1st Guest Author

A few days ago I posted an announcement that we’re looking for guest authors. We’ve got our first one. So without further ado(is that the word?), I present Nick Null.

The brief saga of an amateur mountain biker

It started on a Christmas day as a gift purchased at baby Cost Co or as others knew it, Price Club. Gleaming, multi-colored enough to set a fad sat a Motiv 21 speed mountain bike with an aftermarket gel seat.

The bike was rigid, and really the only thing that set it apart from road bikes was the tires and the handle bar. To be honest, I thought the bike was perfect, although the main goal of its engineers seemed to be a search for the heaviest materials and components known to mankind. The 40-pound bike served me well for 5 years in the hills of Chino Hills State park. Looking back I wish I had kept something that heavy for training purposes for at the time I was able to ride from home, up Fairmont and do the entire Northridge trail before riding back. Eventually duct tape met its limits on the components and it was sold off for five bucks.

The next victim was a rigid Specialized Rock hopper. Passed down after a friend passed away, it was much too big for me at 19″ but I found that I preferred the larger frame. I bought a Rock Shock Judy from Jax and installed it myself on the bike. Then later took it back to Jax to have it done right.

During this moment in my bicycle history was when I met one of my passions. I was lying in bed having been medically dismissed from working for a month suffering a skull fracture (non biking related), when I received the phone call.

“Nick, you probably don’t remember, but this is Nolan and I hear you like to mountain bike.”

I didn’t remember, but a lot of that probably had to do with possible brain damage following the skull damage.

“Yeah, I like to mountain bike.”

“Great, we are doing an adventure race, and most of it is mountain-biking. My team lost a teammate due to a sprained ankle so we were wondering if you want to enter? It’s tomorrow at sun-down.”

Nolan probably didn’t mean any malice towards me at the time. First he didn’t really know me well, didn’t know I was injured myself, and he is usually a nice guy. However, for a couple of months following the race I did avoid the man in order to not hurt him in a vengeful rage. For those not familiar with the term, Adventure Racing is an off road triathlon which must have biking, running, and kayaking. Usually there is a swimming portion along with obstacle courses separating each leg. Additionally, most AR’s are now orienteering only, which means you must find your own path to each checkpoint with a topo-map.

The race was a 7-hour, hellish ordeal that left grown men crying on the side of trails. While most of the distance was indeed mountain biking, it was a relative statement. Even if the biking portion was only about 20 miles, this was mixed with 12 miles of running, and 4 miles of kayaking. Being late on a November evening, most racers were prepared for the kayaking. I had no idea there was kayaking, nor at the time did I even know the difference between a kayak and canoe. Floundering miles of laps in a kayak alone on an icy lake in biking shorts and a t-shirt had the outcome I’m sure anybody could guess. No, it didn’t fuel my fire to ride faster on the next bike leg, it gave me a decent case of hypothermia. So bad that the paramedics on scene disrobed me rather rudely and dressed me in borrowed clothes. I continued the race, sicker than a dog, nay, a sick dog would have hoped to feel that good.

Yet, the effect in me had begun, and I became somewhat of an avid Adventure Racer. After that race, I participated in about a half dozen more and killed that Specialized by dropping about 4 feet during a 12-hour race in Nevada, and putting a decent compression bend in the top tube. I donated it to my undergrad sister and it sadly met its end being stolen outside of UCSD. My next bike was a Giant Rainier I upgraded, killed and sold, and finally bought my current Schwinn Carbon full frame on which I’ve added components.

My race buddy and I have placed in a few races. Our proudest moment was the PR Multi-sport 10 hour race in Sonoma County that we finished in 4 hours and 15 minutes as a second overall place, only being beaten by the current Hawaii Iron Man winner. Comically, we had one hour added to our time for not carrying a whistle in both camel packs. Even with the later penalty we still were in fifth place out of 20 teams.

While not nearly as in shape as we were then, my friend and I realized that Adventure Racing is as much mental as almost any other sport. Still strong mountain bikers we are able to beat most racers down hill and in kayaks. Focusing all of our energy in these parts and walk/jogging the run portions allows us to still be a competitive team in the amateur division. Look for us someday in a sprint mountain bike or adventure races, we are Team “On your left”, something you’ll hear as we pass you by.

Thanks Nick for sharing your story.