Socal Endurance Series

The 12 Hours of Temecula is now the 8 hours of SoCal... and with additional venues.

Race #1 in Temecula on January 28...

 

How can they assume a mantle if they can't even spell it???

Bring back the 12 hours of Temecula so I can fail to go. Again.

 

Maybe they meant shelf?

http://www.gingersoftware.com/english-online/spelling-book/confusing-words/mantel-mantle

 

Their race promoters, not English professers.

 

Uhhhhmmm.... ahh never mind...

(oh the irony!)

 

I'm seriously considering heading out there on Saturday. After the last 12 Hour race, I said I was done for awhile. But... With losing a lot of ride time since November, I may use it as a gauge. If I'm puking by lap 4, I'll know where I stand.

Anyone else headed out for the endurance race on Saturday or the enduro on Sunday?

 

Ever since they cancelled the 12hr, I hadn't even paid attention to it.

 

Eeeeewwwwwwwww......Bridges Climb is in the route.

 

I actually liked that better than the Dam Climb.

 

Registered. I'm going to regret this when the alarm goes off Saturday morning.

 

I was there, 4hrs is my game.

 

Nice! I'll write up my thoughts in the morning. I'm decompressing.

 

I screwed up royally and lost two laps at the last race. I'm hoping the elevation benefits me next month. Above racing August? I don't know the venue.

 

Tahquitz tomorrow

 

Good luck!

 

Thanks, had a good day.

 

Someone hacked his a count, positive words came from it.

 

I'll post the negatives later.

 

Instagram Link

This totally caught me by surprise. I didn't know I won the #SoCalEndurance #8HoursOfTahquitz until after the race was over.

I came into the race two laps down in the series after a disastrous race #3. I perform well at elevation so I was hoping to crawl back a lap or two to give me a fighting chance.

Ever have one of those races where everything goes to plan? Well, that (almost) happened here. I was able to go out easy on the first lap like I prefer, and didn't get caught in a lot of traffic. So I was able to flow and save energy. My heart rate was slightly higher than I wanted, but I was racing at elevation too. I was able to get my HR even lower after the first lap as traffic thinned even more.

Unfortunately I flatted on lap three. I pulled out my CO2 air up, but couldn't get the inflator back off the valve stem. In the process I broke off the stem! I walked back to the pit area, put in a tube, and got back on course, losing nearly a half hour in the process. My odds of getting that extra lap basically vanished. Now I started hitting the lows of wondering how hard I should work knowing I wasn't going to be in the running. But then I reminded myself that anything can happen. But giving up wasn't going to help. So I went back to my plan.

I was reaching the mid point now (after lap 4) when I needed to ramp up my effort. I pitted as fast as I could and got some food in me, then rolled out. I didn't push hard, but clearly pushed harder than the first few laps. I caught up to Gilberto on lap 6 and saw he had on his back up jersey, which meant he had showered and was probably feeling good (the shower helps get body temperature down, good plan). But knowing I was 2 laps down meant he didn't have to push to keep up with me, he could stick to his own pace. About the same time Samuel flew past me like I wasn't even moving, which should be expected since he beats me at every XC race too. Now all three of us (which ended up being all the Open/Pro Men) were all together in a group, on the same lap (which I didn't know at the time).

I thought I as able to break away starting lap 7, but soon saw Samuel again. But I pushed my pace a little more realizing I had to do three 50 minutes laps to get them all done, and I was running about 52 minutes a lap in general. About 2/3 of the way through lap 7 I see Gilberto right on my rear tire! He came seemingly out of no where, as I wasn't expecting to see him. I don't know if he was pushing hard to force me into burning out and not being able to finish my last lap, force me into a mistake, or try and get in one more lap himself (canceling mine out), but all were good ideas. I finished lap 7 behind schedule at 52 minutes, I needed to be below 50.

