Guest Race Report by the wifer:
July 28 had been circled on my calendar for over half the
year. It was the day of the Butte 50, my
first ever 50 mile mountain bike race.
We moved to Butte four years ago and since I knew it would be my last
summer here, I figured I should do the race while I had the “home court”
advantage. Last year I focused on
triathlons, mostly the XTerra series, which are off road, but a sore shoulder
and general ineptitude for running made me want to change things up this year
and focus on improving my biking. That
and a brand new Santa Cruz Blur XC that I have been building up over the past
year are what inspired me to sign up for the race.
Over the past few months I have been spending at least 5
days a week on the bike, following a training program Tiago bought for me. I have ridden every inch of the race course,
some sections countless times, so I felt ready.
I figured out nutrition, finally had a bike I was comfortable on, and
followed my race plan for tapering (well, mostly- my husband makes fun of me
for not ever following a recipe exactly. . . I always have to do my own
variation. Following a training plan was
similar.)
The weather forecast called for sun and highs in the
mid-80s. The temps were in the 60s at
the start of the race- perfect! I
decided about a week and a half before the race that the wingnut hydration pack
I had been riding with was getting in the way of the saddle on the climbs, and
therefore switched to a two bottle system.
Since the largest distance between any two aid stations was 11 or 12 miles, I figured this would be fairly safe
even in hot conditions. I know you’re
not supposed to change things last minute, but in retrospect am extremely glad
I did. Because the Blur doesn’t easily
accommodate 2 bottles, I bought a King cage that mounts to the headset. I can’t say enough about how awesome this
setup is! It makes it extremely easy to
grab your bottle while riding since it is so close to where your hands are on
the bars. But I digress. . .
The start of the race was a 4 mile loop on gravel road meant
to spread the pack out before the infamous Blacktail descent. I started out towards the middle/back of the
pack and took my time to warm up, knowing a long day was ahead of me. My heart rate was still too fast from the
adrenaline by the time I reached the first descent. It was super sandy from the unusually warm
(and dry) summer, and I wiped out going around a tight corner between some
trees. Luckily the sand was deep (and
soft!) so I hopped back on and kept going.
No harm, no foul.
I made it another ten minutes, grinding through the first
climb of the day, when Tinker Juarez, winner of the 100mile race, blew past me
with a “good job”. Unreal! I made it to aid station one, with the
encouragement of “cow bell guy” and grabbed some water. After a short climb through Thompson Park, I
was feeling pretty good for the gravel road section before Basin Creek. I made sure to eat and drink plenty of
fluids, but still stopped at the aid station, not wanting to start the hardest
section of the day (with about 3000 feet of climbing!). After a few swigs of water (it was really
starting to heat up), I put it into granny gear and started spinning. For about 50 feet, that is, before I had to
hop off and start walking. Alternating
sections of walk/bike for the next several miles, I made it through to the
Highlands Aid Station feeling relatively okay.
I took a longer break here, enjoying the oranges (always a favorite of
mine!) and prepared for the “eight miles of hell”, which actually were not as
bad as the Basin Creek climb. Definitely
started to feel the legs here, but was able to slowly start passing people and
playing leap frog with a few who were going about the same pace. Breathtaking views at the top of the meadow,
and I knew I was home free. I flew into
aid station 4, which had great volunteers cheering everyone on, and dumped a
bottle of water over my head to fight the heat.
I had just started the last downhill section, with about 3 miles to go,
when my tire hit a rock and I fell sideways (right onto my derailleur- ouch!) As soon as I fixed my crooked seat and
started moving, I realized my derailleur went into the spokes in the easy gears. Luckily it was downhill from then on, so I
shifted to my big ring and started moving.
Some dark clouds were threatening, and as I pulled across the finish
line, the sky opened up. I got a quick
shower to wash all the dirt off, but at the time didn’t really mind, since I
had a finisher’s mug in hand. The rain
was short lived, and I managed to make it to the food tent for some veggie
lasagna. Slow and steady does not win
races, but I had managed to finish in 8:14, which I was happy with. Now to figure out what the next race is. . .
maybe the High Cascades 24? I am officially
addicted. . .
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