Unoffically Official 2017 VQ and CC Thread

I'll have more of a report later but here are the highlights:
  • Hit the mud, bike stopped. Carried, pushed, cleaned mud tried to ride bike, carried more, etc in the dark for what seemed like an eternity.
  • Once I was back on the bike I kept having drive train issues and suffered and nursed it to bottom of Motorway. Got there an hour late and the bike was so muddy we couldn't get it clean enough to figure it out. I decided to quit wasting time and push on.
  • Maple was a sloppy mess from all the riders.
  • At the second checkpoint, my chain was clean enough to see I had a kinked link that I was able to (carefully) bend back, and it worked perfectly afterwards.
  • WHT sucked worse than normal.
  • I ended up finishing about 1.5 (goal) to 2 hours (stretch goal) behind my target time with just over an 8:30 time.

I was misearable... But I'm glad I didn't quit and that I pushed on.

Special thanks to the Warrior Society for the effort to put on such a fun, unique and challenging event.
 
I brought up the rear for CC, we got a special escort from Jason! Here's J and my wife Ann at the Peak.
Jason and Ann.jpg
 
I only suffered for little while..carrying the bike up mudstar... Got to mariposa grove and started pedaling..snap.. Deraillur broke off into two pieces..
Awe..i kinda liked the mudfest.. Taste salty...
Big gash on frame.. Deraill gonner..
Walk of shame sucked...
Such a nice wasted saturday... So disgusted didnt even bother to go to pow wow...
I wished i could have suffered for bit longer...
 
My day:

- Got up @ 3:50.
- Step on the scale 215.5lbs...... failed again
- load up the truck, and drove off @ 4:20. HB's streets were wet.
- On the way, I drank one cup of coffee, one bottle with TW, and ate a banana.
- Parked by the gate around 5am, and go ready. Light misty rain.
- Decided to wear my rain jacket (good move).
- Found a few of my buddies in the starting area, and waited for the inevitable start.
- No warm up needed. The first few miles on Blackstar is a great way to get ready for a long day.
- The first mile up the hill was not that bad, and some optimism started to creep in.
- Things went sideway very quickly from there. The mud started to build up on the tires while the rain wasn't letting up.
- The RS1 had excellent mud clearance.
- The mud building up on the chain stay eventually push my chain of the chain ring. HAB in the dark (making lemonade).
- Found Steve, and he was fighting the mud. I knew that his SS setup would drain his stamina faster them planned. There was nothing I could do to help.
- I made it to Beeks. Time to regroup, and ride up Main Divide.
- Beeks to MW was in Okay shape, but not as fast as anticipated. Made it to the top of MW in 2:20.
- Started rolling down MW hoping to keep the rubber down. I kept a cautious pace.
- Half a mile before the end of MW my front water bottle hit my shoe..... I looked down and my bottle cage broke.
- Stuck my bottle in my jacket (no access to my jersey pocket), and finish MW.
- In the parking lot, I found some familiar faces. The Slingerlands came to my rescue and performed a perfect pit stop.
- Two zip ties fix my disable water bottle cage, and I rolled up MS.
- MS to 4C was uneventful. I was focusing on hydration and cadence.
- 4C to Santiago peak was challenging as always. The effort on B* was catching up to me.
- Santiago peak to HJ when very smoothly, but somewhere before lower Holy Jim I broke a spoke.
- The Broken Spoke somehow tangled up with my cassette.
- I drop my chain on HJ about 6 times. eventually, I rode Aronn Gwinn style down the switchbacks.
- Made it the Aid station #2 at 11:30, and my buddy Greg was waiting for me.
- We "fixed" the spoke issue, and we rolled off the WHT @ 11:45.
- My legs were rubbery, and my energy level low. Greg was trying to cheer me up. I was focused on the cut-off.
- Made it to WHT @ 12:20, and at that point, I knew that I would finish my first VQ today.
- WHT is just a PITA. HAB is not MTBing!
- The burger at the top was a little cold, but I took a few bites. I might never have another opportunity to eat a burger at that spot.
- WHT to Trabuco was a real challenge. switching back to cycling was hard. Greg ask me how am I doing, and I told me"I'm great but my legs are cramping in multiple locations, and if I stop spinning it going to get ugly"
- The DH down Trabuco was awesome. I was riding conservatively trying to protect the 23 remaining spokes of my rear wheel. Greg was letting me set the pace and kept a safe distance.
- The ride from the end of the single track to the finish line was interesting. The adrenaline kicked in, and I was feeling like "the king of the world".
- Once we passed the gate Greg took over setting the page, and I drafted. The head wind was in full effect.
- The finish line was a welcome sight. My wife and two kids waiting were there Cheering. Good time!

