NEW VIDEO! Gilmour 2008

Hola Fellas. Great time at the BBQ the other night. We definitely need to get our wives out training with us one of these days. So in case you missed it or want to see it again, here's your chance.


MADNESS - Gilmour 2008 from Spencerjon Bellows on Vimeo.

Duo Domination!

Madness Duo kept getting the best of Madness Prime at Gilmour 2008. We actually felt bad and had to keep waiting for them to catch up. Then we'd pass them (again). Then we'd let them catch up (again). This is pretty much how the entire race went, that is, until the end when we passed them once and for all. See the clip for yourself...

Gilmore 2008

Congratulations Team Madness on the successful completion of the 2008 Gilmore Adventure Race. Madness ran four teams of two that worked together throughout the race. Two teams ran the 30-mile long course (Madness Prime and Madness Duo) and two teams ran the 17-mile short course (Madness Cubed and Madness Quattro). With the exception of a couple of minor issues, the teams ran strong.

A special shout out goes to Scott, Brent, Sterling and Don. This was their first race and they rocked it. Sterling and Brent finished third in their class and brought home the hardware to prove it! Congrats again on a job well done.

ADVENTURE IS AT YOUR DOORSTEP!

UPDATE!! THIS SATURDAY!

Here's your last chance to get primed and ready for the big Gilmour race coming up in TWO WEEKS!! Be there, or get lost (literally)!! Here are the details (NEW INFO...please read carefully)

DATE: Sat. Sept 6th

CHECK IN TIME: 4:30am

WHERE: Jon's house.

ORIENTEERING REVIEW: 5:30am
Please review the following site one more time, if you haven't already:
maptools.com

LET THE RACE BEGIN: 6:00am
(approximate race time = 4 hrs)

REQUIRED GEAR:

• Hydration pack (100oz recommended)
• Compass
• Protractor
• Pen or Pencil
• Headlamp
• Short-wave radio
• Emergency Space Blanket
• Shovel
• First Aid Kit
• Gels, bars, proteins (aka FUEL!)

I may be adding equipment as we get closer to race day, so keep checking for updates.

COST: $10/ea (voluntary donation)

AR Fund?

I know everyone takes care of their own individual gear needs, but I've been thinking about all the additional gear we could use as we continue to train and race. Items like climbing ropes and harnesses... kayaks, paddles and PDFs... bike racks, a team trailer, tarps, coolers... not to mention maps and UTM materials. The list could be endless... and fun. Plus there are the dreaded unavoidable costs associated with racing like national forest passes and fuel (sorry to use the four letter word)

Any thoughts about pooling something monthly, maybe $20 each. No requirement, just a "donation." Seriously, no pressure. I like how the group and the training are expanding and I'd like to build upon it.

Open for discussion....

MADNESS VOLUNTEERS FOR EXTREME HEAT

It's time to give back, Madness style. Just spoke with Rick Eastman from Sierra Adventure Sports, and he would like us to bring our Mountain Bikes and send us each out to a couple of check points...sweet! We need to be at the drop off area (32nd Street + Shea Blvd) by 6:30am at the latest, so I say we shoot for a 6am departure time, which means we need to meet by 5:30am to load the bikes up into one vehicle. Let's meet at my house.

IF ANYONE BESIDES MIKE, JON + SPENCER ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING IN, POST HERE, AND I WILL ASK RICK IF HE NEEDS ANYONE ELSE. (Volunteering for adventure races usually gives you a credit towards your next race, although I'm not sure the exact $$$ amount, the last race was $55.)

SAS EXTREME HEAT - DREAMY DRAW (DETAILS) - CLICK HERE

RUNNING WATER @ HAWES?!? CHECK IT OUT.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Cool pic from our ride last weekend up the canals and through Hawes. As we rode the Saguaro Ridge Loop, we thought we heard water in the creek bed, but didn't believe it...until we had to pick up our bikes to cross the creek bed! Awesome!!

Get out and see it before it dries up (if it's not already too late).

NEW VIDEO!! THE MANY FACES OF MIKE

During your average adventure race, assuming you survive, your face will likely undergo many transformations. Generally speaking, there's the before-the-race face, the during-the-race face, and the I-can't-believe-I-finished face. As will be demonstrated by this artful collection of spine-tingling photographs, however, you will see first hand the painful reality that is adventure racing. You'll laugh. You'll cry. And dare we say, you will want to watch it again and again.


THE MANY FACES OF MIKE from Spencerjon Bellows on Vimeo.

JULY 19TH - CHECK!

Hey fellas. Meet at my house this Saturday morning to burn it up on the canals!! 6:30am arrival with a 6:45am departure. My address:

1013 E. Ivyglen St.
Mesa, AZ 85203
(directions)

We will be conquering the hawes/dam loop (we'll probably want to name it the dam/hawes loop when we're done). Bring sunscreen and PLENTY of H20!! We will be going approx. 30 miles, and the morning will begin at a nice and cool 88-degrees, blistering up to over 100-degrees before we're finished.

