The first big race of the year and my first time doing this classic.

I chose to solo, which meant as many 6.5mi / 1000ft ascent laps I could get in before 6:30 was up. The course was fairly brutal in terms of a “marathoner.” As is typical of Oregon (at least in my neck of the woods) trails, it was constant action. Downhill, uphill, sharp turns, no flow, roots, rocks. Honestly, I feel more tired after 5.5hrs of this than I did following Leadville. Super beat in every cell of my body.

The constant action also meant little to no time to fuel. While the teamed up riders had breaks in which to get what they needed, us solo riders’ day is more about making it to the finish than going particularly fast, and keeping your body fueled is the name of that game.

Adding to the difficulty of finding time to fuel was that laps were an odd length (45 minutes at my pace). I typically want a bottle and a bar per hour. With such an odd lap length I either needed to carry too little or too much. I opted for too little and may have become a little dehydrated, but nothing too concerning.

I didn’t take the race too seriously and trained through it so I was pretty tired pretty early. While that resulted in me not placing as well as I could have (got 14th – could have nabbed 13th had I opted for another lap at the end, but I think I made the right decision to call it a day and enjoy a beer — also glad I was able to convince the two guys just behind me to not do another lap because that would have forced me to beat them), it also meant it likely had a much better training effect.

This was my first proper ride on my new wheels too. I picked up a set of carbon hoops from Light Bicycle laced up with some blingy spokes and Onyx hubs. The hubs are noteworthy because they use a sprag clutch as opposed to a traditional pawl design. This adds a bit of weight, but halves the [already minuscule] internal friction in a hub, provides infinite engagement, and is silent! I must admit the silence is the coolest part. If you’ve ever freewheeled through the woods, the soundtrack you’re afforded is the clicking of your hub. With this, the soundtrack is nature and the whoosh of tires. Super zen shredz, bruh! The setup performed well and happily released my chain when I sucked it in once (Eek! Yes, I did replace my stretched chain the night before the race and completely f’d up my derailleur tune). The price was amazing for what I got too. Assuming they hold up, which the reviews seem to say they will, I’ll definitely be getting future hoops from these folks.

I had a lot of Bicycleattorney.com teammates out there, but somehow didn’t see many (only two) during the race. Nobody came home with hardware, but everyone had a blast and nothing was broken, and that’s more important than some dinky hardware to collect dust with.

A+ good day on the bike (just wish I could have seen more of the scenery – Mt. Hood was the backdrop and it was hugely visible if you didn’t have your head down looking at trail all day). Would ride again.

[GPS] [Results]

Here’s a good video of the event from last year. The bit at the end couldn’t be more true; the vibe of this event and marathon mountain biking in general is outstanding. You’re really racing against yourself and it’s a shared long day out there for all… super mellow and friendly.