MTB United on the Podium

Shawnee Mission 3/6 Hour Mountain Bike Race. For those of you who don't know this race format, I'll explain. You have the option of racing the 3 hour race solo or the 6 hour race solo, or the 6 hour race as a duo. There are no beginner, sport, expert type designations, all race together. The course is a marked loop, in this case I believe around 5.5 miles, of which you ride as many laps as possible. After the 3 hour or the 6 hour mark passes you are not allowed to start another lap. If you come in at 2:59:59 or 5:59:59 you can go out for another lap. The rider/duo with the most laps in the quickest time wins. Laps trump time. If a 6 hour rider rides 5 laps in 7 hours, and another 6 hour rider rides 4 laps in 6 hours, the rider with 5 laps still wins. If laps completed are the same then ranking defers to time.

Matt and I both planned to enter the 6 hour solo race. I can't speak for his, but my mission for the day was just to ride the entire 6 hours plus at a pace I knew I could maintain, and enjoy the experience.

The bus picked me up around 6:45 AM Saturday for the trip to Shawnee KS. We were either well hydrated or nervous, I think there were 3 stops on the way. Arrived at the park to see a decent number of vehicles already assembled. In a long race like this it's great to have a pitstop so Matt backed the bus up to the sideline about 50 yards past the start finish. Registration was handled and we ran in to the Team Seagal guys. Casey Ryback, Mason Storm, and Nico Toscani had made the trip as well. They all also entered the 6 hour solo. We were in for a good day. Got the pit all setup with food and drink, then got changed and chilled out for a bit. Matt went out for a recon lap and pulled in just as the racers meeting was beginning. As we listened he gave me his overview of the trail. It was right up my alley, lots of rock and no super climbs.

The start was to be lemans style (run to your bike) so we set up the bikes by the lap/finish and went about 200 yards up the trail to the starting area. I've never done this before but had thought about it a little. Should I try and get ahead and get a good spot or take it easy and pace myself? I took it easy. There was plenty of time to ride. There were 101 people in the start so it was an interesting run.

Lap 1 was pretty congested and I probably passed 10 riders or so as we all tried to find our pace. At the lap/finish line you had to dismount and run/walk through a chute while they recorded your number. Our pit was just after that. I didn't stop before heading out on lap 2 but that was the only time I did that all day. I felt fine and was still passing/being passed, trying to settle in. The rest of the day I stopped each time I came through, sometimes just to quickly stretch my back and grab a new bottle, sometimes to sit down and eat, drink, stretch, and talk.

I stopped after lap 2 for a quick stretch and bottle change and was on my way. Lap 3 or so I was keeping pace behind a really fast rider on a slight downhill curvy section of the course, dug hard in a corner when the rear skipped over a sharp rock and started squirting Stans. Couldn't get it to seal, so I popped in a tube, aired it up and off again. Sounds quick but I probably fumbled around for 10 minutes.

David and his buddy John stopped by on the way back from their first adventure race (hopefully he'll write it up) and it was nice to see them and talk for a bit. Despite a rough start they did pretty well, especially for a first attempt. Plus, they had Burger King afterward. They were there for two pit stops, after lap 3 and 4, then took off for Columbia.

On the second of those pits, Matt came in a couple minutes after me. He was a lap ahead of course. This was around the 3 hour mark I believe. I could tell he was in pain. He couldn't feel the front half of his feet and every pedal stroke shot pain up his leg. He couldn't apply any pressure at all. He was done. I felt really bad for him. We checked out his shoes and they were done too. The cleat plate was protruding through the inside of the shoes. It would be like pedaling on the head of a railroad spike.

I said bye to the three of them and went out again. That lap went fine, fairly quick. Hit the pit again, talked with Matt a bit more, out again. That lap didn't go as well. I flatted twice. Both were pinch flats. Both were due to not enough pressure in the tire and were my fault. It sucks pumping up your tire with those mini pumps. Casey Ryback rolled up on me as I was fixing the first flat and stopped to chat. He waited with we until I was ready, then we rolled together. It was nice to have some company, it was also nice to see him float his rigid SS over those nasty rocks. Smooth. We stayed together until I flatted again. He lent me a tube and rolled on. Got that changed and finished up the lap.

It was about 4:45 PM when I rolled out for my 7th lap. I assumed I'd have two more to go as I didn't think I could finish the 2nd before the 6 PM cutoff. About halfway through that lap I started feeling stronger, finished up the 7th, pitted, and went out for the 8th around 5:25PM? or so. I felt really strong that lap and started pushing myself. As the lap went on I pushed harder. I wasn't exactly sure about the time but I knew I would be close to making the cutoff and heading out for another lap. By the end of the lap I was standing, sprinting for the line to try and get in before 6PM so I could head out for another. Came across at 6:03. Oh well. I finished and still felt strong. Happy camper.

Got back to the bus and settled out. We picked up and got loaded to head home. Went up and checked the results and saw that I had placed 3rd in my age group. 9th out of 29. Awesome, MTB United on the podium.

We did the raffle and awards then took off. Unfortunately we had to pass on an invite to hang out with Team Seagal/PBR for the night. That would have been a blast. We weren't really that hungry so we exited KC metro without eating. Stopped for gas between KC and Columbia at a very impressive rest stop. They had more truck accessories, junk, and swords than I've ever seen. They also had a Dairy Queen. We got hungry. I had a double cheese and Blizzard in mind. Got in line, looked up, no burgers. It was some truck stop special edition menu, Dairy Queen Lite. (in options, not calories) We rolled on and shortly became famished. Called up David, he pointed us to the El Maguey up the street from his place in Columbia. We met him and John and Joseph there. Margaritas, Coronas, salsa, guac, and fajitas.

Home by midnight.

Results


So, Rapture in Misery at Landahl in KC is August 16th at noon. The 12 hour has a solo, duo, and trio option. I'd love to do the 12 with a partner or partners. Anyone interested?













From Team Seagal's Perspective

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The Spot



The Spoils