My Race Results

Bio
Bernice Pierson is an ultra-endurance adventure racer and mountain bike racer. She has competed in sprint, 12 hour, 24 hour, 4 day stage, and 12 day expedition adventure races around the world. She is a 24 hour Co-ed Duo US National Mountain Bike Champion and finished sixth at the 24 Hour Solo Mountain Bike World Championships. Bernice lived off the land in Alaska for 3 months as part of " The Alaska Experiment" television show that aired on the Discovery Channel. She also participated in the Global Extremes: Mt. Everest adventure that aired on the Outdoor Life Network. Bernice serves as the Beginner Liaison for the Southern California Adventure Racing Club and is a motivational speaker and writer.

2009
November; 5K Turkey Trot Run; Gruene, TX; 4th age group
October; 50 mile West Coast MTB Marathon Championship; Vail Lake, CA; 2nd pro female
September; 15 mile XC MTB Race; Irvine, CA
August; 15 mile XC MTB Race; Irvine, CA
June; Cal Multi Sport Adventure; 7.5K Kayak-15K MTB-6K Run; Vail Lake, CA
April; Emcee Renegade Racing Sprint AR; San Dimas, CA
March; Devil Dog Duathlon; 5K run-30K bike-5K run; Camp Pendleton, CA
March; Adventure Race Speaker; A16; Oceanside, CA
March; Adventure Race Speaker; RNR Bike Shop; Orange County, CA
January; 12 Hrs of Temecula; MTB; 4 girl team

2008
Nov; 12 hrs of Temecula; (DMS)
Sep 7; Sofia Hawkins Pierson born
Aug 21; SportEve Culver City speaker; (AR)
Aug 14; Adventure 16 Oceanside speaker; (AR)
Apr 30; Our Arctic Challenge, Host/Speaker; Newport Beach Film Festival
Apr 22-Jun; Alaska Experiment on Discovery Channel
Mar 20; MTB Diva Night Feature Speaker
Feb 16; Racers & Chasers XC; SoCal; (MTB)
Feb 9; Snowshoe the Bear, Big Bear, SoCal
Jan 12-14; Camp Lynda, Utah (MTB)

2007 Television Show

Sep 7-Dec 9 The Alaska Experiment- Survived the Wilderness!

ADVENTURE RACES
2007
March; Bimbache Adventure Race; 5 days; Spain
2006
February; Patagonia Expedition Race; 11.5 day expedition; Southern Chile; 3rd place
May; Cal Eco; 24 hours; Auburn, California; 1st place
July; Scout AR; 12 hours; Orange County, California; 2nd place
July; Arctic Team Challenge; 5 day stage; East Greenland; 7th place
2005
February; Extreme Adventure Hidalgo; 4 day stage race; Hidalgo, Mexico
June; Nuevo Leon Outdoor Challenge; 4 day stage race; Nuevo Leon, Mexico
July; Scout Adventure Challenge; 12 hours; Southern California; 13^th place
July; Big Blue Adventure Race; 24 hours; Santa Barbara, California; 4^th place
August; Explore California; 24 hours; Catalina Island, California; 4^th place
October; Ecomotion Expedition; 7 days; Rio Grande Do Sol; Brazil; 28^th place
2004
March; Extreme Adventure Hidalgo; 4 day stage race; Hidalgo, Mexico
March; West Coast Adventure Race; 12 hours; Southern California; 5^th place
April; Cal Eco 24 Hour Race; Lake San Antonio, California; 9^th place
May; West Coast Adventure Race; 12 hours; Southern California; 5^th place
May; Cal Eco 24 Hour Race; Fort Bragg, California
June; REI Desert 12 Hour Race; Anza Borego, California; 3^rd place
July; REI Ocean 12 Hour Race; Malibu, California; 3^rd place
July; Balance Bar 24 Hour Race; Beaver Creek, Colorado; 2^nd place Amateur
July; Cal Eco Finals 52 Hour Race; Santa Barbara, California
September; Subaru Primal Quest; 10 days; San Juan Islands, Washington; 40^th place
November; Balance Bar 24 Hour Race; Los Angeles, California; 5^th place Amateur
2003
February; Extreme Adventure Hidalgo; 4 day stage race; Hidalgo, Mexico
March; Cal Eco 24 Hour Race; Lake San Antonio, California
April; Cal Eco 24 Hour Race; Santa Barbara, California
May; Cal Eco 24 Hour Race; Fort Bragg, California
June; Cal Eco 36 Hour Race; Yosemite, California
July; Balance Bar 24 Hour Race; Beaver Creek, Colorado; 5^th place Amateur
2002
March; Cal Eco 24 Hour Race; Pacheco State Park, Gilroy, California
May; Cal Eco 24 Hour Race; Eagle Mountain, Lake Tahoe, California; 9^th place
June; Cal Eco 24 Hour Race; Kernville, California
July; Subaru Primal Quest Expedition; 10 days; Telluride, Colorado; 39^th place
September; REI Ocean Adventure Classic 12 Hour Race; Malibu, California
November; Balance Bar 24 Hour Race; Santa Monica, California
2001
May; Hi-Tec Adventure Race; 3-5 Hours; Los Angeles, California


