2022: The Summer of Ultra XC

 In 2014 I rode the Colorado Trail and wrote about it here.  As soon as I finished I started looking for other similar bicycle legal national scenic trails.  I quickly found the Arizona Trail Race which is claimed to be the hardest in the world and set my sights on it.  I had a series of knee overuse issues from riding with no right ACL from 2013-2018 that we're a frequent setback on top of work responsibilities, prioritizing other types of riding and trips, wildfires & other assorted excuses over the past 8 years.  

In 2021 I had planned to end the year with this race but was focused on the Rocky Mountain Enduro Circuit where I won the open A class and 9th in the series. The amount of bike work during the week to make that happen ate up all my training time so I opted to not even attempt it.

This year I set my priorities on 3 races: Vapor Trail 125, Marji Gesick 100, and the Arizona Trail 800.

   Me 13 hours into the V125 at  
Monarch Pass. 22:02 race time

       At the finish line of MG100 at
midnight 16:40 race time
with 60% field DNF rate

The year started with working 6-7 days a week from November 10-March 10 with little time to ride or train.  I jumped in on a freeride trip to Virgin Utah in March, nervous the whole time knowing I would be racing the same bike through Arizona later in the year.

I was planning on doing just a few RMEC races but prioritizing these endurance XC races. At the first Colorado RMEC in April I lightly planted my foot (one of many times) and it resulted in 30 seconds of knee pain.  I didn't think much of it as my knee felt great the rest of the day including loading my bike and driving my 94 manual truck home.  A few nights later while riding MTBs I felt it shift and knew exactly what happened. I had partially torn my left ACL. I ended up getting PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) and doing PT but was off the MTB for a couple months. My knee ended up getting more stable quickly but then at the 3 month mark a night riding dirt bike crash my first time back on the motorcycle resulted in a similar knee feeling as the tear and a minor set back. I'm planning to get an additional PRP treatment after the race.

In my recovery from the torn ACL I did a century (100 mile road ride) on my 98 Gary Fisher just before PRP and countless big mile road rides on it just after.  I'm fortunate to have the best Physical Therapist who gave me a great strength and mobility program to come out stronger than before the tear.  Two week after I was cleared to mountain bike I did the Laramie Range Epic which kicked of my XC racing Summer.

In August I raced the Vapor 125 which starts in downtown Salida at 10 PM.  It was downpouring rain until 9:50 and lightened up to a stop at 10 exactly.  Around 35 of us set off. It was about 8 hours of nearly straight climbing to reach the high point at sunrise.  It was nice to see Erin at the halfway point. My friend Dan met me for the loop off Marshall pass which was nice because that was the part I was dreading the most.  Rainbow trail was a real mental test as I started hallucinating and thinking trees  we're buildings a few times. I rolled into town with a few other racers right at dark.

In September I went to the UP of Michigan for Marji which is viewed by most as the hardest single day mountain bike race.  This one was a Lemans start with a .5 mile run before the bike. It started right at sunrise. I got a decent start and even made passes on the run.  My plan was to go as hard as I could to my drop bag 65 miles in which was the only guaranteed support. I found a group with a strong pace on the easy stuff but would blow by everyone on any technical climbs or descents. The first 20 miles flew by as did the rest of the ride to Jackson Park.  There was plenty of support where I never even came close to running out of water even with only 3 bottles.  The first loop out of the park was a slog and was certainly the most technical part of the course, I pulled into the park right at dark. I put on my lights and hung out for a bit for the dreaded "Final 15".  It ended up being more like 20 and while it was a bit of a mental drain towards the end going up every inch of hill available to be added, it was not as technical as the previous loop. I finished right at midnight.

I am starting a South Bound ITT (Individual Time Trial) about a week before the North Bound grand depart. The race promoter has added some bonus trail he calls the SB XL route I will take if time permits, but will stick to the classic route if I am behind my schedule. You can follow along on the race tracker trackleaders.com/aztr22