by Chris Stevens
This past weekend I had a wonderful last-minute opportunity to race Maah Daah Hey 100. I’ve had it on my calendar the last couple years, but it generally conflicts with DAMn. This year I made the poor assumption that like all else it would cancel. I was left scrambling as late as Thursday to make the logistics of a point to point solo experience happen.
It came together in this way:
My 3 girls had a previously planned girls camp weekend so I was free to do whatever.
Our awesome partner Matt Mossman (Endurelite) was able to connect me with the RD and get me comfortable doing something really last minute (no planning isn’t comfortable).
The RD’s Nick and Lindsey made me feel incredibly welcome and this was one of the best supported and first-class events I’ve done. For something “relatively” small they get it all right. And it’s a smallish field for good reason. Read on.
My plan became obvious at the last minute. I had the opportunity to ride my bike in the Badlands of ND. “The baddest race in the baddest place” they say. 105 miles in the heat seemed hard. But why quit there? My plan? Get done with the race and drive 5 hours the wrong way. Sleep in my Jeep in Red Lodge. Ride Beartooth the next morning. Seemed like a great idea.
Race goals: It’s the Badlands. Smile and enjoy the epic scenery. Have fun. But….I was still there to try to win. I knew Tinker was there and someone always shows up. I wanted to have a good ride in an epic event. And…be thankful to be riding bikes in an event with friends. The comradery was very important to me. It delivered! Be thankful to Matt and Nick / Lindsey. They really stepped up to make my trip comfortable. Put in a good effort to thank them and honor the event. Be safe.
I arrived in Watford, ND to register very last second Friday night. I slept right there in the Roosevelt Inn (first class) and was up bright and early to make the short 20-minute drive to essentially the North Unit of the park for the start at CCC campground. I’ve never laid eyes on the course. Thankfully I had everything prepped well and I had a bag stashed at the mid-point loaded with calories / tools. Also essential to my logistics was I was able to find someone to drive my car to the finish line for a point to point event! So prepped and ready I was. No idea on the terrain or course, but I was told not to concern much with flat tires or tiny climbing gears. I went conservative on tires and ran a big Bonty XR3 front for traction (no skills) and XR2 back for a hair more speed. It was great for safety…for me (no skills).
Fueling? 1000 calorie breakfast with 2 cups Bell Lap. ~400 cals per hour during the ride. One bottle on the bike. No back pack. New Spark kit! All grams matter. The TF weighed in at 24# ready to go with the SRAM Reverb dropper that I used a million times. I carried 5 Clif Bars from the start and had 5 more stashed. I got through 7 of them (I sponsor Clif to the tune of about 30 bars / week). Yep riding one handed eating Clif bars is hard. 10 ounces of Pure Fuel. I got through all that. 5 on me at the start. 5 more stashed midway. Hydration included a single shot of PerformX in the bottle with a concentrate of 3 servings SustainX. Same at mid-point so I essentially thinned the mix as needed at aid stations to keep my bottle near full as much as possible. I probably went through about 4 full bottles total in just a hair under 9 hours. For those not in the know PerformX is essentially a focus matrix. And with “no skills” I need all the focus I can get!
Just like every long course race I’ve done everyone went out too hard. Right off the bat maybe 15th wheel after the first minute and small climb at “sickwatts.” The good news is the group of 15 was well clear and I was the caboose. I was riding with a guy that claimed he saw 115 degrees in the valleys last year and spent 4 days in the hospital after. I believe it. So no pressure to keep up or stay ahead of anyone in tech sections and crash. My wattage on those first couple climbs? How about watching a sustained 6 w/kg to maintain. Then those around me began to very quickly move backwards. And we had a smallish chase group of 3. Group is relative in MTB for me. I do me. Dropped in the tech. Gain on the climbs. Over and over. And with ~15K’ of climb there’s a lot of slinky for me in an event like that. But I had a smallish group around me and about an hour in I found myself well within the top 10. Huge climbs and steep. 34-42 for my smallest gear? Poor equipment choice indeed. I’d suggest for a guy like me on that course 34-52 would have been more like it. I walked about 5-6 times due to big gears.
