Vermont 50

It's hard to believe that it's been almost 2 months since the VT50 and I haven't posted anything on it...again sorry for the delay. But like a fine wine my stories get better with age. If I don't ruin my sperm by biking every day I hope to have kids one day and those kids will hopefully have kids and if I'm still alive I'll be one of those grand dads with the most kick ass stories!

Alright, The VT 50 is a 50 mile ultra run and mountain bike. Those of you who know me will attest to the fact that my opinion of running vs. biking is such that you will not have to ask which division I entered.

They didn't allow camping on site this year so all us cheap skates were forced to sleep in our cars on the side of the road instead of the field. I found a nice little spot behind a church and was only bothered once by an officer of the law. The 6 am start is always an early one, I guess that's why I like ultra distance races instead of regular endurance races...the rule of thumb is that if a race is over 24 hours long starting at some hellish hour is about as important as shaving your legs to cut down on drag...that being said you can shave your legs for other reasons like: the smooth feeling of sliding freshly shaved legs into cool sheets after a 5 hour workout, hot aromatherapy bath and self massage with skin firming lotion. Who ever said it was about aerodynamics?

6 AM at the start line, chilly, dark and damp. I took the lead off the gun to avoid the chaos of 100 mountain bikers clumped together trying to negotiate three 90 degree turns on wet pavement. After the last of them we were on dirt and in a small group of 8 riders pushing a good road pace. The first climb came and I sat into my 80% HR and chugged. One by one people started coming off the back and before the top I was well into the wave ahead of me and off the front of my field. The second climb is a single track muddy mess with walkers everywhere. I took the wattage through the roof to stay on the bike and gain a lead over the early race bottleneck. If there's one thing I've learned in racing it's this: You can always push harder that you think and you can mentally produce more output than you can ever imagine. So, off i go into the red zone early and start feeling it in my lower back. slacking on my truck conditioning over the summer has reminded me why I have clients do 6-7 days of core training a week. At the top of the climb I gave the ol self chiropractic pop to my f^&$ed up SI joints and enjoyed the rest of the day in less agony than before.

Mile 25 was not as much of a blur as the others mainly because I, along with 15 other dip shits, missed a turn and ended up climbing an 300 vertical ft driveway before ending up on some poor saps lawn only to turn around and coast past a few other saps riding the same hill before returning to the race course and passing the same people for the second time. At this point I figured I was well in the lead of my division but with a 5 min detour and a neurotic brain at the helm I put it into overdrive and started really mashing the pedals. Chasing a fictional leader that passed me while I was off course at the very least made the blur seem interesting and the cramping calves a sign of reaching physical capacity...after thinking I'd make to the next aid station on half a bottle of water I found myself quite dehydrated and crampy as a result. A couple shot blocks helped the cramps in my legs but made new one's in my cheeks as I had nothing to wash it down with. Aid station 9 or 10ish was an inviting one, many a snack and beverage. Knowing what my body is telling me is not a new concept. Being a nutritionist and OC trial and error race nutrition freak I walked into that aid station with one purpose "fix what was wrong and get the hell out of there"All I wanted was a chair and blanket but I opted for a potato rolled in salt, a glass of water, half a banana and a swig on mountain dew...now that I think about it that sounds gross but it did the trick at that particular moment in time.

Only one other course change threw me off. Instead of that quickie field climb to height of the land and the decent to the finish line we did a single track climb through the woods then a decent to the field and another single track climb to the Adirondacks and back then a series of PUDS (pointless ups and downs) along the ski slopes before shooting out of the woods into an off camber grassy uphill turn at high speeds. After removing the grass from my shorts, teeth and ear I dodge the next lucky schmuck flying out of the woods to a grassy ass ripping and made my way to the finish. Just before the last decent there was a course marshal standing 10 feet away from a 20 foot long and 40 foot wide wooden bridge reminding me to "be careful on the bridge" that I could see from half a mile away...I laughed inside at that moment given the last 2 minutes and then smiled knowing that the pain was almost over.

I finished 29 minutes ahead of the 2nd place rider for my second win in 2 years at the VT 50.

Great course, great food, great cause.

Yacky out-

PER PRESS

While doing my weekly Google of my name to find out how cool I am I found these articles... Check them out.

http://www.planetfear.com/articles/The_Worlds_Wildest_Race__1030.html

http://checkpointzero.com/adventure_racing_news/2008/07/2008-patagonia-expedition-race-race.cfm

http://www.michaelclarkphoto.com/spring_2008.pdf

http://www.miketittel.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=27&p=5&a=0&at=0

Great Glen Long Overdue

To all my loyal readers, I again apologise for the long overdue delay in publishing yet another funny, remarkable and historic memory from the team of all teams...LBF.

It was a rainy Friday afternoon. Tents scattered about like a dusting of pepper on an omelet made of grass and mud. The team arrived one by one with sullen faces at the impending doom of a rainy weekend. There was a last minute shake up in the teams roster with Jamie Belchak succumbing to a long fight with PMS Thursday. Note: Piriformis Muscle Syndrome is no laughing matter and you all should be ashamed of yourselves for chuckling at an innocent man suffering from PMS. Dave Harkless took the bait and signed on as our 5th with one tiny stipulation..."I will arrive at 7PM Saturday." For the record that is 7 hours after the race has started.

Laps where roughly 40 minutes pedaling as hard as you can with intermittent 40-60 meter sprints through ankle to knee deep mud with underlying roots and rocks all while carrying your bicycle and trying to swallow your heart to return it to it's proper location somewhere in your chest cavity. After my first lap I checked my heart rate monitor and found that I had averaged 195 beats per minute for 43 minutes and hit a max of 203...so in the eyes of some physicians I just took 8353 beats of my heart off my overall lifetime in that one lap...

The rain had stopped Saturday morning leaving mud holes the size of Volkswagens full of a think peanut butter consistency kind of muck that caked on everything. Bikes coming off course where 3-7 pounds heavier and riders retained an additional 1-2 pounds of crud on their legs and arms and inbeded into all mucous membranes and body cavities. Often with races, riders find the smooth line and ride it over and over until a 1.5 inch wide packed out trench in laid through the mud that we all ride through as fast as possible. However, this race was a bit different. The lines never appeared and we were all forced to pedal hard, look straight and play the hand we were dealt. It was like riding a psychotic bull on acid with a midget (sorry...little person) on your back hitting you on the head with a plastic hammer yelling faster...go faster you fat ass all the while the bull is trying to buck you off and pitch you face first into a pile of mud!....At least that was my experience, I'm not sure about the other teammates but that's the way I remember it.

