Dickie Scramble 2015 - Elgin, MN

Turns out the race was 82 miles, not 75

Somehow I got it in my head that the 2015 Dickie Scramble was only a 75 mile event. Which sounded great to me, I'm not in good shape and 75 miles seemed pretty doable. But at around mile 70 it became clear from looking at the map on my GPS that I was not going to be done after 75 miles. That was totally my bad, I just didn't look that closely at the map or at the cue sheets. So those last 7 miles were kind of tough on my brain, but probably good for my legs.

Familiar gravel scenes spotted with some muddy double-track.

 

I'm getting slower

Turns out I was demonstrably faster last year. Which kind of sucks because I thought I rode pretty well today. Maybe the elevation & wind was a bigger factor than I realized, but it just didn't seem that much different than last year - in fact I thought it was even windier in 2014.

I don't understand how I am going to survive the Kanza this year - I need to ride a lot in the next few weeks.

Highlight of the day was getting my picture taken with Dickie - not even close.

2015 season kickoff

Just a couple days away from race #1 of the 2015 season - the LML (Lakeville - Milltown - Lakeville). An 80 miler just south of town this event is all about spending some hours in the saddle for me. I struggle with training in the cold, but the Dirty Kanza is looming, so I gotta suck it up and ride for awhile. Weather looks decent for the weekend, maybe not warm, but good enough.

Here's to another Dirty Millennium in 2015!

the 101

We've been chasing this 1 mile since the 99er back in June. If we wanted to get to 1000 miles we had to find an extra mile somewhere or we'd likely have to go over - way over. So we penciled in the Filthy 50 and the Dirtbag (85) to get us to 1034. Going over 1000 wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, so we resigned ourselves to these few remaining events.

But then a conflict came up that was gonna keep me from riding the Filthy 50. Now I was in trouble. I'm tired and it's getting cold, the weather would be less predictable and I was looking at the real possibility of finishing the year that just a few miles short of the Millennium. After enduring the Kanza and the Maah Daah Hey this potential was very depressing. Riding 984 miles was never the goal.

On a whim I checked in with Gravel Grinder News again on Thursday morning and like magic a new 101 mile event appeared. Why hadn't we seen it before?! But there it was, in 2 days, the 101 in Perry, IA. Bring it.

The drill was familiar. Leave after work on Friday, drive 4 hours to a small town in the rural Midwest, drink a few beers, get up early & ride. So that's what we did.

The 101 was a great event. Flat, no wind, totally blue-bird sky and 101 miles.  Personally I didn't have a great day, but that hardly mattered. It was nice to be out. The hardest thing about the 101 was the route. Not hills or wind or cold, but the straights. Several stretches of 5 plus miles with no turns. Your future laid right out in front of you - and it wasn't pretty.

The pics look familiar by now, but just to prove we were there.

Directions at the start.

Hmmm, where have I seen this before?

When people say Iowa is hilly they must be talking about somewhere other than here.

The intrepid author. Looking a little weathered and not particularly fast.

Inspiration 100 & Chequamegon 40

I've been slow to update my blog. Truth be told, I had a bit of a lull after the Maah Daah Hey 100 - that race took some time to recover from. Not just physically, but mentally. I just didn't feel like getting back on my bike again for awhile.

But those days have passed. And a few weeks ago we rode the Inspiration 100 out near Alexandria, MN. It was another beautiful day if a little windy. I rode pretty easy and finished the 104 miles somewhere around 7 1/2 hours I think. As usual the first half was quicker than the second. I had some groups to ride with early and ended up riding the last 60 or so miles totally alone.

There is definitely a common thread tying these gravel races together - lonely & unending gravel roads.

I wish I would have been counting the number of lakes that we passed - it seemed more rare to be riding across a field than along a lakeshore.

Lake, big lake.

And of course there was Mary of the Woods (or something like that). Up close she looked like "folk art" - like she was carved in some dude's garage on the weekends. I'm sure there is a great story behind her, but I don't know it. Anyways, if you find yourself out in the country west of Alexandria, MN you should go look for her - why wouldn't ya?

And as for the Chequamegon - well it was a bit of a breakthough weekend for both of us. I never could understand why Brent and I weren't faster in this race in the past. It just didn't make sense that we saw 3 hours as our benchmark. We had each been under 3 hours before - a few times, but still our goals always seemed anchored around it. This year we both were looking to blow that out of the water and to set a new standard - and we did. The course was about 2 miles shorter than usual, but we still blew it out. Even cleaning Fire Tower hill seems different now - taken almost for granted.

I don't have as any pics of the Cheq, but there are plenty out there to be found.

So our official dirty race total for the year is now at 899 miles. We had to drop the Skull & Bones from our schedule because of it's classification as a "ride" instead of a race. Looks like our next two events are the Filthy 50 & DirtBag (80-ish miles).

Stay tuned. Banquet information and post-millennium coverage is yet to come.

MDH 100 – 2014

The Maah Daah Hey 100 was insane. 

