Race Report Whiskey 50 Race Report/Pics

Discussion in 'Racing and Training' started by RumbleOn, Apr 29, 2012.

  1. RumbleOn

    RumbleOn New Member

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    This was my first race, maybe you guys have gone through all of this stuff, but this is how my weekend went:

    I did the 15(really 19) miles on Friday afternoon. I was messing around, going back to my wife and re-doing a number of the climbs, I finished in the top half. The downhill singletrack toward the end of the ride was the best and gave me an advantage on race day.

    In retrospect, I shouldn't have done the 'Fun ride'. I felt okay on Sat morning, but not fantastic.

    I finished 400th in the 25(really 29) miles on Sat. I cut my tire on rebar in a water bar, Stan's failed me. I ended up putting a tube in, I forgot how weird the rear end feels with a tube. I ended up pinching it on the downhill and rode with a slow leak to the finish.

    Aside from being slow as a rule and having tire issues, the people who could not ride over a simple rock, root, or waterbar really messed up my flow. Seriously, at the begininng of the single track the line was 60 riders deep all walking over a rock. Every little obstacle caused a back up.

    Next year, barring tire issues, and hopefully maintaining or improving on my current degree of (un)fitness, I plan on racing to the singletrack, instead of pacing myself, in the hopes of beating the walkers. If all of this comes together I hope to finish 399 or better.

    Overall it was a fun weekend, everyone was great, the spectators were great, at various points along the course people were there ringing bells, blowing horns and cheering us along, even 4 hours in. It was pretty cool and it helped.

    P.S. I usually ride a Spesh Purgatory up front and Spesh Captain in the rear, I switched to a WTB Bronson in the rear for this race, I love this tire, even though I cut it is the best rear tire I have ridden for loose over hard pack, I think I'll try it on the front too.
     
  2. allison

    allison Active Member

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    This was one of the most fun races! Prescott puts on a seriously good show for everyone, and the promoter's handle the traffic, 1700 riders, and 3 days of racing super well. Results were automatic/live, awards were on time. Everyone in town was super friendly, restaurants were super accommodating. Loved it.
     
  3. dstepper

    dstepper (R.I.P.) Over the hill

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    Yep I know those rocks gardens well. Knowing the Whiskey course does help. The year I rode they had all 3 days of racing one day and spent much of the day looking over my shoulder to stay out of the way of the pros. Good move giving Sunday to pros only. Pretty amazing that 3 of the top 9 pro women finishers are local So-calers.
     
  4. heith

    heith Member

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    Very fun weekend.
    That's a pretty fun race and I have to put it on top of my list of fun events. The parking isn't good but the town is hospitable and the food is pretty good for the most part. If you are just going to a looking to ride, meet people(eat,drink, and be merry) and have a good time, then this is the place to go. If you just want to race, look at bikes&parts, go to Sea Otter.

    Fri: We road the 25m course and horsed around a bit to end up with 34 miles. Probably not the smartest thing to do but I was there to ride. I tried to keep the HR as low as possible but I am on a single speed.

    Sat: our group was running behind so I grabbed a banana and popped a handful of amino acids for breakfast. got to the start line with one bottle of water. I had a plan to fuel with HEED and solids at the first aid station(mistake 1). So when we took off I was riding with a girl I met the day before whom had a chance to get in the raffle for the trip to South Africa. I also helped fixed her flat she woke up to in the morning and changed her gearing.(she was staying down the hall). So we cruised up to the first single track and waited like everyone one else.
    My bladder was full so I looked for a tree but figured that would have been rude so I held. We rode the first climb til my bladder was so full I was in pain. I had to go so I pulled off and figured I would catch her on the second climb to aid station 1. Boy was I wrong.
    Should have stayed with that group of descenders. When I got back on the single track the next group was crazy slow. Got down safe none the less and started to climb.
    When I arrived to Aid1 they didn't have solid food out and only 1 HEED bottle with a long line, so I bypassed and figured I'd refuel at the bottom. when
    I got to the bottom I grabbed a granola bar and once again the HEED bottle had a line. So I filled up with water and hooped on the bike. I was a bit hungry so I started to open my salty&nutty granola bar soft gripping it like an idiot I dropped it while unwrapping it. I then spied the girl from down the hall and didn't go back for the food.
    I kept my HR in check up the climb and knew my glycogen stores were getting low. Luckily I got to Aid3 without a hitch and finally got some HEED and a 1/4 piece of an orange. It was to little, to late though as I didn't like that last 3mile climb.

