Team Absolute Bikes

Linden's 24 Hour Race Report

2011-03-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-01-26T10:07:00.001-08:00

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?

2010-12-05T17:41:00.000-08:00

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

2010-09-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-16T13:54:00.001-07:00

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

2010-08-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

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

Absolute National Champions!!!

2010-07-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

Super big congratulations to Team Absolute Bikes racers who went to SolVista resort for the 2010 National Championships. It looked like super hard courses but lots of fun.
We had 2 national champions this year!
Congrats to Bobby (Girlpants) Stenson, who won the hotly contested Downhill Expert 19-24. That was the biggest field of the day with nearly 40 racers!!

And also congratulations to Chris Grove, who raced 2 events and brought home the win in Men's 50+ Super-D. He put a full minute into the guys behind him!

What Alex Koss does when not riding a bike

2010-07-03T21:18:00.001-07:00

Here is what Alex Koss does when not on a bike. Any you think spandex looks funny?

July 1st Night Ride on AZ Trail across Hart Prairie

2010-07-02T12:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a video from the July 1st ride across Hart Prairie. 11 riders and lots and lots of fun. Also some dust...

How many experienced Absolute riders does it take to fix a flat....

2010-06-14T16:31:00.000-07:00

Question - What do you get when you mix 5 experienced riders and a flat tire.... or something like that.

Answer - A Comedy of errors.... We headed from the Shultz Y and hit some Urban trails, down towards town and then up near the Observatory. Then we cruised the dirt roads near A-1 mountain and saw a couple of small herds of dear. (But still no Bear's.) Then up towards Snowbowl road, back towards the Fort Valley race starting area and then back to the Y.

What happened? - But something happened along the way. One of the lady riders (name withheld to protect the person's identity), who is a really good rider, was on a cross bike. She had been doing a great job holding the thin tired bike online through the rocks until..... psssssssssssss. We all know that sound. A flat tire... at night.

What happened next? - So far, no big deal. We all have head lamps so there is a lot of light there to fix a flat. Lights - check... So next we need a spare tube. Got that. Check. New tube installed. Ready to go. Oh, what is that sound.... psssssssss. The spare has a hole in it. And since this was a cross bike, the other rider's tubes would not fit.

What next? - Still not a problem. All experienced riders carry patch kits when riding in the mountains. Right? Check... So this other rider (let's call him rider number 2 to protect his identity) pulls out a patch kit. The lady rider opens the patch kit up and pulls out the tube of patch glue.... which is empty. Great patch kit rider 2. But, never fear. Rider 2 has some Super Glue. So, all we need is a patch kit with a patch - forget the glue. Where are the patches? I guess they were all used up. Because this patch kit had no patches in it. So to summarize, rider number 2 carries a patch kit with no patch glue and no patches. Hmmmmmm. And these are experience riders??? You don't say. But, hey, let's cut him a break. He did have some Super Glue....

To Glue or not to Glue - So rider number three has this little clear plastic square. It sort of looked like a patch, but really just looked like a small square cut from a Ziploc baggie. It is a budget patch. Will that hold? Unlikely, but since riders 4 and 5 have no patches or glue, we need to try. So Rider number 1, the un-named lady rider (the really good rider) decides to go for it. She twists open the new tube of Super Glue and it explodes all over her once really nice riding gloves. And, it gets worse, the glue hits the glove and starts smoking... a lot. She says it is getting hot and frantically rips the glove off her hand. Whew... that was close. But while that was going on, the tube of glue stuck to her other hand. Poor thing!!!!! It wasn't coming off. The pics below tell the story.

What happens now? - Well at this point, you would think her buddies (riders 2 - 5) would be helping her to get the tube off her fingers before it hardened any more. But wait. This is a photo op. So instead of helping, riders 4 and 5 are digging in their packs for their camera phones. These pics come from Rider 4. As they say in Washington, never let a good crisis go to waste. So after taking the madatory pics of the un-named lady rider, then comes the tough part. Well at least the tough part for the un-named lady rider... as she pries the tube off of her finger leaving an FBI quality finger print and a lot of CSI quality DNA on the tube of glue. As of this writing, it is believe that the un-named rider number 1 still has no finger print on that finger. It could be months before it grows back.

We made it out of the forest - So after all that, and after getting the cameras put away, the now injured lady rider attempts to glue the baggie styled patch to the tube. It doesn't really stick, but there is hope that it will hold once trapped between a pressurized tube and the rubber of the tire. And, yes. It works. It holds. We hop on the bikes, forego the single track and hit the pavement back to the Y. We emerge from the forest unharmed and with a great story.

Just another day, er, I mean night, at the night rider's offices. So on behalf of riders 3-5, this is rider number 2 saying thanks to rider number 1 for the great memories....

State Champs!!

2010-05-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Team Absolute Bikes has won the state championship for 2010!
Nice work everyone...we had tons of podium spots in the finale, too. Pics below:

Shred'n the Gnar! (Ryan Geiger)

2010-05-23T22:03:00.000-07:00

Miranda Needham was up to challenge! Chris Grove wanted to take a tandem on the MBAA Downhill event on 5/23. She said after she was scared but it was fun...thanks Chris, she had a great time

Our Captain

2010-05-23T21:58:00.001-07:00

We should all take a minute and thank Linden for all she did this season. She put in a ton of work behind the scenes to put together the Flagstaff Finale and the downhill event on Sunday. Thanks Captain.

Junior Champs

2010-05-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

Miranda and Hailey Needham took 1st and 2nd place in the State Finals! They were just a few of the State Champions this Saturday in Flagstaff.

