MOUNTAIN BIKING AT BELL PASS, MCDOWELL MOUNTAINS SCOTTSDALE

I know it has been a while since I posted a blog about mountain biking. I am still at it and loving it! Yesterday I saw a 4 foot rattle snake laying across the trail. I was so slow to get my camera out that he moved under a tree before I could snap a shot.

Today we, me and Greg Tucek, headed off from the north side of McDowell Mountain Ranch to The Gateway loop. We took that east to the turn off for Bell Pass. What a long grueling ride Bell Pass is. Many of you may see it all the time. When driving over the bridge into MMR, look up to the McDowell Mountains and look for switch backs cut high in the mountain. If you live up here, you have seen them. Bell Pass crosses over the top of the McDowell's just north of Thompson's Peak. Thompson's Peak is the peak with the antennas on top.

Working my way up, this is the view back towards the city and the Phoenix Mountain Preserve.

That is the look of exhaustion!

Same look, different angle. Nice hair!

The trail headed up to the pass. This is actually clear, most times it looks the same as the right side of the picture.

Greg hoofing it up the mountain!

That's all folks!

Jeff Cameron

BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE DESERT MOUNTAIN BIKING

I went for a ride today on the Paradise Trail in McDowell Mountain Ranch here in North Scottsdale. That trail then hooked up with the Gateway Loop. The desert was so beautiful! I only had my cheap Razor cell phone camera. But I clicked a few Great shots! NOW is the time to see the beauty of the desert before the flowers fad from the heat. Get out and ENJOY!

HAPPY EASTER!

A GREAT RIDE ON SATURDAY!

Saturday was a beautiful day for a ride in the McDowell Mountains. John and I took off about 7:30 Saturday morning. The top of the mountains were in the clouds. It was AWESOME. I love riding. We started from home and road to 105th Street and McDowell Mountain Ranch Road to drop into the Quartz trail. From there we picked up the Paradise trail and road through to the Gateway loop. The Gateway Loop has an incredible downhill run that every thrill seekers loves. From there we picked up a new trail and ended up at The Village gym located in DC Ranch. Time was short and we took the road home. It was a great day for a RIDE!

Here I am on the Paradise trail. This is a little cat track on the side of the mountain before the big switchbacks. It's a fun ride. My quads are still feeling it today, Tuesday. You can see Camelback Mountain and the Butts in the back ground.

My buddy John Todaro, he is always joking around.



Close up from the earlier shot. After loosing 20 pounds for a fund raiser, I put on a winter pack. Now the weather is nice again, it's time to burn it off!

Mountain Biking in McDowell Mountains

Rain or shine it's best to just ride as much as you can! I went for a quick ride Saturday morning in between the showers. I left my garage and 2 minutes later I am on the trail. One of my favorite things about living in McDowell Mountain Ranch is access to so many awesome trails. And they are great, thrilling trails! The trail was pretty trashed from the rain. There were big ruts and I rode all day over pure rock. The dirt and sand was washed away! It was beautiful on the trail, I had a great ride. Just after arriving home, the rain started again. I picked the perfect time. Any of you who like to ride, contact me. Let's GO!

MUDDY BUDDY EXPERIENCE part 3 to end

Hopefully you have read part 1 and part 2 below, if not scroll down and start from the beginning! Thanks for the support.

...Ride baby ride!! The trail goes up hill. Cool I can do this! This is me, I am the "Billy Goat" as my homeys call me on the trail. The hill gets steep, I am passing bikers walking and runners. This gal pushing her bike looks over and says "good job man". Just then I spin out. I have running shoes, no clips. Normally I would pull up with my locked in shoes and continue. I spin out in the moon dust and am forced to push. I push at a run, I don't where that energy came from, but I go. It’s not far to the top, a left turn around, I remount and ride.

There is a big down hill road. This is why JT put me in this position. Down the hill I go. At first, I rest. Then I realize "why am I here" I hit the peddles and shift into the downhill gear. I peddle hard I pass bikers left and right. I am flying, probably over 30 mph. "On your left" I yell as I pass both bikers and runners again! I scream out, "I can't run, but I sure can ride." A rush of adrenalin as I use my strength. I ride down in to the park area and must slow due to congestion of people. DAMN! I can't get around. I see the next check point and obstacle.

The next obstacle is rope net climb. Probably 30+ feet. I drop the bike and head over. It is steep! Again I push the limit. I climb hand foot hand foot, go, go, go! Many others are with me and I feel proud not to be passed. I hit the top and throw myself over. It is a slide, but straight down. It was kinda scary or maybe I was loosing it. I slide down backward landing upside down. JT is laughing "You should have seen that, that was awesome" he says. Then "let's go this is the last leg". "No way," I say. "I ran first, there has to be two more segments." No, this is it. OK! I've decided right then and there, we made a mistake on positioning for the race. Next year I ride first and work to my strengths. Who cares about one crazy down hill, we need to switch next year.

