The Breckenridge 100

Yes, I did a blog post about my experience at the NUE Series Breckenridge 100 Race, but it is not posted here. If you want to read it, please check out the Salsa Blog. Happy Trails, Gerry

This picture shows the main mountain at Breckenridge, which is the first really long climb of the race from about 9000 feet to almost 12500 feet in elevation at the top. The mountain trails lead up to and over Wheeler Pass. What a great way to start a race! And, yes, that is snow on the mountain top.

A Double Header

There were two endurance races near home this weekend that I really wanted to do. On Saturday, the first annual Hilly Billy Roubaix was held in Morgantown, WV and the Wayne Ultra Endurance MTB Race was held outside of Marietta, OH on Sunday. I have never done two back to back endurance races, so I figured why not give it a try.

The Hilly Billy was the first race of the weekend and it was a 72 mile on and off road adventure through the hills of northern WV. The recommended bike for this race, according to the course designers, was a cyclocross bike because of the mixed terrain and the lack of anything truly consider technical. Without currently owning a geared cross bike, I decided to register in the single speed race. I have used my single speed cross bike for muddy cyclocross races, but I must admit the idea of doing a long on and off road mass start race with it was a little intimidating.

In addition to the tough terrain of the Hilly Billy, the hot weather also added to the difficulty of the race. But, even with nearly 7000 feet of climbing ahead and the temperature rising quickly, the race still had a very fast start. I had to draft and spin my butt off to hang with the geared guys until the first gravel climb a few miles after starting on the pavement. The climb almost immediately started to split the pack up. While struggling up the steep climb, I started wondering if I could push the big gear I had chosen through out the rest of the race.

The pack thinned out even more to a group containing me and just a handful of others after heading down the first loose gravel descent and then entering the first of many muddy sections on the course. They race promoter said everything we rode during the race was a WV State Roadway, but this “road” was at best a quad trail with many 2 foot deep mud pits. The nastiness of this trail changed my mind about my decision to use a single speed, as I could only imagine the noise and problems a muddy chain and derailleur would be making all day.

It seemed as if the majority of this race was either climbing up steep gravel climbs or descending back down the other side. Occasionally, there would be a fast road section or some muddy stuff to go through, but the majority of the race was all about climbing, which always seems to be good for me. At times, I wondered if I was going to be able to keep my big gear turning up all of the steep climbs without blowing up. But, it seemed to be working for me and by the halfway point in the race I was all alone in the front and leading the race overall. I never thought that a single speed bike would be the best tool to use for this type of race, but it certainly seemed to be helping me with my job. It gave me no choice but to ride hard, really hard.

I continued to climb hard and spin out the occasional flat section as fast as I could for the remainder of the race. By the time I finished the race, I had a lead of over 11 minutes over second place and by over 20 minutes on third and forth. I was completely amazed at how well I did with only one gear. Winning a race overall on single speed against 100 other racers almost made me feel like superman for the day. The following day, however, my superman thinking quickly disappeared at the Wayne Ultra.

I felt fine on Sunday Morning and was really psyched to go back to the Wayne Ultra after being the overall winner of the race last year. The trails at the Wayne Ultra are super tough. They are technical and constantly shoot you up and down steep trails. The distance of the Wayne is only 45 miles, but because the trails are slow riding, technical trails finish times are four plus hours. Anyway, feeling good about my win at the Hilly Billy and being the past winner of the Wayne, I didn’t think I would have any problem pulling out a second win for the weekend at this race.

The race started on a paved road and headed up a big climb to the first section of single track. I felt good up the first climb and stayed directly on the leader’s wheel, entering the single track in second place. I knew it was a long race and the heat was already feeling more than uncomfortable, so I let the lead rider go and a couple other riders also as I tried to find a more comfortable endurance type pace. The pace stayed pretty face, though, and I didn’t want to drop back too many positions, so I stayed on the gas. I don’t think I could have felt any hotter than I did during that time. Sweat had completely soaked through everything on me and my body was definitely not happy about what I was asking it to do. I started making stupid mistakes on the trails and seemed to be going backwards faster than forwards by about the midway point of the race. I had also gone through the majority of my liquids and was not feeling comfortable about pushing myself to the point of complete exhaustion after the effort I gave only a day earlier. I am not one to pull the plug often, but I came to realize that if I continued on with this race, I might be paying for it for a long time.