MOUNTAIN BIKE RACES
2007

• Sep 1-2 World Solo 24 Hour Championships- 6th Elite Female
• July 28-29 - US Nationals MTB 24 Hour - 1st Mixed Duo
• June 16 - 12 Hrs of Temecula MTB - 1st Pro Co-ed 2 person
• June 9 - The Traverse - 3rd Pro/Expert Female
• May 26 - 12 Hrs of Weaverville - 1st Overall 2 Person
• Apr 28 - Adrenalin 8 Hour Solo - 3rd Solo Pro Female
• Apr 14 - Sea Otter Singlespeed XC - 4th Sport Women
• Mar 3 - Vision Quest - Finisher!!
• Feb 17 - Kona 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo - 2nd Solo Pro Female
• Feb 10 - Southridge Winter Series XC MTB -
• Jan 20 - 12 Hours of Temecula MTB - 2nd Pro Co-ed 2 person
• Jan 13 - Southridge Winter Series XC MTB - 1st Sport Women

2006
April; Warriors XC Spring Classic, Orange County, CA; 2nd place
June; 24 Hours of OC, Orange County, CA; 1st place
October; 6 Hours of OC, Orange County, CA; 3rd place
November; Warriors XC Fall Classic, Orange County, CA; 3rd place
November; 12 Hours of Temecula, Temecula, CA; 2nd place Co-ed
2005
April; California State XC Series, Lake Castaic, CA; 1^st place
April; Sea Otter Classic Short Track, Monterrey, CA; 6^th place
April; Sea Otter Classic XC; Monterrey, CA; 11^th place
April; 24 Hours of Adrenalin; 3 person team; Idyllwild, CA; 1^st place
May; Snow Summit Amateur Cup XC Series; Big Bear, CA; 2^nd place
June; Jansport 12 Hours at the Summit; Big Bear, CA; 2^nd place
September; World Championships 24 Hours of Adrenalin; 3 person team; Whistler, BC, Canada; 1^st place
November; 6 Hours of Orange County; California; 1^st place

TRANSITIONS

In adventure racing, TRANSITION is defined as the location and time it takes the team to move from one discipline to another. Each minute is precious and it is ideal to have a smooth, fast transition. You should get in, change clothes and gear, eat, grab the essentials for the next leg and get out with no mistakes and no lost time. This is something that can be planned for ahead of time and organization and practice can perfect the transition into a "flowing discipline of grace."

