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2008 Texas State Championship Sprint Adventure Race Series

Things I've (we've) learned this season while racing in the 2008 Terra Firma Sprint Series

Race #1 (White Rock Lake, Dallas) Wow, I really need to work on my running… and yep, running is still not my favorite part…Perhaps I should have inquired where we were supposed to leave our kayak seats an hour before the race starts instead of 10 minutes prior.

Race #2 (Muleshoe Bend, Austin) Always check the quick release tire bar thingamajigs on the bike before the race starts, if loose, tighten them because they will fall out on the race course. Duck when my race partner swings the oar over my head in the kayak. Always bring tweezers in case your partner falls in a bed of cactus on the bike course...oh, and a pack of ice for the swelling. And… running is still not my favorite

Race #3 (Amon Carter, Fort Worth) Just because you have slime in your tires, doesn't mean it won't go flat in .0032 seconds when you pull out the big thorn. Thank goodness for the on-site bike mechanics. Bud light makes the perfect little beer can serving size for post race enjoyment. "Thank You" to the team sitting next to us that gave us one to sample… (which we legally drank later of course, in the comforts of our home.. ahem)

Race # 4 (Houston Urban) A sudden disk brake hydraulic fluid leak cannot be repaired at the race site… always bring a friend, who isn't racing, and who happens to have an extra bike… which brings us to the next lesson: Don't stop suddenly in front of your race partner when they are on someone else's bike set up for a left handed person. Don't try and pass a team on the left while racing down a tiny little side walk when there is only a tiny little strip of grass next to a MAJOR (not so tiny) road where there is a perfect space for a tire to get caught in between the tiny strip of grass and the tiny side walk… it's just not safe (run on sentence, I know). Gas is really expensive!

What, oh what, will we learn at race # 5? I'm a tiny bit nervous to find out… hopefully it will have nothing to do with snakes or wild animals…

Race #5 (Wyatt 3R Ranch, Glen Rose) LOOOOOOVED the race on Saturday... LOVED IT! The scenery and trails were fabulous…My favorite site, by far... well, ok... it ties with where ever that Rattlesnake race was a few years ago… Bastrop maybe? I can't remember, I ate too much mercury as a child…well? it was silver and shinny... Saturday we were able torun just about the entire leg w/ the exceptionof alittlebit ofbottle necking and the water part. WAHOOO!!!

(~Amie, Tara's Journey)

Regarding Texas State Championship Sprint Adventure Race Series - White Rock Lake 05/31/08:

Thanks to Scott and Kathy. What an exciting new race site . It was fun. It is wonderful having races here in the metroplex. I will continue to tell my friends about the fun beginner friendly races. Thanks also to the sponsors for the fabulous gifts. We will support their stores. (Priscilla Reese)

Hey Kathy,

First and foremost you guys did an unbelievable job this last weekend. It was my first adventure race and your staff was polite and energetic and I just wanted to thank you all for a wonderful afternoon. It is truly a great program and those involved with the first event were great, they were just as excited as us about the race. (Chad Carnes)

Dirty Dozen 12 Hour Mtn Bike Race (Feb 2, 2008):

Hey Kathy, You and your husband ROCK. I just wanted to say THANKS for all of your hard work on organizing these events. I am just a weekend warrior who likes to race for fun without being "too serious". If it weren't for all of your (and other folks') hard work, it would not be possible for guys like us to enjoy bicycle competition...EC Barber ("Crank Monkeys" 5 person open for past 3 years) from BVM BA (Brazos Valley Mountain Bike Association) in College Station, TX.

I just wanted to thank you, Scott, and Terra Firma for all your race event efforts. Y'all are doing a great job and we appreciate it. Keep up the great work. Sam House

24 Hours of Dirt - Rocky Hill Ranch, Smithville, TX (October 20, 2007) posted by Shaun Taylor

This is the view we woke up to last Saturday morning, a rising sun coming up over tent sites in the middle of a small grassy field. In a matter of a few hours this view would change into an exciting race start line.

We had left Sugar Land late on Friday evening so we could setup a campsite at Rocky Hill Ranch (RHR) where I would be competing at 24 Hours of Dirt - my third 24 Solo this year. The first two 24's were tough, really tough. Just over three months ago I got a rude introduction to 24hr Solo at the Canmore event where I placed 8th out of 80 soloists, pushing myself hard enough to cause me to walk into emerg two days later with internal bleeding. Uhmmmmmm, lessons learned. Less than two months later I hit the suffer-fest at Worlds Solo Championship at Laguna Seca in September, where the temps were over 100 degrees both days and each lap was approx 2500 vertical feet gain. Yikes, that hurt but I placed top five in my category and in the top 20 against the Elite's. More lessons learned and as they say, third time lucky. So this 24 Solo was going to be different - race smarter, harder and hopefully to a podium. With a plan in place and breakfast on the go, it was time to start thinking about which lucky bike socks to wear.

