SM 100: One of Those Days

Have you ever had one of those days? Not the bad kind that you may be thinking of, but the really good kind that doesn’t come along very often. This is the first 100 miler that I ever had “one of those days”. Everything fell right into place, my nutrition was spot on and my spirits remained high throughout. On many training rides with team member Joe Fish, he often talks about how good he feels deep into these races, I can say I have never experienced this until this past weekend at the Shenandoah Mountain 100.

 The course had a re-route within the first 10 miles or so where a fire road climb was replaced by a singletrack climb (Festival Trail) that dropped onto a nice bit of ridge (Narrowback) followed by an awesome new downhill (Tillman West). There was much discussion leading up to the event exactly how the course would go, but I got some inside information prior to several pre-rides that these would be the trails used. Luckily, this intel was spot on and certainly made me feel more comfortable during the race. The pace was high during the undulating fire road that is the start of the course; no doubt this was in part due to the bottleneck that was sure to develop on this new singletrack climb. This new section is so awesome that is was worth the extra mileage and time it adds to the course, thanks to SVBC for making this possible.

 The pace seemed to let up once the group reached Tillman, we all settled into a pace line knowing Lynn was quickly approaching. I was in a group containing many of the usual suspects, many times I have pace lined with this group including Gordon Wadsworth and Eric Schofield. We kept a decent pace till hitting the base of Lynn; this is where things really started to split up. The wet rocks/roots made this climb a bit more difficult than normal. I walked more during the race then I have in any training ride this year. After descending Wolf, we all once again looked for a pace line for the long road section that lay ahead. The pace line was much thinner this time, but I was still able to catch a group which enabled a good pace into Aid #2.

 I pulled out of Aid #2 solo, which would become the theme for much of the rest of the day. Hanky came and went, Joe caught me near the top and we descended Dowells together. That is such an awesome downhill and I was really starting to feel good. Joe was having some gear issues so stopped at Aid 3 for a quick adjustment, so I soldiered on to 250 solo. I was able to hook up with another rider and we pace lined through a rain storm to the base of Road Hollow. Luckily the rain subsided by the time we hit the climb. My goal up Road Hollow was to stay on the bike as much as possible which proved to be difficult with the wet roots and rocks that line the singletrack. Once we hit the Braley descent I bombed past the other rider I had been following and was into Aid 4 before I knew it.

At this point, I was feeling great, even grinning from ear to ear as I set off to tackle the Death Climb. My spirits were the highest they had been, made even better by the awesome volunteers. I’m unsure how Chris Scott does it, but whatever he is doing to lure these volunteers year after year is an incredible feat. They really do make the race for all participants!! I was off to tackle the Death Climb.

The Death Climb came and went; this is a part of the race that I think everyone tries to forget. Coming down Chestnut is always an adventure. Luckily the rain from earlier didn’t dampen the trails too much and left the trail tacky and fast. Nearing the end of the descent, I lost focus and went down at a high rate of speed. A quick survey of me and my bike and I determined that all was well and continued on. When I made it to Aid 6, the volunteers (who were once again awesome!) told me I was in the top 15. I was shocked, I felt great but I had never been close to this position this late in a NUE race. This boost gave me the energy needed to crush the remaining climb. I finished in 15th place with a time of 8:14, besting my last SM 100 time by 45 minutes despite the longer course. I have worked closely with Michael Harlow from Endorphin Fitness all year and we have tracked my fitness gains, but I had never even imagined this kind of performance was possible. This is the first year that I have strictly followed a training plan, as you can see it paid off for me.

Once again, Design Physics had an awesome team presence at the SM. Despite the longer course, many team members rocked out solid times and several PRs.

David Reid: 8:14
Joe Fish: 8:28
Frank Yeager: 9:22
Jim Fisher 10:03
Jeff Plassman: 10:06
Tom Haines: 10:19
Dennis Throckmorton: 11:09
Paul Leeger 11:57
Dave Hardisky: 12:49

Return to PA and Looking for Redemption

I had a bad race at the Wilderness 101 last year due to illness. I woke up not feeling well and never really got over it. I was looking for some redemption on my return trip this season.

Joe and I rode up to Coburn and arrived in plenty of time for a nice pre-ride to spin the tight legs and generally stretch out. Arriving early also meant we had our choice of camping spots. Having a hammock this is always a concern since there are only but so many trees available. We luckily ended up in the same exact spot as last year with a good view of the entire park, not too far away from the port-o-potties in case you had to go in the middle of the night, but far enough away to avoid the stench. The night was uneventful with an early bedtime as usual. The park was fairly quiet which is always nice. 

Before long, Chris was ringing the gong signifying it was time to wake up. The normal routine of trying to get down as much breakfast as possible and checking to make sure everything on your bike is perfect was underway. Soon, we were toeing the line and waiting for the rolling start. I couldn’t help but appreciate the calm of this start, exactly the opposite of the XC races that have composed most of my schedule so far this season.

