This is an annual Omnium road race put on by the Albuquerque Sport Systems team as part of their USACycling licensure. It is a two day, three event race that allows riders to do one, two or all three events that are scored just like a cross country race with the highest placings receiving the lowest points with the goal being the lowest possible score. The Adoption Exchange Classic also supports with the profits an adoption agency called, you guessed it, the Adoption Exchange. Don't ask me about the name.
The first event, on Saturday morning, was the Road Race that takes place in the East Mountains of Albuquerque and centers on a climb that the locals call "Heartbreak Hill". I wasn't too worried because this was in Albuquerque--how hard could it be? Have they suffered up Narbona in a headwind? Have they hit Fat Bastard after a stop at Chu-chu's? Had they ever tried to climb anything while Chuck was alternatively throttling the pace and telling gut busting stories? But then I started to receive emails from the director with messages like "A few things to keep in mind the next time you tackle our own Heartbreak Hill @ the Adoption Exchange Classic:
a) Fear Of Pain Is Worse Than Pain Itself.
b) Embrace the experience and dial in a sustainable pace, and you'll find that it never feels as bad as you expect it to.
c) Go with Friends. You'll climb better in a group. Exercise physiologists call the phenomenon social facilitation--an athlete's ability to produce better efforts when observed by others (Don’t be insecure)."
These messages had the reverse effect as I started to get really excited for this climb. If the race director felt he had to psych people up who had already paid to climb this thing, "Heartbreak Hill" was going to decimate the field. I especially loved the last line about not being insecure...yeah, we're named after feral mutts. I'm pretty sure your exercise physiologists and their social facilitation haven't seen a lot of guys like the guys in this crew. Either way, we don't care too much.
Saturday
I drive out to the course on Saturday morning and line up for the Cat 5 start. There was nothing but carbon, shaved legs and matching kits around. It was crazy. How did all these guys know what I was riding and wearing? The gun goes off and away we go onto a course that amounted to a lazy rectangle of right turns. The first part of the course was a rolling rural country road with some cross breeze. Early on, maybe a mile or two in, a strong man goes like a gun shot. No one reacts and he dangles off the front perhaps ten to fifteen seconds up the road. We never see him again. Some of the guys start moving forward and pushing the pace but they don't seem all that experienced based on their jerky movements and anxiousness. Some others, who looked more dangerous by their careful and relaxed pedaling, look like they are waiting for something and let the chase up front continue. We pedal this way until the next turn approaches and by now the peloton has shifted from the earnestness to a more focused determination of a few. I find myself at the front with two others, three abreast, as we make the turn and in the distance I see what looks to be a road of some kind but it is both too high and too close to our road...or could it be?
A few blips of hills and now I see the full effect of Heartbreak Hill. About as steep as the first sharp climb of Bread Springs Loop, Heartbreak Hill is approximately four times longer. It is not long but a nasty, punchy climb. Or as one guy put it, "Five minutes of pain". Without intending to, the other two leaders and I form a breakaway on the beginning of the climb with another rider shooting across to make it four. We push on, trying to both inflict pain on others, while avoiding too much ourselves. Two thirds up, the three are winning the pain game and begin to ride away from me as I struggle to hold their pace. They crest together and I follow fifteen or twenty seconds back. I try to catch on and spend myself in pursuit but the three grow smaller and smaller with each turn. I glance behind and see two pursuers and I decide to cut my losses and cast on with them. The two are from the same team, Sport Systems, and are screaming through this section taking massive pulls. I latch on and relax, catch my breath, take a turn, relax, and we catch the weakest of the first group. Now a group of four, we continue to work through the miles, make another turn and catch another member of the break that crashed after he and the last escapee touched wheels. In another mile we catch the third rider and start to really pile on the pressure dropping one and then the second Sport Systems rider.