    I finished a few minutes in front of her because I wanted to get down that last descend and I also jumped on a fast wheel to pull me down the paved road on my spun out SS.
    So I completed the 50 miler on one bottle of HEED and 2 bottles of water. The girl also finished in the top 10 and got in the raffle. I finished 58th.
     
  5. deja vu

    deja vu done dirt cheap!

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    wow, yeah put that one on my 'to do' list every year for the next 100 years or so! Thanks to dstepper I had the "Press-KIT" thing down pat before I got there. Not sure if the weather could have been better, pretty much perfect with the rain on thursday being the icing on the 'tacky goodness' cake. Had a super good time with all the friendly folks out there, and man did so-cal represent (will they let us back?)


    For my race I had a mechanical towards the end, I taco'd my wheel somehow in the final chunky section before the road. Maybe I was a little overly exuberant from the Jim Beam someone passed me at the top of the final climb? I took my wheel off, leaned it against a rock and jumped up and down on it until it was straight enough to roll without hitting my frame and rode it out. Sweet! On Sunday we saw soooo many flats on the pro's coming out to the road, multiple people rode down and out on completely flat tires, crazy!!

    Hey allison did the bank accept the picture of your check?? :) cha-ching!! good job girl, that is huge!!

    couple good write ups here and also some pics!!

    single speeder takes first on saturday w/ 34x10 (WTF?!?)
    http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/whiskey-off-road-2012/amateur-50-and-25-proof/results

    top pros rip it up, so-cal girls kill it!!!
    http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/whiskey-off-road-2012/elite-cross-country/results

    l
    ots of good pictures!!
    http://singletrack.competitor.com/2012/04/news/gallery-whiskey-50-pro-race-men-and-women_31138


     
  6. Sprockethead

    Sprockethead S.T.U.P.I.D.A.S.S. Member

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    Allison, Congrats to you and Mr. Supermann and your results! You guys rock!
     
  7. jimmymats

    jimmymats Member

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    Great race and great weekend. My first time at the Whiskey and I highly recommend it. It certainly does back up at the start of the dirt and it's difficult to get into your own pace until the Skull valley downhill. I probably shouldn't have started near the back, but my own fault. Was still a great course. That last bit of singletrack was awesome. And I have to admit, it was pretty darn cool to race into downtown and cross the finish with spectators cheering. Was good to see my friends from Troupe and some Path jerseys out there on the course. Was fun to see the pros and to see Pua and Allison and Sarah do so well. I'll certainly be back to Prescott again! P4300002.jpg
     
  8. bvader

    bvader Long Live The Gorn!

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    Woke up and back was stiff as hell...sleeping in funky bed....oh great..but it usually loosens up.

    So as usual, I measured out all my nutrition before I left socal, and I was staying at the inlaw's that have two very active little terriers. I set my camelback by the door for 2 minutes went back to get my other bag and picked up my camelback and was headed out the door. When my mother in law called me back, I thought she just wanted to wish me luck but she said "Whats This...."

    Seriously the dog ATE ...well ok was eating my perpeteum ....opened and shook the ziplock all over the living room...that little thief....I looked at it for a second and just told myself I was wasn't going to let it mess with my head. Ma in law said she would clean it up. That was my nutrition for the 2nd half of the ride.

    I knew I was gonna be slow, so I started out near the back. Up the road and then onto the single track climb where the back uup began. I started to get warmed up and climbed a lot of the technical climbs, past a few folks, even got a compliment or 2 when I cleaned a few sections....the decent was fun too.

    So the out-n-back climb to skull valley...well one article said..."On a perfect 70-degree Fahrenheit day in Arizona," I am not sure what day they were talking about but for those of out there longer...it was HOT...and I mean HOT and Dry...My garmin showed 90+ degrees for the whole climb topping out at 96 deg that about 90mins in that heat. I survived did not cramp or anything.

    A lot of folks were hiking the last 1 1/2 miles to aid station 3 ... I rode every last step...and all the way to the peak. The decent down was truly fun rode all the tech sessions and had a bit of a girl guide on the way down..I rode lead and she let me know what was coming...very cool, she and I climb that last 2 miles to the top together..MTB chicks are cool!

    I rode the technical stuff all day really well both up and down, and the bike (Ells Epiph) performed flawlessly, perfect tires (purgatory and Hans Dampf) the single track was definitely fun. I saw a bunch of SoCal'rs, all very nice to me when I dragged myself in.