So, I made the hard decision to DNF. I then rode back to a fire road I saw off the course, looked at my GPS and decided to ride east because I knew that it would eventually get me back to the starting area. I rode for maybe a mile more, most of it up a long fire road climb, and then had to get off the bike and just sit in the shade for about five minutes to rest. Eventually, my heart rate and all finally seemed to calm down, so I got back on my bike and rode about 10 miles back to my car. When I saw that the temperature gauge in my car had hit 95 degrees, I understood better why my body was starting to shut down during the race, especially when the humidity was also so high. I figured that doing two hard endurance races in two days would be a hard thing to conquer, but with the weather adding an extra level of severity, it became too much for me to achieve my goal.

I am still glad that I attempted doing both races. I definitely had a blast at the Hilly Billy and even though I did not finish the Wayne Ultra, I did have fun riding about 20 miles of The Wayne Single Track Trails up to the point where I pulled the plug. I would highly recommend both races to anyone interested in doing them. They are well promoted, well marked and well supported by all the race volunteers. But, if I can make one request to both promoters, please consider coordinating your calendars, so that each is on a separate weekend. Doing double header endurance races is something I don’t want to try again soon. Happy Trails, Gerry

Thank to Benjamin Stephens for the photo above and to see more of his work from the Hilly Billy, checkout this link: Ben's Flickr Page

Almost Perfect

Sometimes things go pretty well at a race. Other times plans are made, but things don’t go as expected. This past weekend at the third stop on the NUE Series, the Lumberjack 100, I had an interesting mix of the good and the bad. It all worked out in the end, though, as I was able to finally win a NUE Series Race this year after my two failed earlier attempts.

The weekend started out pretty good as I was able to take Friday off from work and start the long trip to Michigan on Thursday. On my way from PA to Michigan, I picked up my long time friend Sologoat in Ohio. Back in the mid nineties Ernesto and I used to travel to many races together, but it is a rare occasion for us to travel together now. It is always cool to catch up with an old friend and share life’s stories.

We traveled about half way to our final destination on Thursday Night and stayed at one of my infamous crusty carpet inn internet special hotel selections. I am usually happy to just have a bed and a shower for use and really do need any special hotel luxuries, so typically these hotel choices work okay for me. On this occasion, my choice seemed to be a good one for sleeping, but the “continental breakfast” was a far cry from anything worthy of eating. But, being the miser that I am, I was soon more than content to consume the offerings of the establishment. The funny thing is that Sologoat walked in about an hour later than me and had even fewer stale donuts from which to choose from on the breakfast bar.

Our travels continued on in pretty much the same uneventful manner on Friday. After about 4 hours of driving, we finally arrived at our hotel in Cadillac, MI. We decided to check in first, so that we could leave some of our stuff behind before continuing out to the race venue in Wellston, MI. When we arrived at my second crusty carpet selection of the trip, the lady behind the hotel desk was involved in a heated argument with another employee of the hotel. It didn’t seem to faze them that there were customers waiting for them to stop their argument. This should have been my first warning to move along to another hotel. But, the lady finally calmed down, gave me two keys and then warned me that if the room was not clean it was because check in time was not until 3pm. BTW, it was 2:30pm at this time. I figured the lady was just joking around with me and I exited the lobby to walk down to my room. I thought the number the lady wrote on my key envelope read 104, but after trying to enter the room 104 a few times without success, I checked the number again to see that it actually read 124. I then tried my keys at room 124, but had no luck there either. At this point, I decided to go back to the hotel lobby and ask for clarification on the room number and ask for new keys if my guesses at her writing are correct. She doesn’t believe me that the keys don’t work and sends a maintenance man with me to confirm my key usage is being done properly. The maintenance man also cannot get the key to work, so I walk back to the lobby to get some new keys. This time I am finally able to get into the room.
A "Cocktails" sign in front of hotel...got to love it!