The trail is absolutely amazing, totally exceeding all of my expectations. 100 miles of single-track winding through the badlands of North Dakota. Riding the entire trail in one day was nuts, so much harder than I anticipated. As per my GPS we covered about 105 miles with nearly 11K feet of ascending and 11K feet of descending trail. I wouldn’t characterize the trail as technical, but it is relentless. The ups and downs in the badlands were mostly steeps – not a lot of rollers or long gradual hills. The sections between the badlands on the grassy prairies were the easy stuff and provided the closest thing to an opportunity to recover. Of course these sections also provided a good chance to make some time so I found myself pushing even here.

Yet we managed to make it to the finish in a mere 15 hours. I can’t say that I’ll do the Maah Daah Hey in a day again, but I am glad to have done it and I’d love to come back for a multi-day trip to explore a bit more.

I’ve got lots of great pictures from the first 50 miles, but just didn’t have the energy to get off my bike to snap many shots from the second half. Se la vie.

Checking out the bike Friday night.

Getting lined up at the start in CCC campground south of Watford City.

Early morning views of the badlands - less than 5 miles into the start.

Looks easy!

More badlands...

Me in front of some cool stuff.

Would be a better picture w/o my shadow. Wooden 4x4 posts mark the entire trail.

I don't know who this guy is, but that is China Wall behind him.

Hard to believe a 100 mile trail is cut through this terrain, but there it is.

Checkpoint 1 - 25 miles in.

The volunteers and support were inspiring.

This kind of stuff was fun & fast.

Lots of trail..

We were treated to derivatives of views like this for about 15 hours.

Somewhere between miles 30 & 40.

Somewhere after the 1st checkpoint - very cool trail.

Devils pass.

50 mile marker. But it didn't seem like it was in the middle of the course.

That's the trail on the other side of the Little Missouri River, just about a mile or two before the 2nd checkpoint at mile 50. Had to wade through it - just above knee deep.

Checkpoint #2 - 50 miles in.

Coming into checkpoint #2.

My photographic coverage basically stopped after mile 50. The course got incredibly tough, the sun intensified the relatively mild temps and I just didn't have the energy to get off my bike to take pictures. Which is really too bad, because the trail continued to provide awesome sights, including a petrified forest just before checkpoint #3 and a few prairie dog towns somewhere around mile 85.

Add captionCheckpoint #3- following a brutal 25 mile stretch.

About to head out from checkpoint #3 for the last 25 miles.

Brent with the TR in Watford City.

Dirty Lemming - 2014

The 2014 edition of the Dirty Lemming was a great success this year. Huge kudos and thanks are in order once again for Jim Smith and his devoted volunteer corps. The Dirty Lemming is a one of a kind event and the race that really got me into this genre of racing. Probably because it feels more like a ride with friends than it does a race. So anyways - thanks Jim, and see you again next year!

As for a recap - the course was pretty flat with only a few stretches of deep gravel. The first few miles on the Luce Line were calm & a good size group formed to ride with. Coming out of the Luce Line the tempo quickened and another smaller group of about 12-15 riders got together and pulled away a bit. This smaller group got split even further coming out of a 1/2 mile stretch of deep grass. The trail demanded a single file line and sure enough, the first guys out of the grass decided not to hold up for the group & they pulled away - leaving a few of us stranded. I had to stop (along with others) to pull grass out of my drive train - which really did the trick. So I was isolated out on the course with no real hope of pulling myself back up to any of the lead groups.

Luckily for me I hooked up with a guy named Tim from Excelsior coming out of the 33 mile check point and we stuck together for the duration. We were pulling each other along at a pretty good pace for about 40 or 50 more miles, but the truth is that Tim pulled me through from about mile 80 through to the finish - thanks Tim, I owe you one.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the even for me was being awarded the "Most Improved Lemming" award. Of course last year I finished dead last . . . but still, I had a pretty good day this year and am very happy with the ride. And as for the trophy, well it is one of my newly prized possessions.

Here are some pics...

Luce Line - I lost the lead group early fussing with my Garmin, but caught back up before we hit the open gravel roads.

After stopping to pull grass out of my drive train the leaders were gone for good.

Losing the lead group meant I had plenty of time for selfies.

Checkpoint one - awesome volunteers with home-made brownies & watermelon.

Jim Smith awarding me the Most Improved Lemming. Yes, the trophy has a lemming wearing a cape - it is awesome.

Jim & his backyard are what make the Dirty Lemming so awesome and the reason why I dig gravel racing. 

Inspiration 100

We're thinking of replacing Gravel Worlds with the Inspiration 100. Not for any reason other than convenience - Alexandria, MN is just closer to home.

Of course it isn't an even switch - Gravel Worlds is 150 miles. So right now, we are 1 mile short of the Millennium (thanks to the Lutsen 99er - which was really only 96 miles). Looks like we need to find another race somewhere. Was hoping for the Filthy 50, but I didn't get my registration in early enough. . . I'm sure something will come up.