Baja Epic

Sorry about the delay.... I been recovering :-)

I arrived in Rosarito Beach on Tuesday afternoon, checked into the hotel, and went directly to the rider's meeting. The meeting was fairly small, which is what I expected. Everyone looked hard core and even worse... everyone looked to my age. I found out that there were only 26 participants, 13 in my category. My goal of top 5 looked good on paper and top 3 stretch goal was on the back of my mind.... "were my expectations too high?"

Day 1: Wind and climb, climb, climb
65 miles, 7860 ft. of climbing
Rosarito Beach to Rancho Santa Veronica

Day one was to feel out the competition. We started right on the beach which was awesome. We only rode about 500 yards on the beach then walked the bikes into a small canyon. When we hit the canyon there were 5 of us together. Evan, the PRO; Norm, me and two others. Evan is very strong, so Norm and I just drafted his wheel. The two others dropped off pretty quickly. About 4 miles in, I decided I was working too hard... we still have more than 60 miles to go, and 3 more days of this... so I decided to back off. About 30 seconds later Norm dropped off as well.

Norm and I rode together until Sergio caught up with us... all 3 of us were in the same category. I could tell that Sergio was a good climber since that's where he was making ground on us, but Norm strong everywhere. We rode together until about mile 48. We hit a hill that was pretty steep. Sergio took a high line on a curve and hit some deep sand. I took the low line and went past him. Norm was just behind me, but he was taken out by Sergio. I looked back 10 seconds later and I saw Norm walking and Sergio just getting up. I figured what the hell and increased my tempo just enough.

I learned later that both of them had issues with cramping, but that's just not hydrating well which is a big part of endurance racing. I finished the day in second place overall in just over 6 hours, about 45 minutes behind Evan, the PRO. First in my category about 14 minutes ahead of Norm and 20 minutes ahead of Sergio.

Day 2: Wind and sand, sand, sand
81 miles, 5530 ft. of climbing
Rancho Santa Veronica to Ojos Negros

This route looked easy on paper with. I figured 6 hours since it was pretty flat, but we were told the night before that we had about 20 miles of deep sand, about 50% of it rideable. It was an easy ride for the first 15 miles. Norm, Sergio and me all rode together. Evan was off the front.

The sand started at mile 16 and ended around mile 40. I think a little more than 50% was rideable but not by much. I was hoping to have a good day, but about 2 hours into the ride I lost a cleat bolt and, if this has ever happened to you, the day was miserable. I would clip in by accident, which meant I had to clip out way in advance by flipping off the bike and doing a 180 degree turn to unclip my left shoe from the pedal. Of course, in deep sand, I could not always predict when I had to unclip and I fell about a dozen times in the sand. Falling wasn't the issue, UNCLIPPING while in the sand was the issue. I kept thinking I looked like a fish out of water every time.

"I hate sand!!" Every time we went through sand we thought we were done with it only to see more of the stuff..."WTF!!!" one of the three would whisper every time. Trust me when I say that everyone one was out for survival. Once out of the sand, about 5 hours into the stage, we were at the top of the Sierra Juarez (over 6000 ft. high) with some beautiful scenery. We saw a deer at a distance; smelled the pine trees; and not a car in sight. Dogs, on the other hand, were abundant and aggressive.... little bastards scared the hell out of me a couple of times.

We finally hit the fast downhill that lasted almost 10 miles, with the last 5 miles in flat sandy roads. "WTF!! More SAND!!" Well, at least it was rideable. We finished the date in just over 8 hours. Norm, Sergio and I finished together, but somehow the timers gave Sergio the win 10 seconds ahead of me and 9 seconds ahead of Sergio... not that it mattered, since my 14 minute lead was still intact.

DAY 3: Climb and technical, fast, fun
53 miles, 6850 ft. of climbing
San Matia to Mike Sky Ranch to Melings to Valle de la Trinidad

This was the stage that would decide the race. The last day was fairly easy, but this one had some very difficult climbs and descents. As usual, Evan took off, Norm, Sergio and I followed. The 43 of us stayed together until mile 20 where it got real nasty. Steep,.... very steep climbs, some rideable, some not. Norm had a 2x9 drivetrain (no small chainring) and would just power up the hills, Sergio and I would spin up, but Norm, if he could ride up the hill, would get ahead of us. Not by much, but just enough to make me worry a little. We were still together at mile 25 when the "Simpson" descent started. This is a "popular" descent for motorcycles because it's steep and technical. Sergio was little slower than Norm and I on the descents so I was always trying to stay in front of him. Finally, on one of the climbs, Norm got about a 30 second lead.... I was counting when he crested the hills. Next big hill... one minute. Two minutes. Then I couldn't see him.

