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My five hours of hell, courtesy of Michaux (14 posts)
|  My five hours of hell, courtesy of Michaux | kendog
Apr 28, 2003 11:15 AM | | Sunday, dark, early, bleary eyed. What's that noise? Beep, beep, beep.. Oh crap, it's the alarm.4:30. Time to get up.
I am meeting a friend of mine who is racing too at 5:00. I (the navigator) missed our exit and had to endure non-stop ridicule for the next 20-minutes, but that didn't dampen my spirits. I was pumped up for this race.
We arrived by 7:00 and burned about 2 hours worth of nervous energy before starting the race at 9:00. I knew the trails were technical and I wanted to get a good start so I didn't get stuck in a lot of traffic. I went out in a tight lead group of about 10 people, and avoided most of the traffic. The plan worked very well, but after about 45 minutes of abuse from rocks, hills and my fellow competitors, I new I had to back off.
This was the first time I ever used a heart rate monitor in a race and the news from it was not good. I was pretty much maxed out with my HR in the 170's and 180's. There was no way I was going to be able to sustain this for 4-5 hours so I had to back off. I forced myself to slow down and my heart rate dropped through the 160's into the 150's good. Unfortunately, I was going up a fire road climb and I got passed - a lot. Sometime around this point some guy on a single speed passed me. I immediately passed him back on the downhill, and, of course, he passed me again on the next climb.
The course turned into some single track and started heading down. I had the ss'er good this time. I caught him and passed while my Superlight worked to make everything silky smooth. I love this bike, doubly so because I raced a rigid single speed last year. I wouldn't see the ss'er again. The final part of the descent was a wet muddy stream bed. This sucked, I got soaked to the bone and covered in mud.
The middle of the race was fairly non-eventful. I ground the pedals in circles and searched for the finish line. Somewhere near the mid-point of the race I got passed by a guy that reminded me a lot of Ned Overend. We chatted for a minute or two and then he pulled away from my up one of the few gravel road climbs on the course. Then some woman from the Trek-Volkswagen Team passed me. I swear, she was about as scrawny as they come and probably had a 16" waist. She looked like one of those walking stick bugs and she pulled away from me easily. Oh well..
In a couple of miles the course turned back into the woods and rocks. The trail was hideous rock strewn single-track with everything from baby-heads to boulders. Now it was my turn, Ned. In very short order I caught and passed the Ned look-a-like as he walked through one of the many rock gardens. I exchanged greetings and moved on. I don't know how long that stretch lasted but it was probably a mile or two. Low and behold as I popped out of the woods guess who's 10 yards in front of me? The Trek girl. There wasn't anything I could do about it right then(bear in mind she WAS in my class so this was for position). I made a mental note that she wasn't strong in the rocks as I watched he disappear up a steep jeep-road climb. I looked back, but I didn't see Ned heh, heh.
Shortly, we turned back into the rocks. This time there's a descent. Short of going to a freeride or DH bike, I don't think you could find a better descender than my Superlight. I let it go. I caught and passed the Trek girl and never saw her again.
I am a very good technical rider and descender, but to say some of the downhills were hairy is an understatement. One or two of them truly terrified me, but I rode them all.
More slogging and suffering, and I found myself in another battle for position. I had been trading spots or at least riding closely with another rider since very early in the race. I notice that like Ned and the Trek girl, I am making a lot of time on him in the technical stuff and giving up time (only a little in this case) on the smoother fire roads.
I'm climbing a rocky technical section of trail with him and one of the expert women. I thought we were getting to the end of the course and decided to make my move. I passed them both and began the descent. There was no reason to hold back and I was actually feeling really strong at this point. This was probably because I forced myself to relax early on and bring my HR down. Unfortunately, I was out of water. I sucked vainly on the bite valve but there just wasn't anything left. Not to worry, in 30 minutes this will all be over. It's time to put the hammer down and get some time on this guy in case there are any more fire roads.
