WEMS Levis 100 mile race, 2013

Did a Wisconsin Endurance Mtn. Bike Series (WEMS) race at Levis Mounds, WI. 100 mile (long) event. All singletrack, no age groups, just line up and go. Yeah, I guess I was the old man of the bunch...again.

One of the IMBA Epic trails. Climbed 18,000 feet in 10:40. Not a lot by some standards, but the uphills are a pretty steep and can be a bit technical. 10 hrs. on the bike and 40 minutes total in the pits eating, getting more water and figuring out how to stop or at least lessen the cramps.
A tough but rewarding day of racing. High temps and humidity. Fluid loss was high, as was the dry dirt and sand. Quite technical course where a mistake could get a guy/gal a bit messed up.
Nothing but praise for the TREK SuperFly..again. No issues. Towards the end of the first lap I caught a couple racers in the fast, flowy section that had a decent lead on me through the climbing...the Fly just takes every turn maxed out and even if I'd start to wash out I'd just hang on and it pulls me through.

I didn't get 100 miles in before the 12 hr. cut-off, one lap short. So ended up with 88 miles. (83 by my GPS, but I'll go with the official count!) The winner did get 100 miles in. I ended up 2nd. I'll take it, I sure didn't feel cheated. A local write-up.

Race Director getting ready to sound the shotgun start.

Your Truly at the finish. Spent....just trying not to cry like a little girl.

Photo credit to riding buddy Al Potter.

Looking up towards the finish/clock area. My pit on the left.

Another angle.

Other pit areas. Some guys just backed up to the fence and pitted out of their trunks/hatches.

My pit and bikes, Gary Fisher Paragon HT and the Trek/Fisher SuperFly. Camped there the night before to get ready for the 8AM start.

End of the race.

Garmin data.

From a ride a couple of years ago. Views from out on the trail.

Softride, Sh*tbike, The FREAK

Added a bike to the stable...not sure why except that it kinda caught my eye. I saw one in Oak Ridge, Oregon at the LBS when I was out there riding this spring. The guy working the store owned it and he showed it to me with a bit of detail. Said he liked it and it is a bit unique. Can't argue.

It also has a reputation in a national BIKE mag.

It's a 1 owner bike that was bought in 1995. Was taken very good care of. I plan on riding it when our grandson and I go on rides.
Softride was the manufacturer. Out of business now. Appears you love em or hate em.

Took it out for a ride on the Allegrippis Trail system in PA. It did fine. Only real concern were the rim brakes. Just don't have the quick response and performance so really couldn't rail the trail. Met a few riders on the trail as well so had to stay in control.
Positioning was better than expected and was rather impressed how it climbed. Took Rays Revenge backwards which got the attention of a couple locals, Tom and Tony.

Wausau24 12 hr. solo Race, 2013

Went to do the Wausau24 race. Was setup to do the 2x12 hr. race with buddy Al. His brother Paul had signed up for the 12hr. solo due to not being able to sign up a partner. As Paul (Blue Mountain Technologies, LLC) hasn't ridden much this spring and summer (2 kids will do that to a guy!) I offered to switch name plates and timing chip which Paul took me up on.

Jason, Al and Paul.

I did a little better than I expected, one spot off the podium, 4th out of 20 racers. 12 laps in 12 hrs. 117.5 miles. I think if I wasn't the oldest racer in the 12 hr. solo catagory I must have been dang close to the oldest. The Trek Superfly performed great. Obviously it fit me well or I wouldn't have been able to be competitive.

The weather had really cooled off from the past week or so. Temps in the mid 60's and no rain, so really it was almost perfect weather. Add to the mix the rain we did get the day before to settle the dust and firm up the trail and I'm not sure it could get much better.
I made up some mini-bagels with peanut butter and ham salad for fuel and stuffed a couple sleeves of Blocks into my CORP Go West shirt pocket so I had plenty of fuel at hand. Also stuffed a couple bagels and Guu in the frame bag.
The trail was cleaned up real nice as well.
Laps were taking me a bit below an hour till the cramps hit, then I went a bit over an hour.
Rode for 4 hrs. to start then refueled and re-watered. Started cramping a bit on lap 5 and 6 then they were random and not near as bad for the rest of the race.
Friend Jason who had raced the 6 hr. solo got some HEED mixed for me and I doubled up on the Endurolytes. Kind forgot to pop in some Fizzes, but took plenty of endurolytes so probably wouldn't have made much difference.
My plan was to only stop twice, but I had to stop a few more times than that due to pulling over to down the HEED for the cramps. I probably spent 10-15 minutes total off the bike in 12 hours and the cramps cost me 10-15 minutes maybe in lost time while riding (had to back off when they popped up) and stopping. In any case I missed heading out for my 13th lap by 10 minutes....but to be honest I was ok with that. Got to get a beer a bit earlier and hang out with the guys.

Garmin info/data.

Race results.

12 Hour Solo Male

Place

Total Laps

Team #

Team Name

Lap 1

Lap 2

Lap 3

Lap 4

Lap 5

Lap 6

Lap 7

Lap 8

Lap 9

Lap 10

Lap 11

Lap 12

Lap 13

Elapsed Time

1

13

279

Yore

0:52

0:50

0:51

0:52

0:53

0:52

0:56

0:57

1:02

0:55

0:57

1:05

1:00

12:07:58

2

13

186

Salsa Cycles

0:55

0:52

0:56

0:55

0:55

0:54

0:56

1:00

0:53

0:57

0:55

1:01

0:56

12:10:51

3

13

272

VanHoose

0:52

0:50

0:51

0:57

0:59

0:56

0:58

1:00

0:57

1:00

1:02

1:09

1:15

12:51:20

4

12

57

Blue Mountain Technologies LLC

1:03

0:54

0:55

0:57

1:03

1:03

0:59

1:00

1:04

1:02

1:02

1:07

12:14:5