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Check out the Race recap from Craig Groendyke at the bottom of the page. Go Chinook!
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Race Results
From Craig Groendyke
2014 Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships - July 5th - Sun Valley/Ketchum, ID
The Mountain Bike Marathon Cross Country National Championships returned to Sun Valley area for the second year in a row. This year was nearly the identical course that I road in 2013. 2 laps around Bald Mountain, 38.6 miles and nearly 6100 feet of climbing. I was hoping the weather would be cooler this year, but not so. 90 F and clear skies were what Mother Nature offered up.
I arrived late morning on Friday, and contacted Lori Selby, who was also racing on Saturday, and we did a pre ride to checkout the steepest climbs on the lower section of the Cold Springs Trail. There are two short sections with 22% slopes on this climb that eventually takes you up to 8200 feet. We rode back to the S/F and then up a ski area service road to access the lower section of single tract trail that takes you to the S/F. We rode down a few of it’s hair pin switchbacks to get a feel for the turns and trail conditions.
My start time was 8:12 AM Saturday, and off I went. Master men 55 - 59, 60 -64, 65 - 69, and 70+ starting together. My goals this year were: to improve my total time, not get any cramps (like I got in 2013, and Lori got this year), and to keep my energy level up through the race. After my pre-ride the day before, I decided to not go too hard on the first climb and save some energy for the second lap. The 2014 approach included: dill pickle juice, for cramp prevention; Hammer Sustained Energy drink for easy to absorb fuel; plus lots of Hammer Endurolytes, GU gels and a Camelbak filled with ice water. Pickle juice may sound disgusting, but it works! You wand to drink it chilled, as it has a bit when it gets warm. I used about 9 oz’s during the race. Thanks to Greg T for the idea.
The pickle juice, Endurolytes, and lots of water took care of the cramping. The Sustained Energy drink and gels took care of keeping the fuel level up. Thank goodness there was a breeze blowing on the south side of Bald Mountain to help keep the body temperature in check. The second lap was ridden in 90 F temperatures and 15% humidity. I had to continually remind myself to drink water and fuel. The second lap climb was about 10 minutes slower than the first lap, but I could feel the fatigue coming on fast as I approached the top (8200 ft elevation). The down hill run back to the S/F was accomplished in 1 hour and 4 minutes 28 seconds on the first lap and only 20 seconds slower on lap 2. I felt real good about that as I also wanted to improve my descending skills for this year’s race. 2014 time was 5:03:00, 18 minutes faster than 2013. After the race, I was tired but not hammered like I was last year. I finished in 5th place, so, happily, I figure all my goals were met this year. Now all I have to do is to figure out how to climb faster and take my descending skills to the next level (without getting injured).
Lori Selby finished 2nd in the women’s 50-54 group and Aaron Stites, who had a 1:20 PM start time and had to ride his entire race in 90 F conditions, plus the added bonus of a 10 mile loop over the top of Bald Mountain (9151 ft), got 5th in the men’s 35-39 group. All three riders from the Tri-Cities made the podium!
Thanks to everyone who I have ridden and trained with this year, especially those who persevered the cold winter training night rides and the more recent Whistran radio tower rides with me.
Craig Groendyke
From Craig Groendyke
2014 Mountain Bike Marathon National Championships - July 5th - Sun Valley/Ketchum, ID
The Mountain Bike Marathon Cross Country National Championships returned to Sun Valley area for the second year in a row. This year was nearly the identical course that I road in 2013. 2 laps around Bald Mountain, 38.6 miles and nearly 6100 feet of climbing. I was hoping the weather would be cooler this year, but not so. 90 F and clear skies were what Mother Nature offered up.
I arrived late morning on Friday, and contacted Lori Selby, who was also racing on Saturday, and we did a pre ride to checkout the steepest climbs on the lower section of the Cold Springs Trail. There are two short sections with 22% slopes on this climb that eventually takes you up to 8200 feet. We rode back to the S/F and then up a ski area service road to access the lower section of single tract trail that takes you to the S/F. We rode down a few of it’s hair pin switchbacks to get a feel for the turns and trail conditions.
My start time was 8:12 AM Saturday, and off I went. Master men 55 - 59, 60 -64, 65 - 69, and 70+ starting together. My goals this year were: to improve my total time, not get any cramps (like I got in 2013, and Lori got this year), and to keep my energy level up through the race. After my pre-ride the day before, I decided to not go too hard on the first climb and save some energy for the second lap. The 2014 approach included: dill pickle juice, for cramp prevention; Hammer Sustained Energy drink for easy to absorb fuel; plus lots of Hammer Endurolytes, GU gels and a Camelbak filled with ice water. Pickle juice may sound disgusting, but it works! You wand to drink it chilled, as it has a bit when it gets warm. I used about 9 oz’s during the race. Thanks to Greg T for the idea.
The pickle juice, Endurolytes, and lots of water took care of the cramping. The Sustained Energy drink and gels took care of keeping the fuel level up. Thank goodness there was a breeze blowing on the south side of Bald Mountain to help keep the body temperature in check. The second lap was ridden in 90 F temperatures and 15% humidity. I had to continually remind myself to drink water and fuel. The second lap climb was about 10 minutes slower than the first lap, but I could feel the fatigue coming on fast as I approached the top (8200 ft elevation). The down hill run back to the S/F was accomplished in 1 hour and 4 minutes 28 seconds on the first lap and only 20 seconds slower on lap 2. I felt real good about that as I also wanted to improve my descending skills for this year’s race. 2014 time was 5:03:00, 18 minutes faster than 2013. After the race, I was tired but not hammered like I was last year. I finished in 5th place, so, happily, I figure all my goals were met this year. Now all I have to do is to figure out how to climb faster and take my descending skills to the next level (without getting injured).
Lori Selby finished 2nd in the women’s 50-54 group and Aaron Stites, who had a 1:20 PM start time and had to ride his entire race in 90 F conditions, plus the added bonus of a 10 mile loop over the top of Bald Mountain (9151 ft), got 5th in the men’s 35-39 group. All three riders from the Tri-Cities made the podium!
Thanks to everyone who I have ridden and trained with this year, especially those who persevered the cold winter training night rides and the more recent Whistran radio tower rides with me.
Craig Groendyke