The Train on Cambell Mesa

2010-05-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

wa
The train pictures did not come out but were fun to watch as a dozen people snake around curves and zoom past.

2010-05-20T21:48:00.003-07:00

Great ride on Campbell Mesa for the third night ride. 13 people showed up for the ride and everyone had a blast. Scattered fires along the trail added to experience.

Absolutely Insane Night Ride Part 3

2010-05-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

The next night ride is scheduled for this Thursday at 7:15 p.m. at Campbell Mesa off of Old Walnut Canyon Rd. This is a good choice since there is no climbing or technical areas so it is an easy ride but still fun since it is FAST! Hope to see you all there for a fun, fast, easy ride.

Team Trail Maintenance

2010-05-13T16:12:00.001-07:00

So I'm a little late getting these up, but Team Absolute had a great turnout for trail maintenance day on Lower Oldham Trail.We put in a bunch of new drains, cleaned out old ones, dug big holes and filled them in again, pounded big rocks down into little rocks, and generally got the trail prettied up for spring.
Thanks to everybody who came out to work hard!!

Absolutely Insane Night Ride part Two

2010-05-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

Don't miss out on the next installment of the Absolute Night Rides! We guarantee a good time, good company, a fun ride, and a little bit of sweat! Thursday night at 7:00 at the shop, be there or be square!

Absolutely Insane Night Rides

2010-04-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

Hi team ... Don't forget. Night rides start this coming May 6th. Meet at the shop at 6:30 PM. Wheels rolling by 6:50 PM. Should be a 2 to 2.5 hour ride. No Drop format. We are there to have some fun. Trails in Oldham area - where we are headed for the first ride - are Intermediate level. It should be a great time. Don't miss out. Come have some fun chasing shadows with your bike team buddies.

Any questions, email Chuck at chuckbruni@hotmail.com or Linden at the shop.

See you Thursday night!!!!!! Boo

Podium Pics

2010-03-26T00:01:00.001-07:00

Team Absolute had a really good showing at Ft Huachuca. Congrats to everyone that was on the podium and everyone else that made the drive to the other end of the state. I was glad to see Tyler Sandoval back on his bike after healing from a snowboarding incident. There were more podium finishers but these are the only pics I have. Good Work!

Sandbagger!

2010-03-25T23:42:00.001-07:00

Here is Chris Grove at the start of the Cat 3 race, Chris has never been a Cat 3 rider.

Actually Chris had already completed his race and went out with the Cat 3 guys since it was combined with a military/veterean class. I'm a veteran also but had to pass, Chris is just crazy like that. He pulled a real class move at the end, he was winning but did not pass through the finish line to allow the next person to get the victory. Cuddos to Chris!

Ken Lane & Chris Grove sightings via time machine

2010-03-04T18:05:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics of Ken from a while ago (circa '85,'86) as well as Chris in his racing gear at an early Leadville race (not Leadville 100).

...AND EVEN MORE 24 HOURS

2010-02-22T12:49:00.000-08:00

Ken doesn't exactly make riding at night look fun. You left a little bare skin around your nose

Those girls

2010-02-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

This is about as intimidating as I can get Hailey and Miranda to look. They were able to get on the podium with 3rd and 4th place finishes.

...AND MORE 24 HOURS

2010-02-22T11:06:00.000-08:00

Unless you're there words can't describe the excitement and mayhem of the La Mans style start. Chris Grove was one of the first groups to make it to his bike.

Hull Family at Bootleg

2010-02-20T19:56:00.000-08:00

Downhilling is funner when it's a family affair. Karli kicked some butt n her first Super-D race. Ethan is really developing into a good downhiller. He will even be faster if he can save his money to build up this sweet DH frame he won!

More 24 Hours

2010-02-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

Wow, what an experience, right down to the flying EZ-Up pinning Dave in his tent! (Although after the evening festivities before, I do not think he even woke up). Nothing like a mountain bike race with 1,750 riders! My first 24 hours race and thanks in large part to some very nice guys being on the team with me, probably not my last. Just have to get out two photos, one a follow-up to Chris's mention of "Leave Trace" as photo evidence and the second of Last-Lap Steve coming down the rock. More guts and endurance than I will ever have!

Mob in Mojave

2010-02-17T08:05:00.001-08:00

This weekend the DH team went to Bootleg Canyon for some downhill and super-D racing. It was great camping and riding, with awesome results:
Doug French 1st place expert, with 2nd fastest amateur time of the day!
The entire Hull family (Sam, Ethan, Karli) won their Super-D events!
Linden Lane 2nd pro Super-D, 5th pro DH
Jess Fowler 4th DH
Junior category dominated by Absolute riders: Tanner Leslie, Ian VonSchulze, and Ethan Hull all in top 10!The trails were gnarly but most of us made it down without too much crashing...hopefully more pictures to follow.

24 Hours can be fun!

2010-02-16T09:29:00.000-08:00

A bunch of Absolute Riders just completed the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo and some were on the podium. Chuck Bruni and Ken Koch were 3rd place 200+ 5 person team! Kyle was on a 0-149 Team that won by 3 laps!!! Chris, Steve, Cindy and Dave were on a 5 person team that finished 20th and had a lot of fun and drank lots of beverages. I am sure there were others out there, but with thousands of races and more spectators, it is hard to see everyone.

Ask anyone that rode this weekend and you will hear how much fun they had in the race/ride. There is something fun about going out to ride at 2AM in the cold and dark. Anyone can ride a 24 hour race with the right teammates and attitude. Plan on doing one sometime soon to experience mountain biking racing in it's funnest form.

