HIGH CASCADES 100

I just finished the High Cascades 100 mountain bike race yesterday. My time was 12 hours and 11 minutes. I told myself before the start I would stop if it wasn't fun. It is hard to believe that one could have fun for over 12 hours of grueling riding but it was fun. It was also hard. In the photo with Chris Sheppard he is done and I still have 12 miles to go. I am drinking the drink that many pro riders drink when push comes to shove. Coca Cola. I don't really like soft drinks but if you a need a rush of energy a Coke seems to work.

In the other photo Cass captured me finishing. It was good to be done.

I was the oldest competitor in this years race. That is not really something I like. In fact I am used to being the youngest. I started school in Canada and then of you were 6 by the end of the year you started in you could start grade one. When we moved to the California they let me continue. I was always the youngest in my class. I also hung around my oldest brother's friends so I was way the youngest. I will be the youngest 60 year old in cross nationals this year.

Being the oldest is kind of scary. Where did all the other 50 year olds go.

I am not into flaunting my age. I did this race because I told Mike Ripley we needed a 100 mile race with mostly single track. He said yes, so I had to race. I don't like mountain bike races with gravel roads and some single track. This race even took me to some single track I had never been one before. We went through the Mt Bachelor ski area parking lots on this very sweet single track.

So I was 5th in 45 + age group out of 12. I beat my predicted time by 15 minutes. Chris Sheppard missed his predicted time by an hour but hit my predicted time right one. I didn't crash once, my new Continental Rubber Queen front tyre saved me 4 times from crashing, and I passed 5 people in the last third of the race.

I am well chuffed with my performance. I am sure where my energy comes from but I am thankful for it.

I want to thank Barb and Muffy for being at the last aid station. At some point my motivation was that I would see them and they would make sure my bike and everything was OK. Thanks to Mike for joining me on another crazy epic and Cass for her smiling face and taking all those photos. There was one other person out there who was very helpful, Matt Lieto. I was thinking there were 6 of him. He was at all the aid stations, and I saw at least twice running in the forest. He was supporting his girlfriend Lea, who was also racing. A cheery face is a great thing when you are tired.

Don

OBR 2009 PART 2

I am home from OBR 2009 and can now reminisce. We had one of the best OBR in memory (that goes back to 1988 for me). Every day was a perfect ride, lots of fun was had by the riders and the crew and we even raised some some money for the Williams Syndrome Foundation. Williams Syndrome is a birth defect that affect how the brain and body works.

We started of in Heppner, you can see Zoe trying to ride a bucking bronco. We celebrated Barb's 60TH birthday with 3 cakes and a beautiful ornament. It decorated our Nitrogen tank the rest of the week.

We had almost perfect weather. It rainied one day (though it dried out later) and it was cold one day. I would say that any one of these days could have been the best day. There were no long days on busy highways, nor really bad pavement. I love Eastern Oregon and always look forward to the trips on our side of the State. I love the mountains, the pine forests that transition into juniper forests to sage brush.

I feel lucky that when I finish an OBR I get to return home to Bend and continue to be in the country I love best.

The Sunnyside Crew has just about got this OBR thing figured out. There are 4 of us and we work as a team. We managed to fix some hard to find creaks, and do some temporary repairs (the rubber bands on the shift levers were a solution to some internal broken springs). Some sore knees were alleviated, and a few sore bottoms too.

It is a pleasure to be able to help all those who need us and we hope to be able to continue this into the future.

If you were on the ride thanks for coming and if you would like to join us next year check out our web page- OBR. This year both the Washington and the Oregon ride sold out in the first two weeks.

If you want to see some more photos check out the Sunnyside Sports Face Book page. Thanks for reading.

Don

OBR 2009

I forgot my camera wire so no photos until later. Two days into the ride and we have already had some adventures. Somehow we forgot three bike rentals, and Jake had to deliver them. A four hour drive with his dog Taylor. Taylor thought they were headed to Phil's Trail for a ride and a run. Four hours later it was dark and instead of a run it was a leash. She was tricked.

