I spent just over 1 hour this AM getting the parts swapped off the alumn hardtail onto the new carbon hardtail. Here is the final result...weighing in just a hair over 20 lbs. I am going to break it in this weekend! Can't wait!!!
About 3 hours before I left for this last road trip to Sea Otter and the Whiskey 50, a large shipment of team equipment arrived at my house from Germany. Mostly, it contained a mix of Rotwild FS and HT frames, Magura brakes & forks, Northwave shoes, Cratoni helmets, and a few other odd items. This AM I had a chance to dig into the boxes to see the new rocket ship for the season.
Enter bike number 1 for the season. This year, the Rotwild HT frames are carbon. This will replace the aluminum HT I have been racing on the last 2 years.
The down tube is big and beefy. It is sure to be a stiff and efficient ride.
A 'nude' finish reveals the carbon throughout the entire frame.
Finally, a solid front end steers the bike and rider in the right direction.
If all goes as planned, I hope to get this built up this weekend in time for a 9 hour training weekend. More photos to come as the build comes to an end.
The Whiskey 50 started for me on Saturday morning at roughly 6 AM. I jumped out of bed at the Comfort Inn outside of Prescott, AZ and made up some rice and eggs in the microwave. While it was not the breakfast I wanted.....it got the job done. After getting fueled up and filling race bottles, I headed to the race venue around 7 AM to get in a solid warm up before the 8 AM start. With all the recent travel over the past 8 days, the legs were less than spunky. During the warm up, I did a bunch of hard efforts in hopes of opening up the legs for the opening road and singletrack climb.
At 7:45 AM all the racers lined up in downtown Prescott, AZ. I got a good start sitting on the second row. My goal was to ride with the lead group up the opening climb and then let the cards fall as they may. As the group rolled out of town, the pace was chill....and my legs felt fine. After a few minutes of city riding, we hit the opening paved and dirt climb to the singletrack. I was sitting in the top 5 until we hit the steep pitch in the road. Here, the legs failed to respond. I slowly went backwards as a group of roughly 15 riders moved ahead of me. As I pedaled, I went as hard as I could without blowing up. Soon, I found myself following this group into the opening singletrack. While I was sitting in an OK position, my legs were heavy and had no snap.
I continued on. Soon I found myself catching a few riders dropped from this opening group....but I was also being caught by some riders behind me. This cat and mouse chasing went on until the first long rocky downhill containing lots of loose rock. Here, I caught nemerous riders standing on the side of the trail fixing flats....and a few guys going slower on this sketchy trail. At the end of the downhill I began a forest service road climb. This was a longer climb that soon found me shring the work load with 3 other riders until we got to the Skull Valley descent.
Skull Valley is a long dirt road descent to a turn around point. On this road, a lot of guys sat up. Me, I pushed the pace to get down as fast as I could and then start the climb back up. About 1 mile from the bottom, I saw the lead group of 2 riders.....followed by another group of riders. At the turn around, I filled up one bottle for the climb back up. During the entire climb, I set the same pace....while other riders around me would pull ahead....only to have me catch them later up the road. Lucky for us racers, we had a tail wind going up the climb to make it a bit easier.
At the top was another aid station stocked with everything a starving cyclist could want. Here I filled 2 bottles of the final last climb and then descent to the finish. Once the bottles were topped off it was time for another 5 minutes of fire road climbing. At the top, we made a hard right onto some sweet singletrack for the downhill run towards Prescott. Here, more riders were caught. With a few miles left, I came upon one last rider on a techy singletrack section. I followed him until we hit the paved road leading into Prescott. Once on the road I went to work with this other rider sharing the work load. We switched off on pulls. On my last pull I pushed up my pace and got a gap on the other rider. It would stay this way until I crossed the line at 3 hours 45 minutes. Good enough for 14th place out of 149 total Open Men racers.
My race execution went well.....the goal was a finishing time between 3.5 and 4 hours. I was happy with my nutrition and riding skills. Only thing holding me back were legs that only want to function at about 75-80%. The next test comes in 2 weeks with the Front Range 50 outside Denver, CO.
