A Red Rock Fillet

Yep. There sure was a weekend of racing here in Northern Arizona.

Here're 12 ways to make a Red Rock jersey look good:


And here's what a Red Rock jersey looks like after its been filleted open by a safety-scissor-wielding nurse after crashing at Skull Valley:


Asphalt sucks. Keep the rubber side down, y'all. congrats to all who raced at the Absolute race and the AMC in Utah.

Crazy 88

Red Rockers:

Get out and ride on August 9th, when local singlespeed superendurohero Nathan puts on the Crazy 88.

Read all about it here.

You'll have to drop him a line or comment to join. It'll be worth it, guaranteed.

Use this to tune up those getaway sticks for the American Mountain Classic. A Red Rock condo, 4 days, and some crazy elevation. Mucho gusto.

peace,

-ben

Summit Center Classic Wrapup

Hello Red Rockers,

i'm the new kid on the block, glad to ride with y'all. This past weekend's Summit Center Classic was a good weekend of racing, though very different than the 4-stage Memorial day extravaganza that went down last year.

Day one had a short stage up Snowbowl road, and day two was the traditional road race on Lake Mary Road.

Red Rock jerseys were few, but the team should be proud. Deborah Martin-Wille snagged down a third-place overall in the Masters' Women's category, and Mark Wille was really consistent in taking a 10th place overall in a viciously contested Masters' men category.

Gary Phillips was injured, and couldn't ride, but due to scoring problems was given 5th on the Snowbowl climb and and finished the Lake Mary Road race to be 10th overall. That's the kind of racing i want to learn to do - rest on the couch and still snag good results.

i discovered my climbing left much to be desired on Snowbowl, and got dropped on part of the long climb in the 84-mile road race. Tenacity (and a slow lead group) allowed me to bridge back to the leaders, who i eventually attacked at the bottom of the "steps" with about 10 miles to go. i caught a lone soldier out there and the two of us had a minute at the bottom of the Marshall lake climb. We needed all of it, as the lone soldier held me off for the win, and i took second only seconds ahead of the charging pack. whoa. i finished 5th overall, despite my miserable climbing skills...just gotta be a cagey sucker sometimes.

Two more hard days in the saddle down. Enjoy the long weekend and keep the rubber side down...

-Ben

Teva Mountain Games

There's no event that draws more top level athletes in so many different disciplines of outdoor sports than the Teva Mountain Games in Vail, CO. If you want to be inspired to pick up a new sport or get better at the ones you already do then this is the place to be.

I'm sure the fabulously large prize purses for all the events contributes to the popularity, but Vail also offers the best of all things outdoors. If you like to climb, then this is the place for you. The trails are lush and moist, hardpacked and smooth. Gore Creek flows with abandon and the views are breathtaking.

Four Red Rock Racers made the trip for the mountain bike race. In lieu of having no semi-pro field, Gary made his debut in the Pro field racing big names like Ryan Trebon, Jay Henry, and Ned Overend. Eric Bohn raced the Sport Men, Julie Jay raced the Sport Women, and yours truly raced Single Speed. Gary also took on the road hill climb event and Eric ran the 10K on Sunday morning.

Here are some photos of our adventure.


Vail is beautiful and has epic climbing!

Riding from West Vail to pre-ride the course.
Eric, Kristen, Ara (Julie's sister), and Julie hanging out by the climbing wall where they hosted the IFSC Bouldering World Cup.
Pre-riding the course. Yes, it goes straight up the ski run.
That's Ned Overend in the red that just passed me.
Gary lines up for the Pro race.
And he's off!
Eric and Julie in the feed zone.
Eric finishes strong.
Kristen finishing (and wishing she had a 20 instead of an 18) but happy nonetheless!
Julie finishing her first XC race since college.

Eric and Skylar up on the bank above Gore Creek.
Gary takes on a wave in the very full and fast flowing Gore Creek in his little red boat.
Gary starts the Road Hill Climb up Vail Pass.
Gary and Skylar chilling in the car. Skylar is one of the best dogs I've ever traveled with.

So all in all it was a very cool weekend. Hopefully we'll see more Red Rock Racers at the 09 Games competing in all sorts of events.

Cheers!

Teammate Profile; Kent Sherman

New RRR Teammate Kent Sherman looking fine atop Mt. Elbert, Colorado.


***

Hello Steve and RRR!

I’ve become interested in road cycling in the last couple of years. Last year was my first year of “serious” riding and I entered my first organized ride (Taylor House 65 miler). This year, I got out on the road bike in late February, increased my mileage steadily, and recently cranked out two 100 mile weeks. I’ve had to back off in the last couple weeks due to a strained muscle, but hopefully can bump up the mileage soon. I am primarily a road cyclist and use my mountain bike mostly for errands around town.