I didn't get much forewarning for this 24, by the time I found out it was a very cool Texas grassroots event and probably something I should do, my cycling fitness for the event had already been decided weeks prior when I should have been riding but wasn't. As soon as I signed up for the race I got a chance to do a two lap course pre-ride with Rosie, Andrew and Kyle from Sugar Cycles a couple of weeks before the actual race, throw in some solo night rides on my road bike down Highway 6 and a couple of weekend club rides and all of a sudden it was time to go race again. Saturday morning race day I was quietly mentally questioning my physical endurance side but I knew my head was in the right place and that's 9/10ths of the battle. As the morning progressed I met more and more riders and pit crews and started to realize that it was a typical 24 hour event - a wide spectrum of passionate riders - from the weekend warriors with all the gucci gear and latest expensive hardware to the occasional rider on a borrowed friend's bike and an old grey t-shirt, sprinkle in some frothing at the mouth and eager to go yearly attendees looking for redemption right on through to the calm and seasoned expert racers quietly leaning against a wall and eyeballing the competition. It was a bike event with a good vibe and a down-home feel but there was no mistaking it, this was also a bike race. Where did I put those lucky socks?

Of course while all these things were running through my head, the boys just rolled out of the tent, to chow down on the magically appearing breakfast burritos whipped up by Doreen.

And right around the time the boys were really starting to understand that dad was going to be in a really long bike race it was time to toe the line. With the temp's hovering around 90 degrees and the humidity a factor I didn't want to get caught up in the madness that overtakes the team racers pushing themselves to do an Olympic qualifying time in the Le Mans running start.

This generally mad rushing sprint by at least half the starters can be a disaster if as a 24hr soloist you get caught up in the sprinting-fever and start racing the course at max speed in the first thirty seconds - hey there's at least 86,400 seconds during these events. I stuck to my game plan and let the out-of-the-blocks gang burn some rubber and I casually jogged in to my bike not breathing hard at all.

As I was hopping on to my bike scanning the pack ahead of me it looked like a good mix of team and soloists up front so it was time to start focusing on moving towards the front of that pack and setting a pace. Doreen got a good shot of me just as I was landing on the saddle and starting to clip in and ready to engage the ignition button. Interestingly, even though I gave up time on the Le Mans run I still turned in the fastest soloist first lap (and fastest lap in this category for the rest of the race) and it also turned into the sixth fastest first lap overall - no wonder that 90 degrees felt hot.

The 24 Hours of Dirt event organizers are Terra Firma Promo a very professional and friendly race organization. Even though I was racing against 48 other male soloists the race itself still had a really good bike-family feel to it, which made it a superb event. The course was perfect for me after the tons of hours of slamming epic all-mountain trails near Calgary; it was a lot of twisty, carving singletrack sections with spikey, rolling and off-camber tight lines. Tight trees, babyheads, some roots, shale and other small technical challenges that let an unfit guy like me be competitive against fitter riders. This kind of course can let me pass a lot of riders by increasing my efforts and still not suffering, or conversely, the type of course I can conserve a lot of energy and turn in a good lap time by simply riding clean lines and flowing through the course with technical precision and finesse. One lap through the course and I felt good, really good, happy to be out there riding my bike on such a fun and technical course. After two or three laps the heat hadn't let up yet and my thick Canadian blood was starting to rebel so I stopped in the pit a little longer than necessary to be sure I didn't buildup a punishing heat-debt. Luckily Doreen had bought the boys a couple of really cheap little water pistols and they took great pleasure in spraying dad with water. Evan focused on mainly trying to get it up my nose and in my left eye, Keegan focused really hard on soaking a scrape on my left arm. I'm sure the next event will need even larger water pistols. Maybe I need to get a really big one for Doreen's marathon at the start of next year. ;-)

As the day started to turn into evening and the weather started to cool down a bit I found myself at the front of a small convoy of soloists who were all tucked in behind my wheel. I had a good conversation with Michael (who I thought was a good guy and a very strong contender from Team Kenda) he was directly behind me for at least 15mins holding his end of the conversation but it soon became apparent that the roadie tactics were in place and I wasn't too keen on drafting four of my competition around the entire course. I slowly started to increase the pace for another 20mins or so and still this little mini-convoy continued to tuck in to my wheel with no efforts to pass. Right around the time I was thinking about punching the effort way up in order to break up this little pack, I skidded out on a dusty/sandy section and went down pretty hard, my only decent wipeout during the entire race. The little convoy of soloist's kept on going and a few seconds later I was back on my bike keeping them in sight. I went back to my pit a little shook up and had to sit for a few extra minutes to settle down and get back to my game plan of riding smart.

