The Chipotle Dawn to Dusk 12-hour Race

It is official, I have signed up for the Chipotle Dawn to Dusk mountain bike race.  This will be the first in a series of "firsts" for me.  It will be my first time doing a race over 17 miles, it will be my first time riding over 25 miles, it will be my first time riding longer then 4 hours, and it will be my first time wearing spandex.

The race takes place on the Pemberton trail in the McDowell Mountain Park.  The trail is a 16 mile loop, in the desert near Fountain Hills.  The rules of the race are simple; the person who completes the most laps in 12 hours wins.  In preparation for the race, I have set two goals.  First, I will ride the race on my single speed.  Second, I want to ride over 100 miles (7 laps).

This race is going to hurt and its going to hurt a lot, but I can't wait.  I'm hoping that in the process of training for Dawn to Dusk, I will learn more about nutrition, training regimens, and how to suffer well.    If nothing else, it will give me a good excuse for getting in better shape and getting lots of saddle time.

I'll try to post some of my training here on the blog.  I already did a test ride of the Pemberton Trail, and learned that I need a higher gear on the SS.  I was spinning too much in the flat sections of the course, and my laps were too slow.  I have since switched from a 32x21 to a 34x20 setup.  This week I plan on doing three laps or 48 miles. Not only do I want to test my legs, but I also want to test my nutrition plan.  I've been researching endurance racing online, and I have a pretty good idea of what I need to do to keep my body fueled during the race.  These longer rides will help me test my plan and make adjustments as needed.

Wish me luck.

Strava Data from my First loops on Pemberton

12 hours on this trail can't be too bad.  Right?

Some of last years participants 

Lots of spandex 

What is the head angle on that glock?

I grew up in Payson, but I have not lived in the area since 1996.  Needless to say, 18 years in CA will change a person's views on the world.  I only bring this up, because this week as I was riding on Trail 200, I spotted another mountain biker.  Although I am aware that Payson has a fairly active group of mountain bikers, this was my first time seeing one out in the wild.  As we pulled closer to one another, I noticed what appeared to be a GoPro chest mount on the approaching rider.  However, to my surprise, the other mountain biker was carrying a chest holster for a handgun.  In AZ it is legal to carry a weapon on your person in public, as long as the weapon isn't concealed.  I was aware of the law, but after being in CA for so long I had forgotten.  In CA, such an act would get you arrested.  In AZ, its apparently no big deal.

I made small talk with the heat packing biker, and never made mention of his "little friend."  After we said our goodbyes I was left thinking about the encounter.  What surprised me, was that I was asking all the wrong questions in my head.  I wasn't asking "why was that guy caring a gun?" or "what is out here that he felt he needed a gun to protect himself?"  No, no, no.  The first question to enter my mind was, "why would he want to carry around all that extra weight?"  I guess even an old Payson boy still has a lot of things to get used to.  

Diamond in the Rough

My entire childhood I lived in the shadows of a beautiful mountain that we call Diamond Point.  The mountain is littered with off road trails that hunters, off-road vehicles, and hikers have explored for years.  I myself have explored many of these trails with my brothers on our 4-wheelers.  There is one trail/road in particular that we have made countless trips on.  The trail/road is called Lion Springs Road.  It is so named because there is a natural spring that seeps a small stream of water into the creek bed year round.

As a child, I didn't ride mountain bikes, so the thought of exploring Diamond Point on a bike never crossed my mind.  We had "quads" why would we ride a bike?  Recently, I thought it would be fun to change things up and take my new Pivot Firebird out for a spin on Lion Springs road.  The experience ended up being more challenging then I imagined.


I left my dad's house at 9 A.M. and rode Pinon street down to a connector trail that parallels the highway.  After a short time, I was at the bottom of Lion Springs Road. I began my journey up the sandy trail as it traversed creek beds, granite hills, and pine tree outcroppings.  The trail climbs steadily, but I rarely felt like I was climbing anything of consequence.  The trail stays low and is often buried deep in a washed out creek bed.  Then all at once, it lifted out of the forest and I found myself on a scenic plateau with views of the entire mountain range.

I continued to climb virtually straight up Diamond Point Mountain until I was being stared down by a menacing steep pitch that I knew was unridable.  After a short internal debate, I decided to continue to the top with my bike.  I figured that there might be a trail at the top of the mountain that I would want to explore, so I might as well bring my bike.  Part of me also thought I might be able to ride the Firebird back down the steep section.  However, not everything you see in the Red Bull Rampage contest is possible for us mere mortals.

