2023 Maggot Racing Thread

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I'm excited for it, I've been to Portugal once before and had an epic adventure that involved a borrowed bike that we broke, getting stranded in the mountains, and hitchhiking back to our hotel with a family that didn't speak English. Top 5 greatest experience.

I think the race is mostly double-track with some singletrack and some road. I've tried to Strava-stalk previous participants, but it's hard when you don't know the terrain at all.
Fortunately the dollar is pretty strong right now, so I'm in the race for ~$3k. This includes lodging for 8 days, Daily Massage (I said I was bougie), Breakfast + Dinner, and Baggage transfer each stage. All in all, a pretty solid deal.
Plane tickets were more expensive than they needed to be because I'm a bougie mofo and I don't like sitting in coach. They should have been ~$1,300.

All-in for travel, lodging, most dining (and a couple of extra days in Lisbon) and I'm ~$5k.

I'm heading over with a friend who's also doing the race. Self-supported via my water-filter and credit card (plus those daily rub-downs).

Fuck that's awesome. Any race with daily massage sounds a-ok in my book. As my work/life get busier traveling a ton of weekends for 1 or 2 day enduro races gets harder and scheduling 7-10 day adventure races make more sense. I may need to look into this one for the future. The enduro based ones like Trans Madeira and Trans NZ are always so damn hard to get into and I'm not that into sleeping in a tent for 5 nights anymore.

TSN in Oaxaca is awesome but staying up at the camp in pretty rustic bunk beds isn't ideal. If we could stay at the main hotel in the city for the whole race it would be amazing, but logistically it makes no sense.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

We get in Thursday as well. Bringing the whole family to this one and we're heading to Munich after a few days in Finland. My wife has a fond place in her heart for Finland after becoming a master's world champ there last year.

Shoot me a message.

Will do 🤘

[Terrapin Ben]

Fuck that's awesome. Any race with daily massage sounds a-ok in my book. As my work/life get busier traveling a ton of weekends for 1 or 2 day enduro races gets harder and scheduling 7-10 day adventure races make more sense. I may need to look into this one for the future. The enduro based ones like Trans Madeira and Trans NZ are always so damn hard to get into and I'm not that into sleeping in a tent for 5 nights anymore.

TSN in Oaxaca is awesome but staying up at the camp in pretty rustic bunk beds isn't ideal. If we could stay at the main hotel in the city for the whole race it would be amazing, but logistically it makes no sense.

you sound old, man...

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

you sound old, man...

Lol.....mental battle having missed an entire race season after having like 7 or 8 seasons in a row. It's been so long since I have raced that I'm all nervous and shit. Really just need some actual time on the bike.

[XtrPickels]

Fuck that's awesome. Any race with daily massage sounds a-ok in my book. As my work/life get busier traveling a ton of weekends for 1 or 2 day enduro races gets harder and scheduling 7-10 day adventure races make more sense. I may need to look into this one for the future. The enduro based ones like Trans Madeira and Trans NZ are always so damn hard to get into and I'm not that into sleeping in a tent for 5 nights anymore.

TSN in Oaxaca is awesome but staying up at the camp in pretty rustic bunk beds isn't ideal. If we could stay at the main hotel in the city for the whole race it would be amazing, but logistically it makes no sense.

Welcome to my life.

Kids + Work + Wife's Racing & work = need to plan ahead and it needs to be big to be worthwhile. Racing every week is stressful and I'd rather just be out having fun with my friends.

It's a paradox where you want the money to live the life, but the work takes you away from the life you want to live. It seems the best balance is professional life in a cool place - this keeps you involved day to day, but allows you to afford the deeper adventures.

Trans-Madeira looks awesome - my mom's family is from the island - but I don't think I'm sendy enough for an enduro race of that caliber.

[Roxtar]

Pre-rode 3 of the stages for the Salida Enduro this past weekend.
There are a couple stages that are simply brutal. Think technical drops and short punchy technical ups. Super fun to ride but will put you on the ragged edge of sketch at race speeds.
Full face recommended.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

^^^ How was it?


Anyone want my entry for BME Mt. Nebo for cheap.....like make me an offer. Too fucking far to drive solo. One thing to road trip with a team or something.

Racing Glorieta, NM at the end of May. Sounds......um....rowdy. What the local intel?

[jamal]

went gravel racing this weekend at the montana gravel challenge, a 3 day thing we have here. Pretty good turnout. Day 1 is dirt TT, day 2 big gravel loop, day 3 mostly road circuit race. Got 2nd in the TT, 4th in the gravel race. Circuit race could have been better- had a puncture at the beginning which sealed, but I had to stop to add air twice. Managed to chase back into the main group but the break was already gone. thankfully I had no reason to chase it as all the contenders for the overall were in the group with me. Top 3 of us were really close and win would be determined basically by whoever finished highest, but also in the top 10. Then some of us crashed at the very end, but thankfully didn't have too much of an effect on the overall. Guy I was tied with got one more point to secure 2nd, leader stayed in the lead.

