Epic 100

After the week of backpacking, a week of nothing, and a week of riding, I was starting to feel like doing another event. Kim was going to do a triathlon yesterday, but then had been feeling sick and decided early this week she wasn't going to do it after all. That left me free for Saturday, so I started getting my Spider ready for going long.

In the meantime, Kim decided to do the triathlon, but we had visitors that could watch the kids, so Friday afternoon I jumped on the internet 30 minutes before closing and registered for the E-100 men's solo.

After the 12-hour misery (my only other ultra), I wasn't really sure I wanted to do this race, but the course sounded appealing and the challenge is undeniable, so why not? I committed myself to ignore the competition aspect, not bother with placing well, and enjoy the ride.

We had to show up Friday night to sign-in and then attend a mandatory race meeting. I knew Tinker had signed up, so I looked around for him, but didn't see him there anywhere.

The race started at 6 AM sharp. That meant two things: 1) I was up at 4:15, and 2) we started in the dark. I hadn't planned to use a light, but Brad talked me into it. It would have been fine without, but it was fine with. We spent the next five hours riding together. This took us through stages one and two, and into three. The morning was cool and the riding was really fun.

Stage one went from Park City to The Canyons, and stage two came back from The Canyons to Park City. On our way back we saw the Keys, who celebrated their Anniversary by riding the 50 mile together:

On the third stage, which is a loop on the lower slopes of Park City Resort, it was starting to get hot, and I didn't want to get dehydrated, so I slowed down and let Brad chase glory with the fast guys. Meanwhile, I hit 50 miles and the 6 hour mark feeling good but a little hungry. Half done, so I stopped and ate a bagel and drank a bottle while I rested for about 5 minutes.

The second half of the day consisted of riding stage 3 again, and then riding stages 4 and 5, which were actually two laps of the stage 4. Confused? So was Tinker, who had skipped the race meeting and didn't know he was supposed to do stage 3 twice, so he went on to stage 4, found out he'd goofed, and quit and went home. Also quitting early was Thomas Spanring, who had ridden the first 60 miles far faster than anyone else, but I saw him coming down as I was climbing for my second stage 3 lap, and he said he'd blown.

After lunch, I started riding again, repeating stage 3, and it was too much for the stomach. I rode the 50 minute climb slowly, waiting for the stomach cramps to go away, which they nearly had by the top, but I had trouble drinking with the stomach problems and I really never recovered. I don't know if I was dehydrated, salt balance, or what, but I was having trouble breathing and just kept going slower and slower to try and recover. The legs were fine, but I'll never do well in a marathon till I figure out what is going on with this. Anyway, I decided before the race I wasn't going to suffer much, and I didn't. I just slowed down.

Stages 4 and 5 basically go from the bottom of the resort to the top of what I think is Jupiter bowl. At the rate I was going by that point it took about 1.5 hours to climb. For a while I didn't think I was going to make it to the end of the race. 35 miles seemed pretty far. But as I climbed higher it was cooler and the course came to a beautiful, open bowl and I came to the high point of the race, for me both literally and figuratively. As I peaked the climb I was feeling better than I had since the start of the climb, and I knew then that I'd be able to finish the race. I started downhill and my mp3 player came to an old Yes album: Fragile.

For me, this is about the best cycling music recorded. My brother Rob introduced me and my brothers to it in the late 80's, and my brother Ryan became a fan later. That was all about the time I started riding, so maybe the mix of memories and the music is why I like it, but anyway I rolled the 2200 vertical feet, 10 miles of downhill single track back to the feed area rocking to Yes and was thrilled to see Kim cheering after having had a nice morning at the Tri.

Last lap was admittedly tough. I was out of whack and a bit dizzy, but just rode slow grinding up and up the afore mentioned 2200 feet, then over the peak and started down. Now I was listening to Abba, then BANG! -- rear tire went instantly flat. Side wall got damaged. I put a tube in and there was a bulge where the tube was pushing out, so I just rode down very cautiously and avoided any tire abuse to the finish...mission accomplished.

Brad had finished a long, long time before me, and scored a very impressive 3rd place. Both guys that finished ahead of him are among the three or four fastest endurance racers in the US.

Normally, I'm not too excited about just finishing, and Kim made it clear what she thought of my performance:



But I was very happy.

Here is Boris, who runs the E-100 series. He is a gregarious Russian and provides a unique personality to the race. Judging by his legs he must ride pretty regularly.



It hard to imagine a better race venue for a MTB epic. Nearly all of the 100 miles is single track, with all kinds of varied terrain. None of it is too steep to ride, and the last two laps are some of the best riding anywhere.