As an after thought I had also forgotten my repair stand. Eagle eye Paul opened up the truck and the first thing he said was "Where is your repair stand?" Jake brought that also.

The first two days of riding was pretty darn perfect. From farmland to pine forests to orchards to the John Day River. This is the Oregon I love and like. Tomorrow is one of my favorite rides, we get to go around the Strawberry Mountains. I have done this ride a few times and always look forward to the next time. Tomorrow is it.

In camp yesterday there were a group of guys sitting next to our van. They told me they all read my blog. These guys all live in California. It is pretty cool to think that people I don't know read what I have to say. Cycling really is a small world and we like to connect with each other. Blogs are a way we can do that.

No other interesting things have happened. Just hanging around friends and enjoying eastern Oregon. I will post some photos when I get home. Thanks for reading.

D0n

SUMMER 2009 AND FRIENDS

It is now August, and it seems like a few days ago I was headed to Susan and Gary's for the annual 4Th of July party, summer seems to pass quickly. It has been hot, almost 100 every day for over a week. So hot we have use our air conditioning in the house. Some years we never use it, we use the Bend air conditioning system, open all the doors and windows at night and then close them up during the day.

Today Zoe and Jake wanted to go on a Mountain Bike Ride with me. I have been doing mountain biking a long time but I have no feeling of importance, I just like to mountain bike. It is an honor for me to be asked to mountain bike with Zoe and Jake. Last week it was my nephew

Georgy this week Jake and Zoe.

I have known Zoe since she was 4, maybe 3 and Jake since he was 18. I have said this before but the first 10 years I knew Zoe she responded to everything I said with a laugh and a smile.

If you have seen any photos of Jake it seems his smile is permanent. So today was special, a ride with the two biggest smiles I know. It had to be a great ride to match their enthusiasm.

We had three others start out with us, Sarah, Willie and Muffy. They weren't quite up for an epic so we started at Swampy Lakes (where we saw a guy with a windsurf board, Swampy Lake is a swamp) and went down South Fork, the other three headed off to do the whoops and we went up the North Fork, Farewell Bend, Swede Ridge and back to the car. Fun, hard and, as you can see by Zoe's legs dusty. Though it was dusty it was super for mid summer conditions. It had rained hard the last two days (thunderstorms) so Farewell Bend was the best I have ever ridden it.

Jake had a flat, and as he is our flat tyre professor, I took photos while he fixed the tyre. He had to put in a boot (the shot rapper) to fill a big gash in the tyre.

Notice the big smiles in the photo of us three. I was smiling because one is supposed to in a photo, Zoe and Jake were looking like they always do. Being 59 and being able to do the funnest thing with 20 year old is very special. I hope everyone out there knows this and tries to take advantage of it. They get to see that old people are not any different then them, and the youthful energy they have is like the fountain of youth for me.

Thanks for reading.

Don

GEORGI

This is a photo of me and my nephew Georgi. I really don't know him well, though I would like to know him more. He was born in Bulgaria and my brother adopted him and his sister Stoyanka in 2001. They lived in Alaska then, though I did get to meet him at my Dad's memorial service in Glacier Park. He was 9 and was just learning English. My brother and his family then moved to Moscow, Russia. The time I have been with Georgi have been when they come to Bend to visit my mom and us. One time there was a family reunion and with all the relatives it was difficult to spend lots of time with Georgi. Two years ago it was different though. Georgi was 14 and was thinking riding a bike would be fun. I got one of our rentals and we did some really fun rides. I was impressed that a 14 year old could go so fast, long and he has natural skills.

This year they are only here for a few days but Georgi got a new bike so we have been able to test it out. We went out to the lair the first day. Georgi has no fear so he was getting some serious air. His landings were a little dusty, though always with a smile. Today we decided to do the whoops. This is a trail that has become famous in Bend. Lots of big table tops, doubles and banked corners. In the photos you can see us resting after the hour and a half ride to the top. His new bike is the blue one. I warned him not to hit the bumps too fast. Down we went. More big smiles. It is great to share with family my biggest passion-mountain biking. He is headed back to Houston, where he lives, but maybe next summer or sometime we can get in some more rides in.

