2013 Shenandoah 100 part 1

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The Shenandoah 100 is my favorite race of all time and what all my training centers around. Last year was my first time doing it with a tropical storm dumping water on us so I had to give it one more go in better weather. I tired to go to bed early the night before the race but think I only slept for about 2hrs.

Me and Allen ready to roll.

Start to Aid 1
    This year the course was changed to add in the new Narrowback west descent which meant there would no longer be much climbing before the first single track up festival trail. Also added a few miles making the race closer to a true 100miles. I had ridden festival and the remodeled Narrowback a good bit the past year and knew is was all easily ride-able, but when you have 600+ riders half of which are more roadie you know someone going to mess it up. Once one person dabs it's a chain reaction on down the line. So this year I did what everyone does and lined up with my teammates ahead of the time I thought I might do. Before I knew it we were off, or not? It's always hard to tell at SM100 if the race has actually started since there is no start horn or gun. People started moving so I followed and assumed the race was on.
    Out of the campground we went as a massive group with people already crashing into mud puddles and the line surging and slowing randomly to keep everyone on there toes.  Once we hit the fire road people had started to calm down a bit and I settled into a pace passing a few people here and there.  One guy did manage to try running me over by winning the award for crashing on the first rock he could find on the fire road. Before I knew it we were at the first ascent, up Festival trail, with only a few seconds backup of people to get onto the single track.  One guy didn't want to wait the few seconds and cut the corner thru the woods which was meet with some choice words from the rider in front of me that he cut off.  I was going to let it go until I heard his response quote "It doesn't matter it's going to be hike a bike in a minute anyway".  My response was if he planned on walking he better get to the back of the line.  Of course he messed up the first rocks on the trail and started the chain of walking but at least it was only for about 10 feet before we got around him and got back to pedaling.  Up Narrowback was uneventful, a fat bike tried the log skinny and fell off, someone dabbed on a slick rock causing a backup. Overall lining up early was working with much less of a backup compared to the previous year so I actually got to ride 99% of the first single track.  The descent down Narrowback west was awesome as always. The rider in front of me did somehow seem to deify physics by slowing on top of the table tops. He would be fast all the way up to the point where I would be airborne yet somehow he would slow and I would almost hit him.  Fortunately after a few calls for a pass I was able to get around him and enjoy the rest of this awesome trail. Did I mention how great this trail is? Everyone should go ride it!! 

Aid 1 to Aid 2
    Once we hit the fire road I was kind of alone, but fortunately some riders caught up and we formed at least a small pace line on over to Lynn climb. I drank some of my over concentrated infiniti mix and some plain water from my Camelbak trying to stay ahead on food and water.   The joy of Lynn I climbed roughly half before hitting the point where riding wasn't worth the effort and I joined the line hiking our way up.  The hike a bike always seems to take forever and the slick rocks from the rain the day before didn't make it any better. Finally I could see the sign post signalling the fun part was about to begin.  Of course don't let the Shenandoah fool you, it's never all downhill. There are still a few steep hike a bike sections on the way down. Unlike the previous year I was actually calm on the downhills and felt like I really had my DH grove going.  I blasted down passing a few people and watching a few crash right in front of me, said hi to Mikey and his blow up friend, and hit the road over to Aid 2. I caught my teammates Davy and Allen at the Aid station. I filled my bottle and Camelbak and grabbed some apples off the table.  When I was about to get on the bike I felt something hit me and looked around seeing nothing.  I would find out later Allen had thrown a banana at me but I was already to into race mode to figure that out.

Aid 2 to Aid 4
   Together the three of us left as a group actually riding together for a little bit.  Once on the fire road Hankey climb, me and Allen started to leave Davy behind. Allen wasn't amused by my mentioning that we could just turn left and head on to the campground which would be much easier.  After a while I started to pull in front of Allen which was greeted by a middle finger and silent stare.  As I headed up the climb I started to wonder if I was going too hard Allen had been riding strong all year and I had never beaten Davy.  I put that thought out of my mind and figured if I blew up later I could at least say I gave it my best effort.  Before I knew it I was at the top and the two riders I had been following to the top pulled over.  I had all the Dowell's draft downhill in front of me with no rider ahead and no one pressuring me from behind. It was great! I hit the corner with the big rock which had worried me but when I got there with an open course I realized it was nothing. Dropping over the rock and making the corner like a pro I continued to bomb down the rocky/rooty section below like it was nothing too. At the bottom I hit aid station three but a quick check showed I had plenty of water and shot bloks, so I just went straight thru. I always try to only stop if I need something figuring for every minute I stop I have to pedal that much harder to make up for it. 
  I hit the road and the rain started to come down! There goes my hopes of a perfect weather SM100 but at least it was a cooling rain. My strategy of not stopping at aid three had gotten me ahead of a lot of riders but also backfired in that I was alone at the start of the longest road section.  I saw the fat bike from the start of the race ahead and gave it a little gas to catch up.  I thought he would be rolling fairly slow on the road and that I would just fly past but once I got behind him I realized he was keeping a good pace so I settled in behind. I felt bad of drafting off a fat bike but at the time he was rolling pretty quick.  After a while he started to slow down so I pulled ahead and was back alone until the last mile where a group of five riders in a pace line came up.  Now we hit the single track near the start is a fairly deep and wide creek. Last year it was easily ride able. When we got there I saw one rider walking it but figured I could still ride it. I got about half way thru and not being able to see the bottom slammed into a big rock and went for a over the bars dunking in the river.  I banged my right knee a little and something jabbed into my chest but overall it was more embarrassing than painful.  I had to straighten out my bars on the other side of the creek and headed up the rock staircase. Where I almost fell trying to climb up them as quickly as possible. The rider behind me told me to take a deep breath and stop for a few seconds which was good advice. I was getting to flustered after the creek incident and was too much into race mode.  After taking a short break I headed up the single track climb passing a bunch of riders that didn't have the technical skill to ride the now wet and slick rocks.  Down the other side the rain had started to let up but the bottom of was a swamp.  The mud was getting in my eyes and it made for slow going but I knew aid four was close and my pregnant wife and Blackwater crew would be waiting for me.

