This is where I will be March 1st! May the Shred Be with You!!

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My 12 hours at Santos

Into the bottleneck, photo courtesy of Ga Kush.

I woke up that Saturday morning mad as hell. Cursing fate, feeling cheated again, sick and tired of my circumstances as of late. I had the worst neck muscle pain I ever had in my life. Even the day before it wasnt as bad as I was feeling at that moment.
Regardless, I took some alleve under strict protest and began my preparations for the day. In grand fashion, no matter how hard I worked, inevitably my tradition of tardiness persevered. And sure enough, I get to Santos at 930, not registered for a 10am race.
It proved to be my first miracle of the day as I got registered and made the start line with plenty of time to chit chat with friends and eyeball the participants on the line.
Not long after, they had us line up and sent us on our way. I made a discovery on this day, that I have somehow become proficient at the run. I was hauling ass, when all my food for the first three laps popped out my pockets. I heard Luis, telling me I dropped my food, about a half a second after I noticed myself. I quickly backtracked and waited patiently as everyone passed me to grab my food. I picked it up quick, and still had enough speed going uphill, to pass half the people on my way to the bike. Got on the bike and I wasn't even winded, the adrenaline was pumping.
Unfortunately, so was the full on traditional 12 hour bottleneck. I anticipated it and stayed patient. I knew people were flying off the front, but I also knew I was going to be here all day.
I could sit here and type up a blow by blow account of each lap. And talk about how at one point I made the decision to slow down cause I was riding way above my 12 hour pace. I could also detail, every little mental game I came up with to keep my focus and interest for the full day of the 12 hours, how I had affectionally nicked named a section of the trail the "soul trail" cause of the shoe sole I saw on every lap. Or all the times I made jokes to myself of which I commented out loud, every time I went INTO the BACKDOOR (the redtrail that began with the jump rock and was followed by the slalom) that signified the end of the lap was less then a mile away.
I could tell you how after the first four consecutive laps, I decided I would pit stop every lap after that cause I was concerned about the severe arm fatigue I was experiencing. And talk about the moments I spent with my quitting cap on, which I then took off and rode on regardless. Or the times I thought to myself, am I having a heart attack or why do my lungs hurt (turns out it was just gas).
But I think the most important thing to take away from my experience is that an endurance race is just about that very thing, Enduring. Lasting and continuing even if the going gets tough. It was my first time and there was no way in hell I was quitting.
I realize my conditioning was way off. But I rode to the best of my current skill level. Did at least 50 dabless miles out there, lap after lap of cleaning the entire trail. I had not one crash, but I didn't end the day without mishap. On Lap 8 I flatted and my tiredness coupled with the darkness and no CO2 made for a slow flat repair.
I had made goals for myself. I wanted to do 10 laps, I finished with 9. I think the flat played into that.
I knew Ron(aka one lap) was racing and I wanted to see if I could ride longer then him. We tied in distance, but Ron beat me on time.
I wanted to beat my buddy Dave Snow(aka flyhi296) but several months after the Big O ride, he is still20 miles and 60 minutes faster(maybe next time).
I knew it was Pacer's first 12 hour, we had something in common, so I wanted to see if I could do more laps then him, and I did, but it took him half the time to do 80% of the distance I did.
I wanted to do more laps then one of our sport teams that was racing. They did 12 beat me hands down.
I wanted to be the overall Bikeworks team rider with the longest distance and I was with 9 laps, Osias(congrats) did 8 in six hours (LOL).
I wanted a top ten finish in my class, and I did, I got Fifth!
I wanted to smile, have a good time, and just promote positive energy to everyone else on the ride and that mission was accomplished as well.
The whole experience was motivating and inspirational for me. I rode 80 something miles, the longest I have ever ridden off road and I totally dugg it.

Enjoy the pics, there will be more coming but the ones that I am sharing first Came from Trebor, from the MTB Florida Forum, Thanks TRE!Finally, Huge thanks to all the Naked Indian supporters out there. I have never, in all my racing ever, had so many people cheer me on, either by saying Karlos, or Naked Indian, it was nice to hear the encouragement and experience the greetings.
Also Enourmous thanks to my lead Nutritionist and Pit Boss in the race, my lovely wife Paloma. Everything worked great and I was fueled and feeling good all day.
And I cant say enough about my team mates and my sponsor Bikeworks. Big Thanks to Brian, Manager from Metro west location, who fixed my rear derailleur half way thru the race making an enourmous impact on my performance, and for always being a friend indeed.

