Sunday, May 25, 2008

What A Difference A Week Makes...

Most Noble Teammates!


ya just gotta LOVE a go(o)d spring in Flag, eh?

i took these during a cross ride up Elden yesterday (5*24*08):




...and here y'all were a mere 7 days EARLIER sweatin' in the heat of Elden!...

Kid's Race...
ready,
set...
CRASH!!!




...















Keep CRANKING The Chi!

i miss racing with you all, yet my new baby is keeping me busier and more fatigued and filled with more Sacred Joy than when i was fully sponsored! i just need you all to keep crankin' the RRR Vibe Out There! take pictures and captions of your race or training or whatever and send them to me!

the Board appreciates all of your kind words about our appearance last weekend...and, so inspired were WE by your embrace of our presence at the Start/Finish Line that we came up with a REALLY COOL idea that we are working on (along with a ton of other stuff!)...so stay tuned to this RRR Blog and contribute!!!


head bowed,

coach steve ilg
RRR Chairperson

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Mountain Bike Racing is back in Flagstaff!

What a grueling course: 26 miles of some of the best single track in Flag!! 3500' of Climbing, and a Down Hill section that can KICK YOUR ASS!! And now the State MBAA Series is HISTORY! What a GREAT early season. Seven Races, all over Arizona with the Final in Flagstaff. Lots of fitness and an excellent showing by Red Rock Racing, especially the expert women:



Expert Women: Sue Rawley, Deb Martin-Wille, and Stephanie Hawthorn

Robert Gooch and Mark Wille


Great to see Red Rock out there Racing!



A great time was had by all

Best part of my race!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Sunshine and Bran-muffins; Ben "Patki Dass" Sullivan Cranks To The Top Step Of The Podium at Mesa Verde!




Here's "Patki*" crankin' the chi toward the top step of the podium at the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde, a mountain bike race near my childhood home of Durango, CO. Patki - who uses my training programs and local HP Yoga classes as his off-season training - just joined RRR as a Semi-Pro and are we ever stoked we got him! Congratulations Patki! here is his race report...

- coach ilg



* Patki Dass is my yoga name for Ben. it means, "Servant of Wupatki". you'll have to ask him for details.



***



Sunshine and Bran-muffins

a Race Report by Ben







There are days when things come together. And some days when things get so strange, you know it will come together, because it can’t not. Know what I mean?

This weekend was one of those times. The Mormon Sensation and I rolled up to Cortez CO to do the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde, as has been so well reported by Gnome. We went with the intention to win…but the road to DFL is paved with such intentions. Fortunately, at least one road across the res is paved with asphalt:

Res Road

We got to Cortez, set camp, and had the strangest dinner ever: Mama Rees, with the “Best Meatballs west of New York,” was a home that had been retrofitted into a restaurant. Being vegetarian, i can’t say much about the meatballs, but the pasta was cafeteria-style. However, the characters were sustaining: The drunk off-duty waitress told us to go kick some ass, and that she’d be sending us “some good vibes.” This from the place where the men’s room has a blown drag-racing engine, and the walls are papered with photos of the biggest eaters of the area.

Then we got dog food. Cause i thought Sara grabbed it, and she thought i grabbed it…and the dog was mad.


the wind blew all night, so the sleep was marginal, and the day dawned cold and raining. Fortunately, it didn’t stay that way. As Gnome as said, this was a great event - with primo trail. 99% of it was singletrack, but here’s what the road section looked like plus some of the singy:




Well, it’s a good day when you walk away with the hardware, and hear the competition shouting about insurmountable leads at 3:30. For some, it’s a job: for me, it was a pleasure. It’d been awhile since the top step.


Oh dear. This’ll be the first time some of you see me in the Red Rock Racing team kit. And yes, that’s my teammate, the Sensation, in the old kit. For those of you not from Flag, you might not know that a small town can have lots of teams, and therefore lots of drama. Red Rock’s supporting mountain bike racing right now, and i could use some no-strings support. It shouldn’t be the big deal some people make it. Maybe the 12MV can be a way to get over this.

The waiver for the 12MV had two questions: Why do you ride? and Why did you come?
In response to the former i wrote: because my bike doesn’t burn gas. I came because it was small, southwestern, and not USCF sanctioned, which means it’s cheap and simple. the award was a sweet locally-made Osprey backpack. A shout to all the volunteers and organizers. It was a top-notch event. And i learned about it on DC, like any of y’all. Thanks to Sara for the pics. and feeds. and patience. Thanks to the Sensation for the speed. and laughs. We’re already looking forward to next year.

peace.