Black Hills Fat Tire Fest - aka Rain Maker

Fat Tire and Monster sponsors. Good indicators!

Ryan and I have been going to The Black Hills Fat Tire Fest weekend event for a few years. It's pretty well organized with lots of vendor support, city support and alcohol support. Last year we didn't want to return because it rained out half of the weekend and we spent it wandering around. But because the event was transfered to the local trail advocacy group BHMBA, of which our good friend Jason Kingsbury is a part, we wanted to support it and his efforts. Also, the XC race venue was moved to one of the better trail systems around there and that was enough to get us up there. I can't say it loud enough, people. There is so much awesome single track in and minutes from Rapid City. It's a secret stash of techy, rocky, flowy, droppy, yummy trails! Get your kitch and dirt on!


The trip was going to be just the two of us this time, which was great, because we needed to test the sleeping capability of the van. (We plan on camping in it for a week in July). Testing it in the Walmart parking lot in Mitchell, SD (home of the Corn Palace) was not my ideal way of testing but it kept things simple. Bottom line: sleeping in our van, good. Walmart parking lot: suck. It was way too bright. It didn't help that I was sick with some freak body aches, either. But sleeping wasn't all that bad and we even made a Walmart parking lot pal. Another "camper" walked by the van and asked if we had been warm enough. Then felt compelled to explain their recent escapades in Michigan and future plan in Rapid City and how they hadn't been there in 30 years. We had to laugh as we pulled away. That could be a reality show all of it's own. People of Walmart Parking Lot. But on a bright note, I did pick up some meds and a Lord of the Rings DVD for $5. That would be a nice time killer on the way home.


We made it to Rapid just in time for absolutely nothing. The rain closed down the trails for any preriding so we hung out downtown and hit a favorite shop Acme Bicycles. The owner is a new conversion van owner so we had to see what we were missing. Okay, the pop top was very cool. Okay, microwave was nice. A bed. Yeah, but where ya gonna put the bikes and people? We decided we liked our van! (Side note: if you find yourself if Rapid, go to Acme. Tim Rangish is the man and he will take care of you).


That night we went to the opening weekend social. Those Hill people know how to party. Catered buffet with gourmet noodles, 'zza and dessert. Not your typical prerace pasta feed neither. Fat Tire on tap and live tunes, all indoors, under heat lamps. 5-star all the way! My body aches came back and with a vengence. By the time we got home I had the chills and just went to bed.

Nom, nom, nom!

New Belgium floweth.

I wasn't too upset that the next day was wiped out. I didn't have the chills anymore but I still was achey. It rained all day. We did hang out at the venue for a bit, chatting with other racers. Jamie from Norfolk was there so we talked bikes, vans and motos. We took a ride to the XC course to check it out but couldn't find it so I buzzed good ol Tim Edwards, State Farm Insurance rep who sponsors Psycowpath. He has a cabin nearby and was going to be there. Turned out, he owned the land the course was on. Ha! And the start/finish area was his meadow and the road to the single track was his road. We were jealous. He met us in his meadow and took us for an ATV ride up to his old place and then to his new place. With views of the hills and all of its natural beauty, we couldn't imagine why he was still in Omaha. But we surmised, it would only be a matter of time. We killed the day talking bikes, vans and motos. We got Tim up to date on all things biking in Omaha and enjoyed a bowl of his wife's homemade soup. Couldn't really complain. That night we enjoyed home made chili at Jason's house with home made corn bread and guac. Life wasn't too bad. Good thing this weird illness wasn't killing my appetite.


By Sunday, we were ready to get our dirt on. No more sitting around! The sky had cleared and it was going to be 60 at race time. We were first to arrive at the venue. It had rained all night so the road and the meadow was wetter than wet. But the locals were optimistic. Me, not so much. Not only had I forgotten my team shorts, but I was still feeling kinda sick. So, it was gonna be what was gonna be.


It was a small turn out and the usual suspects weren't there. I lined up 2nd row and didn't see any other women around me. I could hear them towards the back of the group. A couple looked tough! When the gun went off we had about a 100 yard dash to the hole shot. Perry Jewit founder of The Dakota 50 was right there with me and he was haulin' it. I know that dude can handle himself so I slid in behind his wheel and it was off to the races. The start was greasy here and slippery there. Our insider informant told us the hardest part was the beginning. Lots of climbing up new and old trail that were littered with rock, baby heads, and some roots. The loamy soil was pleasantly rideable. Perry and I changed spots a couple of times. The last time he went by, bombing down a hill screaming, "Pedal Power!" He knew many of the racers and called out to them by name or let them by. Cool dude.

Perry putting pedal to the metal. Braaaaap!

Somewhere after Aid Station #1, I had a rider on me pretty close. I moved over to them them pass and it was a woman in my class. Curses! The trail was swoopy and flowy and she rode it like she was on a magic carpet. With her down hill-style shoes, baggies and camelback, I knew I was up against a local who knew all of the lines. The race was still early and I was feeling pretty good. I kept an eye on her. We went back and forth a couple of times. She'd fly down the descents and I'd catch her on the ups. On one of the descents, I was actually leading and then I got a small branch caught in my rear cassette. Before I could event unclip, she was stopped and pulling the branch out for me. It wasn't an easy procedure. I urged her to go on as I was feeling pretty stupid by then but she didn't stop until it was out. Then she took off saying there was a big climb coming. I kid you not, it was like she had a rocket on her back. Two turns later and she was vapor.
Damn! But soon enough we started climbing a rather long ATV road. I asked her if she road these trails a lot and she said yes. I knew it! I told her I could tell. I knew this was going to be a slogger of a climb and I also knew that she wasn't able to climb as well on her longer travel bike. It's not like I stood up and hammered, but I put the hurt on because what goes up must come down and she was better on the down.