to be continued!

Beford Fat Tire frenzy and 5hr race!

I started this blog post right after the races but then somehow got side track and neglected my blog. I figured I might as well come back around and finish writing something about these races since Kenny does such a good job putting them on. 

Fat tire frenzy!
    Not sure what to say about this race. I went real fast on the start, probably to fast. Kept making little technical mistakes got tired of racing 3/4 into the first lap. Mentally gave up and decided to make it a spirited ride instead of a race. Lap three got back into a grove and picked it up a little to at least stay ahead of the people that had flat tires. Didn't have a grand race but it was at least a fun day on the bike.

5hr Bedford endurance race!
  A couple weeks later was the endurance race which seems to suit me better then short courses. Before the race began I looked at my rear tire and noticed a small cut on the sidewall of the tire. I thought about patching it but it was holding air and figured I would get at least thru the race on it..... That was a bad idea.  I lined up in the front and we were off I dropped back to 4th place and was holding on good and figured I would be able to jump to 3rd as the race went on. After about 2hrs I noticed my rear tire was low doh! I quickly jumped off and added a little air thinking I could get back around to my pit area with a floor pump to add more.  When I got around to my pit I figured I could just over inflate the tire to get me to the end of the race since it was only slowly leaking.  Pumped it up to 40psi and was about to head off when boom it blew the cut open.  Ok, no big deal grabbed a tube and tire levers and started changing the flat. The only problem was all the Stans goop and wet hands I couldn't get the tire back on to save my life.  I wasted about 25mins on just changing the tire as riders passed by. I knew my place in the race was over but finished it out strong after getting the tire changed just for the training.  In the end I actually placed 9th out of about 45 riders which isn't bad considering all the time lost.

Wintergreen Cliff Hanger Challenge

Mountain biking returned to Wintergreen ski resort for the first time in years last weekend at the cliffhanger challenge. Right off the bat by looking at the map below I could tell that there would be a boat load of climbing. What you couldn't tell was that there was big chunks of technical rock gardens between all the climbing. Goal for the day not crash and at least don't be dead last. Originally they only had experts doing three laps but decided to add an extra lap after finding the distance of each lap was only four miles. Majority of the trails were brand new with only a few small sections being from the old downhill trials from back in the day.

Me and Allen got there early enough to do a slower paced test lap. Our test lap took almost 40mins to complete and I wasn't really feeling like racing this course. I headed down to the tunnels and lined up with the experts for our uphill prologue start. I guess the $300 cash prize for the fastest rider had got the attention of some of the Pros with Jeremiah Bishop and some other crazy fast riders signing up at the last minute.  Off the start in my usual fashion I fell to the back with only a handful of riders behind me. I never have been one to push off the start probably something I should work on.  After the uphill prologue I passed 3 riders on the next uphill before heading into the woods for the A-corn downhill. I managed to pass one other expert rider who pulled over once he realized I was willing to push faster downhill then him.

Wintergreen Resort by Miguel  Diaz Hansen

The rest of lap 1 was fairly uneventful with more bouncing over rocks and a big switchback uphill climb up the ski slope.  Lap two was going well and I could see on some of the open sections that I was putting a bigger gap between me and the next expert rider.  I started to enjoy the course and little better and get more into the racing spirit. At the end of the lap I noticed the main pivot bolt on my bike was working it's way out yet again.  Crap, I knew I should have checked it before the race but didn't get a chance.  I pulled over and grab my multi tool and tightened it as quick as I could.  I thought for sure riders would pass me but apparently I had made a big enough gap that no one caught me!

