Almost fifty cyclists rode on trails and jeep roads in the eighth race of the Arizona Endurance Series southeast of Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday. The popular course took mountain bikers from Rosemont Junction to Tunnel Springs and back on a 46-mile course; the 29-mile course looped south to Kentucky Camp and back. Headwinds, steep single track, rocky jeep roads, and stream crossings made for an epic course under sunny skies.
“I’m hoping for under five hours,” says Cannondale pro Krista Park before the race. “She did it in 4:45 last year,” responded Rhino Neiffer of Phoenix who had checked out times from last year’s event. “My goal is six hours,” he says. “But my secret goal is five hours.” Last week, Park raced in Tucson’s Dirty Bunny Century , while Neiffer competed on a single speed duo team at 12 Hours of Temecula.
Xterra World Champion for his age group Bruce Wacker came to Tucson this winter for base training, and for his first Kentucky Camp experience. “I’m sick of the cold,” says Wacker who lives in Colorado Springs. Riding in the 29-mile race, Wacker has big goals for next year: “I want to win Xterra Nationals and Worlds, and win my age group in road triathlon Nationals.”
Nancy Gray and Jeff Ziemski drove from Phoenix for the race, they planned to ride together and finish the 46-mile course in six hours. “I like the longer races,” says Ziemski, “It’s freer, and it’s all you,” he says referring to the lack of aid stations or other on-course support. Gray, a three-time Leadville 100 racer, agrees: “It’s half-adventure race, half mountain-bike race. Here, it’s what you can carry; you need to think a lot more about when you’ll be hungry or thirsty and refuel.”
Because of the length of the 46-mile race, pro mountain biker Park explains, “I’m using Carbo Rocket 333,” an energy drink that combines extra calories, electrolytes, and amino acids. “It’s not messy like gels, and it keeps me going.”
After riding about half a mile down the fire road to the trail start, racers immediately faced some deep sand which caused a few people to walk with their bikes. Next was a granny gear climb that lasted a few miles with little relief. Sierra Vista’s Beto Villegas won this year’s 46-mile race on a geared bike after winning the last three years on a single-speed. He finished in under four and a half hours.
Asked if he got away on a climb, the well-known climber says, “No, I actually got a gap on the first major descent, but Scott (Morris) pushed me all the way.” He admits, “I suffered more than I usually do in the first half of the race into the headwind, but the second half, I got into the flow.”
Villegas will apply for his pro mountain bike license in 2011 and loves endurance racing and road races with climbs. A native of hilly Bisbee, Villegas looks forward to next year’s road races: Tucson Bicycle Classic, Tour of the Gila, and Vuelta de Bisbee. In addition, he aims to win the El Paso Puzzler endurance mountain bike race where he finished second in 2010.
Tim Steflak of Phoenix and Andy Stevenson of Flagstaff raced their Niner bikes on the 46-mile course finishing ahead of Niner-Ergon pro Dejay Birtch. “It was a great course, with great views, took my mind off the wind and the pain in my legs,” says Stevenson about the race after a top ten finish. Stevenson rode a single-speed, and hung a small feed bag from his handlebars for easy snacking while in motion.
Birtch made the mistake of riding without a GPS and lost his way a couple times on the trail. “He’s just riding for fun anyway,” explains second place finisher and fellow Tucsonan Scott Morris. Morris was five minutes behind Villegas at the second pass through the ghost town of Kentucky Camp, and was unable to make up the time in the final 15 miles. But he has no regrets, “Today was really fun.”
The next event for Morris? “Resting,” he responds. “Then I’ll start base-training with Krista (Park), doing some long slow rides. Six months of non-stop racing has really caught up with me.” In addition to base-training, Park will host an all-day mountain bike skills clinic for women in Cave Creek, AZ, on December 12. She was the first woman to finish and third overall.
Fourth place finisher Ty Brookhart also rode without GPS. “I was following tire tracks after I lost contact with the leaders, but I turned the wrong way,” he says. “Then I found Krista and we figured it out together,” he says. “She finished just head of me.” Brookhart says the most challenging parts of the course for him were: “A couple climbs, rocky descents, and ten or twelve wet stream crossings.” A chef and operations manager for The Cycling House in Tucson, Brookhart says the wind was great heading north toward the finish line, “I loved that tailwind on the way back, pushing me up those hills.”
Several riders had cameras with them on the course; see a great slideshow here.
Race day ended with food and beverages around the campfire and many thanks to race organizer, Chad Brown. The challenging course and post-race camaraderie had some racers thinking about December’s McDowell 60 . Everyone is planning ahead for next season when the Arizona Endurance Series returns with ten epic races scheduled in 2011.
Note: The Tucson Endurance Sports Examiner was featured last week in a KVOA TV story about mountain biking in Sahuarita, AZ.
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