    I was definitely dehydrated and a bit of a mess at the end ...Ma in Law said I needed to be "Reconstituted Like a Sun Dried Tomato"..., but I had a great experience, and would do it again. I think if I was more ready...I would push myself up further in the pack in the beginning to get to that first choke point earlier...

    BTW no-one has mentioned that the rumor on the street the next day was that one of the lead amateur riders got taken out by a deer...seriously, I did see someone that must have been a lead rider being Ambo'd out on the Skull Vally climb, have not confirmed.
    EDIT Seems to be confirmed by other MTB sites...

    Ohhh...Dang there is some fun Single Track to ride...in Prescitt!

    If you want to see the course and heat....
    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/173140430
     
  9. Sailor Ripley

    Sailor Ripley New Member

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    The race did seem warmer than last year, and I found myself looking for a breeze climbing our of Skull Valley... otherwise the course was in prime condition with the recent rain storms. I think it is time for Epic Rides to stagger the start.... it's a drag to have to stop 20-25 minutes into the race and then restart after standing around for 5 minutes. Otherwise, great times!
     
  10. sauce

    sauce New Member

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    It was a (seriously) intense race for me! It'll probably take me a while to regroup and write a race report. It ended with some blood and happy/painful tears. I was amazed at all the amazing support I got out there on the course and in general over the weekend.

    When I signed up for Whiskey 50 I erroneously thought that the field wouldn't be that competitive and that it would be a good "first Pro race" for me. haha. When I saw the Pro roster and discovered that I was the only unsponsored Pro I was afraid that I would be at the back of the pack. So, I'm really happy with my 9th place finish. And I'm especially proud that 3 of the top 9 Pro women are So Cal girls. It just goes to show that you don't have to live in CO ...
     
  11. bvader

    bvader Long Live The Gorn!

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    The 2 local stories in case anyone is interested

    The men's pro result story: http://www.prescottaz.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=1125&ArticleID=105989
    The women's: http://www.prescottaz.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=1125&ArticleID=105991

    BTW...Monique is the reason I do the long rides / races saw her speak...she encouraged me to giveit a try...did first Counting Coup and was hooked...

    For a kind of different view... pretty cool pics etc...
    CAUTION DrunkCYclist...Site May not Be Suitable for Everyone
    http://drunkcyclist.com/2012/04/29/whiskey-for-breakfast-whiskey-for-lunch/
    http://drunkcyclist.com/2012/04/29/it-has-been-a-long-day/

    Deer hitting rider confirmed on other sites but no official story...
     
  12. Keith B

    Keith B Professional Lion Tamer

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    Deer down!

    Regarding the deer.........

    I started towards the back and moved up through the field on the street climb. There's a fast downhill into a right hander, everyone made the corner and there was a woman shouting something that didnt sound like normal encouragement. Next thing a large grey deer comes running from someones driveway, the riders on the right of the pack saw it and evaded it but the guy (big guy 200lbs+) on the far left t-boned it hard. Deer went straight down as did he and the bike. The deer looked terrified but jumped up and took off over a garden wall. Dude got up swearing, fur all over the road and that was the last I saw of it. Trippy as hell - sure woke me up though!
     
  13. heith

    heith Member

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    That's pretty cool you got a top 10 in that field. just making it to the pro ranks is a great accomplishment but a top 10 against a field that large with that much talent is a reason to be proud.
     
  14. befoot

    befoot my dogs cookie dispenser

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  15. oskin100

    oskin100 Member

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    Did the winner really run a 34*10 SS set up? I didn't even think you could get that small of a gear. Crazy!
     
  16. dstepper

    dstepper (R.I.P.) Over the hill

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    My nephew runs a 9 tooth on his BMX race bike but the cog is part of the hub. I have never seen a MTB cog that small.

    Dean
     
  17. Topaz

    Topaz New Member

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    Is there a pic of the singlespeed winner?
     
  18. befoot

    befoot my dogs cookie dispenser

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    He's one of our customers @ High Gear he was riding a Jet 9 Carbon Niner...the deer put a hole in the down tube and broke his carbon bars as well, my Boss Steve-O was in that same group
    that's that you call..."having a Bad day"
     
  19. strobe

    strobe resident noob

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  20. heith

    heith Member

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    I was going down skull valley as he was coming up. As a SS rider, the first thing I do is look at another ss riders rear cog. There is no way that was a ten tooth. That being said, I was riding around with a pro the day before and he was cruising a 16t with a 34 without any problems. Some people are just unbelievably strong. I mean, his scouting bike is a single speed 29er with a 34x16...Humbling
     

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