Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

2010 Boggs Mt 8/24 The Aftermath

3K views 49 replies 26 participants last post by  Captain Cobb 
#1 ·
Did the 8 hour solo and it was brutal. Temperature and the course were intense. Someone said it was more mellow than the Coolest 24 but I wasn't seeing it. The weather was great and I think there was only one little wet spot puddle on the trail. Other than that the conditions were pretty darn good - all except those manzanita punji stick stumps and that big azz "boulder" in the middle of the trail on the sudden little incline. From the looks of it some peeps lost a few teeth hopping it. Thanks Jim. Another nicely run race.

Now time for some zzzzsss...

z
 
#2 · (Edited)
That was a fun one. LOTS of singletrack and I do think it was mellower than the Coolest 24 hour (I think Cool has more climbing overall)...however, the HEAT made this one more brutal for me.

8 hour solo single speed for me.

Started out at a decent pace trading places with eventual category winner, and 8-hour solo single speed jedi master, Jared Franzoia. We passed each other several times over the course of the first lap and a half, and then when we hit the fireroad climb on the 2nd lap, I slowly pulled away and put a small gap on for the next few laps. Lap 3 I think was my fastest at about a 47:11 or thereabouts and my 4th lap wasn't too far behind timewise, but then the HEAT really started to take its toll on me. My 5th lap was slowed way down and it was here that Jared caught me again and passed me for the last time. Took a longer pit between my 5th lap and 6th lap to put on my secret weapon...one of those Camelback base layers with the integrated hydration. I had the hydration bladder on ice all day so I was saving it for a case like this in the hopes that it would help get my core temperature back down. So out on lap 6 I go, and man that ice cold water on my back was definitely a luxury, but it was too little too late as far as hydration goes and my 6th lap wasn't any better than my 5th.

So I ended my 6th lap still sitting in 2nd overall in solo SS (8 hour), but when I got back to the pits before my 7th I had nothing. I did the unthinkable (sat down!) and I didn't want to get back up. I eventually sat there for about 30 minutes (!!). As I sat there I thought about quitting and I see the 3rd place single speeder going zipping on by which moved him into 2nd. I didn't get up. Then a few moments later the next place single speeder came by dropping me to 4th and I still didn't find the motivation to get back out there. It was here I downed a Red Bull, popped a few Ibuprofens and my awesome wife came rolling in and was like "what the hell are you doing sitting there get back out there!" :D

It was 5 PM, and with 2-hours left to go, I went out for lap 7 and as soon as I started pedaling I thought, "holy **** I feel pretty good!". I guess it was some combination of the rest, the Red Bull and the drugs (Vitamin I) but that lap felt the best out of all of them for me. And I began to entertain the idea of catching back up to the two single speeders that passed me while I was sitting out. I hit the fireroad climb and actually cleaned it which I wasn't able to do on prior laps 4, 5, and 6. Then I hit the short, but steep, burst climbs after the fireroad and cleaned those too which I also hadn't been able to do on laps 4, 5, or 6. Encourage by that, I put my head down and pedaled all the way to the top of High Point without dismounting, and cruised all the way into the start/finish area. It was about 5:45...more than enough time to get an 8th lap in and maaybe catch one of those two single speeders to get onto the podium in 3rd.

So at my pit, I stop briefly to pick up one last bottle for the last lap and head back out. Still feeling good and trying to charge the last lap, I reach down for my bottle after about a mile and take a swig...and nearly hurl. PICKLE JUICE! ARGGGHHH!! I grabbed my freaking bottle of pickle juice!! I usually keep a small water bottle filled with pickle juice on hand as an emergency if the cramps set in, and I mistakenly grabbed this sucker on my last pit. DOH! Oh well, pickle juice for the last lap it is!! At least it was better than nothing and I felt good that I could go as hard as possible on the last lap and hopefully not worry about cramping!

So the 8th lap went well enough. Cleaned the fireroad climb again and the short steep bits after that, but had to dismount on the single track climb up to High Point this time which slowed me down again. Descent back in on Gails for the last time was a blast in the cooling temperatures and softening light. I think my 8th lap time was around 52 minutes, however, I could never catch back up to the 3rd place single speeder and i ended up in 4th.