This time JT stays with me, "no reason to get ahead at this point, we have to cross together." There is a rest room and I take a needed break. Normally the trails are empty. So, when I ride there is relief at any tree or bush. I've been holding it for a while. We continue, but now it's not too bad. A little rest and some flat land. JT is coaching me along. Another hill! I start up and am walking. Not AGAIN! Most bikers have to push up. JT disappears. Event people are around shouting words of support. "Your almost there", "Great Job", "keep going", it really does help. At the top of the hill, JT is waiting. It’s a down hill dirt trail. "Ooh this looks fun!" JT give me the bike, "I know you want to do this downhill, take the bike" he says. OK, so we cheated. It wasn't for times sake - our time was horrible but it was gnarly dirt downhill.

I take off cruising skidding but under control. I drop this hill, passing many bikers and runners. An awesome drop and turn emerges, 2 bikers and a runner congest the trail. I can't get around without risk to the others and myself. The trail is dirt, unlike the rocky granite trails at home. I'll take the hit. But I can't choose for them, I can't get around. So I slow and follow them around the drop and turn. Then more gradual downhill. Well to me, gradual, some bikers walk down the hill. We are entering the home stretch. Too many, the trail runs at the base of a hill, I ride up on the side of the hill to overpass a group of bikers and race for the finish. I am riding hard but we are hitting grass and the last transition to the MUD PIT! I see event guys waiving "off the bike" I slow down and dismount.

Entering the bike area I am confused on what to do next. JT - I see him back down the trail, the runners stop earlier and wait for their buddy to enter the mud pit together. I join him and some guy is taking off his camelback. I give my camelback to Kelley. I think, now this is a great service. Well, Cristy and Kelly, JT's sister and brother in law, were there to cheer us on. We gave our camelbacks and started to the finish.

JT says, "come on" and starts a full sprint. It was a couple hundred feet in the grass to the entrance of the mud pit. Exhaustion is no longer within me. Exhilaration and adrenalin are filling me with fire. We run full bore to the mud pit. JT of course beats me. I slide under the cargo net, into the MUD PIT. We have to go through about 60 feet of mud approximately 10 inches deep. This is the mud pit.

Funny thing, in the morning we went over an scoped out the MUD PIT. It looked gross. It had that foamy chocolate mike like look. It was cold at that time. I remember thinking, I don't know if I can crawl through that. At this moment, I don't even think. I just start swimming through the mud. Head first, I do a shallow dive under the ropes, swimming for the finish. I cruise quickly. I feel JT pull my back. I was smoking him through the mud pit. I hear someone yell out, "hey no pulling." I realize how far a head I am and I surge towards the end. JT grabs again and it actually gaining on me. I am covered in mud. I can barely see. I feel my body being pushed to the side. We have cleared all the ropes, you are required to go under to traversing the pit. We rise from the mud together, like Rambo. JT grabs me again and I realize we are not done. There is to be a victory dance. Wrestling to the finish line, we throw each other down into the mud again. The crowd roars at our wrestling maneuver. We get up again knowing the race is over. WE WON! Well, by finishing we won.

Our time will be easy to beat next year, but we did it. And I did my first Muddy Buddy event. We cross the finish together and headed for the hoses to rinse off our face and eyes so that we can see. Then off to another area where hundreds are showering the mud away. What a day! I am hungry. I am exhausted, I am exhilarated. It was Awesome!! I had no idea how great it would feel to be the Muddy Buddy! My first thoughts are for next year, we will be competitive next year!

I have to express a SPECIAL THANKS to CRISTY AND KELLY for their support, hospitality and most specially for capturing this awesome moment in a Kodak way. Cristy took all the pictures I have shared. It was difficult to express this journey, and without the pictures it would have been impossible.