So, of course, we go to the room and it is not clean. As a matter of fact, it was a mess. And, judging from the receipt on the empty pizza box in the room it had not been cleaned since the weekend prior. Being the calm and collected person that I am, however, I walk back to the front desk to find out if it will be cleaned while we are away on our pre ride of the course. I am assured by the owner of the hotel that our room will be cleaned, so off we go for the pre-ride.

Before doing a 100 mile race, there is definitely not a need to do many miles. As a matter of fact, it is much better to rest up to prepare for the race than do a long ride. Ernie shares my thoughts on pre race rides, so we both decide to ride for about an hour and checkout the beginning of the race loop. Well, we get moving along and come to a section of the course where the race traffic will be sharing the same trail. The trail is separated with course tape at this point and we figure this will be a good point for us to stop our preview of the course on the way back through. We only had about 40 minutes of riding in and figured that we would only have a few more miles to do at most before coming back to this point on the course. As it turned out, though, I was wrong with the mileage estimate back to this section on the race loop. Of course, we didn't figure this out until after after I had already told Ernie let’s just go for a few more minutes about 5 times. Our ride time was at nearly two hours at this point and we had no clue as to where we were on the course. We finally decided to stop and read a trail map posted on the trail side. By looking at the map, we figured we would only have a few more miles to go to get back to the car if we took a fire road instead of the marked trail.

We followed a sandy fire road for awhile and then climbed up a long gravel hill quite a distance before eventually coming to a fire tower on top of the hill. There were no well used trails and no trail maps around this tower, so we had no choice but to head back down the long gravel climb. We eventually found some more course markers on the fire road and decided to follow them. From the map we viewed earlier, staying on the fire road seemed like the best option for us. But, now time and mileage was still ticking away and we did not have a clue as to where we were going. We became encourage, though, when we saw some houses in the distance. Unfortunately, as we rode by the homes most did not seem to be occupied, but finally we did find one with a few cars parked in the driveway. Just when we were about to go up the driveway to ask for directions, we saw a car coming down the fire road and decided to flag it down instead. In the car was a very old man. I asked him if he could direct us back to the Big M Ski Area. He mumbled something about going back the way we just came and taking a trail back to the area and nothing more specific. This did not seem like a very good option to me or Ernie because we knew it would take a long time to figure out if we were going the right way. So, I then asked the man about just staying on the fire road instead. He says, “Well, you will have to go about a mile or so and then will come to a paved road. Go left and then the ski area will be on the left.” It was a no brainer as far as Ernie and I were concerned and we took the second option of staying on the road. We ended up with 2.5 hours of riding and about 28 miles in our legs. Not what either of us really wanted the day before the race.

On our way back to the hotel, we started betting on whether the room would be cleaned or not. We both thought that it would still be dirty, so we did not place any wages on the bet. Surprisingly, we were please to find that the room was cleaned while we were away. Unfortunately, though, nothing else that night would go right except for the all-you-can eat fish dinner we had a little later at a restaurant near our hotel.

After our delightful dinner, I had the “smart” idea of changing my gearing to something just a bit harder, so that I would not be spun out on the flat sections of the course. At the time I made this decision, around 9pm or so, it seemed like a good idea. At around 10pm when I was cleaning up the mess I had made, it did not seem like a very good idea. In hind sight, it all worked out fine, but I would have probably been fine with my initial gear selection.

Things only became worse when two over sized vehicle escort drivers (male and female) arrived in separate vehicles and were given the room right next to ours. It seemed to me that this was there first night off the road in a while and they were ready to have some fun. And, to make matters worse, they had a dog with them that would not stop barking. Ernie and I discussed about asking for another room before climbing into bed, but the barking had stopped briefly and I was not too excited about facing the hotel management again. About 45 minutes into this decision, the barking started again. It was around 11:30pm at this time and we had our alarms set for 4:15am, so things were not looking good. Needless to say, the barking continued most of the night as did constant door slamming, loud music and other unspeakable noises. If I slept for an hour that night, I would have felt lucky. The best part about this hotel story is that when we got up in the morning the only two rooms occupied on our side of the hotel was the one we stayed in and the one occupied by our neighbors.

