Trans Iowa - 2005

"Pain is temporary, quitting is forever. Forever is a long time, but pain hurts…decisions, decisions." Unknown I believe the above quote, which I borrowed from an Internet message board, just about sums up my experience at the inaugural Trans-Iowa race. The race is one I will not soon forget because of the camaraderie with fellow racers, the tortuous 25+ mph winds and the lovely rural landscape of northern Iowa. Attrition was the overriding theme for the race as 51 racers took the start from Hawarden, Iowa and only 9 made it to the finish 305 miles later in Decorah, Iowa. Fortunately (I think), I was among the lucky finishers, completing the race in around 26 hours. The key to my race success was eating a lot and often, drinking a lot and often and resisting the urge to quit during the hours of 2:00am to 5:30am on Sunday morning. I ended up in 6th place and as I sit here on Sunday evening I feel pretty good, all things considered. We’ll see how I feel Monday morning at work. The winner was Ira Ryan from Portland, Oregon riding a cross bike with what looked like 700 x 32 tires. He did it in sub-24 hours.For the unfamiliar, Trans-Iowa is a 305-mile point-to-point race across Northern Iowa consisting of 95% gravel roads, 4% pavement, and 1% singletrack. The race started in rural Hawarden, Iowa near the border of Nebraska and heads east finishing in Decorah, Iowa. Making it more challenging is that the race is completely un-supported, meaning there are no aid stations and no outside assistance is permitted, except at the single checkpoint located at 127 miles in Algona, Iowa. Also adding to the difficulty is that there was a 10-hour cutoff to reach Algona and a 30-hour time limit to complete the entire 305 miles. Trans Iowa is the brainchild of Jeff Kerkove and Guitar Ted (sorry I can’t recall his real name) of Cedar Falls, Iowa. Tired of 12 & 24 solo events that charge hundreds of dollars in entry fees and send you around the same circuit ad nausea and inspired by other unsupported off road endurance races, Jeff and Guitar Ted decided to promote a new race…Trans-Iowa. Their creation (or their madness, depending on your perspective) is a 305-mile, unsupported point-to-point race across the gravel roads of Iowa with a very modest, bordering on ridiculously low $20 entry fee. They limited the field to 50 entrants and all the spots were filled within 30 days. I was able to enter the event when a registered rider canceled in March and l was fortunate to get the spot (I wasn't feeling so lucky at 4:00am!!). Overall, Jeff and Guitar Ted with the help of a strong group of volunteers did a great job on this first year event, which will hopefully become an annual one. Thanks guys. My Mom and Dad and I departed Cleveland at 5:30pm on Thursday evening and headed west towards Iowa. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad. We drove until about midnight and grabbed a cheap motel in Peru, Illinois. We were back on the road by 7:00am the next morning and made it to Hawarden by 4:00pm (central time). The event promoters had reserved a large private room at the Pizza Ranch, a rather large midwestern pizza franchise, for a pre-race meal. We dined on a plentiful pizza/past buffet, met some new people and received our race bags complete with route sheets, race numbers, free sunglasses and lots of other generous goodies. Best race swag I’ve ever got…unbelievable…all for $20 entry fee. A bargain at $0.07/mile. After dinner we rested in the hotel and I checked over my bike and packed my hydration pack and seat bag. I ended up going to bed at midnight as I stayed up late to watch the weather reports for Saturday and Sunday. The good news was that there would be clear skies, no precipitation and highs in the low to mid 50s. The bad news was overnight lows in high 20s and 20-25 mph winds from the North (with gusts up to 35 mph). We got up at around 5:30am, checked out and made our way to a local diner for a big breakfast consisting of short stack of pancakes, 2 eggs, sausage, toast, orange juice and coffee. What can I say, I like to eat. We arrived at the starting line at 7:15, just in time for the riders meeting, and were greeted by clear skies, temps in the high 30s and strong winds of 20 mph from the north. I had decided to ride my full suspension Specialized Epic, rather than my cyclocross bike, single speed or hardtail because I felt the extra cushion