Eat. Tri. Venture.

WARNING:  Long race report ahead!

After spending the second half of 2014 sidelined with knee distress, I was looking for a new challenge for 2015.  Something I hadn’t done before.  Something that would push my boundaries.  Something that I could prepare for while spending time with hubby JMac.  I settled on the Mohican 100k mountain bike race as that something.  I even managed to convince JMac to race it, not just train with me. 

From the race’s website:  Cris-cross four counties along a single loop, climb more than 11,000 feet, and go toe to toe with the top pros on this legendary ultra-endurance loop in Northeastern Ohio. The Mohican 100 features both a 100 mile and a 100 kilometer option with five fully stocked aid stations plus self-serve water stops.

Fortunately for me, the 100k version only has about 8,500 feet of elevation gain.  Wait, 8,500 feet of elevation gain?  This is Ohio, right?  Well, just like Race Director Ryan O’Dell says, the elevation profile for the course looks like an EKG.  You get your 8,500 feet in 350’ increments, which makes for a lot of pitchy, pumpy climbing.  To get ready, as soon as the weather broke for the spring season and the trails dried out, JMac and I began making almost weekly pilgrimages to Loudonville, riding the state park single track and surrounding back roads.  We found a great loop of the back country roads that largely approximated the gravel road sections we would see on race day.  (Check out the map here http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2278764).  We also did a weekend climbing camp with my coach, PG, and training crew in the hills of Central Pennsylvania in April.  For race prep we opted to head back up to Michigan’s Barry Roubaix to see our JTree peeps and drink beer.  Wait, I mean, race the 36 mile course at Barry Roubaix.  We decided to skip the OMBC mountain bike race at Mohican in April, instead racing the 50k Amish Country Roubaix that same weekend.  My thought behind this was that I could ride Mohican for free and AC would provide more options for challenging climbing and descending.  While this was certainly the case, I think now that putting an additional actual mountain bike race on the calendar pre-Mohican 100k would have been a good idea.

But rolling into race week I was feeling tapered, rested and ready to go.  JMac and I drove down to Loudonville Friday afternoon, checked in at our tent campsite at Mohican Adventures and then went over to pick up our race bags.  We set up camp, made dinner and just relaxed, enjoying a quiet evening and the opportunity to just sit for a change.  We did go back over to packet pick up for the pre-race Q&A.  There weren’t many people there but I was glad we went.  In addition to learning that several large snakes (supposedly harmless, if there is such a thing) had been spotted on the course that week, I learned exactly where the hike-a-bike sections were.  I had heard the hike-a-bike sections were tough but didn’t really appreciate that sentiment until I heard the almost pleading tone of a race veteran asking if any of them had been removed for this year’s course.  The answer?  No, followed by some uncomfortable chuckling.  Ok, then, beware of the hike-a-bike sections.  JMac and I returned to camp, prepped our food and bikes for the next day and turned in early.

We were up early for a quick breakfast of coffee and overnight oats (prepped at home the day before).  Bikes, nutrition and hydration packs ready, we rolled over to start in downtown Loudonville just a quick ride from Mohican Adventures.  I didn’t check race morning but the forecast the day before was predicting (I kid you not) 91% humidity.  

I’m guessing it was up there.  We lined up about halfway (?) back in the group and waited for the start.  

(We're somewhere in there.  Photo cred:  Butch Phillips).

After a few quick announcements we were off.  

 (Photo cred:  Butch Phillips)

The race starts with a punchy climb out of town followed by a couple of more miles of rolling roads to spread the group out before entering the double track and state park single track.  

(Photo cred:  Tim Cristy)

A prime is offered for the first rider to reach the city limits.  To say the least, I wasn’t going for that contest.  Instead, I sat back and let things sort themselves out.  My concern was going out too hard and then being too burned out later in the race.  Well, as has happened in just about every bike race I have done, I sat back too much and got behind a massive slow moving mass going into the single track.  Bah. 

We rolled through the single track to A1 pretty uneventfully.  The trail was wetter than I had expected and I was a little off my lines with race jitters, but nothing too terrible.  

