I got sweaty palms just watching this video.
This is what highliners do when they get bored. They create giant swings in the Canyons of Moab.
I’ve bungee jumped twice and got pretty disoriented. It seems like it would be easy to slam into a canyon wall but maybe they rocks aren’t as close as they appear. In any case it would be an extreme adrenaline rush.
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This is a guest post by Tim Bergsten from Pikes Peak Sports. Pikes Peak Sports is a site for the outdoor community in the Pikes Peak Region. If you’re interested in guest posting on UltraRob, please contact me.
Two weeks before the 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race, fate was beating up local rider and mountain bike racer Kalan Beisel. He had won a national championship as part of a 4-person men’s team at the 24 Hours of Moab Mountain Bike Race in 2009, but he wasn’t entered to race this year. It seemed there would be no defending his title. And then he received a phone call from his racing buddy Len Zanni. Beisel, 28, landed on a dream team and won a second national championship.
Beisel graduated from Manitou Springs High School. He has raced mountain bikes for about five years and has been a pro for two years. He currently rides for Team Pro Cycling and is a scholarship rider for Carmichael Training Systems. He also manages to squeeze in time to make a living as a hairstylist at Genesis Salon.
He recently answered a few questions for PikesPeakSports.us. Here is the interview.
In 2009, you won with teammates Russel Finsterwald, J.J. Clark and Rob Sousa, some familiar names in the C. Springs race scene. This year, you rode with a collection of guys from western Colorado (Len Zanni, Ross Schnell and Jay Henry). What was that like?
In 2009, racing with my Pro Cycling teammates and winning our first national championship was one of the coolest feelings ever! We went into 2010 expecting to have the same team defend the title, but things didn’t work out. Turns out, getting four fast guys together to race a 24-hour race is harder than it sounds, because two weeks before the race my friend Len Zanni called me to ask and see if I was interested to ride on his HoneyStinger/Trek team. He was also having a hard time finding a fourth rider. After I heard the line up for the team, I couldn’t say no! I couldn’t believe I had the opportunity to race on a team with some of the top mountain bike racers in the nation. Of course, this also put huge pressure on me to perform. I was almost more intimidated by my own team more than the race itself! Lol! Thankfully, I had one of the best races of my life and pulled my weight for the team. I also ended up posting the fastest night lap of the race two years in a row!
What was the most challenging thing about this race and how did you deal with it?
The 2-to-6 a.m. night laps are the most challenging part of the race. Getting motivated to tear your legs off at three in the morning isn’t the easiest thing in the world. I figured out – after doing four 24-hour races on a team – that staying awake the whole time is much easier than falling asleep and having to wake up feeling groggy and tired. This year I just started pounding coffee and Redbull starting around 2 a.m. to stay awake until the sun came up. Good music and friends help too!
When you look back on this race, what will you remember?
Looking back I will remember tents, dirt covering everything I own, sand, standing at the starting line shivering waiting for Jay to come in, lots of dirty chamois, Ross being rad, Honey Stinger waffles, stars and stripes, and one hell of a good time!
You rode the last lap. What was that like, knowing you were in the lead and that your team and another championship were waiting for you at the finish?
Coming in for the team’s last lap was quite the honor. I knew as long as I didn’t break my bike in half, or something like that, we would take the win. At that point we had a 45-minute lead and victory was in sight. Crossing the line and hearing the cheers from everyone was a feeling I’ll never forget. I’ve never really felt so proud and overwhelmed with happiness. Very cool!
So with future 24 Hours of Moab races in mind, what do you think of the words “Kalan Beisel, Men’s Solo rider”?
Someday you will definitely hear the words “Kalan” and “solo” in the same sentence, not exactly sure how soon that will be though! Not sure I’m crazy enough … yet..
Looking ahead, what cycling goals are you aiming for in 2011 and beyond?
In 2011 my goals will remain the same as last year’s. I will be racing the National ProXCT series and as many local races as I can squeeze in there. I will also be racing the Bailey Hundo again and thinking I might race the Leadville 100. My main and most important focus is 2011 MTB National Championships.