We all rode very well and only made Melanie ride one more lap than each of the four guys. We completed 34 laps in 24 hours finished 1st in our category and came in 3rd overall...Not the result we were going for but an darn good finish I would say.

PS If you ever want to compete in a 24 hour mountain bike race on a team...think twice...unless of course you like 24 hour interval workouts from hell! I would suggest a SOLO 24 hour race any day...it's far more civilized.

Yacky out-

24 hours of Great Glen Team

Hi Everyone,

Team LBF is proud to announce the team list for this years 24 hours of Great Glen.

Team LBF Solo Racer:
Jenny Johnson

Team LBF 5 person open team:
Mel Brown, Dave Stiles, Jamie Myers, Jamie Belchak, and Ward Solar.

We as a team have raced in many solo 24 hour MTB races and as Great Glen is the best event in the area with the most of our friends that come to support us we've decided to come as a 5- person team this year and have more bodies in the campsite around helping all the solo and team racers that have helped us out in the past. It's our little way of saying thanks to all our local fans.

As a racer, when you need a hand at GG look for one of us and we'll help you out and get you going again...

Yackster Out-

Orenteering Clinic August 3rd!

Wanna learn something about Adventure Racing?

Team LBF is running a small unofficial O-Course Clinic for those wanting to learn how to wander around in the woods with some degree of accuracy.

If you are interested please email me: davidnstiles@gmail.com for more information.

No experience necessary.

Yacky Out-

There No Bad Races...Only Good races and Races Where You Learn Something.

The current position of Team LBF is far better then the previous 72 hours which consisted of not one, not two but three I.V.s and six different kinds of medicine that have had varying effects on the lower GI Tract. It all started 3 days ago after a 16 hour bus ride to the land where a distinction between hole in the ground and toilet is nonexistent. We traveled through the night to Kurtun, Turkey and after a lot of motion sickness and throwing up into bags, the Hammer was nailed to his bed in the hostel. The next morning we took one of what turned out to be many trips to the local clinic AKA Hospital. Down the 6 switchbacks and 800 vertical feet to the town center, past the raw sewage, round the building made of mud to a place resembling a scene from MASH (Glass IV bottles included). 36 hours after Hammers first IV I began throwing up everything in my stomach and then some. The Doctor said i should be fine and I should just rest but after hacking up a whole load of green vomit and proceeding to turn white (hard to believe more white than normal) he thought it would be a good idea to treat me.

We had our minds set on racing all the way up until 8 hours before the start when we couldn't go more than 45 minutes between bathroom breaks (the breaks were from napping in bed) and the fact that after being so exausted from figuring out which route to take I nearly passed out on the way up a flight of stairs. We took an inventory of our bodies at 9 am and realized that we and consumed a gross volume of 3 liters of liquid and 250 calories (Net after vomiting 1 liter and 14 calories) and we were weak enough to call the hump from the room to the can a grunt.

So long story short we are currently sitting in the Istanbul airport waiting for the Air France counter to open at 3 am to change our flight and make a shameless retreat back to North America where we can live in peace and train to return to Kurtun next year and drop the Hammer!

Don't take no for an answer

We've spent the last two days wondering around Istanbul like a couple of morons with Salomon back packs waiting to be jumped. Eating a healthy diet of bread, meat, olives and the occasional cucumber or tomato. I've actually been able to see a change in the texture and consistency of my skin...of course that could be the attributed to the weather. It's been a balmy 103 degrees with 137% humidity...unless your are near the water (within 12 feet...we are 2 blocks away) there it's a manageable 98 degrees with 101% humidity. The locals found a former NYC resident a little harder to barder with than the typical US tourist as i repeatedly walked out of a store with money in hand telling them I wouldn't pay half of what they asked. Moments later the merchant emerged from the store with items already packaged in hand waiting for the price I had set. The beauty of one particular transaction was when I just stood their and stared at Jason for a whole 3 minutes mumbling under our breath "just wait him out man..." the price was reduced...and reduced again...then again...a pair of yellow Velcro chucks went from 65 lira to 32 in a matter of minutes...

We met two of the other international teams at breakfast this morning and found out the Spanish team from PER has only one person...apparently the Race Director said "come to Turkey anyway well will find some thing for you". We're being kicked out of our room at 12 and have to wait around till 4 when the bus comes to take us and our gear to Kurtun. It's supposed to be a 12 hour ride and about 1,000 Km to the race area that's up against the border of Georgia...that's right folks I just checked the maps we are racing 100 KM from Georgia, 200 KM from Armenia and 300 KM from Iran, Iraq and Syria! I didn't really understand the geography of the region until I just took a look at the map and realized that we could drive to Bagdad in about 10 hours...Yikes?

So, we are off to the market for some bread, cheese, a pizza for the road and an AK-47 if the price is right.

This will be the last update before the race starts. So, wish us luck, fast and healthy feet and a seat for the ride home (rather than a coffin).

Yacky Out

Istan....Holy Crap!

After 24 hours of traveling (the last hour and a half being a 150 lira cab ride) Jason and I are settled in at the Hotel Zirve in Kadikoy (+90-216-4145142) Give us a call if you like room 108...

This place is a maze of tiny roads on hillsides that rise straight out of the Med. It reminds me of scenes from a James Bond flick or the Borne Movies. The place is amazing! Tons of vendors selling cheap and trendy clothes, shoes and jewelry. We are going to go for a run tomorrow along the beach and take some more pictures.

Sunday they are picking us up for the long drive to Kurtun!

More to follow,

Yacky Out

Kurtun Adventure Race or Turkish Disaster or Thanksgiving

Tomorrow I will be leaving for the only city on the planet located in both Asia and Europe...That's right folks I'm heading to Istanbul formally Constantinople...Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christian empire successor to ancient Greece and Rome. Throughout the Middle Ages Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city, known as the Queen of Cities...

