VICTORY at Expedition XStream Moab!

Wow. WHAT A RIDE!!!

...Literally...

After starting the Expedition XStream adventure race in Moab at noon on Thursday, Team DART-nuun (Glenn Rogers, Sean Clancy, Mari Chandler, and Matt Hayes) crossed the finish line at after 70 hours of racing at 10:20am on Sunday in 1st place!

This was a truly epic adventure race that saw nearly every other "elite" team drop out or lose teammates due to injury (mountain biking was very technical) or exposure (heat exhaustion/hyperthermia in the desert) or "cold exhaustion/hypothermia".

Yes, withinn hours on the same day we faced 95 degree temps on the slickrock near Moab and 40 degree temperatures-and hail-in the La Sal mountains.

We managed to win this race with flawless navigation, constant teamwork, completely dialed nutrition/hydration (the usual, nuun and Vitargo S2), and our unbelievable support crew who flew into Salt Lake City from Seattle and made the 4 hour drive to Moab with us: Tom and Jill Purcell.

Handlling adversity is always a factor in an adventure race. We had a frozen disk brake, a broken spoke, and a flat...all in the first hour of the first bike section! To give you an idea of how hot it was on the slickrock, on one 8 hour run/hike/ropes section I personally left with 272 ounces of water. It was not nearly enough. Luckily we found a random natural spring leaking water in one of the canyons!

To see how spectacular and challenging this racecourse was, check out this gallery on the link below...it captures much of the spectacular setting of this 280+ mile
course.

http://www.checkpointtracker.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.showDashboard&eventID=147 M

Mari also took dozens of great shots while we were out on the course. I will try to post those on my racing blog when I get home. That's 7 wins in 7 races this year. I'm going to grab a beer and take a nap!

Thanks for tuning in!

Sean Clancy
Team DART-nuun Adventure Racing

www.nuun.com
www.clancymultisport.blogspot.com


http://www.checkpointtracker.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.showDashboard&eventID=147

More to follow! Thanks for the shoutouts during the race!

1st Place at Kit Carson 24 Hour Adventure Race!

Sean, Mari and Glenn at the finish line near Lake Tahoe

Team DART-nuun did it again!

Almost 19 hours after starting with a paddle across Lake Tahoe, Team DART-nuun pulled off another sweet victory at the Big Blue Kit Carson 24 Hour Adventure Race. We fought hard for this victory, and Glenn's perfect navigation in the mountains in the middle of the night made all the difference.

Here's the Report:
http://www.checkpointzero.com/dartnuun/

That's 6 wins in a row so far for me this season with Team DART-nuun...

...and 7 wins in a row going back to last season...Knock on wood!

Competing at this level would be exponentially more difficult without incredibly generous sponsors and unwavering support of loved ones...so thanks to our sponsors and thanks for reading.

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On Wednesday we are off to Moab for the nasty Adventure X-Stream Expedition Adventure Race!

We will race across the world-renowned mountain bike trails of Moab, through the 12,000' elevation of the La Sal mountains, and the surrounding deserts and canyons.

To add insult to injury, an inline skating section has been added. Hopefully not at the END of the race, when my feet are swollen up from size 11 to 12+.

The race begins Thursday morning around 11, and all top teams are due to finish on Sunday. Awards and celebration is Sunday night at the host hotel in Moab.

If we win, we will have won the 2008 CheckpointTracker Series, and some serious prize money (for adventure racing, at least!).

Although the Checkpoint Tracker website is a month late on the series standings, we are going into this race essentially tied for 1st place with the freakishly strong Colorado team, Boulder Performance Network.

At the Adventure X-Stream, Team DART-nuun will see the most competitive field we have faced this season since the impossibly gnarly Baja Travesia (link) expedition adventure race (North American Championship) we won in March.

We need everything to go right to beat a very strong team from Boulder, not to mention many other very strong teams in the field who are capable of winning.

Your thoughts and prayers would be GREATLY appreciated and are quite necessary for us to pull out a victory.

Live coverage!!! (blog updates and live "Spot" GPS) will be at

http://www.checkpointtracker.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.showTeamProfile&teamID=3520&eventID=147

If you have a second, before or during the race send me a shout-out! There is a 'shout-out' section on the race coverage page:

http://www.checkpointtracker.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.showShoutBox&eventID=147

Thank you!

