David Nice | UltraRob's Adventures

24 Hours of E-ROCK

June 3rd, 2007

Yesterday after riding to Monument with the kids in the trailer and having lunch with friends, Julie took the kids home in the car. I then rode on up to the Greenland Open Space to check out the 24 Hours of E-ROCK.

It had started 6:30 PM on Friday so they had been racing about 21 hours when I got there. Where I came in from the Santa Fe Trail was on the far end of the course. I rode a lap and took some pictures of the racers and the start finish/area.

I had planned on racing the 24 Hours of E-ROCK solo back when I thought I would be in shape. I actually have a lot of mixed feelings about racing it. It’s about 30 miles from my house which is very nice. It also is a power course which would be good for me. The problem is it isn’t really a mountain bike course. I saw somebody riding a cross bike which is the right bike for the course. I’d at least go full rigid on a mountain bike. It’s also only an 8 mile course which I think is too short even if it had technical sections.

It really didn’t look like anybody was very fast. Of course it was 21 hours into the race but still at that point in the 24 Hours of Moab, I’m getting passed by the Pros like I’m stopped.

The solo class was won this year by Edward Miller, the son of another Pikes Peak Velo member. It was his first 24 hour solo race and he was riding a townie bike. He put in 26 laps. I think that’s impressive! Dave Nice was also racing. I looked for him but didn’t see him. It doesn’t look like he had a very good race as he only got 12 laps in. Final results have been posted.

To give some comparison in competitiveness of this years solo class compared to last year, my friend and co-worker, James won the solo class with 37 laps in 2006. He was self supported most of the time and lost time during the night switching stuff out. James has also done the Leadville 100 in under 8 hours! My long time friend Larry and one of the few riders that will accompany me on some of my long rides, finished 2nd last year with 37 laps. When I’m fit and on the right course, I’m competitive with both James and Larry.

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Tags: Colorado Springs, David Nice, mountain biking
Posted in Bike, Mountain Bike | 2 Comments »

Be Nice to Mr. Nice

March 6th, 2007

The Race Across America has been called the world’s toughest sporting event. Some people have put other races such as the Iditarod Sled Dog Race that is taking place now above it on the list. One race that didn’t exist when the list with RAAM at the top came out was the Great Divide Race. It was started in 2004 and at least for those trying to be fast it has to be harder than RAAM. It starts at the Canadian border and finishes at the Mexican border and basically follows the Continental Divide.

Last year Dave Nice started the Great Divide Race. While he was still in Montana, he was tired and took a nap along the road. When he woke up his bike was gone. I can’t imagine the feeling of waking up in the middle of nowhere and my bike being gone! I believe he had to walk about 30 miles to get to the closest town.

Dave plans to do the race again this year. Not only that but he plans to do it on a fixed gear bike. To help him afford the race the Fat Cyclist is holding a raffle. He has a lot of great prizes lined up and only $5 gets you a virtual raffle ticket. You have until Saturday, March 17th to buy tickets. Please help out a fellow ultra cyclist in following his dreams.