Even after a having a horrible night of sleep, I amazingly still felt good to go in the morning. The race started fast like I expected and I was happy with my bigger gear selection. I was able to enter the initial single track in the first lead group. Perfect, I thought to myself. We started climbing the first long section of rolling climbs at the beginning of the course and I worked my way up in to third place briefly. Not so much because I wanted to be there, but more because I had to keep my big gear rolling. I saw Schalk and Tanguy riding next to me and then had the feeling like my heart was about to explode. I decided my best option at this point was to wave the other riders around me, so that I could settle back into a more manageable pace. A lead group of about 8 riders (all the race favorites) then got a gap on me and a few others. But, I was not too concerned because from what I could tell, I was the leading single speed rider. Soon after things in the chase group calmed down a bit, fellow Pro Bikes Rider J-POK came spinning by our group. I decided to join him and soon we were all alone.

Justin and I then came upon Mike Simonson on the trail side fixing a flat. I screamed “Get it fixed fast Mike” and continued riding with J-POK. Shortly thereafter, Simonster caught us on a fire road and I decided to jump on his wheel for a bit. J-POK had some trouble at this point and missed this key draft. I rode with Mike for a few miles until we went up and over a few steep rolling hills. His pace was way too much for me to match on my SS, so I settled back into a more reasonable pace. I then rode alone for a long, long time, about 40 miles, I would estimate. But, I was cool with this situation because my riding seemed to be going very well and I was enjoying my ride on the fun single track.

Then, for unknown reasons, at around mile 60 or so, I veered slightly off the trail on a fast downhill into the grass on the trail side. Suddenly, I had my life flash in front of my eyes, when I hit a tree stump with my front wheel, which was hidden in the grass. The stump sent me air born and I landed hard into a dirt embankment at a trail crossing. It was one of those crashes where you need to take a quick inventory of your body parts when you get up because you’re not sure if something might be left behind if you rush off too quickly. I was in pain, but everything seemed to still be attached. I jumped on my bike and started riding again. My bike seemed fine, but my elbow was very tender and was already swelling. Of course, making the decision to do the race with a rigid fork was not making my elbow feel much better after my crash.

Trying to fight off the pain in my elbow, I attempted to find a more comfortable riding position on my bike. Nothing was working too well, but I found that descending without holding the right grip very securely made my descents much less painful. I decided to ride the last 1.5 laps pretty conservatively because of the discomfort in my elbow. I managed to endure my discomfort for the rest of race and hold on to lead even with my pain, however, for a very satisfying SS victory and my fastest time at the LJ 100. So, overall I would have to rate my race as an almost perfect experience except for my crash and my lack of sleep the night before the race.

On a side note, Ernie and I decided to cough up an extra 10 bucks each on our trip home and stay at a hotel where we could actually sleep. Not that it would have been too hard to sleep that night anyway considering what I had just endured over the past 24 hours. And, oh did I sleep well that night.

The Lumberjack is a super fun 100 mile race and Rick Plite, the race organizer, does a great job at putting on the event. It is certainly another race that I would recommend for you to put on a list of must do races.

Happy Trails, Gerry

Thanks to Jack Kunnen for the first photo and Sologoat for the second shot.

Big Bear 24 Hour National Championships (NOT)!

As many of you know, Granny Gear Productions has hosted a 24 hour endurance mtb race at Big Bear, WV for many years. I was excited to learn last year that this race was going to be the USAC 24 Hour National Championship Race for 2010. I think many east coast riders were also excited to finally have a shot at this race without doing too much traveling. However, early this spring a sudden announcement came out, which stated the 24 Hours Nationals were being cancel at Big Bear and were instead being held at Moab, UT once again.

If you have never had a chance to ride the trails at Big Bear Camp Ground, you are missing a treat. There is a great network of fun, technical single track trails throughout the property. The main man behind this network of trails is Mark Schooley. After 24 Hour Nats were canceled, Mark stepped up big time and decided to promote a relay mtb race on the same date as the canceled 24 hour race. After a couple format changes, Mark decided to call the race the Big Bear 2x12. Basically, the race was designed for teams comprised of two riders to do a multiple lap relay race. The technical race loop was 12 miles long and had expert duo teams completing 3 laps per rider (6 total for the team) and sport teams doing 2 laps per rider. The one catch to this race for expert teams was that only first place received money for the win. Second and third placed would only receive a trophy. And, to ensure that the race would attract a good amount of fast riders, Mark offer $1000 to the winning team of each expert category (duo men, duo women, duo coed and duo single speed).

