Published by Mike Maxson June 15th, 2007 in General
The mountainous Cascade range provides the north / south division of the state but more importantly it keeps all the coastal and valley storms on the west-side and keeps us east-side Bend residents primarily in the sun. Where our trails are dry hardpack ribbons through the juniper and ponderosas, "the Valley" as its known features thick rainforest, dense ferns and rooty, tight and technical trails.
The Test of Endurance 50 was staging out of Blodgett just west of Corvallis, OR and as I made my way up and over Santiam Pass the clear skies quickly changed to a dark, heavy bruised color with a steady rain. Mike Ripley of Mudslinger Events had promised an epic day and rain should keep the trails close to his namesake - Mudslinger. The course featured miles of steep and steady logging road climbs patched together with stretches of tight, twisty and technical singletrack. 50+ miles with apx. 9,000 feet of climbing.
Everything started off ok; sure it was raining but when wasn't it over here. It was a mild 50ish degrees and even the occasional sucker-hole showed blue skies above as we did the 2-mi neutral rollout.
I opted for shorts, no leg warmers and a short-sleeved jersey (note: first mistake). Right from the gun the attacks splintered the 100 strong group into a lead pack of about 10, hammering the initial climb. I was riding in 3rd working to blink the mud out as the sucker holes closed and the rain increased, creating a cold clammy and slow going affair.
By the end of the first lap my mental state had regressed to renaming the race to Test of Torture, Test of Purgatory...who did I piss off...I need a sandwich. And at the start of lap 2, I stopped, got off the bike and did just that. A delicious almond butter and whole wheat sandwich served up with a grin from under a dripping raincoat hood. This sandwich was definitely worth letting the hard-charging Luke Pennington ride off towards the mucky finish line.
Back on the bike, the cold and wet had simply shut down this east-siders legs. Head down, peering through a mask of mud, snot and broken fern leaves and moss I pedaled squares in pursuit of Pennington.
Eventually I bridged back up and we chatted about how great our shifting was, how much control we had in the slick-as-snot muddy bobsled runs that seconded as the course's singletrack and how good the burrito would be at the finish....basically anything to distract the mind from crawling pace we endured towards mile 50.
4hrs5min after we all set off together I grunted across the finish line thoroughly spent netting a 4th place and a good pain threshold test. As much as I hate to admit it, those epic days on the bike always make good stories and are good to look back on...even if in the moment feels like hell.
Guess what...I'm in the car driving to Park City for the next "test of endurance" and camping vacation with the wife and dog ...Fun times!
BTW, thanks Sunnyside for once again gutting the Orbea OIZ and breathing some more life into the shifting/braking.
The Test of Endurance 50 was staging out of Blodgett just west of Corvallis, OR and as I made my way up and over Santiam Pass the clear skies quickly changed to a dark, heavy bruised color with a steady rain. Mike Ripley of Mudslinger Events had promised an epic day and rain should keep the trails close to his namesake - Mudslinger. The course featured miles of steep and steady logging road climbs patched together with stretches of tight, twisty and technical singletrack. 50+ miles with apx. 9,000 feet of climbing.
Everything started off ok; sure it was raining but when wasn't it over here. It was a mild 50ish degrees and even the occasional sucker-hole showed blue skies above as we did the 2-mi neutral rollout.
I opted for shorts, no leg warmers and a short-sleeved jersey (note: first mistake). Right from the gun the attacks splintered the 100 strong group into a lead pack of about 10, hammering the initial climb. I was riding in 3rd working to blink the mud out as the sucker holes closed and the rain increased, creating a cold clammy and slow going affair.
By the end of the first lap my mental state had regressed to renaming the race to Test of Torture, Test of Purgatory...who did I piss off...I need a sandwich. And at the start of lap 2, I stopped, got off the bike and did just that. A delicious almond butter and whole wheat sandwich served up with a grin from under a dripping raincoat hood. This sandwich was definitely worth letting the hard-charging Luke Pennington ride off towards the mucky finish line.
Back on the bike, the cold and wet had simply shut down this east-siders legs. Head down, peering through a mask of mud, snot and broken fern leaves and moss I pedaled squares in pursuit of Pennington.
Eventually I bridged back up and we chatted about how great our shifting was, how much control we had in the slick-as-snot muddy bobsled runs that seconded as the course's singletrack and how good the burrito would be at the finish....basically anything to distract the mind from crawling pace we endured towards mile 50.
4hrs5min after we all set off together I grunted across the finish line thoroughly spent netting a 4th place and a good pain threshold test. As much as I hate to admit it, those epic days on the bike always make good stories and are good to look back on...even if in the moment feels like hell.
Guess what...I'm in the car driving to Park City for the next "test of endurance" and camping vacation with the wife and dog ...Fun times!
BTW, thanks Sunnyside for once again gutting the Orbea OIZ and breathing some more life into the shifting/braking.
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