In life, TRANSITION is defined as the movement, passage, or change from one state to another; such as the transition from life in the wilds of Alaska to life in the wilds of Orange County, California. Unfortunately for me, this has been anything but a "flowing discipline of grace." So many things happened and changed in my world during the three months I was away and it hit me like brick wall upon my return. Family, friends, work, racing, and training all succumbed to the never ending evolutionary state of life and it has been overwhelming. This is something that I did not plan for and practice ahead of time and I must admit that this TRANSITION is not flowing smoothly with no mistakes and no lost time.

However, the "race" of life goes on and I'm beginning to find the flow again. Some time on my bike, some time with family and friends, and some time reflecting on the wondrous serenity of Alaska (and the ability to return there if needed) reminds me that each minute is precious and I must learn and adapt to the world around me.

Unfortunately I am unable to write stories about our time in Alaska and I have no photos to share. The story, my photos and my journal will all be revealed in April on the Discovery Channel and their website. But you might check out the Discovery Channel on December 26. They are supposed to preview next year's shows and I'm not 100% sure, but there might be a preview of "The Alaska Experiment." Let me know if you see it as I will be traveling home to Texas on the 26th to spend some much needed time with my entire family and school friends. But if you can't wait until April to hear about it, let's do lunch or go for a ride and I will give you a preview! :)


Hugs and Happy Holidays!!

I'm Baaaaaaack!

And I'm trying so hard to adjust back to this fast paced city life after living in the peacefulness and beauty of Alaska. Greg and I had an amazing time living off the land in the extreme wilderness. For those of you who don't know.....
We were one of 4 groups chosen to be on this reality documentary television show that will air in April on the Discovery Channel. The show is called "The Alaska Experiment" and it will air 8- one hour long episodes in prime time (probably following "Deadliest Catch.")
I hope you get a chance to watch.

Now, gotta go find my biking legs again...

Deep Muscle Massage

Bernice Pierson is a Deep Muscle Stimulating Massage Specialist using the DMS Machine.

Corporate Office
Motivate your employees with a mini rejuvinating "Massage Break" at your office.

Events
24 hour Bike Races, Triathlons, Runs, Seminars, Golf Tournaments, Trade Shows

Private Sessions

DMS Machine Sales
Contact Bernice for a complimentary demo or a month trial period.

Call: 949-293-7085
Email: bernicepierson@hotmail.com

Signing off for a few months...

I've got a very interesting opportunity to live in Alaska for 3 months! I can't say much more than I will be living off the land with no electricity, no running water, and I will be hunting and fishing for my food. So,,,,,if I survive, I will tell you more when I return. Please send your prayers my way.

I will be back on-line around December 12. Until then, keep riding, running, kayaking, and having fun!

Hugs to all!
Bern

24 Hour World Solo Championship

Things didn't go quite as planned for me at this race. But I managed to battle through the difficulties and finish 6th Elite Female. I'm surprised and happy to have finished so well despite all the challenges I faced. However, as all athletes know, when you feel you could have done better,,,,that only means one thing.....YOU HAVE TO GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN! Aaaaahhh shucks!!! ...I'll have to think about it. :)

My support:
Carl Davis; one of my very first adventure racing friends.
Gillian Woodward, my best dear girl friend.
Mike Feeney, my friend from a job I had 7 years ago.
Super genious mechanic Andy from Desert Cyclery in Utah. My coach Lynda and I shared him, Dan & Dave.

Dan Abernethy; a very dear adventure racing friend since PQ 2002.

Dave Harris; incredible endurance mountain biker himself.
These folks took care of my every need from the time we left the OC until they dropped off my battered and beaten body at home after the race.

Carl & Gilly making the pre-race dinner

Mike Feeney

Bern creating her race "meals on the go."

The course:
I must say that I have a love/hate relationship with this type of course.
It was long, steep, sandy, and exposed to the sun & wind. There was one fun downhill singletrack that lasted about 8 minutes, but the rest of it was an uneventful grind. I hated it for all those reasons, but loved it because suffering is my specialty and suffer is what you do when you ride this type of course for 24 hours.