Mental Notes:
32T chainring was too big. 30T would work better up Trabuco.

I installed a manual dropper, and I'm not sure how beneficial it was. I used it on the down hills, but did it make a real difference? I'm not sure.
It did allow me to raise my sit about 1/2" for the climbs (vs. my fix position).

Now that I completed my first VQ, I'm not sure there is a good reason to do another one.
Next year I might try CC on SS....... I got time to figure it out.

I need a good night sleep!
 
HBkites said:
My day:

- Got up @ 3:50.
- Step on the scale 215.5lbs...... failed again
- load up the truck, and drove off @ 4:20. HB's streets were wet.
- On the way, I drank one cup of coffee, one bottle with TW, and ate a banana.
- Parked by the gate around 5am, and go ready. Light misty rain.
- Decided to wear my rain jacket (good move).
- Found a few of my buddies in the starting area, and waited for the inevitable start.
- No warm up needed. The first few miles on Blackstar is a great way to get ready for a long day.
- The first mile up the hill was not that bad, and some optimism started to creep in.
- Things went sideway very quickly from there. The mud started to build up on the tires while the rain wasn't letting up.
- The RS1 had excellent mud clearance.
- The mud building up on the chain stay eventually push my chain of the chain ring. HAB in the dark (making lemonade).
- Found Steve, and he was fighting the mud. I knew that his SS setup would drain his stamina faster them planned. There was nothing I could do to help.
- I made it to Beeks. Time to regroup, and ride up Main Divide.
- Beeks to MW was in Okay shape, but not as fast as anticipated. Made it to the top of MW in 2:20.
- Started rolling down MW hoping to keep the rubber down. I kept a cautious pace.
- Half a mile before the end of MW my front water bottle hit my shoe..... I looked down and my bottle cage broke.
- Stuck my bottle in my jacket (no access to my jersey pocket), and finish MW.
- In the parking lot, I found some familiar faces. The Slingerlands came to my rescue and performed a perfect pit stop.
- Two zip ties fix my disable water bottle cage, and I rolled up MS.
- MS to 4C was uneventful. I was focusing on hydration and cadence.
- 4C to Santiago peak was challenging as always. The effort on B* was catching up to me.
- Santiago peak to HJ when very smoothly, but somewhere before lower Holy Jim I broke a spoke.
- The Broken Spoke somehow tangled up with my cassette.
- I drop my chain on HJ about 6 times. eventually, I rode Aronn Gwinn style down the switchbacks.
- Made it the Aid station #2 at 11:30, and my buddy Greg was waiting for me.
- We "fixed" the spoke issue, and we rolled off the WHT @ 11:45.
- My legs were rubbery, and my energy level low. Greg was trying to cheer me up. I was focused on the cut-off.
- Made it to WHT @ 12:20, and at that point, I knew that I would finish my first VQ today.
- WHT is just a PITA. HAB is not MTBing!
- The burger at the top was a little cold, but I took a few bites. I might never have another opportunity to eat a burger at that spot.
- WHT to Trabuco was a real challenge. switching back to cycling was hard. Greg ask me how am I doing, and I told me"I'm great but my legs are cramping in multiple locations, and if I stop spinning it going to get ugly"
- The DH down Trabuco was awesome. I was riding conservatively trying to protect the 23 remaining spokes of my rear wheel. Greg was letting me set the pace and kept a safe distance.
- The ride from the end of the single track to the finish line was interesting. The adrenaline kicked in, and I was feeling like "the king of the world".
- Once we passed the gate Greg took over setting the page, and I drafted. The head wind was in full effect.
- The finish line was a welcome sight. My wife and two kids waiting were there Cheering. Good time!

Mental Notes:
32T chainring was too big. 30T would work better up Trabuco.

