Monday, June 10, 2019

Mohican 100k 2019


Sorry I'm a little slow to get this posted. I was waiting for more event pictures to be posted, hoping I was in at least one of them, but somehow I was not in the right place or the right time. I only have a couple pictures where part of me made the shot.

This year I didn't do the 100 mile version. I decided to take it "easy" and to the 100k. I am signed up for Lumberjack 100 and didn't feel like doing two 100 mile races 2 week apart. As it got closer to the race I was very thankful for this decision. Life has been busy and I have not been riding as much as I should be and I was taking longer than expected to snap back from my efforts at PMBAR. My last ride the week before the race had me feeling that maybe I was turning the corner, but I was sure I would still be struggling more than I could be.


After a long day of driving through construction traffic I was ready to get there. I got away a little later than I had hoped and the drive took a little longer than expected, but somehow I ended up getting there about the right time to check in and join the pre-ride group. I tried to take it easy and loosen the legs up but not do a bunch of damage. I felt like I rode well enough, but when we were done with the ride, my Garmin said my recovery time was 24 hours. That is not good!! I don't have that long before the start of the race and that is some of the higher numbers I have seen. Maybe I really did need to be worried about how bad I was going to ride. After the ride I got cleaned up and we headed out for a bite to eat. I tried to not stay out too late, but ended up heading back to the motel later then I should have, but could have been worse. 

I made sure everything was ready for the next morning and got to bed as early possible. I actually slept pretty well, but a little more time would have been nice. I headed down to the lobby to get some coffee and check out breakfast. It was not exactly what I wanted, but close enough that I decided to eat stuff there and not get out what I brought to eat. I was ready earlier then normal and soon enough I needed to put the finishing touches on my pregame setup and headed out the door to meet the rest of the group in the parking lot. The little ride in to town doesn't take very long and really is not enough to be a good warm up, but I was not going to do any more than that.

We kind of pulled up along the side of the pack. It was a little farther on the side then I normally would have gone, but it was closer to the front than if I would have went all the way to the back. Once the race starts, it will be all spread out pretty quickly anyway. After all the announcements we were finally ready to get underway. It seemed like we got there kind of late, but it still took a little while before the race was actually started. Then they said go and we were off down the road.



The start out of town is always very congested. There are a lot of racers starting at the same time. Everyone wants to get in a good area that will work for them. It is really hard to tell where you need to be in this group. The pace is usually pretty peppy and all the adrenaline it can be pretty nerving. I tried to settle in to what the pack was doing. I wanted to move up as far as I could with out over doing it. The climb out of town is one of those places that I can push it too hard and hurt myself more than I want this early in the race. I have my own pace of warming up that helps me have a good day and if I go too quickly I can have a pretty bad day. 

I was feeling pretty good up the hill and once I was over the top I looked for any wheels that I could hop on to keep my pace up. I did a little leap frogging from wheel to wheel trying to hold on, but most of the people ended up going too fast for me. Once I am all by myself my speed slows way down. I made my choice to ride a bike with one gear and what gear I choose also makes some choices for me. I am not really that good at spinning a real high cadence, so unless I am on a wheel I really find it hard to keep a fast spin going too long. As we made the turn to gravel I found myself starting to move forward.


At this point I had lost a lot of places on the road. I felt like I was farther up than previous years, but it is really hard to tell. After watching a video heading in to the woods, it lets me know that I am a lot farther back that I really should be. But, it is too late to do anything about that now. All I could do is just keep moving forward the best pace that I could and try to get by anyone who was not going the pace I wanted to go. I was feeling pretty good for the early trail section of the race. As you can see from the picture below, I spend a lot of time in a conga line early in the race. I had to just take a deep breath and turn the pedals over slow enough to not run in to anyone. I was doing pretty well at this, but there were times that I really wished I could go just a little faster. I was geared pretty low, but not as low and slow as Eagle is.


I really wanted to move up. I figured I was not the only one. I did my best to find good places to pass and I asked nicely to get around. I did not want to force anything since it would make the other person mad and it would just hurt me more than needed. I did dig deeper than I wish I needed to for a couple passes, but they were much needed. Most of the time was when I was a gap in front of the rider in front of me.

This first trail section is a lot of fun. I was really enjoying the ride and feeling pretty good. I kept trying to drink often and even eat some. When I rolled in to the first aid station it felt like I was drinking more than previous years. I stopped to top off my one bottle, ate a small container of pickles, most of a Honey Stinger gummy package and  then off I went. I ended up back in some traffic for this next section. I tried to take my time and not force passes, but eventually I needed to start moving forward. There was a guy behind me that helped talk me in to it, and off we went. We kept moving forward pretty well then hit the road.

