Shenandoah Mountain 100 - 19th Annual
- Thread starter Bizarro
- Start date
Dave Taylor
Rex kwan Do
Yes he did! Maybe 13.5 hours? Not sure rigid was the right choice haha.
xc62701
Well-Known Member
Yes!!! Nice work!
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
I can't believe he did this on a rigid fork. My triceps are cramping just thinking about that. But this is just an awesome job - conditions on a few climbs yesterday were rougher than usual just because of the rain the previous two days. Congratulations!
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
SM100 '17 ... or "If You Find Yourself in a Hole, Stop Digging ..."
Back in the first week of July, I ordered a Moots Mooto X RSL frame to replace my Failed Carbon Experiment ™ ... at the time I was assured that the turnaround time was six weeks at the most. But as with pretty much everything else bike-related for me this year ... nope. It's now nine weeks and I'm still waiting. How does that play into an SM100 race report? Well, my much-loved Niner Sir9 has been giving me trouble all season - I keep dropping the chain off the rear cog. And it seems to be random -- it'll happen every ride for two weeks and then not happen at all for a month. I've replaced the whole drivetrain and it still happens. But without my new frame, that's the only bike I had for Shen. So there it was ...
I'll keep this shortish ... I dropped my chain four times before the first climb and then twice more on it. By the time I was able to reach the mini-aid station at the bottom of Tillman and fix it, I was way behind the group I'd started in. I lost a ton more time on the Lynn Trail climb to Wolf's Ridge because I was behind a pretty social group who weren't in a big hurry. It was like a pleasant stroll up the mountain, but that wasn't what I needed at that moment and so I rode like an idiot on the descent to gain back some lost time. I pinned it up Hankey's way harder than I should have, a fact I understood only after pinning it too hard not he road to Braley's Pond, after which my legs started to complain a lot. I then compounded this error by pushing way too hard early on the Death Climb. And if I lit my own fuse somewhere on the road to Braley's, I detonated completely in the endless meadows at the top of Shenandoah. I was crawling up the climbs there and bleeding time. And the thing is I knew when I first reached Braley's that I'd made a mistake but I didn't do anything to fix it -- in fact, I made it worse. By the time I reached the turnoff on Hankey to head back to the campground, even my simplest goal was out of reach and I finished in about 10 hours and 20 minutes.
But I don't want to sound like I was upset -- to the contrary, I was fine with it. Since the bike issues happened so early, I was really happy that my whole day wasn't over early. It was a tough day, but I really love riding in the Shenandoah Valley so it was all worth it. Plus, I got to meet a few more folks from the board in person - I already knew @David Taylor and @Jmc (both of whom killed it in their first times out) and @Rigidnsingle (who of course killed it with a 6th place in a stacked SS field), but I also got to meet @soundz and @Bizarro IRL, and got to hang with a bunch of folks I know both before and after the race. For those who were doing it for the first time, HUGE congratulations - the SM100 has a well-deserved rep as one of the hardest races in the east and just sacking up to toe the line is a big deal. Great job and great seeing you all!
Back in the first week of July, I ordered a Moots Mooto X RSL frame to replace my Failed Carbon Experiment ™ ... at the time I was assured that the turnaround time was six weeks at the most. But as with pretty much everything else bike-related for me this year ... nope. It's now nine weeks and I'm still waiting. How does that play into an SM100 race report? Well, my much-loved Niner Sir9 has been giving me trouble all season - I keep dropping the chain off the rear cog. And it seems to be random -- it'll happen every ride for two weeks and then not happen at all for a month. I've replaced the whole drivetrain and it still happens. But without my new frame, that's the only bike I had for Shen. So there it was ...
I'll keep this shortish ... I dropped my chain four times before the first climb and then twice more on it. By the time I was able to reach the mini-aid station at the bottom of Tillman and fix it, I was way behind the group I'd started in. I lost a ton more time on the Lynn Trail climb to Wolf's Ridge because I was behind a pretty social group who weren't in a big hurry. It was like a pleasant stroll up the mountain, but that wasn't what I needed at that moment and so I rode like an idiot on the descent to gain back some lost time. I pinned it up Hankey's way harder than I should have, a fact I understood only after pinning it too hard not he road to Braley's Pond, after which my legs started to complain a lot. I then compounded this error by pushing way too hard early on the Death Climb. And if I lit my own fuse somewhere on the road to Braley's, I detonated completely in the endless meadows at the top of Shenandoah. I was crawling up the climbs there and bleeding time. And the thing is I knew when I first reached Braley's that I'd made a mistake but I didn't do anything to fix it -- in fact, I made it worse. By the time I reached the turnoff on Hankey to head back to the campground, even my simplest goal was out of reach and I finished in about 10 hours and 20 minutes.
But I don't want to sound like I was upset -- to the contrary, I was fine with it. Since the bike issues happened so early, I was really happy that my whole day wasn't over early. It was a tough day, but I really love riding in the Shenandoah Valley so it was all worth it. Plus, I got to meet a few more folks from the board in person - I already knew @David Taylor and @Jmc (both of whom killed it in their first times out) and @Rigidnsingle (who of course killed it with a 6th place in a stacked SS field), but I also got to meet @soundz and @Bizarro IRL, and got to hang with a bunch of folks I know both before and after the race. For those who were doing it for the first time, HUGE congratulations - the SM100 has a well-deserved rep as one of the hardest races in the east and just sacking up to toe the line is a big deal. Great job and great seeing you all!
Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
Frank
Sasquatch
Yes, spoke with him last night. He failed to finish, but managed 75 miles.....on a fatbike.....still a win!!
Juggernaut
Master of the Metaphor
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
And he was only pulled for their cutoff time at the station. I was talking to him after the race and he didn't sound tired at all. (He did have to ride back himself, though, which is amazing if you ask me - they tell you you're not allowed to finish but then you still have to find your way back to the start finish on your own anyway!)
The Kalmyk
Well-Known Member
It's not YOU. I was an owner of said bike brand back when. I had the opportunity to meet their VP sales. One sentence took a minute or two.