However, the travel alerts for The Queen of Cities is well...read for yourself...
From the US Citizens National Travel Advisory Committee..."Americans should exercise caution...keep a low profile, and remain vigilant with regard to their personal security. Terrorists do not distinguish between official and civilian targets. As security is increased at official U.S. facilities, terrorists will seek softer targets. These may include facilities where Americans...live, congregate, shop, or visit-- especially hotels, clubs, restaurants...outdoor recreation events, resorts, and beaches. U.S. citizens should remain in a heightened state of personal security awareness..."

Now if that wasn't enough to put your spandex in a bunch then how about this from the Race Director... "Last 5 days Utku and I was at the course. And local securities warning us about the increased risk of bears and wolfs attack. As a result the race will be stop every night. "

This looks to be turning into a stage race which is good for the Team of Dave "go too fast" Stiles and Jason "The Hammer" Lane...All the racers we know have said the same thing about Jason and I Racing on a Duo team..."if you guys make it through the first 6 hours without blowing up (bad choice of words) you'll be so far ahead of the field that no one will be able to touch you..."

I'm just happy to be able to take these kind of trips and race with such great people.

Update on the return and check out the website http://arkurtun-turkey.touaregturk.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=48

Yacky Out

Perform: Inside Adventure Racing

To everyone with us physically and in spirit last night I want to personally thank you all for supporting the team! Last nights movie was a huge success and went better than I could have hoped. Thank you all for your donations, laughter, warm smiles and generous applause! As a first time film maker I was chewing my nails throughout the movie waiting for laughs that came right on cue and tense moments to bring you inside our story. Thank you for being such a wonderful crowd and for all your wonderful comments. The movie will release on DVD in the next four weeks and will be available online and at the bike shop. We welcome comments and questions from one and all.

Thanks again for a wonderful evening!

Dave Stiles AKA Yacky

Untamed BOG!

To all my loyal readers and fanatics following Team LBF in the world of AR and generally epic adventures,



I am sorry for the delay in my Untamed report. To get right to the point we had a very good Untamed NE a couple weeks ago. It was a good race and some great untamed competition. Team Summit Achievement was the Untamed NE winner and Running Free, one of the top Canadian teams, took an untamed 2nd while a very untamed Team LBF took an untamed 3rd.



For 59 untamed hours and 34 untamed minutes we biked, trekked and paddled through some of the most untamed wilderness New England has to offer. I also want to express my gratitude to Grant and the hole Untamed Adventure Team for bringing such a great event to our untamed region most widely known as The North Country. It was great to have such an untamed event up here to compete in and it's about freaking untamed time that someone came along who is untamed enough to bring us Untamed NE (http://www.untamedne.com/). I'm sure that Untamed Virginia in September will be very very...dare I say...Unforgettable?

Race HQ, Start and Finish was at the Franconia Inn on Easton Rd. We made a quick loop on a couple ski trails and through a huge mud puddle in the first 3 minutes (Thanks Grant!). Then off to The Rocks Estate for "Conservation" AKA: Stacking Wood, AKA: doing Chucky D's job for him! Next it was to Remich Park in Littleton and an O-Course that lead us over Parker Mountain. The trail system was so confusing in that section that we almost didn't make it out!...who am I kidding? I put the map away until we got to Waterford, VT...We had a 15 minute lead going into the paddle and were in 3rd by 2 minutes when we got off the water. One reason was the three person teams had one boat with 3 paddles, exactly 1/3 more horse power than our boats, the other reason is we suck at paddling. To our defense it's mainly because we never paddle for training just try and survive the paddle sections in our races...probably should get on the water more.

The Victory Bog section...yes I said Bog...was a quick very hilly bike ride away. We arrived at the VB Section around 8:30 PM and headed into the swamp and mucked about for 5 hours. It was a flash from the past but in Patagonia the bogs were moss with beaver dams that we walked around and over. Grant, I guess, decided that Patagonia was too easy so he sent us straight through the beaver ponds!

An absolutely frozen Team LBF rode into TA 6 at 3:30 AM in Lancaster. We drank these self heating cups of coffee Jamie found at the store and packed up for another 20 hours of racing. We rode to the Mountain View Grand with a quick jog to the top of Prospect mountain (Blah) where we saw the Wicked Pissah gang grunting up on our way down. After the MVG we had a near "CheckPoint 18" (see: http://teamlittletonbikeandfitness.blogspot.com/2007/06/nears-vt-12-hour-ar-huh.html) In my state of weakened condition at the last TA I "thought" I put some maps in the bin instead of my pack...so we had a moment of terror and improvisation brain storming on how we could finish the race without the maps I didn't realize I actually had in my pack. We ran with that for about 20 minutes till Jenny told me "Why don't you just empty your bag and see cuz I don't really want to ride back to Lancaster." That settled we started to race again.

We blew through the first O-Course in a crappy time but nevertheless had fun. The next bike section was nothing short of HELL! Cherry Mountain Rd from Rt 2 in Randolph to Bretton Woods (Stop: Eat Pizza and Cake), Mt Washington Base road to Jefferson Notch Road, over Jefferson Puke road to valley road to where we started! The only good part of that was the Pizza and cross eyed paranoid delusions I had while riding up Jefferson Notch Road!

The second O-Course we nailed and cleaned in a very respectable time. the best part of that was climbing the mt to CP1 and seeing a billboard...I know what you're thinking, hallucination right? That's what Jamie said until he saw the billboard too! Then it got even better. Sam Brown's head popped out from behind the billboard! This was a secret CP that was fully stocked with our teammates husband, baked beans, coke, sandwiches and hugs! The best uplift we could have had. Secretly before the secret CP I wasn't sure we would make it through that big O-Course before the cut off, but Dave Lamb gave me a little pep talk and the energy level was great after that. Remember we had not slept in 40 hours. The nav went super smooth on the next section and we hit every CP right on the first time and very quick...

The long paddle was after our 45 Min nap in a field and was a total blur. All I remember is finding a box of donuts and egg sandwiches under a bridge and eating 4 and 2 of each respectfully! From Lancaster to Moore Dam was about 3 1/2 hours and the weather could not have been nicer.

