Our 3rd annual Lutsen 99er. Thomas and I have done the first two together to the finish and that was the plan again with some additional company from teammates. We actually formulated that plan after the race last year. Jacob on the rigid full fat Voytek and Chris Stindt. It’s pretty cool to have such a big BRF group attending this event and I feel nobody does it better than Peter Spencer.
Our goal was primarily to go fast and have fun. We knew if we could keep equipment together and pace conservatively especially at the beginning we could do very well. We wanted to let the front of the race tire themselves and then catch back on and hit them while they were tired. We knew we needed to manage ourselves well and what I always need to remind myself is how much more there is to off-road physically vs. road. I had it in my head that drafting would be massive savings and make it easy. What I forgot is the physical abuse we take from the beating of the terrain. Stindt managed this extremely well and knew when to say when for him. Because of that, he had a solid result.
The equipment – Thomas and I are on 2019 Top Fuels. The difference the full suspension makes on abuse to the body is incredible. I am a weight weenie so a magnet doesn’t stick to many parts or fasteners on my bike. My bike weighed 23.5# ride ready with an empty bottle, computer and full flat and tool kit. I am running the CXX Kovvee wheels and we chose Schwalbe Thunder Burt tires. They are extremely fast rollers. However, we continue to learn the lesson that fast is only applicable when one can keep their bike moving forward.
The Fueling – I wanted to put down an average of 400 calories per hour. High output = high input, therefore, I eat often. Cool mornings make hydration hard so instead of mixing a bunch of bottles I do a single concentrate bottle and the rest water.
Fuel list:
10 pouches Pure Fuel maple syrup ~1000 cal.
5 servings Sustain ~600 cal.
4 Apex recipe rice cakes ~660 cal.
1 GoMacro almond carob. 230 cal.
Total intake roughly 2200 and live off the course from there.
I thought we executed the beginning to perfection. The usual massive split happened on the climb. Our little group sat in the back and entered the woods in the back where the BIG nukes are generally dropped. We knew a big gap would occur there but we only had about 20 riders ahead total. Perfect position. We rode the first section nice and smooth. Thomas provided the early entertainment by tipping into a massive axel deep water hole…ha. We got to the road and went to work. We flew.
Our plan was to perfection and we entered back to the double track and chilled a bit. Unfortunately, we learned quickly….again that fast tires get slow when they flat. I must have run over a very sharp rock and double punctured. Thankfully the tread and thankfully the front sealed as I stopped quickly. I actually didn’t get the rear to seal well, but only had about a 10 second stop. It worked to catch the guys instead of slowing the group.
About mile 40 all engines still go we actually caught the lead group of 5-6 in a wooded tech section. That right there is a feather in our caps. Roadies and triathletes riding down the best….in the woods….ha! However…..Thomas was leading and I swear he hit the biggest and sharpest rock I saw all day right there. Double pinch flat. He probably got excited, lost focus for an instant and there we stood. We couldn’t get them to seal. Thomas was mad at himself and also found out he was likely low on sealant. After struggling around for many minutes we finally plugged the holes from the outside and rode away. Many many riders passed us. In hindsight, I felt we actually caught the leaders with them still too fresh anyway. But I’d love to have tangled with Corey for 60 miles. He and I have a thing going at Birkie. He is now 3-time defending champ at Lutsen. Incredible dominance. Incredible equipment choices and luck/skill.
So we rolled on. Thomas got excited here and burned a big match trying to gain back places. It was getting hot and we were drinking a lot. Thomas got hot and Jacob broke his seat post. I was feeling some fatigue but also still all systems go. Unfortunately, the heat and effort was slowly getting the best of Thomas on this day. One of the strongest guys in the region was showing signs of struggle…..at half…way…ugh oh.
The cramps hit Thomas about 50 miles. Ouch. So we went to damage control mode which is ok. Our fitness levels are so off the chart high that we can usually put cookies back in the cookie jar. But not on this day. Thomas couldn’t keep his temp down even while drafting nearly all the time. The slow sections were too warm and water becoming scarce in our packs. We stopped about mile 55 to fill our packs. So that was my 3rd stop. It was getting really hard to get to the front.
The water helped if only briefly and Thomas showed a real human side about mile 60. He couldn’t pedal. I told him to stop and lay down. We did that and more riders streamed past putting us back to about 20th. I took the opportunity to lube my chain and rest. We wanted to stay together for the finish.
I think the call was made about mile 70 for Thomas to stop at an aid station on his own and either phone a friend or recover and soft pedal in. We separated and that’s when I really suffered. I put myself into the death zone from there to the finish. This time I don’t use that term lightly.
It was hot and I was losing fluids faster than I was able to absorb. The instant I left Thomas I started to get the niggle cramps. Almost 5 hours in and big wattage was getting hard. I did all I could to manage it all. Eat, drink, ride the shade. I was absolutely flying and ripped the fast roads to shreds…and also completely used up everything I had. I caught a ton of riders but only advanced to 13th in the 99er.
Entering the single track I was suffering so badly I literally had tears in my eyes. I was whimpering. I was disappointed with such a hard effort, a poor result, and feeling for myself. But I didn’t crash or hit a tree and I felt “for me” downright flowy in the single track!
I hit the bottom and cramped as I have never cramped before. Soft-pedaling and cramping. I was literally screaming at the top of my lungs SHUT UP to my legs. And…it worked…well mostly. I saw other riders randomly tipping over or walking the final ascent and I rode through the finish and collapsed. I absolutely emptied the tank and in hindsight cramping that badly 2 minutes from the finish of a 6-hour race is pretty perfect pacing 🙂
After Anna and AJ pouring water on me a minute I was back up and at em. Time for donuts, Kakookies and Bipro. Time for reflection
I didn’t learn as much in this race as I learned at DK. We were better prepared with better equipment. Still, a ways to go but not terrible. Thomas and I will get another go at this with the guys at DAMn then again just the 2 of us at Gravel Worlds. When we get it dialed. Look out. Look. Out 🙂
Chris Stevens