 (There I am.  No, wait, that's legendary pro Tinker Juarez.  But I'm sure I look just as smooth.  Photo cred:  Tim Cristy)

Upon arriving to A1 I could not believe the massive number of racers who appeared to be there, just hanging out.  I dropped my bike, walked over to a volunteer who offered to refill my hydration pack, grabbed a few pieces of fruit, downed a kiddy applesauce (just like the PowerBar pureed fruit packet but 50% of the cost), refilled my bento box with an Amrita bar from my pack and took off, hoping to leave the mass of riders I had been following behind.  I was excited to be on my favorite section of trail.  There was a chatty guy following me, singing and talking about Grassman for some reason.  I must have actually been listening to him because after a few miles I realized all of the food from my bento box had fallen out somewhere after A1.  D’oh.  At that point I was following a girl who I knew had gone sub 8 hours (my goal) in 2014 and so I opted to stay with her and grab my emergency food out of my pack when I got to the top of the first hike-a-bike section.  I continued trading places with a few folks until I saw the volunteer pointing me towards the section of trail connecting the single track and gravel roads.  I turned left, came to a dead stop and looked up.  Straight up.  Seriously?  I’ve climbed routes that steep in the mountains with a rope on.  I pushed/slid me and my bike up the “trail” to the top, took a breath, refilled my bento box and hopped back on my bike.  This lasted a few minutes until I began the nasty water board descent to Rt 97.  It was then on to some horse poop double track, another hike-a-bike and eventually up to the gravel roads.  Since JMac and I had ridden this section in training, I was back on familiar ground.  Unfortunately, it was also around this time that I ran out of water…I had noticed the volunteer only filled my hydration bag about 2/3 of the way full at A1 but didn’t think it would be a big deal.  Well, it was hot and humid and I *apparently* was drinking a lot.  So, no water until A2.  Just keep going.  I pedaled away from the group I had been riding with and rolled up and down and into A2. 

 A lovely little girl came running up to me with my drop bag just as I was stopping my bike.  Sweet!  Same as A1, I grabbed some fruit and refilled my bento box from my drop bag while a volunteer refilled my water.  She apologized for getting her fingers inside my hydration pack as she tried to hold it.  I let her know that I was pretty sure I had just splashed horse sh*t up my legs riding through some muck a while back so I really wasn’t concerned about her fingers.  Feeling re-energized, I left A2 for more gravel.  The next section had some good climbs and good descents.  The sun was shining and although I could feel the day catching up to me in my legs, I enjoyed the ride.  I just wanted to get to Mohican Wilderness and get that section of single track out of the way.  It was the only significant part of the course I hadn’t seen and that made me nervous.  I had been told it was “old school” i.e. more technical and rocky and less flowy, definitely not my strong suit. 

I climbed Big Hill Road (yes, that’s really its name) and turned into the woods at Mohican Wilderness.  Let’s get this b*tch over with.  It started out ok but then rapidly degenerated into rain forest-y, overgrown, twisty, rocky ickiness.  I laughed to myself, knowing that JMac would have laughed to himself coming through this, knowing how high the Marsita Unhappiness Level would be and being grateful he wasn’t there to experience it.  I wanted to be done—done with the single track.  The only thing that made me feel better was that the guys I came across were struggling worse than I, offering to let me by without me asking. 

“You can go.”

“No, seriously, I’m going to be off my bike in another minute.  So you can go.”

“No, seriously, you can go.”  (Managed to pass on all the goodies and stick with my nutrition plan.  Photo cred:  Tim Cristy).  

Like the classic it’s named after, Barry-Roubaix (Killer Gravel Road Race) tests riders on rolling gravel roads (80%), pavement, one mile of rough two track, rocks, sand, mud, and possibly snow and ice, along with 2200 feet of climbing over its 36 mile loop.  This year’s event took place on Saturday, March 22^nd in Hastings, Michigan and offered race distances of 24, 36 and 62 miles.  While I did not see any snow or ice on the roads, there was plenty of rocks, sand and mud on the 24 mile course which I completed.  This was my first “gravel road race.”

With the exception of the mini blizzard we drove through in north central Ohio, the drive to Hastings, MI was pretty uneventful.  

We rolled into town Friday afternoon and quickly picked up our packets from the well-organized and friendly volunteers.  We decided to drive the course and see how things were looking for a test ride.  We drove about half of the 24 mile loop before returning to town to get our cyclocross bikes ready to ride.  JMac and I had both brought two bikes each, mountain and cyclocross, with the intention of determining which bike to race on after taking a look at the course and conditions.  I pretty quickly determined that I wanted my mountain bike for two main reasons:  First, my mountain bike has a granny gear.  Although there aren’t any long climbs on the 24 mile loop, there is a lot of climbing.  I was working way too hard on my test ride with the gearing on my cross bike.  Second, my cross bike is relatively new.  While I had ridden it some this winter, I had not ridden it in the conditions which were presenting for the race (i.e. running water and peanut butter dirt on some of the climbs).  I knew I would be more confident on my trusty Kona 2+2.  JMac later opted for his mountain bike as well based on conditions advice from one of our JTree peeps.  Test ride complete, we packed back up and drove to Grand Rapids, about thirty-five minutes away, where we were staying for the weekend.

