A couple weeks ago I did the Murphy Menace 50 mile mountain bike race at Murphy Hanrehan in preparation for Chequamegon. Murphy has 11 miles of tight twisty singletrack. It is a completely different animal than Chequamegon which consists mostly of cross country ski trails and fire roads. In many ways Murphy is a harder race than Chequamegon is 1) It is all singletrack, 2) it is 5 laps of a course which is harder mentally than just being "out there" for 40 miles 3) the last time I checked 50 miles is longer than 40 miles 4) a certain kick ass bike shop sponsors this race and brings a lot of fast riders to the event...which means me, being slow, gets lapped. It is physically impossible for me to get lapped in the point to point race that is Chequamegon...at least I hope 5) this list just seemed like it should have 5 points.
Looks like a fun way to spend a Saturday
Overall the race went pretty well. As previously stated I have not ridden quite as much as I had last year and more to the point I have hardly mountain biked at all. My splits were faster than last year which is encouraging, especially considering some mileage was added to the trail since last year. My achilles heal, cramps, did not set in until the end of the 3rd lap. I was moving over to the side of the trail to let the eventual 3rd place rider get past me. As I did so a rogue branch grabbed my front wheel. As I was gracefully plunging to the ground my legs decided it was the perfect time to seize up. I was crumpled over on the ground for a solid 5 minutes before the cramps let off enough that I could at least stand up and get back on the bike. I had a mile back to the trailhead and I was 99% sure I was going to throw in the towel. I suffered through cramps for 30 miles of this race last year and I didn't feel like doing it again. As I spun through the remainder of the beginner loop the cramps loosend up and I stopped feeling sorry for myself. I cruised through the start/finish chute and went out for lap 4.
Just as I started lap 4 mother nature decided to have a little fun with me and it started raining. The first 2.4 miles of the trail is the beginner trail out in a meadow. On a normal day I don't care much for this part of the trail because it is poorly designed and flows horribly. It just isn't very fun compared to the rest of the trail which is superb, so after battling cramps at the end of lap 3 and now rain I was fighting another major mental battle to not call it a day at the junction of the beginner/intermediate trails. A turn left and I would have a .5 mile ride to the trail head and a cooler full of beer and BSing with other racers, a turn to the right would be a mental victory, but would also be another 8 miles of racing, decreasing weather conditions and the inevitable moment when cramps would rear their ugly head again. I went right.
Rain continued for the entirety of lap 4. When you make the right hand turn off the beginner trail to the intermediate and later advanced sections of trail it is primarily in the woods, so the rain wasn't that big of a factor except for the rock gardens and wooden bridges which were becoming increasingly slick and dangerous. Amazingly my legs felt pretty good and I was enjoying the lap. During miles 7-8 of the lap the rain increased and trail conditions deteriorated quickly. Things were getting slick and my tires were starting to pack up with mud. I was becoming convinced that the race director would pull us off the trail to prevent significant trail damage. At that point I was also hitting a pretty major wall. I knew cramps were going to set in again soon and I didn't want to damage my legs significantly with Chequamegon coming up so quickly. I nursed it through the rest of the lap and as I suspected racers were being pulled.
I was more then happy to end my day. I had booked 40 miles of hard mountain biking, pushed through a couple mental blocks, experimented with some new nutrition/hydration strategies for Cheq and didn't destroy myself too badly that I would be off the bike for an extended period of time.
Since the Menace I have squeezed in a few more long distance road rides and added salt tablets to my cramp fighting strategy. I think I am ready for Saturday...I hope. There are a million things that will go through my head between now and the race, but all I can do now is go out and try to ride the race I want to ride. With any luck my legs will cooperate and I will put in the time I am looking for.
Awesome. Go Butter!
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