So now…no skills is relative. I can go pretty well, but the single-track ninjas still drop me in the tech stuff. The biggest climb on the course was maybe an hour in and I counted a 90-second loss on that single descent alone to the guys I was with at the top. Uggggh. Chase back over and over burning matches. Like most other long course type events, everyone seemed pretty well used up by ~3 hours. There are times when you are crossing grasslands and can see a mile ahead and I couldn’t see the next guy. By 3 hours in I had caught locals Steve Marshall and then Chris Lowry. Again, I couldn’t even see them way up the trail an hour in. I was moving ahead. I was told at ~3 hours in I was in 3rd. Then 5th. Then 4th. Jeepers which was it? So instead of sight-seeing, I kept pedaling. I did grab a couple quick pictures, but certainly missed the good stuff. The beauty of the Badlands was astounding.
The creek crossings, mud and cow pies made bike mechanicals a reality. I had spare chain lube with me just in case. Thankfully I got a lube job 3 times at aid stations. Wonderful! But the caking of cow pies and muck made my entire drive train not want to work by the end. Shifting started to not happen. Then it would. Then it wouldn’t. If I did it again, I’d be on minimal tires on the Raptor rims. Big and burly seems to not be necessary there. I believe a couple guys ahead of me were actually on hard tails including Tinker. And Tinker only had a half a fork up front. 🙂 You will never see me on rigid I don’t think. I feel the body savings a suspension provides and confidence descending with a rear shock far outweighs the weight penalty.
The good news for the day was 2-fold. Aid stations spaced very close. I don’t think ever more than an hour apart. It was also cool for the Badlands. About 80. At 100 I can see why the aid stations would be so close. It was glorious. I never carried more than a single bottle of liquid. Fortunately, and unfortunately, we had a tailwind most of the way. That makes it easy to go faster in the flats. But my lack of skill I can only go so fast. I’d rather have to be forced to pedal as my fitness trumps skills. Instead the guys up the trail had skills and didn’t need the fitness to stay away. They stayed away! But it was cool and we went fast due to the wind. I can’t even imagine riding there in the heat. Can’t imagine!
So I pedaled and pedaled. Lots of cool creek / river crossings. Some crotch deep. Some 75 yards wide as we forged the Little Missouri River. Lots of cattle and tons of cattle manure on the trail, but thankfully caked on me and the bike and not in my bottle nozzle…wheew. Eventually I did begin to feel it and with about 15 to go found out I was in 5th place, then caught on and passed for 4th. I kept going, but was told I had a 15 minute gap to the group of 3 up front riding together. I kept on in case one of them cracked hard, but it wasn’t meant to be. Cramps came and watts became the enemy. At one point I crested a tiny rock lip and probably micro spiked to ~1000 watts to get over at ~95 miles. Both hamstrings cramped and that lasted for 10 minutes. With 5 to go I went over the bars in the deepest, stinkiest, stickiest mudhole you can imagine. It was…..glorious. Ha! Jeepers what a brutal, but beautiful event. 4th place in a mountain bike race that draws some huge talent. I’ve had plenty of folks tell me I’d never be competitive at MTB soooo 🙂
So to summarize MDH 100. Maybe….likely the most epic and beautiful event I’ve done. It’s old school single track. No machine built. The cows ride the trail more than the bikes. The trail is very well maintained and marked. You get to ride about 5 miles through prairie dog fields near the end as a bonus! The event does an incredible job with everything. Is it harder than Marji? Here’s a secret. There is lots of easy stuff in Marji and some really hard stuff. Maah Daah Hey is 99% single track. There are flats, but generally always rough or false flats. Generally always up and down. As much or more climbing as Marji. The difference is most or all of Maah Daah Hey is rideable. A couple miles of Marji is not. Maah Daah Hey could also be 100+ degrees. I can’t imagine! I think most anyone can survive Marji. You can walk and hide in the shade. MDH might not be for everyone. You are in the Badlands. It can be horribly hot and the hills and slow / slogging single track is beyond epic. I’m not sure walking in a 115 degree Badland valley is going to help vs. riding!
I finished, ate a lot, visited with Lindsey and Nick and cheered some others through the finish. I jumped in the Jeep, drove 5 hours the wrong way to Red Lodge, slept in the Jeep, up at 3:50 AM to ride 60 miles to the Beartooth for sunrise summit and back in the Jeep at 8:30 and home in bed 11PM. Would I do it again? 10,000%. Full gas….100% of the time. It’s how I roll 🙂
I again want to especially thank Matt Mossman and Lindsey and Nick for making me comfortable last minute. I’m forever grateful for an incredible experience. Also, thanks to Steve Anderson and Pure Fuel for stepping in as a last minute sponsor. Who doesn’t like maple syrup packets in their swag bag!?