Hey RACERS...

"There are only two types of human contest: Racing and Warfare".

Read Tom Demerly's editorial this week HERE to find out
if maybe you are... a LIAR. Are you lying to yourself and to others about the races you enter? Do you define yourself as a "Participant" rather than a "Racer"?

"I just did the race for fun, just a catered training day...". If I hear that one more time I'm going to throw up! Of course, I have used that line many, many times. HA! Everyone has, and we were all lying our butts off.

As someone who views every race as a bloody battle, I enjoyed Tom's insight, from the perspective of a bike shop owner and lifelong endurance RACER. The 'casual competitor' is such a misnomer. To say you did a race "just for fun" is a "Lie", for most. Sure you did it for Fun - but when you toe the line you are a Warrior. The butterflies in your stomach, the flashbacks to the blood, sweat and tears put into your training, the sacrifices you have made...all for this moment in time.

Why not just admit that you are at the starting line to THROW DOWN...to find out what you've got under the hood!?

Ironman founder and retired Navy Captain John Collins has called the Hawaii Ironman "the only place you can find out what your soul is made of in a non-lethal environment".

Theodore Roosevelt's famous quote comes to mind:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

So, are you a Racer/Warrior or "Participant"?


Songs of the day:

#1 is is Frontin' by the Neptunes featuring Jay-Z...



#2 is Discipline by Nine Inch Nails



Some guys showed up in Monaco today to RACE:

Must-Do Race: Cal Multisport Vail Lake

The next stop on the racing calendar is the Cal Multisport race at Vail Lake!

This is one of the most exciting races of this year, as it marks a new era of multisport racing in California. To date, California has been a hot-bed of adventure racing talent in the U.S., but solo multisport racing has been conspicuously absent. The launch of the Cal Multisport series this year changes that, in a big way.

The race format at Vail Lake is Bike-Paddle-Run, with a winning time around 3-4 hours. You are allowed to bring any boat you choose: kayak, outrigger canoe, paddleboard, etc. The race will be designed to include as much climbing and singletrack as possible to keep the racers' attention-and heart rates pegged in the Red Zone!

Cal Multisport chose an ideal location in Vail Lake, near Temecula, California. Vail Lake is surrounded by steep mountains criss-crossed with singletrack and fire roads and hosts many mountain bike and adventure races every year. Most importantly, Temecula is a short drive from triathlon mecca San Diego, Orange County, the "inland empire" or Los Angeles.

The course will be marked, so no navigation is required (...hopefully!). Race organizers are my friends and veteran adventure racers Christian Burke of Team Feed the Machine, and Paul Romero and Karen Lundgren from Team SOLE.

This race will likely pit some top Xterra triathletes against Adventure Racers. Who will come out on top? Can the Xterra folks even paddle a kayak?

Although I was planning on racing, I just found out that I will be working in Wilmington, Delaware during the month of June! DOH! Instead of racing I will be
studying things like pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of long-acting beta-2 agonists for 5 weeks.

Check out the WEBSITE for more details.

Song of the Day goes out to "Hot Wheels" who is doing her thing, living it up like a RockStar in Osaka, Japan this week.

A Night of Comedy VI

On Saturday night TheLovelyHotWheels and I attended "A Night of Comedy VI" at the Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills, a benefit for the Childred Affected by AIDS Foundation. Comedians performing were Ray Romano, Bryan Callen, Fred Willard, Sarah Silverman, and Bobby Collins. Ray Romano hosted the event, and predictably his material focused on his wife, kids, babies, and dysfunctional sex life. I am a huge Fred Willard fan, especially of his Christopher Guest movies, so seeing him live was worth the drive up to Beverly Hills. Sarah Silverman was a highlight, funnier live than on TV due to her extreme obscenity and refreshing mockery of political correctness.

Apparently every 15 seconds a child is orphaned due to AIDS and 1500 children die each day due to AIDS. The event raised over $200,000 of which, thanks to sponsors, every cent was donated to the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation.

Song of the day:

Bad Reputation from Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, which was covered by Camp Freddy
and Corey Parks so perfectly on Thursday at The Roxy.

Back to The Roxy

We went back! Camp Freddy played last night at The Roxy on the sunset strip in Hollywood. That makes two weeks in a row! Same crew: The Lovely HotWheels, Melizzzza and me. Some hightlights were Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez of Alice in Chains, with Corey from Slipknot ripping through "Them Bones", with Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Matt Sorum (Guns n Roses/The Cult/Camp Freddy) both on drums. Terri Nunn came back to sing Metro and a Siouxie & the Banshees cover.

Click HERE to see a complete history of shows with set lists and guests. Kinda like going to the Rock
and Roll hall of fame. For 20 bucks, it's a no-brainer.

