Sometimes I make silly decisions. This weekend, I surpassed silliness and did something that was just downright stoopid. (Note: no more puns from this point on)

As of last week, I had planned to skip the Stoopid 50 mtb race held in Rothrock State Forest. This decision was mostly due to my performance at Tour de Tykes, which left me beaten and broken. After some decent hours on the bike early in the week, I started to feel a little stronger. But my final decision was still to skip the race, so Saturday I went out with some coworkers for a couple drinks.

I woke up early on Sunday, the day of the race, in order to drop off a jersey so a shop friend. I had only 4 or 5 hours of sleep, and I opted out of breakfast. The race was set to start at 9am. After hanging out for about half an hour I talked to Chris Scott, the organizer. Sometime during this conversation I had convinced myself that I really DID want to race. It was hard to argue against... being a local meant I knew all the trails, and if I didn't finish I could go back and ride parts I missed at any time. The only worry was the fact that I only had a single ride over four hours this year, and it was in February. Fitness be damned, at 8am I drove like hell back to my house to grab my bike and a couple bottles, and then raced back to Tussey to start my race.

I distinctly remember my teammate Clay Chiles come up to me and just start laughing as I prepped for the race. Rightfully so, it was a crazy last minute decision. No breakfast, no sleep, no hydration, and certainly no fitness. Did I really think this was a good idea?

As the race went off, I settled into a comfortable pace climbing up Bear Meadows. At this point in the game, my only goal was to finish the race. Looking back, I wish I had pushed the opening climb a little harder to get ahead of more people coming into the singletrack. We hit one of my favorite trails, Tussey Ridge, and I found that people who can't ride rocks can really slow you down on trails that, well, have rocks. Regardless, the view was spectacular and I couldn't have asked for a better day to be on the bike.


I was enjoying my ride despite the slow pace, and actually felt good on the bike for once! On the Tussey Extension, Sparky (Freeze Thaw Cycles) went down and smashed his face up pretty good. Despite the brutal injury, he muscled on and finished the race. Damn impressive! The rocks can certainly do some damage though...

Pacing was surprisingly steady, and I was doing a good job to keep hydrated (which I'm usually really bad at). As more and more miles passed under my tires, I realized that I could actually put in a decent time and reestablished my goal to finish under 6 hours. I hit the first aid station and had a nice smooth transition. I only spent about 4 minutes at each of the aid stations, which really helped me maintain my pace and not slack off.

The second of the three sections of the race was by far my favorite. A nice big loop through Cooper's Gap made sure to hit tons of great, rocky singletrack. At around mile 30 I could tell I had been riding a while, but was still feeling strong and riding clean lines.

After the second aid station, I started on the last 15 miles of the race. Reviewing my times and pace, I realized that I was doing well enough to reevaluate my goal for a second time. I know was aiming to finish in under 5 hours and 30 minutes. The last section of the course was filled with long, grueling fireroad and trail climbs. Nothing technically difficult, but by this stage in the game every little rock was a major nuisance. I could feel my form and positioning on the bike start to deteriorate a little after mile 40, but it was not significant enough to worry. I was also getting some numbness in the hands, but once again I was able to ride through it. The only thing I could think about by this point was the fact that I was actually going to finish the race.

I reached the top of the last climb, and realized that the final mile or two of trail was Old Laurel, which is a very rocky descent that beats you up even when you're fresh. I did not want to risk crashing in the last mile of the race, so I eased up a bit on my descending. Even so, I was moving down that trail. I crossed the finish line to find out that I had met and exceded every goal for the day. The finishing time? 5 hrs 23 min. This placed me 55th Overall and 29th in the Men Open category.
I went from having one of my worst races ever at Tour de Tykes to having my best race ever at the Stoopid 50. For next year I am setting the lofty goal of breaking the 5 hour mark. I also was astounded with how the rest of the Freeze Thaw team performed. Vicki Barclay took 1st place in the open women, and Matt Ferrari was 3rd in the SS class!

Now that I have proven that I can actually find fitness somewhere in these legs, I am excited to see what the rest of the season has to offer. I actually feel like a Cat 1 too, and that is what we call progress!