Right before the start
photo credit: Alyssa Broner
I made sure and eat some more and drink as I rolled down the road and through the covered bridge. The next section after that I knew had a good climb or two. Before the race I told myself it would be ok to walk that section to save my legs. The guy that was keeping me motivated to move forward didn't want to go around me before the woods and once we were in the woods again, I was quickly back in some traffic. This section have some seep switch back sections that I dug pretty deep to ride. It was hard going so slow, but I didn't want to get off and walk and risk the chance that more riders would pass me. I was wanting around the ones in front of me and didn't need to go the other way.

Once we got of to the upper area, the speed picked up. I was riding the tight corners a lot better than a few in front of me and it didn't take me long to get around and have some clear trail. I was doing pretty well for a little while. I could hear the heckle group at the water bar as I neared that area. It was kind of crazy to hear them and wondered what kind of craziness was ahead. Once got passed the trail crossing, the next section has more rocks and is a little more technical. It didn't take me long to find another conga line. I was now working harder than I should be just to go as slow as the riders in front of me. I made a few passes, but they were hard to come by with how the trail was.



I guess I was getting a little frustrated with the lines and I came around a corner and saw a bunch of carnage. There was a really steep hill and a lot of people off a pushing. I am not sure what made me do it, but I saw a line in the middle and hit it full speed. I grinded up the middle and made if over the top. I passed at least 10 people right there where they were all off a pushing. I felt on cloud nine. That was awesome!! But, then almost as quickly as that I felt that, it hit me, that really hurt. I think I just burned a whole book of matches. Not the smartest idea this early in to the race. I just found a groove and kept turning the pedals over until I could recover a little and then pick the pace back up some.

I was really wanting to ride the water bars this year. I mean, who wants to get off in front of a large group? Well, as I turn the corner toward the muddy parts, the guy in front of me goes right over the bars. I had to stop and put a foot down. I alternate between riding and dabs for the next short section before being able to get fully moving again and out of the trail. I made the next turn off of the road, grabbed more food and drink and started climbing. It was not a super steep hill, but big enough. I passed a couple people and was feeling good. That was right up until I hit the muddy climb section. I forgot about this part. It was too steep and muddy for me to worry about trying to ride. I just got off and started pushing, just like everyone else I could see.

I was pushing pretty well and felt fairly good once I was going again. The down hill on the other side was a lot of fun, well that was right up until that very last corner. I came around a bend and there were a couple root drops. I went over the first one and my front wheel sucked right into the mud. Over the bars I went and I landed right in a big mud hole. I came up covered in mud. I tried to clean myself up and kept moving. Just a short section later I was back on the road trying to keep going the best I could.
Photo credit: Stephanie Austin
There is a lot of grey areas in this part. I had good areas and some not so good areas. I would hop on wheels when I could, but mostly I was spending all my time just moving forward as what ever pace my bike wanted to go. Eventually I hit the second rest stop. I filled a water bottle, ate a little more food, drank some pickle juice, coke and tried to clean myself up a little. I made a quick trip to the bathroom since they had one. At this rest stop I saw Cooper still there. I could not believe I saw him, either I was doing better than normal or he was maybe struggling some or maybe somewhere in between. He left before I did, but said I would catch him. I was less confident.

The section out of this rest area is always tough. You have the one really big gravel climb and if that's not bad enough, when you are done with that there is another one just ahead. The legs were heavy and I just kept trying to move forward. That is always my mantra, just keep moving forward and you will get there. I played some yo-yo with a few people here and some wheels I could grab on to help me go faster. I was not climbing super fast, but I was climbing. I knew when I made the turn in to the one gravel road that I was heading up to the zip line area. This area is never easy for me. The trails are steep, hard, rocky and always wet.

In one of the areas that the trail switches back on to itself, I could see Cooper. It was hard to tell if I was really gaining on him or not. I was not sure how much trail was between us. The few people I was around at this point was good to work with. Most of us went similar paces and went back and forth for this whole section. I was really feeling it, but I had felt a lot worse in this section before. I knew it was a long way to aid 3 and just tried to be patient. There was one section where everyone was pushing up a steep hill and I could see Cooper near the top. He was still ahead of me, but I felt like I was getting closer. I pushed it through the grass in to aid 3. It is easy to go a little harder with all the people there cheering. It may not be good for the legs, but I couldn't help myself.

photo cred:Tammy Bushong
I saw Cooper in the aid 3. I went about my business trying to keep moving. I filled up my bottles, got some more pickle juice and coke (not good when drank too close together). I ate and took care of myself as good as possible and got out of there. I left before Cooper was done and I figured maybe that would make the difference. If I could get out of sight, then maybe he wouldn't push as hard. Well, that thought didn't last too long as he came rolling up behind me on the road where the 100 milers join back in. We were together when we started up the big climb. We both got off and walked for a little bit, he was just a little bit ahead of me and got back on the bike where I couldn't.