I installed a manual dropper, and I'm not sure how beneficial it was. I used it on the down hills, but did it make a real difference? I'm not sure.
It did allow me to raise my sit about 1/2" for the climbs (vs. my fix position).

Now that I completed my first VQ, I'm not sure there is a good reason to do another one.
Next year I might try CC on SS....... I got time to figure it out.

I need a good night sleep!
Click to expand...


Nicely done.....sounds like a great day out on the bike.
 
Cornholio said:
I'm gonna write up my own ride report about my CC experience today but in short I made it all the way. I finished 100/102 but 48 others either turned around or didn't make the cutoffs. Oh, and I didn't have a rear brake (zero) from before Santiago Peak and on. Big thanks to @mtnbikej for helping me at the first aid station and for tailing me down part of HJ making sure I was good. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Just plain Ole Awesome Man, I know it was hard but such a solid accomplishment we were rooting for you... made my day, Looking forward to your report.

One other thing....I ***knew***it!!!
 
I'd like to keep the focus on the guys who got it done. Here's what went wrong, briefly. :thumbsup:

Mistake 1: Forgetting the pack with the rain coat and extra clothes on the stairs in the office. Bad move... It was pouring at the start. Mtnbikej offered me a dry jersey at Motorway, but the thought of pealing my wet layers off wasn't very appealing. And this morning, I'm coughing my fool head off again... I'm in for a few "dummy" comments from the wife over this one. I'll get no sympathy from that one. :p

The Highball has one glaring flaw even on a good day... With the single speed dropouts, and the gearing I run, I can't fit anything larger than a 2.2 in the back. And without the half link, even a 2.2 Ikon won't fit. Couple that with trying to push the mud caked 50 pound single speed, I blew the legs up. Like after a hard resistance workout. I was walking before the ball... Treated the rest of the ride to Motorway as survival mode. Normally there are 3 HABs on the single speed between the ball and Motorway. There were at least 12 for this run...

I did the math and figured that I would be close to the HJ cutoff. I made up some time over the peak, and made the HJ cutoff by a few minutes. "Took off" for West Horsethief and blew up as soon as I started climbing again. Made it part way up Trabuco and knew time was out at my pace.

The Warrior Society puts on a great event... But as I was walking up Trabuco, I thought this ride was doable unsupported if I hide some water at the bottom of Holy Jim. That may happen in the near future as a redemption ride.

One real positive from the day, and completely off script... I PRed all the downhills: Motorway, Peak to HJ and HJ. I channeled my inner @herzalot and let it rip. Even through the bomb craters below the peak, which were downright treacherous today. Slid through the turn at the bottom by upper Joplin, and almost ate it. I managed to pass several riders on the rocks before UHJ and just bombed... In the original plan, the downhills were supposed to be easy recovery time. :p

Kudos to you guys who got it done!
 
Last edited:
Faust29 said:
I'd like to keep the focus on the guys who got it done. Here's what went wrong, briefly. :thumbsup:

Mistake 1: Forgetting the pack with the rain coat and extra clothes on the stairs in the office. Bad move... It was pouring at the start. Mtnbikej offered me a dry jersey at Motorway, but the thought of pealing my wet layers off wasn't very appealing. And this morning, I'm coughing my fool head off again... I'm in for a few "dummy" comments from the wife over this one. I'll get no sympathy from that one. :p

The Highball has one glaring flaw even on a good day... With the single speed dropouts, and the gearing I run, I can't fit anything larger than a 2.2 in the back. And without the half link, even a 2.2 Ikon won't fit. Couple that with trying to push the single speed, I blew the legs up. Like after a hard resistance workout. I was walking before the ball... Treated the rest of the ride to Motorway as survival mode. Normally there are 3 HABs on the single speed between the ball and Motorway. There were at least 12 for this run...

I did the math and figured that I would be close to the HJ cutoff. I made up some time over the peak, and made the HJ cutoff by a few minutes. "Took off" for West Horsethief and blew up as soon as I started climbing again. Made it part way up Trabuco and knew time was out at my pace.

The Warrior Society puts on a great event... But as I was walking up Trabuco, I thought this ride was doable unsupported if I hide some water at the bottom of Holy Jim. That may happen in the near future as a redemption ride.