While I was out on the course eating a bit of dirt and wondering what kind of scar that would cause, the boys got some sleep which gave Doreen a small break from her Pit Mechanic (thanks honey), Boy Duty (thanks honey) Pit Cook (thanks honey) Pit Chief (thanks honey) and all around Race Strategist Duties (thanks honey).

I know without Doreen's help I wouldn't have placed as well as I did. Her efforts to get me back out in a timely fashion made a big difference. Not having Doreen in my pit so much at World's gave things a different sort of vibe, I missed her presence in California. During this event things couldn't have gone any better and a lot of the success lies squarely on her shoulders. Having said that we were really lucky there were no mechanicals during the entire 24hrs.

I had a few potential thorn flats out on the course and right away my tubeless tires would get sealed up by Stan's latex treatment. It's a bit nerve-racking as you are ripping along to hear pfffffttt, pfffffftttt pfff! as your flattening tire rotates and the latex seals up the hole around the thorn. Stan's was worth it's weight in gold out there.

By midnight it was getting cool, bordering on cold and very moist. If you sat down in the pit for too long you either wanted to crawl into a sleeping bag or get back out on the course just to try and warm up again. Doreen made sure I got back out again. The laps settled into a predictable routine and by 0600hrs the next morning I asked Doreen what the standings were and things looked pretty interesting.

So now it was time to get serious and see what I could do to shake things up a bit. I started pushing hard, sometimes out of the saddle for 10-20mins at a time, one lap in particular I figure I did over 50% of it out of the saddle. Besides pushing myself hard, I had another reason to be ripping it out of the saddle - my butt - it was raw and tender and hurting pretty bad every time I settled onto the saddle again. That's what you get for not spending enough time on the bike before you decide to spend a lot of time on a bike in a very condensed fashion. Generally I found myself standing up and pedal-stroking out of the saddle until I was ready to pop, only dropping back down on to the saddle when my legs and upper body couldn't take it anymore, I'd grab a bit of recovery in the saddle (and grit my teeth because of my butt) and then back out of the saddle it again. I know it was freaky for some of the team riders I was passing since they never saw me sit down the entire time it would take me to get out of their sight. I actually got comments from riders who couldn't believe I was solo'ing out of the saddle so much, I told some of them my secret weapon was actually really raw butt cheeks - which led to some funny conversations.

While I was out there mashing my pedals, the boys were enjoying the big adventure, everything was fun. I mean check out the hula hoop competition.

Around 1000hrs I took second place and increased my already busy pace with an even faster pace to secure the position. I pitted briefly and hopped back on to the course and started to slam it pretty hard on my last lap. When I finished the last lap I went into the transition zone, with two minutes to spare before the clock hit noon, I asked about the race leader's status and was surprised to hear he was only 5mins up and was told he had gone out for another lap just before cutoff (cutoff for last lap was leave before noon and across the finish line before 1330hrs).

With five minutes up and not much chance of me catching him unless he had a mechanical I decided to be happy with things as they were and not try to chase him for an 18th lap. Later, I was told the leader didn't complete his lap, he just started it and waited to see what my response was - he ran a smart, tough race and he made me suffer like a dog. He definitely deserved the win.

Perspective is a funny thing, I thought I did well considering my age, I'm 44 years old today but as it turns out the guy who took third place (his name is Ray Porter from Dallas) did it on a single speed and is 50 this year!!! Man oh man, much respect for that guy!