Wanting to have the best chance possible at winning this race I had to consider my single speed teammate choice very carefully. After much consideration, I decided to ask Weston Schempf if he would be interested in doing the race with me. Wes was totally psyched about doing the race and I was also excited to have one of the fastest single speed racers around on my team. Next up was naming our team for the event. But, with Weston’s name ending in PF and mine starting with PF, we decided to combine the two names and call ourselves the Schempflug Effect. Which, if you google it, actually has something to do with photography.

So, on race day Wes and I came up with our game plan for how we were going to do our laps. Wes started first and what a start he had. He actually took the hole shot going into the section of single track like the experienced cyclocross racer he is and then finished the lap a few seconds off the time of the fastest geared guy. I was up next for my first lap of three, but instead of doing only one lap I decided to do two laps. Not only did this give Wes a chance to rest up for his next two laps, but it also let me do a longer sustained effort, which is better for me than shorter efforts. Our game plan seemed to be working pretty well and by the time Wes went out for the final lap of our race we had a 7 minute lead over second place.

The first two laps of the race were pretty fast and dry for us except for a few slick spot in some wet areas. But, by the time most expert classes were beginning their third laps, the wind blew in a rain storm. It didn’t take long for the fast course to become a really slick one, especially with all the roots and rocks on the trails. Wes had a Stan’s Crow Tire on his rear wheel, which I tried to get him to change prior to the start of the race because of the technical nature of the course. I told him that a more substantial tire would hold up a lot better on this course, but Wes stood by his tire selection. On my last and super muddy lap, I couldn’t stop wondering how Wes was going to ride this slick stuff with basically a bald tire on his bike. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when I returned to the relay tent to learn that Wes had switched his rear wheel out for my Salsa Semi 29er Disc Wheel mounted with a knobbier tire for his final lap. Ironically, however, Wes nailed a rock on the longest and most technical descent of the course on his last lap and got a flat tire anyhow. He then had some trouble with his tire change after breaking his one and only tire lever. Fortunately, though, he did get things back in order before being caught by the second place team and was able to take the win.

I can’t say enough good things about this race. The payout was incredible (if you won that is), the trophies were awesome beer steins and for a first year event it organized perfectly. If this race becomes an annual event, I highly recommend finding the fastest guy you know to team up with you for some good racing times next year. In the end, I am actually happy that 24 hour Nats were replaced by this event. Not only was this event a lot less painful, but it was a better way to prepare for the Lumberjack 100 next weekend. Happy Trails, Gerry

A Dark Place

As a friend of mine and fellow single speed racer, Ron Sanborn, said to me while we were waiting in line to clean our bikes after finishing the incredibly muddy NUE Series #2 Race, the Mohican 100, in Loudonville, Ohio, “My mind was in a very dark place at many points during the race.” I could not have agreed with the description Ron gave of his mental state during the race more. The Mohican 100 was intensely tough this year after the area received many days of saturating rain, which included heavy rain falling the day before the race and on the day of the race. Riding in wet, muddy conditions for 8 plus hours will make an already difficult race almost impossible at points.

I think for many riders the race was more against the course than it was against other riders. Sure, there were individual battles taking place between riders on the course, but I am pretty sure most riders would agree the race was more about surviving the nastiness being thrown at us by Mother Nature and hoping that the mud on the course would not cause a fatal bike mechanical than it was about beating the guy next to you. In conditions like these, the single speed is a viable weapon of choice. Overall, my Salsa Selma accepted the challenge quite well. I did have my issues at times, both physically and mechanically, but my trusty single speed helped guide me through the muck and the mire to a respectable 3rd place SS finish and to 13th place overall.