If you want a sneak peek, check out this awesome link I found mapping out several of the routes for the Mesa canal system (and scroll down...):

Mesa Canals - Biking Routes (MAP)

1st EVER MADNESS ADVENTURE RACE - DATE MOVED!!

Ok all you wannabe's...here's your chance to warm up before the big Gilmour race in September. Be there, or get lost (literally)!! Here are the details:

DATE: Sat. Sept 6th (NEW DATE!)

CHECK IN TIME: 5:45pm-6pm

WHERE: Registration @ Catapult Strategic Design
(DIRECTIONS!! Take 202-W to 44th Street exit. N on 44th St. 44th to big tall building BEFORE Thomas Rd. Turn LEFT at the Starbucks (between the two anatomically-correct horse statues). Take driveway back behind bldg until it ends and go RIGHT. Make a QUICK LEFT into parking lot (you should see the big round dot sign at the entrance). Park and proceed to courtyard and go inside.)

INTRO TO ORIENTEERING: 6pm
6:30pm: Break into teams
Get a head start @ maptools.com

LET THE RACE BEGIN: 6:45pm
(approximate race time = 2 hrs)

REQUIRED GEAR:

• Hydration pack (100oz recommended)
• Compass
• Protractor
• Pen or Pencil
• Headlamp
• Short-wave radio
• Emergency Space Blanket
• Shovel
• First Aid Kit
• Gels, bars, proteins (aka FUEL!)

I may be adding equipment as we get closer to race day, so keep checkint for updates.

COST: $10/ea (voluntary donation)

Gilmore Registration Completed

Madness would like to welcome to its ranks Scott, Sterling, Don, and Brent. In an organizational first, we have 4 teams competing under the banner of Madness. Representing on the long course is Madness Prime & Madness Duo (Jon, Mike & Spencer with a spot for a fourth). Representing on the short course is Madness Cubed & Madness Quattro (Scott Sterling, Don & Brent). We have 9 weeks until race day. No time to waste. Fight the Bonk. Train Hard...Race Easy.

Training - Madness Loop / July 4th

What a great day to tear it up. Jon & Scott rode @ 0500 and Jon & Mike rode at 0730. The 0730 ride posted a team best of 57:00.

New Bike Jerseys???

Hey fellow Madness-ites! I recently bought us some Nike wear pretty cheap, but this is the bike jersey I was looking at from REI, and it's on sale. Check out the front and BACK views in the pics.

It's a pretty sweet jersey, and we could eventually have out logo embroidered on the front. And it's a cool deep-orange color with the gray on the back.

CHECK EM OUT!

Let me know what you guys think.

The Art of Endo-ing (or Tae Kwen-Doh!)

After yet another ENDO during last Saturday's ride, it seems I have become an expert on the matter, and I thought I might share my vast wealth of newfound knowledge...

FIRST: You need a bike to endo. No bike? No endo. Easy as that. Other recommended gear would be a good helmet and a pair of gloves. Now this may seem to be common knowledge, but you'd be surprised...

SECOND: It helps if you are going downhill at crazy speeds. As I have discovered, however, endo-ing is not limited to downhill riding or speeds for that matter. Oh yes, you can endo in creek beds, on a flat trail and if you're really lucky, you can even endo going uphill as well (requires much skill and concentration).

THIRD: How to endo. Look for a big rock and head straight for it! This one works every time. You may be tempted to steer out of the way of the giant rock as a means of self-preservation, but if you really want to be a master of Tae-Kwen-Doh like myself, you must press forward and let your front tire smash right into it, thus allowing your head and the rest of your body to follow you right over the handlebars.

Click HERE for a video demonstration

If you can't locate a big rock, little rocks that poke up out of the ground work too (trust me on this one). Also, creek beds just after a fresh rainstorm tend to collect a soft layer of gravel and sand. Plant your front tire into the soft layer of sand (fast or slow, it really doesn't mater), and over the handlebars you'll go!!

FOURTH: When to endo. 4 out of 5 Endo-ologists agree that one should endo either at the beginning or the end of your route, thus being closer to your ride to the hospital or ER. It is not recommended to endo in the middle of your 11.5-mile ride. Either way you look at it, you have a 6-mile ride out awaiting you, and there's a good chance your bike may not be functioning properly or worse yet, you could be injured (or both...yes, it's true).

FIFTH: How far do you want to travel? Generally SPEED is the answer here. The faster you go, the further your body will travel before pummeling into the treacherous terrain that awaits you. If you are going slower, you can sometimes go higher in the air with a good chance of coming back down on your bike. I've found it best to endo at medium speeds, myself.