The first climb is always a big sort out and this year was no different. The climb is on some nice, wide fire roads and lasts about 20 minutes. I got dropped from the lead group but was able to catch back on with the help of the small chase group on the fast decent that followed. The first 50 miles of this course is mainly gravel with some climbs, mostly on the shorter side. I got into a good group and we seemed to be making quick work of the fire roads. I found myself feeling great after the first 50 miles as the course suited me with mainly big ring climbing.

The second 50 is where the race really starts. I dropped at mile 40 last year so the rest of the course was all new to me. I completed much of the final 50 miles solo which made it just a touch more difficult. The tough climb out of Aid 3 was just too much and the small group I had been riding with split up. The second half of the course contained the vast majority of the singletrack. The rocks of PA start to show their teeth a bit with the accumulation of singletrack descents really starting to hurt. The rocky singletrack featured in this race is really nice, State College is lucky to have such awesome trails. I was glad to be rolling on my Industry Nine wheels, the 96 points of engagement really help to get through technical rock gardens. The final descent, known as Panther Run, at around mile 95 is brutal. My Scott Spark performed very well through these rocky descents by my hands were still killing me by this point in the race and it was hard to squeeze the brakes. After this descent comes the “Fisherman’s Path”, which is really more of a hiking path through a small boulder field. I was ready to get back on the bike and really push it to the finish after this hike-a-bike. 

Overall I’m pretty happy with my results. After a disappointment last weekend, I’m glad to have finally pulled it together. With the focus of my season thus far being on shorter, XC races, I wasn’t sure how my body would react to an effort lasting 8+ hours. A huge thanks to Michael Harlow and Endorphin Fitness for providing the plan that helped me during this race. I’m very glad I went back to seek some redemption on this course. 

It was a good time with great friends Joe, Jeff, and Tom. The entire team finished within the top 50, pretty impressive considering this was Tom’s first 100 miler. Joe had some mechanical issues but still managed to finish 16th, I was 23rd, and Jeff posted a huge improvement over last year with his 24th place finish. Tom just made the top 50 with a 48th place. Great job guys, now keep it up as the SM is only a few short weeks away.

Check out Jeff's race recap:
http://plassmido.blogspot.com/2013/07/2013-wilderness-101.html

Link to a cool video from DirtwireTV:

http://dirtwire.tv/2013/08/wilderness-101-the-documentary-2/

Photos courtesy of Bob Popovich and Jeff Plassman. 

25th Annual Massanutten Hoo Ha

What a historic race celebrating its 25^th year of existence.  I have wanted to do this race for a couple years now and it just never worked out.  Finally, this season the XXC fit right into my training plan.  I have never ridden any of these trails so was curious about what was in store for me.

The morning started early with a 4:15am alarm.  Before long I was out of the house and on the road to meet Donna Miller to carpool from Richmond to Massanutten for the race start.  With the forecasted rain on Saturday night, I was glad we had opted not to camp the night before.  We arrived in plenty of time so everything worked out well.  We got registered and found a small group to warm up with and check out some of the trails and see what this week’s rains had done to the course.  They were damp, with some mud on the fire roads.  Unfortunately, I noticed some major tension in my headset, not a good sign of things to come!  I raced back to the car to try and alleviate the tension before the race start, but had no luck.

Before long we were all lined up and the race was off.  The lead group quickly settled and I found myself in the lead group of 10 or so.  I felt good through the opening fire road sections but realized my headset would be a big issue.  I was swerving from side to side as I fought to keep the bike straight.  Not good with all the rocky climbs and descents I knew laid ahead of me.  After the first 30 minutes or so, I think we really started to get into the meat of the course.  Stupid steep climbs would be the norm for the day.  I was disappointed to find so many hike a bike sections.  I know I’m not the strongest person out there and I’m sure others could climb some sections I was forced to walk, but having an XXC course where dismounting and walking is the norm just isn’t very fun for anybody. 

The rock gardens did not disappoint.  They were plentiful to say the least and the rain had left many of these rocks a bit slick.  It was extremely challenging for me when combined with the tension of my front end (which only got worse during the race).  I was really fighting my bike now and often found myself walking rock gardens which I would have normally blown through, very frustrating feeling to say the least.   I wrecked a few times and went over the bars on the ridge line, far from my normal riding style.  One bright point was the Schwalbe Racing Ralphs.  These tires rocked in the poor conditions we faced!  I’m glad I decided to switch to these tires this week.

After we finished the GW loop and returned to the park and at about three hours into the race for me, we joined back into the XC course.  The conditions were far tamer here, but I decided it just wasn’t safe for me to continue.  While reflecting a day later, I’m glad I made this decision.  Your bike really has to be working 100% correctly in order to complete one of these events, and I felt mine was dangerous with the lacking control in the front end.  So for me the race was really just a good workout with some nice climbs plus some good technical riding which are often times hard to find.  All in all, a decent training day out in the mountains but I can say I have no interest in returning to this race after the stupid long hike a bike sections.

Teamates Tom Haines and Todd Green both hung on to finish the course.  Congrats guys, you both rock!