Nike takes 1st, DART-nuun fighting for 3rd

Team NIKE crosses the finish line in 1st Place...again!





Adventure racing homie Donato from Team Dirty Avocados jokingly calls out Race Director and retired SEAL Team 6 counterterrorism commando Don Mann.




Who will it be? DART-nuun or Bones?

Go to www.ecoprimalquest.com and click on "Tracking".

You will get a LIVE GPS location on a Google Earth map
of DART-nuun's location.


Our DART-nuun teammates have been racing neck and neck with Team BONES for over 400 miles. I can only imagine how exhausted they must be as they race towards the finish line. Racing at this elevation, for 520 miles, will destroy your body, lungs and mind...far beyond what most could imagine. DART-nuun and Bones are both very experienced teams & fixtures on the West Coast adventure racing scene.

Send your prayers and good vibes out to both of these teams!

On Saturday, prohibitive favorite Team NIKE ran away with an absolutely dominating win. Merrell-Zanfel is about to finish in 2nd place with a 12hr plus lead on DART-nuun and Bones.

Clearly, the most exciting part of the race is the suicidal pace for 3rd!

This race is adventure racing at its purest. Retired Navy SEAL officer Don Mann, the organizer, took out a 2nd mortgage on his own home to make this race happen (just like he did for the Beast 2000 which was ousted by Eco Challenge...remember?).

Send some shout-outs to the website if you get time. These folks sacrificed and poured their souls into the race with very little outside investment.

Follow DART-nuun LIVE at Primal Quest

Check out the LIVE coverage, with Spot GPS tracking using
Google Earth at

www.ecoprimalquest.com -or-
www.checkpointzero.com

The DART-nuun team racing this year is CYRIL JAY-RAYON, AARON RINN, AARON MATZKE, AND
MARI CHANDLER.

525 miles, 100,000' of elevation gain in the Montana wilderness-this race
is a monster.

DART-nuun has been as high as 1st place today, ahead of Nike and Merrell.

This is the biggest baddest event of the year, and DART-nuun is one of the most
experienced and successful teams in the race. Will this finally be their/our year?

One more week on the road...

Photo this week is one HotWheels took while in Osaka, Japan last month.



This is my last week in Wilmington, Delaware and I am beyond ready to get back to my normal schedule at home in California! There are only 4 weeks to go until the Gorge Games 24 hour adventure race in Hood River, Oregon. Hence, there will have to be some serious volume cramming when I return from Wilmington in order to be fully prepared.

*****

This weekend in Orange County we had temperatures from 90-100+, perfect simulation for the heat we (Team DART-nuun) are sure to face at Gorge Games 24 Hour. On Saturday I managed to fit in a gym session at NAC, hour run at Crystal Cove, mile ocean swim at Corona del Mar, and hill repeats on the mountain bike at Aliso/Wood Canyon. I went through half a tube of nuun, dropping a tab into every other water bottle. I probably drank an average of 48oz per hour, one of the two water bottles always having Vitargo.
That, folks, is my "Bonk Proof" recipe for success!

*****

Now that I have a few more rides on my new Turner Flux, I need to say what a revalation it has been. The way this bike handles, climbs, and descends is unlike any thing I have ever ridden. I am instantly a better rider on this bike. Of course the fit is very important, and this bike in the 21" size is perfect for me (6'3", 33" inseam, long torso). If you are considering a new mountain bike frame, get your hands on a Turner Flux to test-ride before dropping your hard-earned on anything else.

*****

The Michelin tires (black/dry compound) seem to excel in dry conditions. I simply am not spinning out on surfaces where I normally would. These tires are on all the DART-nuun bikes up at Primal Quest in Montana. The Manitou fork I am riding is not just light and unexpectedly stiff, but it's lockout mechanism works like a charm. For long climbs in adventure racing, this is a key feature. The FSA wheelset and components are light, strong, and good-looking. Let's face it: if you're going to drop thousands of dollars on a damn bike, it better look as good as it performs. Right?

*****

On Sunday I joined Christian Burke of Team Feed The Machine for a 4 hour road ride from his house in Hermosa Beach to Pepperdine University in Malibu and back, then an immediate brick run to Manhattan Beach pier and back. The heat was so bad we had to stop at one of the beach showers to try to cool off. Let me tell you-that works! It felt incredible. Highly reccomended!

*****

Songs of the day...I am listening to the new Coldplay and My Morning Jacket albums lately.

Viva la Vida...took probably 6 listens before I 'got it'. Download it if you haven't.

My Morning Jacket's album Evil Urges is a departure from their earlier work but perhaps their creative apex. Worth downloading!

Going back home to the West Coast...

I'ts been a long time, been a long time been a long, lonely lonely lonely
lonely lonely time.

It's been a while since my last update! But I have a good excuse:

This month I am in Wilmington, Delaware during the week, and at home in Orange County
during the weekends. Crazy, right? I am actually in Wilmington studying asthma and pulmonology. Por que? I have recently switched career paths from psychiatry/neurology back to the respiratory division of my company. It's a good thing!

Let me tell you-running in 90 degrees and 90% humidity is quite different than the perfect weather I am used to in Orange County. I have been exploring the local country roads, running through rolling hills, past 250 year old cemeteries...Monday night I was even able to see and hear a loud crackling thunderstorm-something you never get in SoCal.

This weekend the miraculously majestic lovely HotWheels takes off for an extended business trip in SE Asia. 5 weeks! ONE week in Japan was hard, so neither of us are stoked about 5 weeks of separation. On the positive side, I will go into a ROCKY IV type existence of focus on work and training. As the GORGE GAMES 24 HOUR ADVENTURE RACE
approaches, I need to make sure I peak at just the right time if we are going to beat the New Zealand team for 1st place. That's the goal!

If I am not working or sleeping, I will be riding, running, paddling, swimming, or cramming in some Bikram yoga.

So today's song goes out to the lovely and talented HotWheels.

Song of the day is West Coast by Coconut Records/Jason Schwartzman

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.