Race Report: Gunnison Growler

The Growler continues to elude me....for whatever reason. Third time was not a charm...either was this time around, number 4. The course on paper, is a simple 2 lap format which totals 64 miles. For some reason every time I race here I can't put 2 good laps together. It's either the 1 lap that is good and 2nd bad...or vice versa.

Well this time around, the 1st lap was fantastic...best lap I have ever had at Hartman Rocks under a racing situation.  I was sandwiched in between last years 3rd place rider, Pete Weber and all-around bad ass, Doug Johnson.  I was well within the top 15.....right where I wanted to be for Lap 1.  Knowing how hard and difficult Lap 2 would be, I rode conservative....not digging too deep.  The plan was to negative split the laps...pick up the pace on Lap 2.

Lap 2 began with a steep climb up the 'Notch', which is seen in the photo above.  The first 1 hour of the 2nd lap was great.....the 1.5 hours after that, no so much.  I had the motivation and the desire to push, but had no power...which is a sure sign of training through the week and not tapering for this race.  So, over the process of not putting out some good power, I began to go backwards.  It wasn't until about 1 hour from the finish that the legs came back around.

With the mojo flowing like on the 1st lap, I picked up the pace and began to chase down those who passed me.  In the process, about 5 miles from the finish, I hit one of the many sharp rocks and shredded the rear tire.  With riders breathing down my neck, I opted not to change it and ride the rim and flat tire to the finish.  So, for the next 5 miles or so, I would ride the flats and downhills, and run all the uphills.  I managed only to loose 1 place riding the flat....which should would have been worse should I stopped to fix it.


In the end, I finished in 6 hours and 23rd place overall out of 200+ riders.  Next up is CTR training and the Bailey 100.

Jeff Kerkove said at 5:10 PM :: ::

Growler pre-ride #2

Jeff Kerkove said at 2:33 PM :: ::

Growler pre-ride #1

Jeff Kerkove said at 7:37 PM :: ::

Moab mini-training binge

It's no secret, the weather last week was crappy.  Cold, cloudy, and crappy.  I got grumpy.  Very unseasonable for Colorado for sure.  The weather was making training and riding very unstructured and hit-n-miss.  So, on Friday, I got fed up with only being able to get in 1 hr rides here and there.  I packed up the Ergon van with bikes and camping gear and made the 6 hour drive to Moab to do a 2 day training binge.  Basically the plan was to get out for 5-7 hours each day....ride as much trail as possible....and ride and a good endurance pace.

Friend, sponsored Ergon rider, and my contact at ELETE, Sarah Kaufmann was also in town and with the same plan.  Since it is not wise to ride solo in Moab, we hooked up for the rides on both days! Moab got some rain in the days prior to my arrival. The conditions were perfect! Hardly any deep sand to be found all weekend!

Day 1: Porcupine Rim and Amasa Back


A must do trail in Moab.  A classic!  Pedal your butt up.....shred the descent down!

Top of Porcupine Rim looking towards Colorado.

Bottom part of Porcupine Rim


Amasa Back.....going up!

Local Moab fauna


Day 2: Bar M - Circle O - Sovereign Tr - Gemini Bridges - Lazy EZ - Deadman's - Pipe Dream


Circle O Trail.  Just follow the stain.  Simple enough.

Sovereign Trail

Gemini Bridges

Name speaks for itself!  This new trail out by the M-O-A-B trail set is awesome!

Another new trail, Pipe Dream on the SW side of town.

Riding the edge for 4.5 miles!

7 hours and a lot of salt expelled.

It was a good weekend!  Next weekend will be another big training block with the 64 mile Growler race right in the middle of it.

Jeff Kerkove said at 5:34 PM :: ::

Boing! Boing!

Finally!  Been waiting a long time for the Canyon Lux MR fully to show up.  Mostly because I have been without a FS bike since Brazil and because I need to get my custome CTR bags made for this years race!  Here are the pics fresh off the Topeak workstand!

Jeff Kerkove said at 1:55 PM :: ::

Teaser Pictures: Team Camp in Sedona, AZ

A few snap shots from our time here in Sedona, AZ with the USA team. Going to be cool to check out the photos that the great Tino got of us as well!

Jeff Kerkove said at 8:46 AM :: ::

Race Report: Whiskey 50

Quick report for now, as I am waiting on some photos...as well as enough time to type up the full report.

The Whiskey 50 was not a high priority event for me this year.  Having to stand around on my feet for 2 days prior to the race working the Ergon booth and a larger event coming up in 3 weeks moved the priority level down.  Due to the massive prize payout this year, a lot of big hitter came to throw down some power on this 50 mile loop.  It was good to have these riders to increase the competition!

I went into the Whiskey 50 with a few personal race goals:

1. Race and beat a few select riders....ie: the race withing the race.
2. Ride faster than my 2 previous race attempts. 2009: 3 hrs 44 min  2010: 3 hrs 38 min
3. Go sub 3.5 hours for my final race time.

I met all my goals and personally executed a perfect race.  I finished in 27th overall out of 52 finishers.  My final race time on my GPS was 3 hrs 28 min.  So, I went sub 3.5 hours and beat my time from last year by 10 minutes!


Full report and images to come!

Jeff Kerkove said at 7:42 AM :: ::