed me and the 34x18 was still a little tall after the first two 2:1 laps. It kicked some serious A__ passing those gearies with a broken chain at every hill.
> 
> We were camped on a main road area and every time I was working in our paddock area I would spy multiple competitors returning from their laps, pushin' a chainless bike along. You would think that eventually people would realize that shifting is evil and just embrace the SS, now wouldn't you.
> 
> Power to the SS and the most power to Rudy on his fixie drop bar crosser/29er thingy. Pedalling up and down every mud and rock encrusted hill. I passed him at around 1:45am and was sorrily humbled to watch him ride the starting single track as he stood and pedalled where I coasted through all those slippery rocks. Absolutely crazy!! Absolutely.


Not all geared bikes failed, I'll say! One just had to stay in the big ring the whole lap to avoid chain suck and other joys of ms.

In fact, my Blur had ZERO drivetrain problems, and full functionality through all the gears. But our service tent had a few key tools like a garden sprayer, copious amounts of clean rags, and heavy chain oil.

All hail the freaky [email protected]@ SS'ers though. Nuckin Futz.


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## glenzx (Dec 19, 2003)

*In a word?*



wooglin said:


> Errr, not knowing diddly about 24hr racing, doesn't finishing a 16th lap at 12:24pm beat finishing a 16th lap at 12:30pm? Which is when the first geared solo rider finished according to the unofficial results?


yep. it does.


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

Thanks glen 

I thought ever so briefly about picking up the pace when you went by, I had paced with Ken a little earlier, so i was grasping for every bit of motivation. But you were rocking, and I was tired. I actually took that lap really lackadaisical, even stopped twice to help people with flat tires. Once I got past the climbing though, the drive to finish strong built up again and I picked up the pace through the finish (at least through solo alley, I enjoyed the finish)..


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

*what do you think of?*

forgot to include this in the original thread.. For some reason, during the third lap I decide to count the number of standing pedal strokes required to complete a lap. For the last couple of daylight laps I was standing for ~ 240 strokes (with about 120-130 of them on the b1tches), and other than the b1tches, the most I stood for any given hill was 7-10 strokes. During the night, the number of strokes actually went down. I think that I had more patience when I couldn't see the top of the hill, but in the am I was blown. The standing stroke count was up well over 400, with about 250 on the b1tches. I don't know if any of this means anything, but I'm still sharing...

start of the lap before breaking a pedal..








</src>


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

glenzx said:


> Not all geared bikes failed, I'll say! One just had to stay in the big ring the whole lap to avoid chain suck and other joys of ms.
> 
> In fact, my Blur had ZERO drivetrain problems, and full functionality through all the gears. But our service tent had a few key tools like a garden sprayer, copious amounts of clean rags, and heavy chain oil.
> 
> All hail the freaky [email protected]@ SS'ers though. Nuckin Futz.


No-one can keep a bike as clean as glen keeps his and ride them as fast..Carrie is totally sold on your garden sprayer, I suspect that we're buying one before the next big event...aong with those big-a$$ stakes that rich threw down..


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## Jim Beam (Dec 22, 2003)

*Way to go, Scott!*

I always knew I was in the presence of greatness. No longer can I fool myself that it's my own;-)

Congrats!


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## jrm (Jan 12, 2004)

*Great write up..*

[
And Race...Congrats..


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

jrm said:


> [
> And Race...Congrats..


thanks


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## Epicrider (Jan 13, 2004)

*Garden sprayer was the savor....*

I wrenched for two geared teams and also had a two gallon pressurized garden sprayer. I have used them in the past when I spent a year back east where mud was common and used the sprayer to wash off after muddy rides. Went thru about 30 gallons of water and a couple of bottles of Pedros Syn lube keep nine bikes shifting thru the night. Only had two mechncals, frozen botton bracket and a worn middle ring that chain sucked midway thru the first lap. Definitly get one before the next big evnt, always handy to have a little pressurize water around, even if it not muddy.



sportsman said:


> No-one can keep a bike as clean as glen keeps his and ride them as fast..Carrie is totally sold on your garden sprayer, I suspect that we're buying one before the next big event...aong with those big-a$$ stakes that rich threw down..


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## Mattman (Feb 2, 2004)

*I'd rather race old Mexicans*



skinny-tire said:


> Don't tell me, another New Mexican? I think we should ban all you...you...you...what do you call New Mexicans?...taking all our prizes away.


Yes, Old Mexicans would be so much easier to beat!


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

nice pics and words


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## Trevor! (Dec 23, 2003)

Nice pictures.

The mud doesn't look all that fun.

I have to say, I really like the first picture of this thread with the skyscape. NICE!