Back to a group of three we work easily, catching other Categories of riders and shooting past. It's a riot! We make the final turn and continue to work but not as hard, starting to jockey a bit while we size each other up. With about a mile and a half to go I take what I want to be my last pull and look to lock in third wheel for the sprint when I realize our break has been bridged by five riders (including my Sports System friends). Whoops! Now eight strong, the game has changed and we all look to get behind a wheel for the sprint which comes to soon. I take third for the field sprint and finish fourth for the day.
Sunday morning
The day starts on the West side with a morning TT of over 12 miles along the I-40 frontage road. Undulating with a false flat the route ends with an abrupt mile descent down the very top of "9 mile hill" and demands riders to turn and repeat it all the way back to the start. Due to my position yesterday, I am placed near the back of the field for my start time and stand out due to my lack of an aero helmet and tt specific bike. My start time arrives, the countdown commences and I am off! I don't particularly like tts and this one was no exception but I decided to gauge my efforts and leave the bulk of my strength for the return trip. Four miles in, the guy who started behind me thirty seconds back comes rocketing by. Just before the turnaround the next guy comes by. Maybe this plan isn't so good...but then, on the climb up from the turnaround I start to gain ground and then pass the guy back. I shout encouragement and he does the same (shout? perhaps pant is a better description). I continue to the top of the climb and start to put more into every pedal stroke gaining ground on the guy who started in front of me. With two miles to go, I pass my "rabbit" just as another rider passes me. Oh well. Such is life. I finish sixth with a decent time.
Sunday afternoon
The crit for the Adoption Exchange was held at the Sandia motorspeedway on a closed course with banked turns, s-curves, straightaways and lots of wind. We started off and stayed together for the first lap and then the three strongest riders just took off. I was boxed in and watched helplessly as these guys had one, two, now three bike lengths and they were gone. We chased and formed the second group but never caught on and finished a half lap back. I took second in the "field sprint" and fifth for the race.
This is a great race and was the fantastic spring racing tune-up I hoped it to be. It also happens to suit the Rez Dog style of riding and racing by allowing the terrain to sort out the field.
Dirk
P.S. Somebody remind me why we don't have one of these in Gallup?
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
DAWN TIL BRUNCH 2012
UNDERCOVER POLYGAMIST IN GALLUP, REZ DOG
PALACE, SIXTY PLUS POUND BIKE & LIVING THE DREAM
By Bob
Yes . . . in what has become an annual beat down by Gallup’s cruel spring weather, Rez Dogs turned in some amazing performances and not only survived, but thrived amidst the chaos. A report:
1. PRE-RACE GALLUP CUP FRENZY REACHES NEW HEIGHTS. A solid two month build up reached new heights when:
Chuck Van Drunen first orchestrated Hadji Corona’s entry as Peter Tempest’s teammate and then did a complete 180 and lobbied to get Hadji, and all other duos with former Gallupians, disqualified from the Gallup Cup competition,
Chuck began writing inflammatory blog posts that even his partner, Andy Stravers, was complaining about until he found out who the real author was,
Dirk Hollebeek was tossing aside partners like the were dirty shirts until he finally ended up with his original partner,
Allan Phillips pulled off an epic hoax by convincing everyone that former European pro, Scottie Nydam, was going to ride duo with him, and
Informed sources reported that, in fact, Chuck is a polygamist (remember the beard in the shower photo?) from Colorado City, Arizona who is on the run and hiding in Gallup from the FBI and therefore not a true Gallup resident himself.
2.NIGHT GUY – MORNING GUY – EPISODE #37. How many times can Chuck pull off his Night Guy/ Morning Guy routine before he crashes and burns? His pre-race D2D ritual this year involved a repeat viewing of Braveheart, large quantities of whiskey, multiple hot tub sessions and no – none, zero, nada – sleep the night before. While Andy was out on the first lap, Chuck was fixing a flat, guzzling Red Bull and generally looking and acting like a basket case. In other words, he was primed to rip off another phenomenally fast race.
3.REZ DOG PALACE. Rez Dog Directeur Sportif, Greg Cavanaugh, outdid himself at D2D. Think back with me to last summer’s 24HIEF in which we had we had the very worst campsite (downwind from the portable potties) on our very own course. This year Greg orchestrated not one but two walled Tomac tent canopies with a large Rez Dog banner next to the start/finish line that were filled with food, drink and the smiling face of Andy Newell.