Note that we discovered that LT means either Leaves Trace or Leaves Trench...

Objects in Mirror May Appear Closer

2010-02-10T11:36:00.001-08:00

Rock Crushers Dave (6th), Steve(4th), and Colin (5th) make up 40% of Team Absolute by weight.

Real Men Wear Aprons!

2010-02-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

Good Eats! At Estrella, on Saturday Mark, Steve, and Dave will be hosting diner. Will be serving fresh Eggplant Parm over pasta. Mark and Dave will work on the eggplant and past while Steve prepares the sauce (I hear he's making tomato based sauce as well as a cheese based one). To ensure we have the required ingredients please RSVP to Dave at daveyneedham@yahoo.com. We are looking forward to serving you.

The Biking Needhams

2010-02-08T08:28:00.001-08:00

I have to say that I'm a proud father. Miranda took 2nd and Hailey took 3rd at White Tanks. Watch out Linden, they'll be gunning for you in a few years!

Wow

2010-02-01T09:54:00.000-08:00

ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you the fastest tandem in the west...
Chris Grove and Ryan Geiger!

Synergy Total Fitness

2010-01-28T15:20:00.000-08:00

We had our first team spin class last week at Synergy Total Fitness, and I just wanted to say thanks to Carolyn for sponsoring our team, and to Deb Wille for being a great instructor! Those of us who braved the weather got a great spin workout from Deb, followed by an hour of yoga with Carolyn. We are so lucky to have Synergy on our team!
Thanks to Barry Hart Photography for the photo of Deb.

Cool Photos

2010-01-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

Hey Team,
check out Take You Photography for some really cool shots of the first race. I especially like this one of Mike O'Donnell shredding the marathon and this one of Deb Wille and Stephanie Hawthorne in the short track.

McDowell Meltdown

2010-01-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

First race of 2010 season! Absolute represented with loads of podium spots, good first-time races for lots of people, and more women than I've ever seen at an MBAA race before!
Congrats to everybody, I know I'm forgetting folks but here are a few pictures and highlights:
Women's expert field had 3 Absoluters on the podium-Deb Martin-Wille in 3rd place, Tammy Begler in 4th place, and Pam Lowie in 4th for the younger group. Steph Hawthorne was having a great day before a mechanical took her out. (Also Sue Rawley, honorary teammate, in 1st place!)
Jon Bird took 3rd place in his first-ever singlespeed race!
Chris Grove moved up an age group, and took 4th place, and Alex Koss got 9th in the same group.
In the Rock Crusher category, Collin Seay, Steve Hendricks, and Dave Needham got 10th thru 12th.
Ryan the Tiger Geiger smoked the competition in Jr. Expert, while Kyle Willett barely missed the podium in 6th place.
Ken Koch got 5th, but was only 30 seconds out of second!
In the biggest women's field of the day (Cat 2), Erin Huizen took 6th, Leah McCabe (in her first race!) got 16th, and Joanne Geiger and Anita Switzer took 8th and 9th, respectively.
Linden Lane won the women's pro race, and Miranda Needham won her Jr. women's category!
In the marathon, Mike O'Donnell got 5th place, Jim Gibson took 18th, and Agnes Drogi raced into 2nd!
Cindy Perger got an impressive 7th place in her first-ever mountain bike race!

Congrats to all Absoluters!

Bummed that I had to miss race... now bummed that nobody is blogging so that I can see what happened...

2010-01-15T16:57:00.000-08:00

Let's see. I heard some great things. Some first time winners. Linden winning downhill AND XC. Ryan winning. Ken getting knocked over and still within 40 seconds of 2nd, Chris placing well in Expert, Jon Bird hitting the podium in single speed, MO'D starting the year off near the front of the Marathon pack. I even saw a story about Zach in the paper.

But no blogs from the team members to tell the real stories, the inside dirt, or dust as the case might be. Come on!!! I am suffering team story withdrawal. Start writing about your adventures!!!!!

I also heard a rumor that we might have ended race 1 at or near the top of the team standings. That is something we usually don't do until later in the season.

The People's Champion!

2010-01-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

This weekend at McDowell, Miranda Needham won her first race!!! Unfortunately, due to some mix-ups and snafus, she was given second place at the awards ceremony. But we all know that Miranda is the real champion. Congratulations, girl!

First Team Ride

2010-01-08T09:42:00.000-08:00

13 miles, 19 Absoluters, and only 2 flat tires! (go Chuck)

Just Who Is Mellow Johnny???

2009-12-30T21:08:00.000-08:00

So my trainer Justin said something about running a private camp this week in Tucson so it would be hard to reach him during the day... Not sure what that meant so I kept bugging him. Was it Radio Shack, some corporate team, that new race team from Mexico??? Given the Holidays, it has been a little hard to reach him. So he emailed me these photos. He isn't working with a team at all. He is doing solo work with some Mellow Johnny's rider. Who the heck is Mellow Johnny? If any of you guys know who this is, let me know for sure... The dude is seriosly getting in the way of my training. ;-)

El Tour de Tucson

2009-11-30T20:48:00.001-08:00

Hi Team. El Tour de Tucson report - LONG -

Storyteller Chuck here with a report on El Tour de Tucson.

Overall it was a great day of riding. I think I counted over 34 riders from Flagstaff that participated in the long 108 mile format. Jim Silverman was our top rider (no surprise there) and took 19th overall. He was in a group that spanned 10th place through about 30th. That is an awesome effort as the field had a few race teams participating this year. Awesome job Jim!!!!