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This is a guest post by Tim Bergsten from Pikes Peak Sports. Pikes Peak Sports is a site for the outdoor community in the Pikes Peak Region. If you’re interested in guest posting on UltraRob, please contact me.
Cameron Chambers entered the 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race with something to prove to himself. He won a 24-hour national title in 2005, but admits he hasn’t ridden well since then.
Chambers removed all doubt when he captured the Men’s Solo Singlespeed title and the Stars and Stripes jersey of the national champion that goes with it.
Chambers, 29, has raced mountain bikes for 18 years. He moved to Colorado Springs six months ago from Kansas City. He works at Carmichael Training Systems. His other big finishes include a win in the 2004 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo, fourth place at the 2004 24-Hour World Championships and a second-place ride in the 2010 Singlespeed XC National Championships.
PikesPeakSports.us caught up with Chambers. He was kind enough to reflect on the win. He also provided photos and video.
You are the 24 Hours of Moab Men’s Solo Singlespeed Champion and the national champion. Twenty-four hours seems like a long time to ride one gear. How did you come to enter the solo singlespeed division?
I got my first singlespeed mountain bike when I was in high school. Immediately I just fell in love with the sensation of riding a bike with one gear. Always the idea of doing long rides with only one gear appealed to me as a fun challenge. Something about not shifting just makes me satisfied with where I am at right at the moment during a bike ride. It seems like when I ride or race bikes with gears I just want to push on faster and faster and am trying to get it over with instead of just enjoying my time riding a bike, I am hurrying to be done. I had been riding a one-speed bike all season long and having fun and some success racing them, so when I decided to do 24 Hours of Moab, it just wasn’t even a question if I was going to ride one speed or not. Last season I was on a team that traveled around a did all three Granny Gear 24 hour races. We won the series and that entitled us to a free race this year. None of my old teammates were that interested in racing so I just did it solo.
What was the biggest challenge for you in this race?
I honestly felt really good throughout the race, all things considered. Around about 3 a.m. my head was starting to get really foggy and I was yawning a lot, but my legs kept feeling like they had some pop in them. It got quite cold about that time as well and I was to stubborn to stop and add any substantial amount of clothes so I was shivering pretty bad on the downhills. But I have suffered really bad in these races before and it was nothing like that, so I really didn’t think it was that uncomfortable ever. One time at a 24-hour race in Conyers, Georgia, I was off my bike throwing up and both hamstrings cramped while I was heaving and I fell over into vomit. That was a pretty low point, so it takes a lot to stack up with that.
Tell us about your support crew and what part did it play in your victory?
My support crew performed like absolute Rock Stars during the race. They helped me keep my pit stops extremely short, which is a huge key to success in this type of racing. Patrick Cross of Ascent Cycling was out there with me all night long taking care of whatever I needed. My wife, Amber, who also works at Ascent was up with me and she is a veteran 24-hour pit crew’er and knows how to keep me happy and fast. My dad was racing on a team out at the race and so his crew was helping me a ton, and my mom was there as well. We are a well-oiled pit crew and move very efficiently.
It has to be exhausting with lack of sleep, competitive energy and so many miles in the saddle at one time, what was it like mentally?
It is tough mentally when you have ridden well over 100 miles, it is dark outside and you have well over 100 miles still to ride. Never do I let that thought enter my head while I am racing. I just focus on where I am at right at the moment and riding the terrain ahead of me as efficiently as possible. And there are times when you just have to be tough. For me it is always a hard time right when the sun comes up, and you are ecstatic that you made it through the night, but then you realize that you have five hours yet to ride. I just tell myself to dig in and remind myself that the reward is worth the effort. No matter how long it is, the finish line will eventually come.
What moment will you always remember about this race?
