AZOP 2 Hour Endurance Race

2 hours was a lot more difficult than I had imagined. I had dry mouth after the first lap and fatigue less than half way through.
I recorded the entire race with the Zephyr heart rate monitor and Sport Tracker Pro. It was interesting to see that my heart rate was around 200bpm throughout the race. That’s way higher than I had expected.
Here is a link to the data: Track map

I did finish the whole thing and I only crashed twice.  The first time wasn’t my fault.  I was passing a slow rider on the left when he suddenly decided to go off the track…. to the left.  He clipped my back tire with his front and kicked me sideways.  The course was muddy so I slid sideways for a while and ended up on the burm, sliding toward a huge tractor tire.  I tried to gas it, to get back down on the track but the tire dug in and the quad rolled over.  I got sort of catapulted off the bike and landed on my back, sliding down the track.  I felt like a turtle as I slid through the mud, spinning around on my back.  As soon as I stopped, I got up and ran back over to the quad.  It was wedged in the mud on the burm so I couldn’t get it upright.  Luckily there was a flag man right there who helped me get it on the wheels again.  I franticly tried to start the engine as more racers were getting in front of me but it wouldn’t fire.  Then I realized my engine kill cord was dangling off my vest.  I plugged it back in, fired up the motor and got back on the track.  I did look over at the guy who clipped me.  The impact had peeld the tire off his rim.

The second crash was not as exciting and I’m actually glad nobody was around to see it.  Towards the end of the race, I was getting very tired and I took a turn a little too fast and I didn’t lean quite enough.  The quad high-sided up on two wheels and I planted my foot on the ground to stop from falling.  The back tire hit my boot and knocked me down, then it ran over the rest of my body.  I actually have some road rash and bruises from this fall.  The track had dried out and the ground was a lot harder than it was earlier in the race.

All in all. it was a great race.  I didn’t break anything and I finished.  It did make me realize that I have a long way to go in order to be fit enough to endure 1000 miles of racing.  I was just short of 70 miles in this race and it was tough.  The results haven’t been posted yet, so I don’t know what place I finished in.

– 2/20/2012 edit –

They posted the results and it looks like I got 2nd place out of 11 entries in my class.

Watson Road Trail Ride

I went out riding with neighbor Tom today.  He has a honda 250 bike.  We did some exploring and found the petroglyphs.  Unfortunately my phone battery was almost dead so I didn’t take any pictures.  Tom was having some shifting issues but we did a couple short drag races and it seems like his 250 is pretty even with my 400 on acceleration and top-end.

The rocks were no fun with the bike, but the sandy washes were great.  The whoops are mellow so you can go full speed over them without worrying about the rythm and still feel the suspension working.


View 1/15/12 Watson Rd in a larger map

Agua Caliente

Agua Caliente looked much better on the web.  The trails were very rocky and there are lots of cactus around.  The few trails that climb hills are covered in shale that looks like it is dying to slice open a tire.

I rode around for several hours hoping to find an interesting canyon or abandoned mine, but I didn’t find much.  I did come across several mine shafts but they were vertical, straight down in to the ground and there was no fencing around them.  I wouldn’t want to be exploring the area at night.

I don’t think I will go back to this spot for riding unless I need to torture test some new tires.


View 1/5/12 Agua Caliente in a larger map

First ride of 2012

I was planning on a long ride today but I lost the mouthpiece of my camel pack somewhere on the trail.  With no water, I headed back to the parking lot after only an hour or so.

There was one really good rocky hill climb though.  3 bikes and raptor couldn’t make it.  I made it on my second attempt.  First try, I missed first and downshifted in to neutral.


View 1/1/12 1:12 PM 400ex in a larger map