Short Version…
What a grueling course. It was packed full of the widest variety of terrain I’ve ever ridden. And who could forget, climbing. A ton of it. It was certainly a challenging course and day. Poor choices in what I put in my mouth and heat made it even tougher. It took everything I had to finish up the last 10 miles of single track. Overall, just finishing the race was extremely rewarding. Pulling off a near 9 hour time and hanging about after the race knocked it out of the park.
Long Version…
Pre-Race:
After a panic packing session and minor freak out over fear my bike was not fit to cover the distance Thurs., teammate Bryan Deal and I headed out after cutting the workday a little short on Friday. Thankfully, Loundonville, OH is only a 3ish hour drive. Even though I had to take a few work calls in the car, the drive seemed to work out of my pre-race jitters that had me squirming in my chair at the week wore on. We arrived in the knick of time and picked up our race numbers and drop bags. We had plenty of time to grab dinner and a beer or two at the Mohican Tavern and discuss drop bag strategy before a minimal amount of pre-race prep and lights out at the Blackfork Inn bed and breakfast. Which turned out to be a great place. Not only for the fact it was about ¼ mile from the start of the race but, the owner’s (Sue) hospitality, ice cold a/c and complementary ear plugs if the trains that ran near by. Which certainly wasn’t an issue on the either of the nights. It had been a long week at work. Lights out by about 11pm was no struggle.
Start:
Moments later, alarms were going off and after a snooze button or two, we were up and around. Breakfast and dropping off our drop bags at registration left us with an hour to spare before the start. Which raced by. Before we knew it, we were pedaling to the start. Since Bryan and I signed up, race strategy was going to be to ride together, just finish and have fun. We hadn’t discussed race strategy for about a week and I am pretty sure our conversation amounted to “ok, I’ll see you out there.” However, though was due to the fact that we had heard there was a good deal of flats on the course, on the SS, I’d likely be naturally faster on the climbs and considering Bryan is a dive bombing death machine on a geared bike, he’d likely catch me on the down hills and on the flats. Given my race strategy was “just finish and have fun” and I didn’t plan on going all out any time near the start, that was probably a decent plan. Bryan and I showed up roughly 5 minutes before the start and lined up near the rear. We were informed about a minute before the start that most of the 100k field was in front of us waiting to start 15min after the 100 milers. We did out best to work through the pack but, we didn’t make it far enough to the front. I am pretty sure we were the last two people to leave the line for the 100miler after fishing our way through remainder of the 100k racers ahead of us. So, that race strategy we worked on. Yeah, that didn’t last a mile. There is a pretty decent climb just about a ¼ mile from the start. Seeing the rate of climb I knew there was no way I wanted to hit it with zero momentum. So, I hit it with speed and rode up it off the saddle and probably put 50 people behind Bryan and I. I figured things would probably flatten out at the top or even better descend. Giving Bryan the chance to catch up. Wrong.
Start to Aid Station 2:
It wasn’t long before we were off road. It’s really tough to describe this section. It’s about 30 miles with some pretty technical sections. Log piles, rock gardens, some stream crossings, at least one hike a bike and lots of roots. Not to mention climbing. Lots of climbing. Then descending. Then more climbing. I think the only way I can describe it or put a frame of reference around it is riding Poto and Pontiac Lake back to back with more climbing and obstacles. I certainly wasn’t burning the candle at both ends but, I was catching and passing quite a few people just due to the fact I went with 2:1 gearing and the geared bikes were spinning away in granny gears on the slightest sign of ascent. For a guy that has been riding on a trail about once every 2 weeks, this section was tough. I was feeling really off in regards to my handling skills. I managed to pull off two endos. One on the first log pile. Which I going to blame on rider traffic and not having enough speed to clear it. The second was entirely my fault. I got hung up on a root in a corner and went right over the bars. When once I got up I realized that my bars had twisted all the way around and were locked by the fact I didn’t raise my brake levels high enough to clear the frame. It required use of my multi tool to loosen then retightened the lever and get things back in order. I later discovered I had been exchanging places with the 2nd place women for most of this section. After my crashes I was getting pretty cautious in the rougher sections. I found it easier to follow her and as literally ran away from me on the descents and I caught her on the climbs. All of the climbing and single track with little room for passing pretty much put a bullet in the plan to ride with Bryan. I was highly doubtful he had the opportunity to close up the gap.