My last lap I was really struggling up the opening climb and I just felt totally empty. I kind of zoned out and just slowly moved forward. I got up to the top of the climb and just felt this huge sweeping sense of relief and was so happy and knew I was going to win the race. I started crying dropping into the descent and the emotional charge kind of re-booted my system. I started chatting with other racers on course and I enjoyed the heck out of the final 10 miles. I will also always remember swiping my RFID card the final time and my wife and parents being there to celebrate with me. It was good stuff for sure.
So you finish, you’ve won a the Stars and Stripes jersey, tell us about that feeling.
This is the second national championship I’ve won, and it is really meaningful to me because I have had some rough times between the two wins. I needed to prove to myself that I was still tough enough to compete and win in this sport and to get the validation of a Stars and Stripes jersey feels really, really good. I did not walk away with the race either. Shawn Gregory put up a heck of a battle and finished on the same lap as I did (which was a singlespeed course record) so that really made it feel all the better. To be able to say right now I am the best in the country at what I do is a pretty awesome feeling.
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This weekend some of the top endurance mountain bike racers competed in the 24 Hours of Moab. It was USA Cycling 24 Hour Mountain Bike National Championships for several of the classes. Racers rode a total of 65,395 miles and climbed 5,964,960 feet over the course of the 24 hours.
Congratulations to the new National 24 Hour Champions. Two of our local racers came home with National Championship jerseys. Cameron Chambers won the Singlespeed Solo Championship and Kalan Beisel was on the winning 4 man team.
Complete Solo Singlespeed Men Results
Complete Solo Single Speed Women Results
Complete Pro Men 4 Person Team Results
Complete Pro Women 4 Person Team Results
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The 16th Annual 24 Hours of Moab is going on this weekend and is the USA Cycling 24 Hour National Championships. I raced it solo 4 times with the last time in 2001. The last 2 years I’ve gone and shot photos. I’m at home this weekend but wishing I were out there.
In the Men’s Solo, winner Josh Tostado is back to defend his title. Last year’s 2nd place finisher, Kelly Magelky, is also back and I’m sure he’s looking to move up a spot on the podium. He actually had some faster daylight laps than Josh last year but was slower during the night. As I write this, they’ve finished 3 laps and Kelly is less than 3 minutes ahead of Josh. Last year 4th place Ernesto Marenchin is also back.
2009 Defending champion Eszter Horanyi isn’t back this year but 2007 and 2008 winner Jari Kirkland is. Kris Cannon, who finished 2nd in 2008, is also racing this year.
In the Pro Men’s class, Kalan Beisel from last year’s winning 4 person team is teamed up with 3 different very fast pros racing as the Honey Stinger/Trek team. The other 3 are Len Zanni, Jay Henry and Ross Schnell. I’ll be surprised if they don’t win the championship. Last year’s 2nd place team, Hammer Nutrition is back with 3 of the same racers as last year.
Although there are 3 women’s Pro 4 person teams, I don’t see any names that stand out. In the past the Coed Pro/Am class was very competitive but I don’t see any teams entered in it this year.
Granny Gear has perfected putting on 24 Hours Races and even in the remote Moab location they have nearly real time standings online. The race runs from noon Saturday and noon Sunday. Unlike some other 24 hours races, laps started before noon but not completed by noon count so some teams don’t finish until 1 PM or later.
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I spent the last 4 days baking in the desert at Outerbike. Outerbike brought 20 bike companies and a few bike accessory companies to Moab, UT for an expo. It was so well organized I would have never guessed it was a first year event.
The Outerbike expo area was set up at the Bar M trailhead. There are a few trails there for riding with about 15 miles of riding. Each day they also shuttled people to another trail for longer rides. There wasn’t anything to keep people from going and riding somewhere else but they had guides out on the trails with tubes and tools in case riders needed help. The rides were
Except for the first day, they had lunch at the expo area so you could eat something other than Cliff Bars and gels. They had a big tent with tables and chairs so you could sit down out of the sun. At the end of the day, there was a beer garden under the big tent. The first 2 evenings they had a movie in town. Saturday night they had a party at Woody’s Tavern although not much was happening when I stopped by.