Something about a single speed really seems to interest me. Can't believe I've never ridden one but it sounds like a lot of fun and I hear from everyone that it's a good way to gain extra strength and skills on the bike. Wonder if a single speed will fit under a Christmas tree? ;-)

Doreen met me at the finish line with the boys, she had a banana and peanut butter wrap ready for me to eat along with a congratulatory hug. At the finish line I was quite content to sit and watch the clock count down for the final couple of minutes to end the 24hrs and content to watch it for a few more minutes as I let it all sink in. In this finish line photo I must be waving to someone I know but it generally makes me look like a bit of a French Dandy - that's a French Dandy wave if I ever saw one - good thing I'm wearing slightly dirty racing shorts and an absolutely filthy jersey to reinstate my manliness. ;-)

Soon enough it was back to the pit to rest a bit and try to eat some more. For 27hrs I had been on only liquid nutrition, it seems to be getting easier to dial in to my body's needs. And now, after all that racing, when it was time to eat something solid, the wrap just didn't taste that good as noted by the chewing-face. Luckily after this photo was taken I found a beer to chase it down with.

So the results... I raced for 23:58 and did 17 laps to give me a second place finish, losing first place by five minutes to a State Champ who races with the Pro's. The laps were approx 10 miles long and included 850 vertical feet gain per lap, my fastest lap was under an hour and my slowest lap was nearly 90mins. The key result was that I finally grabbed a small piece of real estate on the podium and unlike all the other categories the Expert Male Solo category got a cash prize; I ended up with $250 cash, plus a small plaque trophy made by a local artist which I thought was very cool. Of course the cash and such isn't as important as realizing a goal.

I have to say the race organizers at Terra Firma did an outstanding job. From start to finish it was top-notch. Their prizes were five deep in each category and the prizes were excellent, even the giveaways were good. I particularly like the event t-shirts and wish I had grabbed a second one since the one I got will no doubt get washed with Crayola crayon.

I plan on doing this event again next year and will recommend it to anyone who enjoys fun but hard mtb-ing. The racers out at the event were all very cool, our team racer neighbors on each side of our pit were super friendly and eager to help once they heard I was solo-ing. In fact, they were cheering me on and as anxious about how my laps were going as if they were all close friends. Lots of handshakes and smiles at the end of the race. A really fun mtb grassroots feel.

Now this is probably the funniest thing to me... if you look at this last image, as I turn on my heel away from the awards presentation, I was already starting to think about what I'm going to do next... ;-)

posted by Shaun Taylor

Texas Challenge Adventure Race, New Braunfels, TX, May 5, 2007

Hey Kathy,

My husband, friends, & I wanted to drop you guys a line letting you know how much fun your race was. This was only our 2nd adventure race and we needed a great experience to follow our not-so-great first time. Your race was well organized and your race staff was friendly and helpful (very encouraging as well). We met first-timers during the race and expressed to them how grateful they should be that their first time was with you guys. The course was exceptionally challenging for us, HOWEVER, WE HAD A BLAST!!! Thanks again, and we look forward to another race with ya'll.

Just a FYI, Jill Mills was thrilled with the event. She is a 2001, 2002 World Strongest Woman champion. My husband and I trail ride with her and we convinced her that she needed to give these races a try. She stated that your race was better organized than some of the Strong Woman competitions she's participated in.

Mucho Props To You Guyz, (Michelle Guerrero & Jason Sauceda)

Thanks for putting on a great race! Brad and I had a blast. Great people, great area and great weather made for a great time. (Roger Terry)

I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful race! I knew I would have fun or finish, I had no idea I could do both!! (Kelley Rogge)

Nice post race report - never seen one this cool or timely. I appreciate the race sponsors. (Rich Sumrall)

Great race on Saturday!
I wanted to also say thanx for a terrific time. I couldn't have spent a better day in the rain and mud and humidity! Every year I race with your organization, you always keep us in good spirits and keep the motivational level high us to keep going! Great Job!! This Texas Challenge was the third for me, and the first Adventure Race my cousin and race partner (Jessica Wright) was a part of, and wanted to say "Great job Jess!" She is already looking for the next race to do with her husband! See you all next race!
(Danny Duran)

Kathy and Scott-
My name is Lisa and I was part of team What Were We Thinking? that participated at the New Braunfels Adventure Race this past weekend. My team mate Crystal and I came to this race hoping not only to place but to finish for ourselves. Unfortunately we didn't have it in us to make it cross that line. We came in to this with little to no training and paid for it in the end. We have set a new goal for ourselves. We both want to find a race that is coming up and make it this time!
Scott... Thank you so much for your words of encouragement during our race. If it weren't for you.. I would still be wondering what it would have been like to get in a canoe. You guys were the best. We look forward to seeing y'all at another race! (Lisa Clark)