4.SOLO AND TEAM WARRIORS. Paul DeWitt, riding single speed, turned in the best solo effort by putting in two laps in 2:28.23 before the blizzard hit with full force. Also riding solo were Blaine Silversmith, Brian Culligan, Brian Hroch, Jonathan Chiang and Charles Chiang. In the team category, Nate Haveman, Doug Evilsizor and Jason Arsenault put in three strong laps and Jason probably rode the gutsiest lap of the entire race when he came back riding with a bike completely caked in mud that weighed over 60 pounds.
5.THE MAIN EVENT: GALLUP CUP. This year, race director Lindsay Mapes gave the Gallup Cup racers (Gallup male duos) a category all to themselves . . . and it was comprised of five strong teams including the two fastest duos in the race. Simply put, the Gallup Cup was the main event – and it did not disappoint. Chuck and Andy put four minutes on the dream team of Peter and Hadji over three laps to claim first. Chuck rode a blistering second lap of 59:31 which was the fastest full lap of the entire race and Andy rode two super strong laps. In short, they rode like two guys who had been talking trash for months and had something they had to prove. Chad Meekhof (partnering with Greg for 3rd) rode one of the fastest full laps of the day at 1:02:56 and Dirk “Hollebeast” Hollebeek (partnering with Allan for 4th) put in stalwart back to back first and second laps of 50:30 and 1:04.39. Newcomers Jeremy Boucher and Jeremy Devey were a welcome addition to the mix and rode respectably for 5th (they were faster than 7 teams in the open duo class).
6.LIVING THE DREAM. Hadgi, Peter, Chuck and Andy – in that order – each got to live the dream in this year’s D2D. Each one of them rode a big chunk of the race completely off the front with a few hundred other racers chasing.
A CONCLUDING QUESTION: Will Chuck and Andy (who last year won a 10 hour version of D2D and this year won a 3+ hour version) ever win a full 12 hour D2D race? We asked this question to several racers and we like this answer from Dirk the best: “Time will tell. They definitely have an asterisk – like Barry Bonds. Maybe we should say they won the Dawn til Brunch race.” Oh, man . . . here we go. It’s already on for next year.
Brian Leddy Destroys Field @ Towne Crit
Brian Leddy in his full blazing baby blue suit put the hurt on local riders competing in the first ever Gallup Towne Crit. Sporting a contrasting hot red women's cruiser ride, he blistered the course, lap after lap, passing the likes of strong contenders like Frankenstein and his Bride and the super Chopper Cycle.
"My legs felt good...and I hit all the stoplights right, sometimes it just all comes together and you're able to deliver a good old fashioned whooping!"
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
New Teams: D2D CLASS ACTION
The current legal situation has effectively gridlocked the Gallup Cup eligibility status for Peter Tempest & Hadji Corona. No contract has been agreed upon yet as the impending race deadline looms closer. The contract drawn up by the Rosebrough Law Firm was obviously biased and even degrading against the current Gallup Cup Champions, Chuck Van Drunen & Andy Stravers. Suspicions were confirmed when Peter Tempest sheepishly admitted to having retained Rosebrough "as legal counsel" in an apparent effort to maximize contract leverage. Meanwhile the illustrious Gallup Cup Champions were simply assuming a neutral and objective 3rd party, such as Rosebrough, would draw up a fair contract. Little did they know that Rosebrough was already in the Tempest jersey pocket at this point.
To make matters worse Peter's mutt tactics have spread to other Rez Dog members with the addition of two more half-breed teams. Dirk Hollebeast has mated with Theron Halfway, while Allan Excalibur philips is in heat with Scott NyDaMan. To make matters more complex, Theron and Scott, like Hadji, were both Gallup residents at one point in time.