Muddy Buddy Experience Part 2

The way the race starts is in waves. We were in the 4th wave, based on age and gender. In each wave there are riders and runners, riders go first then 2 minutes later the runners take off and then 4 minutes later the next wave begins. Our wave started and the bikers were off. I stood there at the ready line, my camelback was snug and tight so it would not bounce as I ran. I was feeling the excitement waiting for the green. Then it was time. I took off strong. Hey, I can do this, no problem! I had a pretty good pace and I looked around as I was with the leaders. They were in better shape than I. Right on, let's kick some ass. The trail went straight up a hill and then curved around and up another hill. All of the sudden I thought I was going to die; my breathing was out of control and I was dizzy. Guys were passing me. The hill was too much, I couldn't breath. I kept pushing and my pace dropped slower and slower. What is up? Are we that high, elevation wise? I can't breath. My heart was racing in the high 160's. I started to walk. What the hell am I doing, the race just started. I can do this. I caught my breath, brought my heart down and started again. A couple of hundred yards and I was dying again. I can't breath. I reached across my chest and unsnapped my camelback; my lungs increase their capacity and filled with air. What did I do? Next I reached down and unsnapped the tight strap across my belly. More Air!! I limited my ability to feed my lungs by putting the camelback on so tight. You see I hate anything on me bouncing while I run, so I had decided everything would need to be real tight - BIG MISTAKE! I was like a young boxer, going after the veteran. He showed weakness and I went for the kill, only to punch out. Like a boxer loosing the ability to raise his arms to punch, I needed a recover time and none was to be given. I continued on, I have to finish.

I started running again. But I could not regain my composure. We hit the peak and the downhill came. I couldn't help but run the downhill, but I had to be careful. Don't fall, that would be detrimental. Where is the obstacle event and when do I ride, was all I could think of. At the bottom of the hill we went around a fence that forced us slightly into the lake. Another hill?? I started up again, but it wasn't long before I was gasping for air and the dizziness returned. Then I saw it. The staging area, no jogging, RUN, get there! There was a metal frame we had to climb over, that was the obstacle event, then find my bike and I was off.

With a cool breeze in my face as I sped off. It felt great! I check my heart rate, it dropped to 160. I can rest now. NO, I can't this is my strength. I need to make up for my weak running, well my walking. I down shifted and started peddling as hard as I could. The down hill ends with another hill, no problem. This is what I do best. I can gag up a hill on a bike, unlike running. Then another down hill, "on your left" as I passed both runners and bikers, I felt great, pride began to fill me with strength and regain my competitiveness! Cool lets keep this up. What's that ahead the next staging area and event, not yet I just got on the bike! I rode like a mad man. My heart is racing and I am breathing at my max, I can't run again! There is Buddy, JT, waiting for me.

I enter the staging area, drop my bike and JT is yelling at me. In a positive way "Go Cameron, over that wall - come on, you can do it". It was one of those rock climbing walls not too high. Just an extra event, an obstacle to make the race more exciting. I took that wall with ease. Coming down the reality set in, I have to run again! So, off I go. But it wasn't long before I slowed. This was a long steady up hill climb. I was pooped. Just keep moving. Walk and get your breathing and heart rate down, then jog again. Take it easy, keep up the pace. This hill was brutal. Many bikers were pushing their bikes up this hill. I wish I had a bike, this is an easy ride for me. The mountain cures and swings around. I see the people on the higher ridge. What!?!? Still no check point. This is not fair. I am doing all the running. The self pity set in as I kept putting one foot in front of another. I am walking as fast as some are jogging, I feel better and I kept the pace.

A peak! Please give me a bike and still no check point. Dizziness! It is fazzing in and out now. I kept pushing to the top, then a short level area around and check point #3. Woo Hoo I made it!! I am not proud, but I made it. I am dizzy and the obstacle is to cross a balance beam. Another runner looks at me and says, "great now that we are all dizzy". Good, it's not just me freaking out here. I cross the beam and find my bike. Rejoice I am on a bike again.

Muddy Buddy Experience Part 1

I woke this morning to, well pain. It was a chore to lift my legs out of bed. I pushed to the shower and let the hot water wake my stiff muscles. Yesterday, I completed in my first Muddy Buddy Race. Today, I am in the beautiful vacation spot of Blythe, CA. For those unaware of Blythe, it is a border town of 10,000 on the CA and AZ border. We had a little car trouble on the return trip and found nothing open on a Sunday evening.
I was introduced to Muddy Buddy by my good buddy, JT. I have been mountain biking for the last 3 years and it is now a passion of mine. I love it! JT explained Muddy Buddy as a mountain bike and running event where one team member starts on the bike and the other team member running. At check points, the biker drops the bike does an obstacle event and becomes the new runner. As the runner approaches the check points, he does an obstacle event finds the bike left by his buddy and becomes the next rider. At the end of the race, both buddies crawl through 60' of 10" deep mud in the mud pit to the finish line. They must enter the mud pit together. That description of the event was good enough for me and I told him let's go, I am in!!

