Mt Taylor Winter Quadrathlon 2011

What a great event! The venue and all the great volunteers make this a truly enjoyable experience. I came upon this ultimate challenge by accident while looking for triathlons in New Mexico at trifind.com. I had heard about it before from someone that had competed in it who was at the Elephant Man triathlon. I have been an intermediate downhill skier but never cross country and certainly never snowshoe. I got the opportunity to try the two disciplines while skiing in Durango in January for the first time and decided to give it a go.

The Quadrathlon or Quad as its referred is a 42 mile race in Grants, NM which is 70 miles West of Albuquerque on I40. The starting point is in the city which is at an elevation of 6,500 feet and ultimately climbs to the spectacular 11,301 foot summit of Mt. Taylor, and then returns back to the finish line in Grants. We started with a 13 mile bike ride on a paved road. The course initially winds through the streets of Grants then begins an 1800 foot climb from desert cactus to ponderosa pine. At the end of the paved road, bikes are parked and then racers must run 5 miles on gravel roads. This part of the course climbs 1200 feet in elevation. Runners then turn to cross-country skis for 2 miles for another 1200 foot climb. The remaining 1 mile climb on snowshoes gains 600 feet to reach the summit. The race is only half way over as one must reverse the four events and race back 22 miles back to Grants. Total distance 43 miles.

I hope to give an overview of the Quad to share my experience and hopefully encourage someone else to give it a try. More at http://www.mttaylorquad.org/

PRE-RACE

As I mentioned earlier, I had practiced in Durango with skis and snow shoes. I bought some snow shoes and was able to practice here in El Paso during our rare winter storm. I rented my cross-country skis from REI in Albuquerque, where I called in advance a few weeks before. I got the boots, skis, and climbing skins for $24 for one day. Blanca and I left El Paso on Friday afternoon and arrived in Albuquerque to pick up the skis. They were a Fisher Snowbound brand and the boots fit perfectly and they put the skins on for me. We got to Grants around 7:30 pm and picked up the packets at the Cibola Convention Center. They provided a pasta dinner for the racers and guests were $7. The atmosphere there was very nice. The dinner was at the Grants High School and the students were the servers on the food line and the waiters. I checked into the hotel and got all my stuff together for the next day. That night we had until 11 pm to check in the transition bags, skis and snow shoes. We went to the fire house where they had multicolor duct tape. We labeled our gear for the bike/run transition, run/ski transition and it was loaded into trucks to send up the next AM.

Back to the hotel for a fitful night of sleep wondering about what the next day would bring. The weather for the next day was not looking too good which was an additional concern.

Race Morning

Woke up early even though the race didn't start until 0900. Got breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express and drove out to the starting place with bikes. Blanca was planning on riding the bike course as well to get some training done. It was not too cold, around 38F but the wind was picking up at 15-20 miles an hour from the Southwest. Met up with Octavio T. my friend from the hospital and we lined up towards the back of the pack. There were 140 male soloists and 31 females. The pairs and teams would start at 1000 AM from Grants. The team members who ran or ski/snowshoe were taken up at 7:00-7:30am. At 0901 AM, the race promptly started...

The Bike (13 miles, 1800 feet climb, 1:17:13 including bike/run transition at 8200 feet)

The bike started pretty flat and slow with all the riders. The group started to split during the initial climbs which at first were 2% and then got a little harder. There was a short downhill half way up and then the last 4 miles was 8-10% grade with somewhat of a head wind. As we started the climb, my friend Octavio's chain fell off as we rode together and I told him I was going to pull a Contador and attack him just like Schleck encountered in last years Tour de France.

I reached the end of the bike portion and a volunteer called my number as I arrived. They then guided me to my spot to leave the bike and there was my transition bag. I got my shoes on and then put on by drink carrier, gus and hat and I was off on the run.

The Run (5 miles, 1200 foot climb, 1:20:56 including run/ski transition at 9,497 feet)

The run initially was pretty flat and there were some initial downhills on gravel roads. There was a bit of snow and slush at first then more as we ascended further. I stuck to my run/walk routine to conserve energy. As I got higher it got harder and was forced to take more walk breaks. There was an aide station at the half way point with gatorade, bananas, and orange slices. I also had a gu on the way with gatorade.

I reached the run/ski transition and once again the volunteers were ready with my skis, poles, and boots. There was a volunteer assigned to a racer at each transition and they would bring water and orange slices to you as you put on the gear. I also got my snowshoes on the backpack to carry up to the next transition.

