Race Report SoCal Fat Tire Epic 50

Are the results posted anywhere? Did Tinker win it again?

 

Tinker won again - 3 hours and 21 minutes I think..crazy since the heat caused most of the field to call it after 1 lap (25 miles). 109 on some gps's for the second lap...It was brutal, for all those that finished you guys totally deserve that cold one!

 

Gawd that was a tough one...I went out waaaay too hard on lap 1 and konked out on the big climb on Lap 2. The course was MUCH tougher than I thought it would be, plus it was a little on the warm side...
I'd also like to see the results. I was surprised how few people passed me during my demise on lap 2 and subsequent crawl back to the start line - it felt like a lot of people who I'd (stupidly) passed earlier had also dropped out.
Sounded like there were quite a few crashes and I heard rumors that some dude got taken out by the mule-deer (??) by the lake...
It was however a very well run event, with a great vibe. And although I HATE that I DNF-ed, it does pretty much guarantee that I'll be back next year to crush this MF-er...

 

It was a little different than last year, with the descent off the funner ridgeline taking that loose right turn into the singletrack...even though it was a smidge shorter than last year, that extra singletrack section was pretty demanding...never got the final sandy descent into the fun-twisty-singletrack through the weeds quite right....oh, and the "Badlands" (what I call the ridgeline rollercoaster before the lollipop loop aid station) is where egos go to die. That second lap was 40 minutes longer than the first one, mostly because I tried to ride all of the punchy ups the first time around and had no gas the second time. After last year's heat and humidity, I guess I was hoping for something a little different this year, so we traded humidity for a little extra heat. Its probably a good thing that Jason took out the most technical section...fatigue might have made the DNF list higher through crashes...and nobody wants that.

They usually post the results a during the week...with so many DNF's listed, there might be a revision or several. I was listed as a DNF when I went back out there on Sunday, but emailed him my GPS link as proof that I finished.

Maybe next year we can win the lottery with a weekend with a heat index below 110...my GPS only hit 105 on the second lap through the badlands. I think the secret is to ride faster so you spend less time in the heat.

 

Greta job to all you guys! 1 lap or 2 you guys rocked! Mother nature likes to test us in all kids of diferent ways! I just got home today at Noon and I will be pressing to get results up asap! I think tomorrow mid morning we'll have them done! Of course I'll be back on site tomorrow cleaning and getting ready for next weekends Super D Stage Race!

 

Jason - are ther any pics from the race?

 

Last year I DNF'd at 36 miles. This year was suppose to be my redemption. I was cramping at the 16 mile mark. Then I had to stop 2 times thru the lollipop til the cramps went away enough to get back on the bike. 1 lap, that's it, done!
I will be back next year to finish the whole 50. Maybe a 3 lap 16.6 mile course without the lollipop would work.
I guess that's where I suffered the most so I don't wanna go there again.
And a big thanks to Jason & his clan for doing all they do to pull these races off.
Also, thanks for taking out that technical section.

 

Results posted...

http://www.socalendurance.com/SOCALFATTIREEPIC.html

(EDIT The link is at the bottom of the page to an excel spreadsheet...you may have to refresh your browser since everybody's uncle is online waiting for iPhone info...

by my count it looks like there were only 64 finishers out of 138 starters...that includes the DNF's for the people attempting the single-lap option. More DNF's than last year and from the looks of it, times were upwards of 10% slower. There's probably a few mixed in there that weren't able to start, but an attrition rate of 50% is brutal. Glad the "more technical" section was taken out.

Props to Tinker for supporting the local race. Saw more than one quote that he was missed by many who were racing the 24-hr national championships in Colorado on the same weekend.

 

Yeah, looks like more than 1/2 the field DNF-ed, so I don't feel quite so bad. Only 5 out of 27 in my class (beginner men) finished!!
MnMDan - you're 100% correct about the "badlands" section on the way to the lollipop. I rode it hard (didn't look like much gain on the GPS track) but it was neverending short steep climbs and descents that took everything out of me. I was having out of body experiences by the end. I couldn't come right after that. Well done for finishing the 50.

 

Where are the results posted? Are you looking at the 2010 results?

 

Something that would help this race dramatically would be a 7AM start, 9AM guarantees you'll experience the absolute hottest part of the day during the majority of the race, and being summer at a venue like vail with zero shade, not the best for human beings. But I guess where's the thrill if you can't risk heat stroke along with all the other dangers in mountain biking :-k

 

I was there Saturday to race the Beginner Men's 50. This was my first endurance event. Me and my friend started near the front and everyone took off pretty hard. I finished the first lap in 2:12 with an average heart rate of 160 which was harder than I wanted to. Took a friends suggestion to freeze two bottles for the second lap. Unfortunately could not get any water out of them for about 40 minutes. My front tire blew out on the damn climb (tubeless setup with gash) and I was thinking this is my excuse to quit. Well, somehow I got the energy to put a tube in the front tire and get rolling again. I started severely cramping on slingshot due to he lack of water from the frozen bottles. Right leg hamstings and quad at the same time. Ouch. Got to the aid station at the exit of sling shot and drank about 8 glass of head and got it going again. After that I could not push hard without cramping coming on so I just took my time. I had no idea my friend and all the other people were bailing out after the first lap so I just kept on going. Stopped at my pit before the last 11 mile loop (the badlands, like that name) and took 8 endurolight tablits and filled up with more water. Headed out. Managed climb to the water tower but all the later steep ups were done off the bike. At this point the race was in slo motion and it was just about getting back alive. People were laying in the shade on sides of the trail, etc. It was ugly. The lollipop was actually a welcome change after the ups and downs (which I too cleared all of on my first lap). But man, that last 6 miles was the longest 6 of my life I think. Finally pulled in to the finish with a 5:25 (5:02 ride time) which ended up being good enough for 2nd place (only 5 of 22 finished in this class). Funny looking at the times in sport and expert, they were not much faster. The heat really leveled the playing field.

Had I known there was so many dnf's it might have played with my mind and took me out as well. Glad I did not know. And that's my write up for the So Cal Epic Suffer Fest.

 

The racing was pretty intense with some fast dudes. Their comments are up at MTBRacenews.com with a few pics thanks to Kathy Burcham.