Don

COMMENT ON THE TOUR

I have been watching the Tour avidly this year, though not more than the last three years. Lance's presence does not affect my interest in the Tour. I enjoy his presence but not all the politics that go with it. I would like most of these guys to talk with their legs not with their mouths. Kloden is a good example of that. He races, he goes hard, he may finish on the podium he doesn't complain.

A few days ago there was a lot of talk how George Hincapie was robbed of the yellow jersey, how he deserved the yellow, etc.... I like George, one of the highlights in my life was being in France watching the Tour while George won a huge mountain stage in 2005.

He did not deserve the jersey this year, because he simply didn't have the best time. The Tour is not Christmas it is a race. The reason Yellow is special is because it is hard to achieve. The real sad fact of that day was his own team was responsible for him not being in the jersey. They also lost the Green jersey in the same bonehead, greedy move. George was in a breakaway about 5 minutes ahead of the main field. He needed about 5 minutes to take the yellow. When the main pack came in the Colombia High Road boys went to the front to lead out Mark Cavendish. They weren't going all out but they were going fast enough to get to the front. In the confusion of the semi fast lead out Cavendish swerved to the side blocking Thor Hushovd. In my mind they were the cause of the 5 seconds George needed and because they were not committed and their lead out was not to plan, Mark swerved and was relegated to last place. They lost both the yellow and the green because they wanted both. They could have sent Mark to follow the wheel of Thor and not lead at all to make sure George had the time he needed. Mark could have then either won the field sprint or at least finished high up to get some points. He would then be still leading the points competition. That is not all. Columbia High Road doesn't want to be responsible for their own actions it appears. Mark Cavendish tells Thor, a previous winner of the Green Jersey in 2005, that this year the Jersey is tainted. The next day Thor, a really amazing bike rider, broke away from the field in one of the hardest mountain days of the Tour and won the two intermediate sprints. This gives him an almost insurmountable lead over Cavendish. I never have heard any quotes from Thor, his legs let the world know who deserves what and why.

I was delighted to see Contador win the time trial today also. No one could say he what he should or shouldn't have done today.

I like to watch the tour and see who is doing well and who does amazing things, I don't go into the tour hoping for a single person to win and then feel bad when they don't. I love the race, the glory, pain, everything. I am also delighted to see Lance in third and that he has been a good teammate whilst on the bike. Being a good teammate is what this year called for and he has done that well. I am not sure he likes that role though. Christian Van de Velde switched roles from leader to helper in just a second. He loves both roles. He is a complete person. Now we get to see what happens on the Ventoux.

BUSY SUMMER

It seems like I blink and another week has gone by. I like to write a blog at least once a week and this time of year it is a little harder. I love to watch the Tour and that takes time, but well worth it to me. This morning I was watching the Tour at 3:30 am. Sounds crazy, I know, but I wasn't the only one. Kathy and my brother, Bob who is visiting, also got up. I like to watch every minute I can.

This weekend I did my dream race. A few weeks ago I wrote about Lookout Mountain, well this weekend I got to race my favorite trail. It went quite well for me. I didn't have anyone else in my age group but I managed to stay with most of the younger riders and I had a great time. This is a photo of me racing. My brother took it as I crested the top of the 8 mile climb. It was pretty much all downhill from that point on. I passed about 5 on the downhill so my skills are still there. Not many showed up though. Too bad really. There seems to be a lack of mountain bike racing interest in the summer. Portland people really don't like to travel. I can't really blame them but the truth is we call in Mountain biking for a reason and that reason is the mountains we have. Any racer who missed this race missed an opportunity to really get a feel of what this sport started as. Maybe next year. More family is coming this week including my nephew who is getting a new bike. I am looking forward to going out with him on it. The last time he was here we did a couple of great rides, but this time he will have his own bike so that will be cool.

Another big stage tomorrow in the Tour. Lance has been great so far. I don't think he is going to win nor do I care. I do hope he gets to really help Contador. That would be cool. We will see.

Don