Caught walkin'. Damn!

Once I crested the hill, it was swoopy heaven. I road hard but smart. I couldn't have any mistakes. The trail wasn't all that technical but there were a few drops and logs here and there. My goal was to stay out of sight. I figured once she saw me, I would be done. At one point I did drop a chain on a bouncy, switchback descent but I was able to get back on the saddle without loosing too much time.

Good ol South Dakota rockness.

I knew if I could just make it to the last aid station I could possible take the top podium. Good friends of the Kingsbury's were marshaling and cheering me on. All downhill from here, they yelled. Woo-hoo. I took a big swig of water and pointed myself downward. 5 miles of smiles is all I can say. What is it with SD races ending in long, swoopy descents? I love it.


I managed to pull out the win. 2nd place was a mere two minutes behind me. She was a great sport and encouraging. I told her she was fun to race against. Especially with her mad descending skills. Everyone said that was her specialty. Glad I could make the most of my other specialties to bring home the top spot.

Yeah, forgot my team short. Doh!

Later that day, we hopped over to the DH course and watch the real descending. 6' and 8' drops, between trees and around rocks. SICK! There were some ladies taking their turn on the intermediate loops and it was fun to hear the crowd roar when they came down.

The night was capped off with an awards ceremony and buffet of all kinds of yummies. I bagged some tall boys, a Fat Tire banner and some cash. I was tired, hungry and thirsty, so it was the best place I could think of to be.

Hardware and hopps. Can't think of a better way to celebrate.

The Fat Tire Fest is a great event. It has a local feel and the new guard are really working hard to improve it and I think they did. Weather and illness aside, it was a fun weekend. I was right about Spearfish and the Five-0 when I made the trumpet call about that event. Hear me on this one - The BHFTF has potential of being just as rad.

Arkansas Part 2 - Syllamo's Revenge

I just realized my last post was also about a race in Arkansas. My bad.

I like Arkansas. I've only been twice but damn, them folks is nice. They make me want to go back. They are outdoors folks. Land lovers and adventure seekers. I'll even look past the camo and the umpteenth flea market. It's that cool. Cool for mountain biking, that is. And according to Mountain View's website, it's also cool for folk singing and trout fishing. Is it really my place in the mountains? We would soon find out.

The trip started off with Kevin Galinsky's first of two magical appearances. Minutes before we were to depart, he made the last minute decision to come on the trip that he thought he'd have to skip due to some GI issues during the week that left him unable to train, eat, drink. You know, the minimum requirements needed to prepare for a 50 mile race. We were glad he could make it and with our new R.F.CoolRack, it was no problemo.

Six shooter rack.

As they say, we were off to the races with the usual suspects: the Todds, co-starring the Kevins, with special guest appearance, Larry Kintner. I know more bikers with these names than any other. It's so weird.

Anywhoo, we took off Thursday night and made it to Clinton, Missouri where we bunked for the night in style. Hitting up the morning buffet was a great way to preload. I can't get enough of those waffle makers! On a side note, I was chatted up at the buffet by a strange and very short woman in a robe who felt she had to tell me that she brings her own flavored creamers when she travels so she can have her coffee her way. It was very odd and I was glad to be outta there.

We arrived in Mountain View, Arkansas and were greeted by flea markets, bars, restaurants, hotels and many-a-rv parks. About 5 miles out of town was our home away from home at Syllamore Creek Camp. We had an awesome small cabin that slept 5. It had a wonderful back porch with a swing and hand-made rockers that were locally made and sold at the camp's office. Come to find out the cabin was hand-made too using local timber and stone. It was pretty tight. We had a second smaller cabin so that everyone could have their own bed, couch or futon. That's how we roll. We only stuck around long enough to lay claim to a sleeping spot and then it was off to Wally World to get some provisions for the weekend. We returned to home base, made a sandwich and kitted up for a recon of the trail, which by IMBA standards is one of their 37 epics. That gave me the giggles just thinking about it.

The race was located 5 miles up the road at Blanchard Springs SRA. We knew we were in for a doozy when, from the park entrance, we DROVE 3 miles DOWN to the race start. There was a parking lot full of preriders. Many it seemed, noticed the Bike Shop sign on the van and hit up Ryan for the use of his stand, pump, tools and advice. He may as well have brought an apron cuz he was on the clock. But all good. Karma, baby.

The preride was an eye opener! Let's see how to explain the terrain. Rocky, well yes, but not baby-head rocks. More like shale with a mix of 2"rock. Like it crunched under the tires instead of bouncing off of them. It was like the feeling of riding with a low tire...very peculiar and unsettling. So it was a really good thing that we did a recon ride. We got a good sense of the starting climb (about 10 minutes at 10% grade), double track that was pretty smooth the whole way. No worrying about getting stuck in a rut when the going got going. Know what I'm sayin'? We also got a good look at the first techy section that would for sure be a walking section for us back o' the packers. After about 30 minutes we turned around and took a shortcut back to the start/finish. I had been on the fence about wearing a camel back or not since many of the photos of previous races show racers donning the c-back. After the preride, the trail didn't seem as technical as I thought, so I decided to race without it. Plus, it was gonna be a scorcher.

After the pre-ride we zipped back into town for packet pick up. Kinda cool was that we all received Hammer flasks in our goody bag and then they had bottles upon bottles of Hammer gel in all of the flavors so we could pick a flavor and fill up the flask. Coach wanted me to have more than one, so that worked out great! Also in the bag was a tiny bottle of chain lube. We were told by Pete from the St. Louis store that we should put a bottle of lube in our jersey pocket. Now why would I do that? I never have before. But I guess normally this race has high water crossings and generally muddier conditions. So much in fact, that they feel compelled to give away lube.