Sonya and I finished out a stop over in Laguna Beach, CA with a group ride with Crank Bros. employees, members of team Troupe Racing, and the general riding public....about 20 of us. We met up at 5 PM and headed out for 2 hours for some light riding in the coastal hills. Good times had by all! It was all followed up with some chilling out at Crank Bros. headquarters.
Now, Sonya and I are in Prescott, AZ for some Ergon booth work and to race the Whiskey 50. We got out today for a 2 hour spin to scope out the course after sitting in the car for 7 hours. Course is rip'n fast with some sweet singletrack. Opening climb is sure to cause some leg carnage. Riding here is very similar to riding in the Front Range of Colorado.
Quick post for ya....as I need sleep and Sonya and I have an AM departure for Arizona tomorrow. This evening we headed out for a nice little 2 hour spin with some Ergon sponsored rider, members of Troupe Racing, Crank Brothers employees, and some local mtbers. The company was good and the trails were fast. What more can you ask for? Well, we did top it off was some good Mexican food!
What a great way to start a ride after a solid breakfast! We swung by Crank Bros. headquarters to say "hi" and "thanks" to one of our great sponsors. After a quick spin up the highway, Sonya and I then headed into the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park to get in some saddle time.
Today's route wasn't anything crazy. Just a lot of gradual climbing under the southern California sun. Biggest factor today was the heat. With no breeze, the sun was baking the hill side with temps in the mid-80's.
Here is a quick video of one of the singletrack climbs....and Sonya baking. Or I should say "shake'n bake!"
Water was the order of the day. I went through almost 6 large bottles on our 3+ hour ride.
Yep, more open and exposed climbing. Not hard to see today's route as it rolls down the hillside behind me.
Sea Otter is said and done. It was a super time with good people. For me, the last 2 days were a bummer, as I didn't feel that well. I decided not to run the XC race in favor of working on the recovery process for the 50 mile Whiskey 50 this weekend. I was run down from some bug that had invaded my system.
It's time to move on and focus on the next task at hand.....the 50 miler in Prescott, AZ. Right now, Sonya and I are in Laguna Beach, CA on our way to Prescott. We are leading an open to the public group ride with the folks at Crank Brothers on Wednesday at 5 PM. More info here.
Photos and updates to come now that things have mellowed out. I need to get some photos up that were taken by the photographers flown in from Germany. Good stuff!
Finally made it to the Monterey Bay area after 19 hours of driving across Colorado, Utah, parts of Arizona and Nevada, and California. The drive isn't that bad except for the crazy 30 mph headwind I had for the last 12 hours. I even got to see rain in Las Vegas and some snow in the desert of California. Odd? Yes, based on the driving skills of the people in these areas. Scary for sure. The plan today was to set up the booth at Laguna Seca Raceway, but the wind had other plans for us. The event logistics coordinator for the event told folks to wait until tomorrow in the AM...when the winds are forecasted to be much less. Some of the big circus like tents set up for the event were even being blew down. Not cool at all! So, I headed back to the hotel and met up with Kim, product designer for Ergon, for a nice little opener ride around the Pebble Beach area.
Kim spinning on "17 Mile Drive" on our way to and around Pebble Beach.
Rolling down to sea level after spinning in the coastal hills for 45 minutes or so.
Feel the breeze blow though your hair.
Da beach mon! Super, super, super windy today. It was a sand blasting experience.
This is pretty much the 'big' road trip of the year. With stops at Sea Otter and the Whiskey 50 in Prescott, AZ planned. Yes, it's a lot of driving. But, there will be riding and racing on just about every day of this trip. There might even be a stop in Laguna Beach for a few days to help Crank Brothers lead an 'open to the public' group ride on the hills behind their location.....followed by food and drink. Interested?
As for the racing....I am toeing the line of the pro men xc on Sunday at Sea Otter. Should prove to be a good solid training effort. My only goals are to have a solid and smart race, and to keep healthy. There are a few guys I'll put an 'x' on their backs and try to 'race' them rather than the guys that actually focus at this distance. The field is big with 115 racers....so the race within the race will be happening.