One real positive from the day, and completely off script... I PRed all the downhills: Motorway, Peak to HJ and HJ. I channeled my inner @herzalot and let it rip. Even through the bomb craters below the peak, which were downright treacherous today. Slid through the turn at the bottom by upper Joplin, and almost ate it. I managed to pass several riders on the rocks before UHJ and just bombed... In the original plan, the downhills were supposed to be easy recovery time. :p

Kudos to you guys who got it done!
Click to expand...

Well, you still got out there and gave it a go, when a whole lot of others didn't even bother or quickly quit when it got tough.
Yesterday was one of the few days that I actually had an extra jersey with me. It warmed up by the time I headed up Maple Springs, so I really didn't need it.
Mud clearance is an issue on the HB....but we rarely ride through it. Maybe it's time for a minor adjustment to your gearing.
The wheels coming off on the way to Trabuco is what separates the big ride from the kids ride.
I would have pushed you to ride to the WHT cutoff whether you made it or not.....you may have surprised yourself. If you were within a couple of mins....Calvin may have let you continue on. :thumbsup: Especially since you were in front of Amy all day.
VQ on non VQ day....sound like a plan.
Told you.....the clock makes you ride faster than you think you will....even on the DH's.

Had a nice time chatting with your Becky while she waited.

Again nice job out there. :thumbsup:
 
mtnbikej said:
Let's just say that lowly, easy, boring Blackstar showed its sharp teeth today.
Click to expand...

I'm seeing that long winding road in sticky mud like the coils of a python, slowly squeezing the life out of all who dared challenge it. And I'm guessing no one who wrestled with it this year will soon forget it. But, really, what can one say for those who endured and fought through to the other side?
 
Faust29 said:
I have heard that there was one guy with a broken collar bone and two broken ribs... And I saw a guy carrying his expensive shattered carbon hoops down Motorway... My day was great in comparison!
Click to expand...


Didn't see the collar bone guy....but the carbon hoop guy broke that on the little dip at the top of the Motorway just after you finish the initial climb.
 
I will say that it looked like there was fair amount of carnage out there. There was a bike at the bottom of Motorway with a shattered derailleur. Saw another bike come down converted into SS, they kept going. Lots of cooked brakes. The broken wheel from above.

I have never seen so many people happy to have a gallon or 2 of water poured over their BB's and rear hubs and then thank you for it.

There is going to be a lot of bike love going on in the next few days.
 
Overheard on the radio at 4C that it was broken shoulder below the peak. Confusion on if last name was Caffrey or McCaffrey. Was to be evacuated via Main Divide and Ortega. I'm sure that would be a painful ride. Here's to recovery.
 
mtnbikej said:
I will say that it looked like there was fair amount of carnage out there. There was a bike at the bottom of Motorway with a shattered derailleur. Saw another bike come down converted into SS, they kept going. Lots of cooked brakes. The broken wheel from above.

I have never seen so many people happy to have a gallon or 2 of water poured over their BB's and rear hubs and then thank you for it.

There is going to be a lot of bike love going on in the next few days.
Click to expand...

You guys cleaning drive trains was 5 star service! The Warrior Society Members were all great throughout the day...

I spent a couple hours this morning cleaning everything off. Probably time for a new chain, but the bike is fine other than that. All grit has been removed. I think I'll climb Harding this week as punishment. Maybe with the heavy wheel. :D
 
Here is VQ/CC from a non riders view.

Volunteer positions went out early last week, and I saw I was sweeping Maple Springs from Aid Station #1 over the peak and down HJ to the finish....or the 2nd half of Counting Coup. This was the 5-6th time I have done this. I was not given a position at the start, which meant I really didn't need to be to Aid Station #1 until the cutoff at 9:30.

I had planned to ride out from the house....so the sweep, then ride back home through Whiting and then through Irvine/Peters Canyon Trail/Oaks....make a big ride out of it. As the week got closer to Saturday the weather wasn't looking so good. I wanted to be there when friends started coming through the bottom of Motorway...I figured by 7:30. That would mean a 5:30 roll from home. Looked at the weather late Friday night, saw rain...and decided I didn't want to ride out there in the rain. So I drove to the Tree Farm. I arrived about 6:50 and saw all the cars. I also only saw 3 riders talking by a car. Looked down by the tractors and saw another friend's truck, so I figured that all was good.