JMac found a great local brewery for dinner, Brewery Vivant (http://www.breweryvivant.com/).  Since it was a race night we only shared a few samples of their brews but I look forward to going back.  The Belgian/Euro food (with an emphasis on local agriculture and whole foods) and beer were excellent.  The building and seating had a very cool vibe as well.  (JT, I had the best olives since Paris, 1996).

After a good night’s sleep, breakfast consisted of oatmeal with slivered almonds and raisins and coffee, courtesy of the hotel breakfast bar.  I also brought a small container of roasted sunflower seeds and PB2 to add some more oomph to my oatmeal.  (Side note:  I have greatly reduced my intake of oatmeal since going NSNG.  But when traveling or not being able to cook myself, I can’t find a better breakfast option than oatmeal.  And since it was a race day, I wanted the extra glycemic load anyway).  I grabbed an apple and a banana for the road and we were off to Hastings.

We arrived early, as always.  (Old habits from triathlon die hard).  JMac added some air to my tires and rear shock and I locked out the front fork.  With the non-technical terrain, the Kona’s full suspension would be working against me to a certain degree.  I ate my banana and killed some more time in the car until it was time to hit the POPs and line up.  The 24 mile racers started between the 36 and 62 mile cyclists.  From what I can tell, the only seeding was by gender and age.  I wished JMac well and he lined up.  My wave was only two behind his.

As my wave lined up, the sun came out for a brief moment.  That made a huge difference in the temperature.  Otherwise, conditions were supposed to be low 30s and overcast.  I had added an extra base layer on top but was otherwise wearing the same combination of layers and kit as at Ice Man in November.  I lined up about 2/3 of the way back in my wave.  At Ice Man, I found myself pushed to the front while we were lining up and got spit out the back during the very fast start.  So I did not want a repeat of that.  Looking around, I did notice that most of my wave compatriots (all 24 mile females plus some youth categories) were on mountain bikes. The horn sounded and we were off.  Unfortunately, I had positioned myself poorly once again.  This time, it was like the last day of the Tour de France with everyone out for a leisurely group ride.  I suspect that about ten girls got off the front in a couple of packs and the rest of us were left behind in traffic. 

The course is on pavement for a couple of miles out of town then turns to dirt and a few climbs to get the heart and legs pumping.  I just stayed to the left and passed people.  All of the excruciating winter trainer sessions must have paid off because the climbs were doable.  I began to catch the waves in front of me.  Up and down we went.  It seemed like if I wasn’t climbing, I was descending.  But the course was fun.  The hardest part was navigating other racers and choosing the correct body to get behind on the longer, steeper, wetter climbs.  At one point on one of the longer climbs, I could hear the gentleman in front of me, grinding through his gears as we neared the top of a sloppy section.  I thought for sure he was going to drop a chain and in the process drop me in the mud.  But with some encouragement he ground it out to the top. 

The various distances split off and then rejoined.  The leaders of the 36 mile race passed me like I was standing still.  But the course was very well marked and I had no route finding issues.  My only frustration was being stopped at an intersection to allow car traffic to pass.  While I was stopped, several other ladies in my wave were able to catch up. 

For nutrition, I sucked on Clif shot blocks with caffeine.  I had approximately sixty ounces of water on me in my Camelbak.  Ultimately, I drank about forty ounces, which may not have been enough.  Around mile 18, my quads started to cramp.  I wracked my brain trying to remember if cramps were a sign of low electrolytes or dehydration.  I shifted into an easier gear, ate another shot block, drank and kept going.  Shortly thereafter I turned on to the pavement, a final long climb and the road for the finish.  I tried to grab onto some 36 mile guys passing me on cross bikes but my quads cramped again and I backed off.  I did finish the climb feeling pretty strong and then tucked in for the final descent to town.  I enjoyed the finish as the course turned through town a few times before crossing the finish line .  A girl in my age group caught me near the end and we battled back and forth with me popping past her just before the finish.  I finished 14^th out of 48 in my age group.  JMac did very well, finishing 16th out of 74 in his.

I found JMac and we returned to the car to put away our bikes and change for the after party.  Founders Brewing is the title sponsor for Barry Roubaix and already had the good beer flowing.  We grabbed a couple of All Day IPA’s, some food and settled in with our peeps from JTree.  Thank you to the city of Hastings for hosting the event.  The center of town was shut down as an open air party, complete with fire pits, food, beer and cycling vendors.  All in all, it was a very good day and a great weekend away.  I am already looking forward to next year.

My hope is that you had a good weekend too.  Work hard, play harder and take care of yourself.  Thanks for stopping by.  Talk to you next week.