Alex Koss also road well coming in right around the 4:30 mark.... that is over 108 miles. If you do the math, you can see he was flying. That's 24 mph for over 4 and a half hours. And there was a bit of a headwind for the last 20 miles or so. All that much more impressive.

I also saw Chris and Margaret. They came in around 5:15 and didn't seem the least bit tired after the race. One of these days I am going to find them and their tandem and just follow them the whole way.

My race was fairly interesting. I was riding with a friend from LA, Royce. We got the bikes to the starting line at 4:15 AM and were sitting about 30 yards from the front of the Gold Group. (Groups line up Platinum which is by invite only, Gold, Silver and Bronze. There were 3,663 riders in these 4 groups.) Our position was pretty good since there must have been three thousand riders lined up in back of us. We were jealous of the Platinum Riders who could show up just before race time (7 AM) and go right to the back of the Platinum zone... maybe 300 riders in there... all up front. I was jealous. I wanted to sleep in too!!!! And, at 4:15 AM it is cold. another reason to be Platinum. But, to be invited, you must finish a prior race in under 5 hours... or be a pro racer.

Anyhow, the race started really well. Justin, my Carmichael Coach, told me to stay on the fastest group I could hang with. Let them pull while I hang on. Sort of like real estate. You want to be the least expensive house on a really nice block. Well, I was shooting to be the weakest rider in a really good mini-peloton.

The beginning of the race was going according to plan... moving up, not expending too much energy. We road all the way through the first river crossing (dirt - thank you Absolute MTB team - mad dirt skills on skinny tires!! :-)). We were working up to faster groups and had pulled into a group going about 25mph into a slight wind. This is good. Then I hear it. POP!!!! Didn't know who it was. Someone about three bike up. Turned out it was my friend Royce. We pull over as hundreds of bikes go buy. Then we see it is his sidewall that blew, right at the bead. No fixing that. Thankfully, he tells me to go. That was cool as his day was a bust. So I hop back in one of the mini-pelotons going buy.

But now there was a problem. I was no longer the weakest rider in these groups. I was getting to the front and pulling and then trying to find a time to bridge to the back of the next group ahead. This worked but was costing a lot of energy that would be needed later.

Things were going fairly well nonetheless... that is until the bike started ghost shifting. Why? It had been tuned and was working perfectly. Then I was running with a strong group making up huge ground but I lost them on a slight downhill. Why? Because the bike would no longer shift into the smallest real cog. No high gear. Sort of hard to keep up with guys going 35 when you don't have a fast gear. I can't pedal at 120 rpm. So I lose them and end up climbing Oracle road solo. Bummer. That was a strong group. Then a group catches me and I pull in with them and stay near the front. As we pull onto a slight downhill another problem pops up. There is no play in the break lever at all. It is tight, tight, tight. My front break is dragging. I check to see if the cables are hung up, but nothing. What is it?

These are weird problems to suddenly pop up. A little later I found the problem. The break hood had loosened slightly. As it slid down the bar it pulled the cables tight causing the shifting and breaking problems. So slide the hood back up and readjust the shifting and we are back in action. But, behind that magical 5 hour pace that gives you Platinum status.

Well, then an angel of sorts shows up. I am cranking up this hill with a solid group and I feel a tap on my shoulder. It is Justin. My CTS coach from Tucson. He was running 12th overall and had a flat. Then he was bridging groups near the front and had a second flat. I could tell he was really bummed; he was in a top tier position after having tackled a lot of the tougher elements of the course. He was in prime position to race the top guys to the line. But the flat wrecked his day. I sort of had mixed feelings. I felt bad for him, but admittedly, this was like a dream come true for me. His misfortune was actually my really good fortune. You see, Justin can pull 400 plus watts for over 15 minutes. He an do 300+ watts for over an hour. He is a diesel locomotive inside a human body. He told me to get on his wheel and he jumped right to the head of our little peloton. Wow. So this is what it is like to go really fast. It reminded me of trying to stay with Silverman on the return leg of Saturday group rides when he isn't in a "civil mood." What fun! We are hauling. We drop about 20 guys who can't hang on and there is a small group of 5 left. We hit Tangerine and do a real pro style peloton rotation. That is new... and fun. We are really making up time and catching group after group. Averaged 34 mph for a long stretch.

But, then trouble started to brew. I was low on water and was starting to feel it. What is that twinge (sp?) in my leg. Uh, oh. And, there was no stopping this train. Arghh!!!! As we headed into the wind, I could no longer help much. I was just hanging on. We had dropped another mini-peloton and caught a new group ahead. We moved through them, pulled the group for awhile (or rather I should say that Justin pulled the group). Next thing I know, it is Justin, me and one other guy. The rest were gone. We pretty much road the last 45 minutes that way. There wa another group about 300 yards ahead. Justin could have made it to that group easily. But, I couldn't. Justin was so cool as he just stayed in our little group and pulled us home never pushing the pace too hard to leave us behind.

My Garmin said 4:52 right near the end, about a mile out. No problem, we had it covered!!! Smiles all around. We were going to make it. Oops, almost a REALLY BIG oops. The Garmin had auto-paused when I stopped a few times to try and fix the shifting, and it also stopped for the two minutes I lost when my buddies tire blew. We took it easy in the last mile. We shouldn't have. Almost blew it big time. Finishing time was 4:59:00. Not too much to spare.

But, next year it is Platinum. I am not so sure I totally deserve it. Fortune was on my side. Justin drug me across the line in time. Talk about a great coach.. He not only makes me stronger, but he drags my over sized carcass across the line just in time for Platinum. Thank you Justin!!!!! You rock!!!!

