Cjell Money's La Manga Challenge

[Bounce]

Three TD racers have passed La Manga Pass NoBo and so far Cjell Money has been right.

Nobody has challenged him.

So, there are two entrants in the challenge.  Cjell Money and myself.  I submit a new PR time that I set last week 1:00:18.  Cjell Money can pedal away from me at will, but he cannot lap me up La Manga Pass and I'm happy with that.

I'll add posts as there is news to report, but so far, Cjell Money remains unchallenged.  At this point, nobody besides me has even entered the contest.

[Bounce]

Still no takers (6/27/13).

[Bounce]

Forest Baker is the newest contestant and reports a time of 1:20:00.  My man Forest!  Thanks for playing.  You da man!

On his dollar, Forest reports: "two pies and two burritos = bad idea"

I'm not so sure it's so bad.  I honestly think an hour twenty is a strong time considering all the leg work that came before getting to HORCA.

Great job Forest!

Sometime this weekend I will do my best to post pics.

[Bounce]

Here are the pics of the four current players in the C$ throwdown:

Left to right:  Cjell $, Bounce, then the top is Tom Lane and Forest Baker underneath



Here is a close up of Tom Lane and Forest Baker

Tom Lane says he didn't record his time but he isn't a contender.  Forest says 2 pies + 2 burritos = bad idea



You guys are great sports, thanks for playing.  I double asterisked my dollar because I had two days off, had perfect conditions (no wind and no traffic), was riding a light bike, and rode just a couple of miles to get to the start point.  LOL

[Bounce]

Peter D. Haile reports a blindingly fast time of 32:56. 

[davidhaile]

Peter D. Haile reports a blindingly fast time of 32:56.  

He said he dumped half his water, ate a light meal, eliminated all extraneous thoughts, and pushed very hard to try to win the challenge. His Facebook page says he paid dearly for it because he ended up riding the next 70 miles on one liter of water and a granola bar. He's traveling light anyway and doesn't carry much food, no tent, minimal extra clothing, no spare parts, rigid fork/frame, etc.

[Bounce]

It was a monster climb, no question.  I just got an email from him.  He says he's a cat 1 roadie racer.  You young guy are killing me.  I feel proud as hell just to not be lapped a this point - no joke.

I love it -  

I feel like a six year old singing - Yew ca-ant lap me, nanny nanny nanner, yew ca-ant lap me, nanny nanny nanner.   I realize I'm probably the only one that finds that one damn bit amusing or even noteworthy.  LOL

[Bounce]

We had two new contestants today.  I will post pics tomorrow.

[Bounce]

This is unrelated, but some may find it amusing....

I was over half way up La Manga today – labored breathing, but not gasping, when some kind of flying insect flew up my right nostril.  I was in mid-inhale, so he went way up there somewhere and then went spread eagle in an effort to not be consumed.
 
I exhaled as hard as I could and the thing wouldn’t budge.  He had a death grip on something up in my nasal cavity.  I erupted into a fit of uncontrollable sneezing – one right after the other – as I tried to blow him out.  He just wouldn’t budge at all.  I had to stop and unclip, but the fit of raging and uncontrollable sneezing made it very hard.  On one massive inhale in preparation for a big sneeze I was finally able to snork him down.  I wanted to spit him out, but I just wasn’t in full control of the insides of my head at that point and I ended up swallowing him.
 
I just stood there for a minute – eyes watering, nose running, now gasping, hoping I wouldn't vomit....  Ugh!

[davidhaile]

This is unrelated, but some may find it amusing....

I was over half way up La Manga today – labored breathing, but not gasping, when some kind of flying insect flew up my right nostril.  I was in mid-inhale, so he went way up there somewhere and then went spread eagle in an effort to not be consumed.
 
I exhaled as hard as I could and the thing wouldn’t budge.  He had a death grip on something up in my nasal cavity.  I erupted into a fit of uncontrollable sneezing – one right after the other – as I tried to blow him out.  He just wouldn’t budge at all.  I had to stop and unclip, but the fit of raging and uncontrollable sneezing made it very hard.  On one massive inhale in preparation for a big sneeze I was finally able to snork him down.  I wanted to spit him out, but I just wasn’t in full control of the insides of my head at that point and I ended up swallowing him.
 
