Let Race Season Begin

May 07, 2018

Let Race Season Begin - Cohutta 100

First things first:

Yes, I drove over 10 hours each way for this race.

Yes, by myself.

Yes, alone.

Yes, I have a few screws loose.

On to some Race Prep

As part of my plan to do something a bit more, a bit bigger, in 2018 I decided to complete enough National Ultra Endurance races (www.nuemtb.com) to get a series ranking and maybe some bragging rights. Unfortunately, that “National” thing means I have to do a bit of driving; the series has 13 races scattered across the US throughout the year and requires 4 finishes to qualify for series recognition and awards. I picked four races (mainly based on geography): Cohutta 100, Mohican MTB 100, Lumberjack 100, and Wilderness 101 with Shenandoah 100 as a backup later in the season if I have a mishap at one of these races, and started training. I have a few other races that are not part of the series, but I digress.

Up first was the Cohutta 100 in Ducktown, TN; yes it is a real place and it is only 11 miles from Turtletown, TN. I spent the days leading up to this race making lists and packing gear then re-checking my lists and packing more gear. Kit, shoes, drop bags, extra kit, snacks for the drive, the lists go on and on. My plan was to have my car almost entirely loaded up Thursday evening so I could drop my son off at school and get driving early Friday. I was able to hit the road just after 7:30 am Friday morning with a nice hot cup of coffee, a few audio books loaded on my phone and peace of mind knowing I had not forgotten anything (about 2 hours into the drive I had a flashback and momentary twinge of panic when I remembered forgetting to pack a wheel for a race a few years ago). The drive was pretty uneventful, I hit the lunch rush in Cincinnati, OH but other than that traffic was light and moved along at a pretty steady pace.

All of this fits

In to these three bags

I arrived at the Ocoee Whitewater Center for racer check-in and packet pick-up a just after 6:00 pm, got all my stuff and had a nice spaghetti dinner provided by the race organizers (www.roostracingllc.com). Next, I drove the mile and a half to the campground I was staying at, set up my tent and headed out for a little ride to check out the last few miles of the course and spin out my legs from a day of sitting in the car. My bike was working great and the trail I road was tons of fun, the last few miles of single track was mainly downhill and in great shape. Off to bed for an early start to a long day in the saddle.

Race Day:

I lined up at the front of the pack for the start not quite knowing what to expect; I had only seen the last few miles of the trail and that was just what I rode the day before. What I had read said the race started with 3 miles of paved road up a nice climb which led to 17 miles of single track, followed by what has been dubbed the 68 mile “Death March” (68 miles of gravel forest roads, and yes it has its own Strava segment) leading to the last 12 miles of single track. Oh, and lots of climbing.

We started at a fairly easy pace on the paved section which was a pretty nice climb. After a mile or so the pace picked up enough to spread the group out and eventually split it into smaller groups. I stayed with the lead group of about 15 riders heading into the first section of single track. We stayed together for the next five miles or so of single track until a few riders started to fall off the back a bit, then the paced picked up a little more and the train continued to spread. I eventually lost contact with the race leaders who continued to pull away through the entire race. There was a two-mile section here that ran along a river and due to all the rain the week leading up to the race it was festooned with puddles, mud and even the occasional small stream crossing the trail. It was all pretty hard packed underneath but by the time I got to the end of it my legs and shoes were a different color than when I had started the race. There was an actual river crossing in there as well, it was less than a foot deep and only 10-15 feet across, but I still had to ride through it and at least my shoes were both bright blue again when I came out the other side. After the river the climbing began on some nice smooth trails for a few miles.

Shortly before the river crossing

At mile 21, about 1 hr 30 min into the race, I came to the first aid station and the start of the “Death March” gravel roads. I grabbed a new bottle of nutrition and was back underway without losing too much ground.

Side note: When I read the race had 68 miles of gravel roads my mind instantly and without a second thought pictured the same type of gravel roads that exist where I live; hard packed dirt with some very small stones along the sides of the road, really not much different than the paved roads except every once in a while a grader can go over them and smooth out most of the bumps. This mental picture was wrong, VERY WRONG. Apparently in Tennessee and Georgia the definition of a gravel road is: at one point in time someone smoothed out a section of mountain side just wide enough for a car, then dumped actual gravel with rocks ranging from a quarter inch to well over an inch in diameter on the road to keep it from eroding away and called it good. Not great for cars, but much more fun for bike racing.