would be beneficial as well as I have done several 100+ mile rides on this set up. At the start, it was obvious not everyone shared my thoughts on bike selection, as there was a wide range of bikes including cyclocross bikes, hardtails with front suspension, fully rigid hardtails and a surprising number of single speed bikes. I carefully considered what I needed to carry with me as far a food, water, and clothing for the first 127-mile leg of the race to Algona. I was vacillating right up to the last moment, but I eventually decided to take my camelback with 70 oz bladder, two bottles of Accelerade, 2 PBJs, 4 Gel packs and a Powerbar. It was still not enough, as ran out of water about 80 miles into the race, but I was lucky to happen upon a nice man working in his yard who let me fill up my bottles and camelback from his well. Anyway we started right at 8:00am with a 2-mile neutral roll out. After the car broke off, the pace immediately quickened and the group for the first time felt the brunt of the 20+ mph cross wind from the North. Despite the wind and the miles that lay ahead, the pace was faster than I thought it might be. Within a mile or two we were “lined out” and by the 15-mile mark I noticed that the front group was already down to 20 or so. At about the 20 mile mark, a group of 5-7 rolled off the front. As I would later learn these guys were all on cyclocross bikes and based on their high pace appeared to not know this was a 300-mile race!! I thought for sure these guys would all blow up and come back to us, but despite their hard pace setting, 4 of the 9 total finishers would come from this group as well as the 1st and 2nd place racers. Behind the front group (hereafter referred to as the cyclocross guys), there were 8 or so of us that were chasing and the rest of the 51 starters were somewhere further back. At about the 40-mile mark we encountered the second B road section, which consisted of a dirt only path, wide enough for agricultural equipment, with no gravel that because of the prior days rain was pretty muddy. Just as we were approaching this section, myself and Patty from Canada, whose was riding a single speed with a 44x16 gear selection (what’s up with that?), had rolled away from the chase group. As we came to the B road section, the cyclocross guys had dismounted and were carrying their bikes in the grass to the side of the B road as it looked unrideable. So Patty from Canada rolls right through it and I follow and it is turns out to be rideable after all. So Patty and I are in 1st and 2nd with only 260 miles to go. I joked with Patty about there being a cash prime at the 50-mile mark. I don't think he believed me. The cyclocross guys, whose names I later learned were Ira, Brian, Jim and Steve caught up to us and I rode with them for 10-15 miles until I flatted. In hindsight, flatting was the best thing that could have happened as I was pushing it a little too hard with the front group. It took me about 4-5 minutes to fix the flat and by that time the chase group had caught and passed me. I rode the next 30 miles more or less by myself and this was when I stopped and begged for water from the friendly grass cutting Iowan. At about the 80-mile mark a group of 4 caught me. I would later learn their names, Joe Partridge, Todd Scott and Mike Curiak. Joe and Todd where riding single speeds and Mike was riding a sweet Moots softail with 700 Zipp carbon wheels. Before the race I considered riding my single speed for approximately 5 seconds but even I realized a riding a single speed in this event was not very prudent. A while later we caught up to Jeff Kerkove, the race promoter and a few others. At the 100-mile mark, we passed through another town and all but Mike Curiak and I turned off to refuel. I rode with Mike for the next 27 miles until we arrive in Algona. During this I learned that Mike Curiak, on the Moots with 700 Zipps, is from Colorado and has competed and won several off road bike races including the 350 mile Alaska Iditabike, the 1,100 mile Alaska Iditabike, the 2,500 Continental Divide race and countless others. It was nice to chat with someone to help pass the time and I figured if I could stick with Mike I stood a good chance of finishing in light of his top-notch cycling palmares. At least I would not die of exposure with Mike!! Right before Algona, Patty from Canada caught us pushing a ridiculously huge 44x16 gear on his