Well, I misjudged. I probably had 12-15 miles left and the last part of the course was tough. I passed a lot of sport and beginner riders pushing their bikes through the many rock gardens. Luckily, this favored me, and I enjoyed riding the rocks. A little push, shift the weight, heave and I'm through. After about 45 minutes of pushing, shifting and heaving, though, I was starting to feel a little haggard and a lot thirsty. Amazingly, my body was resonating, and I felt great. I desperately wanted to be done with the race, but I was strong. I picked up the pace.
At last, I burst out of a tree line and there was the fire road that I'd started on so long ago. Ah, what a welcome sight. There's a rider up ahead. Is he in my class? Am I being chased? Don't know. I hit the big ring and mash the pedals. I feel so good I still have a freaking sprint! I take a quick look behind, but there is absolutely no one there, and I'm still to far away to catch the guy in front of me. It doesn't matter anyway, he's not in my category. At least I can finish in style looking strong.
It's finally over, 5 hours and 17 minutes! I've ridden several races including the Wilderness 101 and 12-hours of Lodi (solo) but the Monster XC loop at Michaux is the hardest course I have ever done. Harder than Gambrill, Greenbrier or the Watershed. I can't believe anyone was sadistic enough to make a course like that, and I can't believe I was warped enough to ride it.
My final posting was only 20th out of 29 entrants, but with several pro's and experts (like Eric Roman the insane single speeder) in the same category I'm not surprised. Frankly, I'm proud to have finished, and 5 hours for 40-miles of east coast single track is pretty darn good. Kudos to the folks at Gettysburg Bicycle and Fitness for making an outstanding race course and doing an excellent job of organization and support. I'll be back next year! |
| Very Nice. | Bikebreath
Apr 28, 2003 11:42 AM | | I've ridden with you, [ of course YOU know that, but others don't] and we both ride the technical stuff at Gambrill and find it fun. So, when you say Michaux scared you it made my eyebrows raise.
It's 2 hours from home and I've never made it up there for a fun ride. I know now I'll never race it. Still I'd like to see that mess of rocks.
Nice going at the race and I really enjoyed it through your eyes. Sounds like the Superlight will be what I will see you ridding next time we cross paths.
Bb, ( ...and Ken is going back NEXT year.[!?!?!?]) |
| Very Nice. | kendog
Apr 28, 2003 12:15 PM | | Yes, I will be going back next year. If I do the long loop I would like to be a little faster. Otherwise, I'll do sport.
It's worth the drive sometime. You should really check it out. |
| nice... | Allroy
Apr 28, 2003 12:09 PM | | how can something so hard & insane be so fun? |
| re: My five hours of hell, courtesy of Michaux | chunk
Apr 28, 2003 12:10 PM | | Nice write up. I had pretty much the same experience, just add on a whole bunch of mechanicals curtesy of a batch of bad tubes (broken stems) and missing a turn. I still finished in ~ 5:30.
This is the fourth year I've raced at Michaux. It's always been one of the hardest races of the year.
Anyone doing Greenbrier this weekend? |
| I'll be at Greenbrier | kendog
Apr 28, 2003 12:19 PM | | Sorry to hear about your trouble. I'll be at Greenbrier. I have a green Superlight which may very well still be muddy. Introduce yourself. What're you racing? I'm doing sport. |
| I'll be at Greenbrier | chunk
Apr 28, 2003 12:33 PM | | I'll probably be racing Vet Expert if I'm there. Maybe the Enduro if I'm feeling spunky. I'm doing the MORE trail work day in the GW the day before and I'm often worked over from that.
I ride a grey Soulcraft with a red Manitou. |
| Impressive! | albob
Apr 28, 2003 12:53 PM | | That was a very interesting writeup and an impressive time for that race.
