For a second time ever, we opt to forego the local MTB scene this holiday weekend which is the annual 24 hours of 7-Springs. After SO many 24-hour races in the last decade, this isn't exciting for me so much & having done the Shen 100 before & knowing the area (Geo Washington Forest) from other trips, I am stoked to get some epic & classic trail riding on.
There is a little glitch to using the long weekend solely for getting ourselves to and from the Shen. JR Petsko & Gina have planned their wedding this weekend.....at Snowshoe!! This was going to be rough. So, our plan is to volunteer to head to Shen Friday, set up camp & save enough space for about 10 peeps that say they can't go early, ride Saturday AM, drive the ~3hrs to Snowshoe, drive ~3hrs back to Shen, then race on Sunday. agh.
So everything gets messed up ASAP as usual for us. We leave later on Friday than planned, at the last minute JP notices my bike of choice should have a new bottom bracket slapped in, so it gets quickly put in, luckily we always have spares on hand. Once arriving to the camp, it is aready getting dark so picking a spot becomes an issue and seems to take forever. Finally we settle in, only to realize in the morning that we see a better one & repack all our stuff and hoof it over to a new site. Then we finally get started on a little ride later than planned, as we head out, JP contacts Gunnar to verify the wedding time. We assume it is 4:00, Gunnar verifies we are wrongo......it's at 2:00. Crap, it's like noon, there is no way we can make it! We grudingly shorten our ride & in the hastiness I do not do a good job of testing the shifting due to the bottom bracket swap. I fail to use most gears & never realize I didn't test out the big ring. I will realize this bright and early just after the race day start!!
We speed demon to the wedding, missing the church part, but getting to the reception in time. Congratulations JR & Gina!!! All is good and the wedding is set up nicely, we all try to not drink too much & regrettingly have to leave rather early for the drive back & a good night's sleep. We get back to find Lochner/Mahokey/Schmalzer/Powers/Cohen got to the camp ok, although one didn't like our choice of spots and ditched us! We squeeze in the Shogrens and McGill & our full camp is finally off to sleep.
The typical AM scene, then last minute I want air in my front tire, Gunnars throws an ancient pump my way & I can't get it on the valve. He does it in a rush, low & behold rips off the valve stem......how does someone with SO much experience do that?? seriously?? Chris Scot is booming the countdown through the megaphone off in the distance. Crap....JP, Gunnar & I all start the fix it process and the fastest flat change I've ever seen occurs & we all make it to the back of the pack just as the gun goes off. We got to some road sprinting prologue stuff asap & this is where I realize my big ring just ain't gonna work. I spin along losing ground, then as we start doubletrack climbing, I see McGill passed out trailside. He says he does not feel well, I immediately hit him up to check out my front shifting......he says just a cable thing so keep adjusting the barrel. Each time this works for a short bit, but eventually needs tightened again. I figure just keep going and maybe at a check stop I can get it looked at. I can probably get away without a big ring, but would rather have it.
In some initial climbing I am having fun and try to keep a good spot in the pack I am with & begin barreling down one of the first tight long rocky decents, I want to go fast here so no one on my tail causes an issue, yet this is flat zone city, and before I know it I hear the dreaded hiss. Once pulled over, I get the change done quick but as air goes in air comes out??? Oh geez, I must have missed a thorn, I rip the tube out, recheck the tire and there is nothing in it?? So, I only carried one tube & now realize that it must have gotten bad somehow rubbing stuff in the seatpack or something. I have a long super rocky descent to coast on my rim so I take it very slow, hoping a check at the bottom and I could score a tube. Several people with 26 offer, but I decline. Once at the bottom, I see the check is another 10 miles on the gravel road. I decide I can't ride 10 miles on the rim, so I hesitate and sit on the side of the road deciding how I am going to bail. The end of the pack is coming through and another offer of a tube comes along, this time I take it knowing he can use my damaged one to get a new one at the check. Finally I am ready to go, although finding it hard to get motivation now because I have lost about 2 hours time with this issue.
I struggle this flattish 10 miles out wishing I had a big ring, so when I reach the check I choose the option to have someone look at it. This takes over 20 minutes, the fix is good & was more than cable work, but I wonder if worth the stopping time at this point. Now I am off my pace by 2.5 hours, I have not packed lights because I didn't anticipate 'just finishing' and taking that long. I have done the course before and lots of 100s so my feeling today was if I wasn't going to do better, I just probably wasn't going to do it at all. I rode on with this feeling knowing that no matter how fast I went there was no way I would finish with daylight & that meant I would have to DNF at the last check, at mile 86. Darn that was a bad feeling, but I figured to ride the 86 anyway.
A rider I know from Dirt Rag, Karen Brooks, was here today checking out her first 100 mile race. She was pacing herself well, taking breaks at the checks, & had packed lights just in case. She was keeping up a good pace, while I was starting to slack off. Being her first one, her goal was to finish. So we rode together for portions up until the 86 mile point, at which time she grabbed her light to get the last climb and descent under her belt. She offered that I could ride along and attempt to use her light too, but I really just was disappointed and didn't care to finish so I declined and she went on to get her first 100 done in pretty good time!
Overall, another good ride, sad not to finish but got to ride the epic Shen trails another time which is always good! Justin had a good time, ending up 5th SS class & 36th overall. There were more women than I've ever seen at a 100.....37!! That is amazing, as just a few years ago it would be lucky if 10 women started! I do notice it is funny, as more women enter, the age range widens, the rider's ability range is more varied, girls enter on SS, etc. yet I have NEVER heard one women complain about wanting classes, unfair competition, etc. such as the men continually squawk about & attempt to justify their limits by entering just the right class! The Ladies Keep it Real!
Shen Mt Touring is always a great event host, check out events/results/etc:
http://www.mtntouring.com/mountain/htm/home/page_home.htm
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