WORS #5 Suamico

Lumberjack 100 – Musto

WORS Big Ring – JL

WORS Big Ring – RG

Massanutten Hoo-Haa

French Creek

PMBAR

USAT Du Nat Age Champ

24 Hours of Vail Lake

Cohutta 100 – Robb K

Cohutta 100 – Luis C

MSC #1 Rabbit Valley Rally

MOAB Rim Ride – Adam L

MOAB Rim Ride – Jeff K

Orange Cty Duathlon

24 Hours of Old Pueblo

White Sands Duathlon

Chilean SS

WWCX #3

WWCX #2

WWCX #1

2007 Events
Select a race CX Crusade #6 Toronto UCI Pro Am IA State CX Champs Battle at Barlow WCA Lapham Peak Woodland Park Cross 12 Hours of Dauset Duke LC Half 24 Hrs of Targhee Chequamegon/T6 SS Chequamegon/Lalonde Vapor Trail 125 Dakota Five-O Subaru 24 Hour 24 Hours of Afton Levis / Trow 100 Wors #7 / Alterra Wilderness 100/Cote Wilderness 100/JM Wasatch Classic 24 Hours of 9 Mile Ganter is the Man Ironman Lake Placid Mount Snow Nats Short Track #4 Fallen Oaks OR DU LTF Triathlon Mount Tabor #6 Short Track #3 Bike, Blue & BBQ Hudson River Ramble 6 Hours of Blue Mound Firecracker 50 Chippewa Valley Fire Lebanon Hills TT VisitPA.com Stage RR Mount Tabor #5 Cranky Monkey/Welch Cranky Monkey/Vettori Wisconsin SS Champ Lumberjack 100 Hardcore 24 Camp Hilbert Race #2 Pescadero Road Race Stoopid 50 Teva Mountain Games Rudy Rack Big Ring Mooseman Half Iron Hummer Hammer Mohican 100/Lindner Mohican 100/Elam Mohican 100/Mahokey Mohican 100/Kerkove Mount Tabor #1 BURN 24 Hour 24 of Branched Oak Falls City Fire French Creek Platte River Marathon Lodi Farms/TEAM Lodi Farms/SOLO Cohutta 100/Kerkove Cohutta 100/Namrita Bakers Dozen/SOLO Bakers Dozen/3Man Mass Team Relay Spring Classic Du Ouachita Challenge

2006 Events
Select a race OR Cross State Champ MN Cross State Champ Wonderland Cross Beacon Cross Race Flying M Ranch Nature Valley CX Hornings Hideout VW Iron Cross IV ALAN Team Club Battle at Barlow Alpinerose Ed Sanders Mem 12 Hrs of Big Bear Shenendoah Mtn 100 Afton 24 (TEAM) Afton 24 (SOLO) 18 Hrs on the Farm Portland Track #4 24 Hours of 9 Mile Life Time Fitness Portland ST Blue Mounds 6 Hrs Cornman Triathlon Death Ride Mt Tabor Race #5 MASS 6 Hr Enduro 2 MN State Road Race METRO 12 Hour Mt Tabor Race #3 The Hardcore 24 Ponca Marathon Chalk Creek Mt Tabor Race Mohican 100 Ironman Baja 70.3 South Range Classic Branched Oak 12 Hrs Weaverville 12 Hrs Swan Island Crit Erik's Spring Cup Sugar Creek 12 Hr Battle The Bear Cable Classic Lodi Farms 12 Hrs Lumber One Avon RR Trans Iowa V2 Ken Woods RR Mid Atlantic SS

24 Hours of Old Pueblo
Tucson, AZ
February 16, 2008

By Jeff Kerkove

What can I say, this event is pretty awesome. Hands down, this event has the best vibe of any 24 I have ever been to. The course is fast, and is aimed to be fair to all riders regardless if they are beginner or pro. There isn't much climbing, and the course is stupid fast. How fast? Well, for my 4 laps, I never left the large chain ring. Really, the only thing you have to watch for is cactus. You go off trail....you get a flat. If you don't pay attention to the trail, you might get a flat from a cactus knocked onto course by a passing rider. Either way, you have to stay on the gas while being conservative around the desert growth.

Our team was a 5 Person Coed team consisting of Pua, Ron Sawicki, Dave Wiens, Dejay Birtch, and myself. Our goal was to win our race....and try for the overall most laps. Pua started off with the run....followed by Dejay on his SS Niner.....then Dave Wiens......myself.....and finalizing with Ron. Pua had an excellent start being one of the first riders in.

As for my race, I felt good on the bike. As mentioned earlier I was able to big ring the course and keep the pace high and steady. I was ticking a long a a good clip. My goal was to not get passed by any other riders during the entire race. That goal was pretty much achieved except on the first lap, I was caught by Kona rider, Barry Wicks. He came up behind me and then I latched on. We rode together for about 4 miles until I asked him if he was on a 4 or 5 man team. He replied with..."4 man" After that answer, I let him go, as his pace was getting me into the red-line. Soon after that, I must of rolled over a small cactus, as my front tire started to slowly leak. Since it was slow, I would ride.....then refill it.......then ride.....then refill it. Overall, my lap time was quick, and after I got back to the pit I changed out the tube.

My next 2 laps would be at night. Temps got pretty cool....down to about freezing. My first night lap was a trip. The desert is a treat at night being lit by 2 Topeak Moonshine HID lights. All I had to do was avoid anything green. If I touched any with my body or hit with my bike anything green....there was sure to be pain and misery due to cactus to skin penetration. Lucky for me, I never got up close and personal with these desert dwellers.

My first night lap went well. With all the stop and go passing on the course, my lower back got a bit tight. So, after my lap I hit up the massage tent for a 40 minute $20 rub down. Talk about heaven! After the rub down and some refuel, I headed out on the my last night lap. It was now about 4 AM and the coldest temps had settled on the course. There was frost on everything and even the coyotes were howling. Interesting thing, was that the course was dead. It seemed like everyone was either sleeping, staying warm in a tent, or way behind me. Riding alone was a bit sketchy with no one to lead and light the trail ahead of me. Riding this course, it is easy to mistake any brown dirt/sand for the course. You really needed to stay on your toes.My final lap came at about 9:30 AM. Temps were pretty warm in the high 50's. Since it was the last lap, I had to throw down. The entire laps went well, but I could tell the legs were getting a bit fried from the other 3 laps at 100%. Only bummer on the last lap was that I wasn't able to ride down the rock face (see 2nd picture) due to a flourish of riders going up and over slowly and cautious. So, I opted for the other fork in the trail and rode around the rock. I managed to get ahead of those riding down the rock....so it was a good call on my part.

Overall, we won our race...and almost won the overall. I can't complain. Right now I am riding well. Probably the best ever for February. So, things are looking on track for the 2008 season.

jk