I completely agree with RRR mission and etiquette statements. I plan on submitting a clothing order to Cosmic soon. I look forward to becoming involved with RRR and getting to know members
………………Regards, Kent

***

Kent Sherman, age 56, spent most of his youth near Portland, Oregon. He earned a BS is Forest Science from Oregon State U. in 1976. The next four years consisted on odd jobs, traveling in winter, and forest fire fighting in summers. While preparing to enter graduate school, he was offered work with the U.S. Geological Survey, in Portland. He began work with the USGS in January, 1980, four months before Mt. St. Helens blew. An offer to transfer to Flagstaff in 1982 was accepted. Kent worked the next 26 years with the USGS performing water quantity and quality studies throughout northern Arizona. He retired in January, 2008. Linda and Kent were married in 1985. Their sedentary hobbies are watercolor painting and woodcarving, respectively. They have a passion for the outdoors and take at least one major hiking trip per year. Cross country skiing is a favorite winter activity. Kent has been a year-round cyclist in Flagstaff for over 25 years.

***


Welcome to RRR, Kent!
see you out on the cobbles!



WE'D LOVE TO PROFILE YOU!
send me your pic and a short piece on yourself or request an interview!

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

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!

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.

Whiskey 50

The Whiskey 50 last weekend in Prescott was quite an adventure, and I think most of us in Flag could feel that it was 3 weeks earlier than previous years. Congrats to all the Red Rock Racers I saw out there getting it done! Gary Phillips, Chris Wilkins, Joth Jacobson, Scott Bajer, Eric Bohn, and Alex Alvarez to name a few. And special thanks to Marty Coplea (aka the purple pimp) for cheering out on the course!

Last year I managed to win this race but this year I had to treat it like good training miles. This was my first time racing up from Skull Valley without going around the Peaks first, so it was harder in that regard. I finished 6th after cramping something fierce and a couple of minor crashes. Gary had a much more epic story to tell, flying off his bike on one of those tall sketchy waterbars on the descent (racers you probably know exactly which one I'm talking about, the one with the rock), and crashing so hard he knocked his headset loose. After repositioning his shifters, brake levers, etc. he had another spill, sliding down the trail on his rump and ripping his shorts. This boy is a trooper! All this happened on the first gnarley descent and he still turned left and went down to skull valley and finished the race. One thing Gary will never do is quit a race and it's inspiring because some people quit races so easily. We both were about 20 minutes slower than we were last year but half the battle with races like these are getting it done and keeping a positive outlook. That we both manged to do pretty well.

You win some and you loose some. Here is a pic from our triumphant victory in the Co-ed Duo category (against Mr and Mrs Travis Brown) at Dawn to Dusk! Thanks to Chris and Dana for taking the photo and for loading us up in their Subaru for the trip to Gallup.


And in other news it looks like Summit Center is officially off the schedule for Memorial Day weekend, so who's up for a road trip to Angel Fire for the Chile Challenge?

Red Rock at MBAA and more

Hey team! I wanted to give a huge shout out to some of our team members racing in the MBAA Series. This past weekend's Prescott race saw the following R3er's on the podium - I also included everyone's current Overall standings in the MBAA Points Series:

EXPERT Women:

• Sue Rawley - 3rd and 1st Overall - in Points Series (a/o Race #4)
• Deb Martin-Wille - 4th and 3rd Overall
• Stephanie Hawthorne - 5th and 4th Overall
• Amber Naughton - 5th Overall (19-39)

(nice Red Rock podium representation - Great job!!)

Beginner Women:

• Isabella Naughton - 4th Overall (0-12)

Expert Men:

• Mark Wille - 5th and 8th Overall

Sport Men:

• Robert Gooch - 9th Overall

Great Job to everyone for their commitment to the MBAA series and for racing strong!

ALSO, Gallup's Dawn to Dusk had a handful for Red Rockers on hand:

Men's Solo 35-44

• Corey Coplea - 11th
• Chris Wilkens - 17th
• Chris Bosselmann - 22nd

Duo - Coed Team:

• Gary and Kristen Phillips - 1st

(taking down Mr. and Mrs. Travis Brown - I believe more to come on this one)

Looks like a big group headin' to the Whiskey fitty this weekend too!!

See you there - cw

welcome to the RRR Board; Chris Wilkens!

It is with great honor that we welcome Chris Wilkens to the RRR Board!