This highly charged turn of events is clearly leading to a class action legal battle. Andy Stravers and Chuck Van Drunen (Current supreme owners of the Gallup Cup) have decided that legal costs in a class action suit would be prohibitive and they will simply let nature run it's course. This will ultimately bring D2D director Lindsay Mapes to make a final decision on which unholy unions are fit to be legally recognized in their quest for equal rights to the Gallup Cup.
To make matters worse Peter's mutt tactics have spread to other Rez Dog members with the addition of two more half-breed teams. Dirk Hollebeast has mated with Theron Halfway, while Allan Excalibur philips is in heat with Scott NyDaMan. To make matters more complex, Theron and Scott, like Hadji, were both Gallup residents at one point in time.
This highly charged turn of events is clearly leading to a class action legal battle. Andy Stravers and Chuck Van Drunen (Current supreme owners of the Gallup Cup) have decided that legal costs in a class action suit would be prohibitive and they will simply let nature run it's course. This will ultimately bring D2D director Lindsay Mapes to make a final decision on which unholy unions are fit to be legally recognized in their quest for equal rights to the Gallup Cup.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
24 Hour Nationals coming to Gallup/Enchanted Forest in 2013 and 2014
This is very cool. We'll be hosting a National level race. We better start training now!
See the link to learn more!
http://www.usacycling.org/usa-cycling-to-bring-mountain-bike-24-hour-nats-to-gallup.htm
See the link to learn more!
http://www.usacycling.org/usa-cycling-to-bring-mountain-bike-24-hour-nats-to-gallup.htm
Monday, March 12, 2012
IT’S BACK ON BOYS!!
IT’S BACK ON BOYS!!
DIRK DEALS MORE PAIN, CHUCK IN A WILD
ARIZONA ROMP AND PETER AND TINKER IN SPA CITY
By Bob
Well boys . . . it’s back on!! Rez Dog heroes Greg Cavanaugh, Andy Stravers and Chuck Van Drunen tore the lid off of the 2012 racing season with a wild romp in the Fat Tire 40 near Fountain Hills, Arizona. But before we turn to that story – and a report on Peter Tempest’s adventure in the “6 Hours of Spa City” in Hot Springs, Arkansas (yeah, you read that right, Arkansas) – we have some local action to cover:
1. THE BEAST WREAKS HAVOC ON FAT TIRES. Apparently Dirk “the Hollebeast” Hollebeek lured his Dawn til Dusk partner Alan Philips out for a ride on the HDT while they were still steaming over Chuck’s slander that he and Andy and Peter and Hadji were the only legitimate contenders for this year’s Gallup Cup at D2D. By all accounts, Dirk and Alan’s ride turned into a hammer fest of epic proportions. As the duo came screaming home about a mile and a half from the trailhead, Alan took a hard left on a sandy corner at race pace plus speed and ended up with a broken collar bone. Some reports attribute the breakneck speed to Alan’s exuberance over some new top secret racing equipment, but all we know is that every time the pace is pushed or pain is dealt it has to be Dirk’s fault and we’re sticking with that. As yet unconfirmed reports seem to suggest that Dirk may have even lined up a D2D replacement for Alan – Rez Dog expatriate Theron Hathaway – by cell phone even before Dirk and his suddenly expendable partner limped back to the trailhead. More slander or hard truth? As always: We report; you decide.
2. MORNING GUY RETURNS. We have some wildly conflicting reports on this one so we’ll try to stick with the facts that are undisputed. We are now all familiar with Chuck’s dual personalities: Night Guy and Morning Guy. Simply put, Night Guy is a little excitable and he has a habit of writing some big checks that Morning Guy has to cover. Here are the undisputed facts: Andy talked Chuck and Greg into racing in last weekend’s Fat Tire 40 in Arizona. At the departure time Andy and Greg had in their minds, Chuck hadn’t shown and wasn’t answering his cell. Andy and Greg took off for Arizona. Chuck called them when they were already on I-40. Andy and Greg returned to Gallup and picked up Chuck and got back on I-40. A solid hour of trash talking ensued.