Think my overall time was 8 laps in 7:40 which was about 4 - 5 minutes behind 3rd and about 7 - 8 behind 2nd. DOH! That extended break killed me and cost me a podium...but if I hadn't taken that break, I'd probably still be out there lost and out of my mind somewhere. haha.

Super fun. Major props to everyone who endured 24 hours. I don't think I will ever ever ever feel the need to a 24 hour solo (a team sure, but solo no way).

Congrats to all who raced and met their goals and rode with a smile. See ya out there next time.
 
#4 ·
I never even heard about pickles

until Sat. It worked out quite well though. The massive amt of single track there was truly amazing. A guy a met there said that the only draw back is that it's so remote that you really have to be careful of illegal drug running operations that go on there (meth labs etc).

Also it was a little freaky hearing all the bloody rifle fire - definitely wasn't shotgun or small arms. More like high power rifles. The course got pretty close to it.
 
#7 ·
24 hours...

first 24 hour report….

Our team did the two person category. One of the best things about this race was the course layout. Amazing! At no time could you just sit back and spin and daydream about spinning on your road bike. This was a true MTB course.

I love the two person format. You have to ride with someone you can trust and my teammate for both Coolest races….Bill Garcia is an awesome dude with a great attitude. Also, it helps to have friends and family in your pit to keep you motivated. My wife and some great friends from Auburn Presbyterian Church were there to help keep us going.

Bill did our first lap with the additional 2 minute climb up the road and then down Gails to the start/finish. There was a bit of traffic on the first lap so I believe his time was just about an hour. I was already wondering about our plan to do 23 laps. I hit the course and busted out a :51 which would be my best lap of the 24 hours. It was hard not to go 100% but I just kept thinking 24 hours is a long time. The heat was pretty intense especially on the short road climb between Johns and Ball Cap. Even though I was not going at 100% I knew that I would have to continue to back down the my pace or I would burn up. Bill continued to hit laps around :59 and I was averaging about :56 so our 23 lap plan was starting to look like a possibility. The fun factor was one of the things that kept me going strong. The course was a blast and by the second lap I felt like I had it mastered.

As the sun began to get lower we felt confident that 23 laps was in our grasp and we meticulously tracked our progress. Around 7pm I did something I usually do not do….check the race results. I found out we were in 2nd place and that the team in 1st was already a lap + ahead of us. The team in 3rd was just a few minutes behind and the teams below 3rd were running times well over an hour. I thought to myself….it would be nice to actually stand at the podium for a race. It was on!

As darkness fell it was our support team of friends and family that kept us going….keeping us hydrated, fed and motivated. We transitioned from doing single laps to double laps once the lights were on the bikes. I had a wonderful sunset lap and we began putting some distance between us and the 3rd place team. I was feeling amazingly good as we approached midnight. At night the course was still really fun.

Somewhere after midnight it started to feel like the wheels were coming off. I passed through the start finish feeling strong after a lap but at the short road climb I felt a big bonk coming on and then noticed I was out of water. I broke out a Hammer Gel which helped me get to the top of Boggs Mt Trail and then one more for the ride down. I was feeling pretty shaky and having a hard time staying focused on the trail. At the top of the Gails downhill my Bar light went out and moments later my headlamp went out. I walked down the trail for a few minutes before another rider came down and I clumsily followed him back to the start finish. I was starting to feel bonky, a little dehydrated, tired and worried about the status of my lights. Again, our support team got me up and running again and two hours later (around 3:45am) I was waiting for my teammate and feeling "ok". I waited, and waited and waited. By this time we had opened a gap on the 3rd place team and we were still shooting for 23 laps. As I continued to wait I realized that 23 laps was out of the question and we were in a battle for second place. When my teammate finally showed up he did not look very well and I was unsure how much I had left in me. As soon as I hit the fun twisty single track I was able to rally myself and pick up some time. I felt good for those next to laps and my lights worked fine. While I was riding I kept doing calculations on lap times. I was hoping that the third place team might give in as we continued to keep a twenty minute lead. That is not what they were thinking. As I found out later they were determined to catch us.