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

Trevor! said:


> Nice pictures.
> 
> The mud doesn't look all that fun.
> 
> I have to say, I really like the first picture of this thread with the skyscape. NICE!


Thnaks!

About the mud..it happens. Like most people, I'd prefer not to ride in it too often, it can be very harsh on bike compnents. Hopefully, the trail will recover from the race. It seems pretty sandy/coarse and it didn't appear to get very rutted out, with the exception of the roads, but..they're roads. I'd hate to think that our weekend of fun came at the expense of local trails.

I'd rather ride in that kind of mud than the mud that we encountered at the ultra 10-0 near Vail last year. That was thick, clayey, stick to your wheels/frame/fork/brakes mud. You know the kind, the get-off-of-your-50-lb-bike-and-walk mud.

I really liked the views at dawn. Last year the sunset views were really nice too, but this year they were just clouds, fog and rain..

scott


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## merlin (Jan 20, 2004)

glenzx said:


> Not all geared bikes failed, I'll say! One just had to stay in the big ring the whole lap to avoid chain suck and other joys of ms.
> 
> In fact, my Blur had ZERO drivetrain problems, and full functionality through all the gears. But our service tent had a few key tools like a garden sprayer, copious amounts of clean rags, and heavy chain oil.
> 
> All hail the freaky [email protected]@ SS'ers though. Nuckin Futz.


Hey Glen,
Sounds like you raced both bikes??? Which one was better FS VS HT?


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## glenzx (Dec 19, 2003)

merlin said:


> Hey Glen,
> Sounds like you raced both bikes??? Which one was better FS VS HT?


Both! Actually, this course was perfect for railing laps on the HT - and perfect for sitting & spinning on the FS. The rollers, known as the B!tches, seemed faster on the HT, as I could stand and hammer. BUT, I was more confident launching through the rougher rollers on the FS... Late night, poor visibilty & judgement issues made the FS bike key. In fact, being able to sit on a lot of the moderately bumpy stuff was nice on the FS, and it felt plenty fast.... but I bet I'd have done a sub-one hour 2nd-to-last lap on the HT had I run her.

Basically I'd have survived with just the HT, especially if the conditions had been dry & faster.

FWIW the Stumpy HT/F80X is a heck of a capable racer!


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

glenzx said:


> FWIW the Stumpy HT/F80X is a heck of a capable racer!


and it sure is purty


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## merlin (Jan 20, 2004)

glenzx said:


> Both! Actually, this course was perfect for railing laps on the HT - and perfect for sitting & spinning on the FS. The rollers, known as the B!tches, seemed faster on the HT, as I could stand and hammer. BUT, I was more confident launching through the rougher rollers on the FS... Late night, poor visibilty & judgement issues made the FS bike key. In fact, being able to sit on a lot of the moderately bumpy stuff was nice on the FS, and it felt plenty fast.... but I bet I'd have done a sub-one hour 2nd-to-last lap on the HT had I run her.
> 
> Basically I'd have survived with just the HT, especially if the conditions had been dry & faster.
> 
> FWIW the Stumpy HT/F80X is a heck of a capable racer!


It's hard to pick between the two. BTW, how much does your HT weight? 
Sorry for hijacking the thread sportsman!


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

merlin said:


> Sorry for hijacking the thread sportsman!


's okay!!


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## *rt* (Jan 15, 2004)

*nice job*

you're still my hero.

rt


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## *rt* (Jan 15, 2004)

*you are the worlds biggest science dork*



sportsman said:


> forgot to include this in the original thread.. For some reason, during the third lap I decide to count the number of standing pedal strokes required to complete a lap. For the last couple of daylight laps I was standing for ~ 240 strokes (with about 120-130 of them on the b1tches), and other than the b1tches, the most I stood for any given hill was 7-10 strokes. During the night, the number of strokes actually went down. I think that I had more patience when I couldn't see the top of the hill, but in the am I was blown. The standing stroke count was up well over 400, with about 250 on the b1tches. I don't know if any of this means anything, but I'm still sharing...


i can't believe that you counted pedal strokes. 

rt


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

*rt* said:


> you're still my hero.
> 
> rt


you really should raise the bar 

thanks


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

*rt* said:


> i can't believe that you counted pedal strokes.
> 
> rt


I am not the world's BIGGEST science dork. I only weigh ~148 lbs soaking wet (which was most of the race). I am sure that there are bigger dorks out there..

I had to do something, I was becoming concerned about blowing up and I didn't want to carry my ipod in the rain. which was a shame becauwse I had made a killer play-list. Lots of angry music...