From mile 21 to mile 54 it felt like all I did was climb, which is partially true. Of the 10,600+ feet of elevation gain for the day, about 5,500 of it was in this 33 mile section. That said, there were a few really fast downhill sections containing some fun switchbacks. For these 33 miles I averaged a whopping 11.5 mph but I did hit 39.2 on one of those few downhills.

3D Map of the "Death March" portion of the race, this map starts about 19 miles into the race

The next 20 miles was the reward for all the climbing. The course dropped 3,200 feet and I kept an average speed of 17.4 mph. Unfortunately, the downhill came to an end and the next section of gravel road was once again up, up, up and back to some single track.

These 68 miles were some of the most entertaining gravel roads I have ever ridden. They were constantly twisting and turning, climbing or descending and I always had to be paying attention. Often when I ride gravel roads I can take in my surroundings, but here I had to keep a constant eye on the road surface and pick good lines on descents to keep some good speed and to keep from tumbling down the drop off the side of the road. On climbs there were big section of very loose rock to avoid and on descents there were washed out sections to navigate as well as some exciting rollers. The roads were also open to traffic and a few times I came upon a car heading toward me, my only though was: I sure am glad I did not meet you a few minutes earlier when I was going a bit fast around a curve, downhill, on the wrong side of the road. But they were all going rather slow, so I am sure I would have had time to move out of the way.

I entered the last section of single track expecting much the same as the first section, especially since the two had a few miles of overlap, but there were a lot more rocks and roots and in general just more rugged terrain. I did manage to catch and pass a number of 50 mile races (who started later in the day and rode the same last 25ish miles of the course) which gave me the mental boost I needed to push a little harder to the end. The very last mile of the race was down a bike path along the side of the road back to the Ocoee Whitewater Center where the race began. When I turned on to the path I could see another rider ahead of me and I really wanted to catch him so got on the gas as much as I could after 99 miles of racing and managed to pass him with about 1/3 of a mile to go. It was a 50 mile racer but a target is a target and any motivation can help.

I rolled through the finish line in 10^th place after 7 hours 58 minutes and 6 seconds of racing; my first top 10 in a NUE race. I felt strong for most of the day, living in the flatland that is Michigan it is hard to train for a race with so much climbing, so the hills took their toll on me as the day wore on, but I made it up every single one. If I had some more time in terrain like this I am sure I could cut some significant time off, but overall, I am happy with my performance. My bike handling in the single track got much better as the day went on as well, unseasonably cold temperatures kept many of my local trails closed from winter much longer than usual, so my early spring trail time has been pretty limited to date but I do not feel this added much if any time to my race.

Dirty Bike

Can you tell where my bibs end and my sock begin

Nutrition was spot on once again thanks to all the help from Hammer Nutrition. At all times I had one water bottle with Fizz and the other I swapped back and forth between Perpetuem and a HEED/Sustained Energy combination at the aid station/drop bag locations where I also also took my Anti-Fatigue Caps and Endurance BCAA+ capsules (about every two hours). I carried a flask of Hammer Gel which I really did not use much but when I did it was exactly what I needed. A piece of PB&J may have fallen in my mouth along with some Coke at an aid station but sometimes you need something a little different in the mix.

Relive Map:
https://www.relive.cc/view/1537739431

Sponsor Plug:

My Hammer Nutrition products (www.hammernutrition.com) kept me going all day with no stomach issues or bonking. My bike worked great as well. I ran a 32t PowerTrac chainring from Wolftooth Components (www.wolftoothcomponents.com) which was spot on for the conditions and my FIT CR grips from ESI Grips (www.esigrips.com) kept my hands happy all day. This biggest complement I can give my Rudy Project (www.rudyprojectna.com) Racemaster helmet and Tralyx glasses where I did not have to think about them all day. The helmet is so comfortable and light I nearly forget I am wearing it and my glasses stayed put.

I also want to thank Chad and the rest of the guys at Spin Bicycle Shop (www.spinbicycleshop.com) for the final prep-work on my bike and the quick turn around with my brake replacement.

Up Next
The Michigan Coast to Coast Gravel Grinder on May 12^th. 212 miles of gravel fun and pain starting on the east coast of Michigan in Au Gres and finishing on the west coast in Ludington (www.micoasttocoast.com)