So yeah 3rd was cool, legs felt good all weekend and am happy with where my fitness is. Was able to make everyone in the lead group suffer a good amount on saturday, just wish I was a little better sprinter. And could have done without the sore shoulder or gouge in my forearm as I have two more days of racing next weekend with the bearmouth road race and then scratchgravel xc in helena.

[Roxtar]

I'll keep an eye out! younger dude on a purple transition spire. Hoping to make one of the mid-week single stage races as well if I can, maybe the uncle nazty one, as that looks like it'd be worth the $ more than others

Couldn't find a purple Spire. Did you make it out?
If not, you missed a great day; perfect conditions, awesome, chunky, well laid out and manned stages, great after-party with band and free beer.

[Roxtar]

Racing Glorieta, NM at the end of May. Sounds......um....rowdy. What the local intel?

Rowdy is pretty much dead on
Glorieta is phenomenal if you like NM style super jank. It's far and away my favorite local riding area.
I'm not sure what trails they'll use but I'm sure Chili Dog and Jagged Ax will be included. Both are awesome. You can search Nate Hill's vids for them and other Glorieta goods.
I did the BMEs there in the pre-covid years and they were great races. If they include Ghost Town, Broken Arrow, or Secret, be prepared for long, ugly transition climbs to get there. A guy I raced with actually carried trail running shoes for the mandatory hike-a-bikes. I was jealous.
The Revolution website claims easy, short transitions. If true, they might be including Holy Mole and Chips & Salsa.
Holy Mole is a true NuMex flow trail; steep, rough, and fast. Super fun. Chips & Salsa is something new here; polished, plush, and no speed limit. Big berms, big jumps, big fun. You simply can't overshoot anything on it. It also leads into a super sweet jump line.

If they just use the close trails (Chili Dog, Jagged Ax, Holy Mole, and Chips & Salsa) the transitions will be climbing Cairn Me Up/Electric Avenue and Snack Pack. Both are pretty reasonable.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Rowdy is pretty much dead on
Glorieta is phenomenal if you like NM style super jank. It's far and away my favorite local riding area.
I'm not sure what trails they'll use but I'm sure Chili Dog and Jagged Ax will be included. Both are awesome. You can search Nate Hill's vids for them and other Glorieta goods.
I did the BMEs there in the pre-covid years and they were great races. If they include Ghost Town, Broken Arrow, or Secret, be prepared for long, ugly transition climbs to get there. A guy I raced with actually carried trail running shoes for the mandatory hike-a-bikes. I was jealous.
The Revolution website claims easy, short transitions. If true, they might be including Holy Mole and Chips & Salsa.
Holy Mole is a true NuMex flow trail; steep, rough, and fast. Super fun. Chips & Salsa is something new here; polished, plush, and no speed limit. Big berms, big jumps, big fun. You simply can't overshoot anything on it. It also leads into a super sweet jump line.

If they just use the close trails (Chili Dog, Jagged Ax, Holy Mole, and Chips & Salsa) the transitions will be climbing Cairn Me Up/Electric Avenue and Snack Pack. Both are pretty reasonable.

Good to know. Watched a few videos and looks like Chili Dog is the main classic with the big drop. The gnar actually looks somewhat comparable to Big Sky. Rocks or Dust. No dirt at all.

[vermontana]

Couldn't find a purple Spire. Did you make it out?
If not, you missed a great day; perfect conditions, awesome, chunky, well laid out and manned stages, great after-party with band and free beer.

I did make it! looked for you but didn't see your Offering around, how was your race? I switched into pro category last second to start with my fast buddy who won the Montana enduro series last year. Had only a short day of pre-riding and didn't make it to rusty lung, so rode that one blind, but kept it rubber side down and felt consistent on all the stages. Pretty happy with an 11th in pro for first race of the season, especially with how many local guys were ahead of me and all the heavy hitters who I'm assuming have been riding mtbs all winter. Excited for the rest of the season

[Roxtar]

I did make it! looked for you but didn't see your Offering around, how was your race? I switched into pro category last second to start with my fast buddy who won the Montana enduro series last year. Had only a short day of pre-riding and didn't make it to rusty lung, so rode that one blind, but kept it rubber side down and felt consistent on all the stages. Pretty happy with an 11th in pro for first race of the season, especially with how many local guys were ahead of me and all the heavy hitters who I'm assuming have been riding mtbs all winter. Excited for the rest of the season

Yeah, the home field advantage really showed in the results. I haven't seen Macky off the podium in a while. Nice job on the 11th in Pro.
I wasn't particularly happy with my race as the two pedally stages did me in. As the oldest guy racing (63) I just didn't have the stamina to stand and sprint for 5 minutes. I felt better on 2 and 4 but small mistakes hurt those too. