Well midweek reality really hit hard! I entered the Shenandoah M100 last Saturday is a fit of enthusiasm (possibly lubricated by a couple of beers) and was pretty psyched and excited right until Wednesday.
Then I did my usual night ride with George (and Todd joined to make up a happy threesome - oo er). Ride went spectacularly! Todd lead on some trails I'd never ridden - pretty technical and I had a complete blast, 10 happy fast miles. Enjoying the usual post-race libation and conversation turned to the SM100, both George and Todd were adamant that Shenandoah on a SS was a REALLY BAD IDEA! These guys know MTBing so I was spooked!
Well I hooked up with another friend also doing SM100 to travel down together and by the time we got to the Stokesville campsite the butterflies in my stomach were not so much fluttering but trying out advanced formation aeronautics! Having registered (including dropping a light to be picked up at feedstation 5 if I arrived after the 4:20 pm cut off) and got all our stuff nice and early I had a few hours daylight to make sure the faithful old 29er Monocog was in tip top condition for Sunday's adventure. Swapped out front brake blocks, cleaned the rims with rubbing alcohol and switched out the pedals that have been giving me aggrivation for the past two weeks and my baby was in the best shape she has ever been, and I was as prepared and relaxed as possible.
Early to bed (campsite was silient by 10:30pm - good job race director) and then early to rise, roused by gongs and fireworks at 5 am (bet the locals loved that). Stumbled round for a bit in the dark, it was cold but not too cold so just shorts and a summer jersey were spot on. A quick breakfast of begel and banana and soon it was 6:20 and time to head for the start to see if we could catch a glimpse of Landis and Eutough - No luck.
In the mirk at 6:30am the gun went off and the expected mad sprint got underway. The first few miles are on decending or flat asphalt, no place for a SSer when the packs adrenalin is peaking to bursting point. I was spat out the back like a bullet! Within about 5 minutes I was pretty much all by myself tootling along at about 15 mph, with the occasional late starter blasting past at about 25 mph! Bit disheartening. First tight lefthand turn (about 1.5 miles in) and some poor bugger already has his bike upside down by the roadside fixing a flat - it will be a long day for a lot of people.
The long (and I mean long) and short of the Shenandoah M100 is that it is a story of five climbs/decents that vary in length and intensity but follow a similar pattern. Paved flat, followed by paved incline which turns to steeper fire road, steeper forest double track then steep technical single track. Then sketchy steep rocky, rooty and loose decent turning into fast, fun sweeping forest single track. Few logs and water crossings thrown in for good measure to catch out anyone not paying attention.
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In my estimation pretty much all of the course is ridable - if you were just riding a section of the course as a normal ride - but in the context of a 100 mile epic ride most of the steep technical inclines were "walk ups" for me. The decents were likewise perfectly ridable but their sheer length made them a challenge (especially on a rigid fork!) by the end of the decents my forearms and shoulders were just about cramping. Every section of the course hurt different bits of my body - lungs and quads on the climbs, calves on the hike-a-bike sections and shoulders forearms on the decents. Trick seems to be to try and stay relaxed and rest the bits that were not being tortured at that specific point.
The big climbs (34-39 miles and 65-80 miles) took their toll physically and mentally but the hardest climb for me was the short final climb at 92-94 miles. I thought it was all over! I was past the final aid station and cruising on the asphalt when - bugger me, the course took a right turn back onto steep fireroad! Absolute misery! As I crawled up this section I edged up alongside another rider. Trying to be cheerful I managed to pant out " Hi! How's it going, nearly there now!" The other rider turned his head to me and looked like a man only just holding on to his sanity! I wasn't sure if he was more likely to dive across and try to rip my eyeballs out or to crawl to the side of the trail, curl up into a ball and start whimpering about the "big nasty creatures" that were coming to get him. Either way I decided that I would shut the hell up and just ride - the guy was enjoying his own private, personal hell without my whittering.
After the final climb I was still sceptical about how far I had to go - little faith in the odometer which had played up a bit - and was being conservative expecting about another 4 miles. By now I had been on the road for just over 11 hours and was hoping to finish under 11:30 if I could hold it together. After the final technical decent which I was too tired to take slowly so I just let the bike go I hit a lovely sweeping double track section which was BIG FUN and allowed me to maintain a nice pace. Then suddenly the course swept into a campground (where people suddenly appeared clapping and shouting), over a couple of bumps and then opened out into a field! I could see orange tape and the Observatory - I WAS AT THE FINISH! Tears welled in my eyes as I made the final hairpin and glided to a halt at the finish line, 11 hours 17 min - slow but still far faster than I had feared.
At the finish I grabbed my "finishers" pint glass and drop my bike next to an older couple I say to them (nodding at my bike) "I'm not sure if I want to kiss it or burn it". The lady replies "well its seems to have done well for you today", I agree that is certainly the truth and head to find a beer keg - thus ended my conversation with Mr and Mrs Landis, parents of the aforementioned Floyd (who was lucky enough to sneak an early break from me and just pipped me at the line by 4 hours).
Afterwards there was great food, great beer (thanks to Old Dominion Brewery) and chance to mingle with the likes of Chris Eutough and Floyd Landis who were stars in that they didn't act like starts at all but just hung around with the rest of us mere mortals.
Big thanks to all the volunteers who were instrumental in making this a fantastic day, I'll remember it for a long time (even after the pain has gone away) and to quote "good ol' Arnie" I'LL BE BACK
Then I did my usual night ride with George (and Todd joined to make up a happy threesome - oo er). Ride went spectacularly! Todd lead on some trails I'd never ridden - pretty technical and I had a complete blast, 10 happy fast miles. Enjoying the usual post-race libation and conversation turned to the SM100, both George and Todd were adamant that Shenandoah on a SS was a REALLY BAD IDEA! These guys know MTBing so I was spooked!
Well I hooked up with another friend also doing SM100 to travel down together and by the time we got to the Stokesville campsite the butterflies in my stomach were not so much fluttering but trying out advanced formation aeronautics! Having registered (including dropping a light to be picked up at feedstation 5 if I arrived after the 4:20 pm cut off) and got all our stuff nice and early I had a few hours daylight to make sure the faithful old 29er Monocog was in tip top condition for Sunday's adventure. Swapped out front brake blocks, cleaned the rims with rubbing alcohol and switched out the pedals that have been giving me aggrivation for the past two weeks and my baby was in the best shape she has ever been, and I was as prepared and relaxed as possible.
Early to bed (campsite was silient by 10:30pm - good job race director) and then early to rise, roused by gongs and fireworks at 5 am (bet the locals loved that). Stumbled round for a bit in the dark, it was cold but not too cold so just shorts and a summer jersey were spot on. A quick breakfast of begel and banana and soon it was 6:20 and time to head for the start to see if we could catch a glimpse of Landis and Eutough - No luck.
In the mirk at 6:30am the gun went off and the expected mad sprint got underway. The first few miles are on decending or flat asphalt, no place for a SSer when the packs adrenalin is peaking to bursting point. I was spat out the back like a bullet! Within about 5 minutes I was pretty much all by myself tootling along at about 15 mph, with the occasional late starter blasting past at about 25 mph! Bit disheartening. First tight lefthand turn (about 1.5 miles in) and some poor bugger already has his bike upside down by the roadside fixing a flat - it will be a long day for a lot of people.
The long (and I mean long) and short of the Shenandoah M100 is that it is a story of five climbs/decents that vary in length and intensity but follow a similar pattern. Paved flat, followed by paved incline which turns to steeper fire road, steeper forest double track then steep technical single track. Then sketchy steep rocky, rooty and loose decent turning into fast, fun sweeping forest single track. Few logs and water crossings thrown in for good measure to catch out anyone not paying attention.
.jpg)
In my estimation pretty much all of the course is ridable - if you were just riding a section of the course as a normal ride - but in the context of a 100 mile epic ride most of the steep technical inclines were "walk ups" for me. The decents were likewise perfectly ridable but their sheer length made them a challenge (especially on a rigid fork!) by the end of the decents my forearms and shoulders were just about cramping. Every section of the course hurt different bits of my body - lungs and quads on the climbs, calves on the hike-a-bike sections and shoulders forearms on the decents. Trick seems to be to try and stay relaxed and rest the bits that were not being tortured at that specific point.
The big climbs (34-39 miles and 65-80 miles) took their toll physically and mentally but the hardest climb for me was the short final climb at 92-94 miles. I thought it was all over! I was past the final aid station and cruising on the asphalt when - bugger me, the course took a right turn back onto steep fireroad! Absolute misery! As I crawled up this section I edged up alongside another rider. Trying to be cheerful I managed to pant out " Hi! How's it going, nearly there now!" The other rider turned his head to me and looked like a man only just holding on to his sanity! I wasn't sure if he was more likely to dive across and try to rip my eyeballs out or to crawl to the side of the trail, curl up into a ball and start whimpering about the "big nasty creatures" that were coming to get him. Either way I decided that I would shut the hell up and just ride - the guy was enjoying his own private, personal hell without my whittering.
After the final climb I was still sceptical about how far I had to go - little faith in the odometer which had played up a bit - and was being conservative expecting about another 4 miles. By now I had been on the road for just over 11 hours and was hoping to finish under 11:30 if I could hold it together. After the final technical decent which I was too tired to take slowly so I just let the bike go I hit a lovely sweeping double track section which was BIG FUN and allowed me to maintain a nice pace. Then suddenly the course swept into a campground (where people suddenly appeared clapping and shouting), over a couple of bumps and then opened out into a field! I could see orange tape and the Observatory - I WAS AT THE FINISH! Tears welled in my eyes as I made the final hairpin and glided to a halt at the finish line, 11 hours 17 min - slow but still far faster than I had feared.
At the finish I grabbed my "finishers" pint glass and drop my bike next to an older couple I say to them (nodding at my bike) "I'm not sure if I want to kiss it or burn it". The lady replies "well its seems to have done well for you today", I agree that is certainly the truth and head to find a beer keg - thus ended my conversation with Mr and Mrs Landis, parents of the aforementioned Floyd (who was lucky enough to sneak an early break from me and just pipped me at the line by 4 hours).
Afterwards there was great food, great beer (thanks to Old Dominion Brewery) and chance to mingle with the likes of Chris Eutough and Floyd Landis who were stars in that they didn't act like starts at all but just hung around with the rest of us mere mortals.
Big thanks to all the volunteers who were instrumental in making this a fantastic day, I'll remember it for a long time (even after the pain has gone away) and to quote "good ol' Arnie" I'LL BE BACK
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