Sean

Off to Tahoe for the Kit Carson 24 Hour Adventure Race!

Footage from the 2007 Big Blue Adventure Race series...

Quick pre-race update:

Boys & Girls,

Right now I am packing up for this weekend's big race, the Big Blue Kit Carson 24 Hour Adventure Race.

This is all we know about his weekend's 24 hour race...from their site:

Kit Carson 24 Venue
Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park, Spooner Lake: Carson City, Nevada

Spooner Lake is on Highway 28, nine miles south of Sand Harbor and 1/2 mile north of Highway 50. It is approximately a 30 minute drive from South Lake Tahoe and a 20 minute drive from North Lake Tahoe.


Elevation:

7003 Feet


Kit Carson 24 Disciplines


Kayaking:
• 15+ miles Lake Tahoe
• Sandy beach put-in
• Water clarity to 65+ feet
• Beautiful shoreline
• Very high probability of flat and light wind conditions. Or it could be windy with lots of waves.



Mountain Biking:
• 45+ miles
• Single Track
• Double Track
• Fire Trail
• Fast
• Pavement
• A little of everything

• 10,000 feet altitude gain


Foot Travel:
• 15+ miles
• Single Track
• Fire Trail
• Sand
• Pavement

Soooooo, a little bit of everything. We will take some pictures on the course that hopefully will be 'appropriate for posting'...

Hasta Luego,

Sean


Today's song is more than just a song...it's the freakin' MAGNUM P.I. Theme! ...in French?!

Weekend in Solvang: The Hay is in the Barn!

The heaviest weeks of endurance training for my races in Lake Tahoe and Moab are behind me now. So to kick off my Taper appropriately, this weekend Lisa and I are headed up the coast to Santa Barbara and Solvang for a weekend of long rides, naps, runs, naps and wine tasting. I am bringing my miraculous, new waffle maker so all bets are off!

Solvang offers some of the best cycling in the world, bar none. Lance Armstrong has stated that only Girona, Spain offers a better place to train. Many of the top European and domestic cycling teams hold preseason base camps in Solvang in January/February each year.

The forecast says over 100 degrees and little cloud cover...perfect preparation for Moab! I will have to bring extra nuun to handle the extreme heat!

UPDATE 9/10/2008:


Solvang was awesome! Lisa and I did a fun, mellow 50 mile spin on Saturday from Solvang through Buellton, to Lompoc, and back on Santa Rosa Road. Beautiful! On Sunday I rode alone, up and over Mt. Figueroa from the house in Solvang...past Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch...made me ride a bit faster.

The famous "Fig" climb really is a kick in the nuts. One of the more magnificent ascents I have done, including Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Cascade mountains, etc. 9.5 miles averaging 9%...several pitches over 20%. A couple around 25. Yes, I said Twenty. Ri-donk-ulous. The climb starts abruptly with a smack: an 18% grade. "Oh, reallly"...

Rather than shooting for a (quixotic) "fast" split time, I smiply tried to make it up...period. With scorching temperatures of 105 at the bottom of the climb, and high 80s at the top, I did not need to detonate on this day, one week out from a very important race. I did the climb in 1:10:05, going as easy as possible, coasting the few downhills, soft pedaling any flats.

I know Lance has gone low-50s on this climb in training. I am sure someone his size at 400 watts would break 40, race pace. In early november we plan on returning, and I will shoot for a good benchmark at that time, hopefully break the hour mark. Maybe we'll see Lance there! (I for one am stoked that he is coming out of retirement to the Pro ranks for 2009)...



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Today I'm suggesting some Jerry Reed, who passed away this week of emphysema.
(If you smoke, you have a miserable death ahead of you. Your lifestyle determines your deathstyle!)

Just who the dickens is Jerry Reed, you ask? If you lived in the bayou, you would know.

But you don't live in the bayou. Do you even have a bayou by you?

All I have to say is I have 5 words for you: Smokey and the freaking Bandit!

...WE GOT A LONG WAY TO GO...AND A SHORT TIME TO GET THERE!

Elvis Presley recorded two of his songs, "U.S. Male'' and "Guitar Man'' (both in 1968).

Primus covered Jerry's song "Amos Moses", which I have included with a Jerry Reed original for good measure. After a listen you will agree that Jerry Reed is awesome.

Enjoy.