Almanzo 100 2015

                Friday night I left straight from work to meet up with Mike and Kurt, they were kind enough to let me borrow a spot on their hotel room floor for the night.  Once I arrived we just hung out, discussed plans, life, and watched some goofy movies Kurt had.

                We woke up Saturday, got some breakfast and watched the weather. It rained a bit before the start, which made for some gravel splatter everywhere.

                I got in a large group of strong riders and we were hitting it pretty hard. All different genres of bikers were represented in the group. The roadies were trying to get everyone to rotate and work together, but the group was too large to get everyone on the same page. The cross and mountain bike riders attacked the down hills, making the roadies shake their heads in discomfort. We made it to Preston in just over two hours. I hung onto the group till mile 60, when a few of the guys started to turn it up.

 

                I had zero interest in bonking that day so I backed off and held a steady pace for a while. I stopped at the 3^rd checkpoint for a banana and a beer, and then cruised on to mile 90. This is where I got bored of the steady pace and decided to push really hard for the finish.

                I passed a bunch of guys in that last ten miles, but I didn’t stick around to see the results.  I didn’t plan on staying the night again so I wanted to get on my way.

                I stopped at A+W for a burger and Root Beer float which tasted like heaven and vanished quickly, and I hit the road.

                Another great trip to Minnesota – David S

Update 5/19/15 - results are in, 55th of 543 finishers @ 6 hours 12 minutes.

Ragnarok 105 Report

"Don't dress warm, there are lots of hills."

Thats what I heard at sign in on Friday night. I grabbed a beer from the Red Wing Brewery, which was so nice. I hung out for a little while then headed to a "real" grocery store.  You know, the ones that aren't walmart and have 3 checking lanes with only one person working. I was so excited I had to text someone to tell them I was at a "real" grocery store!

The race went really well, except for the flat tire at mile 10.  Oh and taking a wrong turn at mile 20.  Other than that I killed it!

When I finished Ragnarok, I tried to remember a tougher race of 105 miles. I honestly can't think of one. Sure some 12 hour single track mountain bike races are tougher, but those are short laps over and over. I am talking over 100 miles of never seen before roads and trails. There are races like Trans Iowa that are tougher because of distance and time. As far as linking together 100 miles of the toughest terrain possible, I believe Ragnarok takes the cake.

It was a fantastic spring training ride, I wish I could ride those hills on a regular basis. It was windy and I hate wind, but I could hardly notice the wind with the protection of the hills.

It is Wednesday now, and I am really missing Minnesota.  I cannot wait to revisit in May for Almanzo.

-David S

Macho