I was totally in awe riding with him. I like riding with top tier riders. It is so hard to stay with them, but every time I ride with them I learn something new or just get stronger. Riding with them just shows that there is more that can be accomplished. These guys are so strong it is almost unbelievable at times. We have many riders here in Flagstaff that do really awesome things around the country.... Silverman, Koss, Gibson, Latham Linden, Geiger, Grove, O'Donnell, and more. (And even on the international front - let's get Gibson to blog about his race in Costa Rica - one of the hardest races there is - Jim???) It is sure fun to try and keep up. I love it. There is no better place if you want to get better.

I have really enjoyed working with Justin so far and highly recommend him to anybody that wants to jump to the next level in their riding whether it is just for fun, for health reasons, for the race program, or maybe for a special event like Leadville (my target in 2010). These guys like Justin know so much and can teach so much. They make a huge difference. My last time at El Tour was 6 hours 30 minutes. If you want to talk with Justin, just email me or blog me and I will be more than happy to make an introduction.

I will go back next year and see if I can break 5 hours again, maybe helping a bit more over that last 15 miles. Until then, storyteller Chuck, over and out.

End of season BBQ and party

2009-08-08T21:01:00.000-07:00

Had the end-of-year BBQ at the Geigers today, and it was a ton of fun. Big thanks to the Geigers for hosting us, and I was glad that so many of us could make it. We missed all those who couldn't come though!

And, we got to have a fabulous visitor to our party: Big Red, the AZ Cardinals mascot, showed up on a snowmobile. Yes, in August. We even got him to ride a Specialized Demo...

And then he went berserk and ate Tess.

Pics

2009-07-10T23:54:00.000-07:00

Did anyone get a photo of Miranda on the podium? I'll pay top dollar for it, or you can just send it to me, please.

Brian Head 4th of July

2009-07-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

A few Absolute DH team members headed up to scenic Brian Head, UT for the 4th of July weekend to ride chairlifts, do some monster shuttle runs, and watch some fireworks. We had awesome weather, rode hard, BBQ'd, and got a fat ticket for having sparklers on the national forest :(

We rode a trail called Dark Hollow, which starts above treeline, at 11,300 feet, and descends down through scree fields (we saw a marmot!), through aspen forests, into a creek (it was really muddy), down 15 miles to red rocks that look like Sedona. It was over an hour of sweet shredding...definitely worth doing again!

Flagstaff Barn Burner

2009-06-30T18:08:00.001-07:00

Hey Team - Chuck here with a quick report on the Flagstaff Barn Burner. Red Rock and FBO put on this great event. It was tons of fun and not all that easy as every one of the 4 required laps was 26 miles long and had 2,200 feet of climbing. Ken and I road under Team Crankenstein. Our plan was to alternate laps with Ken getting the early morning duty (I am a night Owl). Due to some rain the night before, Ken got a little muddy at the start of the first lap. But after that it was smooth sailing all day. We did pretty good. Our laps times ranged from 1:46 to 1:55. We ended up 8th out of 40+ teams in the two man team class. Our total time was 7:30. We were pretty happy about that as there were some stacked roadie teams in there. Some of those guys were seriously fast on the forest roads. It seemed like they were on disc wheeled carbon fiber time trial bikes.

I need to give a shout out to Justin Peschka. He was on one of two Carmichael Training Systems teams to enter the race. Justin's team won the two man team category with some amazing times. I need to give him the props because he has been coaching me since March. I have been super happy. MBAA results were 21st and 15th before Justin. After Justin results were 8, 8, 3 and 4. It makes a huge difference. He is the guy who is supposed to get me through the Leadville 100 in 2010. So, congrats to Justin for winning Barn Burner duo!!!!

Back to the race action. Mike O'Donnell was there racing solo. He looked good until a flat tire on the very rocky down hill section took a bunch of time away from him. He was racing on a cross bike and it seemed that the rocky downhills were a bit too much for the narrow tires. He did a quick 50 miles and called it a day. I was chatting with him after his 50. He didn't even seem tired. He was on vacation and said he was going to become a couch potato for the rest of the day. I'm not sure I believe him. He probably got his single speed and took a quick lap around the peaks. Thanks to Mike for bringing Team Absolute so many points this race season. We get serious points every time he wins Expert Marathon. Thanks Mike!!!

Tanner was there racing as well. He was racing on a two man team. There were 400 racers there and the youngest I saw all day was Tanner, so big props to him for coming out and giving long distance a try.

So that's the Barn Burner race report. Next report will be post Taylor House Century. Get ready. We are going for a good pace on this one.

2009-06-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

2009-06-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

Team-check out the pictures posted on the web by Dean at Clutch Communications. They look good, and he got a lot of photos of us!

http://clutch-photo.smugmug.com/gallery/8251730_hPtvf/1/540719468_9VDgK

Serious Hardware

2009-05-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Absoluters came home from the Flagstaff Frenzy with some major hardware around their necks, AND we moved up into 3rd place overall! I think if we can have as good a race for the finals, we've got a good shot at 2nd or even 1st place!
Some highlights:
Mike O'Donnell 1st, marathon!
Alex Koss 3rd, expert
Ken K0ch 1st, sport!
Chuck Bruni 3rd, sport (see photo at right for his surprise)
Margaret Grove 3rd, marathon
Bonnie O'Donnell 2nd, expert
Pam Lowie 2nd, sport
Joanne Geiger 3rd, sport
Mandie Cupp 3rd, beginner
Jared Nelson 3rd, marathon

Lots of our other teammates did great too, see www.mbaa.net for full results

Race Update

2009-05-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a great race season despite some injuries. One involving a tree clipping my handlebars in Sedona slamming me to the ground and cracking my helmet. Kids, wear your helmets, they work! One involving my son, Ryder, getting his pinky finger in my eye and scratching my cornea. That is why I was racing with my glasses at the Flagstaff Frenzy, no contacts til Thursday. All in all it looks like I might finish as a State Champion this year and I’m not the only one looking to become a State Champion on the Absolute Bike Team. Everyone on the team has been doing excellent! The last race is on our turf too!