We rode from Perkins to the back side of the Rocks Estate for more of Charles' unfinished work and then down into Franconia and up three mile hill to Artist Bluff for our ropes section and a silly kayak around Echo. Now, I know that it was done for exposure purpose but, I am an athlete and I train really hard to do what I do. In this case "what I do" was stay up for 3 days and race over 150 miles on foot, bikes and paddling. So, I did feel like a bit of a chump when a guy sitting on the beach at Echo lake said "Hey are you in that Adventure Racing thing? looks like it's pretty tough, do you all have to paddle all the way around the lake (in a sarcastic tone)?" Little did he know I actually was seeing two of him from the lack of sleep and that limp I had was closely related to the 30 miles of trekking I did the night before.

We ended the race with a trek up to Greenleaf hut then down to Lafayette Place, back up Cannon and down three mile hill on foot to a merry finish of the full pro course in 3rd place 26 minutes before the midnight cut off. We were one of 3 teams to get all the Check Points and that means we ROCK!

They had 23 pizzas waiting for us when we got there and I started eating until someone said I had had enough (9 pieces or 1.145 pizzas later). Jamie had a beer and nursed it till Rob almost hit the moose. Jenny fell asleep waiting for Sam who was on top of Kinsman With Dave H and Hailey. Mel tried her hardest to convince me she was ok to drive home after being awake for 66 hours but was glad Darlene was on the left side of the car when she saw the three little pig's chasing a wolf down main street Franconia.

Killer Race and we are pumped to have such a good event near home!

Yacky Out-

Team LBF Picked as Race Favorite...Crap!

Filed by Untamed Adventure Staff at 5/26/2008 1:47:00 PM
We solicited feedback from a variety of adventure racing "insiders" and can share a bit of their insight into the Untamed New England race roster. We asked them which were teams to watch, how things stack up, and this is what they said . . .On Littleton Bike and Fitness (Littleton, NH):This team is the concensus favorite to top the Untamed New England podium. First off, they're a fast team with Jenny "What is lactic acid?" Johnson leading the charge. They'd be a competitor for the victory in almost any race, but the fact that this event takes place in their backyard (Littleton is just minutes from the host hotel) stacks the deck in their favour. They might even set their maps aside for stretches of the course, who knows...Quote: "Everybody that has a teammate that has beaten Danelle Ballengee in a solo Ultra Endurance race please raise your hand."___________________________On Team ABC / Capital Bikes (Annapolis, MD):This team figured prominently in most expert picks, which slots them in at the #2 position for our purposes. One teammate, Tamela Lynch, is local to the Franconia region, and familiarity with a region is always a big plus. The concensus is that the more paddling in the race, the better for this team (team captain Bill Vickers owns a paddle shop in Maryland and they excel at that aspect of racing). One unknown for this race is how recovered Team ABC is from injuries sustained earlier this year, but our panel thinks a healthy team is certainly one to watch.Quote: "If there's a ton of paddling Bill Vickers and ABC/Capital Bikes are a good choice."___________________________On Team Running Free (Quebec, CA):The most experienced Canadian team in the race, Running Free is also favored to earn a podium spot (we're tucking them into third position). With success in prior years at Raid the North (one of Canada's highest profile events), and a long list of other race achievements, don't be surprised to see this team shine in this rugged course. Some have even suggested them as a dark horse to win the race.Quote: "Every time I race in Canada I'm truly amazed at how much higher their average fitness level seems."___________________________Truthfully, as one reviews the Premiere Division (3 and 4 person coed) nearly every team looks competitive; Berlin Bike (CT) earns podium finishes on a regular basis and NYARA (NY) has a wealth of experience to rely on. Team A-List (VA/MD), while racing their first event over 30 hours, have a lot of race wins over the years and could be a dark horse to upset some of the more established teams despite this being their first truly multi-day race. Calleva (MD) is another strong team from the mid-Atlantic and a popular dark horse pick amongst our panel. Team Summit Achievement (ME), GMARA (VT), BreatheMag.ca (Ontario, CA) and Gung Ho (PA) have strong rosters and could excel on race day. UltraBambi (NH), despite their youth, won 2nd place at Untamed Virginia 2007 and shouldn't be taken lightly. A late registrant to the race, Aquan / Racing With Giants from California, wasn't included in the roster we circulated to our insiders so we don't have any formal predictions regarding them. I suspect, to make a trip from the West Coast to a race like this, you've got to be race-ready and this team could surprise everyone as we rarely see West Coast teams on the Atlantic side of the country.In fact, the one main take away from our conversations with the "insiders" is that this is the strongest field for any event we've ever organized. I'm sure it's self-selecting; a 60-hour event is bound to attract the higher caliber teams and scare away the rest. We think it's going to be a lot of fun to see how it all plays out.While we focussed on the 3 and 4 person coed teams (the premiere division for this race), there are some very strong teams in the "Open" division where teams of 2-people and single-gender teams are permitted. Team Wicked Pissah / Fitness Together (MA) stands out as one of these teams to watch; they've got lots of big race experience and know what the New England mountains can dish out. Wishful Thinking Fools (VA), in the 2-person category, will also be strong and we understand they've been making annual trips to the White Mountains of New Hamsphire for some time now . . . so this race will be, strangely, not so foreign territory for these two Virginians.Honorable mention has to go to the brendacohenjewelry.com team (PA); we know from experience that they're the team most likely to stash some home brewed beer in their gear bins. Them, along with Ride Too Fast (VA), could win the "most smiles" award bestowed by race checkpoint staff. We'll have to see how that contest shapes up!Finally, lest we lose sight that this is about fun and experiencing the outdoors and testing personal limits -- more than it is about who crosses finish lines first -- we'll close with a quote from one particular insider known as Dr. Evil to many in the New York orbit:
"Regarding the NYARA male team, I just don't want to hear any stories about a team puppy pile in the woods in order to stay warm while sleeping."Here's to a fun race everyone!

Pats Peak 24 Hour MTB

Words cannot describe the feel of riding a bike for 24 hours. It's a mental game as much as physical. Last weekend at Pats Peak Jamie and I, defending champions, were 95% ready to go and race hard, we brought our new bikes and were prepared to hurt.