That night we grilled out and hung out cabin-side. Then the pre-race jitters set in and everyone was fiddling with their stuff. On top of that I was not feeling well. For the past few days I had been having some terrible cramp-like pains in my stomach and they were still there. They would come and go pretty randomly. I could still eat but I felt pretty bloated. All my bodily functions were working just fine so I was stumped as to what it could be. (As I write this, I still don't know). So, needless to say, I was very concerned about how this would play out on the bike. I already get stomach issues in long races when I'm healthy so this could potentially complicate things.

Early to bed early to rise. Alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. The guys were up right away and Larry was making coffee. Good travel partner, he is. Each took our turn in the bathroom and then shuffled around the kitchen making our prerace meals. I opted for oatmeal with bananas. Stomach wasn't completely happy but it was manageable. While many of us opted for the glucose-laiden foods, RF was chomping on cold chicken and a sweet potato. What a Neanderthal. HA! Before we knew it, it was time to hit the road.

This race course was also host to an NUE Series Race so it was no small potatoes. As we pulled in, the long haulers were already kitted up and warming up. Luckily we got a spot that was right at the start line. We piled out and got bikes ready. It was mildly chilly but an otherwise perfect day.

Once the NUE race was off, I soon followed with a warm up ride up the double track start, looking for anything that might give me an advantage or opposite. I got my heart rate up there a bit too. I dumped into the single track to test my suspension on last time. Everything seemed to be as it should so I turned around and headed back to line up. The announcer gathered us around the finishing arch. He introduced us to the Park's manager who apologized right off the bat for the overgrowth of parts of the trail. Due to an early spring flood and lack of budget, they weren't able to get some of the trail cut back. We noticed that on the recon ride and we'd find out later that he was dead on. Luckily I came prepared, buying a tube of Poison Oak scrub so that we could hopefully prevent a breakout. As we stood there listening to info about the course, I started to notice all of the camelbacks. What did they know that we didn't? Crap. I started second guessing my choice to not use it. Oh well. Run what I didn't brung.

Note the C-Back Brigade

Per usual with these events, it was a cattle call to the start line. They did give priority position to last year's winners at the front, which was cool. One last run to the loo and I found a spot about 10 rows back. I had heard one other woman behind me but other than that, I had no idea where the others were. I just hope they weren't in front of me.

RF is right below the sign in the background.

The race started with a neutral roll out due to a bunch of gravel on the road. Nobody was pacing us to the opening climb so the pace was quick to accelerate. Judging from this photo, the lead guy didn't listen that it was a neutral roll out. If you look about 10 back, there's RF! Once I hit the opening climb I jockeyed around a bunch of guys. Bratetic and Eyberg were shooting up the middle to gain spots, almost getting caught up in some wreckage. I probably entered the single track in the top 1/3 and it was slow going right at the start. Then we hit the first tech sections and I was off the bike, running, cursing and running some more. It was so rideable but not when there are so many trying to go through it quickly. I finally got clear of the walkers and sped on. The next tech section was a bit more challenging with drops and tight turns. Again folks were off their bikes so I did the same asking outloud why were we walking. I saw the first woman at one of these points, not riding, and in front of a train, so I knew she might be lacking some tech skills which would play to my advantage later. Once she was mounted back on the bike, she was off like a pistol. I remember her from the Barryman Epic and she had an engine so I had to keep her close. The next tech section I got boxed in and people were hopping a huge boulder instead of taking the trail. Larry was one of them and soon he was pedaling quickly away. In a way that gave me a boost cuz I thought if I'm up with Larry, I'm probably up pretty far. The trail finally chilled out and we all could actually get a pace going. Coach gave me some great advice: it's a race, but you're also racing the trail. Keep your heart rate steady and keep the food coming in. I had to believe in the plan. And good thing, cuz not long after the start, I picked up that first woman. She bobbled a hill and I went around her as she unclipped but that meant nothing. I pretended she was right behind me, but that was almost impossible because people were riding in trains. If ya got off for one, you got off for a few. At least at the start.

The first aid station was a long 13 miles from the start. The trail was all singletrack. Up or down. Rarely a moment to coast. Believe in the plan. Keep it steady. Soon I came up on Bratetic who had his bike upside down. Flat tire. Which wasn't surprising. The trail was littered with sharp shale. One wrong move and it could cost anyone. There were many trail side for that first section but the hard thing was was that much of the trail was benched so folks had to climb up or down mountain to get off the trail and like I said, it was very over grown in spots. Changing a flat was challenging.

By about mile 10 or so I hear my name as I pick my way up and down some techy rocky stuff. It's CVO! Jimmy Johns had obviously helped him gain fitness! We rode together for a couple of miles until I whimped out on a drop and he took it like a champ. Buh-bye CVO! I didn't see him again until Aid station #2 I think...

So I roll into Aid station 1 at about 1.5 hours (or more. cant remember exactly). At each aid station we had to put on a rubber bracelet to mark that we were there. I then popped off the bike and grabbed a bunch of orange pieces and pb&j. I filled up one bottle and was off. 3minutes tops spent there. It felt good to get off the bike and stand up and stretch.

Girls just wanna have fun!

The next section was pretty straight forward. I managed to catch two more ladies but I still had no idea who or if anyone was up ahead. I think I passed Larry in this section. His saddle was giving him issues and he was off trying to straighten it out. I never saw him again. The day before, Bratetic had said to be aware of the yards of sand that were right after the stream crossings. Some dudes told him probably better to carry the bike than mess with a bunch of sand in your shit, tearing it up. When I got to the water, it was rideable and the sand didn't look so bad but when I got there, the sand pit was farther down and deep. Sure enough I heard a creaking like I'd never heard before. Sand grindig in your chain and on your rotors is very unsettling. It sounds like the bike was breaking. Surprisingly though it stopped not long after it had started.