As I got my gear together, I started seeing riders coming down the road....and the bikes were caked with mud. Looks like it was messy. Got on my bike and started to pedal up Silverado. I was soon joined by one of the guys that was standing at the cars. His bike covered in mud. We chatted all the way up Silverado.....and quick too. PR'd it....27:00. Rolled into Aid Station #1 at just before 7:30.

Hung out and chatted with the other Warriors and found out no one had come through yet. WTF??? It had been 2 hrs. The front of the pack usually makes in there in a little over 1:30. Tinker would roll through a few minutes later. 25 mins behind his typical time. At that moment I realized how bad it was going to be. It was 10-15 mins before rider No. 2 came through. I found @Faust29 wife waiting for him, so we chatted while we waited. I let her know it sounds like everyone is going to be much later than originally anticipated. The riders started rolling in on a regular basis. Aid Station #1 was the zoo it used to be. Tons of people helping and spectating.

With all the DNF/DNS riders we had a ton of water at Aid Station #1...they began using the water and a few brushes to clean drivetrains and pedals as the riders came in. Others were filling bottles and Camelbaks....it was like a Nascar Pit stop. Started to see some of my other friends come through. Amy rolled through without stopping...she would regret it later. @HBkites came through around the same time as well as @singlespeedrider . @Faust29 rolled in a few minutes later. A little deer in headlights look. Cleaned the chain, offered my extra jersey....he declined and headed off. A few more friends would roll through.....some who said they weren't gonna show up if it was raining. We got closer to the 9:30 cutoff, when @Cornholio finally rolled in. Cleaned his chain and pedals and filled his pack and he was off as well.

So many people hit the bottom of Motorway and just quit. We had 20-30 number plates we pulled from riders that made the cutoff. 9:30 came and passed. At 9:40 I began my sweep. I guess I was pushing the pace at first. Then I caught up to my last rider. It was someone I knew, so that was cool. He was hurting, but pushing on. The dirt just past the pavement was wet and soupy. However once we made it around the first guardrail it got much better. It wasn't my ride, I was there to make sure everyone was safe....so the pace didn't matter. A few mins after the first guardrail we rolled up onto another rider taking a break. Now I have a new rider to sweep. That didn't last long. He got back on his bike and within a few mins we caught a 3rd rider. Once again, I had another new riding buddy. We would ride and chat the rest of the way up to 4 Corners. We reached 4 Corners at 11:45....unfortunately the cutoff was at 11:30. Saw @Rumpled there heckling...good to see you Jim. The 2 other riders I was sweeping early also missed the cutoff. Then there was @Sprockethead and Anne who were there, but made the cutoff. They took off ahead of me while I chatted with a couple of the Warriors. I caught back up with them just past the nasty shale section heading to Modjeska Peak. The 3 of us rode to peak together. Was good to catch up a little bit, hadn't seen them in a while. Plus they had a great attitude being out there. Andy took off from the Peak, Anne was a bit more cautious. Wasn't as cold as I expected. We reached Lower Holy Jim a short time later.

Andy and Anne headed down and I waited a few mins for the other Warrior who was stationed there. We caught Anne on the climb at the start of HJ. Everything was good heading down. No hikers and we were just cruising. Finally we reached one of the switchbacks and came across another rider. @Cornholio was there....awsome, he made the cutoff at 4 Corners. Then he said he had no back brake. So once again, I had another new riding buddy to ride with. He looked like a newb trying to ride down HJ...he did miss a turn or 2, but he kept the bike upright. Down past the Falls, you forget how many rock gardens there are down there. He tromped through the creek crossings while I kept my feet . I stopped at the gate to take my jacket off, the other 3 kept going.

It would be a solo ride to the finish....and in normal fashion out there, we had to fight the headwind. Not as many hikers today. Continued to take my time in the stream crossings. Grabbed some Polo Loco at the finish and visited with friends, then took off to ride back to Blackstar. I could have taken the shuttle, but that wasn't I planned to do. Uneventful ride through O"Neil then the long roadie back through the canyon. Legs got heavy near the back of Whiting. All the starting and stopping all day is rough on the legs. Still a fun day out there.
 
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