After returning from Patagonia we both have been training well and getting in plenty of hours on the bike. We've even commented to ourselves during weekly 7+ hour workouts that it feels like nothing to be out riding for 6 or 7 hours with little to no breaks.

Long story short, after Jamie's TWO high speed crashes, my Technicolor yawn and 20 laps of seeing the same trail over and over again we both said "Wow, this is really boring" We decided that for the sake of the Untamed Adventure race 10 days from then we should and would use Pats Peak as a training race and hit the sack. However, Greg Jancaitis our good friend and competitor blasted the race course and put in 32 laps for 1st place and a totally horrific 46 min pace! Greg is Racing for MS this year in a bunch of 24 hour MTB races and he makes about $5 a lap for charity...Check out his website and donate to a great cause! http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/MEMBikeEvents?px=4369451&pg=personal&fr_id=9042&s_tafId=73206

Lets take a moment and tell two little stories...

Flying down a a muddy S-turn, that was something like a greasy washboard with ferns all around, Jamie found the (nearly) perfect line. As he edged around the final turn he brushed a tall fern with him handle bar...what he didn't realize was there was a 4ft stake with a course marker hidden behind the fern (I know great placement, as if you couldn't tell which way to go the with yellow caution tape lining the trail around you and the 4 ft wide swath of mud cut through the center of the "death" valley of ferns) his bar clipped the stake and spun the bike to the left. Wilson went from cyclist to missile to sack of potatoes...make that very muddy sack of potatoes in all of about 1/8 of a second. He rose with the "puppy dogs tail got caught in the car door" look and was a little bewildered. I showed him the stake and laughed a bit while I checked his bike and he checked his wrist (see post "spills chills and Canadian thrills" section Wilson vs gravity for more information). Jamie's response was simple "What the Bleep is the Bleeping thing doing there? Take that the Bleep out of the ground and throw it in the woods."

PS The second crash was even cooler to watch...high speed body part yard sale on a wide open grassy slope going about 40Km an hour...HA

Last story...

At about 6 pm 10 laps into the race I started feeling "funny" (Funny: noun (1) blurred vision (2) stomach cramps (3) hallucinations (4) vertigo (5) you know...funny). I told Wilson that I was a little messed up and that I was starting to hurt way more that I should for this time in the race. Two laps later, I was on the verge of puking and we rode by a guy that knew us. He said "wow you guys are the ones that won this last year!...I want to be just like you, heck I want to ride half as many laps as you do" As this nice man was saying all these kind words I was responding with "Thanks...(Dry Heave)...oh your too kind...(Dry Heave...Dry Heave)...no really you don't mean that...(Dry Heave)...I..." The man then got off his bike and started walking the hill we were climbing. I started throwing up everywhere. I tried like the dickens to time my pedal strokes so that I wouldn't puke in my shoe but there was just to much puke and not enough space between strokes. So, once again I managed dirty a shoe with bodily fluid normally reserved for the shimmering waters of the porcelain thrown (see post Tuckerman Inferno)...The best part of that whole thing was hearing this guy behind me saying "he's puking...holy crap he's puking and still riding...riding away from me and puking"...Ah Summertime!

Yacky Out-

Tidbits

Hi everyone,

Getting ramped up for two smaller events...Pats Peak 24 hour MTB Race and The Untamed Adventure NE (60 hour Adventure Race).

We have quite a website for that race, GPS tracking, Live updates and a team page on the site...

The race starts June 12th at Noon. http://www.untamedne.com/live/Race/

Check us out!

We are also proud to announce we've added some new sponsors to our list...stay tuned for some news on who else has caught the Team LBF Wave of craziness...

Last, I'd like to let everyone know that Team LBF clothing and race wear will be hitting the market soon!...stay tuned for details.

Hype it up!

Yacky Out

Road ID

This was a sample email for me to forward to people...I've added a little yacky flair for good measure...If you read all the black then read all the red you'll get the difference

Hey Everyone, Sup Dawgs

I just ordered one of the best products ever. Yo yo you gotta check this out It's called a Road ID - perhaps you've heard of it. You know those silly things that dumb athletes wear around their wrist for when they crash and lie bloody on the side of the road? If you haven't, go to their website and check it out. Well it's called Road ID because we don't normally carry a DL in case we run a red light. Road ID is a great product that could save your life someday. But for the times we do want the authorities to know our identity like after a downhill inline staking endeavour (see last year blog "spills chills and Canadian thrills") this thing is good.
When I ordered, they gave me a coupon that I could pass along to my friends. It's kinda lame cuz they only give you enough of a discount to get 1/4 on a gallon of gas. Here's the coupon number:
Coupon Number: ThanksDavid366785
The coupon is good for $1 off any Road ID order placed by 05/25/2008. To order, simply go to RoadID.com or click the link below: Go to this link to get your buck off
http://www.RoadID.com/?CID=ThanksDavid366785
If you prefer, you can call them at 800-345-6335. And if you're hankering to get put on hold and listen to some muzak give them a call
You can thank me later, I'll stop bugging you now,
David Stiles Yacky
Oh by the way, their website is awesome, the customer service is outstanding, and the owners are very smart and good looking. Oh by the way, this company is ok but have you been to my gym lately? it's freakin cool, we are doing lots of good thing for people and as always the manager is really smart and absolutely stunning!

Friends of Tuckerman and Pain, AKA The Inferno

Our first local race of the seasons for Team LBF; the Inferno was a great kick off for us and we had a great time...

The Inferno has been going on for years now and is truly a noble event with a noble cause. Friends of Tuckerman Ravine puts on this event to help raise money for the ravine and all the logistics of keeping it available for everyone and preserve the natural beauty of slopes of Mt Washington. That plus so much more, everyone should go to their website and check out what they are all about. http://www.friendsoftuckerman.org/

So lets get to it...the Inferno is a 5 discipline multi sport race starting with a 8.3 mile run with 750 vertical feet of climbing in the first 3 Miles, then it's a quick splash into 38 degree water with a 6.5 mile white water kayak on the Saco River in Bartlett, followed by a 2,000+ vertical feet road bike time trial to Pinkham Notch, Grab your skis and pack for a trek of 2.7 miles and another 2,000 vertical feet to the base of Tuckerman bowl, another half mile straight up to the top of the head wall for the final GS run down the ravine and through the finish...

