Iron Furnace 50k!
I honestly had no intention of doing this race until
@Norm told me his plans to do it with
@seanrunnette ....Then a good portion of the team was going, so thats good enough for me. Plus, I love
@onetracker and the blackbear crew and I try to support their races. With no SSAP, Jungle or Wayway h2h this year..plus this horrendous winter..my interest in racing has been the lowest it has been since I started 10 years ago. But I did the mooch race and remembered that I still enjoy this and for the most part, I can now just show up and ride my bike. I dont stress the prep much anymore.
So the last race I did this long was in 2015 when I did the first Stewart 45. 3.5hrs of everything and the kitchen sink pace until we died.
@pearl used to try to talk me into doing endurance races by saying..."oh its fun, you just ride at this chill pace, chit chatting, etc...its fun!" This has never been my experience in any endurance race I have ever done. 5.5hrs of BS50 included....Everyone I have done goes like this.....Start at full xc pace....ride at 97% xc...bleed out of your eyeballs until all of your blood is gone....then do your best to limp your way across the finish line.
Looking at the guys reg'd for this race, I was certain this would be basically feel like doing the wayway h2h race twice. Which in my head put me in about the 3:15-3.5 range time wise. Considering I have done about 2 rides of 3 hrs or more since last summer, im never sure how im going to feel when I try doing it at race pace.
Despite wanting to race in my new plaid shirt, I went with my kit for no other reason than for a race this long, I need pockets...So I get dressed, hang out with the crew, then eventually we all get lined up. The start goes off hard as I expected...we race down the road at 20+ mph....I am way back out of the lead group of like 25, but eventually I start making my way up. I pass Ross on this SS spinning like a madman....while he was at a disadvantage on the road, I had no doubt he would be back eventually.
We turn into black eagle and there is a bit of a pile up....in my head im thinking im further back then I would like to be, but trying to tell myself "3+hrs, just chill" As we climb up black eagle im making passes, eventually I catch up to Andrew L and stick with him for a bit. 15min in and the pace is really hurting...this is where my lack of fitness this year is really showing...I cant handle the hot starts yet and its taking me a while to get to speed.
I pass mancuso on the side of the trail due to a dropped chain. He gets back on his bike and quickly catches back up to me, I let him by and just try to stay on him. I do this for the next 5 min or so until another chain drop stops him. Into porcupine, I start catching Dave F in the tech, I can also see Mandel and Francis Cuddy up ahead a ways. Im making time in the technical stuff, which is good.
I put down a good effort on the mud climb and get a little closer to Jeff, although I can see in the rear view that steve and Ross are getting closer. Get thru the climb, hold everyone off until the pines climb. I let Ross by and stay with him thru the climb, we close the remaining gap on Jeff....Then hammer downt he Tombstone decent. After that, they gap me a bit, but in my head im going to use the South end/Timber technical sections to recover a bit. This usually works well for me....Like halfway thru I catch back up to Ross and Jeff. Mancuso catches me near the end of the tech and the 4 of us hit the fireroad together. Im struggling to stay with them on the roads and I start drifting back.
Rest of lap 1 I chase the guys thru red dot....One thing I noticed is that im going to hit the line in well under 1:30, so this race is considerably shorter than I planned on, which is a great thing. I cross like line in 1:22. Pull over and notice my 70oz camel back still has alot left...So rather than switch it, I just grab a bottle, chug a little and start rolling. All of this screwing around tho has made me lose sight of Jeff, Ross and Steve.
I hit black eagle solo...I have hit black eagle countless times and I know every section well at this point. Im chipping away at Jeffs gap on me. We both pass
@Joe J off his bike with a minor issue...But he quickly gets back on and charges past us. It was good timing bc while he is pulling away, we are picking up our pace trying to keep up. Eventually in Porcupine I pass Jeff, and by the end of the section we catch and pass Francis Cuddy....Soon after than, Scott Grey. Two guys who have beaten me countless times, so I felt happy with getting by both of them. Jeff and I stay together until the big road climb. I get by Jeff and put some distance on him on the hill. In my head im thinking if I got Jeff on this climb, I have a good chance of making it stick to the finish line. Plus it gives me motivation to hit everything as hard as I can to the finish line. I busted my ass on the pines climb then did the same on the tombstone descent.
Im in no-mans land until I hit the river crossing in timber. I look up and see that Ross, Steve and Joe J up on the hill. Probably too far away to catch, but it keeps me pushing. At the end of Timber, I see a guy with a number on his back, running on foot...My first thought is that this guy had a mechanical, left his bike and said fuck it...Put his number on his back and started running...Before I realized what a ridiculous conclusion that is, I notice that this guy was none other than
@ryderX out for a long jog. Crazy bastard
After this I hit the remaining fire roads pretty hard, and finally started feeling a cramp in my left quad. These hurt, but I have always just been able to keep them at bay by pedaling. So I power thru the red dots climbs knowing that im close to home. Pull in and see Ross, Steve, Monte, Rob Price, few others.
In all a good race.
My laps were 1:23, 1:27. Considering how little riding i have done at this distance/time, im pretty happy with that split. I have to say, I was surprised how little I felt I suffered in this race. Outside of my back hurting after about 20min in, I felt pretty good for most of the race. I would have loved a top ten, but considering the competition and where im at this year, im happy with 12th. Another minute or so would made a big difference. All good tho...most importantly, i enjoy myself.
Great work by the black bear crew...I might prefer the short format, this was very fun.
ok, now off to the garage to put my new lift together.
My rebuilding process is slowly coming along from last years demise.