The weekend after Sea Otter is the Whiskey 50 in AZ. This will get me back into my happy place with a single loop race of around 50 miles. It will be very similar to racing back in CO at 5,500 ft. If I go into the Whiskey with low stress and solid recovery I don't see why a top finish is not possible. I already proved at the Ouachita that my fitness it where it needs to be for this time of year. Just have to go out and do work and use everything Coach has given me up to this point.
Check back often. Updates to come here, on facebook, and twitter as wifi access allows. Now, back to crossing my fingers and toes hoping our 2009 team clothing and helmets arrive today from Germany.
Mother nature had another plan for my training ride today. The original plan was 4 hours on the mtb at a nice chill pace, but a cold front is moving through, so I was only able to get in about 2.5 hours of riding in before a heavy drizzle turned the trails into a sticky mess. Colorado soil + moisture + mountain bike tires = sticky sandy goo. Sonya and I got in some trail time until we headed back to town to get off the trail and leave any damage behind. Here is a 5 minute clip of a quick spin through the Indian Summer loop over at Devils Backbone/Blue Sky. Enjoy.....I know we did! Make sure you hit the 'HQ' button on the video to get the best quality of the video.
Today's Oval Group Ride included the usual cast of crazies. With no racing in the area, we had a stacked group....maybe 30 of us....and pretty much all solid and strong riders. I wasn't sure how my legs would react. Early in the week my legs felt super. The previous 2 days, the lingering effects of last Sunday's Ouachita Challenge win were starting to show their true side.
We ended up with a different route today which was flatter....and included a good section of dirt. Yes, dirt! It was awesome to have a group of 20 guys raging down a gravel dirt road at 30 mph. Plus, throw in some short climbs and rip'n descents and you have a sweet little 'Spring Classics' section. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos from the dirt. We were all on the tip of our saddles gritting our teeth.....me included. I spent too much time near and above 300 watts. Matches were burned.....Poof. Anyone else out there on the ride get some gravel in their mouth? I was spit'n little rocks that made their way into my mouth from the rider tires in front of me. Mmmmm, crunchy.
Here is the days route and elevation. The mileage is shorter than the traditional Oval Ride, but I was feeling it. Last weekends race effort had my legs feeling a bit heavy.....especially when going up hill. Ooooooo, feel the burn.
This little chunk of hill on the north side of Horsetooth Reservoir blew the remaining group apart. The climb is not that long, but the pitch is re-freak'n-diculous....especially after being on edge for most of the ride. I pushed home alone after this hill.....as did many others. Thanks for another super ride fellas!
I tried out some new tires today from Continental. The tire combo GP Attack & Force is front and rear specific. They are not a heavy duty training tire....so I was second guessing my adventure onto the gravel today. After today's effort on the dirt, I am happy to say they passed with flying colors.
That is all for today. Time to recover and do the anti-rain dance. Four hour mountain bike session planned for tomorrow.
Nothing but go, go, go since I got back from Arkansas. Riding had been on the down low with a focus on recovery. Not until Saturday and Sunday will I open up the engine again with the 4 hour Oval Ride....and then a 4 hour mtb ride on Sunday.
This week has been a lot of phone call and emails with out international shipper, our broker, and USA Customs. We are in the process of trying to get all the team gear into the USA from Germany. Of course, there are some issues...but it all seems to be squared away now. Question now is....when will it arrive? Most likely after I leave for Sea Otter. I am holding my breath and hoping our new clothing and helmets arrive via UPS on Monday. If not, looks like we'll be rocking the old kit in Monterey and in Arizona the following week.
Stay tuned, ride reports to come from Saturday and Sunday.
I am doing my homework....or at least starting to. By far the biggest event of the year in terms of time commitment and effort will be the Breck-Epic Stage Race in Breckenridge, CO. With 6 days of back-to-back racing above 10,000 feet, the route is sure to put many people deep into the bowels of the pain cave. For me, I plan to make it a 7 day stage race by doing the Firecracker 50 the day before. Crazy? Sure, but the option presents itself, so why not. The course will be tough....not much fire road at all in this race. Heck, some sections will have trail that is pretty undefined. For example, the trail leading up to French Pass which I rode last year with Solo Goat. My plan is get some weekend trips up to Breck to pre-ride each of these stages before the actual race. This proved to be a valuable effort with event like last years B68.