Super Sandy Course

Bern & Terri Wahlberg trotting the Le Mans start

The weather:
It was HOT and dry! 95-101 degrees on the course. No one expected this heat wave to come through...it’s northern California,,,by the beach! It’s supposed to be 70 degrees!

The race:
Rode the first 3 laps with no rear brake but the legs/body & everything felt super great!
Had to make an unexpected pit after lap 3 to get brakes fixed. Ate, drank & powered up.
I was going at a super easy pace & doing fine with the 100 degree temps,,,but...
I think I may have taken the wrong supplements at this early pit stop and I had a bad reaction to my mixture.
Dry heaved through lap 4.
Hurled through lap 5.
Rode my bike at a 3 legged blind dog’s pace for the next 16 hours.
Finished 6th Pro Women.


This little foxy guy came over to my pit to cheer me up when I was sick.

The pedicure:
Once, while I was hurling over the handle bars, I thought about how pretty my toes must look under all of this mess and it made me happy.

Music:
At the pre-race meeting, they announced that iPods were not allowed on course. I boo’d, everyone else started booing, we all started a chant…”iPod, iPod, iPod!” But in the end…something about the insurance policy,,,yada, yada, yada,,,,no iPods allowed. So I had to use my “internal iPod” …too bad it only had two songs recorded: It’s a Wonderful Night by Fatboy Slim and Enter Sandman by Metallica. Great songs, but when you only know one verse, 24 hours of it can really suck.



Overall:
Physically, this is the worst I have ever felt during a mountain bike race. I suffered tremendously. So why do I keep doing this you ask. Well, because I may not be the best 24 hour mountain bike rider in the world, but I’m the 6th BEST 24 HOUR SUFFERER IN THE WORLD! :)


It was also very cool to see a bunch of friends on the course. My training partner and teammate Josh Smith finally put it all together and had a tremendous race! He was smart and solid and finished 2nd in his age group. Our Sho-Air teammate Matt Nourmahamadian also had a great race! Heather Moothart was out there riding like a mad woman and she won a World Title! Unfortunately Super Mario and La Ruta Lou had some difficulties this time and were unable to finish.

Gilly saw a bobcat on the trail during my pre-ride.

Post race: Coach Lynda rode strong and finished 2nd Elite Female! I'm so lucky to have her on my side!

On the road to Worlds

You don't even know how crazy this last week has been for me. Preparing for a very important mountain bike race,,,,and then finding out I'm going to live in Alaska for a few months...& I leave the FRIDAY after Worlds! (more on that later) Not to mention having to train others to do my job while I'm gone...AAAAAAGGGHHHH! Talk about running around like a chicken with its head cut off!

Well, even though I completely forgot to pick up my primary bike from the shop and now I have to travel without it and wait for it to meet me there, I DID get the MOST IMPORTANT thing done:


The Princesa toes are pedicured and ready to race. Whew! Just could not manage riding for 24 hours without the pretty toes. (Aaaah, back off,,they just make me feel good, alright!) And feeling good & being mentally strong is what it takes to ride around in circles, non-stop, for 24 hours!

24 Hour US National Champions Mixed Duo

24 Hour US National Championship Start

Many of the big names in endurance mountain bike racing were at the 24 Hour US Nationals in Wausau, Wisconsin. Eatough, Sawicki, Ross, Rusch, Merenchin, Musto, Hendershot, Kaufmann, Collier, Namrita........not to mention Super Mario & Princesa Bern! ;-)) Super M & I had been discussing this race since the beginning of the year so we finally decided to team up and race the Mixed Duo category. After training hard all year with Josh and racing the 12 hour duo races with him, I felt ready for my first 24 hour duo. And Super Mario was the perfect teammate! He is so strong and so experienced in endurance racing and always has the game plan perfectly drawn out.