3. WHAT IS CHUCK REALLY UP TO? Talk about mixed signals. Going into this season, did anyone have a real idea what Chuck was up to? He has been all over the place. On one hand he re-grew his old school Mormon polygamist beard (he likes to call it Amish but we’re not buying that) and he seemed to be spending as much time rebuilding and riding snow mobiles as he did on his bikes. On the other hand, there were persistent reports that he was sneaking out on his road bike (by his own admission the dark side is strong in this one) for long suffer fests with multiple riding partners. On the eve of the Fat Tire 40, Chuck pulled a page out of Bob’s 24ITEF playbook and was feigning sickness and pretending to try to find riders to substitute for him, but then on race day he showed up cleanly shaven with a crew cut reminiscent of his Squash Blossom victory last year.
4. ONE SECOND, A MIRACLE RECOVERY & TEN MILES ON A BROKEN FRAME. Bare with me on this one guys. Race results haven’t been posted on line yet, and all we have to go on is verbal reports from Chuck, Greg and Andy (imagine trying to sort that out). Here is what we have to report from the Fat Tire 40: Andy nipped Chuck by one second in the 6 mile time trial on Saturday that seeds riders for the 40 mile race on Sunday. Greg was within a minute of Andy and Chuck in the TT. Chuck pulled a miracle recovery from his illness and blistered the 40 mile race and posted a time of around 2:40 on the flat, super fast course. Chuck rode with a couple of really strong riders from mile 20 to mile 30 and moved up close to the top 10 overall when he heard a loud crunch coming from the seat tube of his frame which forced him to stand and dance on the pedals for the last 10 miles as guys he had recently passed went by him one by one. Andy, who fought some chain problems, was about 5 minutes back of Chuck. Greg, staving off the cramps, was about 10 minutes back to complete a strong overall Rez Dog showing against Arizonans in the peak of their season.
5. PETER AND TINKER IN SPA CITY. In his obsessive search to find races as far away as possible from his arch nemesis – the dreaded Bread Springs Loop sheep – Peter raced in Hot Springs, Arkansas this weekend. The “6 Hours of Spa City” featured a bunch of pro riders including the legendary Tinker Juarez who took first overall. The Spa City course is flat, narrow, and wooded single track with a lot of stream crossings. This was Peter’s first race now that he is racing 50+ and it pre-sages quite a year ahead. Peter came in 22nd out of around 225 riders and he was first in 50+ (Tinker is 51 but he was racing in the pro category). Peter’s top form combined with Chuck’s showing in Arizona is undoubtedly going to take this year’s pre-race hype for D2D’s Gallup Cup – which has always been over the top – to a nearly unbearable new level.
A CONCLUDING QUESTION: What is the absolute ultimate human threshold for pain? With Dirk, Chuck and Peter all running wild and D2D fast approaching, it looks like we are about to find out.
DIRK DEALS MORE PAIN, CHUCK IN A WILD
ARIZONA ROMP AND PETER AND TINKER IN SPA CITY
By Bob
Well boys . . . it’s back on!! Rez Dog heroes Greg Cavanaugh, Andy Stravers and Chuck Van Drunen tore the lid off of the 2012 racing season with a wild romp in the Fat Tire 40 near Fountain Hills, Arizona. But before we turn to that story – and a report on Peter Tempest’s adventure in the “6 Hours of Spa City” in Hot Springs, Arkansas (yeah, you read that right, Arkansas) – we have some local action to cover:
1. THE BEAST WREAKS HAVOC ON FAT TIRES. Apparently Dirk “the Hollebeast” Hollebeek lured his Dawn til Dusk partner Alan Philips out for a ride on the HDT while they were still steaming over Chuck’s slander that he and Andy and Peter and Hadji were the only legitimate contenders for this year’s Gallup Cup at D2D. By all accounts, Dirk and Alan’s ride turned into a hammer fest of epic proportions. As the duo came screaming home about a mile and a half from the trailhead, Alan took a hard left on a sandy corner at race pace plus speed and ended up with a broken collar bone. Some reports attribute the breakneck speed to Alan’s exuberance over some new top secret racing equipment, but all we know is that every time the pace is pushed or pain is dealt it has to be Dirk’s fault and we’re sticking with that. As yet unconfirmed reports seem to suggest that Dirk may have even lined up a D2D replacement for Alan – Rez Dog expatriate Theron Hathaway – by cell phone even before Dirk and his suddenly expendable partner limped back to the trailhead. More slander or hard truth? As always: We report; you decide.