The view from the bottom of the last pitch

With that I threw the Firebird on my back and began the hike-a-bike up to the summit of Diamond Point.  The trail was was mixture of loose rock, sand and sun baked dirt.  I had to delicately dance around cactus while plowing through manzanita branches.  It was difficult climbing, but the view improved dramatically with each step.  Finally, I crested the top of the mountain side and took in the spoils.  From the top, the view of "Rim Country" was spectacular.

I love this creepy tree sticking out of the mountain side

 I could see Payson, Granite Dells, and the Matazal Mountains in one clear frame.  I snapped a few pictures on my iPhone and then proceeded to explore the mesa atop Diamond Point Mountain.  Unfortunatel, the road I found was a little too rock strewn for comfortable riding and I ended up snapping not only a spoke, but also my chain.

 Repair Time

Broken Chain Links

After a few minutes of fussing with the chain breaker, I was able to convert the Firebird into a single speed and continue on with my journey.  After the repair, I abandoned any thoughts of exploration and decided to tuck tail and ride home.  I made a couple of vain attempts at riding down the steep trail, but it proved to be too loose and too steep for my skill level.  Once I reached a more ridable section of trail, I was able to slowly make my way back down Lion Springs Road and return safely home.  It was a fun adventure that put a new twist on some old familiar trails.

 The Firebird standing proud after the repair job

 Look close and you can see the trial I just climbed

 The Diamond Point Fire Tower in the distance

Time to head back down

A Panorama of the entire area.  Beautiful.

The Phoenix Loop and Training

Mick owns the local bike shop here in Payson, Bicycle Adventurers.  He recently turned me on to the Strava iPhone app.  All I knew about Strava was that it has caused a big firestorm in the MTB community, because some riders are failing to use proper trail etiquette while attempting to become the King of the Mountain (KOM).  Nevertheless, I downloaded the app and began using it a few days before the Fire on the Rim Race.  Strava really helped me prepare for the race, and as a result I beat my time from the previous year by almost an hour.

Lately, I have been using Strava to explore new trails, get faster on old trails, and track my progress in general.  There is a loop here in Payson called the Phoenix loop.  It is part of Trail 200, which is a user built trail just south of town.  The Phoenix Loop is exactly two miles long and climbs about 500 feet. The trail is semi technical and a lot of fun. The first time I explored the trail, it took me about 45 minutes.    Once I learned the lines I started to race myself using Strava.

After a few days, I broke into the top 10 on the leader-board and today I sit at #8.  My friend Matt Sopeland is KOM for the Phoenix Loop, as well as most trails in Rim Country.  His time is 14:42.  My best time is 20:06.  I'd like to tell you that I'm so much slower because I am riding a single speed, but the reality is that I'm just not in the best of shape, and Matt is an amazing rider.  Admitting that you have a problem is the first step to fixing the problem, so with that, I have began training.

 My goals are simple, I want to get fit and become a stronger rider.  I'm not looking for KOM's, but I do hope to see steady improvement.  My first goal is to complete the Phoenix Loop in under 19 minutes.  In order to accomplish this goal, my first objective will be to get better at climbing.  I have yet to complete the Phoenix Loop without pushing a few sections.  Typically, I get halfway through the climb, my heart rate blows up, and I end up pushing.  I just never seem to have the lungs to get me to the top.  I know its only 500 feet, but there is some exciting single track leading into the climb.

I recently created a training schedule that I hope will help me improve my endurance.  The schedule includes a lot of intervals and a lot of climbing.  The plan does not necessarily involve riding long distances, rather I'll be riding short sections at 85-95% effort.  I plan to ride 5 days this week and then race myself on the Phoenix Loop at the the end of the week.  Again, I'm just pushing myself with the ultimate goal of getting in better shape and improving my overall riding ability.  I'll post the results here if and when I start to see some improvement.

The Phoenix Loop

The Leader-board

Southern Utah 2013

Last year my friend Jeff invited me on a mountain bike trip to Southern Utah.  Simply put, the trip was amazing.  When Jeff invited me again this year, I jumped at the chance to ride the slick rocks of southern Utah.   I left Payson, AZ on Thursday October 2nd and drove 6 hours up to Gooseberry Mesa.  The drive took me through some beautiful country including Flagstaff, Jacob's Lake and the strange town of Colorado City.

