Hot Tub Race Report - SoCal Endurance & Enduro

Following on from the Brek hot tub race report routine, I am back in the hot tub. Since Brek, a lot has happened in the Evans household, we left Folsom, moved to San Diego, started a new company, got settled in to a new school and …sports teams….and have been exploring our new surroundings. With all that going on and after the mental scars of Brek, it has taken me a while to even think about “racing” again, but Mel has been at it fairly frequently. I was finally convinced to get back in the saddle, but was not given the option of easing back in. A 12 hour MTB race as a team of 3, followed by an Enduro the day after, omg. 

But before the racing, as you all know, a major part of my mind set is to live life to the full, inside and out of the office. We will speak more on the office front in the next few blogs but last weekend I got out with 3 mates on a biking adventure and it reminded me how much mental and emotional steam it allows you to discharge, the opportunity to push yourself and have a crazy amount of fun. We headed out to the high desert of CA up above Palm Springs and rode the Palm to Desert Epic... 27 miles, 2,000 ft of climbing and 6000 ft of descent, so good!

The ride was amazing and had a bit of everything... flow and jumps at the top, gnarly technical descents through boulder fields, sand beds and grinding climbs. Most amazing of all was the changing terrain, literally from high desert pines, to palms to desert veg which has spikes everywhere... this added an extra dimension, no brushing against veg, no nice place to fall.... you had to be on it from start to finish and get in to your riding Zen. The day was topped off by incredible weather and fun guys to ride with.

Back to racing, first up was 12 hours of Temecula, the format being… ride as many laps as you can in 12 hrs. Representation ranged from doing it solo (been there, not a fun day out) through to teams of 5. We entered the 3 person team, Mel (wife), Jody (buddy who I met through riding in CA who is coincidently English as well) and I. Each lap was 9 miles with a 1000 ft of ascent with the opening lap being 11.5 to spread the field out. I lost Rock Paper Scissors and took the honor of doing the first lap. I have maintained a fitness level but by no means have I been training to race, but I have a strange ability to red line when I need to beyond my body’s suggested capabilities, so the race began at 9am and I set off like a raving lunatic, positioning myself at the front with all the fast people.

The course was brilliant...it didn’t allow for much respite and transitioned from flatter sections with lots of corners, requiring you to focus on momentum, pick good lines and stay off the brakes, long sustained climbs through to and some nice descents and punchy climbs. I went for it, tried to stick to the front runners as long as I could, while the heart rate monitor was screaming at me to back off. An hour later and we had over a 10 min lead on the next best team in our category. But, I definitely went way too hard and would pay for it the rest of the weekend. Next up was Jody and he smashed out an awesome lap, followed by quick lap by Mel

Before you knew it my “break” (setting up camp, playing with E, trying to drink and eat) was over and I was back at it, this time with a bit more strategy to allow me to survive the day. This rotation went on all day, and amazingly with no technical issues, crashes or problems of any sort. Laps ranged in duration from 46 mins to an hour based on individual and point in the day, slowing as the day went on. Before we knew it the sun was setting and we were now riding through the dark.

It changed the course completely. On the long climb I actually zoned out and wrote a blog in my head about the synergies between night riding and business. Will see if I can remember and post sometime soon. With each lap we typically opened up an extra 5-10 mins on our competition and soon the 12 hours were up, we had finished 4 laps each and had enough time for one of us to do a 5th, but with tomorrow’s race in mind, fatigued mind and legs we decided to pass, knowing we had enough of a cushion. So the Tyred and Cranky team won the 3 person team race and put in a super respectable day. We were all stoked but also amazed by the soloists who had been grinding it out all day, nice work! Great race, well organized and apparently almost 1000 racers, fun times had by all. Beer, food, top step of the podium, setup camp and bed! 

Sunday...Enduro race day...format is to pedal to the top of the mountain 3 times non-timed and then get down as quick as you can - timed. It was a struggle getting out of the sleeping bag, chill in the air, legs tired and mind a bit foggy. Nothing a nice bowl of porridge could not sort out and before I knew it I was back in my biking gear, and with a bit of a sore behind and very heavy legs pedaling up to the staging area, while luckily for me, Mel and E kindly took the camp site down. I was hoping to ease in to the day but no chance, Jody was extremely spry and raring to go and somehow he convinced me to pre-ride one of the stages. Mind said ok, body screamed what are you doing to me! 300 competitors arrived and signed up across the various experience levels, I went for sport, one up from beginner and probably the biggest field, and we got cracking.

At the top of the first climb we had a bit of a wait (I biked up pretty slowly), while one by one those in front of us set off on their timed runs. I got a bit cold, let the mind get un-focused and dropped in for my first run. I thought I was flying but within a few mins had someone blow past me (15 second intervals between riders), which made me try harder before crashing in a rock garden. I had some unhappy words with myself, got back in the zone and finished more smoothly. I realized today was not a race day and I had to just enjoy it, respect the mental and physical condition and stay clean. Each run varied but all were fun in their own way, but the last 2 had a fairly flat 2nd half, requiring a sprint style pedal ...legs were not having any of it. Did my best, finished clean but finished easily in the bottom half. Jody on the other hand missed the podium in the masters category by seconds and was wishing he had fresher legs.

Throughout the race on the Sunday lots of people talked about the death of Kobe Bryant and the helicopter crash. Super sad for all aboard, but also put everything in perspective, doesn’t matter how much money you have, how famous you are or how many people you know, we are all vulnerable to life. This actually punctuated the weekend for me and made me realize even more than I did already that it is the times like those above with family and friends doing what we love (no matter how painful in the short term) that make it all worth it! 

Until the next hot tub blog… get out and have some adventures, have fun, share the experiences with those closest to you and appreciate every moment.