There were so many points in the race where I just wanted to quit because things were such a mess. I started questioning why I torture myself this way race after race, year after year. I couldn’t come up with a good answer, so I just kept riding, waiting for the pain to come to an end. Eventually, everything that hurt, including my mind, went numb and my only focus was on finishing the race, not allowing the course to beat me.

As I entered the last four miles of single track, which was more like a flowing stream of water at that point, I actually became euphoric about conquering the course. It didn’t matter what I was riding over or through during this time because I knew I had won my battle against nature and I was feeling good. The feeling of overcoming such a difficult test is a good one, especially since many did not finish the given challenge.

After the race, the darkness that entered my mind faded into the past as I was able to share stories of the race and hang with many friends that endured the same hardship. I am sure there are many people that would consider riding a bike in the mud for 8 hours and 53 minutes over a 100 mile course as being somewhat insane and at certain points during the race I would probably have agreed with them, but it is almost impossible to describe to anyone never experiencing such a thing just how rewarding it also feels to push yourself to the limit and finish something so hard. Congratulations to everyone else that suffered along with me at the Mohican 100 and was able to push through all the mess to finish the race. It is one challenge that I will never forget. Happy Trails, Gerry

Mohican Preparations

I stayed with my game plan the past couple of weeks and did my racing on the road instead of on the dirt in preparation for the Mohican 100. I raced at the PA State Championship RR near Bloomsburg, PA on 05/22/2010 and did the ABRA Tour of Tucker County this past weekend in Thomas, WV. My game plan of staying on the road to keep healthy and fit held up pretty good for the most part, but I did have an unexpected battle with sickness last week that I was worried might ruin my chances at having a good Mohican 100 Race.

So, anyway, my bad luck all started when I woke up at 4AM to travel 4 hours up to Bloomsburg, PA for the State Road Race. I raced for about 8 miles in what seemed to be a pretty fast master’s field and then all of the sudden, without warning, I blew my rear tire. I immediately raised my left hand and pull off to the right side of the road to receive a wheel from the wheel truck. The change was not a real fast one, but the part of the course we were racing at that time was. I chased as hard as I could for about 3 miles, but there was no way that I was going to catch the fast pack.

Not wanting to waste the day after getting a flat I decided to keep on riding anyway, so that I could at least get in a good workout. I soon joined up with another rider who also suffer from a flat tire during the race and we rode hard together until the end of the first lap. After finishing the first lap, we decided to do another fast lap together and then I decided to do one more hard loop after my flat tire riding companion decided to pack it up. Doing a ride after my flat did help clear my mind of the frustrations I had about my flatting and made me feel a little better about getting back into my car for the four hour ride home. My bad luck may have started on the bike, but the bad luck soon continued by attacking me by the end of my long drive home.

During the drive home, my gut did not feel right and latter Saturday Night it was impossible for to keep and food in my body. Even now I am not sure if I got a case of food poisoning or the flu, but I can tell you that it knocked me down for a few days whatever it was. Being the way I am, I tired to ignore my symptoms on Sunday because I had planned to do a long ride. Well, being the way I am, I did the long ride anyway. It took just about every ounce of energy for me to complete and probably only made a bad situation much worse. By Sunday Night, I was so sick that I was unable to eat, was shaking from being cold and had a screaming headache. I took so many trips to the toilet on Sunday Night and during the day on Monday I started thinking about staying seated on the thing rather than heading back to bed. Thankfully, I was able to call off work on Monday to try and recover from my sickness, which definitely did some good. I also stayed off the bike on Monday and Tuesday, which was easy to do because I had no energy to do anything.

It wasn’t until last Thursday that I started feeling somewhat better. I was already pre-registered for the Tour of Tucker County (ranked as one of the hardest road races in the United States), but I was having apprehensions of doing it because of how I was feeling. But, by Saturday, I figured it would be best to give it a try and see how my body responded. My goals were simple: attempt to ride hard and hope that my GI track would withstand the extra stress of riding hard. I managed to exceed my expectations by actually being one of the main riders to create a five person breakaway on this major climb that was eventually whittled down to me and another rider by the last climb. Additionally, my gut felt fine and I didn’t have to finish the race with a chocolate stream running down my leg. However, being the non-sprinter that I am, I mistimed the last charge to the finishing line and wound up in second for the day. I was stilled pleased, though, because only a few days earlier I thought I was on my death bed.

