Linden's 24 Hour Race Report

2011 Old Pueblo is in the books, and as usual, it was both brutal and fantastic at once. The day started off just fine, I felt great for my first solo 24 attempt.
Noon: The mass LeMans start was mayhem, there had to be 1000 people all trying to run in bike shoes. I got off to a comfortable start, cruising with a big group, until I misjudged a corner and ran my foot through a cactus. Oops. After the lap I changed shoes and went out again, and this time the winds started kicking up.
3pm: Winds hit 40 mph, out camp area blew down, and I started trying to find big dudes to ride behind. Fortunately, my husband Andy got the pits back together (mostly) and kept everything running smoothly.
6pm: Bike race turns into shitstorm. Winds are howling, rain is coming sideways, temperature is dropping fast. Somehow I am dumb enough to go back out in it.
9pm: Rain finally stops, and wind slows down. I'm suddenly an HOUR up on second place. Laps keep coming smoothly.
2am: All my technical skills desert me. I hit every rock within a foot of the trail. Kept it upright only because my bike knows how to ride better than I do.
4:30am: Things start getting weird. I start hallucinating rabbits, or at least I don't think they were real. I kept telling myself "don't swerve, they're not really there!"
6:45am: Sunrise lap! I felt sortof ok again, and put in a decently fast lap. Met up with a fellow solo rider named Phil who pulled me around the back half of the course. Thanks Phil, I would have been a lot slower without you!
10am: Made the decision to go out for another lap. I probably didn't have to, but I wanted 13 laps...that one hurt. A lot. I felt like I was going about 4 mph, but I still made it back in under 2 hours.
Noon: The finish! Finally! I have a photo from the finish, but it's too awful. I couldn't bring myself to put it on the internet. So here's a podium shot, instead.

Final tally-24 hours, 212 miles, 15,600 feet of climbing, 27 dead kangaroo rats on the trail (yes, I counted), and 1 sweet first place trophy.

Team Absolute rocks the first MBAA race of the season!

This is an excerpt from an email the MBAA board sent out following the race this past weekend:

"We on the board extend a huge thank-you to AZ Devo and Absolute Bikes and all of the volunteers. The amount of volunteers and hours you spent both Saturday and Sunday were extremely helpful and amazing. We couldn’t have done the event without you. I hope everyone appreciates the devotion you all have to assisting in keeping things going."

Thanks team, you rock.
Tonya and Nick showing off their medals!

Oh Gheez?

Yo! What these OGs say'n is that the Dawn to Dusk was Dope! We were slamming 40's and shred'n the g'nar like on a tight Rope!

Turn-n 1:13s, sho a brother some love. WORD

More Whistler Action

This is Andy shredding Duffman and Renagade one of our last riding days...sun was out, finally, but still tons of wet roots and slippery rocks!

Whistler Update!

So Andy and I are in Whistler for 2 weeks or so...mostly just riding DH bikes and having a good time; also there is a big race here this weekend so we entered that (Red Bull 5000 Down). Qualifying was yesterday, we both got a mid-pack finish despite the mud and yicky roots. I crashed once when a bear jumped out in front of me! I kid you not...

Today was the mass start race, I've put up a video of part of my race run. We woke up to rain, and by the time we got to the top of Whistler Peak there were 4 or 5 inches of fresh snow! That made for a very interesting start...anyway, the snow and mud made things exciting, but I was doing pretty well (in 5th place) until I got a flat tire :( I wound up finishing 10th place, which I'm stoked about since I rode more than half the race flat!

The video isn't the best quality, due to the fact that it was pissing rain most of the time, and the batteries froze and turned off just above In Deep, and just a moment before I flatted in a big crack in the rock. So enjoy, and we'll put more (shorter) stuff up ASAP!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhnmIoaFL4o

Leadville Race Report from Alex Koss

Another Leadville in the books. I got a VIP start because I was a top 100 finisher of the riders from last year that made it in this year. That was sweet.

The start was uneventful, I rode hard but not too hard and had good positioning for both of the climbs to Pipeline 1. I cruised across to Twin Lakes and felt really good.
The climb up Columbine was typical with the cramping starting at about 11,000' @ 3:40. I got to the turnaround at 4:35. The top section was a bit cleaner than last year, but still a nail biter.

The ride from Twin Lake 2 to the finish was a sufferfest, with 15 minute cycles of being able to ride at 200 watts for 5 minutes and 10 minutes recovery at 170 watts. I walked the lower part of Powerline, but cleaned the rest of the course. I know that I left it all out there.....I was just 12 minutes short.
It was nice having the powertap, it would have been nicer to have the power!!

I didn't realize before the start how stacked the field was, it's bigger every year.

A guy crashed on powerline on the way out, fractured his tib/fib and finished sub-9. He got his buckle on crutches!
A guy crashed on powerline on the way out, broke the fall with his face, he had brain swelling, the guy behind him ran him over, breaking his ribs. He was in a coma until Sunday morning and I heard was much better. The guy behind him that ran him over broke his collarbone.

The full results are up on the Leadville Site.
http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/

Congrats to Alex, he finished his 8th Leadville Trail 100 this year!! Also, Jim Gibson finished his 10th Leadville!!! Nice work guys!

Absolute Bikes leading Taylor House ride

http://azdailysun.com/image_00f9dea0-dd01-5e51-aa7c-ffe06a5b47b2.html