By the time I made it aid #2, I was well on my way to 3 hours of riding. Shit! Really? My goal was 6 hours but at this rate I didn't think I was going to make it. I did the same eating routine and was off to slay me some trail. We had hear about "The Stairway to Heaven" on this trail. It was a natural starecase of stone between two large stone walls. Not rideable was an understatement. I had to shoulder the bike just so I could carry it, the steps were that big at the start. They got smaller as I ascended. Luckily it wasn't too long. Kinda cool. It gave me a opportunity to swap bottles and eat at least.

Stairway to Heaven

The rest of this section is kind of a blur. I did manage to crash, however. One of the dumb kind too. Uphill. Yeah, that's talent. I rode over a rock that was sitting on the trail and it shot me off the bike too fast for me to know what was happening. My hands went in front of my face and hard! The heal of my right hand was bruised up pretty good and I had a few flesh wounds, but all in all not bad. I carried on but not being able to put full pressure on the heal of my hand was a problem. So my only choice was to buck the F up. I'd ice it later.

Aid #3 finally came. I was somewhere between 4-5 hours. This is where my body starts to rebel anything other than water. A very nice volunteer was all over my situation and filled up both bottles with ICE water. I poured some of it on my head. I ate more oranges this time knowing my body would really benefit from them later. I didn't have enough spit to eat a pb&j so I left on orange fumes.

Believe in the plan. Keep it steady.


The heat was rising. Ryan said his GPS read 90. There were a few spots where the trail turned into the wind and I let out a hall le lu ya! The trail was not marked all that well. There were left over ribbons from some trail run along with ribbons for our event (or not, as the promo materials stated). At one point I came to a T after a road crossing and there was no obvious sign but there were ribbons going in both directions. I had to wait a few seconds for others so I could ask which was the right way.

I think the 2nd stream crossing was in this section. It was wider and deeper. I tried riding it and had to clip out. I was in the big ring and couldn't pedal through it. Great, sandy socks and a loud bike. But I got over it. Soon I found myself in a train lead by a dude on a single speed... and a full face helmet? Ok. Whatever works, dude. He was riding just perfectly and steady.

Fullface SSr. I've seen it all.

The single track was relentless. Not that it was hard, but it just didn't end. There wasn't anything breaking up the rhythm. Well, until some numbskull who had been trail side decide to jump in front of our perfectly flowing train and granny it, GRANNY IT!! in front of all of us. My SS lead out man tried to get around him and almost crashed. He wouldn't pull over so we had to get around Mr. Granny one by one and by then, the zen had been wrecked. We couldn't get back in rhythm. Wait. I couldn't get back in rhythm so I told the guy behind me to go. I'd pull him back and then he'd go around. We did that for a while.

Around this section I caught Wixen. He was taking it easy. Come to find out he had taken a pretty nasty fall early in the race and it was taking it's toll. He wasn't too far behind, coming in at 6:14.

Fuck, does this trail end? Where is the sky? Fucking weeds. Yes, you see where this was starting to go. Inside my head. I new there was another check point but it was mainly for the NUE riders who had to go back out and do another section. The promoter made it really clear to make sure to leave that check point correctly else we'd be doing part of the course again. Before getting there, however, I noticed my front tire was bottoming out on square edge bumps. I stopped and checked it. CRAP it was low. So I jumped off and dug out my CO2 stuff. OF COURSE IT WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF MY SEAT BAG! I dug it out and gave it a hit. I didn't need to use all of it so I stuck it all in my jersey and got back to business. A few minutes later, I was at that last check point. I made sure to ask which direction and as I rode I started questioning the direction. I didn't double check that this was the direction for the 50 milers. But as I rode the treeline started to thin out and look familiar. I was close to the end, I could feel it but my mileage was at only like 42 miles and it was 5:45. Shit. Was I going the wrong way? But as soon as I was ready to turn around I saw a sign that said FINISH and I yelled out THANK YOU GOD! I was so happy. I turned down the starting climb, being careful not to do something stupid in my excitement to be done. As I turned down the finishing straight, there was Ryan and Bratetic, cheering me on. The second I was off the bike a angel soared from the heavens and handed me a cold wet rag and an icy bottle of water. Angels sung. I swear.

First woman!

I asked Ryan if he had seen any other women come in and he had not. He went to the timers and asked if any other women had come in. Nope. I was the first and with that they announced that I was indeed the winner of the women's open category. I came in at 5:50, in 45th place out of 174.

This was a big win for me. I really didn't expect to be able to pull it off only because when you are new to a venue, you never know who's home court you're on. And with a trail being this technical, you expect other racers to have technical riding ability, especially if they are local. And because I wasn't feeling well, I really just didn't know what the day was going to bring me. Luckily, it brought me a 50lb slab of stone and some cash. (As I write this, Ryan informs me that I got some ink in velo news. Don't blink, or you'll miss it.)

All I could think was don't drop it!

Hurry up and take the picture already!

To add to my elation, Ryan had come in under 5 hours, 7th in his age and 12th overall. I was so happy for him because he had been suffering from some knee issues for a while and just was unsure about himself. He put those demons to bed! Bratetic had a bad day. It started out well, as he put it, and then it  to hell in a hand basket it went with two flats, ripped sidewall and a finally a broken bike. His solo hike through the bush allowed him to be alone with his anger. Not surprisingly, he was upbeat the rest of the day.