We started the race at 7:01 am from the Story Land Parking lot after pre-staging boats near Thorne pond. Most of the participants are on teams of 5 called TuckerTeams but for the few hearty soles that like a slightly slower pace and more bang for their buck there is the Tuckerman and Tuckerwoman division (24 athletes in these two divisions 20 men and 4 women). These are Solo competitors that complete all five events by themselves (yeah thats us). So, off the start Team LBF stayed together for the first half of the run until Jenny decided to make me feel like a little girl and run away from me to the Kayak TA...The run was a little warm up climb on rt 16 then went straight up and subsequently straight down in the next 4 miles to give our legs the shock they need to cramp so severely that you become delusional. We came into the boats fast and left fast. Jenny and I pre paddled the course last week which helped make good decisions and quick work of the 6.5 miles of fun to the bike TA. We pulled out at the same time in a massive confusion of paddles and gear flying every where. At this point I was sitting in 6 or 7th place of the TM division and Jenny was comfortably leading the TW division. We both scattered to the familiar voices of our support crews and donned our cycling gear. It's important to note that if you ever decide to run as hard as you can for an hour then get in a kayak and sit for 45 minutes your legs may not be entirely happy with you when you get up...Either way, after beating my right calf/brick with a closed fist a few times I was on the bike for my speedy discipline. For me I needed to put in a stellar bike ride to make up the time I lost while wheezing through the run. I pushed hard over the first climb and launched into a state of tremendous blurred vision and poor judgement leading to the combination of three interesting yet familiar situations: Nearly crashing my bike while going 30 mph, sever cramping in my legs, and a shoe full of urine...if your not a biker the third part my be hard to understand but I won't go into details. I backed off a bit to allow for the massive amounts of electrolytes and sugars I was taking it to have some effect (you make already know this but if you start cramping it's most likely due to over exertion and inadequate fluid to electrolyte intake...generally speaking if you get your HR down a bit and take in a gel and some sports drink you can manage the cramping and keep it to a minimum). So, up the next climb I went. I came into the Hike TA at the same time my DAD/Support person was arriving with my pack and skis...now in 2nd place I grabbed my pack (that felt like it was 500 lbs) and asked for my running shoes. The response that followed was a blank stare and "what shoes? They're in the pack right?" The support trailer was a mile away at Wildcat and comfortable sitting in the back were my soft well broken in, perfectly molded to my feet through miles and miles of trekking in South America running shoes....Crap...Pilots have these really cool flow charts for emergencies so they know exactly what to do in the case of a catastrophe...my catastrophe flow chart read like this: No shoes---ask someone for extras----still no shoes?----ask again louder (note: first attempt was loud but nevertheless increase volume and tone by 93.7%)---proceed to Sam Brown (Jenny's Hubby) for his shoes that are 3.5 sizes too big----remove Sam Brown's shoes when hit in the head by racers girlfriend throwing her boyfriends back up shoes at you---continue race---scold support crew after finish---return borrowed shoes post race...Don't forget earlier urine in the shoe issue and remember that socks don't get changed in these quick races but what they don't know can't hurt them. Back to the race...The hike to the ravine was a train of weekend hikers heading up to get in some great runs on a beautiful Saturday. Now these people were so amazing while hiking up. I rarely had to say anything to anyone about clearing a lane for me to get through...there was a constant lookout for racers and people would yell up ahead of us to help clear the way...all I had to do was wheeze. It was one of the greatest things you can experience. People just staring at you while you pass cheering and clapping, words of encouragement and just the best energy emitting from these folk who 90% of them are wheezing just as hard with their cases of beer on their backs...it was great. I was passed about 30 minutes in to the hike by a Calvin Klein model on steroids and another aerobic giant who was actually running (it was more of a trot but dam impressive)...I really didn't know where I was in the standings at this point...somewhere closer to the top some one said I was in fourth which got my spirits up a bit. I could still see the CK guy and he was losing a bit of the pinash he had when he passed me. I took the opportunity to pass him and push the pace when he stopped to get some water from his pack. As we started getting into the steeper climbing my stumpy tree trunks for legs were doing a great job at staying strong and pushing a quick and relentless speed rarely seen on this planet...this is the stuff that I think about racing...kind of stupid but it works...So, I managed to hold of CK One step behind me. We came out into the bowl where 2,000 people were standing around gawking at half a dozen sledders seeing how close they can come to killing them selves. I look up the slope and see that we were heading for the skiers right slope and all the way to the top of the head wall. I made it my mission to get my ass up that mountain in one piece and not fall and slide past CK on my back and lose my podium spot...With this in mind I was dumb founded that the Sherpa that ran past me an hour before had just gotten to the top and was not even in to his snowboard boots yet. I asked the officials if the time stopped up top his reply was surprising "no, when you're ready just go and your time is your time" I had a chance to pull up another spot into 2nd! So, I put on my tele boots in record time... not even laced, just buckled down and thrown on...I asked for a few people to slide aside and let me "catch that guy" who was at the 3rd gate down the mountain. I never thought I would be is a GS race for a spot at the end of a 4.5 hour event. Not to mention that after blowing my legs into ultra fatigue (near failure) I was now racing down a 60 degree ski slope that many a people have died on...this all entered my mind after the fact...by gate five I was on his ass and as I shot by him he caught his toe edge and slide down past me back into second place...I made up the distance and pulled off a successful pass while he was flipping over to get back on his feet. We were neck and neck until the bottom 1/3 of the course when I took the lead to come across the finish line 16 seconds ahead...I never saw that coming!

Jenny was on the head wall as I was in the dual on the way down and cheering me on the whole way...she came down about 12 minutes later as the first Tuckerwoman ahead of Kat Fiske (Another Littleton area local) in second. Jenny was the first TW to break the five our mark at 4 Hours and 43 Minutes...She was the 5th Tucker Person to finish. Time and time again Jenny proves to be an amazing athlete that gives most elite male athletes a run for their money.