Aid Station 2 to 3:
After some 40+ mph descent and a decent amount of climbing on some dirt roads just prior to aid station 2, I was excited to make my first stop of the race. I had made the mistake of only taking 2 water bottles at the start and not stopping at Aid station 1 to refill. Plus, I was basically out of gu, shot blocks and etc. I was thirsty and starting to get hungry. So, I drank and ate a little of everything that was there besides restocking and ensuring I left with 3 water bottles this time. Coke, Heed, Endurolytes, etc, etc. Now the first 30 or so miles were definitely tough but, even though it was nearly 100% road, the next 14-16 were honestly the toughest part of the race. At least from my perception climbing wise. By this time, I had thrown out my initial race strategy and like a whiny kid, I was honestly upset I put a big scratch in my top tube when I drug my brake lever over the top of it during my second endo. And for some sadistic reason, I love climbing. Pedal mashing, leg burning, shoulder cramping, wind sucking climbing. So, I let it hang out a little more than I should have. I rode every one but, one climb until the next aid station. Which I didn’t make it up due to traction.
Aid Station 3 to 4:
I had no intention of stopping at aid station #3 when Bryan and I prepped a bag for it. I figured it’d be a good “just in case” decision. Boy was I glad did. I had already knocked back two water bottles in my fit of climbing. Primarily because my stomach was rather upset from the mess I put into it at aid station 2. I asked to have my water bottles filled with just water and rolled out. By then it had gotten pretty hot. The aid station was approx. 46 miles in and I figured that it was time to see what I had in the tank. So I mashed up the hill that immediately followed the aid station passing a guy in an ASU jersey and another rider. As soon as, we hit the single track (again up hill) I realized I my legs were fried. So, I hopped off and walked it. The single track portion of this stetch seemed grueling. I felt like I had very little left in my legs so, I walked most anything uphill and remotely technical. I rode most of the leg with Ryan (guy in the ASU jersey). We eventually got out of the single track. We seem to both feeling about the same and riding/walking the same sections. Turns out he’s also from Michigan and is running the GLR (http://greatlakesreleay.com) this July. I was glad to have him around. I think we kept each other moving. Eventually, we got onto the road and things got easier. At that point, I realized if the race was indeed 100 miles of single track, there was no way I would have been able to finish. We were probably about 60 miles. I was honestly worried there was going to 40 miles of single track ahead.
Aid Station 4 to 5:
At this point the race is a bit of a blur. Aid station 4 was approx. 72 miles into it. I ditched my spare tube at this point so, I could carry more food and was still riding with Ryan from ASU. I also believe we caught a guy in an orange bike barn jersey and we rode together a bit. Could have been just before it. Things are pretty fuzzy at this point. This stretch had some monster hills I had to walk but, if my somewhat delusional memory servers me, it had a good 10 or 15 miles of rail to trail/roads. This terrain felt effortless for me to spin on when I was seated. I dropped everyone I was riding with and picked off a few single speeders in the process as well. Which I admit got my spirits high and motivation up. I stopped in at the unofficial mile 80 aid station, refilled on water and kept rolling. Picking off people along the way. I was geeked I hadn’t run into much, if any single track. I still felt like I had nothing left if I mashed off the seat but, great if I could stay in the saddle. At this point I started to get mixed in with some 100k riders. Which again gave me someone to catch & pass. I caught and traded positions with another 100 miler for at least 10 miles. Oddly, I’d pass him on the flats and he’d catch me as a walked hills.
Aid Station 5 to Finish:
Aid station 5 was approx. 10 miles from the finish. I let the guy I was riding with know I had enough to drink and nothing in the tank. My 2:1 gear ratio had finally taken its toll on me. I was concerned if I stopped, it’d take a fork lift to get me on my bike again. So I rolled right past the aid station. The single track started almost immediately afterwards. Luckily it seemed to be more downhill than up but, my legs were toast. Any climb that required me getting off the saddle got walked. Anything technical, again, walked. The rider that hit the aid station with me caught me nearly immediately. I think he ended up putting 7 minutes on me in the last 10 miles. Thankfully, there were more 100k riders on the trail so, there were riders to chase. The distraction really helped. Though it excruciatingly difficult (probably the hardest 10 miles on a bike of my life), the last 10 miles actually passed rather quickly. I rounded a corner and could see Mohican Adventures. Unfortunately, as they had done many times in the past on the course. They directed the course up more climb, then across the stream and eventfully across the finish. I was exhausted but, very happy with my finished when I looked up and saw that I was near 9 hours. I had decided about ½ through the race anything under 10 hours would be a success. I hung around the finish and chatted with racers that I had recently finished with about the race. I was wiped and had put a 9:09. Good enough for 15th. Not too shabby for a washed up distance runner that only rides his MTB once every two weeks.
Post Race Party:
After riding back to the bed and breakfast, Bryan and I showered up and headed back to the finish to collect our drop bags, eat and sample some of fantastic Great Lakes Brewery beer on tap. I have to say I enjoyed hanging around after this race more than any other. May of the top riders were still hanging about to watch the awards and Bryan and I got a chance to meet some great people. I am interested in seeing some pictures of the race. I must have looked like death on two wheels at points during the race. Especially at the end.
Will I be back next year? Possibly? Will I be rocking the single speed? Probably going to take a challenge of my manhood or a request to pace or ride with another fellow single speeder.
Results
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