We all hung around, waiting for our travel mates to arrive. The 2nd place woman came in at around 6:04, greeted by a significant other who gave her a huge hug. Soon Wixen showed up and then Eyberg. Wait, I never saw Eyberg and Wixen said he hadn't either since the start. Uh oh. Well, remember the whole "pay attention to where you leave the 3rd aid station" speech? Yep, Eyberg was probably in the bathroom. He ended up doing part of the course again. It wasn't until he saw some weed wackers that were left trail side that he knew what he had done. Now we all know Todd is not an angry guy but I bet you a hundred bucks he was spitting nails and firing F-bombs while going back up the trail, against traffic. He came in smiling though and told us what happend. Ah crapwheezle! But he had a good race otherwise and focused on that. Larry trodded in after a bit, having suffered from some cramps and bike issues. Always a positive guy, he still had a good time as well and was already plotting how to return to the scene on his next visit to his inlaws.

And now for KGill's second magical appearance...hours ticked away and no Kevin. We all had eaten, stretched, eaten again, did the podium presentation...put bikes away and still no Kevin. What if he went the wrong way? There were plenty of spots that were confusing. We were kinda getting worried. He had been good the whole trip, not drinking, taking in fluids and resting. We really wanted him to finish. And sure enough, he didn't disappoint. We were all standing around the road that lead up to the climb (that's how we returned as well) and all of a sudden we spotted him and he was flying...flying towards us. His grin was from earlobe to earlobe. We started yelling out his name. He had nothing of it and flew on past, ready to be done. We chased him to the finish line and were celebrating like he'd just won the thing. And in our minds, he had. After being sick all week and making the effort, the guy didn't let Syllamo get it's revenge!

Once KGill got his chow on we all headed out. We got cleaned up and was hoping to hit up a BBQ place that was up the road that looked like it had been a gas station at one time. PERFECT! But it was closed. What? It was Saturday night. So we kept on and came to the Wing Shack where we were able to get BBQ and sit outside. Fried pickes, chicken wings and ribs were on the menu. It was damn good.

We followed it up with icecream from Wal Mart. The place we were going to hit up was closed so we got pints and took them back to the cabin where we proceeded to eat it as we sat by the fire pit. As we passed around Eyberg's cherry-flavored tequila flask and listened to Bratetic's crazy-ass stories, I think we all were feeling this was definitely our place in the mountains.

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Dirt Girl Goes to the City of Spas

There's not much in this world that makes Dirt Girl happier than leaving for a long road trip to a new place to ride bikes. I had never been to Arkansas until now and well, hmmm, yeah...I'd go back. In fact we are in a couple of months, but I digress.

The Spa City Challenge, in Hot Springs, was our first race of the 2012 season and our first race as part of the new TREK Bicycle Store grass roots regional team. (more on that soon). It has been a pretty good winter for training so I wasn't too worried going into this event. I had had some quality rides outside and on the trainer during the weeks leading up, so I felt pretty good. RF and I luckily had a chance to take our new TREK Top Fuel 9.9 SSL bikes out for a test ride a couple weeks ago down in Lawrence. Holy smoke! They should have called them the SLS for So Long Suckas, cuz that's how much fun it is to ride!

The usual suspects tagged along with us: Mike "Southern Man" Miles, Jeremy Cook (JC), and the Todds (Wixon and Eyberg). We left Thursday night and drove part way. A quick stop at Chipotle to top off the food stores for Saturday was on the agenda. Southern Man and JC were all about the Chic Fil A next door. We made it to our stop near Joplin and bunked up for the night. Complimentary breakfast of waffles (I love those waffle makers) and eggs got us back on the road early. We arrived in Hot Springs around noon, just in time for lunch (seeing a pattern?). After chow we checked into the hotel and kitted up for a recon ride of the course.

The week leading up to the event, weather.com had said anywhere from 40% - 100% chance of rain. So at first we weren't sure if we were going to be able to pre ride but as it turned out, the course was primo. The area had received a pretty hefty downpour on Thursday and there were a few greasy spots and some water crossings but they were at the start of the race for the most part. We did a full lap and I was excited. The course was perfect for us. Not much sustained climbing and all single track, just like here. The main difference was the rock; lots of shale and sharp rock to keep riders focused. It flowed beautifully. Just when you were wanting the climb to be over, it was. It twisted and turned, back and forth, up and down. Never a dull moment, which meant also not much in terms of recovery. We were constantly pedaling. But that's what ya do when you ride; pedal.

Once done with the recon, we had to wash down the bikes. The venue was awesome. It had all the amenities, including a bike wash station. After we washed bikes we headed out to get registered. While standing in line, Tinker Juarez, walked in. Very cool dude. JC got a pick with the legendary racer.

Next stop was the local bike shop. We weren't sure what we'd find inside the little neighborhood shop.With a stash of cruisers our front, it was hard to say but we were pleasantly surprised to find nice stuff and they had every form of energy goos/bars/mixes you would want. But the best was the receiver hitch that the Todd's bought for RF's van. They surprised him with the gift later that night after he had pointed it out to me in the store. Now, wasn't that sweet of them?!

By the time we got back to the hotel, you guessed it, dinner time. But where to go? There was a horse race in town so the roads were just bumper to bumper so we decided to walk across the hotel's parking lot to the Dixie Cafe. All southern home fried vittles at their finest. 19 sides to choose from, the menu boasted! And complimentary bottomless basket of jalepeno corn bread and rolls. We were happy as clams. Fried clams.

 

The rest of the night was spent getting ready for the early wake up call and chillaxin. That's when I discovered I didn't bring my TREK jersey. I'm such a dork. I lay everything out so I can see it and then I didn't even notice it was missing. I thought about it before we left Omaha and then didn't go look for it. So, I wore Ryan's jersey. Luckily they are a little on the small side, so basically, it looked like a club fit jersey. He just wore the one he had from the recon ride, mud splattered and all. Geez, was this going to be an omen or a good luck charm?

