Race website
Race results
My Strava data
Ever since the beat-down I suffered last year (2012) at the Maximus Michaux 20 miler and Shenandoah 100 I made it my goal in 2013 to improve my mountain bike skills and endurance. I love tough/epic courses even though they aren't my strength.
Over the last two weeks everything in life aligned very well for me to make a great run at the Maximus 40 miler. There wasn't another race I wanted more than this one. My mountain bike skills are the best they've been. My fitness is the best its been. I was loaded up on sleep. And I feel full of the life that comes with peaking.
My Setup:
For nutrition I continue to go with Cerasport for hydration and Probar nutrition. I carry my spare tube, levers, and pump with my Backcountry Research - Awesome Strap. It totally works (take the time to adjust it correctly) and I recommend no one uses a saddle bag ever again (man i hate saddle bags!). If you are worried about your stuff coming loose and falling all over the place, well stop worrying. Get the right awesome strap for the location that you want (stem, seat post, seat rails, etc.) and go Awesome. Also, watch this video because its fun Awesome Strap baseball bat test. Every time I've crashed, the worst thing that happens is that my stuff has rotated some on my seatpost. I nudge it back to the ideal location and am back on it!
I continue to ride tubeless on my Stans ZTR Crest wheels. These wheels have been fantastic
For tires I chose Maxxis Ikon 2.20, with EXO sidewall protection at 590 grams. I trained on these tries all winter and spring. They survived 13 hours of Bakers Dozen. And it kinda feels like cheating since they are so light, but resilient. I was nervous about them at Maximus since it is the rockiest, most flat prone course on the planet! So I reduced my risk a bit and added 3 psi above my normal levels. That put my front tire at 24 psi and my back at 26 psi. Ya its high, but I really didn't want to flat. My teammate Patrick Blair rode his normal pressure with Ikons and he had no issues and won the SS, placing 4th overall on time!
The weather:
Everything was perfect all week. Race morning was chilly in the high 40's but ended up feeling perfect during the race. The course was in perfect condition.
Prerace:
I slept perfectly the night before. It seemed that nothing was going to stop me today. Then as Pat and I rode to the course I realized I forgot my helmet. CRAP!!! As soon as we get to the race site Pat recognizes people, asks for a helmet and I get to borrow this super light and awesome Specialized Prevail. The guy said apologetically "Its a small". I have a tiny head (see podium picture), jackpot.
The Race:
Brian Patton, Pat and I move to the start. They send the "Senior" geared guys off first and then thankfully call the single speeders up next. This gives us a chance to go after many of the faster geared guys and means the first climb won't be too cluttered.
We're off! Immediately a guy in mtb shorts and a loose shirt drills it. I figure he's some young kid that wants to be first into the single track. Good thing my legs are feeling amazing cause He, Pat, a guy with crazy amounts of hair, and I are flying up the mountain road. I can tell we are pushing it but my legs are saying "no problemo". My confidence is building.
We turn towards the single track. Last year taught me that this section is super important for making the selection. Its not very steep but goes on forever and is technical. I give the three studs in front of me some room and watch things unfold. They are all over the trail, running sections where they took a bad line. I don't put my foot down once and I feel like I'm riding completely within myself. Confidence at near max! Except it's still just 25 minutes into a 4 hour race ;)
At the first road section, Pat latches onto a Vet geared rider who has now caught us. He's flying and obviously out of my league. So I let them go. The loosely clothed SS'r and the ultra hairy SS'r semi-press after them but I'm pretty sure they aren't getting away so I stay on my pace (ah the advantage of confidence).
We travel through some winding technical trails. Again I'm doing very well and can see the motley two not far ahead. My handlebars are being squeezed at several tight tree-lined turns and I remember that I really want to trim some length off of them.
Out on a fire-road I close down on the two and see that Pat is away. I know what is coming next and I figure this might be the last time I see these guys. We are about to climb dead woman hollow, a pretty steep and long cat 3 gravely, non-technical climb. These kinda climbs are my strength. Even longer would be better :)
The loosely clothed guy drops back a little just before the climb. He is actually a very good rider. I think he is Montana Miller. But at the time, I didn't know that. The very hairy rider is "Topher". He's also a very good rider, but I didn't know that at the time either ;) I pass Topher at the base of the climb and we look at each other. He says something like "good stuff!". I say "All aboard the pain train!" and drill away from him. I look up the mountain and see Pat about 40 seconds ahead. We are both catching the spread out geared riders that started ahead of us. But he's climbing faster and I don't even consider trying to catch him. I know that I'm going plenty fast and Strava confirmed that later, listing me as the KOM until super stud Brandon Draugelis uploaded. Pat's garmin didn't list him for the segment otherwise he might have been the KOM.