The Winning Team: Super Mario, Crew Captain Matt, Princesa Bern, Pit Chief & Mechanic Shawn Hauser & rookie crew Jenna

Matt Nourmohamadian is the youngest member of the Sho-Air/Rock N Road team and he agreed to support us in Wisconsin. His entire family lives in and around Wausau so they were nice enough to host us for the long weekend. His cousin Jenna also agreed to help us at the race. She had never been to a bike race before so it was a totally new experience and boy did she get a rude awakening! She had no idea it would be so much work! Unfortunately she hadn't had the "Warning" discussion that Josh (my teammate & support at Old Pueblo) gave to Matt......I think it went something like this:

Josh: "Hey Matt, you know there's a reason Bernice is called the 'Princesa.'" ...Etc, etc, etc!

Anyhow, Jenna learned fast and managed to put up with me and Mario for the entire 24 hours getting no sleep at all! She and Matt did a fantastic job keeping us cool during the day, warm at night, fed, and informed.

I must also mention Shawn Hauser and the Stadium Bikes teams. I met Shawn on-line when I was seeking help from the local riders. He offered to wrench for us and share his pit with us so that we wouldn't have to ship and/or buy all the pit necessities. He's a very experienced rider and mechanic and he helped us tremendously. He didn't race this one so he was constantly looking after our bikes and helping Matt and Jenna with the stove and anything they needed to keep us going. There were a few other locals that were ready and willing to help us in any way and I must say that the folks in Wisconsin are so nice and I hope that they will come visit our mtbike trails/races in Cali and that we will get to host them as well as they did us!

Super Mario, Aunt Pam, Cousin Jenna & Bern

Our wonderful sponsor Sho-Air took care of shipping our gear for us so we had a stress-free flight to Milwaukee on Thursday. Our Specialized bikes with our trusty Ergon Grips, our Hammer supplements, our Dermatone sun & bug block, my warm Ibex clothing, and my new Numa Sunglasses all made it to Milwaukee on time. We rented a truck with a Garmin GPS and drove about half an hour to Sussex where we stayed with Matt's aunt Pam and cousin Jenna. They have a lovely home that Pam designed and built. She made us a yummy dinner of pasta salad, chicken and fresh sweet corn. Matt's grandparents also came by the house to visit the nutty folks who were in town to ride their bikes in circles for 24 hours. They are a great couple who've been married for 57 years! It was so nice to meet them and have them wish us well.

The farm house near the race course in Wausau

On Friday, me, Mario, Matt, and Jenna drove 3 hours to Wausau where we stayed at Craig, Donna & Dillon's farm house. Doris (Donna's mother) and 11 year old Dillon were there to greet us and make us feel at home. Mario and I left Matt and Jenna there and we drove the 15 minutes to the course for a pre-ride. We checked in, met our Stadium Bikes pit neighbors, rode the course, and visited with some of our fellow mtbike friends. We hung out with Ron and Pua for a bit while Ron fixed the rotors on our bikes. That was super cool of him to take time to help us get them just right.

Our magnificent hosts in Wausau: Jenna, Matt, Doris, Dillon, Donna, Craig

Doris is a very lovely German woman who went out of her way to tend to our every need. She even made sure we had Mario's favorite pancake breakfast before the race!

Pit row

This is the second year in a row that the US National Championships were held in Wausau and I can tell why. It was a great course with great attendance. There were over 700 riders there!

Our pit with the Stadium Bikes gang

There were 3 other teams in our pit and they all made the podium also! There was the 4 man clydesdale team, the 2 man father/son team, and the 4 man junior team. This was definitely the WINNING PIT!