Starting lap 8 I pushed at a pace which was near my XCO effort. My heart rate was nearly as high, and I could really feel the pain. But Samuel and Gilberto were right there. I couldn't grab an edge. They were matching me in my climbs and descents. They would jockey back and forth, but always within sight of me. Near the half way point there is one hard climb that most people were walking all day due to being soft sand and steep (advantage of running large tires), and my leg started to cramp. I knew I had to back off or it would force me off the bike, but not too much or the two would see me slow down. I rode the next few minutes right on that line and noticed that Samuel had dropped off. I assumed he had more laps than me anyway so didn't need to do another lap. A few more minutes of that and I saw Gilberto was losing time on me. While he wasn't far back, he was getting to the point where he wouldn't have time to do another lap if he didn't catch me. So I kept up the barely cramping effort to ensure he didn't try and catch up, and finished my fastest lap of the day on hour 7.

I had 52 minutes to do one more lap.

I knew the course would be empty, no one else would be out there pushing for that last lap at this point, so I didn't have to worry about traffic. So I went into energy conservation mode and tried to ride an easy but quick pace. I had a few points on course where I could judge if I was running on schedule; one 20 minutes from the finish line and the other 10 minutes. I reached the 20 minute mark 30 seconds slower then I wanted (50 minute goal) so I knew I had a minute and a half buffer. I reached the 10 minute mark 1 minute behind, leaving me only 1 minute buffer. That's getting close!

I pushed my effort up, it was all climbing here on out. I looked at my GPS at one point and saw I had 4 minutes left and wasn't sure I was going to make it, so I went back to XC race pace. I had one more steep, technical climb and then a 1'ish minute fireroad sprint to the finish. I got to the top of the climb where you can see the finish line, and everyone was yelling at me that I had two minutes left. I pushed with everything I had left, which wasn't much, and looped back around with 45 seconds left. That's when I learned I was the only solo rider to complete 9 laps!

Thanks goes to all those who push and keep me rolling. My friends that don't allow me to back off, and #NCyclery for keeping my wheels turning!

 

A legit course...lots of brown pow and rocks, no real sustained climbs or descents. Nowhere to really recover while riding, and you always had to be "on". BTW..."Sidewalk" was the only solo rider to get 9 laps in 8-hours. There were quite a few people among the usual fast riders who "dropped-down" to the 4-hour version because the course would take its toll...think +/- 900 feet of climbing/descending for each 7-mile loop.

The biggest bummer on the day was the low turnout. Too bad...this was IMHO the best course of the series...think back to when we all rode bikes on hiking trails because that's how they were cut, not bermed and shaped for MTB use...and it was a tightly wound course that was family and spectator friendly.

Hopefully it'll be on the rotation next year...from the OC, it was only 10-minutes further than the drive to Vail Lake.

 

The course was great. Hard work, but felt like real MTB riding. Almost no "dirt roadie" riding anywhere on course!

I was wishing for some rear travel with all the rocks. Ouch!

 

Props to both of you. I did the Enduro portion and kept thinking about that powder you guys had to deal with. Not easy and probably why the low turnout. Josh your tire selection was spot on. Taking the overall is no easy feet.

 

Back to 12/6 hours next year! Oh, and adding a 24 hour!

WELL ITS TIME WE LET THE WORLD KNOW!!!!
After tons of feedback from racers, friends, and people we respect we decided to make some significant changes to the SoCal Endurance gameplan! It is with true passion, excitement, and a love for Endurance mountain biking that we bring back the " 12 & 6 Hours Of Temecula "! For 2018 we are bringing out 3 stand alone races. Not only are we bringing back the 12 & 6, We are introducing the SoCal24. That's right folks 24 Hour racing will be back at Vail Lake. Here is the 2018 SoCal Endurance schedule:
January 27th - 12/6/4 Hours Of Temecula
May 12th - 12/6/4 Hours Of Temecula
November 3rd - 24 Hours Of SoCal

We still have a huge announcement to make but we have to wait a couple days for the go ahead! Stay tuned!

 

Hmmmmm..24hr Solo?????

 

Sounds like fun!!!

 

I'm going to aim to do it, as long as nothing conflicts. But I didn't have a problem.