Lance photos and story published in Dirt Rag #134

Lance Armstrong showed up at the Miles of Discomfort mountain bike marathon race back in January. I took the opportunity to snap a few photos and write a quick blurb about the experience, which Dirt Rag published in their readings section this month. So check out Dirt Rag #134 on sale at your local book store or bike shop.

I thought this was noteworthy because it marks my first paid publication in a major magazine! 

The Dirty Dozen 12-hour MTB Race

A legend in his spare time

By now everyone knows that Lance Armstrong raced the Miles of Discomfort Marathon Mountain Bike Race in Comfort last Saturday. Ranch manager Jimmy Dreiss explained that Lance was just out for fun and didn't want a lot of media attention. So there was no press release, and it was kept under wraps. Only the Comfort paper was invited. Apparently Lance is cross training and just starting to prepare for the Leadville 100, a 50 mile (each way) out and back mountain bike race in Leadville, Colorado, which starts and finishes at 10, 200ft with over 14,000ft of elevation gain. If true, Lance has a long way to go because his performance was less than stellar. He DNF’d near the feed zone on the last loop due to cramping. But don’t jump to any conclusions about his fitness level or dedication.

“His not top shape is better than most,” said Adam Salladin, owner of Hill Country Bicycle Works, title sponsor of the 2008 Texas Cross Country State Mountain Bike Series.

Lance raced the 2007 NYC Marathon in November, completing it in 2:46:43 and 698th place overall. This qualified the seven time Tour de France champion for the 2008 Boston Marathon on April 21, which he has already registered for.


Salladin did a pre-ride of the course with Lance on the Monday and caught up with him just before his DNF. He offered some incite into Lance’s performance. “He had a bike with ultra light carbon fiber water bottle cages, which ejected his bottles on the first rocky downhill. Lance did the whole race without water.”

Nathan Winkelmann (Woodlands Cycling Club) won the Miles of Discomfort race with a time of 4:06:32, followed by Tristan Uhl (Team Hotel San Jose) and Francisco Serrano (Promosports).

Nathan Winkelmann was asked what it was like to race with the seven time Tour de France champ. “Pretty Surreal,” said Wink “You see him on TV, OLN…you read about him…7 times…, then he’s standing right next to you at a local TMBRA race. That’s pretty rad.” I asked Nathan why he thought Lance DNF’d. “It was pretty tough out there.” He went on to elaborate how he didn’t think Lance was used to riding a little 26’’ mountain bike.

There may be some truth to that. People typically underestimate how different mountain biking is from road racing. Then again, this is Lance Armstrong we’re talking about. He’s no newbie on a bike, including the type with knobby tires. He won the Dirty Duathlon after his fourth tour in 2002, and he wasn’t doing too badly at Comfort until close to the end.

Regardless of the DNF, Adam Salladin was impressed with how personable Lance was and thrilled that he was out there. I think that goes for everyone. I was glad to shake his hand. Rumors are already starting to fly that he has a scheduling conflict with the Leadville 100. At this point it’s a big wait and see. Let’s hope that he shows up at more local TMBRA races in the mean time.

09.23.07 Fat Chuck's Revenge IV Collegiate Race

2007 TMBRA Huntsville Classic Mountain Bike Race Photos

The Huntsville Classic is the second race in the TMBRA 2007 Texas Fall Cup Mountain Bike Series. The course is fast, generally nontechnical and flat with the exception of a few rooty descents and some sandy sections. Therefore, the course strongly favors mountain bike riders who also train on the road.

Bryan Fawley (Kenda/Titus/X-Fusion) once again dominated the men’s pro, but finished a mere second ahead of Will Black (Colonels Bicycles). Nathan Winkelmann (Woodlands Cycling Club) took third.

Eric Breckinridge (Texas State), took the Collegiate Men’s A Race, followed by TAMU racers Devin Carroll and Chad Haga. Kathleen Weber (TAMU) was the fastest collegiate female, followed by team-mate Abby Richmond and Texas State racer, Jen Perez.

The results are posted on usacycling.org.

Camp Eagle Classic Mountain Bike Festival

I spent the weekend traveling with the UT Cycling Team at the first NORBA / Collegiate MTB Race of the season, The Camp Eagle Classic Mountain Bike Festival. I'm not eligible to race myself (part-time student), so I'm acting as the team photographer...Oh, and I forgot to mention that I’m currently bikeless, so I can't race NORBA either. This is hopefully very temporary.

The Camp Eagle event featured a Super D Race and Time Trial Saturday, and an amazing XC race on Sunday morning. A brief but heavy rain storm Saturday afternoon turned the course into soup, but races went forward. The photos below are an ensemble from all of the various races and categories. Enjoy. Questions and comments are welcome.

NORBA and Collegiate results are posted here.


Road Trip. Scott Walker and Austin Grossman stretch their legs on the way to Camp Eagle Friday, August 31, 2007.

Tents were pitched by car headlight. I don't think anyone in our group (including me) had a flashlight or headlamp. An IPOD puts out a surprising amount of light for in the tent chores.

Tent city: Our tents ranged from the 1-man solo variety to an 8-man monster equipped with a queen size inflatable mattress.

Friday night was surprisingly cold, which I spent huddled in the fetal position trying to stay warm. I left my down sleeping bag at home, thinking the liner would be all that I needed. Needlesstosay, it didn’t quite cut it.

Morning of Sept 1, 2007: We woke up at 7am for Last minute race registration followed by Quaker Instant Oat Meal for breakfast. I haven’t had this stuff since I was a kid.

As for the image above, this was my first view of Camp Eagle - ever. The light could not have been more perfect pouring in over the cliffs to reveal the Nueces River and rolling hills dotted with trees.

Scott Walker checks the course map for the Super D race Saturday morning. This is one of my favorite photos from the trip. The board made a perfect reflector putting light on Scott's face which would have otherwise been lost in shadow.

No Super D would be complete without a fair bit of carnage. I found just the right spot. It was a perfect mix of loose gravel and maximum declivity. Call it intuition. Almost all the rock biting happened about 5-feet from where I was standing.


Females were not immune.


Expert trials rider Stanislav Selejov demonstrates his mad skillz.

Stanislav Selejov rocks the arena. And no, I'm not underneath him. To get this image I'm reaching my camera under his bike.



kid racers.

Eric Breckinridge (Texas State) crashes through mud puddle in the collegiate time trial. Eric dominated with a time of 3min 50sec.

Camp Eagle Media guru Zack Martin films John Hatlelid (UT) in route to the feed station. John didn't finish the race because of a mechanical problem with this front brakes.

Scott Walker and Chris Collins discuss the ‘mud situation’ just prior to the time trial.

Around 3pm or so and heavy rain and lightening storm blew in. I dove in my tent to ride it out. Lucky everyone left their rain fly on. The rain was just enough to make the ground very muddy, to the point to were at least four people were rumored to have snapped a derailleur. The collegiate racers gathered and voted by large majority not to race. No one wanted to risk their bike (or person) with the big XC race still pending in the morning. When the Adult / Junior Team Time Trial went off without a hitch, most were guilted back into riding.

Parting Shot. Bryan Fawley (Titus) dominated taking both the Super D and the XC race. The shot above was taken at the berm. He looks the part of a world class XC racer!

More photos can be found at http://www.glennon.smugmug.com/. I mainly covered the collegiate racers, but I have MANY more photos. E-mail me if you want to see if I have your image at photo@glennonsimmons.com. I will need your name, bib number, and category.