You should've seen the looks of some people when I passed them while counting aloud. I'm sure they thought that I had lost it and it was still early. They were probably looking around the start/finish area for my shopping cart/home. It was worse through the night when i started berating myself aloud and/or singing (which was abusive to anyone that could hear me)

scott


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## glenzx (Dec 19, 2003)

merlin said:


> It's hard to pick between the two. BTW, how much does your HT weight?
> Sorry for hijacking the thread sportsman!


Indeed it is - in the future it'll be hard. Longer races = FS. 3 or less hours, probably the hardtail...

HT weighs in at about 20 - 21 lbs +/- (tires / wheelset make a big diff.)


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## glenzx (Dec 19, 2003)

sportsman said:


> I am not the world's BIGGEST science dork. I only weigh ~148 lbs soaking wet (which was most of the race). I am sure that there are bigger dorks out there..
> 
> I had to do something, I was becoming concerned about blowing up and I didn't want to carry my ipod in the rain. which was a shame becauwse I had made a killer play-list. Lots of angry music...
> 
> ...


LOL at counting aloud - I hadn't thought you'd do THAT!

Check it out: http://nmbikensport.com/site/intro.cfm

Click on the "racing" link on the left...


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## rapwithtom (Feb 26, 2004)

*Great write-up!*

Winning, beating the solo gearies, stopping to help others fix flats...a true superhero!

Alas, I have identified your Kryptonite: it is the beginnings of your enormous beer belly!

(It is reassuring to me that that other people's guts also poke out of their bike jerseys...)


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

rapwithtom said:


> Winning, beating the solo gearies, stopping to help others fix flats...a true superhero!
> 
> Alas, I have identified your Kryptonite: it is your enormous beer belly! It is reassuring to me that that other people's guts also poke out of their bike jerseys...


It took me a while to figure that picture out..I was keeping the batteries in the pockets of the inner jerseys/vests.

I was working on the beer belly last night . I thought that I'd work on it after the race, but I wass too tired to drink much beer, gave away Arrogant Bastards to people supporting the race, and just drank one porter (although one was all that I needed)..made up for it that night with Margs in tempe..quite a dinner.

talk eat, drink talk eat drink doze, talk drink doze talk drink doze drink doze drink doze drink doze doze doze doze


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

glenzx said:


> LOL at counting aloud - I hadn't thought you'd do THAT!
> 
> Check it out: http://nmbikensport.com/site/intro.cfm
> 
> Click on the "racing" link on the left...


I have no shame!

checked out the link(Ben also told me about it)..woohoo..pretty good for a club rider. I say that we make it a point to saturate the site with mtb pics and results...

scott


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## rapwithtom (Feb 26, 2004)

*One thing stand out in all these photos...*

...despite the rain, the cold, the mud, the fatigue...you're smiling broadly in each and every photo! Woohoo! It's great that you can have fun in even the shittiest conditions...


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## glenzx (Dec 19, 2003)

sportsman said:


> I have no shame!
> 
> checked out the link(Ben also told me about it)..woohoo..pretty good for a club rider. I say that we make it a point to saturate the site with mtb pics and results...
> 
> scott


Yep - I was thinking about making our own "club" site, as the team page is limited to 1.

Once all the elite guys start winning everything, I suspect the club racers will be a low-priority!


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

rapwithtom said:


> ...despite the rain, the cold, the mud, the fatigue...you're smiling broadly in each and every photo! Woohoo! It's great that you can have fun in even the shittiest conditions...


I noticed that as well and I know why.. Carrie didn't stay up all night, if she had taken pictures between 11 pm and dawn, you'd have been hard-pressed finding me smiling so much. It was hard.

I can't even claim that i was smiling because I was doing well because I didn't really know how I was doing until my last lap. those were genuine smiles from doing something that I enjoy doing..


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## JRA (Jan 13, 2004)

*Tip of the beer glass to ya*



sportsman said:


> I can't even claim that i was smiling because I was doing well because I didn't really know how I was doing until my last lap. those were genuine smiles from doing something that I enjoy doing..


 My first solo attempt didn't go quite as well. Came in 22 out of 26 in the SS solo class. Lots of room for improvement though on my part. I wonder how I would have done if I had ridden during the night. Guess I'll just have to show up next year to find out.


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## sportsman (Mar 2, 2004)

JRA said:


> My first solo attempt didn't go quite as well. Came in 22 out of 26 in the SS solo class. Lots of room for improvement though on my part. I wonder how I would have done if I had ridden during the night. Guess I'll just have to show up next year to find out.


thanks for the beer 

That was a hard race, conditions were not favorable for your first solo attempt. It's pretty nice that you stuck finished, especially in light of all the DNFs.

Guess that I'll see you next year, or if you're an AZ local, maybe I'll see you at the Whiskey..

scott


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