Cannondale 1FG single speed. We arrived in Algona and I switched out my front wheel, lubed my chain, grabbed more warm clothes, ate a 6-inch subway Italian sub, grabbed more bottles, filled my camelback, and forgot my clear glasses (rats!). Within 20 minutes or less, I was back on the road. As it turned out, Mike Curiak and eventual second place finisher Brian (one of the cyclocross guys on a Redline) were leaving Algona at the same time. As we rode together, they informed me that only Alex Dolp (on a Specialized hardtail with front suspension), who I had met at a Mohican 100 last year was ahead of us by some 12 minutes. The rest of the cyclocross guys that had led the race, took a longer break in Algona, however, within 10 miles they caught us. For about 10 miles we all rode together, until Mike and I dropped off the pace. Having never ridden 300 miles at one time, I was more concerned with finishing than winning and thought I should stay with Mike the Alaska Guy given his experience in ultra endurance events (not to mention his survival skills, if things got really ugly). Mike and I celebrated the 150 mile half way mark with a high five. By the time we hit the 160-miles, we had our lights on, extra jackets on and were settling into a groove for the night. We nearly caught Alex Dolp, who had obviously been caught and dropped by the cyclocross guys, but we never quite did. At 175 miles, which I guess was around midnight, the two single speeders, Joe and Todd caught up to us. Joe was riding a single speed Airborne with titanium rigid fork and Todd was riding a fully rigid Kona hardtail. Each of them had chosen a far more sensible gear selection than Patty from Canada’s 44x16. We rode together until we got to the next town where we stopped at a Hardees to refuel. Two of the cyclocross guys (Jim and Steve) had just finished a burger and fries and were getting ready to roll out. Mike and Joe stayed behind at the Hardees, while Todd and I followed Jim and Steve. I rode with them for 5-10 miles but I dropped off by myself again because I wanted to pace myself. Soon Mike and Joe caught me and we rode together until we passed through the next town. It was about 3:00am or so and as we came into town, Jim and Steve, 2 of the cyclocross guys, were just leaving. Joe and I HAD to stop for water and food, however, Mike and my old pal Patty from Canada followed them. Joe and I were pretty messed up at this point. It must have been pretty humorous (or pathetic) he and I stumbling around a 24-hour quickie mart at 3:00am in full cycling kit both throat deep in the hurt locker. If that town had a hotel, I would have probably checked in and DNFed right there. Unfortunately the only option was to keep going. It was at this point I made a decision that in hindsight allowed me to finish this race…I bought 2 cheese, egg and sausage breakfast burritos. They were hot and looked delicious, so I devoured one and put the other in my jersey pocket, which secondarily kept my back nice and warm. Joe looked at me like I was crazy, but they sure were yummy. Joe and I rolled out of town and for the next few hours things were ugly…until 5:30am and the sun began to rise to bring light to the previously dark northern Iowa plains. Anyone that has done a 24 hour race know what a beautiful site that rising sun is…the suffering of night behind you and the hope that daylight will bring renewed energy and eventually the end of the race. Joe and I soldiered though the 265 mile mark until we got to the next town, where we parted ways. Joe went into town to rest up while I forged onward solo. What Joe and I did not know at the time (although I suspected it) is that we were the last 2 racers on the course, 8th and 9th place. As the race promoter warned us, the last 35-40 miles were the hardest of the race with endless supply of steep rollers and 2 or 3 legitimate 1 mile or so climbs. With the temperatures climbing to the mid to upper 40s, I stopped to shed some layers and to put some sunglasses on. I was feeling pretty good at this point so I picked up the pace with the hope of perhaps catching some of the now shrinking field. For about 10 miles I hammered in the big ring a section of rollers and was surprised how good my legs felt, rarely letting my pace over the rollers dip below 13-15 mph. At about 290 miles I caught Jim and Steve, two of the cyclocross guys. It sounded like they had a rough night in the cold