All of the people from the bike companies were really helpful. Two companies stood out though. Fox Shox had a couple guys there. They were great at fine tuning their shocks on the bikes I test rode. Osprey was there with their bike hydration packs. They had the packs stocked with a spare tube, mini-pump, multi-tool and Honey Stinger energy blocks. They used brand new bladders so their weren’t any issues with them being clean and then you could take the bladder with you.
There were a huge selection of different mountain bikes and a few road bikes to ride. I ended up not riding that many different bikes though. On Friday and Saturday I did the longer rides and was pretty cooked after riding in the mid 90 temps (that’s 10-15 degrees above normal). I rode the Cannondale one twenty, Yeti 575, Santa Cruz Blur, Santa Cruz Tallboy and Rocky Mountain Altitude 29.
Western Spirit Cycling, the organizer, plans on making Outerbike even bigger next year. I definitely recommend going whether or not you are planning on getting a new bike soon. It was $150 this year and that gave 4 days of hard riding without beating up your own bike plus plenty of extras.
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A few weeks ago, Deb wrote about 127 Hours, the movie being made about Aron Ralston. Soon after that they released the trailer for the movie. The movie is to be in theaters on November 5th.
The movie should be interesting although I hope it’s realistic and doesn’t show things that wouldn’t really be done by experienced outdoors people. In any case based on the trailer, I think it’ll be worth seeing just for the incredible views.
Not subscribed to the newsletter? Sign up in the right sidebar. This week I’m giving away a t-shirt, Ride the Divide DVD and water bottle to one newsletter subscriber.
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Update: Read About My Experience at Outerbike
Most people that are serious cyclists know about Interbike. Many haven’t been to it though because it’s an industry only event. This year it’s September 20-24 in Las Vegas. The first 2 days are the outdoor demo and the following 3 days are the indoor show.
This year another group is organizing an an event for non-industry people in Moab, UT the week after Interbike. The event is called Outerbike and is 4 days of riding 2011 demo bikes at the Bar M trailhead. Bike manufactures participating in Outerbike include Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, Marin, Kona, Santa Cruz, Turner, Yeti, Pivot, Ibis, Maverick and Rocky Mountain among others.
The cost is $150 and includes free lunches and free beer at the end of the day on Friday and Saturday. The movies Race Across the Sky and Follow Me will be shown in the evenings. There’s also a party on Saturday.
As much fun as Interbike was last year, I’m skipping it this year and will be at Outerbike instead since I’d rather be in Moab than Las Vegas.
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Colorado climber Aron Ralston made headlines in 2003 after he freed himself from a boulder in a Utah canyon by cutting off his arm. Now, he will be immortalized on the big screen. Actor James Franco has been cast as Ralston in “127 Hours,” a film directed by Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire”). The movie will open in November. For a look at Ralston and how he has lived his life since his harrowing escape, go to Entertainment Popwatch
– Deb Acord
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Update: 2009 24 Hours of Moab Day 1 Photos
This weekend is the 15th annual 24 Hours of Moab. This year it is the USA Cycling 24 Hour National Championships. This should bring out a lot of the top riders both in the solo and team categories. Chris Eatough will be there but has announced he is retiring after this last race.
I’ve always done better and longer races but the 24 Hours of Moab in 1997 was my first ultra endurance bike race. I showed up and had never intentionally ridden at night except commuting on the bike path in college. The only bike light I had was barely bright enough to avoid sticks and junk on the bike path.
Fortunately Schwinn loaned me a set of good lights for my first 24 hour race. I was in 3rd after 12 hours. I had been sick earlier in the week and was still congested.
Soon after midnight it started snowing. With the cold, I got even more congested and had to stop riding for 7 hours. I was so congested I had to stay sitting up to breathe. Even then I’d start choking if I feel asleep. Once it warmed up, I went out and rode another 2 laps to finish 8th.
Since then I’ve raced the 24 Hours of Moab 3 more times solo. Like last year, I’ll be back this year but shooting photos instead of racing. Depending on the internet access I can get out in the desert, I’ll be posting updates here and/or to twitter.
– UltraRob
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