We finished up the day with a ski out of the bowl down the Sherburn Ski Trail and attended the fantastic awards banquet at Wildcat. They serve a full meal with amazing prizes and a great program. This is a race that everyone should come to at least once even if you're just there to watch...

On a final note:
I think I've said this before on this blog but races are really about who is willing to hurt the most. Chris Jensen of NHPR asked me during an interview this spring "why do you race?" I couldn't give him an answer at the time but I think I just found it...Everyone can push themselves to their limit but it's the perception of that limit where most stop. To push beyond your limit, beyond what you think you can do, beyond what you know about yourself and into an unknown world of physicality that is no longer about the philological limits of your genetic make up, it is about your will and the desire you have to compete and go the distance mentally; that is to race and that is why I do it.

YACKY OUT-

Summer Season

Ok...so all you think running an AR team is a little ball of joy...well i'll tell you this it's a lot of work...we are finishing up our summer sponsorship...riding 10-15 hours a week and living the life of a pro athlete and full time worker at the same time. Wow this spring has put us into our place but man it is all worth it...get out and ride...run...paddle. Live this life to the fullest...

More soon from Team LBF
Yacky

National Public Radio

Team LBF is now a Nationally recognized...something. Tonight a story By Chris Jensen of New Hampshire Public Radio aired in the 5:50 time slot of NPR's All Things Considered, a nation wide radio show. We are thrilled to have been able to work with Chris and get such a positive response to what we love.

There will be another broadcast on Monday March 17th at 7:40 am Don't miss our 7 Minutes of fame.

But if you do please go to:http://www.nhpr.org/node/15572 for a transcript and an MP3 download.

YAcky OUt

Warm Smiles, Hugs and Beds

To all our devoted readers and supporters,

We arrived at Littleton Bike and Fitness this afternoon to a mass of friends, family and a reporter from NHPR who have all been part of our adventure in some way or another and wanted to be the first few to say welcome home. We exchanged hugs and stories for an hour then parted ways until a later date with a more organised method and recap of the previous week.

Now that I lay in a warm bed so firmiliar yet so strange ready for the 12 hour transition from Adventure Racer to Gym Manager...6 Am will come quick and I will surly sleep fast.

Thank you all for your support and know that we are home safe and sound and ready for the next adventure...

Yacky out

Last days

First of all I want to express my deep graditude and thanks to everyone who has helped us with this journey. Those of you who post comments should know that it brings us great joy to make a connection with you and to know that we are being watched and looked out for.

The past few days have been filled with sleep, cleaning gear, sorting gear, lots of coffee, food and many a things that cannot be expressed in words.

Words cannot describe...

The sight of Jason and Jamie´s feet
The taste of a mocha latte at our favorite local cafe after 10 days in the bog
The smell coming from 6 gears bins full of wet shoes and trekking gear
The smell of an adventure racers lower GI tract thats "working out the kinks" after a lot of drink box
How it feels to walk in sandals
The amout of coffee Jenny can drink when given the chance
What eating 12 chocolate pastries and still being hungry feels like
How you feel when you get your first shower after 10 days without
The texture of one´s feet after 8 days of trench foot
The elation felt after selling you bike for more than you paid for it and reilizing that you now do not have to bring it home
36 hours of sleep in 3 days

Words cannot describe much here...we are all feeling really great. Well rested, well on the road to recovery and ready to come home.

Never have I finished a Race and had so much time before leaving...it feels great to be pressure free but we are all ready to come home and return to as normal of lives that we have.

Thanks again for your support and stay tuned for a photo site and video to be posted with details of all our crazy moments here in The Patagonia.

Yacky flyin safe...

A little word from the team

Hey everyone,

Hope all is well in the land of non-confusion...we just got back to Punta Arenas after our epic and man are we in lala land...I got a quick sum up before bed just to give you all a teaser.

130km biking
339km treking...make that 12km on trail the other 326 BUSHWACKING!
0 Km Kayaking
110 km on a schooner
57 km on chilean navy vessel 1
378 km on chilean navy vessel 2

Rounding us out at 469 KM of racing before they stopped the last teams standing and said [this is it you are finished].

Everyone is safe, I took 8 hours of video, we took over 400 pictures, have 10 toenails about to fall off, lots of chilean people think we are the coolest, tons of great stories, and a healthy reminder that the simple things in life we take for granted are very prescious. So, where ever you are take one minute, close your eyes and think of three luxuries you have that many people dont...then take a deep breath and try not to forget them.

We made it! 4th Place overall

Yacky Tired

Last pre race update

Hey All

We are just about to recieve our maps and instruction books. Jamie and Jenny are doing the last of the shopping and then we are all meeting back at the HQ for our final gear packing and course plotting. We are all getting into pre-race mode. Jason´s sleepy, jenny´s sick Yacky´s yackin and Jamie´s talking crazy talk.

We´ll be heading out to Teirra Del Fuego in the AM and starting on the bikes (yeehaw) at 12:15 after the ferry ride over to the island.

From now on you´ll be getting race updates from the race organizers and we´ll be hammerin!

Wish us luck and think of the team as we will need all the positive affermations we can get.

We´re on!

Hello all,

Well, we werer 5 minutes from getting on a plane to Santiago to find our luggage and it came out of the belt in Punta Arenas...wow that was close...we are now in the midst to a gear explotion.

Stay tuned for one more pre race update and then sit back and watch the magic

Yacky Pumped

VSF

Ok gang,

We have been in Punta Arenas for two days now, Eating lots of food, walking around getting in some sights, picking up some last minute gear and driving back and forth to the airport trying to find our baggage. So far we are missing Jason´s bike and Everything else that Jamie Jenny and I put on the plane. this constitutes about $30,000 worth of racing gear thats completely MIA. Now the folks at the airport keep saying ´´sure sure, it will come on the next flight´and the race organizers keep saying ´sure sure we´ll take you to the airport and get your stuff just wait a minute´3 hours later we go and yet again no luggage. it wasn´t bad the first night. ók it´s noraml to have stuff gone for a day thats why we come down a couple days early´ but we have a gear check and kayak test tomorrow at 9:30 am and we still have nothing.

Tonight after the offical opening ceremony Jenny and Jamie squeezed into a small truck with a driver and race organizer to head into the airport for a little temper tantrum...