The sport class (30-39) has been a tuff one this year. I’ve been beating my last year times by 10-15 minutes and still I’ve only been on the podium once. I got 4th at the Mogollon Masher. I raced at Sierra Vista with an injured arm and wrist, because I new the turnout was gonna be low. My injury didn’t heal until after the Payson race. I wouldn’t have raced Payson if it was anything like Estrella.

Well I’m really looking forward to the next race. It’s one of my favorite rides. I think it’s gonna be key to get to the top of Elden ASAP. I don’t think there will be much passing opportunities on Little Bear.

I apologies if my passing technique wasn’t the best at the Flagstaff Frenzy when passing a few of my fellow teammates. I had a couple of guys closing in on me and I new I needed to get around people as quickly as I could to maintain my position.

Great job team! Let’s tear it up at the finale!

Could it be a dynasty...probably not!

2009-05-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

What can I say, it's in the genes. My daughters make me a very proud dad. Hailey passed on the Flagstaff Frenzy because it was just a little too long for her but Miranda snagged 3rd place. Thanks to Pam Koch for the photos.

Mogollon Masher and Campout

2009-05-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

This years Payson race was held up on the Mogollon rim, in the middle of nowhere 2 hours from Flagstaff. It was a cool area, with lots of big trees, meadows, mud holes, and the occasional snowbank.
A few highlights:
our own Mike O'Donnell won the men's marathon category on a singlespeed!
Ken Koch took second in a tough sport category, his first podium of the year!
Also, Mandie Cupp (no photo, sorry) got second in her best race of the year; and we had 3 on the podium in sport men: Tyler Sandoval (2nd), Tanner Leslie (3rd), and Jon Bird (4th). Congrats to everyone who raced!

After the race a bunch of people stayed to campout:

We had a potluck where everyone cooked, but the real highlight was Chef Dave Needham with his chicken marsala. Tess Siemens was sous chef extraordinaire. Yum!

Mingus Mtn Campout

2009-04-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

left to right: Doug French,Dustin Bury, Noodles Rideau, Lindy Lane, Pickles VonSchulze, Gibby Gibson, Andy Lane
Some of the DH team spent the weekend shredding Mingus Mountain in Jerome, AZ. We camped out, rode 20+ miles of downhill both days, and did some sweet jumps.

Plenty of carnage was to be had, especially Ian "Pickles" VonShulze who met with a yucca at a high rate of speed

Good Eats

2009-04-16T01:20:00.000-07:00

Should you decide to attend the pre-ride on 04-25 in Payson I'll be prepairing....

-spinich/tomato/feta salad
-Bruschetta with garlic toast
-Chicken Marsala garnished with asparagus served over bow tie pasta

RSVP to daveyneedham@yahoo.com

Dave Needham

Cactus-Butt Needham

2009-04-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

So, I mentioned before that not everyone had the race of their dreams...especially true for Dave Needham:

First he was happy...

Then he looked down...

And he was sad. And full of cactus.

Prescott Punisher

2009-04-06T12:44:00.000-07:00

Prescott turned out to be a pretty good event for Team Absolute, most everyone felt good or had personal bests. Not quite everyone felt that way, but more on that later.

Alex Koss rode strong
in Cat 1 ----->

Chuck Bruni gives a thumbs-up

Jon Bird cranking to a 7th place finish
in a tough Cat 2 race

Tucsoner Jake Shumate was smiling every time we saw him

Ken Koch looked good in
his first race of the year

Team trip to Bootleg (and Santa Barbara!)

2009-04-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

Absolute dominated the podium at Bootleg Canyon for the Saint Patty's Day Feast; it seemed like every other winner announced was from Flagstaff. Yay!

And Andy, Dustin and Linden went downhilling in Santa Barbara for a few days afterwards...

Dave and Tyler's Not So Excellent Adventure

2009-03-18T23:42:00.000-07:00

So, I saw a request from Tyler to give him a ride to Sierra Vista for the "Foray at the Fort", I thought what harm could there be in that! A LOT! Tyler's mom gave me a sort of emergency guardianship in case something happened. Well, I figured what harm could there be in taking Tyler to Mexico for a shot of tequilla, he's almost a man. We went to Nogales and ordered up a few, next thing I know Tylers dancing on the bar and getting a tattoo of the grim reaper riding a bike from a guy named "El Guapo"! Since it was a custom job it cost more than we had on hand and the tattoo artist was not very happy with us. I was forced to sweep the floor but Tyler was entered into the annual T-Rex races, who would have thunk it. Tyler and his T-Rex, George were long shots at 372-1 odds. George was old and missing his left eye but I had faith in the dynamic duo. I placed my last dollar on Tyler and George. It was a tight race but Tyler and George pulled off the win by a talon length netting me enough money to pay the tattoo artist and get another round, jello shots this time. We made it to Sierra Vista with a few minutes to spare.

The Future of Team Absolute?

2009-03-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

These two kill me, they are definately not morning people.

