Seeing how the E-100 12 hour & 100 mile races several years ago kicked my butt, and in a big way, my memory has faded and I decided I need to get my butt kicked again. Why? I have no idea other than it sounds like fun :-)
Reading the route description and looking at the map reveals a significantly different course that looks hopeful. I've always done Round Valley the way Boris laid it out and I must say that has been one of my favorite loops. I like loops, so those of you that don't, just shut up! Loops are fun cuz everyone can see you suffer and it's harder to make up shit that supposedly happened that didn't.
Anyway, I rode the loop around Round Valley and over to Silver Lake and it is a BLAST! The RV loop is killer and has much better flow and is less dangerous that the original E-100 12 hour loop. The new course does not go near the old rock garden of death descent and all of the climbs, except for the one at about 6 miles, are very gradual and manageable. I rode the loop on my Single Speed (32x21) in 62 minutes and stayed below race effort. And the way the organizers have routed the Deer Crest section is fantastic. We ride quite a bit of the ICUP course backwards and none of the climbs are killer, like they were with the E-100. I'm not too familiar with the trails between Silver Lake and PC Mtn Resort, but if the 1st section is any indication, it's gotta be nice. Riding back up Spiro to Mid Mtn will be a challenge but at least I'm familiar with that section of the course.
So, the only issue I can see is conserving energy. The 1st half is going to be fast and a lot of matches will carelessly be burned because the fun factor will be so high. Saving some extra energy for the last leg will be curtail for me, so I'll probably be looking at a lot of asses early on. Hopefully you'll be looking at mine passing you in the last 2 hours. The fast relay teams should tear it up big time, especially the 1st leg.
As for a solo finishing time, that's a hard one to predict. Since the E-100 took me 13.5 hours, I would hope to do this in 10 to 10.5. I bet the winner will be around 7.5. I can predict this though. The 2010 version of this race will have a lot more participants cuz this course is gonna put a lot of smiles on many faces and the enduro junkies are gonna want to be part of it next year. Mark my word.
2 years ago
3 comments:
You missed the real nasty climb of the course. The climb from Silver Lake to the top of Bald Mountain is gonna hurt bad. Also the climb up Steps trail on the Park City side is going to be pretty painful (but short). You're right though, it's set up to be a sweet race.
I'm tentatively looking forward to this race. How many miles is that first loop on Round Valley? Would it be easy to set out some water bottles at the start area and grab them as you come through?
I show 10.5 miles and plan on taking just a half water bottle on the loop then picking up a small camelback for the trip to Silver Lake. Stashing a bottle will be no problem. I remember "the e-100 climb" after Silver Lake and it was a bear. And Steps, I forgot about that one. Oh my, bad memories are starting to come back... I'm most worried about the last 40 miles. How long are you guys planning to take for the 10 mile Silver Lake loop and then from Silver Lake to PCMR? I would expect PCMR to the finish to be about 2.5+
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