Ryan Rides the Fence!

On Sunday May 5th 2013, Jeremy Warnicke, Dave Hill, and I headed down to Newport Oregon for the Coast Hills Classic mountain bike race. Last year we were very lucky to race in warm sunny weather at the beach during the race. As luck would have it, we hit the lottery again and raced in unseasonably hot weather on the Oregon coast in 80 plus degree heat. After applying about a gallon of sunscreen to my wintery white skin, I still managed to end the day with a sunburn.

Jeremy and I raced the single speed class while the elderly speedster Dave raced the cat 1 50 and over class. After a slow start off the line I was able to move up a couple positions on the uphill climb to the first trail. After being slowed a bit on the trail I was able to make a pass into fourth place as the trail hit a long gravel road section. As my legs and lungs were both yelling at me to slow down because of the high intensity start, I was only a few seconds behind the leaders and tried to charge up to them. I caught up to third place but this was as close to the leader as I would get. Third place and I battled back and forth for most of the first lap but all I could do was watch as the top three riders slowly rode away because my legs just didn’t have the snap they needed to go fast. Read more »

I am sure that April is the worst month of the year in the Willamette Valley… OK maybe not the worst but it sure feels like it sometimes! Mother nature threw us a curve this year with phenomenal weather over Easter with the children enjoying sunny hunting in their dresses! I enjoyed rapidly drying trails and lots of EPIC riding as March ended “like a lamb” and the new month began just as pleasantly.

That was a week ago and a world away, though. Why? Well there is a little gathering here we call the “Mudslinger” that has been going on since 1987. Apparently mother nature has been put on alert to unleash all manner of destructive weather behavior on or directly before this date and RARELY disappoints. Last week followed suit, and it began to drizzle on Thursday and generally became more intense as the weekend approached. Soon any sign of dryness was gone and only indication of spring were the blooms from the overly optimistic trees floating on new and growing puddles. Read more »

The 2013 race season has offically started, and I hit the ground running! On March 9, I laced up my Nike running shoes and headed up to the Buck Mountain Mudslinger for a six and a half mile trail running race put on by Run Wild Adventures. After driving up in cold foggy conditions my cousin and I arrived at the event to sunny skies and perfect trail conditions.

Last year’s race was run in about a foot of snow covering most of the race course, and were it wasn’t covered in snow it was deep mud making for very tough running conditions. The course consisted of horse trail, double track, fast downhills, and a lot of climbing. After the gun went off I was able to join a group at the front of about twenty racers in the first half mile before the first climb. Once the climb started to get really steep I was able to start making a few passes and work my way up to about tenth place. Read more »

Echo Red to Red was a good time and a great way to start the seeason. I chose to “ride” this race in an effort to jumpstart the MTB bug in me, and it worked! I have good fitness going into the season, but a laundry list of excuses kept me off the bike for the last two weeks. I wish I could say I was just really fresh, but instead I was really flat. If I was able to get the heart rate up, it took forever to come back down. So I just tried to be nicest guy you ever passed at a race!

The course ran backwards from previous year which was a great idea! The last few miles were a slight downhill where you could run out of gears to push. And what wind? Perfect conditions this time! My one-size-too-big arm warmers removed themselves after the first few bumps and I could not have been happier. Guess I have MEDIUM bike racer arms afterall!

The REALL carbon 29er hard tail made it possible to stay in my SDG saddle most of the ride allowing me to push a gear, keeping the heart rate low, and my legs burning. I did not get a chance to ride the new bike off-road or test out the Manitou Tower fork prior to the race, but EP knows how to make a machine run, and that it did. What a stellar mix of perfection! Read more »

After two successful seasons on the NUE circuit (2008, 2012) where I finished third overall on both occasions, I still feel like I have some unfinished business to attend to. While 100ish miles on a mountain bike seems like a milestone rather than a “fun” race distance to me, it seems that the Series has gotten more traction in the racing world that I would have expected. I supposed it is the “accomplishment” factor that draws sell-out crowds to ends of roads nationwide to conquer these challenges of mind, machine, and body. I have never found a way to finish an NUE event without feeling like I was just “surviving” the last 20-30 miles. I expect nothing less when I roll to the line next month to race True Grit in St. George, Utah, but I do have a plan to be as ready as ever!

I returned to my “normal” early season race schedule this year with a trip back to El Paso for the Puzzler 50 miler. Some of you remember that I raced here in both 2010 and 2011 and returned victorious both times. Last year this particular weekend was complicated and while I had intended to return, I had to cancel my trip at the last minute. This time I started planning last fall and included the Puzzler in my four race sample of the TMBRA Marathon Series. Read more »