I cant wait till the next one,

Enjoy,

Laters,

LOS

Mission Accomplished!

Well I did it. I finished and I rode for 12 hours. I did 80 plus miles, 9 laps for a fifth place finish in my class.

Thats the quick summary, there will be a comprehensive write up coming very soon. I got to hunt down all the pictures and type up my full on story.

I feel good and I am super psyched.

Stay posted,

Laters,

LOS

Time to MAKE WAR!!!

my game face is on

I love being dramatic. Its so 2008. Seriously, I am ready to go out there and make war with that trail and make war with myself.

I am looking forward to pushing myself to the limits and do the most dirt miles I have ever managed to ride in one day.

I have created some competition for myself in an effort to make it interesting and motivate me. There are lots of people I know and many I don't know that I would love to end the day with more laps then them.

My goals are simple. 90 miles in 12 hours, ten laps. I think its do able. It will be my first time racing for 12 hours, but not my first time riding for 12 hours straight.

My nutrition plan is set, my lights are ready and my bike is tuned. Its time to make war, And Im super excited.

Lets see what shakes!

See ya guys at the 12 hour,

Laters,

LOS

Flashback: Psyclocrossin the 07 EL Lagarto 6 hour

The race always starts out with a burlap sack start, WAY, more interesting than the damn Le Man's style start that they always want us to do at these hours and hours long races.

The photog for all the pix was my lovely wife Paloma. She Rocks. And this is me early in the race Rocking the corners on my surly cross check.
Don't know when this pic was taken, but all I can think of when I see this pic is check out the Gorilla on the bike!

Climbing towards the beast sometime in the middle of the race.

Coming out of the beast heading towards the scoring area.

Gorilla on a bike, Gorilla on a bike!!!!

Look at the sheer pleasure on my face! I LOVE IT!

More shots of me carving it up, Im such a good bike handler!This is on my last lap, hammering up the Beast, trying to get that last lap in!

Finally coming thru the finish line, 5:59 minutes on the dot, for Ten full laps all on a cross bike. EAT MY DUST BITCHES!!!

Using my official Harvey Calculator. I did ten laps on a cross bike, if I would of done it this year on my Mamasita, I figure I could would have been at least 2 laps faster, and that would of put me on the podium, O well, maybe next year..

Enjoy,
Laters,
LOS

Munching the Miles

I honestly don’t know who checks out these motion based links I put up that document my rides, but if you do, you sure are going to have a super bonus treat. Look for the links inside the associated paragraphs and rifle thru the dashboard as you see fit.

About a week ago I finally got to take my surly out, and found out a few things. It’s a little under geared for road riding; after all it was my primary off road machine for almost a year. Since no one offered me some free road cranks, (thanks all! Just kidding, relax,) seems I am destined to making a purchase in the very close future. It hurts my wallet to think about all the cycling related dollars I am going to be putting out in the next couple of months. I need more sponsors! As well, somehow it got left turned on for the entire drive to croom a couple of days later, but, I don’t know, it’s weird....

Croom, what a physical disaster that turned out to be. Still, the Nature was fantastic, and the ride was peaceful and fun. Especially, since I spent most of the ride completely alone. FYI, I am feeling much better.

Wednesday, I got together with Trevor and did a ride out on the Cady Way trail out in Orlando. Good chance to test my lights. I have been hard at work at having what I would consider a more professional light set for the upcoming 12 hour. I still have to acquire one more component. I think I got the right headlight, I got to get the right bar light and I have my trail rat as back up.

I’m going to go ahead and say it. And just let anyone know who is wondering. I will be at the 12 hour and I will ride hopefully for most of those 12 hours. The ball is in motion, the plans are made, and it’s a GO. But, I will let any competition know now. It’s a Training Day for me. There, that is my official disclaimer. So, on that note I have been ramping up even more miles for myself, for the simple fact that I am trying to speed up my transitional period. Its working, but I think I’m still 100 miles short of feeling just right. So the plan for the week is 100 more miles before the 12 hour race. So I went for a Loop around town, kept it short because it was dark and cold, I hate the cold.

