Salty Dog 6 Hour Enduro

GPS Data: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33876534

I don’t really know what pushed me into wanting to do this race. Most of my team talked about how fun it was last year and how this was one of their favorite events of the year. It’s hard to imagine how riding a bike for 6 hours straight can be fun…but there must be something to if it sold out last year. This year the rider limit was capped at 400 and after I heard how popular it was, I was registered way back in March….which was a good decision because it completely sold out the following week.

For me this wasn’t so much a race…but a test to my training plan this year. I was never a big fan of endure races and my last one did not really go the way I had planned, but my team seems to love them and about 90% of the team signed up to do this…so it was pretty much already guaranteed to be a great time.

The race was in Salmon Arm, BC so it was probably going to be better weather then what we were getting in Calgary and my first out –of-province race. This was also going to be my first solo endure race. I managed to hook up with Mark on my team to drive up and Pat also tagged along for the ride. We left right after work so arrived just a little after 10pm in Salmon Arm where we promptly retired to our rooms for the night as we had a pretty full day planned for Saturday.

Saturday we went to pick up race packages and pre-ride the course. We met up with Jeff Nielsen and crew again then looked around Skookum Cycle which was a pretty small bike shop. We went down to the course after and met up with three other Deadgoats for the pre-ride. Gerry led us up through the first single-track climb which was smooth, tight and twisty. After that we continued on to the second section on single-track which is where we apparently missed a turn because we wound up climbing a gravel road for what seemed like forever to the first section of downhill. The first downhill was pretty technical with some North Shore style stunts littered throughout…which were thankfully marked so you didn’t go off by accident and a couple steep rock garden sections. After the first downhill we ended up back on the road we just climbed and then we climbed up to the second single-track descent section. The second descent was a little less technical with a super flowy switch back section at the bottom. After crossing the road again there was a small climb before an ultra-fast double-track section. This was pretty straight near the top with a couple switchbacks thrown in and then a couple steep descents back into the feed zone/lap section.

After finishing up the lap we found we had missed approx. 4km so we went headed out for another lap to see where we made the wrong turn. In the second section it turns out we missed a hard right turn…which we almost missed again but I was able to call back Mark and waiting for Linda to catch up so she wouldn’t miss it either. The second climb was a really nice climb with a few steep sections and then after getting to the top we did a really nice flowy single-track descent. After the descent we got spit out a double-track climb which wasn’t really steep but it was pretty long. It was really exposed so I was concerned about having the climb this the next day with the sun and potentially running out of water. We got to the top and did the descent once again where I felt a little more comfortable now that I knew what to expect.

Race day a bunch of us who were staying at the hotel woke up fairly early and went for breakfast. The sky was overcast and it looked like it might rain…which was actually a pretty sing considering how hot the day before was. After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and headed down to the race site. IT was pretty crazy with over 600 riders running around preparing for the race and getting setup. After listening to the pre-race info and announcement we headed down the road...about a 1km away from the trailhead for the mass start.

I seeded myself in the second fastest group as the first part of the course was mostly climbing and I didn’t want to get stuck behind people walking their bikes. After a few moments the race started and we headed out in staggered groups towards the gravel road climb. The first climb of the race was mostly on gravel road as the single-track would have been way too congested and this was a good way of stringing out the riders. The gravel climb went all the way up the road to about the second climbing section where we were strung out pretty good. After going through the first section I felt a little stiff and the quads were burning a little…but I figured I just needed to warm-up a little. My heart rate was pretty high…pretty much at 90% so I knew I needed to get it under control and try to pace myself.

I found Ted in the pack of riders and rode with him for a little bit of the climb. Ted stayed behind me pretty much the entire way down the single-track which was good because he pushed me a little to take the sections faster as he almost ran into me a couple times. My plan was to change water bottles every lap and stretch every other lap. Near the bottom of the descent into the feed zone, my front tire washed out during a hard turn into a slight climb and I ended up having a minor spill, I picked myself up and moved my bike to avoid getting killed by the huge line of riders bombing down the section then rejoined in a slight gap. After finishing off the first lap, I checked my water bottle which was still about ¾ full so I flew by the feed station and went out for a second lap. My legs felt way better on the second lap and now I was able to ride within myself as things started to string out. MY goal for the day was to complete at least 6 laps so I would beat my Giver-8-er record from last year.

After lap 2, I stopped for a 5 minutes to change water bottles, stretch and eat a little bit of food. It was going to be a long day and I wanted to make sure I had enough energy to keep going. The downhill was really rough so it was taking its on my body. Every lap, my triceps were killing me, my fingers were getting numb and my back was tightening up. This was my second ride on my newly upgraded Faze and tubeless wheels so I was a little concerned how they would hold up. Every lap I checked my pressure but it seems fine though it was hard to notice the benefits of having a full suspension bike on the really bumpy.

Around lap 5, Lyndon asked me how I was holding up and I told him I was starting to get a little tired. He yelled back for me to keep going and I was still doing great. We helped push each other up the climb most of the race and it was great having a teammate to ride with and push me a little harder. After lap 5 I figured I had time to go out for another lap…so I took a short break and headed out again…I wanted to get in 6 laps. During lap 6, I caught up to Tim who was on his 7th lap and said he was feeling pretty tired…we was also debating pulling the plug when he finished up the lap. I was getting pretty cross-eyed but still felt I could keep going. I managed to keep a smile on the face up to now (I was out riding my bike on awesome single-track in BC…how could I not smile?) so I figured I wasn’t tired enough yet.

I finished up my 6th lap and got back to the feed zone with Tim. I asked how much time was remaining and someone told me about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Tim said he felt he could hammer out another lap and so asked me if I’d go out for another. I was tired but I figured I had enough energy to hammer out one more so I grabbed my last water full water bottle and set out to do my 7th lap with Tim pulling me along.

The climb felt hard but surprisingly my legs did not feel like jelly as I thought they would after having biked 65km and climbing a over 2km. I lost Tim on the first single-track descent but was able to catch up to him and Lyndon on the climb. Lyndon was also completing his 7th lap so I felt pretty good being able to hold pace with them as we climbed the double-track. I did the last descent with no issues and was a little slow but managed to push out one more smile for the course marshal as I did the final technical descent back to the feed zone.

I finished my race at exactly 6 hours so didn’t have time to do another lap although I felt that I had enough energy for an 8th lap if only I had another hour but I still felt awesome about the race. I didn’t have any major crashes…and the one I did have was so minor it probably shouldn’t even count. I felt I got a little better technically and it was a true show of winter training. I never thought last year I’d be able to do a 6 hour endure…let alone hammer roughly 73km out on a mountain bike.

Result: 29/84 in my age category

This was by far one of my better mountain bike races. I felt great during the entire race and my bike worked flawlessly. The tubeless held up and really helped me during many of the technical climbs. I cleaned all the sections and even landed a drop that I took by accident. I finished up in results close to my teammates so that felt great as well. This race wasn’t really about results but rather having fun and seeing where my endurance was at. I signed up for the Bow80 this year so wanted to make sure I would have the fitness to finish it.