Stoopid 50
- Thread starter xc62701
- Start date
Yes, thanks for the photo of the results, happy to be on page one - i went straight to the car and got rolling back home so was curious about the times. Why is it so hard for them to post the results online??
Agree with other comments, this is a great race. Kind of surprised the field didnt seem very large. I did the W101 last year, that was OK but this was much more fun. The 100m races are pure survival for most of us, 50m seems much more like a race, and you are not crushed for a week after its over too. I'd recommend it to NJ people - straight shot 3.5hr drive for NNJ people, decent/cheap hotels in state college, and great singletrack.
I did it SS, and I think the course is perfect for it. Climbing is mostly on gravel or jeep roads and not too steep, and the only flat parts of the course are on tight singletrack, so SS doesnt hold you back. Really only a few steep sections that I probably would have walked on a geared bike too.
Looking back, i think i took it a little too easy on the opening road climb - the guy on the PA system said that the first climb was steeper than it looked so I took it easy expecting it to get hard. Well, its not steep ever at all. From what I can tell, if you are really gunning for a good finish, you really need to push it hard on this first climb and get on to the singletrack as close to the front as possible, then try to recover and hammer on. Whatever, in long races like this its easy for everyone to find ways their time could have been better.
Really my only comment on the course is having the best singletrack (tussey mnt ridge) so early in the race before people can really space out. Would have been more fun to ride it without all the people and stress. Is what it is though, still fun.
Also, that last downhill is the real deal. There was one hard downhill in the W101, but its was easy in comparison to this one. Im not much of a downhiller, and this was brutal for me. Trying to pick my way down this thing on a hardtail was about all I can handle. I dabbed when I almost hit a tree in the middle of the trail (wasnt looking too far ahead given the rocks everywhere), and considered walking some of it, but I strapped it back on and soldiered on.
If you are thinking about it, do this race next year.
Agree with other comments, this is a great race. Kind of surprised the field didnt seem very large. I did the W101 last year, that was OK but this was much more fun. The 100m races are pure survival for most of us, 50m seems much more like a race, and you are not crushed for a week after its over too. I'd recommend it to NJ people - straight shot 3.5hr drive for NNJ people, decent/cheap hotels in state college, and great singletrack.
I did it SS, and I think the course is perfect for it. Climbing is mostly on gravel or jeep roads and not too steep, and the only flat parts of the course are on tight singletrack, so SS doesnt hold you back. Really only a few steep sections that I probably would have walked on a geared bike too.
Looking back, i think i took it a little too easy on the opening road climb - the guy on the PA system said that the first climb was steeper than it looked so I took it easy expecting it to get hard. Well, its not steep ever at all. From what I can tell, if you are really gunning for a good finish, you really need to push it hard on this first climb and get on to the singletrack as close to the front as possible, then try to recover and hammer on. Whatever, in long races like this its easy for everyone to find ways their time could have been better.
Really my only comment on the course is having the best singletrack (tussey mnt ridge) so early in the race before people can really space out. Would have been more fun to ride it without all the people and stress. Is what it is though, still fun.
Also, that last downhill is the real deal. There was one hard downhill in the W101, but its was easy in comparison to this one. Im not much of a downhiller, and this was brutal for me. Trying to pick my way down this thing on a hardtail was about all I can handle. I dabbed when I almost hit a tree in the middle of the trail (wasnt looking too far ahead given the rocks everywhere), and considered walking some of it, but I strapped it back on and soldiered on.
If you are thinking about it, do this race next year.
xc62701
Well-Known Member
You've gotta love all the technology that we have for these things. I used my garmin training center to see how much time I lost while flying off the trail and down the embankment on the final descent(thanks to a gentle nudge from a tree). I went far enough off the trail to create a nice sharks tooth in the otherwise straight line descent I was on. Looks like it was 90 secs to 2 mins I lost fighting with cramps and climbing back up the hillside. My elbow looks like someone smashed it with a baseball bat but it's recovering otherwise. I finally have the full range of motion back.
Man that was a great race!!!
Man that was a great race!!!
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
photos! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=9366907&sk=photos_albums
seems like this guy was all over the place that day.
seems like this guy was all over the place that day.