and had taken some wrong turns that caused them to ride unnecessarily some steep hills. I rode with them for a few miles and quizzed them about who was ahead of us and who had dropped out. They told me a guy named Ira from Oregon and Brian from Colorado (two of the cyclocross guys) were ahead but they had not seen or heard anything from them since the 200 mile mark. I also learned that Todd Scott on the fully rigid Kona single speed had dropped them and that Patty from Canada was up the road on still pushing the massive 44x16 gear on his single speed. And much to my surprise, they also told me that Mike Curiak (Moots with 700 Zipps), Jeff Kerkove (race promoter), and Ernesto Marenchin (2004 winner of 24 Hours of Snowshoe) had dropped out of the race. They also told me that only 16 guys left Algona for the 2nd half of the course. So after getting an idea what was going on with the race standings, I told Jim and Steve I was going to try and catch Paddy from Canada and I quickly attacked. I hammered the next section of rollers and tried to get out of sight, which is hard to do in the plains of Iowa. I kept thinking they were going to catch me so I kept a hard pace going. The last few climbs were tough, but the last few miles of the course were awesome with a 25 mph tailwind roller section that was like an amusement park ride and a long twisty downhill finish that made me wonder if I was still in Iowa or had been transported to some strange land via a time space continuum. I reached the finish line and the looks of respect and disbelief from the modest crowd was satisfaction enough for a race I won’t soon forget. Thanks to Mom and Dad for spending a weekend road tripping with me and for driving my carcass home. Thank again to Jeff and Guitar Ted for promoting this event. Thanks for reading. –Brett

12 Hours of Razorback - 2005

I got home Tuesday afternoon from the Florida road trip. Overall, it was a great trip with some good solid riding. At the 12 Hours of Razorback, Tinker Juarez won the overall for solo category with 13 laps. I did 10 laps at 10 mile per lap. I could have done an 11th lap but I flatted on the 10th lap (or something like that) and missed the cut off time. I ended up 27th overall out of 125+ solo entrants. The Trip-------------We departed Cleveland at 3:00pm on Thursday ready for our 1,000 mile trip to Reddick, Florida (near Ocala in the central part of the state). The Honda Element was loaded up with my 2 bikes and all the gear you need for a long road trip and a 12-hour mountain bike race. Most importantly I had a travel companion, my dad Russ, who has both the ability and desire to drive long hours with limited sleep. Thanks Dad. Shannon and my mom were nice enough to make us some food for the trip…sandwiches, pasta salad and other assorted goodies. Thanks Shannon and Mom. On Thursday, we drove for 10 hours until we got tired and then stopped to get a motel room just north of Charlotte, NC. Friday morning I was feeling amazingly good…I may not be Lance Armstrong but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express Thursday night. We were on the road Friday morning by 7:00am and arrived at Razorback MTB Park at around 4:00pm. Just enough time to set up our pit area and pre-ride the course. We set up camp right next to Team Cannondale’s Tinker Juarez, a former Olympian and 24 Hour racing god. Friday I pre-rode 7 miles of the 10-mile course. My pre-ride confirmed that this was going to be a tough race. The course had been shortened to 10 miles this year by removing some of the flat double track. The course now consisted on 10 miles of grueling and technical single track. All single track all the time. The course, being located in an abandoned rock quarry, had lots of steep shoots followed by short steep uphill sections. Remember kids…momentum is your friend. There were only 3 or 4 climbs, none that were all that long, but they were all single track and very technical with rocks, roots, etc. The Course -------------------First of all, the course was marked with mile markers. Initially, I though this was good but as the race wore on, the markers, if you let them, could be deflating to your resolve. Mile 1 of the course consisted of some flat sections followed by traversing several times an 8-foot deep gully. Up on side, down the other. In and out, in and out…reminded me of the section at Beans Bike Park. Mile 2 was pretty tough lots of