VISION QUEST 2009 RECAP

March is a busy month in the mountain bike world. It signifies the start of the race season; the days are longer, warmer and generally drier. Those elements usually make for a much more pleasant experience riding a bike outdoors. After months of training in the cold and dark along with fighting the wet weather; this day finally came to. The Vision Quest race put on by the Warrior’s Society, http://www.warriorssociety.org/, is considered one of the 10 toughest races in the nation. The event scales the Santa Ana mountain range on a mixed course of loose rocks, twisting narrow single-track trails and fast fire roads. These various types of terrain add up to a total of 55.5 miles and more than 11,000 feet of ascent. Not your average walk in the park. Most people that attempt this event are in it to finish it, which in itself is an awesome accomplishment. Others set personal goals such as beating the previous year’s time, or breaking record times. I myself decided to compete in the event riding on a single speed, hardtail mountain bike. Most people thought I was crazy for such a thought. I competed in this event last year on a full suspension geared bike and while I had no problem meeting the difficult cutoff times at the checkpoints, I had a very bad crash early on which killed all my chances of meeting my goal at the time. I was able to complete the event at a respectable time of 7:48. That’s 7 hours and 48 minutes. I had a different mindset going into the 2009 event. Unlike 2008, this wasn’t the first race of my short lived mountain bike career and I already knew what to expect from my previous experience. My game plan was simple. Don’t take it seriously and have fun with it. My 1st goal was to complete the event on a single speed bike. My 2nd was to beat my time from last year. My 3rd and optional goal was to finish under 7 hours. Training for the VQ was difficult at times due to crappy weather and snow of all things in the local mountains. I actually trained a lot less this year than I did last year. I’m fortunate to have such awesome riding partners to train with. We always encourage each other and strive for awesomeness...hehe.

The day before the race I made sure my bike was in tip top shape and prepared. Did I mention this race starts at 5:30am? I also had to make sure my bike was fitted with a light since it’s pitch black at that time. I got all my gear, tubes, tools, food, gels, and drinks ready. I got lots of rest and ate carb loaded foods such as Chinese and Mexican. I was able to get to bed around 10pm.

I woke up at 4am feeling refreshed for the most part. I wasn’t anxious or nervous this time around. No butterflies in the gut reminding me of what to come. I arrived at the staging area around 4:45am. I proceeded to walk to the start where I would meet "Alpine Rob". Rob was kind enough to provide support for me and my friends at both aid stations throughout the course. This turned out to be really awesome. I handed Rob my bag of stuff, we chatted a bit and off I went back to my car to get suited up. I only ran into Matt that morning before the race. I didn’t see anyone else until later. I made my way to the starting line with about 300 other participants. Needless to say, it was pretty crowded out there and not to mention…pretty cold. I think the temp was around 45.

Some words were spoken by Chris Vargas (organizer) but couldn’t really hear him. I was near the back of the pack and all I wanted to do was get moving to warm up. The race starts just past 5:30am and away everyone goes. Since I started in the back of the pack, I had to make my way through all of the traffic. I really didn’t mind, but it can be dangerous back there. At one point, 2 to 3 people crashed right in front of me. Thanks to my cat like reflexes, I was able to avoid the pile up and just ride on by. It was still pretty dark even with people using their bike lights. No one was hurt. It only took about 15 minutes before daylight started to break. The climb up Blackstar went much better than I was hoping for. I saw and passed most of my training buddies, except for Matt on this climb (sorry guys) and made great time of 51 minutes to Beeks. I was surprised because I didn’t feel like I was working that hard. This was a good sign of things to come.


I proceeded on Main Divide with virtually no problems until I rode right through a massive rut coming off a sweeping right downhill about 15 miles in. The sun was just cresting over the horizon and I had trouble seeing this rut. I didn’t panic and just rode right through it. However, I slammed my rear wheel and I knew there had to be some damage. Yup, my wheel was now slightly bent and had an awesome wobble to it. It wasn’t big enough to give me any trouble, so I pushed on. I made it to the Motorway singletrack in record time. I believe it was around 1:46. I was so stoked at this time and I felt really strong. It was at this time I noticed my cheap saddle bag holding my multi-tool and other spares was falling off. I tried to fix it quickly while at the top of the motorway, but my hands were so numb I couldn’t grab the Velcro straps. I decided to just deal with it when I would get to the 1st aid station at the bottom of Motorway. I started bombing down the trail and I was feeling really good. I passed a couple of slower riders that were kind enough to let me pass and not hold me up. I was about ¾’s the way down when I heard that familiar sound of air escaping. I couldn’t believe it, my rear tire was flat. I’ve only had 2 flats on this bike in the year I’ve owned it. I pull off to the side and start working on removing the wheel from the bike. At this point I realize my valve was completely gone. The valve was tucked under the rim, but missing the release pin. How does that happen? I was bummed because I lost 13 minutes to change the flat and then Troy passes me while I’m fixing my flat. After the fix I hauled ass to the aid station and found Rob. He filled my water bottles and took my trash for me. At this point, I see Doug cruising into the aid station. I fixed my saddle bag and continued on.