Things seem to be back to normal for me now. I followed up the tough Tour of Tucker County Road Race with 3 hours of single track riding on Sunday and a hard 4.5 hours of riding on Memorial Day. Hopefully my spat with bad luck is done now and I can have a smooth week leading up to the Mohican 100 NUE Series Race this weekend. I am so psyched to do the Mohican and feel very fortunate that my health turned around quickly enough for me to prepare properly for the race. Let the count down to the weekend begin! Happy Trails, Gerry

BTW, thanks to Benjamin Stephens for the photo.

Wide tire fun...on the road???

After a little indecision about where to race this past weekend, I finally decided on doing a road race called the Fawn Grove Roubaix, near York, PA. The race was held on a 14.5 mile loop and had an interesting concept of combining fast paved roads with about 5 miles per lap of gravel roads. With a course description of some tough climbs also being included, I figured the race would be a good match to my racing strengths.

A couple of days before the pre registration ended on the race I talked with a racing friend, Blair Saunders, about the course, since he did it last year. Blair said that a cross bike would be best suited for the race because of the rough gravel road sections on the course. I told Blair that I recent sold my cross bike, so I would not have one for the race. He said that a road bike is not the best option because there is a good potential of getting a flat tire on the gravel sections of the course.

After discussing the course with Blair, I started doing some brain storming and decided to race my Salsa Mamasita at the race with cross tires mounted to my 29er wheels instead of standard mtb sized tires. I set up my wheels with Hutchinson Piranha Tubeless Cyclocross tires and filled them with 60 psi. Since I was not too sure about my bike selection, I packed my Salsa Podio Road Bike and took it with me to the race also.

On race day, I took my Mamasita out for a quick pre ride of the course specifically to checkout the gravel sections on the course. After I encountered the first section of gravel, I was pretty certain that the Mamasita was the best choice for the day. Like Blair told me earlier in the week, it is better to work harder during the race than chance getting a flat; and, after driving over 3 hours to get to the race, I totally agreed with his thoughts.

So, anyway, Blair and I lined up at the starting line with him on a cyclocross bike and me on a mtb with wide cross tires, while everyone else on the line was on standard skinny tired road bikes. At that time, I was definitely feeling like an outcast and a minority, since I was surrounded by road bikes. Things didn’t seem to get much better for me after the race started either, with the first section of the course being on fast pavement and having a couple of climbs. But, after entering the first section of gravel road, I was soon feeling much more confident about my bike choice and was happy I made the bike selection that I did.

I wanted to be one of the top riders into the first gravel section, so that I could stay away from potential crashes. I initiated an attack one climb too early, though, so I ended up entering the first gravel road about 15 riders back from the front. The race totally blew apart in the first couple of gravel sections. Tires were blowing, water bottles were flying out of cages and riders were drifting all over the place trying to find a good line. At the same time, I just smiled as my Mamasita picked a straight and clean line through the carnage.

My smile was short lived; however, because hanging with the faster road bikes on the paved climbs was intensely hard to do on my heavier bike with wider tires. Blair was in the breakaway group with me, but ironically he suffered a rear flat about part way through the first lap. Eventually, the breakaway group was whittled down to me a two other riders about part way through the second lap. The two guys I was with were absolutely hammering me in our three man break and on one road climb actually powered away from me. I had to dig really deep to bridge back up to them at the top of the climb where the pavement ended and another gravel road section began. I think the other two riders were pretty shocked that I latched back on to them after they had dropped me. From that point, I decided to save my energy a bit and not do much work in the break, so I could survive the fast pace on the road sections. I am pretty sure they understood my decision, especially since my high gear was only a 42x12 compared to their standard road gearing.

The three of us finished the third lap and the race together. I did not contest the sprint at the finish, since my two roadie friends did the majority or the work during the race…not that I would have been any match against them anyway. I was pretty happy with finishing the race in third overall on my Salsa 29er and I bet there will be some other riders making the decision to do the race on a bike with wider tires next year.
Happy Trails, Gerry