Dave Wiens

All posts tagged Dave Wiens

Gettin’ it done at the Growler

Posted by sarianderson on May 28, 2012
Posted in: Race Results, Race Updates. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

The Gunnison Growler has been on my list for a while. I love the riding out at Hartman Rocks and Dave Wiens, the race director, is an old friend who I adventure raced with a few times back in the day. Last year I ran the course for the Sageburner 50K and Ian did the full Growler the following day. This year, with the 32-mile half Growler on Saturday and the full 64-mile Growler on Sunday, Ian and I both had a chance to race. Up until a couple weeks ago, the plan was for me to do the full and Ian to do the half. Yet, when we looked at the calendar a little more closely and realized the Teva Mountain Games is the weekend after the Growler, it made more sense for me to race the half and save my legs for the Ultimate Mountain Challenge. Ian was not that psyched to switch to the long race, but Wiensy was happy to accommodate us.

It was pretty darn windy on Saturday, and the course was apparently a little more sandy than usual, but overall the day was great. I tried to pace myself for the first half of the race and then finish strong, per my coach Lindsay‘s orders. The course is pretty technical in places, but I rode cleanly and managed to keep it rubber side down. I maintained a steady diet of Honey Stinger chews throughout the race and I stayed hydrated nicely with Acli-mate. I had strong competition from Amy Beisel and my Honey Stinger teammate Jen Gersbach all day, but came away with the victory, finishing in a time of 3:11. Amy finished in second and Jen in third. Results from the half here and the full here.

Ian took on the full Growler on Sunday and had a good day, finishing in 6:27. Next year, he says he’s happy to let me do the full…

Thanks as always to my sponsors: Honey Stinger for great tasting energy food; Trek for my speedy and reliable Superfly; Stans No Tubes for my ZTR Gold wheels, Bontrager for my new, bright red carbon MTB shoes and nice, lightweight helmet; and Westone for my awesome earbuds (which I managed to send through the wash and they still work like new).

Here are some photos from the weekend. Next up, the juggling act that is the Teva Mountain Games.
Smiles for the finish lineWindy!

Jen, Amy, me and Dave

My super cool trophy by artist Cristin Zimmer and a celebratory beer (or three)

Ian happy to be finishing his second lap

Future growlers

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Caught Up In It All – Updated

Posted by sarianderson on August 15, 2009
Posted in: Adventure Racing News, Race Coverage, Race Results, Race Updates, Random Fun. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

It’s Saturday morning, the weather’s not exceptionally nice and I seem to be stuck in front of the computer instead of out running or riding.  There’s a lot going on this morning that I ‘need’ to follow.  Primal Quest started early yesterday morning in the Badlands.  Unfortunately our team is not there this year due to a bad bike accident a few weeks ago however many friends are racing.  It appears that Team Salomon Crested Butte and OrionHealth.com are battling it out so far.  From the sounds of it, Crested Butte took a chance to get some rest last night and now are back on the heels of the New Zealanders after about 24 hours of racing.

Len Zanni leading Lance Armstrong & Jay Henry up the first climb in Snowmass a few weeks ago.

Len Zanni leading Lance Armstrong & Jay Henry up the first climb in Snowmass a few weeks ago.

Primal Quest is about 600 miles and will go on for at least 3 or 4 more days so I have been more obsessed with the Leadville 100.  Of course the big thing with Leadville this year is Lance vs. Wiens and breaking the 6-hour mark.  Lance has become somewhat of a local in the Roaring Fork Valley and Wiens has been a friend for several years after adventure racing together.  So who  have I been cheering for this morning?  Len Zanni of course.  Len from Honey Stinger and Big Agnes is my dark horse to either be on the podium or take a surprise win.  Although Len works full time and has two young kids, he is strong, has been training with Lance and has been having an amazing season.   Of course I’m cheering for Dave and Lance and everyone else, but really we are just hoping Len can keep up the pace he is racing at currently and that he has no mechanicals or crashes.