By the top I've left Topher and Montana Miller far behind. I thought I was a lock for 2nd by this point since I still felt great. I just need to ride smart and hope that my bike holds up. Maximus and Montana and Topher still had plenty of tricks up their sleeves though. And we are only 1 hour into a 4 hour race.
I descended 3 mile trail, a super rocky (boldery!) downhill that just twists and turns and dives and rises for a long, long time. I still felt my skills were shinning but went down a few times with silly mistakes. At one point I hear a guy up ahead shout. I come around the turn and face some crazy technical stuff and go down. So I shout. Next time I'll heed the shouts of those who go before me. This thing is going on forever! and finally I'm out of that trail.
Something changed during that descent. My body feels heavy and I'm not cranking the pedals as effortlessly. Interesting. A descent has battered me this early? I shouldn't be so surprised since the hardest part of SM100, for me, was the final huge descent. But I'm surprised. I tell myself to relax and that the body will come back quickly.
In hindsight, the day after the race I realized that my rear wheel was not spinning well. Did I bust it on this section during one of my crashes? Maybe it was later on that I busted it. I'll never know if I was just tired from the big climb followed by a very taxing descent or if I was also fighting a bad wheel. But in the future I need to take a second and check my bike after I go down. I had thought that I had damaged my Crest rear wheel when I first blogged. But on further review the wheel had just shifted a little (despite the skewer being tight). So just a little skewer/wheel adjustment has fixed the spinning issues. I asked Danny Atkins (guru) about skewers and he recommends Shimano XT. He says he's tried tons of skewers and beside the ultra-expensive DT Swiss ratcheting skewers, Shimano are the best. Noted.
After some mountain road riding, the 40 miler and 20 miler split directions. I am entering new unknown territory. The trail started to get very raw, rocky, woody. The size of the rocks grew. I'm riding up rocks now, not over them. On a steep switchback I catch site of Topher and Montana Miller, they're closing on me quickly in this super technical stuff. When they catch me I try to hold wheels but they are riding stuff that I'm running. I didn't really panic. In fact I got pretty excited. "This is going to be a battle!" I thought, amazed that after 1.5 hours of racing the three of us are all together.
Unfortunately this rugged stuff didn't end after 3 miles, or 5 or 7. It just kept going. I suppose if those guys hadn't dropped me I'd be blogging how raw and awesome this was. But its costing me second place and I'm losing hope that the type of riding will change so that I can close the gap. In fact, I'm getting so tired from bumping into rocks and trying to stay upright that I'm not sure that I can match those guys anymore.
The miles pass and I ride with various people but in general I'm descending more slowly than the people around me. I really understand the advantage of dual suspension now. In fact, I was wishing I had a little less pressure in my front shock and tires. These are lessons that Michaux shouts at you loud and clear. I'm learning a ton and actually still having fun.
With 12 miles to go Cheryl "Churtle" Sorenson rips past me on a crazy descent. She started over a minute behind me, and I'm impressed. I can't hold onto her either but then catch her at the aid station. The trails are a little less mean and I feel pretty comfortable riding behind her. She's really really good at this ;)
We get mixed in with some geared riders. I leave them on the climbs. They leave me in the rocks. And I'm getting tired. I can tell we're getting near the finish because no one is giving an inch. I go down and loose them and again the fatigue is stomping down on me. On a descent I see Montana Miller on the side of the trail, frustrated over a mechanical. I've moved back into 3rd among single speeders but feel sad for him. He was awesome out there.
I start to recognize trails from the finish of the 20 miler and know that I'm also almost done. There isn't anyone to race anymore and I just dig deep up the final long climb.
At the finish I'm super happy. Despite the struggles, this is Michaux and I've achieved what I had trained to do. I rode well enough to race with some great Michaux riders. I just couldn't seal the deal. But man, I finished 3rd in the SS division and was really proud. I've come a long way since the Maximus Michaux 2012 20 miler where I finished 5th in the geared division.
I'll post pics of my setup soon.