up and down sections ending with a short steep climb. Memories of miles 3, 4 and 5 have been temporarily suppressed due to extreme fatigue. The memories may come back with years of therapy buy it won’t be pretty. Miles 6 and 7 were pretty flat to slightly downhill with some high-speed twisty single track through the pine forest. All big ring stuff for the first 4-5 laps, but discretion prevailed and I spun a smaller gear thereafter in hopes of avoiding “blowing up.” This 2-mile section was the only time I could get my heart rate below 135. Mile 8 was the toughest, with 2 climbs, much technical up and down riding and a ridiculously fast and rough downhill that in the event of a crash would have been my final resting place. Mile 8 also had a tricky little off camber climb that required a burst each lap to stay on the high line. I walked it once and it nearly killed me. Miles 9 and 10 were not too bad. Mile 9 had the longest climb, a steep tricky section with loose limestone shavings that required a steady tempo. The Race ----------------The race started ½ hour late a 10:30m with a ¼ mile run on a hard packed service road. Jumped on the bike and off we go. On the first lap I realized I had not worn my hear rate monitor, which meant I could not rely on the monitor to regulate my effort. So I listened to my body and went faster when I felt good and slowed down when I felt I was pushing too hard. I put it on after lap 7. The fastest laps by the 4 person expert team were in the 43-44 minute range. I held steady at 53-56 minutes for the first 4-5 laps. In fact, I completed my first 7 laps in 7 hours cumulative time (including pit stops). After 7 laps I took about a 30 minute break to eat, put my lights on, put on arm warmers, leg warmers and a vest (Friday night it got down to 30 degrees). I was feeling good…11 or 12 laps seemed within reach. Lap 8 felt pretty good. During Lap 9 several negative thoughts started to cross my mind such as “I am not having fun right now”, “I am tired of riding this f*&%$ course”, “9 laps is respectable.” Towards the end of lap 9 I started to feel a little better and was encouraged. I finished lap 9 at 8:10pm and had to stop to change my light battery. In hindsight, this is where I made a few mistakes. Mistake#1-I should have eaten a lot of food or taken something to eat with me. Mistake #2-I should have consumed mass quantities of caffeine or some other over the counter stimulant. Mistake #3-I sat around for 15-20 minutes because I knew the cutoff time was 9:50pm and that the most total laps I would get would be 11 (2 more). I should have quickly switched my light battery, ate some more food, put some energy bars in my pockets and gotten back on the trail ASAP. I started lap 10 at 8:30pm full of positive thoughts and feeling good. I was taking it easy, but was feeling kind of listless. Experts and sport riders alike were now passing me like I was an AARP member at Wal-Mart. That sucking sound you hear is positive thoughts leaving my body. But I went slower…and slower….and slower. I began to wish I had put one of those Powerbars in my jersey pocket. I even began look for food on the trail…”I wonder if there is any gel in that used packet along the trail,” I thought to myself. And to no avail, I even resorted to begging for food from other racers as they blew by me. I gulped down all my energy drink hoping a few calories would help. It did, as I eventually picked up the pace around mile 5…then I pinch flatted and any hope of making the cutoff time (and an 11th lap) disappeared. Unfortunately, I only discovered the pinch flat after low tire pressure caused my front end to wash out around a 15 mph right turn. All in all a good race for me. The course was challenging but did allow for some time to recover. Only fell twice. I ended up with 10 laps for 100 miles good for 27th overall in the solo class out of 125 entrants. Except for the flat on the last lap, the bike worked flawlessly. The bad news is that I left another lap or two out there at Razorback, but the good news is I feel great, did not wreck myself and got in some super base miles that should help me the rest of the season. In fact, I rode for 30 minutes on Sunday (to the beer store) and did a 2.5 hour 25 mile ride on the single speed at Santos Trails on Monday. This trip showed me that Florida has more to offer than beaches, bikinis and warm weather...mountain bike riding and racing.

