6 & 12 Hours of Temecula- Nov 2016

Only two months away... November 5, 2016

I did the last two races of the 2015 series, and the first two races of the 2016 season. I have yet to see the lake, but it looks like this is the course!



A hair over 10 miles and 1,166 feet of gain per lap, half of which comes between mile 2 and mile 3.


@mtnbikej - Is this the course that you had the really good day on? More fireroadish than some of the others?

 

Yup....big long fire road grind.....that is the damn hill climb. So much easier to settle into a groove and just pedal.

The short punchy climbs of the last 4 races are really taxing.

No Bridges climb, lots of room to pass. DH's are still fast and fun.

 

I am close to pulling the trigger. Being in a long conga line for the bridges climb for the first three laps just did not appeal to me. If this course spreads out a bit more, I think I am in. 12 hour.

 

You can start your "race" 3 hours after the start time if traffic is an issue. For a "12 men solo" rider the first 6 hrs are just the warm up. The riding that you end up doing after 3 pm present are the real challenge.


The Nov event is relatively dark. Lot of night riding, and minimal traffic after 3pm.
Last year I race as part of a 12 hrs 4 men team, and didn't enjoy racing in the dark.

My current plan is to compete in the same category that I raced in the first 2 races (2 men 6 hours). Hopefully we will end up with a respectful finish in the series overall standing.

 

@HBkites ha ha! During the January 12 hour solo, it was really dispiriting to have good lap times only to see them crushed because of traffic on "the bridges" climb (for the first few laps) ... the other angle would have been to try and sprint out with the big boys to avoid the traffic, but as it was my first race, I did not want to mess up anyone else's race (for whom it may have been a bigger deal in their real life... as opposed to my "weekend rider" life).

I remember how much fun it got when the sun went down and the course took on an entirely different character. I also remember that I got lucky in that it was not too cold. I also now have some nice warm boots to wear at night for my 6 hour shoe change!

I guess I will have to bring a few extra batteries for my light... I am now officially really looking forward to this ride.

 

Going counterclockwise.....

The first 30 mins of the course is wide open FR. The first 2 or 3 laps the first bottleneck is unavoidable...but it is short(between the first 2 arrows) Starting at the 3rd arrow you reach the singletrack ridge DH....best part of the course...but again, will bottleneck just due to the sheer number of riders on ST with a few little inclines.

After lap 2 it spreads out pretty good.

 

I'll be turning a 32 x 22. I won't be sprinting out to pass anybody... Ever. I'll just spin away at the back of the pack.

 

@Faust29 ... and spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning...

 

Thanks for the 411 @mtnbikej . As always, the information from this site's collective ... and the time that folks take to share that information... blows the mind.

 

The first bottle neck sucks.....there are a couple of natural rock features that only takes 1 rider to screw up the conga line. 1 rock feature is on an incline, the other 2 are on descents. Not difficult, but the dirt roadies have issues.

 

The climb at 3:25 is steep.....very loose at the top.
The ST at 6:20 is the first bottle neck




The climb at 14:00 is Willow steep.....and could be loose at the top.
The ST at 21:30 is the first bottle neck....the first video shows how quickly it can go bad.
The ST at 24:18 can be hit without touching the brakes at all.....in fact you can run all the way to 27:11 without touching the brakes if there is no traffic.
Stay off the brakes at 37:00 and you can fly up the little climb with little to no effort.
The little climb at 41:13 is a kick too the teeth late in the race.

 

Tinker will be out there for the November race... I can't wait to see him blow by me like I'm standing still!

 

Over and over and over?? For just the 6 hr race.

 

The last 12 hour...

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=76e4bb1a3c13838947794fb2b&id=025abfac93

 

That's kind of a bummer......8 hrs is almost a sprint race.

 

I quoted his words below, because I was considering doing this one. Not sure if he's saying this to get you to pre register or it's really happening.
I just like to register on race day. Cause you never know what the weather is going to be like. Don't really feel like paying over $100 to have a crappy, cold, rainy day.

"Being as its the last 12 & 6 Hour were doing, the races are filling up fast. We are totally overwhelmed with the response for the Nov 5-6th races. We may have to close registration early so we don't have to many folks on race day!"

 

Interesting. They gotta feel like they can make more money off a shorter format.

 

Registered... Single Speed Solo...