With the Firecracker 50 and Breck-Epic, 7 days of roughly this profile should prove to be a true test of mind, body, and equipment. Is it July yet?
Going into the OC race I knew what was in front of me. I had raced this course in the opposite direction 2 previous times. Now, the question was what would the 60 mile field do? Who would launch off the front? Who would be the dark horse? Would there be cat and mouse games?
The race went off at 8 AM. The 60 mile racers and 80 mile racers all started together and were designated by blue and yellow number plates. All I needed to do for the duration of my race was keep an eye on the blue plates. The gun went off and we rolled down a county paved road. Riding in the top 10 at the front I kept myself out of trouble. Off the pavement we got on to a gravel climb which would take us to a longer, steeper, and rockier climb. I knew I had to be one of the top guys to this climb to keep from getting stuck in slower rider traffic. I hit the climb in roughly 5th place and sat back a while to see what pace would be set. Strong riders surrounding me included Cameron Chambers, Sloane Anderson, Garth Prosser, and Raymond Hall. After some brief climbing, 4 guys pushed the pace and got ahead of the main pack. The were dangling about 50 yards in front of us. My legs were feeling super and light, so I took off after them.....caught them.....and just kept going. I soon found my self alone off the front. I was the first into the single track...and held that lead until the road. Through the road section I kept my pace until I saw a group of chasers behind me. In the group were two 80 mile racers and one 60 mile racer. Riders were Raymond Hall (60 miler), and Yuki Saito and Kip Biese (80 milers). We worked together up the gravel climb to the next section of singletrack. Here Kip pushed the pace pretty hard. He had me and Raymond on the edge a few times. I looked back to find Yuki back off the pace....which was smart since he would be out for 80 miles.
After a lengthy jaunt of singletrack, we hit aid station 1. At this point the 80 milers went one direction, and the us 60 mile guys went another. I only had one guy to work with at this point.....Raymond Hall, a past winner of this race. We left aid station 1 with a 5 minute lead over the next group of 60 mile races according to a race volunteer. I took off down the road with Raymond in tow. We chatted a bit and Raymond was asking to work together for as long as possible. I'm cool with that.....so I settled into a pull and rode on. Raymond pulled through....and then I pulled through. Then it was Raymond's turn to pull through and he didn't. I looked back to see him about 100 yards back. I kept my pace and pushed on. Soon, I found myself alone with nothing in sight be the road and Arkansas country side. It would be this way for the next 40 miles until I finished.
Any chance I had, I used my strength on the bike and pushed the efforts on the road. Here I made some time any chasers. At about the 30 mile mark I started to cramp a bit in both legs on the inner thigh. Even with the 1.5 bottles per hour and ELETE tablets in combination with the gels....I was still cramping a bit. This forced me to slow a bit and spin a higher rpm up the climbs instead of a comfy tempo. With the onset of cramps coming on I chugged a bottle of Cytomax and more ELETE tablets. With in 10-15 minutes of riding I was back to normal....cramp free.
The remaining miles were filled with rocky climbs and descents, and some slow moist sections of dirt. Made the tires feel like they were flat at times. It was all about keeping a smart pace and not getting crazy. When it got sketchy on Blowout Mountain I chose to run instead of risking destroying a tire or other bike part.
After about 4 hours and 30 minutes of racing I emptied out onto the final dirt road for 8-9 mile push to the finish line. When I would crest a hill I would look back to see if I could se anyone.....and never did. I crossed the line at 4 hours and 50 minutes. Good enough for 1st place overall in the 60 mile race.
Chatting with 2nd place finisher, Noah Singer. Noah finished about 6 minutes back.
During the race I drank eight 24 oz bottles of either water or Cytomax. I also took in 12 ELETE tablets and 12 Power Gels. My HR was well at this elevation around 900 ft. I was able to push out between 155-175. If I did hit over the red line I was able to recover really fast.