Untitled by Miguel Diaz Hansen

Lap three was going well and on the last climb I saw my teammate Allen catching up.  This was his last lap since the SS class only had to do three laps. Allen couldn't resist the chance to pass me and went by me at the last 500 feet of the climb. I congratulated him on his SS win as I turned off to complete my last lap.  He would be the only person all day to pass me. On lap 4 there was a fair amount of sport/beginner traffic to pass and plenty of carnage out on the course. One woman had gone down breaking multiple bones and was unsure where she was, one person had a large cut and was limping out, and I watched a few riders hit rocks and fly over the handle bars.  Medics were busy that day with such a demanding course.  I finished in  2hr 10mins and 9th out of 15 expert riders. Not the best placing ever but there was some serious talent and I did meet my goal of not crashing!

6hr Mini Angler

  My very first 6hr race ever, which will go down as a great and terrible race.  After my last incident at Danville I wanted revenge! Me and my teammate, Allen, signed up for the Angler's ridge 6hr race in Danville.  I've done events that lasted longer then 6 hours, but never done a lap based endurance race so this would be a learning experience. Even with this I told my wife I intended to get on a podium!

Blackwater tent setup and ready to go.

 Me, my wife and Allen meet up early in the morning to drive down and meet my dad in Danville.  The weather was way colder then we had expected but perfect for a racing.  I was on a test Epic from Blackwater Bikes since some upgrades to mine had gone wrong and were taking way longer than expected. I quickly did some seat/shock settings and do a quick test spin around the green way. Then it was time to line up!

And we're off!

Off the get go the top ten or so riders took off at a heck of a fast pace. I held back not knowing what my pace should be for a six hour race.  I settled in behind what would be the winning female rider and we yo-yoed back and forth for the first couple laps.  Seemed every time I would get ahead and have a bit of a lead on her, the chain on the front would jump off the outside forcing me to stop and fix it.  On the plus side the trails were dry even though they had gotten rain the day before.

The first four laps went good but I started to lose motivation as there were no rider in sight ahead or behind me.  I figured I was probably in 6th or lower place and figured that's where I would stay. As I came around to hand off my bottle to my wife she informed me that I was actually in 3rd place. Sweet I was on a podium! This lite a fire under me wanting to make sure I didn't lose that spot and hoping to catch second place.
       On lap six I spotted a rider ahead that looks like he might be the second place rider. It was hard to tell the solo riders vs those doing duo.  I was slowly making progress on him when he had to stop at the top of a hill for a break. I got ahead and knew that the race was starting to take his toll on him. He seemed to be able to stay with me after he stopped for a minute. I didn't want to slow down thru the start/finish area so he wouldn't get back ahead of me. This would turn out to be my undoing.

  My original hydration plan was the same as what I'd done in previous endurance events. A 70oz Camelbak of water and a bottle of infiniti drink mix only stopping every 3rd or 4th lap. After the first couple laps I realized it would be much quicker to just use the bottle. My wife was acting as pit crew for us and could pass a bottle off much quicker then me stopping to fill the camelback. Also by using mainly drink mix I could get all of my calories/electrolytes with worrying about eating. On the way down we had discussed how I suck at drinking from bottles while riding and the shock on the epic gets in the way when trying to get bottles back in a standard cage.  At the end of lap 6 my wife passed off a bottle to me like a pro. I took a drink and then tried to put it into the cage fumbling it into my foot. For some reason I brake, of course with the front since my left hand was the only one on the bars. Down I went straight into the course gravel and asphalt in the dumbest crash ever. I jumped up as quick as I could telling everyone running to help that I was OK. Ok is a relative thing, I could see that a big chunk of skin under my knee was ripped back and cuts covered my knee.  I was determined to not have another DNF in Danville and get a podium finish.

Bleeding but still rolling.

       My arm and knee were killing me and I could feel blood running down my leg but I kept pedaling.  The rider I had passed earlier had taken another break so I knew all I had to do was hold on for another couple laps and I would get my second place. The next couple laps were hard to focus but I pressed on being glad that the cutoff was 4:30pm and I wouldn't have to do another lap. I got my second place finish with 58miles in 5hr 38mins.

Yay a podium!

Allen came in 3rd in the Single speed class. They all were some crazy fast guys all getting in 9 laps.
















The "medic" on site helped me clean up the wounds on my knee and taped down the big chunk of skin that was ripped out. She said they probably couldn't do anything with stitches and should be ok. I had a feeling she didn't clean it out good enough and probably taping that skin back in was a bad idea. Sure enough two days later it looked terrible so I went to the urgent care place. It was infected and they cut the skin out and found gravel still in the wound. My knee is swollen and I'll be off any type of bike for a while and even longer before I'm back in the woods. Lessons learned, use side load cages and take my time. I have to give credit to my wife getting us bottles handed off so quickly. Without it I would have been 3rd or lower in the standings.