Next up was the Maple Springs climb. It was at this point I decided to make up for some lost time. I have never felt this good before on the climb. I didn’t time myself, but I ended up catching up to everyone that passed me while flatted, including Troy. It was by far my strongest section of the course. I got to the 4 corners checkpoint and I was all alone. I would only see 2 riders the whole way to Upper Holy Jim. I was very excited to actually descend down UHJ while not being in pain (memories of last year). I cleared the whole trail with the exception of 2 switchbacks I couldn’t make due to the big 29 inch wheels. I passed a guy that was really going slow down this fun, rocky technical trail. I strive for that terrain. He kindly moved aside for me.

I made my way over to Lower Holy Jim and I started to feel cramps coming on a short steep little climb before 6 miles of downhill singletrack. I got off the bike and ran up the rest of that short section. I got on the bike and proceeded to have a blast down Holy Jim. The trails were in such great shape. I was really moving until I heard a very familiar sound as I said out loud to myself, “You’ve got to be kidding. Not another flat!" I was in such a hurry at the first aid station that I forgot to grab my extra c02 canister. If I was to have a flat, I would be screwed and would have to wait for someone that had a pump or c02 I could use. I look down at my rear tire and to my amazement and relief; my stupid saddlebag completely detached itself from my saddle and was hanging on to the seatpost while my tire was rubbing on it. I didn’t have a flat! I stopped to pull that stupid pack off and proceeded to put it in my jersey pocket. I pressed on and made it to the 2nd aid station at 10am. I was 2 hours ahead of the last cutoff time. I was making really good time. Rob found me, gave me what I needed and away I went up Trabuco Trail. This time I made sure to get my c02.

Normally this trail isn’t such a big deal, but after riding close to 40 miles and 8000 feet of ascent, the fatigue was setting in. I had 3 miles to get to the next checkpoint. This part of the trail is technical at times and requires some strength to get moving especially on a single speed bike. I had to walk a couple of sections mainly because I was trying not to strain my muscles too much where I would start to cramp. Thankfully I didn’t cramp. I made it to West Horsethief and the real struggle would begin. On a good day, this trail is hardly rideable due to its relentless 25% grades. I hiked up the trail with my bike as most people do. One guy passed me because I was really feeling it now, but I didn’t mind. I pedaled out of WHT at the top and passed on the cheeseburgers from the awesome volunteers cooking up grub for anyone interested.

95% of the hard work was over as I made my way to Trabuco Trail. I had a blast down that as usual. I must have passed 3 people on the side of the trail with flats. Not a good time to get a flat with less than 10 downhill miles to go. I was on pace to break the 7 hour mark. I went a little faster and I felt really good. My upper body was still feeling strong and had no problem handling the rough terrain. As I approached the finish I knew I had the 7 hour mark beat and I was right. I ended up crossing the finish line in 6 hours, 53 minutes, and 49 seconds. That put me at 26 out of the 192 participants as well as the 3rd single speeder to cross the line. I was very pleased with my results. I didn’t feel really that bad, but I was craving a sugary coke for sure. Rob took care of that for me. He was a lifesaver. I can only imagine my time would have been much faster if it wasn’t for a flat and I was actually on a geared bike. Congrats to all my training buddies that finished as well and especially Matt. He was on a mission and finished in 6.5 hours! He improved his time by an hour from last year. I will not be entering the 2010 VQ, but rather volunteer. It’s time I see everyone else suffer for a change and give someone else the chance to see these visions on this quest.


Results found here: http://www.warriorssociety.org/events/2009_vq_results.php
PS: My future recaps will be shorter.