SIXTH: Avoiding injury. Now here is truly the ART of endo-ing, and the final step. Generally, it would be bad to fall onto a rock. Rocks are very hard, rough and sometimes jagged, which can cause blunt trauma, lacerations and just good old-fashioned pain. It especially hurts if the inside of your left knee lands directly on the blasted rock that caused the whole thing in the first place leaving behind a variety of gashes and scrapes.

And if you choose the soft-sand-creek-bed technique, you may want to carefully study the area in which you will be falling into before taking the plunge. It may look soft and sandy, but just like that girl you dated in high school (you know the one), looks can be deceiving. Let's pretend you forget this simple step, and just for the heck of it, let's just say there it a mixture of moist dirt, dried grass and a nice batch of cholla cactus needles right where you will land...

I think it's safe to assume that you will be screaming a couple of words that you haven't said in a long while, scaring away potential wildlife sightings. Not to mention the precious time you'll be wasting removing each of the cholla cactus needles before resuming your exercise.

One last thing. If you desire to be master of endo like me, be sure to practice with good friends who will help should the endo experience not go as planned. Then once you are feeling better, they are usually good for laughing at you and making jokes at your expense. This is OK though, because there will surely come a day when they will experience the endo, just like you (and me).

Any other endo techniques and comments are of course welcomed. Please share if you have some additional knowledge you can give.

June Training
* 21st -- We hit the MADNESS loop at 6:45 a.m., spending 1:09:10 total ride time. (a tough endo and the heat slowed today's time) Revisited our nav skills as part of the CF circuit and determined that's not a bad idea... expect to see a little more of that before Gilmore

*26th -- The next generation of MADNESS??? Jackson & Brandon both take 1st place in their individual heats of the butterfly stroke

Next full team training will be July 4th & 5th, invite others as we prepare to organize the teams for Gilmore.

6/14/08 - Madness Loop

Jon returned from vacation and was introduced to the Madness Loop. Todays stats: Distance - 11.55 miles / Ride Time - 56:21 (2 stops - equipment related)/ Average Speed - 12.3 MPH / Max Speed - 25.6 MPH (Zaharis Road Return). This is a team best time. Stop the Bonk - Train Hard.

ART - Madness Loop Personal Best

I rode the loop after work this morning. Distance - 11.57 miles / Ride Time - 57:49 / Average Speed - 12.0 MPH / Max Speed - 23.7 MPH / No stops. I rode hard and cut 3 minutes off the last time. Train Hard - MLB

ART - Madness Loop

May 24, 2008 @ 0730

This morning's training included what has been dubbed "The Madness Loop". It is a quick 11.5 mile ride starting and ending at Zaharris Elementary School. There is enough change in terrain and elevation to keep it interesting. The weather was perfect for "tearing it up" (62 degrees with intermittent rain). Baseline statistics for this mornings loop - Ride Time: 1:03:09 / Average Speed: 10.9 MPH / Max Speed: 23 MPH / 2 short breaks.

ART - The Madness Loop & Tower of Pain

May 31, 2008 @ 0800

This morning's training included the Madness Loop & a new addition - The Tower of Pain. Statistics for this mornings loop - Ride Time: 1:00:30 / Average Speed: 11.4 MPH / Max Speed: 22.8 MPH / 2 short breaks due to a mechanical issue and Spencer's endo.

The Tower of Pain consisted of 5 reps of the following: 7 stories of stairs (multiple flights), 200M sprint, 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 crunches, 200M sprint. After the 5 reps we concluded with a 1/4 mile run.

April Training (Spencer)

Apr 5th - Papago park - 2 1/2 mile run and 3 trips to the top... feel the burn.

Apr 12th - Ran Usery Mountain Pass - 7 1/2 miles (1:35)

Apr 19th - Ride Hawes - 8-10 miles and one broken chain repair later...

March Training (Jon)

Mar 1st - 7 1/2 mile single track at Usery (6:00 start time)

Mar 8th - 7 1/2 mile single track at Usery followed by "team crossfit" (at Zaharis Elementry school) (McKelleps b/w Ellsworth & Crismon)

Mar 22nd - 10 mile single track at Usery, training team expanded to 6 of us. Feel free to invite others

Mar 29th - Race....

February Training (Mike)

Feb 9th - Ride Usery at noon -- fast single track, trek up and over cats pass 2x

Feb 16th - Crossfit

2/2 Desert Rage - Saguaro Lake

Race update to follow...

January Training (Spencer)

Jan 5th - Usery Mountain Trials - Biked 6 , Ran 2 1/2

Jan 12th - Mountain Side Fitness (gym), 1 hr workout

Jan 26th - Usery Mountain ran the mtn pass loop - 7.5 miles