Hitting the Reset Button

I've been trying to re-boot myself and change up my riding from super endurance to short-fast-done-before-I'm-warmed-up-events, like cyclocross. I'm not sure why the insanity of cyclocross stirs my soul...I mean I've never been good at short events and cyclocross events are an hour or less of pure muscle-burning torture, plus running which we all know I think is stupid and to top that I've never done well at cyclocross events (typically mid-pack finisher, never been lapped though). There's just something diabolical about this whole picture for me...



Hmm...odd?! Although it's a bit too late for me to really change up my riding focus, I'm doing it anyway in hopes that I can finish in the top 10 this year...if I don't I'm going to die having fun with it.



The bike of choice is once again is my slighly heavy, ultra-smooth, steel-is-real, Gunnar Crosshairs (aka: The Black Pearl) that has been set up single speed (of course). Right now it's sporting some nearly bald 38c heavier-than-your-sins gravel grider tires and water bottle cages...on race days it will loose the cages and I'm fairly certain it will be sporting some speedo-like wheels.



Ramming speed!

Butte 100 - Ouch!

The Butte 100 schooled me well on one thing - climbing. I was not as well prepared as I'd like to have been for the relentless climbing intensity the Butte 100 course offered. It's hard to compare it to anything around here except it's like the steepest part of George Creek that goes on for many miles, then you get a nice break fearing for your life on some treacherous white-knuckled downhill only to start another straight-up-never-ending-climb again...and all this is happening at elevations greater than our highest elevations here. So what I'm saying is that I really had fun thrash testing both my bike and my body...whoohoo!!!

The 6-AM start was a new one for me, which required me to be up around 4:30. I had a restless night of sleep in the motel, but I still felt chipper at 5:30-AM...



But, by 6:00-AM I was ready to release some nervous tension.



The race start was nothing new for me, lots of blurry hustling and trying to stay out of harms way while the giddy-up factor is raging amongst so many adrenalin doping mountain bike junkies...



There were some rather long flat sections (some of the only flat areas on the entire course) in the first 20-miles, which made me work the super fast spinning so I could keep my one-geared SS rolling along at 18-20 mph...



Very little pavement was not appreciated much by me, but it was a necessary evil to get to the sweet (steep, torturous) trails that I so enjoyed...



So during all this fun and adventure I need to mention that it was hot, even at the elevations we were at. My hydration and nutrition were right on schedule, however I could feel that I was starting to dehydrate too much at about mile 50. At this point I was little late on this discovery and not to mention I was sweating heavily up a relentless climb with almost no shade at this point.

To make a long suffering story short, I pulled out at mile 74 (on my odometer) due to severe dehydration...I had puked once by this time and being well schooled in dehydration in previous events, I knew it would be futile to continue. I was sick for 3-hours after dropping out so my decision to stop was a good one and I am happily awaiting my chance to do this race again next year.

Two days after the race I was back on my bike having some fun exploring some of my old favorite riding areas in Bozeman, MT...I mountain biked there in the mid-80's while going to college at MSU. The trails seem easier and shorter than I remember, but still the same.









It was beyond fun to say the least. I can not wait until next year.