The sun was up….At 19 laps each there was only a few minutes separating us from the third place team. I had completed 11 of the 19 laps and I needed my teammate to pick it up. We chatted for a second at the start/finish and he said he probably only had one more lap left in him (which is exactly how I felt). I knew that if the other team continued to push we would have to go to 22 laps to get 2nd place. My teammate came through on lap twenty with a good time that kept us a few minutes ahead. As I headed out for lap 21 I knew that I had to bust out the best lap I could and also consider that I might have to ride the 22nd lap. I battled with my brain that whole lap. Do we really care about 2nd place? 21 laps is a lot….maybe we should just stop….maybe the other team will quit. Is Bill going to be at the start/finish in street clothes waiting to see if I will do another lap?

Adrenaline kicked in and I was able to increase the gap between us and the third place team. I prayed all the way down Gails that Bill would be there ready to ride because I did not want to do another lap. Bill was waiting on his bike and ready to go as I finished my 12th and final lap. I waited at the start/finish for the 3rd place team and we now had a 24 minute lead. To their credit they still went for lap 22. We shook hands and they conceded but I was still worried Bill might completely bonk or have a mechanical. As it turned out he ran a pretty fast lap and I think the final gap was around 30 minutes.

The course, the competition and the grass roots feel of this race made for a fantastic event for our team. I got a good nights sleep last night but this morning my body is say WTF?
It's back to recreational riding for the rest of the year and I am in shape for some big Tahoe epics. Yehaaaaaw!
 
#8 ·
A day and a half later and now I feel it. I was probably too busy "replenishing fluids" yesterday for the pain to be noticed :)

This was only my second race ever - the first being Boggs V. Talk about extremes!

I arrived Sat AM and was surprised by the heat. Normally the forest is 10 degrees cooler than our place in Kelseyville, but this morning I was sweating while just getting my stuff together. I was surprised that it was so hot, so early. None the less, the race started without incident. Lap one was great and people were talking and friendly the whole time.
On lap two the pace picked up a bit (at least for me) and the course thinned out nicely.
Lap three got a little tough. I took an extended break at the end of lap two to refill my bottle and eat and drink a little. The heat on Johns really seemed to increase by now (must've been about 1:30) and the subsequent climbs up 600 and High Point hurt.
I hit something funny on the way down Gails in lap 3 and wrenched my back a little, so at lap 4 I switched from the 29er hard tail to the full sus - so glad I brought both!
Someone had crashed on Gails around this time. They were down hard, but I don't know what happened or how they came through. Anyone know if they're okay?
I took a slightly longer break before lap 4 and also enjoyed a cold beer. As a result, this was my slowest lap of the day. I rolled out at 2:30 and I think this was when the heat peaked. The climbs were really slow for me at this point. I finally gave up trying to ride all of 600 and the little section of... was that Ball Cap? Walking didn't feel much better, but at least it cramped a different set of muscles.
After another extended break between laps (they seemed to just get longer), lap 5 sucked. I really wanted to pick up the pace so I could push for more laps than at Boggs V, but I just couldn't put down any power without cramping. To compensate, I tried to really hit it on the level and downhill sections.
I managed to make lap 5 a little faster than 4, but it wasn't good enough to squeeze in two more before 7PM. I was resigned to only total laps and decided to enjoy lap 6. I had to stop and stretch out a few cramps really early, but felt fine after that (relatively speaking). By now the course was actually starting to feel comfortable compared to earlier and the setting sun made for some real pretty trails. Berrys and Crew were a blast and I even found things to enjoy during the climbs. I flew down Gails for my last time and finished my ride at about 6:30.
Hydration was really tough. I never felt like I was able to get fluids where they needed to be. I went through 2 gallons of water, two gallons of Gatorade, one beer, two bananas, 6 Gogurts, 3 Gu's and a few ounces of dust on my teeth.
The cold beer was great. Even better was the cool shower once I got home.
The GBE crew put on a great event and everyone on the course was patient with me while looking for somewhere to pass. I'm already looking forward to the next one :)
Anyone know when/where results and pics will be posted? I'm curious how far back in the pack I fell.
 