Thank you Chris for STEPPING UP and SERVING this sport that we all love so much!
May your rolled up sleeves next to us prove fruitful for all RRR Team Members!

THANK YOU and WELCOME!

The RRR Board; coach, Rob, and Chris B.



here is Chris W. cranking at the Mt. Charleston HillClimb...look, Mr. SingleSpeed found an actual chainring changer!!!


The Family: Kym, Kyler (age 5), Kyra (age 2.5) and CW.

Nova

Congratulations to all the Red Rock Racers who went out there and slugged it out at the Nova National this last weekend. The weather and the course at McDowell could not have been better. Some might say it was hot, but for me it was a welcome change from the freezing cold wind that signifies spring in Flagstaff.

I signed up for the Nova Marathon to drop kick myself into getting the mileage that I’m now (very) behind on. All and all it was a good experience, and nice to get the first race of the season out of the way. I ended up second in the women’s Pro/Open field, not because I’m fit (yet) but because apparently not many other women think riding 70 miles at McDowell sounds like fun.

Me, I'm a glutton for punishment I suppose. I spent most of the winter learning to skate ski and working on yoga, now flash forward to April and I’m just now getting back on the bike. That's ok, 'cause time is on our side up here in the high country. Our season is just beginning... and it's going to be the summer of all summers here in Flagstaff. Just ask ol' Schultz Creek here. She'll tell ya...



See you next weekend at Dawn to Dusk!

The Saturday Morning Club Rides are now CRANKING!

the Saturday group road rides are up in full swing.

Meet at our sponsor Pay-N-Take Downtown Market, were Paul is serving free coffee to everyone riding. Ride will depart at 9:00am and head out Lone Tree to Lake Mary Rd. The ride will make a restroom stop at the "mailboxes" and continue out towards the first "test" of the day, the steps. These short steep series of climbs will see the first pace increase. Everyone will wait a normal period of time for "dropped riders" to regroup before heading around Mormon Lake. Just before the lodge there is a mass sprint for the Mormon Lake Lodge sign. At the lodge, there is a substantial break allowing for the purchase of foodstuffs at the store, use or restrooms, and refilling of water bottles. From there the group heads back to town in a fast "race simulation fashion, with the No Passing sing just before the Lake Mary Store serving as the figurative "finish line". From this point people usually head home slower but in separate groups.

The group ride, while fast, can provide for an exciting time, and a great training effort. Myself and Rob Hastings are almost always on the rides, so if it is your first time, give one of us a shout and we will keep an eye on you. Also I usually perform a sort-of sweep at the top of the steps, so if it is your intention to do the whole ride, I can usually keep the group waiting a bit for you to regroup if you come "detached" on the steps.

If you have any questions about the ride, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.

Hope to see more of you out this Sat at 9 a.m.

Good luck to everyone racing.


Gary Phillips
Sponsorship Coordinator
Red Rock Racing
www.redrockracing.org

BIKE TO WORK WEEK needs some Warriors!

Flagstaff Biking Organization would like to THANK YOU for volunteering to be a Worksite Coordinator in the past. Thanks to people like you, Bike to Work Week grows every year, showing our city leaders that the biking community is strong and united.

Bike to Work Week is coming up May 11th-16 th, and FBO could use some help to make it happen. We would like to invite you to a special Committee formation Meeting next week:

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008, 7:00 PM at
Bigfoot Barbeque, downtown, in the basement at 120 N. Leroux.

If you, or someone you know, is interested in helping a little or a lot, please join us to form teams to work on these events:
The Worksite Challenge: package delivery, prize & coordinator volunteering,
Sunday Bike Bizarre
Recycled bike wrenching mechanics, bike donations
Setup, takedown and cleanup of the bizarre
Wednesday Bike to Breakfast: Servers from 7-9 am, delivery help
Thursday Bike to School events, breakfast servers/delivery
Thursday Bike to Movie night: Movie contest judges, staffing
Friday Bike to Potluck Cyclobration: setup and cleanup

We could especially use people who are certified to handle food, or have strong backs, willing hearts and a bit'o free time.

THANKS.
Flagstaff Biking Organization

RSVP if possible. Questions?
Contact Melissa Dunstan, Melissa@flagstaffbiking.org
or Susan Hueftle, Susan@flagstaffbiking.org; 928-853-5542



Rob Hastings
Membership Coordinator

"When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race." ~H.G. Wells

Saturday Ride Moves to 9:00 am!

Most Noble Teammates!


just heard the Word;

starting tomorrow (March 22) the Saturday Ride goes off at 9:00 am!

if the skiing wasn't still so dang good, i'd even be there!


see you all on the cobbles soon,

coach