My bike made it through the event with no issues what so ever. I am glad I switched out to the 100mm Magura fork and added the Continental tires with the Protection sidewalls. Flats were the order of the day for many many people.
2005 Results
12 Hr Sugar Creek :: 2nd
12 Hr of Metro :: 1st
12 Hr of Thunder :: 2nd
12 Hr of Winter :: 3rd
24 Hr of 9 Mile :: DNF
24 Hr of 7 Oaks :: 1st
24 Hr in Japan :: 1st
2004 Results
Stump Farm 12 Hr :: 2nd
24 Hr of Rapelje :: 1st
12 Hr Nationals :: 3rd
24 Hr of 9 Mile :: 10th
24 Hr Solo World :: 12th
24 Hr of Moab :: DNF
Bio
NAME: Jeff Kerkove
NICKNAME: Mr. 24
COUNTRY: USA (Colorado)
TEAM:Topeak-Ergon DOB: 2.7.1978
HEIGHT: 6 ft.
WEIGHT: 165 lbs.
RACE CATEGORIES:
Pro (XC & Endurance) Click for full Bio
Enter bike number 1 for the season. This year, the Rotwild HT frames are carbon. This will replace the aluminum HT I have been racing on the last 2 years.
The down tube is big and beefy. It is sure to be a stiff and efficient ride.
A 'nude' finish reveals the carbon throughout the entire frame.
Finally, a solid front end steers the bike and rider in the right direction.
Today's route wasn't anything crazy. Just a lot of gradual climbing under the southern California sun. Biggest factor today was the heat. With no breeze, the sun was baking the hill side with temps in the mid-80's.
Is there a better way to end a ride? Seriously.
Sea Otter is said and done. It was a super time with good people. For me, the last 2 days were a bummer, as I didn't feel that well. I decided not to run the XC race in favor of working on the recovery process for the 50 mile Whiskey 50 this weekend. I was run down from some bug that had invaded my system.
Kim spinning on "17 Mile Drive" on our way to and around Pebble Beach.
Feel the breeze blow though your hair.
Da beach mon! Super, super, super windy today. It was a sand blasting experience.
Staged shots.
New team saddle for 2009.
More to come...Sea Otter gets under way tomorrow. More photos here.
Today's Oval Group Ride included the usual cast of crazies. With no racing in the area, we had a stacked group....maybe 30 of us....and pretty much all solid and strong riders. I wasn't sure how my legs would react. Early in the week my legs felt super. The previous 2 days, the lingering effects of last Sunday's Ouachita Challenge win were starting to show their true side.
This little chunk of hill on the north side of Horsetooth Reservoir blew the remaining group apart. The climb is not that long, but the pitch is re-freak'n-diculous....especially after being on edge for most of the ride. I pushed home alone after this hill.....as did many others. Thanks for another super ride fellas!
I tried out some new tires today from Continental. The tire combo GP Attack & Force is front and rear specific. They are not a heavy duty training tire....so I was second guessing my adventure onto the gravel today. After today's effort on the dirt, I am happy to say they passed with flying colors.
I am doing my homework....or at least starting to. By far the biggest event of the year in terms of time commitment and effort will be the Breck-Epic Stage Race in Breckenridge, CO. With 6 days of back-to-back racing above 10,000 feet, the route is sure to put many people deep into the bowels of the pain cave. For me, I plan to make it a 7 day stage race by doing the Firecracker 50 the day before. Crazy? Sure, but the option presents itself, so why not. The course will be tough....not much fire road at all in this race. Heck, some sections will have trail that is pretty undefined. For example, the trail leading up to French Pass which I rode last year with Solo Goat. My plan is get some weekend trips up to Breck to pre-ride each of these stages before the actual race. This proved to be a valuable effort with event like last years B68.
With the Firecracker 50 and Breck-Epic, 7 days of roughly this profile should prove to be a true test of mind, body, and equipment. Is it July yet?
Chatting with 2nd place finisher, Noah Singer. Noah finished about 6 minutes back.
My bike made it through the event with no issues what so ever. I am glad I switched out to the 100mm Magura fork and added the Continental tires with the Protection sidewalls. Flats were the order of the day for many many people.