Race morning wasn't too bad. Up at 6 and down to the comp breakfast. We were packed up and heading to the venue by 7:15. No traffic. We were on site by 7:30 for a 9 am start. Just after we pulled up a bubbly duo, Pete and Karen, from TREK Store STL came over to say hey! Then Karen suggested we all put in for a team classification to see if we could get the most team points. Great plan. Now we're more motivated to finish this thing. We got a great spot right on the course, just before the S/F.

 The start was Le Man style on dirt and pavement up to the racked bikes. I'll let the vid tell the story. Check out RF! He rocked the start! I saw Miles come around me and then Todd E came around me (seems he couldn't find his borrowed bike right away).

I had a pretty good start. The traffic wasn't too backed up. I did see Todd again on a switch back, right behind Karen. She was really getting after it. I knew she had done well the year before so I was hoping to bridge up to her. Welp, so much for hoping (for now) he-he.

Photo courtesy of ArkansasOutside.com

All went well for the first 3 1/2 laps. The bike was eating up the trail. The Bonty carbon wheels kept me on track through the rocks and water crossings without pause. The trail didn't have many technical features to test the suspension but I do have to say, I LOVED the two thumbs down auto lock for front and rear. Hill? What hill? Lock and load! This was also the first time having a 2x10 and for this trail, it really was perfect for me. I didn't really need the big ring except for a couple of the downhill straight aways. I was having a ball until on lap 3 when I looked down. So I was following a SS rider who was really strong and rode great through the trees. We hit one of the big ring straight aways and I reached down for my bottle. I took a peak at my hand and when I looked up the SS rider had dropped his chain and I was going full blast and figured I wouldn't be able to break in time to miss him. It wasn't like he was that close to me but I was startled and with a bottle in my right hand all I had was front brake. Yeah, you know where this is going. 

So, yeah, the breaks work awesome! Needless to say I ate it big time. It was one of those crashes that puts you down so fast your brain goes into shock and blocks it all out until you stand up. I pulled the bike out of a tree/bush on the side of the trail. Walked over to my bottle and apologized to the SS rider for being an idiot and off I went. I'm sure it was spectacular from any vantage point. Nothing really hurt but my left forearm was swelled up pretty good. I rolled into the pit and did a once over the bike. I lubed the chain and checked the wheels. I know I lost a podium spot there. As I pulled out of the check-in table I looked down. NO water bottle! CRAP. So I turned around and went back to get it. What a moron. I told myself to settle down and get a grip. I was only half done.

Photo courtesy of ArkansasOutside.com

The rest of the race went well. In a crazy change of things, my back actually started hurting less. That never happens. Yeah, it was tight, but not the kind that makes me wish the race was over. That really helped the mental game. I spent the next couple of laps trying to catch the woman whom I thought went by me when I forgot my bottle but when I caught up to the rider, it wasn't her. So I just kept going. A couple of folks said, "Andrea us just ahead" but she was a ghost. I never saw her. I did manage to catch Karen on her last lap. That gave me wings cuz I didn't see her all race except for that one time at the beginning. I came into lap 6 with 1 hour and 19 minutes left on the cut off clock. If I didn't make it back to the finish line by 6:30, the lap wouldn't count. I felt I'd make it in no problem but I didn't let up. I was ticking people off left and right and since there were also duo teams out there, it was hard to know who was a solo rider and who wasn't so I just said everyone is fair game and chased them all down, passing some dozen or so riders, men and women in the half of the race. They were all super nice about it. I'm really impressed with that whole southern hospitality thang. It's for realz. 

I rolled into the finish line at 6:13 flat to the cheers of my husband and travel mates. At first I thought I'd made it onto the podium but a reshuffle of the results told a different story. I did manage a 1st place category win and a 4 place overall women and a 32nd place overall out of 150 or so. I'll take it for a first race on a new trail and a new bike with a new coach. I was covered with dirt and mud splatterings and the underside of my bike had a thick crusty layer of dried mud as well. But I was smiling and happy to be done. 

While I was winding down racers were coming in to beat the time cut off so I stood on the side of the trail and yelled for them. One girl, 13 years old, literally made it at 6:30. Everyone was screaming their heads off for her. It was a fun way to top off the race.

I had a blast at Spa City. I would recommend the trip to this event. DLT Multisport was a great promoter and the trails were amazing and the trail care crew in charge of the trail system gets major props! Aside from some greasy low lying areas, you'd never know it had down-poured a couple days prior. And to have national caliber racers at the event like Tinker and Pua, well, that's a feather in any promoter's cap. Meeting Karen and Pete was great. Looks like they'll be at many of the same events as TREK Omaha so we'll see them again. Pete won the SS race, sporting cut off denim. The other MWCC podium finisher was my new wardrobe manager, Ryan. I guess the jersey he loaned me turned out to be the luckier of the two. :)

Spa City 40-49 Women's Podium

Spa City 30-39 Podium

After a full day of racing and multiple calories burned, the topic of the night was eats and drinks. Southern Man Miles had just the spot. McClard's BBQ, supposedly Bill Clinton's favorite dive. And dive it was, so you know what that meant- great food. Cash only and fast service. The rest of the night was pacing our alcohol intake back at the hotel. And just before 10pm we walked once again over to Dixie Cafe for ice cream. Yep, it's definitely race season.