I just stood there for a minute – eyes watering, nose running, now gasping, hoping I wouldn't vomit....  Ugh!

Great story for your grandkids!

[Bounce]

Here are the entrants from yesterday.  I'm not sure who left the white piece of paper with the shout-out.

[cjellmoney]

HOLY SHART! that is unbelievable. Congratulations Peter! Sorry you suffered through Brazos. Not that sorry. You should get rewarded for your efforts.

Message to Mad Max Morris: ride your ass up there and beat that. You should ride loaded but beating 32 minutes may require cheating which will be allowed in your case. Serious. Hit it on your way to the CTR. There $100 in gas money if you do.

[Bounce]

He said he dumped half his water, ate a light meal, eliminated all extraneous thoughts, and pushed very hard to try to win the challenge. His Facebook page says he paid dearly for it because he ended up riding the next 70 miles on one liter of water and a granola bar. He's traveling light anyway and doesn't carry much food, no tent, minimal extra clothing, no spare parts, rigid fork/frame, etc.

I don't know how these "minimalist" types do it.  One liter of water wouldn't get me from La Manga to the Las Lagunitas camp ground.  Seriously. I've done that ride and one liter won't do me.  No way....  And he made it to vallecitos?  Ugh!  Good gawd.

"Impressive" doesn't begin to cover it.

[Bounce]

At 8:47 PM on July 4th, P Kraft Sr. reported a very respectable time of 1:07.

I'll post a pic tomorrow.

[james-o]

OK confession time. I failed to post my $ and that's lame. I set off up the climb with the stopwatch on, telling Alex it was a mtn TT. I got a mile or so up it and felt a bit ill.. : ) I stopped at the first left hand corner and Alex caught up. He stopped for water shortly after then overtook me as I neared empty. We were about to go into the next section to Vallecitos on minimal food and were more concerned about the decision to ride on into bonksville or divert for food. We chose bonksville and separated and re-grouped as energy levels faded (or, he chose bonksville and I had to follow if I wanted to stay in contention). Top marks to Alex for finding a full can of Bud and drinking it - "there's 200 calories in that!" he claimed. Funny. The guy has a good track record when it comes to rationing.
So I got 1.04 inc the stop and it's still on my bike computer, but for failing to post a $ bill I'll paypal $10 to the winner, or $25 if he decides the winnings should go to a charity of his choosing.

Good to meet you on the basin road Cjell, congratulations for such a fast ride too.

Peter D. Haile reports a blindingly fast time of 32:56.  

good work fella!!

[Bounce]

Here's P Kraft Sr.'s report:

[davidhaile]

I don't know how these "minimalist" types do it.  One liter of water wouldn't get me from La Manga to the Las Lagunitas camp ground.  Seriously. I've done that ride and one liter won't do me.  No way....  And he made it to vallecitos?  Ugh!  Good gawd.

"Impressive" doesn't begin to cover it.

Since I just spent 18 hours driving him back home, I learned more to the story. He was riding with Chris Culos at the time. I also picked up Chris and Peter Maindonald at the border and took them to Las Cruces to rent a car the next day. Chris started up the hill and was wondering what Peter was up to because Peter had stopped at the bottom. Peter was looking at the map and noticed that a town was up ahead so he decided to dump all his Gatorade and planned on refilling at the town (sorry - no map in front of me). He stretched, put some rockin' tunes on his phone, started the stopwatch, and took off. Chris said it sounded like a car coming up from behind with all the noise he was making. Peter was very pleased with his time. After La Manga, when he got to where he'd turn off route to get water he decided it was too far out of the way so he never had a chance to get more water.

[Bounce]

That town is Chama, NM, and it's about 14 miles off the route (all downhill on the way in and a 14-mile constant uphill grind on the way back - personally, I find the climb out of Chama quite annoying).  Some of the shoulders are narrow, the drivers are insane and the grade is just relentless (for me anyway).

La Manga is steeper, but it's a whole lot shorter.

I think he made the right decision.

[Christopher R. Bennett]

Here are some photos of Peter during his run. Was very serious and focused to say the least. Even increased his tyre pressures before starting. Amazing athlete.

[Bounce]

The latest entrant coming in with a damn good time!  Andrew says he's slow but he made it.  I don't see 1:07 as slow at all.

It's a damn good effort regardless of the fact he had to ride over 2000 miles to get to the start line.