Shenandoah 100

So I figured on this rainy day I should probably sit down and write a re-cap of the race.

First thing I have to say is that this is a great race and I will most likely be heading back next year. The guys at mountain touring really know how to put on a race. Well stocked aid stations, great trail marking and some of the sweetest singletrack I have ever been on. So below is a recap of the weekend. Throughout the weekend they always seemed to have two kegs tapped. One was a local brew and the other keg was usually PBR.

Friday:
Leave for Stokesville about 6:30am. It was approximately a 10 hour drive. Once we found the campground we started looking for a site to set-up. The campground is very rustic, many of the sites are over grown. The campgound is only used on weekend per year. I strongly recommed that if you are staying in the campground get there early. Many of the sites need a 4 X 4 to gain access.

Saturday:
Wake up make some breakfeast. Wander around. The wife and I went on a short ride. Then I took off to climb what would be the first mountain of the race. Total pre ride time was about 3 hours. Came back to the campground and had dinner that was put on by the organizers. They fixed a real nice pasta dinner. Went back to the site and got my things together for the morning and chilled out. Went to bed around 9:00p, about a half hour later the skies opened up and it poured rain for about an hour. There was also another donkey that was blowing off an air horn every 15 minutes, this made it somewhat hard to sleep well.

Sunday:
Wake up call was at 5:00a. Got up, made coffee, and a breakfest of oatmeal. Got my things around and did a few other morning rituals then headed off to the start line for the 6:30a start. The start was an easy roll out we had about a 2 mile ride before we started to hit the first hill. The first climb started out on a paved road and shortly there after turned into a fire road. The climb took about an hour till you reached a ridge line that was filled with rock gardens that you rode along. Things got kind of packed and backed up in here. Next came the decent. This is where the true fun began. The first decent was through some sweet singletrack. It twisted and turned and was super fast. We then came out on a road for a little more decending and then we started to go back up.

The second mountain was only about 15 to 20% rideable. The second climb was all singletrack. Once you got about a mile into the climb the grade drastically increased and all you could see was a line of people walking their bikes up this hill. I seemed as if the top of the mountain was never going to be reached. Every time you went around the corner the climb would start to pitch back up. Once to the top again rode along a ridge line and into another super fast decent. This decent was awsome. There were 3 to 4 foot drops that you just sailed over. There were stream crossings that were at bottom bracket level. There were a lot of damaged bikes and wheels from this decent. The end of the decent droped you out onto a road for a little more decending and then back into climbing.

At the start of climb 3 was aid station 2. Here I refueled and prepared myself for #3. First part again started on road and then led into another fire road climb. This climb was 90% rideable, but was long and took a lot out of my flat lander legs. This is where things started to hurt a bit. Nutrition wise I felt good, but my legs were starting to feel heavy. There were never any areas of this race where you could spin the legs and flush some of the acid out. It seemed as if you were either climbing or decending. Again the climb ended into another super fast decent down sweet Va. singletrack. I did kiss the dirt twice downt this decent. This one ended at aid station 3.

I hung out at aid station 3 for about 15 minutes contemplating life and then decided to start out again. After about two miles on the road things started to pitch up again into climb #4. This sucker was steep, hard, and it hurt. I went to some dark places in my mind as I went up. Again ended in another super fast decent. This was the first decent of the day where I did not have fun. It seemed as if my whole body hurt. This spit me out at aid station 4, approximately 57 miles into the race. I had been on the bike for 8.5 hours at this time. I knew I was really close to being pulled due to time so at that point I decided to pack it in and end my day.

Overall I felt good about my performance. I was disappointed in not making the complete 100. I really don't know what I will do different next year. I might end up going with a larger gear so that I might be able to spin a bit more and keep my legs fresh. This was a great experience, a great race, and I will be back next year.

myroo