6 Hours of Power - 2004

Temperatures in the low 80s and humid conditions greeted over 50 two-person teams and 60 solo racers on Sunday July 11, 2004 for the 2004 edition of the 6 Hours of Power, held at Holiday Valley Ski Center in Ellicottville, New York.This 6-hour race would start at 10:00am and finish at 4:00pm. The race atmosphere was festive with plenty of heart thumping music in the transition area as well as out on the course. Shannon and I arrived on Friday evening (sans children) and after checking into the house we were borrowing from a friend, we walked into the charming little ski town of Ellicottville to check out the sites and sounds. This is a great little ski town with lots of cool shops, restaurants and bars. On Friday and Saturday, we managed to hit quite a few of the local establishments including the local brew pub, a very cool wine bar/upscale delicatessen, and few other of the popular local hangouts. The course consisted of a 10-mile loop that started with a 2-mile fire road climb and lots of cool single track. There were a couple small single-track climbs and plenty of roots and bumps. There were also a couple of fast descents with speeds exceeding 35 mph on the final fire road descent. This course was definitely best suited for a full suspension bike. I was able to pre ride the course on Saturday and did a “nice easy” lap in around 55 minutes. I knew that we would likely do 7 or perhaps even 8 laps depending on our lap times. My partner Fritz (a college friend from Rochester, NY) and I agreed that I would do the ½ mile prologue run. I can’t remember the last time I ran, but we agreed (over a few beers Saturday night) that he had not in longer than me. Lucky me! The Le-Mans inspired start was promptly at 10:00 am. After the hilly run, my legs and heart were near their maximum and as I got on the bike and headed up the long starting climb I was in some difficulty. Eventually, I settled into a rhythm and ended up with a 54-minute lap time. Fritz did the next lap and this gave me 50 minutes or so to recover and prepare for the next lap. My second lap was my fastest of the day at 49 minutes. With four laps completed we were in 5th place, several minutes out of third. On the 5th lap, I passed the 4th place team (Joe Palatto and Tom Franek from my Snowshoe 4 person team) and notched a lap time of 52 minutes. On the 6th lap, Fritz came into the transition area still in 4th place a few seconds ahead of the 5th place team (Joe and Tom). As Joe and I were waiting to go out for the 7th lap, we talked of a leisurely ride together (as 6th place was way behind). However, once I got on the bike and the competitive juices were flowing that was all forgotten as I was determined to drop Joe like a bad habit. I was like a frenzied shark with blood in the water…Joe wasn’t having his best day and I was feeling pretty good…so I attacked on the first hill. I went out for our 7th lap (my 4th) at 3:13pm, a few seconds ahead of 5th place, 6 minutes behind 2nd and 3rd and 11 minutes behind 1st. If I did a 47-minute (or less) lap then Fritz would go out for our 8th lap. I did not think I could gain 6 minutes to catch 2nd and 3rd, but I was determined to remain in 4th place. So I pushed it on the first climb and as I turned into the single track at the top, I had put some time into my buddy Joe (this was cool as he is usually waaaay faster than me). After that I did not see him again and ended up with a 51 minutes lap time, amazingly only 35 seconds out of 3rd. This is a very well organized race (relatively speaking compared to other local MTB races) and an excellent very “rideable” course. I would definitely recommend this event for next year. Congratulations to all the riders and team that participated including Ross Clark (7 laps solo) and Leo and the rest of the OBB guys

Mohican 100 - 2004

The Mohican 100, June 20, 2004“Pain is in your head, unfortunately, so is your brain.” By 11:30 pm Saturday evening I was in my van and headed towards Mohican State Park in Loudonville, Ohio for the second annual Mohican 100. What lay ahead was a 100 mile point to point MTB race reportedly consisting of over 40 miles of single track with the remainder of the course consisting of double track dirt roads and less than 10% paved. I arrived at the starting point, deep in the Mohican State Forest, and went to sleep at around 1:30 am Sunday morning.I elected to run UST tubeless Kenda Klimax Lites (450 gram, semi slick) on my Specialized Epic due to their low weight and reasonably good performance on single track (this was a very good choice, they were fast on the road and acceptable in the single track). I also mounted the remote lock out on my SID front fork in anticipation of the fire road climbs (another good decision). I awoke at 5:30 am to chilly 50-degree temps. Arm