Jamie just walked in... we are screwed! No one knows anything about our gear. There was an urgent message sent out to the airports they may be at but they aren´t even sure we´ll get anything back at all! You know what that means if we try hard we´ll get $100 per bag from the airline in insurance...

Yacky Quite

We Made IT

35 hours of traveling and we are here! It´s chilly in Chile and raining...Our gear is lost and hopefully it will arrive tomorrow. All is well updates soon!

Dave and The Team

Last night

Sleepless nights tear at my soul
Waiting planes rumble and roll
I think of things long forgot
I hope and pray it wasn't a lot
Upon my slumber I dream a dream
Of midrace coffee with sugar and cream

Tonight we sleep before our Quest
We'll finish on top as we're the Best

Wish us all good luck, may our feet stay blister free and our additudes full of glee

Yacky Out

The Pastry Diet

As a Nutritionist I hear about all sorts of gimmicks like “The Grapefruit Diet”, “Organic” and “Weight Watchers”. I’m here to tell you all that this really works!

The Goal: increase your Body Fat by 3% in two weeks before an event so you don’t die in the woods from malnutrition

The Plan:
2 weeks prior to your event begin a calculated regime of 3 pastries a day after the 3rd day increase to 6 pastries. Day 7 is your half way point…if you’re half way to your goal increase to 8 pastries a day. However, if you’re not half way there increase to 12 Pastries a day for 5 days and then 16 on days 13 and 14 to make sure you have adequate build up of LDLs prior to departure.

It’s just that simple.

I've been 13 days and I’m already up 2.7 %

Almost to my goal of 4.8% Body Fat!

So, get out to your local bakery and indulge!

Leaving Tomorrow...going a little mad!

T Minus 4 Days and Counting

Alrighty then...Does anyone really know what the "T Minus 10, 9 , 8" thing means anyway? I don't. One thing I do know is that we've done something everyday to get ready for our trip and the list never seems to get shorter. We finally got all our food squared away, so thats one less thing.

Jamie and I have been out for a couple spins on the new Cannondale 29ers and everytime we are overcome by the realization that we are going to be riding mid season miles on pre season legs in less than a week. "Is it flat in patagonia?"

We've kept up on our gym workouts for the past few months, focusing on lots of multi-joint movments and circuit training. We are physiclly stronger and bigger in the upperbody than ever, Jamie's up 5 lbs and I'm up 8...all in upperbody mass and core strength. This has been an intentional attempt at not sucking so much on the paddles...Hopefully this will work cuz even though there's only 10% paddling in this race we're talking about 50+ miles of intense ocean kayaking.

I am looking forward to getting away from work and kicking the crap out of myself but there's something inside me that's freakin out about the pain and suffering that we are going to go through. Adventure Racing is about enduring more discomfort than anyone should ever have to. We continue to sign up from races regardless of this fact because...well i guess I don't really know why...I guess I summed it all up in our application to Patagonia. When asked "What makes you think your team should be admitted into this race?" My responce was simple...

"We're racers, we race...It's what we do."

-Yacky Out

SNOW...WTF?

So I was just informed by one of our wonderful sponsors that their might in fact be snow at PER as well...http://www.patagoniaexpeditionrace.com/galeria/pper2006w-vicuna_2234wa.jpg...I'm not sure about you but vacations...Adventure Races...are supost to be in NON-Freezing climates...I'm thinking did I miss a day at school somewhere? Since when is it winter in the southern and northern hemispheres at the same freakin time? I mean I know we are going to the 50th Meridian but for crying out loud...next time I think we'll apply for the Tabago Traverse!

Don't forget to vote in the Poll...Not that poll...My poll....you know the one to the right---->

Yacky's Gonna Hurl!

Ok...so as if the life of a cracked out athlete isn't hard enough. Try getting this on for size...

In August at the top of Cannon Mountain we decided to submit an entry form to gain access to a really cheap race in South America..."OK!" Said the Gang "but lets make sure we get everything squared away early so we are not rushing around in the beginning of January like mad people"..."OH definitely" I said...

For the record it's January 21st and Every night Jamie and I are rushing about like mad people remembering this, or thinking of that...extra batteries...more food...bikes that won't get stolen...a compass that actually works in zone 4 (that's a place that no compass should work because it's 10,000 miles from the north pole)...TP! Holy Crap we almost forgot the TP!

Packing seems pretty straight forward eh? Lets try an analogy... Have you ever taken your family camping for a weekend and as you pack, more and more things just start finding their way into the RV? Unbennounced to you when it's all said and done you've put nearly the entire house into the rig and are ready to go out for an "adventure" amongst the wild squirrels and chipmunks of the KOA in Jefferson County...well next time this happens try taking this packing technique and fitting the contents of that RV into two "allowed" bags your checking (airplane). By "allowed" I mean 2 less than 100 lbs ($100 upcharge per bag) and within the 82" limit (H+W+D, another $100) and a bike box (again under 100lbs and yet another $100 up Charge) then carry it all to an angry teller and try to get her or him to give you a deal cuz you're a "poor adventurer"....then you'll have an idea of what packing for an international race is like!

Back to the point, Yacky is gonna hurl!

Some of you may know that I took over as manager of The Gym at Four Seasons...Needless to say having a real job totally throws off a training schedule and having to train someone to do my 60 hours worth of work into 20 is not the hardest task because I generally goof off for 26-38 of them...but nevertheless it's a lot to think about....I'm rambling!

Ok...Check out the two polls I've set up on the Blog!

Yack

The Race at the End of the World

To all my loyal readers. As a childlike racer of the summer of 2007 I race like a child I train like a child and work like a child but as I become a man I put away childish things! Like eating doughnuts, training all the time, not working very much and drinking a lot of beer...

Whatever poppycock I've just put before you has little to no consequences to anything other than...well nothing.

However, something that might interest you is Team LBFs next Adventure Race. Feb 7th 2008 Jamie (Chisel) Jenny (CatsPaw), Jason (Hammer) and I (Jigsaw) will be heading to Boston with hundreds of pounds of gear to embark on our greatest journey to date.

Take a look:

http://www.patagoniaexpeditionrace.com/in/08per2008.htm