#9 ·
My brother and I split the 2-Man 24hr on our hardtail singlespeeds. There were only a few spots I wanted gears, but what I really wanted was the suspension...that trail was a killer. Not sure where we ended up in the final tally (bottom two), but I do know that my A$$ still hurts. The course was excellent. I felt we got a full repayment for mid course climbing with a ton of semi-technical fast downhill leading to the finish. We weren't in good mountain bike shape, but rolling into that finish at top speed made me feel fast (just had to avoid looking at the clock). I think most of my laps were mid 50s on course with some extended breaks in between (hence the bottom two). Hats off to the solo guys/gals and to those guys pulling 40's the whole time...animals. I saw a pretty bad crash at one hairpin early on, but the guy insisted he was fine....loaned my pump out twice....had my cranks nearly falling off a couple of laps....but otherwise a clean event. Beer was warm but seemed like an inappropriate breakfast anyway, cracked a cold one back at camp...somehow seemed a little more appropriate. ;-)
 
#12 ·
that's good news.

Does anyone know how much it is to stay in one of the campsites? Thinking of going up there again in the next month and spend the weekend checking out the other trails. Anyone have any favs or was the one we rode pretty much "the" one?

:)
 
#15 ·
zenmster said:
Does anyone know how much it is to stay in one of the campsites? Thinking of going up there again in the next month and spend the weekend checking out the other trails. Anyone have any favs or was the one we rode pretty much "the" one?

:)
Some of my favorites include Houghton Creek, Grizzly, B, Stinger and Big Springs (in addition to those in the race). Heck - they're all great in one way or another. Get a map and ride anything that wasn't in the race, then ride the race trails too. Then do them again in the opposite direction. Seriously.
 
#17 ·
twindaddy said:
Some of my favorites include Houghton Creek, Grizzly, B, Stinger and Big Springs (in addition to those in the race). Heck - they're all great in one way or another. Get a map and ride anything that wasn't in the race, then ride the race trails too. Then do them again in the opposite direction. Seriously.
Agreed :thumbsup:

My fav loop thus far (one of them, anyway), is start at heliport (main parking), Mac's, Hoberg's, Karen's, Scout, Jethro's, Game, Stinger, Grizzly, Big Spring, (dunk head in the actual, running big spring!), John's, (then crew, I think?), Thinners, Houghton Creek. It's a ton of singletrack,

It's also fun to organize a route that goes the entire length of Gail's from the back of the forest to the heliport - fun rolling downhill.

Also, there is Kevin's for some steep action... although it's not on the map. It's got a sign, though.
 
#18 ·
#20 ·
#22 ·
As my 13-year-old would say "Fail!"

I thought I came into it pretty well prepared. The forecast for Cobb was 95º, don't know what it actually hit on Sunday but it was hot. I had lots of electrolytes and sugar in my water, lots of cool bottles, extra water, lots of good food with electrolytes in it. I felt good. Only question mark was sleep; I hadn't had great sleep in the nights before. My new 22lb geared hardtail was fast. (Niner AIR 9, thanks Brian @ Big Swingin' Cycles!) On the first lap I felt good, didn't let too many get in front of me, but didn't peg it either. I was turning 53-minute laps, ticking them over, drinking two bottles a lap. The trails were fun, the climbs felt good. Caught & passed the guy who won my field in April, so I felt good.

Then boom.