The gap grew a little, but he was not too far ahead. He stopped and took a beer hand up from Kenny, so when he came out to be I could not resist. It was not really that great of beer, but at this point it tasted pretty dang good. Cooper had a pretty good gap on me now and with the legs hurting I figured some beer was the last thing they needed. We both got back on a riding for the second half of the hill. He was still up ahead, but it didn't seem too far. That was until he went over the top of the hill. Once I got there and over we was pretty far ahead. Then over the next hill he was gone. Well, I figured that might be it. I figured he had to be hurting and I kept pushing the best I could. Somehow I bridged the gap enough that I could see him ahead.

I kept getting closer and eventually we were back together. We rode together for the rest of the road/gravel section. My legs were really feeling it. They were very heavy, but thankfully they had not cramped yet or shown signs of doing so. I was happy when I saw the road. I knew we were getting close to the home stretch. Along the next road, around and down the hill then under the bridge. I figured there was really no reason to stop at aid 4/5. I had everything I needed and should be able to limp home. I also figured that if I stopped, Cooper would not and leave me. I was starting to wonder if we would hold it together till the end and have to race for the finish.


Right before we got the aid 4/5 someone said smile your on camera. Well that was the wrong thing to say to me. I pulled up and road a wheelie the best I could. The things I do for a camera (anyone have that footage?). I then kept rolling toward the trail. I was trying to see who was going to go first. It seemed like no one was jumping, so I went. I figured if I'm in the front then I can go my pace. This can also be bad and cause me to go a little too hard and finish blowing my legs up. The first climb was really hurting. I could really feel that silly wheelie. The thought even crossed my mind that I just lost the race between us because of it. Legs were heavy and feeling bad, but I kept riding. There was another little steep climb and I heard him spin out. I made it up the climb and kept going.

My legs were hurting, but figured I needed to keep pushing the pace and see if I had a gap. I kept moving forward the best I could. Being so close to the end and the feeling of being chased had me with a little more energy. I put my chips on the table and was going all in. I thought possibly his legs were hurting more than mine on the climbs, so every climb I pushed just a little more than I wanted to. I was running scared and on the gas (well what gas was left at this point, but it felt wide open). There was a spot around a corner that I could see behind me. I didn't see him, but a little later I could hear him. Not really sure how far back he was and knowing we had a little bit of road to the end I was not sure if I could hold him off.

As I went through the camp ground and down the road I was happy to be done. I took a look over my shoulder one more time and didn't see the shadow I had been running from and knew I had it. I didn't know what I had, but it sure was a lot of fun actually racing down the home stretch. I rolled across the finish line at 6:23 and ended up in 12th place SS. Cooper came in just a little behind me and it was great hanging out and talking about the day over a couple beers and watch the other racers roll in.

Congratulating Misty of a great ride
photo credit: Jason O'Bradovich
This finish I also broke the top 100 in the over all. Nothing that spectacular to a lot of the racers, but if felt pretty good to me. The last time I did the 100k race here I finished in 7:33 and that was on a geared bike. For coming in to this race with weak legs and having no expectations, I am very happy with my result. Taking over an hour off of my last time feels like a big deal to me. It leaves me with some hope that I might be able to break the 6 hour mark if I can come in to this race in a little better condition. I also think I need to be able to push a bigger gear. The amount of time I lost at the start is just way too much, then to have to ride in the conga lines as much as I do. there has to be 24 min. in there somewhere.I really need to be able to break the 6 hour mark to feel like I can actually compete in my class. I need to take that 30 min off my time just to get in the top 10 SS. That may not be competing to most, but the time gaps for several of them are pretty close and I would think at that point anything could happen.

SS winners
After getting cleaned up, a few more beers and getting a bite to eat, it was starting to rain. I was really feeling the effects of the day and all the beer on top of that so I figured it was time to head toward the motel before I got too bad. I hung out for a little but, but honestly I was crashed out much earlier than I figured I would be. It was still a great weekend and I had a lot of fun riding and hanging out with all my biking friends. Hopefully I will see you at Lumberjack.

100 mile winner Dylan Johnson getting interviewed

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