Tatanka 100

Next up is the Tatanka 100, a new NUE addition in Sturgis, SD.   First a word about the travel.  Google maps listed Sturgis as a 19.5 hour drive from Granville.  Usually those estimates are long by 10% to 25%, so I was hoping for a quicker journey.   But alas it was not to be.  The trip was every bit of 19.5 hours, each way.  I drove out in two parts, Thursday and Friday.  I made it to Southern MN on Thursday night and had another 6-7 hours on Friday for check in.  On the drive home, I went about 2 hours on the night of the race and then tried to drive a massive distance back on the next day, Sunday.  I only made it to Indiannappolis.   Then drove the rest of the 4 hours or so early on Monday, making it home by 9am.   It was a friggin looooong drive.   The is subtle beauty to the great plains, but after two long days,  I've seen enough.  I also tried to stop in Iowa to meet Guitar Ted at his shop, but I missed him by about 2 hours.  

Sturgis is really a small town.  Not much there at all.  I can't imagine a few hundred thousand Harleys and their riders in that town.  Not possible.  The place must be a complete mess.   More than half the shops in town sold cheap T-shirts, some bars and not much else.   Wall Drug was a better stop.   I also learned at check-in that our mountain bike race would run concurrently with the Black Hills 100, an ultra endurance running event.  That was cool because the number of registered cyclist was small (about a 100?) and so having the runners around added to the prerace energy and vibe.  

The course was hard.   106 miles meant the time would be longer.  But the climbs were steep and difficult.  The terrain wasn't super technical, but it wasn't easy either.  I crashed twice, both times just as I was starting to get a groove on.   First was when I was dismounted to cross a creek and slipped on wet rock.  I sprained my ankle badly.  The second was when I tried to avoid a mud hole and slipped.  I got soaking muddy wet all over (the only mud on the whole course) and went flying off into the woods in dramatic fashion.   I also got off course once in the middle, losing about five minutes in the process.  

Otherwise the race was marked by those darn cramps.  I just don't think I was drinking enough for the dry conditions.   Once I got hydrated again, I had a good last 15 miles, cramping badly only as I was 100 yards from the finish.  I passed about 10 people in those last 15 miles.  Good fitness, bad drinking.  The course had a "Colorado feel" to it, only with a bit more vegetation and less altitude.  Very beautiful!   Just wish I was faster.

Mohican 100

Early June arrived and I was ready for my first NUE race of the season, the Mohican 100.  I hadn't been able to do this race in the past five years because it coincided with June-O training.  We had a stretch of dry cool air in the week leading up to the race, but of course, come race time brought heat, humidity and storms.   It wasn't too hot, maybe 80ish, but the humidity was through the roof.   On the Friday before the race there were scattered afternoon thunderstorms.   Heavy localized downpours.  I brought Eli with me to register and we rode the first few miles of the trail together.  He did pretty well considering everything was slicked up from the rain in the area.   That night it poured a whole lot more.

Morning came and I drove back down to Loudonville, parked and got my gear together.  There was a sizeable crowd in downtown, seemed like a bigger field than some other races.  I decided to bring the El Mariachi because I figured it would handle the mud about as well and be better for all the dirt road stuff. 

The gun went off and we went up the first paved climb of the day, super steep.  I didn't want to burn my legs out too early so I took it easy and was well back in the field.  After a brief dirt road stretch we entered some farmer's woods on some singletrack.  There was a significant backup as we all tried to cram onto the narrow path.  I figure I only lost about 5 minutes total in the first 15 miles of the race by being held up.  So it wasn't tragic but it just felt that way everything someone was in your way.  We went through the camp ground and onto Mohican SP trail proper.   We did the first 90% of the trail and the hardtail was bumping me around a great bit.   I wanted the superfly.   The humidity was super aweful.  I felt like I was overheating all throughout the race.

We jumped off the SP mtn bike trail on to some powerline cut.  It was incredibly steep and a huge hike-a-bike.  It sucked.  Then we were on SP horse trails which were pounded into oblivian and full of mud.  This section absolutely sucked.  I could tell this wasn't going to be a good day.  I didn't feel right, had no energy, was suffering in the early season heat, and just had no go in the legs.

The rest of the course was kid of a blur.   There were a bunch of gravel climbs and some singletrack mixed in.  Lots of steep little climbs.   There were sections I started feeling a little better, but nothing that would stick.   I even had to walk a smooth gravel climb near the end.   I made it back to the trail and came in at 10:30 or something like that.  I had been hoping for something closer to 9 hours. 

I didn't like the course.  Especially with all the rain.  It would have been infinitely better in dryer conditions.  I hated the humidity.  I had a bad day.   Nothing like the good vibes I got from my 171 mile romp up to Cleveland the week before .. probably had some residual dead legs from that effort.