We had this great plan to train together and be in our best shape. The training lasted a week when work, family and life just put it on the back burner. I continued riding 3 days a week and running a 3 mile course along 105th St in McDowell Mountain Ranch. Until a knee injury sidelined me. In hind sight, the injury wasn't much; it was more fear of hurting my knee at 42 and exhaustion that sidelined the running. I started riding again about 3 weeks before the event and my mountain biking game was on. The goal - ride hard and make up for my weak running.

In the meantime, my dieting had paid off. I lost 20 pounds over the past 10 weeks prior to the event. That is a whole other story that can be found through by blog. Anyway, my weigh in for the weight loss was the day before Muddy Buddy and I had a lovely dinner of broth the night before my weigh in. Where am I headed, well, I was a little weak going into this event. No running and no nutrition added to my weakness. Both JT and I have been very busy. So, we decided to make a quick road trip to Cali, spend the night at his sister's, do the event and drive home. Cool, let's go!!

And so we did, we crossed the desert and went to Claremont. JT's sister and brother in law Cristy and Kelly took great care of us. In the morning we were off to Bonelli Regional Park in San Dimes. It was a rush showing up. There were 100's of people coming to compete. Costumes are big w/Muddy Buddy and many were dressed to the tune. Drag seemed to be big and we saw 3 sets of wonder women. Some guys some gals. There were 80's aerobic outfits, cows with utters, and many other funky outfits. I was wondering how you run, ride and crawl through mud in a costume, but it looked fun! Start the race!

Watch for the next posting of "Muddy Buddy Experience part 2"

Muddy Buddy Sponsors

Thank you so much to those of you who pledged in the beginning. Knowing that Ben Comen and Living Without Limits were counting on me, made me push myself past my limits to achieve my goals and lose the weight. My goal was 20lbs, and I did it!! With your help, we raised $6,910.00 for the Living Without Limits Foundation. For those of you who donated (you should be on this list), we will be contacting you with detailed information on where you can send the check, and any other information. Again thank you for supporting me with losing the weight, as well as supporting a wonderful cause and donating to them. Think of how much help we can offer them with our donation. Every little bit counts, and we appreciate all of the sponsors.

We will keep you updated and will contact you with the info. If you need anything from us, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks again, and make it a great day!

Final Weigh In for Jeff Cameron's Weigh Loss Fund Raiser

The 4th quarter come back and Jeff hits his GOAL! I didn't think it would happen. After starting off so well, I moved into a weight loss funk for a couple of weeks. I got busy at work, football started, I had a knee injury and Halloween; all contributed to making this goal very difficult to achieve. However, achievable!
I have to put a big THANK YOU out to Ben Comen, Tom Ferry, my wife Lisa and ALL of you that sponsored me. Ben Comen gave me the "don't give up" attitude and the pressure of letting him and his foundation down. I have to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Tom Ferry, my professional business coach. He introduced me to Ben and gave me the "what are you waiting for" attitude. Funny thing, Tom is by business coach, but he has taught me a balanced life is the foundation to success. Tom was the biggest part of making this weight loss difficult. After following his advice and coaching, I got real busy at work. It does matter the market, a good Realtor can sell homes! October was my best month of the year after February. February was before the first "shoe" dropped in the sub prime fiasco in March. Lisa's support was AWESOME, she planned meals around my diet and was there to hold me accountable when I ventured off. ALL OF YOU I am indebted to. The accountability and pressure you created by sponsoring YOUR hard earned money was AWESOME! Last night I was thinking, "for every pound I miss by, Ben losses $355," that stuck in my head and helped me persevere.
OK, I lost 20 pounds. Now I have to keep it off and go for more. Unfortunately, this proved there is more to go! I am off to California for the "MUDDY BUDDY" race with my training partner JT(PS thanks to JT too). I will update you on that adventure.

With 20 pounds lost and $355 sponsored we have raised $7,100 for Ben Comen's foundation, "Living Without Limits"

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN!

Final 2 Days for Jeff's Weigh In

Down to the wire and yesterday was the first Halloween since I got teeth that I did not eat any candy! Can you believe that. Well I hit the 230 mark today and I guess it is time to say good bye to solid food. Fast time baby! Got to hit 225 by Saturday morning. For those of you that don't know what I am writing about, I committed to loose 20 pounds by November 3rd. I started at 245, YES, 245. I was actually pushing 250 the week before I began my quest. So, to pressure myself I enlisted those I know to sponsor me. I now have 60 people sponsoring me for a commutative of $355 per pound I loose. The money I raise will go to Ben Comen's foundation, "Living without Limits." Ben was born with Cerebral Palsy. He joined his High School track team and competed in long distance running. His final year of of High School his team won State! Ben however, never won a race, yet finished every race he entered. Not only did he finish, be he did it bloodied and beaten down. See his condition makes it very difficult to run and he falls quite often. His reaction is slow and so he plunges head first at times. It is not too late to sponsor me. My goal was $400 per pound and I am short. Please, anyone can sponsor. Just shoot me an email or post on this blog. Ben is the reason I will loose 20 pounds. I feel better than I have in years and I want to be able to fulfill my commitment.

