Earlier in the year I was moderately motivated for this race. But leading up to it and spending lots of time on some sweet singletrack, a road race on MTB didn't seem interesting. However, I was committed and going to see what the hell was going on up there.
Jane and I traveled up with another couple who was doing the race. We had a cabin rented that was 1 mile from the start line so that was nice. We hung out friday eve and settled in for our 10 am start time the next morning. This year there were about 1900 racers and probably 1000 of them had their bike saving their start position by 6am. Literally hundred of MTB upside down filling the street. I wasn't too stressed about the race and wasn't concerned about my start position. My game plan was just to ride and see how I felt.
In retrospect, if I get into the race next year, my bike will be on the start line at 5am to preserve a good spot.
We went out for our warm up and I was so-so. We rode the 3 miles to where the trail picked up and back. With 10 minutes to race I snuck in the middle of the 1900 and waited. Every other person I knew was much closer and Jack, the guy I traveled with was about 200 spots up the road. Looking around I got the sense that I needed to be futher up in the field. Hairy legs and older equipment do tell a story of the type of rider. As well as the guys who wear baggy MTB shorts. Nothing against those shorts, I own a pair and like them, just not in this type of race. They fired the canon to signal the start and we were off. I started passing people left and right. I was time trialing it and it was hard to find a consistently clear path. Several others had the same idea and I tried to recover on the wheels of people who were moving quick.
We hit rosie's field (the first trail section) and I get boxed in really quick. I soon found that riding way off the trail in the taller grass was much quicker than trying to snake through the middle of the trail with the faster surface. The first 5 miles was a real blur. I was just passing so many and trying to come over the tops of the climbs pedaling hard. The epic was allowing me to get on the far edge of the trail and just bomb the descents. I was flying by people who were on their brakes for traffic and the 29er full suspension was soaking up all the bumps due to my poor line. It was great. I was having a ton of fun in the beginning. Riding great and feeling good. I passed a La Crosse local at 12.5 miles in and at soon after I passed old man ralph heath. He's in his 60's and rides crazy strong for his age. He had great times from previous years and is always fast, so at this point I knew I was going good having just passed him 15 miles in - who knows where he started. At 20 miles I ride up on Jack. He sounded excited and surprised to see me. He is a great rider as well. We did a 50 mile gravel race together a few weekends prior and he dropped me with 10 miles to go. The two of us rode together for the next 10 miles. At times he looked stronger and at times I would ride away but he bridged up.
At 30 miles we hit the firetower climb. It's basically 4 pitches in elevation and several minutes long. It's steep, rocky and loose. Many people walk this section. I rode it good, not super fast, but good enough. I crested in front of Jack and OTF of the group we were riding with. The downhill involved high speeds and big sharp rocks. I was taking advantage of open trail and let the Epic rip that shit up. Unfortunately, my thin casing S-Works tires took a pretty good gash to my rear. I felt the familiar feel of a loose back end and quickly pulled over. Surprisingly, this is the first time I've flatted riding tubeless. I pulled out the CO2 and gave it hell. it took about 1 minute of me fussing around trying to get it sealed. It finally seemed good enough and I figured I'll just continue riding and see what happens. All told I think I was stopped for maybe 2 minutes. But realistically, it's hard to say how much time I lost. I rode up on and passed Catherine Walberg a few miles previous yet she finished about 3 minutes up on me. Who knows.
I mounted up and began picking off the people who I had passed nearly 30-45 minutes previous. I remember thinking "you again" several times. I stayed within myself with only 8 miles to go and no food. I could feel the cramps coming on and I needed to finish strong. A few miles down the road, I see the familiar jersey of Jack on the side of the trail. Flat. So I pass him back never to see him to the finish. With 2 miles to go I was bonking. I couldn't wait to reach the finish line. I always seem to run out of food or wish I had 1 more GU left in these types of races.
Down the ski hill I flew and crossed the line at 2:36:33. Based upon times from previous years my goal was to be around 2:45 so I nailed that one including a flat tire. Next year with a better start position and not coming off a broken leg 6 months previous I should break 2:30. My time this year was good for about 260th overall. 19th in the age group. I should crack top 200 if all goes well next year.
after the Chequamegon. Eating lots of donut holes and bananas.
Riding more Hayward singletrack the day after Chequamegon. We got rained on and had to turn around after 25 minutes or so.