My new shoes! Imogene, Wildcat & Fireblade

My new shoes! Imogene, Wildcat & Fireblade

L to R: Imogene, Wilcat, Fireblade

L to R: Imogene, Wilcat, Fireblade

What I really should be doing is deciding which of my new La Sportiva trail shoes I should put on and try out on the trail.  All three shoes look great and I’m having a hard time deciding which pair to try first:  Fireblade, Imogene, or Wildcat.  I guess it will depend on how much more rain falls this morning and how long I get to run for.  Tough decisions.  Although I’m no longer racing in the TransRockies (more on that another day), I’m looking forward to putting lots of miles on these new shoes.

As I finally finish up writing this, it looks like Lance is going to win the Leadville 100 this year despite flatting and riding with 5 – 10 miles left.  Although he won’t break the 6-hour mark, it looks like he’ll easily break the record Dave Wiens set last year.  Wiensy should be claiming the second spot on the podium and third is still up for grabs.  I hope Len can pull it off but either way it has been fun to watch.  Salomon Crested Butte is still on the heels of OrionHealth in Primal Quest with about 450 miles of racing remaining.

Here are top 10 from Leadville: 1. Lance Armstrong, 2. Dave Wiens, 3. Matt Schriver, 4. Alex Grant, 5. LEN ZANNI, 6. MAX TAAM, 7. Travis Brown, 8. Manuel Prado, 9. Mike Hogan, 10. Jason Tullous.  Huge congratulations to Len and Max and the Honey Stinger team!

Elk Mountain Grand Traverse

Posted by sarianderson on March 30, 2009
Posted in: Race Coverage, Race Results. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Mike and Jay did it again!  In some very gnarly conditions, Mike Kloser and Jay Henry pulled off another victory at the 12th Annual Elk Mountain Grand Traverse.  This was a record fifth win for Kloser and the second victory in as many years for Henry.

Although the area had received a bunch of new snow all week, the snowpack stayed stable enough for the racers to make the complete trip from Crested Butte to Aspen.  Despite the weather appearing perfect at our house, the conditions out on the course were apparently less than ideal.  Kloser reported that it was frigid cold with near whiteout conditions causing the teams out front to break trail and route find the entire race.

The nasty weather also caused many teams to make the tough decision of whether to continue and freeze or turn around to keep all fingers and toes intact.  Every year the Grand Traverse throws everything its got at the racers whether it is knee deep creek crossings, hypothermia, frostbite, or high winds.  This year was no different.

My teammate from last year, Billy Mattison, raced with retired adventure racer and all around tough guy, Andre Boesel.  Arriving in Aspen with a time of 10hrs 28min 30sec, Billy and Andre place second in the 46+ division.  Nice job you guys!  Arriving not too far behind Billy and Andre was my rival and buddy, Brian Edmiston.  Brian and his teammate Mark have raced together at least three or 4 years and have decided this was their last despite having finished every time.

The tough conditions unfortunately turned many teams around and prevented others from making it to the finish line.  Two of Ian’s co-workers raced in their first EMGT this year and didn’t finish quite where they had hoped to.  JLD (sometimes known as John DiCuollo) and Steve Lavelle trained hard every weekend and most days during the week only to get turned back to Crested Butte to prevent frostbite and hypothermia.  Jessica Smith and Ashley Carruth made it all the way to the Friends Hut completely dehydrated due to frozen water.  Jess had to make one of the hardest decisions she has made in long time and opt for a snowmobile ride out for the last seven miles.  Ashley was able to complete the course as an unranked racer and meet her teammate in Aspen.

The Elk Mountain Grand Traverse is an amazing race and one of the most difficult races I have ever participated in.  Mike and Jay make it look easy but the rest of us know how much suffering is really involved.  Congrats to everyone that even attempted this race – you should all be very proud.

Check out the results here.

More friends that raced:

Ethan Passant & Travis Scheefer – 2nd Place

Bryan Wickenhauser & Eric Sullivan – 4th Place

Dave Wiens & Jason Stubbe – 5th Place

Jon Brown & Brian Smith – 7th Place

Max Taam & Mark Falender – 9th Place

Brad LaRochelle & Teague Holmes – 10th Place

Elliott Larson & Brian Johnson – 11th Place

CONGRATS EVERYONE!