I was in the Vet sport class and it took me around 3 hours to do the 21 mile race. What tires did you end up using and did you like the way they worked for you? I ended up using Fire XC pros in 2.1 and thought they handled everything pretty well. They got packed with mud in some parts but other than that they were fine. |
| Impressive! | kendog
Apr 29, 2003 5:03 AM | | I also used the Fire XC Pros. I didn't end up thinking about my tires at all during the race, so that means they did well. I did find myself intentionally running through the deepest part at a stream crossing or two to wash some of the mud out, though. |
| Why wait til next year? | creekboy
Apr 28, 2003 5:54 PM | | We will be offering up another healthy dose of beeyatch-slappin' beatdown at The Curse of Dark Hollow on July 20th. This is the REAL baddy. A godforsaken brute of a course. The climb up Yellow Hill and down Talus Trail across Beelzebub down Sting up Hike-A-Bike Hell, back down Methodist Hill into Canada Hollow and back up the Rockadero is callous brutality personified. It's actually downright irresponsible to offer up a Monster Loop at The Curse. Really. That thing's had more than one brave warrior lapping up bilge from giardia-laced cesspool, going fetal and crying mommy in mid July.
YOU WANT THAT COURSE! YOU NEED THAT COURSE!! YOU CAN'T HANDLE THAT COURSE!!!
But, for pure unadulterated singletrack glee, especially for the masochistic type, it can't be beat. Wildcat to Abigail Trail, Loon, Skunk, Ant, and Lollipop are the undisputed champs of pure singletrack in Central Michaux. Makes Michaux Maximus look silly. This race is my personal favorite. And on the bright side, it won't be muddy. Just a little warm and kinda humid.
Now, after you've done The Curse, you'll never dream of comparing the Watershed, Greenbriar (wtf) or god help us Lodi Farm??? with Michaux. Salty Cat-A-Nine Tails at 2 paces my boy...
And another thing. When somebody calls me a sadist, I get warm fuzzies all over. Gotta go, some kittens buried up to their necks in my back yard are meowing for my Lawn Boy.
Hey BikeBreath, you bearded buzzard, you stay the hell outta Michaux! Got no time for old goats. Tired of burying the bodies..... |
| what... | Allroy
Apr 29, 2003 5:23 AM | | I thought this was the Curse of Dark Hollow race? Damn right THIS is the a$$kicker course! |
| No, no, no, my friend.... | creekboy
Apr 29, 2003 7:35 AM | | you have it all wrong. The Curse of Dark Hollow is on July 20th in Central Michaux (at the Big Flat parking area off Arendtsville-Shippensburg Road) This will be the eighth edition of The Curse and on average, the Expert/Pro loop at the Curse has been consistently MORE difficult than the expert loop at Michaux Maximus. The Monster XC will be a beast....but, we plan on having a support station (in addition to H20 stations) about 2/3rd's of the way through. Water, gel packs, powerbars, dancing girls, full bar, the hurdy gurdy, sag wagon to cart the lost souls, maybe a hearse? Somewhere in the vicinity of Canada Hollow. It is evil in the Hollow.
There is also The Terror of Teaberry on September 21st in Southern Michaux. Haven't finalized that course yet, but traditionally The Terror has been less demanding (relative of course, everything in Michaux requires mad skizwills). However, I do believe the Monster Loop at The Terror will more than suffice. There is some tasty stuff down south...oh the nectar.
See you there. |
| No, no, no, my friend.... | barbecuedcats
Apr 29, 2003 8:07 AM | | Hey Creekboy,
Are the results done? I'd like to know how I did?
Fondly,
Cats |
| I'm working on it... | creekboy
Apr 29, 2003 9:04 AM | | not right now, actually, I'm working (sorta) but I have been working on it. The slop makes for some unreadable tearaways so I have to cross reference tearaway numbers with registration forms to get names and categories. Pain in the arse but a good excuse to hang in the barn with my results board, my laptop, and a six pack or three (my only friend(s) depending on how much I'm drinking) I'll post them on the shop website and send them to mountainbikeRACER.com when I'm finished. Lotsa pictures on mountainbikeRACER.com already.
By the way, you finished right behind these two warriors...no shame there, these dudes are hammers. |
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