The Cross-Country Ski (2 miles, 1200 foot climb, 51:34 including ski/snowshoe transition at 10,700 feet)

This is the part that I most feared but turned out to be relatively easy. The climbing skins made all the difference. I was able to move at a pretty good clip and got a good rhythm. I had learned well from watching those instructional You Tube videos. At first the course is not too steep, but as with every other time, at the end it gets hard before transition. The notorious 'Heart Break Hill" lived up to its name as it was a barren exposed area of the mountain with winds kicking up to 40-50 miles an hour. The views at this point were spectacular and I made a point to look around to enjoy the scenery.

At the end of the last hill we arrived at the transition. We had to just find any place to leave the skis and put on the snowshoes for the next climb.

The Snowshoe (1 mile, 600 feet climb, 42:22 to reach 11,301 foot summit)

Again at the beginning of this portion, it was a slight incline with two way traffic as people were coming down from sumitting. The last 4/10th of a mile was the hardest as we climbed at 20-30% grade according to my Garmin to the summit of Mt Taylor. By now the winds seemed to be up to 50-60 mph and it was much colder. On the way we passed the highest 'bar' where the offered Water or JD? I chose water and passed on the Jack Daniels. The view from the summit was spectacular. There was a wind blown American flag and a elevation marker. I spent a minute looking out to the Sandia Mountains next to Albuquerque in the distance. I was now half way done. It had taken me 4:24:07 to get to this point.

Snowshoe down (1 mile, 23:16)

The downhill portion was a different route initially and had really deep snow which made it more treacherous. I fell a couple of times as I lost my balance coming down but was able to make it pretty quick. It was nice to see there were some people still behind me heading up to the summit.

Ski down (2 miles, 59:34 including snowshoe/ski transition)

This portion of the Quad if I had to do over again I would alter my plan. I had decided apriori to keep the skins on for safety reasons. We followed a different route down the mountain from the people still climbing and I had heard it could be dangerous in some places. I knew that I had a hard time controlling the skis going down and I took the more cautious approach. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time as several people passed me going very fast without skins. I still fell a couple of times but my descent was considerably slowed down.

Run Down (5 mile, 1:08:43 including ski/run transition)

Once we got back to the transition the volunteers were awesome again. As I arrived they had my running shoes ready and gave me orange slices and water. They then put away my skis, boots, poles, and pack with snowshoes. I started running down and found out my quads were getting pretty fatigued. There was a lot of mud and slush to contend with at first but by the end the gravel was dry and soft. Unfortunately that is when the headwinds came back with a vengeance. Those slight downhills on the way up became big hills on the return trip, specially with the head wind. Took many walk breaks and spent some time at the aide station half way down.

The Bike Down (13 miles, 59:02 including run/bike transition)

As I arrived to the last transition, I was met up by a Forest Ranger who was volunteering. He had my bike ready, my bike shoes at the ready as well. I replenished my gatorade and had a gu before heading down. The winds were hauling by this point and it had started to rain. I could not pick up much speed as I was being pushed to the side by the wind. Further, I had to contend with the slight uphill before again going slightly downhill into the wind.

The Finish

I arrived into Grants and to the finish with a slight drizzle and a lot of wind. Glad to have made it down in one piece. My total down time was 3:30:34 and the entire course took me 7:42:36. I ended up 118Th overall out of 140 men. In my age group, I was 9Th out of 13, where I usually end up in these events. The goal was for me to complete and have a good time doing it, so I accomplished both.

El Paso Puzzler 2011

In the Fall of 2010, I had been talking to several mountain bikers that I know and had heard about the Puzzler from the media coverage. Everyone said it was a very hard event to even complete. I decided to give it a shot to strengthen my biking skills with an eye to the Nice Mountains in the Summer at Ironman France. I bought a used but nearly new Kona 29r at the local bike shop that was a model from the previous year. I hit the trails in El Paso and found out that mountain biking is a whole different deal. Specially here with the rocks and lose gravel. I have fallen so many times in training I could even count. I was as ready as I was going to be. Mind you I had 3 months of training, never having ridden a mountain bike. I was a Beginner in the truest sense.