The Last Week before Weigh in and Muddy Buddy Race

Here I go. I have one week to go. I still need to loose 8 pounds to hit my goal of 20 lost. What a procrastinator! I know I can still make it in this last week. I am off for a huge Mountain Biking Ride tomorrow. We are headed from McDowell Mountain Ranch up the Taliesin Trail to Lost Dog and then over to the SUNRISE Trail. That trail, Sunrise, alone is a killer ride. So, at some point tomorrow I should be down another 5 pounds. The trick is keeping it off.

Thank you to all the sponsors. If you have not signed up yet, please do. I am raising money for "Living Without Limits," Ben Comen's foundation. It is a great charity and you can read about it in my blog. My goal is $400 in sponsors per pound I loose. I now have 60 people committed to a total of $354.50 per pound I loose. My weigh in is next Saturday, November the 3rd. So, if you have not signed up, call or email me today.

Thank you for your support!

Jeff Cameron

FINAL 2 WEEKS FOR JEFF'S FUND RAISER/WEIGHT LOSS

Down to the wire and luckily I am recovering. Recovering? For those who don't know, I had a big scare with my knee last week. It swelled up and I was in pain. For me it was rather scary. I have a hard enough time loosing weight when I am doing 4 to 5 hours of cardio per week. Take that away and all I have is dieting. Yuck. Last Wednesday I went on a run with Lisa down 105th St in McDowell Mountain Ranch and Thursday I woke with a pain in the knee. I rested it over the weekend and when it was not much better I went to the doctor. He told me I was a baby and to ice it down. No, he told me there was no real damage and to ice it down. I iced and iced, probably too much. But the swelling went down. I went for a 5 mile mountain biking ride today and feel great.
I only have two weeks until my weigh in for the "Living without Limits" to raise money for Ben Comen's foundation and I am back on track. I gained 5 pounds sitting on the couch last weekend. But that is gone. My weigh in this morning was 235 and my goal is 225, a loss of 20 pounds. It is time to get serious. I am glad exercise is back in the program. Ben I won't let you down! We have $353 per pound pledged, so I can raise over $7,000 when I hit my goal. If any of you want to be a sponsor please send me an email with the amount per pound. Some are just pledging a dollar amount. Send me email support!!!!

Us Bikers Need You Hikers, HELP

Yes, believe it or not us bikers need the hikers. You see a mountain trail is always in transition, oh wow just like a real estate market, anyway it is always changing. We had some great rain a little over a week ago. Here in Arizona we get all our rain in oh about 6 different days throughout the year. A week ago on Friday, we got one of those days of rain. It messed up the trails. I ride most of the time here in McDowell Mountain Ranch and my short ride is up Taliesin Trail to Lost Dog and to the saddle over looking the valley. I then come down, except go north through the Quartz Trail and empty out on 105th Street, near the McDowell Mountain Ranch community center. I then have a mile ride on the street to home. It is a great work out and I can do the whole ride in about 45 minutes.
Since the last rain there are some big issues on the trails. Parts of the trail are washed out, big ruts and drop offs on the hills, and a build up of sand in areas. We need the hikers to go through and compact everything with their hike. It is funny to watch how the trail evolves through out each year. Some parts of the trail that go through washes are difficult to see. I know the trail and therefore know where to ride. But I look forward to the hikers recreating a smooth transition in those washes. Some of the hills have big ruts or are very loose. I have been either crashing through or riding on the little ridge next to the ruts. Riding on the ridges is not hard, it just looks real hard. Something that took me a couple of years to start doing, but love now. The hikers will probably need to crush through the loose stuff and re compact it. This may take a while and may not be fully recovered until after the rainy (ha, ha) season coming up. The last fix I hope the hikers can fix is all the built up sand. I almost crashed pretty bad yesterday as my front tire washed out just before hitting a clump of big rocks and dropping down a hill. But I made it without crashing and laughed as I knew it was almost a nasty one.
One thing I tend to do on the trail a lot is laugh. It is usually right after I survived some crazy adventure spot on the trail. You have to enjoy those moments and I do. So, if you are riding with me or hiking along as I pass, if you here me laughing out loud I almost crashed!!!

ENJOY THIS INCREDIBLE WEEKEND!