Absolute Junior Racers

2009-03-04T20:31:00.001-08:00

Tyler Sandoval and Tanner Leslie before their sport race
Zack Ward (above) ready to ride, and Wes Grove (above right on podium, and below)

Tess Siemens smiles while she rides (above right)

Kyle "Broski" Willet (above) and Ryan the Tiger Geiger mug for the camera before their races

Allie Leslie (below right) is racing the long courses this year and doing great, while Davis Hoyt (below left) is destroying the beginner class.

Miranda Needham has been consistent in her first racing season!

Absolute Team Riders Compete In 1st U.S. Cup.

2009-03-03T18:54:00.001-08:00

So over this past weekend a couple of us team riders, "Kyle "Broski" Willett, Ryan "the machine" Geiger, and me Tyler Sandoval, took a trip to San Dimas, California for the first U.S. Cup. I would first like to say thank you to Mark Geiger and Donny Willett for the support and transportation, we wouldn't of been able to do it with out you guys! So we arived in California at about 12 o'Clock P.M their time, and went strait to the hotel to drop of gear and go ride! We Pre- rode the course with Pro Single Speeder "Josh Kelley, and the course was FAST, It had a ton of Climbing it was only a 7 mile loop but felt like 10. The following night we went and had Dinner with Josh in his new home town of Huntington Beach, we had to stop at the beach first, so we arrived and I refused to get in the water but "Machine" & "Broski" dove right in! There Was a huge crowd of Segals "I dont think I spelt that right", so we decide to run at them with full force, luckly they did not poop on us I HAD A CLOSE CALL. They Had these huge life guard stands that we were not suppose to be on "Goin to Jail", but we had to take a pose!

So the Race was in I went off at about 10:45 with "Broski" and us flagstaff boys were killin it, I was feeling great leading with kyle not far behind me, the course had these switch backs right on the fastest downhill, and I went down taking the corners to sharp, my stem was totally turned sideways. At that point I just tryed to ride , but that was a bad idea, I eventually stoped to fix it with all the kids in my category passing me I was sure of getting last but, was able to come back and get 5th Kyle "Broski" Willett took first with an amazing time. Well... Ryan "the machine" Geiger was racing the expert class and took first in his category and beat all the 17-18 year olds. Then there was the Super-D, it was not really a super-D the majority of it was climbing. Machine took 1st and I took 2nd Kyle took 5th. Well... thats it for now, here are a bit more pictures of the podium and race. Keep riding, racing, and training

Happy Trais!!!!!!!

Spin class at Synergy Total Fitness

2009-02-28T18:18:00.000-08:00

Carolyn at Synergy will kick your butt. A bunch of team members went to her spin and core class Thursday night, and we looked fine beforehand:

But after 45 minutes of Spinning and 15 minutes of core work, we looked more like this:

Thanks for your team sponsorship, Synergy! Everyone should go check out their classes www.synergytotalfitness.com

Hedgehog Hustle Race Report

2009-02-25T20:49:00.000-08:00

Hedgehog Hustle Race Report by Brandon
(this was going to be a quick read... sorry I rambled a bit)

Being early in the race season and not having spent much time on the bike lately, my decision to try a bottle of FastTwitch seemed appropriate. The name says it all. Not knowing exactly how it would affect me, I only drank half. Good thing. I was ready to go and couldn't wait for the race start.

The start went well with me off the line in 5-6th position. This lasted for the first 5 minutes! I don't think it was the FastTwitch running out, it was the lack of riding/training. Good thing it's a long race. While all this was going through my mind Chris Wilkens and Mark Willie overtake me as a pair on a mission.

After convincing my internal organs to cooperate with the rest of my body I started feeling better near the end of lap 1. Finished lap 1 at 11mph average. Chris and Markare not within sight. I tried to pick up the pace and did with the help of a great wheel hugger named Jim (or something similar). With Jim's words of encouragement and literally breathing down my neck (he wouldn't pass) I found Chris and Mark at mile 4 on the second lap. I kept my pace and passed them (a bit to my surprise). It felt good and I didn't look back. Finished lap 2 feeling pretty good I continued at a good pace; looking back for Chris and Mark on every turn.

I was feeling good on the first half of lap 3 until I pushed too hard on the mid course switch back climb. Legs started cramping... I slowed down to work out the issues. Nearing the end of lap three I had a race delay for the Med-evac. A downed rider suffered a head injury and the terrain was not suitable for ground transport. I lost a few minutes. Finished lap 3 and I stopped to replenish my water when Chris and Mark passed me. Errrr! I turned up the pain and went after them. Within a few minutes I'd found Chris... exchanged a hello and proceeded. Found Mark 100yds further. I didn't see either of these guys until the finish line.

Funny... Chris was waiting for me at the finish in street clothes??? He'd suffered enough (forgot to mention he was riding SS) and had turned back. I would have too if I were riding a SS (but it would have been lap 2). Mark followed by 10 minutes. I had a great time and enjoyed toggling back and forth. Finished 15th in 3:51.

Absolute Ladies at Estrella

2009-02-25T19:00:00.001-08:00

Absolute women make up a pretty big percentage of the team. We race in all categories and are all ages, so here we are:We've got: Margaret Grove, bottom right photo, marathon; Bonnie O'Donnell, top right photo, expert; Joanne Geiger, bottom left pic, sport; Anita Switzer, above left, sport; Mandie Cupp, below right photo, beginner; Pam Lowie, above left pic, sport; Erin Huizen, bottom right photo, beginner; Tess Siemens, top middle photo, beginner; Miranda Needham, top left photo, beginner; Linden Lane, above right pic, pro/singlespeed; Hayley Needham, group pic bottom right, honorary junior; and Cory Willett, group pic next to Hayley, honorary junior racer.