Come Saturday, I was in the mood for a LONG ride. But, I had other things that HAD to get done (man I wish I got paid to ride bikes). Regardless, I had someone who was going to come along, but something came up. So now, I’m stuck alone, but still had to do a bunch of stuff, so I did the stuff and when I finished, it was close to dark. Kailan, my 8 year old offered to ride. So we took off towards the cemetery. Now I spend a lot of time scanning the Google maps looking for trails. And I knew there was a trail out there that would take you across the woods and you end up back on a major road. So, I asked him if he wanted to explore. And sure enough he said he did. We rode up to the Cemetery then hit the double track. It was Sandy, but when you got a Specialized S works bike and a granny gear and you weigh 60lbs, you can float on sand. As for me 29's do a fantastic job of chomping up the sand. So we made a good time of it. Rode towards the sounds of cars, and presto we popped out right where I expected. I don’t think I would ride that trail again, because it’s too much sugar, but it was fun for us. We checked out the new elementary school they are building and then rode to Ace hardware, because I owed him an Ice Cream and I knew for sure they would have some there. We rode home and wrapped up the ride. 5 or so miles with my son or 45 miles of road and dirt, turns out today, the 5 miles was MUCH better.

Every Sunday morning for awhile, the Orlando Bikeworks employees have been going out for an early at Snow hill trail. It's a short little ride, and that’s fine. I wanted to do something short and hard today. I’m sick of my body taking 11 miles to warm up, seriously, 11 miles. So, several people showed up and I got to ride with some of my most favorite people. There were some people there that I didn’t know. Now, I understand the nature of the ride. Get out there and ride as hard as you can and if you can make some people cry in the process, then Points for you. It wasn’t quite that cut throat, but I did sure take off at 18+mph trying to make sure that it wasn’t. In a matter of moments I look back and I am all alone except for this kid Eric. He got in my slip stream and enjoyed the ride. The rest of the ride was great and it was fun to chase and be chased and shake and rattle and roll and all that NASCAR type of stuff. It was a BLAST!

I got my fingers crossed and I am hoping that I have my new wheel set for the 12 hour. Chance favors the prepared mind and mentally I plan on riding my old wheel set. Some of the guys told me they saw my new hubs and they said they were "bad ass"; that’s got me even more psyched.

On another note, any and all who know who I am is, are free to feed me beer once we start the night laps of the Santos 12 hour. Yeah, I if I am still moving at that time, I am 100% sure I will need the carbs AND the micro toxins.

Got to go ride more,

See ya at the 12 hour.

Laters,

LOS

Operating Basis

I spent the first two days this week in Clearwater. I was there for some good ole fashion corporate training. I guess the good fortune and good graces are mine as I have received a promotion and I am taking a leading role in the Training Department, something I have wanted to do for many years. I learned alot while I was up there and I was introduced to those two words in its compound form, and recently those words ring true in my psyche over and over again. What does it mean? Well, in a nutshell it’s the basic level that we all function at. And lately I have been in a transitional period and in the process of altering my Operating Basis.

I feel good, But different. From what my friends and family tell me, I'm looking great. So, I guess the changes are doing something. But, deep in my heart, there is that little bit of fear that I’m not going to be able to work things out.

In the past two years I have been on a constant mission to change my operating basis. It all started with my psyclocross adventures after the ORAMM. I put that thing together and rode it all over. It was the beginning of my current state of metamorphosis. Come January 2007, I rode every single 50 mile off road ride, raced the El Lagarto six hour and the razorback six hour all on my cross bike. I rode good and rode strong, but after the beating I took at Razorback, I decided it was time for another change.

I got a Raleigh XXIX+G, my official and first 29er. It was perfect for the riding I do around here, but discovered that the 30 plus pounds it weighed was a devastating penalty in the mountains. It was too steep of a gradient to adjust my operating basis. Think about it, I went from a steel light single speed, to a steel light cyclocross bike, to a TANK.

Not long after that, I started my current affair with my Salsa Mamasita and the rest they say is History. But looking back, since that cataclysmic experience in the North Carolina Mountains I have been on a mission to continue to alter my Operating Basis.

And I guess, this is my mission and my plight. To constantly pursue more. To constantly push the envelope and seek that next and higher level.

Now, all I got left to do, is pedal and pedal my bike in hopes that my body can adjust to the newest level of Operating Basis I am pursuing.

I went on a sweet ride with my good friend Trevor yesterday. A simple and easy bike path ride 21 miles out and back in the Winter Park area of Orlando. And slowly but surely I’m starting to feel my normalcy returning. I am fairly confident that the 12 hour is within my grasp.

We will just have to see.

In other news, I soon will be sporting a new kit from my sponsor Team Bikeworks Orlando. As well as a new wheel set and more information coming soon as I am working on two other sponsors.

I will keep y'all Posted,

till next time,

Laters,

LOS

TooMuch TooFast

The week started well enough with a strong but short road ride and a decision. Well, it sure turned interesting from there.