"Week Three of the residency at The Roxy Theater in Los Angeles. Another sold out show. Highlights included Slipknots Corey Taylor bringing the house down with a killer version of Van Halen's 'Aint Talkin Bout Love', Alice In Chains Jerry Cantrell and Mike Inez jamming 'Them Bones', and Cypress Hill joining Camp Freddy for an awesome 'Rock Superstar'..."

From the Campfreddy.net website, here is the complete set list:

Bad Reputation, Corey Parks
Rock And Roll Star, Billy Morrison
Metro, Terri Nunn
Christine, Terri Nunn/Budgie
Antmusic, Mark McGrath
Eighties, Mark McGrath
Rock N Roll All Nite, Mark McGrath/Vivian Campbell
Jailbreak, Jerry Cantrell
Aint Talking Bout Love, Corey Taylor
Rock Superstar, Cypress Hill/Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Highway To Hell, Corey Taylor
Them Bones, Corey Taylor/Jerry Cantrell/Mike Inez
All Right Now, Corey Taylor
I Wanna Be Your Dog, Billy Morrison/All

GUESTS: Corey Taylor, Cypress Hill, Chad Smith, Jerry Cantrell, Mike Inez, Terri Nunn, Budgie, Corey Parks, Billy Duffy, Vivian Campbell.

This weekend starts a massive block of adventure racing training. These last few easy days after winning the Desert Winds Adventure Race have been relaxing! However it's time to start hitting it again if we are going to continue our win streak, which stands at 4 races in a row. 20 hour weeks are the minimum, and now with increased daylight it's easier to get those 3hr rides or runs in after 5pm. Of course having a trick Light & Motion Stella headlamp makes training at night no problem at all. I have to remind myself that I trained during the work week in the dark all winter long, often until midnight in the Santa Monica mountains with my teammates.


Two Song of the day: Them Bones by Alice in Chains- Maynard James Keenan joining Jerry Cantrell on vocals. From the Tsunami benefit in Seattle in February 2005. Poor sound but still nice.

1st Place at Desert Winds Adventure Race!

A sweet victory for my team, DART-nuun/Gregory and DART-nuun. We tied for 1st place...again!














Team DART-nuun and DART-nuun/Gregory (my team) just returned from Temple Bar, Arizona, where we tied for the WIN at the Desert Winds 24 Hour Adventure Race!
Results are HERE

This evening I will try to post a more detailed report with some photos. Team DART-nuun sent two teams to this race, just like we did at the Baja Travesia in March. Just like in Baja, the two DART-nuun teams tied for 1st place! My team, "DART-nuun/Gregory Packs" lead for most of the race before exchanging the lead with "DART-nuun" in the wee hours of Sunday morning. After running eachother's legs off through the desert mountains we decided to call a truce and finish the course together, knowing that we had a significant lead on the 3rd place team.

The winners of this race would receive an entry to the Adventure Racing National Championship race this November in Georgia. DART-nuun plans on competing in that race, sending Glenn Rogers, Me-Sean Clancy, Ryan Van Gorder, and Mari Chandler.

The Desert Winds Adventure Race was a thinker's racecourse, with much strategy and tactics coming into play. The harsh desert mountain & canyon terrain was juxtaposed with the cold vast Lake Mead. There were only 3 mandatory checkpoints, with 27 optional. The winner would need to hit the most checkpoints in the shortest amount of time. Each checkpoint was a stake in the ground with a clue written on it referring to the next CP. In a few instances the checkpoints were underwater!



More to follow...but I am very excited to have win #3 for 2008 so early in the season. Team DART-nuun is deeper than ever this year and we are excited about competing this summer across the country and around the world!

Thanks to nuun and GenR8 VITARGO for supplying me with my race fuel. 90% of my calories came from Vitargo and every single hydration bladder had 2 nuun caps, which saved my butt in the 100 degree desert. NO CRAMPS! I felt awesome and I owe it to my JET FUEL.

Thanks for tuning in everyone!

Song of the day is Computer Camp Love by Data Rock

Camp Freddy at The Roxy

Thursday night I joined The Lovely HotWheels and Xian's girlfriend Miraculously Majestic Melly Mel at The Roxy on the Sunset strip for a Camp Freddy concert. We were all enjoying a fun taper week as the ladies prepared for the Central Coast Adventure Challenge in San Luis Obispo and I geared up for the Desert Winds race in Arizona.

Once again, the show did not disappoint. You cannot find a lineup like this outside of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony! Openers the Darling Stilletos were also well worth the price of admission... Surprise guests playing songs included Slash and Duff from Guns n' Roses, Steve Jones from the SexPistols, Chester Bennington from Lincoln Park, Tommy Lee...I could go on.