2. MORNING GUY RETURNS. We have some wildly conflicting reports on this one so we’ll try to stick with the facts that are undisputed. We are now all familiar with Chuck’s dual personalities: Night Guy and Morning Guy. Simply put, Night Guy is a little excitable and he has a habit of writing some big checks that Morning Guy has to cover. Here are the undisputed facts: Andy talked Chuck and Greg into racing in last weekend’s Fat Tire 40 in Arizona. At the departure time Andy and Greg had in their minds, Chuck hadn’t shown and wasn’t answering his cell. Andy and Greg took off for Arizona. Chuck called them when they were already on I-40. Andy and Greg returned to Gallup and picked up Chuck and got back on I-40. A solid hour of trash talking ensued.
3. WHAT IS CHUCK REALLY UP TO? Talk about mixed signals. Going into this season, did anyone have a real idea what Chuck was up to? He has been all over the place. On one hand he re-grew his old school Mormon polygamist beard (he likes to call it Amish but we’re not buying that) and he seemed to be spending as much time rebuilding and riding snow mobiles as he did on his bikes. On the other hand, there were persistent reports that he was sneaking out on his road bike (by his own admission the dark side is strong in this one) for long suffer fests with multiple riding partners. On the eve of the Fat Tire 40, Chuck pulled a page out of Bob’s 24ITEF playbook and was feigning sickness and pretending to try to find riders to substitute for him, but then on race day he showed up cleanly shaven with a crew cut reminiscent of his Squash Blossom victory last year.
4. ONE SECOND, A MIRACLE RECOVERY & TEN MILES ON A BROKEN FRAME. Bare with me on this one guys. Race results haven’t been posted on line yet, and all we have to go on is verbal reports from Chuck, Greg and Andy (imagine trying to sort that out). Here is what we have to report from the Fat Tire 40: Andy nipped Chuck by one second in the 6 mile time trial on Saturday that seeds riders for the 40 mile race on Sunday. Greg was within a minute of Andy and Chuck in the TT. Chuck pulled a miracle recovery from his illness and blistered the 40 mile race and posted a time of around 2:40 on the flat, super fast course. Chuck rode with a couple of really strong riders from mile 20 to mile 30 and moved up close to the top 10 overall when he heard a loud crunch coming from the seat tube of his frame which forced him to stand and dance on the pedals for the last 10 miles as guys he had recently passed went by him one by one. Andy, who fought some chain problems, was about 5 minutes back of Chuck. Greg, staving off the cramps, was about 10 minutes back to complete a strong overall Rez Dog showing against Arizonans in the peak of their season.
5. PETER AND TINKER IN SPA CITY. In his obsessive search to find races as far away as possible from his arch nemesis – the dreaded Bread Springs Loop sheep – Peter raced in Hot Springs, Arkansas this weekend. The “6 Hours of Spa City” featured a bunch of pro riders including the legendary Tinker Juarez who took first overall. The Spa City course is flat, narrow, and wooded single track with a lot of stream crossings. This was Peter’s first race now that he is racing 50+ and it pre-sages quite a year ahead. Peter came in 22nd out of around 225 riders and he was first in 50+ (Tinker is 51 but he was racing in the pro category). Peter’s top form combined with Chuck’s showing in Arizona is undoubtedly going to take this year’s pre-race hype for D2D’s Gallup Cup – which has always been over the top – to a nearly unbearable new level.
A CONCLUDING QUESTION: What is the absolute ultimate human threshold for pain? With Dirk, Chuck and Peter all running wild and D2D fast approaching, it looks like we are about to find out.
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