warmers and tights were in order. I checked my gear bag in with the race officials. The gear bag was being transported (hopefully) to one of the 4 aid stations. The bag contained extra tires, tubes, front and rear derailleur, pedals, cables, housing, extra clothes, a rigid fork, other miscellaneous spare parts and three bottles of Accelerade. I ended up not needing anything except for the Accelerade and some chain lube as I had no mechanical problems. My bike performed great for the entire race. I lubed the chain twice. Breakfast consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich, a hard-boiled egg and some cold coffee. The race started at around 6:30 am (scheduled time was 6:00 am) and the pack of nearly 50 riders rocketed uphill towards the trailhead as if this was a 20-mile XC race. I resisted the urge to start at that pace and set a nice tempo. My goal was to keep my HR under 160-165 (if possible) and to prolong blowing up for as long as possible. The first 25 miles were mostly newer single track though Mohican State Forest and Mohican State Park. Good stuff. I was feeling pretty good as I pulled into the first aid station at 25 miles. I filled my water bottles with some revenge energy drink and took off my tights and continued on. The next 15 miles were a lot of abandoned roads and jeep trails with a long double track climb to the second aid station at 40 miles. At the top of the climb, I accelerated and my hamstring cramped right at the top. A this point I had a revelation – “40 miles into a 100 mile race and experiencing cramps in largest muscle in body…immediately back down the engine or face massive muscle failure.” I filled up my hydration pack and ate a banana and some gel and forged onward. I rode the next 12 miles with Bob Goetz over some dirt roads and rail to trail stuff. Fun! At the 50-mile mark Bob turned off as he was doing the 100K version. I began to think he had the right idea as I turned the other direction for the 100-mile option. For the next 30 miles, there were countless rollers over dirt roads, asphalt and double track trails. During this time my cumulative average speed crept close to 12 mph. Occasionally I would push too hard on the road sections and the quads or hamstrings would begin to tighten. At around 80 miles I caught 3 other riders and we rode together into the third aid station at 85 miles. This is were I made Mistake #1….thinking we only had 15 miles to go I quickly grabbed two bottles of Accelerade, did not eat and continued on ahead of the other three. At around 90 miles we crossed the Mohican River on a cool suspension bridge over to Mohican Wilderness. I knew I was in trouble at this point as I was loosing energy, my knees were starting to hurt and we had to do the 8-mile Mohican Wilderness loop. I started the loop having dropped two of the three riders and did not stop at the Aid station….Mistake #2. I did the first long climb with one of the Y-Not guys who informed me that AFTER the MW loop the course really got tough. So I went really REALLY slow on the MW loop (1:20 at least). After the MW loop, I stopped at the aid station I had previously skipped, and ate everything in site, drank a mountain dew and filled up two bottles and may hydration pack. My computer was showing 97 miles. I headed down Wally Road towards SR 3 and then to my surprise the course markers pointed to the left….straight up out of the Mohican River Valley…up the longest steepest dirt road climb this Ohio boy has ever seen. Ouch! I rode some…walked the rest. I did learn that I can stay upright on a bicycle at 2 mph…now that’s something! At the top I was already at 100 miles and knew I had at least 10-15 miles to the finish…and it would be mostly hilly single track. I forged on and ended up finishing in 11 hours and 30 minutes (or so) and my computer showed 114 miles and a 10.3 mph average. All in all, an epic and fun race. Some people got lost several times, however, I was luck and only made one wrong turn that cost me only 5 –10 minutes or so. Also was lucky that I had no major crashes. I think I only fell once (could this be right?). The promoter, Ryan, did a great job with the course, a good job on the aid stations/course markings and a below average job on registration/awards. The only went 4 deep on the 100 Mile class that had at least 20-30 entrants (how about something for the effort….some gel…a stinking t-shirt…an awards presentation). I would do this race again, however, the 100K option certainly is an attractive alternative. 100 miles may be too much of a good thing for this guy. For anyone that cares about such things, here is a list of what I consumed during the race. Three PB&J2 bananas1 can of mountain dew4 gels4 bottles of AcceleradeTwo bottles of RevengeTwo bottles of water210 oz of water from hydration pack