From their website:
SETLIST: Hello There, Song Two, Rock And Roll All Nite, Rock And Roll Star, Lil' Devil, Eighties, Chinese Rocks, Bodies, Its So Easy, Good Times Bad Times, Highway To Hell, Paradise City, I Wanna Be Your Dog.

GUESTS: Chester Bennington, Slash, Duff McKagan, Jerry Cantrell, Billy Duffy, Tommy Lee, McQueen, Steve Jones, Paul Cook. Week Two of the Camp Freddy Roxy Residency and another sold out, packed Roxy crowd. Highlights included the 'drum off' between Matt Sorum and Tommy Lee, and a killer version of Highway To Hell, sung by Chester Bennington (Linkin Park) and with four guitarists - Slash, Dave Navarro, Billy Morrison and Billy Duffy



Song of the day is URA Fever by The Kills

Camp Freddy at The Roxy this Thursday..

Some shots from last Thursday's show at The Roxy.










It was a mellow "taper weekend", hanging out up in the Hermosa Beach area. On Saturday morning I joined Christian Burke of nuun-sponsored Team Feed The Machine for a short ride up and around Palos Verdes. Team FTM won the brutal Endorphin Fix (which had 43,000' of elevation gain)last weekend in West Virginia, so you know he had some good stories from the 3 day race.

Christian's teammate, "2007 Bonelli Triathlon Champion who did a triathlon on a beach-cruiser and averaged 21mph Evan Hyde", blew his rear deraileur and damaged his new titanium frame. Several attempts to convert to singlespeed failed. Evan was forced to modify and ride a borrowed junker for a 50 mile section of the course! The team still won the race with some slick navigation tactics. That's what I'm talking about! You never know what kind of adversity other teams are facing, so you can never quit in an adventure race. You have to put out all the way to the end. Perfect case in point!

Sunday's highlight was a paddle from Marina del Rey (Mother's Beach) down to the Manhattan Pier & back with DART-nuun teammate Cyril and Sylvie in their triple. We encountered a family of dolphins along the way, begging for some VITARGO! I gave one a squirt. He/She high 5'd me with its fin and took off, invigorated. Ha! No, I didn't really share my Vitargo with any marine mammals. I would though, if I had extra! Ha!

As part of my taper program (ha!), I am going to see Camp Freddy Thursday night at the Roxy with HotWheels, Xian, and Melly Mel. It should be an amazing show, who knows who will show up to sing.

The setlist from last Thursday night is up on their site.

Cheap Trick- 'Hello Ladies and Gentleman'
Blur-'Song 2'
Killing Joke-'Eighties' w/Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray)
Oasis-'Rock & Roll Star' w/Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme)
Led Zeppelin-'Good Times Bad Times' with Poe, Bettencourt
Adam Ant-'Ant Music' w/Steven Perkins (Jane's Addiction)
David Bowie-'Suffragette City' w/Warren DeMartini (Ratt)
Ratt-'Round and Round' w/DeMartini, McGrath
Thin Lizzy-'Jailbreak' w/Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), McGrath
Sex Pistols-'EMI' w/Steve Jones, Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), McGrath
Motorhead-'Ace of Spades' w/Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead)
Eddie Cochran-'Something Else' w/Kilmister, Jones, Corey Parks (Nashville Pussy, Die Hunns)
The Stooges-'I Wanna Be Your Dog' w/Kilmister, Parks, Jones, Bettencourt, McGrath


Friday after work I head up to Vegas...OK, Lake Mead for the Desert Winds 24+ Hour Adventure Race! Look for TWO strong DART-nuun teams contending for the win! You can watch the race unfold LIVE at www.checkpointtracker.com

Song of the day is I don't wanna fall in love by She Wants Revenge

Next Stop for DART-nuun: Lake Mead

The DART-nuun train's next stop is the Desert Winds 24+ Hour Adventure Race at Lake Mead, Arizona. We are sending two teams to the Desert Winds Adventure Race. My team will include Glenn Rogers of Gig Harbor, WA, Ryan Van Gorder or Seattle, WA, and special guest racer Lina Augaitis of Vancouver, British Columbia (on loan from Team Yoga Slackers, who were 3rd place at Baja Travesia). The other DART-nuun team will be comprised of Cyril Jay-Rayon (Santa Monica, CA), Jenn Segger-Gigg (Squamish, British Columbia), Aaron Rinn (Edmunds, WA), and Mari Chandler (Mountain View, CA).

Check out LIVE coverage at CheckpointTracker.com

For additional Google Earth photos of the race course area click HERE.