Shawn had the pit so well organized

Our table got a little messy though

Although he hates it, Super Mario did the very short LeMans start and the first lap. The course was about 14 miles with probably 85% of it being tight singletrack through the woods. It was super rocky with a few roots and logs in some areas. It definitely took some concentration to go over the rocks and not into the trees. And the best part was that the course was completely shaded! Very different than the terrain we usually ride here in SoCal. BUT THERE WERE NO IPODS ALLOWED! I was kinda bummed at first that we weren't allowed to have anything in our ears during the race, but it turned out to be a good thing because the trails were so tight that we needed to pay full attention to the trails and the other riders. Although it would have been fun to jam to some cool tunes whilst zigging and zagging through those trails. They did, however, provide a DJ with a Disco Ball and everything. About halfway through the lap the DJ was spinning his tunes and at 3am it was fun to hear the music and see the Disco Ball with flashing lights.

My Garmin recorded about 1000 ft of elevation gain through the 14 miles, but it didn't even seem like that much! The hills were just a bunch of "false flats" really. It was super fun and I really, really enjoyed the technical singletrack. I'd have to say this is one of my top two favorite mtb race courses.

The weather was perfect! I was dreading a very hot and humid day, but a "cold front" moved in on race day and kept the temps in the low 80's. A little warm but never too hot. Definitely not as humid as I was anticipating. And I didn't get a single bug bite!.. in fact, quite the opposite....I ate 3 bugs! (Ha, that's what you get you pesky suckas! evil laugh)

It did get a bit chilly at night for us SoCal folks so Mario and I sat in the truck with the heater on in between laps. During the early AM hours, while I was at the transition tent awaiting Mario's arrival so we could switch off, all the Wisconsin people were sitting there with their short sleeve jerseys and shorts while I was bundled up from head to toe and still shivering!

During one of my later laps, I was desperate for a little snack. I remembered that there was a makeshift "aid station" where someone had put up a table with Twinkies and a few other snacks. The sign on the table read, "CHRIS EATOFF STOPS HERE!" Yes, they spelled Eatough wrong...which made it even funnier. So I couldn't wait to get there for a Twinkie. Oh, the angel food cake with the white, creamy sweet filling was gonna taste so good at 2:37am! But when I got there, the only things left were some pickled eggs and a few pretzels. Well, I was hungry, but I wasn't desperate...soooo no pickled eggs for me! But I must have shown my disappointment because a fellow rider who was stopped there handed me a Powerbar from his pack so I grabbed it and rode off. (Thanks to you Powerbar guy!)



All went really well during our race.............well, except for when I totally cut off Chris Eatough! Yup, of all the 700 riders in the race and I cut off THE MAN! Double big OOPS! Oh well, it was an accident and I apologized and he was nice about it. For the full story,,,,...see me on the trails.
Anyhow, Mario and I had no mechanicals nor flats. We both had a few crashes, but nothing too bad. As the race went on and I got a little more tired, it was harder to clear the rocks without hitting the trees or stalling out and I have a few bruises and scratches to show for the effort. But overall, we had a clean and solid race. We ended up coming from behind and winning "in impressive fashion!" (so they said in Cycling News. :)

The coveted Stars & Stripes jerseys!

Super Mario was a wonderful teammate and I am so grateful to him for inviting me to this race. I never thought I would own a "Stars & Stripes" jersey!

Matt, Bern & Jenna

We definitely could not have accomplished this without all the support from Matt, Jenna, Shawn Hauser, Cindy Karch, Pam Oelhafen, Doris & Larry (thanks for the post race popcorn!), Donna, Craig, Dillon, Lynda Wallenfels our coach, Josh Smith my training/racing partner, and of course our sponsor Sho-Air/Rock N Road Cyclery.

The Brewers baseball stadium in Milwaukee

Aunt Pam and Cousin Jenna took us to Lake Michigan in Milwaukee

Mario walking past the Art Museum near Lake Michigan in Milwaukee

Bern packing it all up to go home

The Write-ups for US 24 Hour Nationals

http://www.mbaction.com/detail.asp?id=2357

http://www.cyclingnews.com/mtb/?id=2007/jul07/us24hrnats07

US National Champions Mixed Duo

Bern & Mario win the Stars & Stripes at 24 Hours of 9 Mile

race report coming soon...

