Rusty Ride - Cuyuna 2012

Based on my previously written race reports on endurance XC, I choose to go to other states to ride myself around for many hours in the woods. Up until now, I basically did not have a choice. I heard of the Rusty Ride early in the year and signed up in the spring to race the 100 mile, single speed 39+ category. The race was also a benefit of MORC so I purchased an extra flask during registration to do my part and allow myself to be better prepared in the future when biking around town.

The race took place in Crosby, MN, home to the Cuyuna trail system, the premier mountain bike trails of Minnesota. I had never ridden there but heard only good things. The last few weeks, I have been a bit busy with this and that but lazy with biking so at the 7:30 am start, I was not sure how the day would go. There looked to be about 35 folks lined up for the century and the morning was cool and basically, perfect!

At go time, we got a police escort for about 7 blocks through the city until a left turn took us only a snowmobile/4 wheeler trail. The grass was full of dew so as we all started stretching our legs, we were getting pelted and eating sand. I was all geeked up and excited so I decided to stay with the studs in front. After a bit more than a mile, I was fourth in on the single track. In front of me was a NUE series racer Trevor Rockwell, Larry Sauber, and another. Trevor took off with Larry chasing and the rest of us were paced by the other dude. I wasn't sweating too hard at all as we moderately got through that 1.5 mile stretch of single track and the two were only ahead of us by 15 seconds or so. A group of us got to chasing and I sat in the front group made up of Garrick Holey, Sheldon Morgan, the other dude, Eddie Karow, and Danielle Musto. The road section ended onto a grassy snowmobile trail and then up over a big, steep bump where the other dude decided to put his foot down and cause everyone behind him to run into each other...Nothing good about that. The trail now was more snowmobile/four wheeler style and after another mile, we climbed up to a field with a freshly mowed path about 4 feet wide. The ground was soft and I was riding with Garrick and Sheldon. After another mile or so, i looked around and saw that we were alone. We rode around the path which was a bit draining cause the ground was soft with morning dew. At an intersection, we took a wrong turn and ended up going around again. I recognized a turn and then a rock and we were confident that we were doing the loop again so we got over to the spot were we missed the turn and ran into Eddie, Danielle and others also wondering on the direction. We got it right that time and Trevor, Sheldon and I rode away again. The trail took us through a couple more loops in other freshly mowed areas and along a lake to a feed and turnaround point. That initial lap was a bit confusing since there were some two ways that we were not aware of at the beginning.

After that trail we were spit back out onto the grass briefly and then back on the road. From the paved strech, we rode a couple minutes on gravel and onto some of the funnest singletrack I have ridden. It had more flow than the mighty Mississippi and more rhythm than the P-Funk Allstars! So good! There were about five uphill sections where two were not bad at all, one moderate and two that had a few spots ya had to work on. One of those hills though, took you up to the top of Sidewinder which as you went down, the curves and berms filled the excitement well to the top and then spilled it over. That ride is a piece of interactive art!

From there, you end up making your way up Miner's Mountain. Then down and out into the city to complete the 25 mile lap. The first two laps went by fast and I was feeling good. I was trying a new endurance fuel called Half Evil by Carbo Rocket and it was sitting well in the belly. I had some jerky that I was chewing on along with some shot blocks but the third lap started to get a little sloppy in the single track. I was feeling ok but that worried me a bit. The miles around 60 - 70 are always the hardest for me. The question of WTF and why always pop into the head. Through experience, I know that perseverance defeats it but the fourth lap started slow. I came across Danielle on one of the two way sections and got to worrying that she would catch me because she was looking strong! That lit a fire. Maybe since I was riding alone for the last 60+ miles I needed a kick in the pants but that got me going. I amped the speed up and kept a rollin. I felt safer once I hit the single track section but kept the heat on. At the feed zone, in the woods, there was bacon to be had and two pieces were downed to take me through the last 10 mile. Since I was alone, that was the only chewing the fat i was gonna be doing. I made it through and got out of the single track relieved to just hammer out the last mile plus. I went to change my hand position and somehow got all twisted and ended up on the ground, in the gravel. I hit hard but was surprised to get up and feel relatively good when all I wanted to do was grunt and grown on the ground. I hopped on the bike and pedalled in for a final time of 8:12. My fasted XC century and good enough for 4th overall and 1st 39+ Singlespeed. My gear of 32x18 was all good and I cleared all the climbs.