I don't know if it was heat exhaustion or what. I just blew. My 4th lap was grueling. I was groggy, felt like I was gonna throw up. All these secondary bodily aches and pains showed up when the big hammer hit, like small-time punks waiting for their turn to get a kick in while the bad guy laid me out. I slumped by my table and sat there for 20-30 minutes. Dennis (zero gee are ee) came by and counseled me, poured water on my head. That felt good. Saw Vuduvgn go by, looking at me quizzically. I was done. I forced myself to eat a sandwich, drink some water w/ EFS powder in it. After a long time in purgatory, Dennis suggested I try a very slow 5th lap, drinking a lot and keeping cool to see if I could recover. He rolled with me out of the transition and I did my best. The weird thing is my legs still felt great, but my energy - my nervous system - was gone. I didn't feel hot. I didn't feel thirsty. I felt out of it, empty, dizzy. I finished my 5th lap, suffering the whole way and slowly packed up and drove home. I stopped and talked with Dennis' wife Shar and some others before I rolled out. I was a zombie. There were still three hours on the 8hr race clock.

It was only on the way home that I remembered Dennis' and Shar's prior experience with heat exhaustion. It was inconsiderate of me, but I didn't remember it. Thank you for thinking of me, and helping me, Dennis.

This race left me with bad feelings. I don't like to fail! I've had decent results here in the past. The funny thing is I still managed a mid-pack finish. Lots of other people were suffering, dropping early. On lap 3 I actually thought I might have a podium finish. Maybe if I trained in the heat more. In hindsight, the best thing for me to have done would have been to recognize the heat as a factor, gone out slower than my legs wanted, poured water on my head at every lap transition. Maybe.

I'm still feeling it three days later. Doing a fun ride/race this Sunday, registered for So No Mas and Tahoe-Sierra 100. Hope I'm going to be ready for those.

BTW the Niner AIR 9 with XX, Edge Composites XC rims, tubeless Schwalbe Racing Ralph Snakeskin 29x2.25 tires at 30/32psi did great. It's a new bike for me. Can you tell I'm a gearhead? I guess we all are, here. Things I'd change are ESI Silicone grips - prefer Ergons - and WTB Rocket V saddle - prefer the Silverado. Changing that today. I wish I was as good as this bike is.

Morgan
 
#24 ·
I think maybe

the heat and dry conditions affected some folks worse than others and it may have to do with what kind of conditions you are use to riding in.

The conditions were very "Auburn like" and I felt right at home. I was also very much on top of keeping hydrated on race day and the prior two days.

I saw a lot of suffering out there but for some reason I felt fantastic for most of the 24 hours. I managed 12 of our teams 22 laps and averaged under :55 per lap. Surprised myself this time out. I really think I benefited from the weather and course layout....all very Auburn like.:thumbsup:
 
#25 ·
morganfletcher said:
Dennis suggested I try a very slow 5th lap, drinking a lot and keeping cool to see if I could recover. He rolled with me out of the transition and I did my best. The weird thing is my legs still felt great, but my energy - my nervous system - was gone. I didn't feel hot. I didn't feel thirsty. I felt out of it, empty, dizzy. I finished my 5th lap, suffering the whole way and slowly packed up and drove home. I stopped and talked with Dennis' wife Shar and some others before I rolled out. I was a zombie. There were still three hours on the 8hr race clock.

It was only on the way home that I remembered Dennis' and Shar's prior experience with heat exhaustion. It was inconsiderate of me, but I didn't remember it. Thank you for thinking of me, and helping me, Dennis.
Sorry to hear your 5th lap was crappy. I just barely missed your exit, I wound up rolling a lap with Impy and when I rolled up you were rolling out. You weren't in much condition to be thinking beyond the cloud of pain. Anyhow glad I could help a bit.
 
#26 ·
zenmster said:
curious - what is the quickest way to Cobb from Oakland? I took two separate ways one up 80 and over to Napa which sucked with traffic but then shot over to 101 via Alexander Valley Rd, through Healdsburg and that wasnt' much fun either.
Yeah, those ways suck. Just go up 101 and take the mark west springs rd. exit just past Santa Rosa, then take a left at petrified forest rd. That brings you into Calistoga, take a left at 128, right on Tubbs. Ln., then left on 29, etc.

The loop I had mentioned is only about 12 miles. Boggs is relatively small, even though there are lots of trails. OK - now back to race reports! Really enjoying reading them... :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top