Atomic Blue BOMBSHELLy

Back in April, my great friend Andy Lightle let me try his Niner SingleSpeed and ooohh dear me,,, did I fall in love! A week later, Chris and Ryan from Niner were kind enough to let me borrow a fully rigid S.I.R. 9 and I raced it at Sea Otter. Since that day, I'd been craving my own Niner SS and today she rolled into my life!

Here she is, my Niner ONE 9 SingleSpeed.....name: BOMBSHELLy!

I was lucky enough to secure the only existing Atomic Blue ONE 9 frame from Niner so she's a one of a kind! She still needs a few of my choice accessories such as my ERGON GRIPS and my Crankbrothers pedals, but I already took her on her maiden voyage and she is grand!

This is bike #5 in the garage! I never thought I'd be one of those folks who has a bike for every day of the week! But alas, I've become obsessed. Regular riders have one,,,maybe two mountain bikes. Serious riders have a hard-tail, a full-suspension, and maybe a downhill or another full-suspension. Mountain bike racers have the hard-tail, the full-suspension training bike, the full-suspension racing bike, and a road bike with a power meter for training. Obsessed bikers have all of the previously mentioned PLUS the SINGLESPEED. Any more than 5 bikes and you're just a down right nutty hardcore mtbiker,,,,,...not that there's anything wrong with that!

New music on my Ipod to go with the new ride:

Jane's Addiction; Been Caught Stealing
Tim McGraw; Live Like You Were Dying
Papa Roach; Last Resort
Fatboy Slim; Wonderful Night
The Crystal Method; Keep Hope Alive

12 Hours of SoCal (Temecula)

Josh & Brad at the start

Josh and I teamed up again for the second of three races in the 12 Hours of SoCal (formerly known as 12 Hrs of Temecula) Series. Our teammates Brad and Todd also paired up again for the race. As expected, it was a HOT day in the SoCal desert so Josh and I really had to watch ourselves. It was already warm when the race started at 9am so we knew it only going to get worse. We did everything we could to cool off in between laps including soaking our gloves and jerseys in the ice chest!

Although we both raced The Traverse the weekend before, we allowed ourselves some recovery time through the week so we felt pretty good in Temecula. Even so, we still each had our moments of despair, but we battled through them and persevered.

We were able to finish stronger than most and got the WIN in the Pro Co-ed Two Person and 2nd PLACE OVERALL Two Man Teams behind our very own Sho-Air teammates Brad & Todd!

Once again the race director Jason and his staff did an outstanding job of organizing the race. They changed up the course and added a little more fun, technical singletrack and I thought it was the funnest course yet!

2nd Place Marius & Mandy, RD Jason, 1st Place Bern & Josh

The Traverse

From my point of view it was climb, climb, climb for 5 hours then 1 hour down and out to the finish. 46 Miles and 8,000+ feet of elevation gain!

After 2 hours: This is where I looked back and said, "Dang, I already rode that far and I'm still feeling pretty good!" (Ingest hammer gel, relax on the Ergons, and keep climbing)

After 4 hours: This is when I looked ahead and said, "Dang, I still have that far to go and I don't feel very well." (Stop, hop off the bike, pour a zip lock of powdered Heed in my mouth, and unwillingly proceed)

After 5.5 hours: No more climbing!

But concentrate on the downhill or else...

Where's the end of this downhill?

Yay! The finish line in 6 hours 2 minutes! (Ingest the time keepers' 4 mini chocolate doughnuts and Lay's BBQ potato chips so I won't bonk on the way to the party)

Louise Kobin, Ankie Trollegard, and Bern on the podium with a little cash payout!

Manny and Jason were incredible! 1st and 2nd in under 4 hours!

Josh rode down the entire Trabuco trail and out the fire road on his rim! Crazy nut still finished in under 5 hours!

Super Mario on the podium again!

"Big checks" for Lou and Bern so we immediately went shopping! I'm not kidding, before we got home from the race, we were trying on pretty dresses!