Epic was an understatement

Bad Dirt Girl! Seems once I took a break from the bike, the blog kinda followed suit. And when I say take a break, I mean from training. This is the best time of year for RF and I. Like you all, we bust our asses training and racing for months, and suddenly we arrive at fall's doorstep battered and whipped, with scars and scrapes as tokens of good times. Now is the time when we enjoy riding for what it is: being out doors with our best peeps, ripping through the trees without so much as a thought about nutrition, power output or heart rate. Instead thoughts are to making sure our lights are charged, where to go for Mexican food and how much heaven-sent single track can we put under our tires before the flakes start to fall. We did plenty of the above and I plan on writing about them, or at least list them for posterity. I'll start with the latest adventure to the Berryman Trail Epic since it's the most recent and still swirling around in my brain.

The Berryman Trail Epic or BTE is a fine good time. It had been on our bucket list for a couple years. Most of you probably know the Berryman Trail in and of itself is an IMBA epic trail, meaning it succeeds to encompass all of the many attributes IMBA qualifies as epic, over and above the requirements of a well built trail. To be epic it must provide an experience that is challenging but doable, makes riders feel like they are "out there", and have a community that supports them and the trail. The Berryman Trail had all of those things and more.

The race itself is a youngster, with 2011being it's only 4th running. But the promoters have a lot of support. The race stages at the Bass River Resort, a family owned resort for everything outdoors. And I don't mean the lay by the poolside with your foo-foo drink kinda resort. Nah, this place is all about the Great Outdoors with some seriously posh digs all the way down to tent camp sites. It's nestled in a wide open valley, surrounded by hills and hills of Mark Twain National Forest. The resort has horses on the property, right in view of our cabin,actually. Does tranquil come to mind? It should. The resort had a general store with your basic needs, but they also sold cooked food, clothing, bait, etc. Then behind that was a banquet hall with kitchen and below all of that were bathrooms with shower stalls, so if you didn't have an RV, they provided that amenity. Add on a deck, patio, swimming pool, bon fires, horses...the list goes on. I'd imagine in the summer they are hoppin busy. Being that Steelville is the "float capital of Missouri" they have an army of buses for taking folks onto the many rivers that branch off of the Mississippi, but this was their off season, so mostly us lycra-wearing swash bucklers were the ones roaming around.

We arrived at the resort around 2:30 pm or so. We checked into our "lodge" and were totally blown away. We opened the door to a grand room, with wall to wall wood, wood floors and beamed ceilings. The table was a large buffet table with hand-carved chairs. There were 4 large bedrooms; two had two queens and two had one queen and a fold-out love seat. The place could sleep like 15 or something crazy. It had all the modern conveniences, including two bathrooms and a gas stove. The deck the was the crem de la crem. Hand carved beams surrounded a wood floor that was probably 20 feet off the ground. It over looked the meadow where the horses lounged and each house had its own grill and fire pit. After a day, I wanted to live there. Oh and I forgot one thing: these digs were within eyesight of the start/finish! We could actually watch the riders come in later in the day. We could't have asked for more!

Once we checked out the place, we kitted up and drove to get registered. Come to find out Jay Chesterman and Bill Ficus were down there as well as Sydney Brown and her friend from Texas, who was louder than Ryan on the trail. :) We got our socks/registration packet and were off to do some recon. With some great advice from Sydney, we drove up the gravel road instead of wasting daylight riding it up to the hole-shot. We wanted to get to the good stuff stat. We parked in a round-about but even before we could pedal, Miles busted a bolt tightening his shifters or break levers. I suggested he go ask the promoter (who I believe owns Springfield Bikes) who was managing registration to help him out. So Ryan and Miles jumped in the Sprinter. The Todds, Larry and I jumped on trail. Immediately we were swallowed by dense forest. The trail was covered in leaves, which also covered the roots and rocks. It was all good. We just had to pay attention. It was a good time. Not a lot of effort was needed so we could ride a bit over our limit on the climb come race morning, knowing there'd be certain relief once on the single track. We rode until it connected up with the Berryman Trail before heading back. It was getting dark and we felt we had a good sense of what to expect.

On our way back, we met up with RF and Miles. The promoter actually had a steel version of the bolt Mike needed! He was so happy. But we were all hungry so we all went back to the lodge, got cleaned up and hit a Mexican joint about 10 miles away. Jay and Bill tagged along, which for some good story tellin. The rest of the night, once back at the ranch, was spent fiddlin with gear, and filling up water bottles. I decided to run two bottle cages instead of wearing a camel back. There was a bag drop that we'd stop at twice, so I figured I wouldn't need it. I layed out the grub I'd need at the start and put the rest in the bag. Funny. I didn't have the nervousness I usually did at the other races like the Fire Cracker or the Five-0. I was on vacation! And if any of you have traveled with me you know that when I'm on vacation, I ride like I'm on vacation. I don't think I had even put on my HRM since Labor Day so you could say I wasn't exactly fit. But I didn't really care all that much. Yeah, sure, I'm not gonna lie and say having other tough chicks there didn't make me wish I hadn't couched my training for two months, but this crew were all there to go on a big, fast ride with friends and that's about it. Whatever happened, so be it.

So what did happen? The race started at 8am, so not too early. But, the sun had yet to show itself over the distance eastern hills so yes, it was pretty chilly. We all went back and forth about what to wear. Jay said to dress for the end as it will get warm enough and the 5 mile climb to the single track would be our heaters. Since I wished I had had more layers in the Five-0 and the temps were about the same, I went with arm and knee warmers and a summer layer. I wore wool socks and so glad I did. They got wet! The start was as casual as the Five-0 with folks lining up where they thought they should be. I saw lots of folks with camelbacks so I began to wonder. I lined up in the top quarter. I could see ladies in my age group here and there so I knew it would be challenging. Well that and I've had more nachos and beer in the last month than I've had all year. And I'm GLAD! Gun went off and away we went. It was pretty tight but not life threatening. Pace off the front was intense being that Tilford was leading the charge (which he never relinquished). I was nowhere near them. I could just see them from afar for about the first thirty seconds. Nah, I just did my thing. I did manage to find a clear lane on the outside and made up a lot of places riding through the leaves instead of on the gravel. By the time I hit the trees, I had no idea where anyone was and well, I didn't really care. Fast paced ride with friends.