After arriving, I was greeted with strong winds from the north and cooler temperatures then expected.  Despite the high winds, I quickly changed into my riding gear and hopped on the Single Speed.  I was a little hesitant to ride the SS at Gooseberry.  The trails at Gooseberry are fairly technical and the lack of suspension made me nervous.  To my surprise, the SS was a joy to ride.  Having a stiff gear available at all times paid off on many occasions.  I was able to power over the various sections and the 29er wheels allowed me to take hits without too much discomfort.

Riding Gooseberry is a unique experience that cannot be duplicated.  You never really climb or descend.  Instead, you roll along the trail tackling rocky obstacles and following the white dots spray painted on the rocks.  Although you do not ride a long distance, the miles you cover are difficult and quickly sap your energy.

Jeff, Julie, and I rode the South Rim Trail Thursday evening.  Julie had a freak accident that sent her down hard into the rocky ground.  She was not injured, but the fall ended her ride for the day.  She decided to peel off the trail and rode the White Trail back to the truck.  Jeff and I continued on and had fun chasing each other.

The next day the rest of the San Diego crew arrived and we all rode Gooseberry again.  Peter, Mark, Alan, Gerry from San Diego and Pat and Annie from Fresno.  I decided I wanted to ride platform pedals on my SS instead of my Crankbrothers Mallets.  Just before our ride I swapped pedals and began to warm up for the ride.  Jeff wanted to explore the new trail that splits off of the Windmill trailhead.  The trail was a mixture of dirt and rock and had the same feel as Little Creek.  We rode several miles before my left pedal loosened.  I thought I had bent the axel decided to keep riding.  I tried to continue on, but within a mile or so, the pedal would no longer stay in the crank arm.  At that point, I turned around and limped back to the trail head.  Jeff was able to wrangle a tourist into giving me a ride back to my car.  The tourist was very nice and even fed me some fresh veggies.  Later in the day, I took the bike to Zion Cycles. The owner of the bike shop was wonderful and replaced the crank arm on the spot and had me back up and running in 30 minutes.

On Saturday we decided to ride out at Little Creek.  I again opted for the SS but quickly realized it may have been the wrong choice.  The bike handled the terrain just fine, but the rough riding was hard on my body.  Luckily for me, the gearing on my SS was spot on and I was able to climb almost all of the features.  We rode the entire Little Creek loop in the counter clockwise direction and accumulated a total of 15 miles of total riding.  15 very technical, rocky, and sometimes sketchy miles.

On the way back to the hotel, Mark's car was involved in a collision with an ATV.  The accident resulted in a broken tie rod, which forced Mark to have his car towed off of the mesa.  We eventually made it back to the hotel happy that everyone was safe and uninjured.  We ended the day barbecuing tri-tip and pork loin.  A great meal to cap off a great ride.

Sunday we again returned to Gooseberry and rode the Hidden Canyon, YellowTrail, South Rim and North Rim.  This time I took out the Pivot Firebird.  I've had the Firebird for a little over a week but have not had any quality time in the saddle.  After hours of exploring the Gooseberry trails, the Firebird and I bonded, and I started to really get in sync with the bike.  Having the extra travel made the riding much more comfortable.  The Firebird begs to be ridden hard and it ate up all of the technical descents.

Late Sunday afternoon we drove over to the Jem Trail.  Pat and I raced down the 8+ miles of buff downhill single track.  Again the Firebird killed it.  Pat is very strong and fast.  He held a solid lead on me until we reached some technical sections.  That was where the Firebird shined.  I was able to just let go of the breaks and let the suspension suck up whatever the trail threw at it.  The ride was fast and thrilling and both Pat and I loved every minute of it.

On Monday, I said goodbye to my California friends and began the 6 hour drive home.  I decided to stop off in Sedona for a bit of red rock sweetness.  I parked at the Bike and Bean and rode Sim Shady, Templeton, Highline Waterfalls, and the Baldwin trail.  The ride was only 13 miles, but after 4 days of hard riding, I was spent.  I drove home that night tired and sore.  I laid down to watch some Monday night football and was sound asleep minutes later.

This year's trip to Utah was amazing.  Like last year, I left Utah feeling that I was a better rider then when I arrived. With the trip behind me it is time to focus back on school and get ready for midterms.  Thanks again to Jeff, Julie, and the entire CA crew for inviting me on the trip.  It was unforgettable.