Tuesday I was out front skating with my eldest son, just having some fun, getting my shred on. Well, my son Kailan decides he wants to show off to his friends how high his daddy can Ollie (skateboarding equivalent to a bunny hop) and starts stacking boards. He set up two boards which is a little over a foot and a half and I popped over it first try without any issues. I kept skating and eventually we had to part to take my son to his class that he takes in the evening.

As I napped in the truck, I notice my back started hurting. Went to bed that night and barely slept. Woke up the next morning and from my summation, I guess I pulled a muscle in my lower back, cause the next day I could barely move. I couldn’t miss work, so I took some alleve and got dressed, very slowly and took care of business. I was supposed to go out that day and do some more miles, but no dice. The pain level was too high for my taste and I have a HIGH pain threshold so the pain must have been off the charts.

The combination of back muscle pain and the withdrawals I started having from giving up refined sugars and carbs led to some wicked side effects. For two nights in a row, I could barely sleep from the back pain, and when I did sleep I was having Nightmares. I’m not much for having bad dreams so I surmised that it must have been from the chemicals I have recently decided to give up.

Well, this led to no riding the rest of the week. But I STILL had to work. Miserable is one way to describe my predicament. Regardless, come Friday the pain had gone from an 8 to a 1 so I was confident that the Croom 50 was a go. I actually started feeling good and the cravings from the diet change had gone away.

I got a start way later then I wanted for Croom. Eventually I gave up even trying to think about the late start and focused instead on the fun and the social aspect of riding with my team mates, something I don’t get to do very much. 30 minutes into the ride, we were hammering and had a pace high in the teens.

Eventually, I started feeling some discomfort. And then right around mile seven, I entered a zone that Phil Liggett would of Characterized as "Serious Difficulty". My legs were dead. My lungs were taxed, my motivation SUPER LOW.

I persevered. Took a break around mile 18 and kept riding. Finished a steep long climb and felt faint. Weird, I usually don’t feel this on the trail. Sat down, put the bike down and took a break. As I sat there, I could hear laughing and talking in the distance. After a moment I figured that I must not be far from the next rest stop and started getting ready to get up and go.

A mile or two later I was at the rest stop. I saw Luis and he suggested my serious difficulty was a situation I could not recover from and that I should just abandon, and if I don’t abandon the ride, just do the 35. I thought I could still do the fifty regardless. And in spite of my pitiful pace, I was still passing people, which was amazing to me. But the endless sandy climbs were definitely taking their toll.

Spinning wasn’t helping so I resulted to big ring mashing and an amazingly enough, that felt better and was more comfortable then anything else I had tried.

Regardless of my condition, I made every climb. I didn’t dismount once. I took a break on top of Sugar hill and lay on the ground enjoying the sounds of the birds and the beauty of the sky. Not long after that, I turned off for the 35 and several miles later I was done.

No cramps for me, but just weird how I felt. I talked to Dave and Luis and they told me I need carbs and sugar. I have been eating carbs and sugar, just not over processed junk. And if anybody knows Luis, he obviously doesn't need to re educate his body into how to utilize carbs effectively, I most certainly do. After thinking real hard about it, I know what mistakes I made that day. First, I ate my breakfast way too late. Second, I needed to eat some granola bars, what I usually eat during a ride, even though I gave it up for a couple of months, my muscles would have used it immediately and it would not have had any ill effect on my first phase of my new nutrition plan.

I came away with some good lessons and a new plan and a desire to continue the reeducation of my physiological self. Sunday morning I got up, not a sore bone in my body and my back pain was gone. Ever since the Big O ride, I have had a weird pain in my left ass bone, and it didn’t affect me at the croom, so that is excellent news. On top of that I stepped on a scale that morning as well, and I am ten pounds lighter. Officially the lightest I have been in 12 years.

I have lost the strange cravings and I'm feeling really good. I got a solid nutrition plan for my rides and hopefully if all goes well, I will be at the 12 hour putting in a good effort.

We will just have to see, I only got 3 and 3/4 Fitties. Oh Well.

till then,
Enjoy,

Laters,

LOS

Tree Fitty Shirt

Congrats to all that did their respective three fitty. Unfortunately in the process of searching for someone to mass produce the t shirts, I found everything I saw to be way too expensive. I would of really felt weird asking people to give me 20 or 25 bucks. So instead, if you email me, I will gladly email you the copies of the graphics and you are free to take them to a local printer and have a shirt made up for yourself. You indeed deserve it.

Interested?

Email me at Nakedindian99@aol.com


Laters,

LOS