Luckily I got behind a well-paced few who could flow. I just hung on and enjoyed the ride. I felt great. Bike was a little on the stiff side but not terrible. Not long after hitting dirt, I came upon Sydney. She was trailside, but seemed fine so I didn't slow down. At about mile 11 or so, the first check point came in site but it was on the other side of a steep set of switchbacks and a very cold, deep creek. The fans were cheering for folks to ride through it. There was no current and I could see the bottom so I stayed on the bike and rode to the other side. My pedals went into the water as I'm sure my hubs and bb. Greeeeaaaat. Once on the other side we had to grab a zip tie from anyone holding one and tie it onto the handle bars. This was a time suck and before I knew it Sydney was with me and then ahead of me, where she'd remain for the rest of the race.

Nothing was so hard to ride that it drained me, yet the changes in elevation kept me pedaling all of the time. I got to check point 2 after changing places with a dude who recognized me from the KC races. I spent a good few minutes here. I had to pee and then I couldn't fricken get my stash bag untied. I had to take off one glove just to get my fingers in the knot. Then when I bolted out of the check point area, I started going down the wrong single track. Thankfully, they had "wrong way" signs up. Sheesh!

They offered these potato bags to racers for the  aid station.
We used our own bags so we could find them.

The 3rd checkpoint was interesting. It was a stump that had the zip ties just laying on it for folks to grab. I got stuck in a traffic jam here and had to yell to get someone to move so I could get going. I jumped on the wheel of some southerner and we hammered up and down and around the forest like a couple of kids. We came out of the trees on this double track but it wasn't marked well. Just then a guy was coming at us from up the double track. We're all freaking out because we don't know which way to go. Suddenly I spot a pink ribbon across the double track, down trail. We booked it and soon we were catching up to other riders. Not a whole lot of action really. Just some damn fine flow. You know when you're dreaming and you think of all kinds of nonsence that you don't recall the next day? That's what my brain was doing, so yeah, I got nothin to report other than we rode our asses off. On this leg, I caught up to Wixen. Then Larry caught me, which surprised me cuz I was sure he had been ahead the whole time. Turned out he went the wrong way (he was one of many) and added some 15 minutes to his time because of it. But once past me, he was off like a rocket, trying to make up time. I was with him until we hit a gravel road (the dude trains on gravel like every day) and then a paved road. I was grateful for the road. It gave me a chance to stretch my back and give my arms a rest. The road led us to the bag drop aid station again. Larry was there and then he wasn't, still trying to make up time. I swapped out both bottles, downed some food and followed suit. Unfortunately, he got a flat. :( I was feeling awesome coming out of that check point, which was somewhere around the 3:30 mark or so but by 4-4.5 hours, I started to feel a bit tired. I made sure to keep the calories going but I wasn't fast enough. The E light was coming on. I got to the bottom of a springbed and came to a point where I wasnt sure where to go. A guy who had done it before said to follow him. Soon we were at the base of a steep service road. Once up that, he said, take a right on the gravel and it will take us back down to the start. Hallelujah! I suddenly felt way better. He had to get off his bike and walk up the hill. Not me (I won't say it). I grannied that bitch and just before the top I saw Eyberg spinning away. I asked how he was feeling and cramps was the answer. It was 5:09. I said, "Todd, we gotta get in under 5:30" Let's go. So we ground out the last five miles, making it under the wire at 5:24. I was glad to finish with a friend. Todd can turn a big gear so it was great to sit on his wheel. I think I helped him push the pace cuz that's what friends are for!

We waited around at the S/F. Sydney was hanging out, a little woozy from her champion efforts. Her CX training really came in handy that day, helping her take the top spot on the podium. I manged to eek out a 4th place finish, somewhere in the top 50 overall. I was pleased. One by one our friends came in: Todd, Larry. Jay was already in, having secured 17th place overall. Ryan was his jovial self with a 24th overall placing. For a "chill" ride, we had all done pretty well.

RF and Wixen in line at Beer Wagon

Post race eats and drinks were on hand. A band was churning out some rockabilly. I chose to hit the showers ahead of the boys and then I went back to eat. Around 6pm the awards and raffle started followed by more tunes, drinking and bonfire. We had all had a fair amount of beverage by then and someone said pizza. Tdub mentioned that he had home-made salsa and chipotle-seasoned chicken in the fridge at the lodge. We bought some fire wood for the pit and wobbled back to our homestead to have our own post race party. Now the details on this are foggy but suddenly someone felt the need for cheese to put on our chicken nachos so Larry, Todd E and Ryan took off for the general store to fetch some cheese. They took forever, so we heated up the food and started eating when they burst through the door, with said cheese (shredded mozzarella?) and two pizzas. Seemed they spied somebody else's pizza at the store and tried to bribe the woman behind the counter into give them the pizza. It didn't work so they ordered their own. Once full and happy, we capped off the night with stories around the fire pit. It wasn't as cold that night so sitting around the fire was just perfect. War stories, and lip service galore. Having traveled with these guys so much, I've become one of them, so to speak, so I dish it out and get it back. All in good fun.

So the takeaway, this place is freakin awesome! Do whatever it takes, but get your butt down there for the BTEpic. Bring your family, too. It's not as big or polished as many enduros but they're young still. Mark my words, this has lasting potential and will become a must-do event. Looks like I'll be training well into October next year.