The El Paso Puzzler now its 4th year is billed as the "Toughest Mountain Bike Race in Texas" The event took place on January 16, 2011 at the Bowen Ranch in Far NorthEast El Paso. The race course goes over the Franklin Mountains inside the State Park and has a 50 mile and 35 mile event. For more info check out http://www.elpasopuzzler.com/ they have the course outline plus the Borderland Mountain Bike Association http://bmba.wordpress.com/ has more trails info.
I arrived in the AM of the event, signed in and turned in my special needs bags for mile 19 and mile 26. I included extra water, gatorade, gu, and powerbars. I also left a gatorade bottle at the 7 mile point which was at the starting line. A little after 800 am the 50 milers started followed by the 35 milers. Initially the jeep road was wide and the field spread out as we headed out towards Sotol Canyon. This section of trail is along the side of the mountain and is a little technical with some rocks and vegetation that protrudes into the single tract trail. I was excited and probably going to hard which led to my first fall of the race. Unfortunately, I landed on a cactus and spent the next few minutes picking off needles off my rear. THIS was mile 3... So not a good beginning. Further down, I lost my balance as I stopped because someone ahead of me had stopped and I fell a second time down the side of the mountain for a few feet. At this point I am wondering if I will finish in one piece or ever finish at all.
After the second fall, I seemed to slow down and pace myself better. I got to Shockrock and went down slowly and in a controlled manner because as the name suggests, its a rocky jeep trail. Next came the turn to Mad Cow, there Brent S. one of the race co-directors provided encouragement to the riders. Mad Cow is a fast twisting downhill back to Bowen Ranch where we had started. There I replenished my Gatorade bottle and had a Gu, 55 minutes and 7 miles were now behind me. Next came the Lazy Cow trail which is a slight uphill twisting trail then downhill on a nice Tin Mine Road towards Cardiac Hill. As the name implies it is a tough hill which I and everyone else around me was walking. Some downhill single tract and more uphill led us to Mule Shoe. This is the most technical part of the race with some large boulders so I walked most of it to avoid further injury. Next we were in the serious climb to Mundy's gap. The road goes to an elevation of 6000 feet with several switchbacks. It is a jeep trail and not too technical but the loose rock makes it hard to get traction. At the top of Mundy's gap is an incredible view of Northeast El Paso and this is where I stopped to replenish my nutrition. The way down is very steep and the riding surface not the best for this beginner. Next came the worst part in my view of the course which was the rock farm that makes the trail down to the Tom Mayes Unit of the Franklin Mountain State Park. I started walking while carrying the bike and the slowly pushing the bike because I was worried about twisting my ankle. As I was getting to the parking lot, I saw Blanca and the kids on the side of the trail and was excited to see them out there supporting me.

Out in the parking lot there was a stretch of paved road to the mile 19 aide station. I stopped to replenish my water in my camel back, gatorade, and gu. Said goodby to the kids and went off to Lower Sunset Trail. This section has some hills and technical sections but is not too hard. Maybe I was complacent but that is where I had my 3rd fall. I landed on a hard rock, no cactus this time but fortunately just got a scrape on my elbow and hand. At that point I realized I had left my gloves at the aide station! Next came the mile 26 aide station where I was happy not to get cut off the race. The cut off time was 2:30 pm and I arrived at 1:50 pm, so I was safe to finish the "race". The last hard climb was next which is called Hitt Cayon. This is to get us back over the mountains to the Northeast. A fairly new section built by volunteers from the Borderland Mountain Bike Association (BMBA), it is pretty hard and so I walked most of it.
That is where I ran into Fernanda, a young woman who looked to be in her 20's. I asked her how old she was and she told me she was 13 years old! Amazing! She was a very strong rider and needless to say very mature for her age. I decided to ride with her as were going about the same pace and to make sure she stayed OK as there was nobody around this canyon. Call it my fatherly instinct, kicked in as well. Once out of the canyon the trail turns nice downhill back to Bowen Ranch. While heading back I ran into Fernanda's father and he was relieved to know that his daughter was safe and only a few minutes behind me. Further down I saw Blanca and the kids again on the trail and it was so emotional for me I got a little teary. I continued to the finish tent having finished in 7:54:33. I placed 39 out of 42 men who finished the 35 mile loop and 5 men did not finish.

I was happy to have completed the race and have a great respect for all the racers with their incredible finishing times in both the 35 and 50 mile loop. However, I have decided that this will be my first and last mountain bike race. The risks that someone with my limited skill and experience takes is too great to sustain a serious injury. I was fortunate that with all the falls in training and during the event that I came away with only bumps, bruises, and cactus needles. (some still buried deep inside). I have to admit, however, that it is a lot of fun to mountain bike and will encourage my children to have a try at it if they like and will join them on EASY, not Too Technical trails.
Next challenge is the Mount Taylor Quadrathalon on Feb 19. During this next event, I bike, run, cross country ski, and snow shoe up a mountain and back. I will do a report on that next time.