This weekend was really good. On Saturday, Rob from Bikeline came to our house to stay before the Stoopid. We were able to ride from the house and show him some of the course, which was the last technical downhill to the finish. Got the bikes ready, ate dinner, and we all felt pretty good about tomorrow's race. Later that night, Jay and Cameron Dodge and some friends from Guy's arrived. Everyone was really excited for the race. We were able to tell them all the details about the course, and eventually got to sleep. It was really weird waking up so late, because our house is a 5 minute drive from the start. I was actually considering riding my bike to the start as part of a warmup. I didn't because I knew I wouldn't like the two hills on the way back. We got to the start and got feed bags set up and everything. It's a nice change seeing all the people that I know out there supporting the race and helping with the course.The race started good. I knew that I needed to get out in front early to avoid a big pile-up on 
the rock gardens in the beginning of the race. So I started at just under XC race pace, and gradually settled into a rhythem from there. Across a rocky ridge and down a really fun downhill to the first major climb of the day - Thickhead Mountain. This is one of the toughest climbs in the forest, and for people who don't know the road, it always looks like your at the top. But it just keeps getting steeper and steeper. Down the backside to the first aid station, then on some familiar rocky trails from last year's Stoopid. The technical Brush Ridge trail will take a lot of energy out of you if you don't know the lines, because it is always slick and the rocks seem to never end. Up a really steep wall, and then another fun downhill through Lingle Valley. Then up the Bear Gap climb -- a short, but very steep and rocky climb that is covered with moss and leaves. After that, there are even more rocks as you cross the ridge on Beautiful and Chicken Peter trails. Retrace your tracks back down the steep wall out of Brush Ridge, then a technical trail out to the paved road, where there is about 2.5 miles of gradual uphill to the next aid station. I stopped and got some food from my feed bag, and then I was on my way back up the other side of Thickhead. Jake caught me, and we rode together for a while until he gradually got out of my sight. I wasn't going to chase him because I knew that the final 15 miles were very steep, jeep road climbs. I made it through the climbs and got a bit of a second wind. Coming into the last 5 miles, I knew exactly where I needed to pick up my pace. Because the last 2 miles is a downhill too steep and rocky to pass on, I needed to pass as many people as possible on the climb up. My finish sprint started on one of the switchbacks with 2 miles until that downhill. People were looking at me like I was crazy, but I knew that once I got to the top, there wouldn't be any more pedalling the whole race. I got past a lot of people that I wouldn't want to follow down that trail, and passed 3 more on the last downhill. This was because 2 were walking. The one rider that I had to pass was really hard. I finished strong and less than a minute behind Jake, although I thought he would have killed my time. I kept thinking that Cameron was ahead of me the whole race, but it turns out that he wasn't. He had a good time for his first 50 miler. I ended up with 43rd overall, and with a time of 5:13. The course is faster than last year, but it was also much harder because the trails were rockier and there was much more climbing.
the rock gardens in the beginning of the race. So I started at just under XC race pace, and gradually settled into a rhythem from there. Across a rocky ridge and down a really fun downhill to the first major climb of the day - Thickhead Mountain. This is one of the toughest climbs in the forest, and for people who don't know the road, it always looks like your at the top. But it just keeps getting steeper and steeper. Down the backside to the first aid station, then on some familiar rocky trails from last year's Stoopid. The technical Brush Ridge trail will take a lot of energy out of you if you don't know the lines, because it is always slick and the rocks seem to never end. Up a really steep wall, and then another fun downhill through Lingle Valley. Then up the Bear Gap climb -- a short, but very steep and rocky climb that is covered with moss and leaves. After that, there are even more rocks as you cross the ridge on Beautiful and Chicken Peter trails. Retrace your tracks back down the steep wall out of Brush Ridge, then a technical trail out to the paved road, where there is about 2.5 miles of gradual uphill to the next aid station. I stopped and got some food from my feed bag, and then I was on my way back up the other side of Thickhead. Jake caught me, and we rode together for a while until he gradually got out of my sight. I wasn't going to chase him because I knew that the final 15 miles were very steep, jeep road climbs. I made it through the climbs and got a bit of a second wind. Coming into the last 5 miles, I knew exactly where I needed to pick up my pace. Because the last 2 miles is a downhill too steep and rocky to pass on, I needed to pass as many people as possible on the climb up. My finish sprint started on one of the switchbacks with 2 miles until that downhill. People were looking at me like I was crazy, but I knew that once I got to the top, there wouldn't be any more pedalling the whole race. I got past a lot of people that I wouldn't want to follow down that trail, and passed 3 more on the last downhill. This was because 2 were walking. The one rider that I had to pass was really hard. I finished strong and less than a minute behind Jake, although I thought he would have killed my time. I kept thinking that Cameron was ahead of me the whole race, but it turns out that he wasn't. He had a good time for his first 50 miler. I ended up with 43rd overall, and with a time of 5:13. The course is faster than last year, but it was also much harder because the trails were rockier and there was much more climbing.
2 comments:
Yeah I didn't want to kill it up that last climb because I didn't know how long it went on far. Without a computer to tell me how far I had gone I had no idea when the singletrack would start. I knew though that once I got to the last downhill that I was basically done
I barely made it through last year without a computer. I think the only thing that saved me was knowing the course. I couldn't imagine not having any idea where you were...
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