We really enjoyed the race! The terrain is awesome and the staff and
volunteers are excellent. I honestly couldn't think of a thing that could
be better. Registration went smoothly, great location, great organization.
Thanks for running such an outstanding event. I'll see you guys later in
the year, maybe Smithville. Thanks, (J.J. Hollie)

I just wanted to say Thanks and Great Race!
You guys did an awesome job everyone was wonderful! This was my first adventure race and I had a blast! I'm still telling my friends about it! I am already looking forward to the next one.
I also wanted to tell my cousin and coed partner, Daniel Duran, thanks for being patient and encouraging! I really wasn't sure I could make it up that hill the forth time! haha! Thanks again! (Jessica Wright)

Hi Kathy and Scott,
Thanks so much for the fantastic race. You guys are top-notch. My wife and I are looking forward to the sprint series. See you in June, (Matt Kulow – Team Built in Sweater) Story by Matt: MATT KULOW'S RACE REPORT

Texas Challenge Race Report (We won 4th for Coed!!)
Posted by: "christy.bishop"
Sun May 6, 2007 7:19 am (PST)
Here it is...

Race was fairly small because I think many people were at other races, graduations, etc. The transition area was a large grassy area though on a slight incline, so there was no problem finding a good spot.

We came early & brought the good 'ole Jetboil & made oatmeal on site while waiting around for the race meeting. Things I wish I had brought included plastic bags for trash & wet clothes, shoes, etc, tent stakes to secure the tarp, a flag w/pole to make our team area easier to spot.

Race Sequence:1.5-2 mi Run – Up one heart break ridge after another. (I should really start training at the Hill of Life, because I had to walk quite a bit of this uphill part- it was steep.) Down a creek bed with varying size of rock, some covered with slick moss- from boulders to gravel, definitely some ankle grabbers in there. (The flat parts that were slick reminded me of Bull Creek while the super-varied rocky part reminded me of Barton Creek when the creek is dry.)It was difficult to run this part also. We had to swim through part of the creek- maybe 100 feet to the other side, the rocks below were slick & it was hard to swim with sneakers on. I depended on my buddy to help me get to the other side. Then it was down a steep hill which was also slick to a jeep road near the road which was flat & easy and led to the transition area.

6-7 mi Mountain Bike- Next we went up the same steep hill from the 1st part of the run, which my partner so thankfully helped push my bike up while I walked up. It is difficult to get momentum to go up it because you're practically starting from a dead stop to a steep uphill. At the creek bed you then split to the left and go up & up on a jeep road. All the wild flowers were in bloom & it was the prettiest part of the course (except for all the bees & bugs which accompany flowers.) We hosed ourselves in bug spray several times during this race & shared with some other racers. I think my teammate got stung a couple of times by bees. We came across a solo racing woman who had a flat & didn't know how to change a tire. We stopped & helped and we know several people had passed her by. I know this is supposed to be a competitive sport, but I was very disappointed no one else helped her. Next came a flat part, then downhill part (some of which I had to walk because it was steep & slick). There was definitely some opportunities for top speeds of 20-30 mph on some of back downhill part. It was great fun. It then came back down to the road & the course followed a Jeep road parallel to the real road up to the transition area. This part was flat & a great place to make up some time. Drop bikes in transition area, cross road to the river

3/10 mi Paddling- Since the flow on the river was so high, they shortened the paddle/float. We used it as a time to grab a snack & reapply sunscreen. At the pull out you could drop your paddles & seats. Then you had to portage the boat & lifejackets back up to the paddle start. It was easy just to flip the boat over rest it on your head & walk up to the paddle
start.

6-7 mi Mountain Bike- It was an exact repeat of the biking section above. I again relied on my partner to help push my bike up the hills I couldn't ride. Then I hauled the mail on the down hills since I knew what to expect around the turns. It was fun, my favorite part other than the pond swim (which was super-freshing).

1.5-2 mi Run – It was an exact repeat of the first run section above. My legs were jello at this point, so we struggled through it & I jogged the parts I could.

Finish!! Well, it was a small race & so Justin (my teammate, bike pusher, water supplier, encourager, etc), and I won 4th place for 2 person coed & finished the race in just under 4 hours!! Since it was our 1st race in almost a year & our 2nd ever (we did Muddy Buddy last year), we were super-excited to win a plaque along with a great big bike lock (Justin's keeper) & a new bike computer (my keeper since I lost mine a while ago!)I believe there was another team there from AAR, but since I'm new to the group I didn't know until the end. I think they won 1st place coed (Werewolves of Austin)!?!?