I told myself not to panic. Just do what you can, and then turn it on afterburners on the descent and flats. At the last checkpoint, just before the final descent (about 12 miles from the finish) I was told Norm had a 5 minute lead. I thought "you're still in it, just don't let the gap grow and be careful on the last day". I pushed hard on the wide open descent and took some pretty big chances. With about 2.5 miles to go, we hit a long straightaway take took you to the finish line. I could see Norm. I used up everything I had and chased as hard as I could. I didn't catch Norm, but his lead had shrunk to 1 minute and 45 seconds. I still had a lead of 12 minutes... should be enough barring a crash or mechanical on the last day. BARRING A CRASH or mechanical on the last day!!!!!

Day 4: CRASH and "we're done!!"
40 miles, 3000 ft. of climbing
Valle de Guadalupe to Puerto Nuevo

This was supposed to be an uneventful stage, but it wasn't based on the title of the day.... About 15 miles in, while riding right behind Norm (this was my strategy for the day) I dropped my chain while shifting to my big chainring getting ready for a big descent. What I didn't realize is that Norm missed a turn (and so did I), so while I was looking down to get my chain back on, Norm started to brake ... hard. As I fixed my chain, I look up, just in time to see Norm almost stopped. I hit his side going about 25 mph and just flew. I don't know how far, but I thought while in the air, that I was not going to get up or my bike was going to be broken in half. To my amazement, I got up, with no pain, picked up the bike, seemed alright other than my bar end pointing down.

I saw blood on the top tube and on my knee and on my elbow and on my hip and on.... you get the picture. I wasn't in pain or anything, but I kept thinking that I was a lucky man. About 15 miles from the finish, Norm and I stopped at a checkpoint and one of the paramedics wanted to clean the wounds right there. Of course I refused.... "dude, I'm still racing. You can do it at the finish line." By now, Norm and I had settled into a peaceful pace. I think he knew I wasn't going to let him go, no matter how hard he tried.... and he did hit the gas everytime we hit a climb. Sergio had fallen off the pace early on.

The last few miles were on the beach.... Sweeeeet!! This was an awesome finish. We went back on a dirt road for the last mile or two and finished in Puerto Nuevo. Wendy, my sister Gaby, my brother in law Vico and my nephew Adrian all arrived about 20 minutes later. It was great to see them.

The medics cleaned me up and after I saw the HOLE on my forearm, I decided to go to the red cross for some minor surgery (at least that is what they called it). My whole left side had some pretty good road rash - leg, hip, elbow, shoulder and even my chin.... how I got my chin, I have no clue. The hole in my forearm required 4 internal stiches to close the muscle... yes, it was that deep.... and 5 more to close the skin. At least I didn't damage any nerves.

Andy, winner of the 30-39 age group, Evan, overall winner, and me, winner of the 40-49 age group, all ended up getting stiches on the left forearm on the last day. There were no other injuries in the 4 days of racing.... weird, huh?

Still finished second overall behind Evan.... about 3 1/2 hours behind him... but won my class with a 12 minute buffer. Norm was second and Sergio third.

Post Event

I've done a few of these events.... Cape Epic, La Ruta and Trans Rockies... and Baja Epic is as epic as any of these. Yes, it's only 4 days, but I'm not sure I could have done more. The scenery was awesome. You definitely get to see Baja in a different way... and I grew up here. The whole group was very cool. We had people from Colorado, California, New York, Canada, Mexico City, oh yeah, and from Arizona. Yes, a few complaints, a few disappointments, but most of it expected for a first year event. Next year it's expected to be be bigger and better (we talked Armando into reducing the shuttles :-)

Armando and his staff did a great job. The medics, Vitamin Water staff and Carmen's massages made for a perfect environment. Thanks Armando!!

Check out the links for Baja Epic website if you want to see some pictures. http://bajaepic.com/

I got nothing coming up until next year... so I probably won't be doing any updates to the blog until next year.

Pre-Baja Epic

Although the race doesn't start until Wednesday, tomorrow I drive to Rosarito to check in. I'm starting to get a bit anxious. I drove to SD on Saturday after watching Wendy race her mtn bike at McDowell - I expected to see an entry on the blog, but no luck so far :-)

I been visiting friends and family all day yesterday and today. I'll do a short ride tomorrow here in Ensenada then drive to Rosarito. Everyone is asking about the race, everyone is amazed at the distances and I'm just shrugging it off as no big deal. I'll guess I'll find out in a couple of days. My goal for the race is top 5, but I'll shoot for top 3 as a stretch goal. I have no idea how many people (or who) will be in my category but I have high expectations.

Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck. I'll try to update the blog as often as possible, but I don't think I'll have access to a computer or the internet every night.