Sweet DH Action

2009-02-19T20:33:00.000-08:00

Sunday was the downhill race at Bootleg Canyon, and the competition was stiff. World Champ Gee Atherton showed up! His brother Dan upstaged him, though, and grabbed the win by tenths of a second. Absolute racers killed it, from pros to junior beginners. There were podiums in every category, from beginners getting swept by Absolute racers (Ian, Jake, Tanner, Stevie, and Ethan)

Andy got 39th in his first pro race, and Linden took 9th in her first pro event. Noodles barely missed the podium, Dustin killed it, and Jesse had a time that would have placed him well in pro! Logan was on the pace until he ejected off the gnarliest chute on the course, and his dad Sam won his class! Jonathon recovered from a flat in the Super-D to do great in DH, and Kenny had a rough crash but still put up a good time.

Can't wait to race here again in a month!

Bootleg Canyon Super-D Racing

2009-02-19T20:17:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day weekend spent the best way we know how: downhill and super-d racing!
Podium finishes all around for the Super-D'ers:The Super-D course was extremely fun, with some gnarly exposed rock sections at the top, and fun swoopy turns towards the bottom. Steff P. won her first ever race, Ian, Ethan, and Logan were all on the podium, Linden took the pro women's race, and Kenny grabbed a third place in his first MTB race! All the Absolute racers were awesome this weekend!

2009-02-17T20:52:00.000-08:00

14 Year old Ryan "the future" Geiger taking 2nd place behind 20 year old Zach Keller by only 37 seconds. Podium finish says 3erd but winner credited for wrong category! Great job Ryan!!

More Pictures Last one to big of file

2009-02-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

2 Absolute Riders podium in

Cat 2: 15-18 male.

Tyler Sandoval 2nd

Kyle "Broski" Willett 5th

Tim Allen, Getting excited!!!!

"Z-Money" aka Zack Ward & Kyle "Broski" Willett, wishing each other good luck before the start.

Grant awaiting the single speed knee pain

Tanner "left", Tyler "right" take pic before the start

Pictures From Race

2009-02-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

Hey Absolute Team,

Sorry it took so long but here are some pictures from the previous race!

2009-02-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

pre race advice to miranda and tess from anita, and it worked. pit member hailey can be seen on the left.

2009 McDowell Meltdown

2009-02-08T17:02:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the MBAA McDowell Meltdown, under blue skies and 70 degrees. Team Absolute had plenty of racers on the podium and lots of fun was had by all.
My own race report: I raced advanced singlespeed for the first time, and didn't know what to expect. I was the only woman in the field so I started towards the back of the pack, and hit the singletrack in last place. I rode on the wheel of the guy ahead of me for a few miles, and then started making some passes. I worked my way up through the field, and then settled in for the rest of the first lap. I saw lots of other Absolute-ers on the course, it was cool how far away you could see those orange jerseys! I held a pretty steady pace until our very own Alex Koss passed me, then I tried to keep him in sight. That allowed me to catch a singlespeeder, and soon another! Alex and I went back and forth a few times, then on the beginning of the last lap I really gunned it and tried to give it my all. I got passed by one of the singlespeeders I had passed earlier, but I kept him in sight and only lost to him by 30 seconds or so. I managed a 7th place by the end which I was really happy with.

Here are some random Absolute photos: We've got Anita coming in for a 5th place finish, Pam having a great race for 4th, the guys from Tucson (Jake, Terry, and Ken) were easy to spot now that they are in our kits, Father and son Chris and Erowynn posed after Erowynn's 2nd place effort, and Miranda Needham took 3rd place in her first-ever race!

Sedona XC Ride

2009-01-26T08:23:00.001-08:00

Despite clouds and wind, members of the cross-country team had a great 18-mile ride on Templeton and Baldwin trails on Sunday.

There was a sweet swing down by the creek that distracted us

for awhile...

Mingus Mtn. Downhilling

2009-01-24T19:04:00.000-08:00

First day of training for the DH season

Local Pro Andy Lane
showed us whats up ----->

Kenny A. through the rocks

<------
Muddy but fun!
Steff P. went faster every run---->

Zack W. at high speed
<-----

Stevie G. leads Kyle W. ---->

White Tank Photos

2009-01-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

I have and will continue to post pictures to picassa albums here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/akkoss

Race Report - MBAA #1 - White Tanks
it was a beautiful day in the West Phoenix desert for the 11:30 start of the race.
I started in the expert (cat 1) 50+ with the 40+ experts.
There were 6-8 in the 50+ field, being a noob to MBAA racing, I had no idea who or where the competition was. No mater, I drilled it from the start on the double track and kept with the lead group until the first climb of the first lap. I think I was second or third in the 50+. During the climbing Keith Tomei (last year state champ) passed me. I stayed with him for the rest of the climbing and got some time on him on the flats of the second lap. He caught me again on the climbing/technical section. I passed him again on the flats. In the climbing section of the third lap I flatted and was dropped for good. The last lap was painful as I rode thought/with the carnage of cramped and tried riders (me included). Lessens learned: 1) if a stan'sed tire flats, tube it right away, don't try to fill it and hope. 2) Try to get at least one or two mountain bike rides in before the racing starts. We had to scoot after the race. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see so many friends from Flagstaff.

Team Calendar

2009-01-16T14:50:00.000-08:00

Also, there is a nutrition clinic January 28th 7pm at the shop with Dana Bosselman. I couldn't get it to show up on the calendar, but it's happening!

White Tanks

2009-01-12T10:39:00.000-08:00

Just seeing how to post to the new Team Absolute Blog. See you all at White Tanks.