Troupe Racing Co.

Last Friday Mykyta, Tom, Ben, Vickie and I set out for Prescott, AZ to race the Whiskey Off-Road, a 50-mile race starting and ending in downtown Prescott. I had done the 25-mile option a few years prior, so I mostly knew what to expect of the course. The 12-mile out and back into Skull Valley would be new to me and I’d been hearing stories of how awesome it was (sarcasm). This out and back is the only difference between the 25 and 50-mile routes.

We got into town Friday afternoon just in time to check out the vendor booths along Whiskey Row and watch the Fat Tire Crit Race downtown. After stopping by the Ergon booth to say hi to Sonya and Jeff and wish them luck, Mykyta and I picked a spot along the crit course to watch the pros. The gun went off, and we got to witness some serious suffering amongst the pro women and later the men. There was a great vibe – tons of cheering spectators, crazy costumes, and even some partial nudity. Sounds like a recipe for fun!

After things wound down, we headed back to the weekend Troupe House for some of Tom’s home-made lasagna. I got in trouble for asking if it was from Costco. Oops… Sorry Tom!

Saturday morning was race day. We rode down Gurley Street to the start line and picked our spots in the massive herd of fellow mountain bikers. It was balmy at the start line but we knew it would warm up pretty quickly. After about thirty minutes of waiting patiently to start our race, the gun went off and we hit the road. The four-mile road ride was a good warm-up including a pretty steep climb just before reaching the dirt. We even saw a deer run straight across the road, through bike traffic, and into someone’s back yard. Just another day in Prescott.

Once we reached the first single track it was bottleneck city. It took a good 15 minutes of waiting patiently in line to get rolling again and I made a mental note for my next Whiskey race that I needed to start a little further up the line and maybe push it just a little harder on the road to minimize the wait time on that.

The next four or five miles were a mix of rolling single track, steep pitches, water bars (up and down) and lots of on and off the bike. With a record number of participants (about 1,750) and almost all single track, it was tough to keep a good rhythm in these sections. I was super excited to reach the first major downhill, Trail #260, but it took some strategic (but polite) passing to get ahead of some slower descenders. Once out of the conga line and no one in front of me, I remembered what I was in Prescott for – fun, swoopy, twisty, turny, flowy single track!

After that awesomeness, we had a bit more climbing to do on a dirt road leading up to the first Aid Station. I had a few orange slices, a pickle, and some Hammer HEED, then began my “what have I gotten myself into” descent into Skull Valley. I get bored to tears on fireroad descents so this was not my favorite part – especially because I got to see the zillions of people who were ahead of me on their way back up towards Aid Station 1 (and 3). The only cool part was seeing Ben, then Mykyta, then Tom making their way towards the top, all looking strong.

I finally reached the bottom of Skull Valley and took a few minutes to stretch, refuel, and such then began the long trek back up the fire road. I settled in a good rhythm and managed to pass the time along thinking about things like what I would have for dinner, why poison oak lasts so long, the meaning of life, etc. etc. I must have been sucked away into la-la land for a bit too long because I was starting to bonk. My good rhythm became less than good, and as I looked at my bottle of Perpetuem, still ¾ full, I realized I was under-fueled. Careful not to overdo it, I took a few good sips, then granny-geared myself up the increasingly steep road finally reaching the Aid Station 1/3 again.

My Ergon pack was stocked with bars, Endurolytes, Endurance Aminos, and water, so I finally took a few minutes to utilize these goods, douse myself with cold water, stretch, and get back at it. I felt pretty darn good after that and got into another good climbing rhythm. Many 25- and 50-milers were getting pretty tired at this point, some even walking their bikes. It was hot and I was slowing, but I knew I had more fun downhill coming up so I needed to get this fireroad stuff out of the way.

Finally we got to more single track descending and my energy was renewed. I squeezed past a few guys who gladly let me by and instructed me to “get some”. Again, I remembered why I was there – fun, swoopy, twisty, turny, flowy single track! Woohoo!

After some ridiculously fun descending, we came to “cramp hill” which I was able to pedal through. Sure, it was a granny-gear sort of pedal, but hey, I didn’t have to walk. We had a little more descending, then ups and downs and stream crossings, then finally reached the end of the single track. The rest of the race went back through downtown Prescott ending on Whiskey Row. I finished just shy of six hours, which is actually better than I expected. I managed to find Tom, Mykyta, and Ben who all had strong finishing times. Mykyta was nice enough to ride back to the Troupe House (all uphill!) and get the car to pick us all up. We hung out downtown for a while to unwind and to get Ben some IV fluids as he was pretty dehydrated.

After a nice cold shower and de-griming, we hit The Raven downtown for some grub. We shared our war stories, had some laughs, and agreed we needed to do this again!

by : laura knight

I will admit my choice in purchasing the the cobalt 11 wheels was mostly driven by vanity. Some of you who know me may not find that surprising.

It all started last December when my old Santa Cruz blur took a tip on a rock bed which left a nasty crack in the rear triangle. What a great opportunity to purchase the new Blur frame which just happened to come in black and gold. My old crankbrothers Cobalt rims where of course, blue. What to do but buy a nice set of black and gold carbon wheels for my black, gold and white bike. Mike, my boyfriend, helped me deck it out with a gold chain and caps for all the wire entries. What a picture!

Per Mike’s instructions, I saved them only for race day. I hate saving things “for good”, it’s not my nature. I am glad I did though!

Fist, some tech specs. The 26″ wheel set comes in around 1380 grams (not included the crankbrothers split skewers, which we swapped out for some kcnc ti skewers. We put the crankbrothers on my day-to-day training wheels – crankbrothers cobalt 2′s). The rim is carbon, with a dual anodized hub. Spokes are triple butted, their laced with machined aluminum spoke nipples and hollow spoke “pins”. The pins are what passes through the tabs in the rim.

The wheels feel good. They are just a bit compliant, which helps provide a smoother ride. The feel like the absorb some vibration and shock from the trail, but are not flex.

Care does need to be taken on tire set up. Crankbrothers cautions to not over-inflate them when setting the tire bead on the rim. We were careful not to go past 60 psi, and bring the psi back down to 40 once the bead was set (we’re set up with Kenda Karmas with Stan’s).

My first race on them was in Temecula. It was about 90 degrees that day, which I am also discovering works in my favor. We took off and after a little scrimmage at the beginning I had a bit of uphill catching up to do. I felt like I was on pulleys. I instantly caught up and passed the other women with ease. I was back to being a climber. Being a new cat 1 rider, I was hanging with the other girls on the descents but I was getting dropped on the climbs. Not anymore.

I further tested them on this year’s Counting Coup. I wanted to take off 20 minutes from a time 2 years ago. I wasn’t sure how that would work as my descending is only a little better than 2 years ago. Again I was landing my climbs which lead me to a drop of 34 minutes from 2 years ago.

On descents I really don’t notice a difference. I am however able to make it up steeper grades. I just need to remember to keep more pressure on the front wheel as it has a tendency to pop up more on steep ups because my wheel is so light.

I give the Carbon 11 wheels a 10! So far my race season is off to a fabulous start and I believe in part it is due to my new Carbon 11’s!

posted by : willie

I used to think the post-ride pain and numbness in the nether region was just part of the game. Thankfully, as I’ve learned, it doesn’t have to be.

After running the fi’zi:k Vesta saddle for the last six months or so I’ve realized the benefits of using a good-quality saddle.

The Vesta has some key features that help make it awesome. For me, the most noticeable right off the bat were the wing flex and glossy “thigh glide” material. At first the Vesta seemed a bit firm, so I was slightly apprehensive and wasn’t sure how I’d like it. But my first ride using it, I noticed my pedal stroke felt smoother due to the reduced friction and there was just the right amount of flex. The firmness of the saddle was an afterthought and seemed to be completely offset by the wing flex feature.

The king (err, queen) of all saddle tests was last weekend’s Vision Quest here in Orange County. With a 9.5 hour completion time, Vesta and I got to know each other pretty well. I fully expected to be beyond sore during and after the ride, so I was quite relieved when the soreness and numbness never came. Sure, I felt like I had been hit by a train – but my girlie parts were unscathed!

The Vesta passed the ultimate test. It’s key features, design, and light weight make it the ultimate women’s saddle. It is absolutely brilliant.

note: all troupe’s women riders choose the vesta saddle for xc, road and ‘cross racing.
more at fi’zi:k.

The more we race, the more bikes we have to work on (we’re thankful for that, btw), and the more serious our training becomes, the harder it is to write race reports. And who wants to read anyway? Here’s a collection of photos from the recent race – The US Cup XC race in Fontana. Lover it or hate it, the new course is challenging, techincal, and actually very fun compared to some of the tamer SoCal XC courses.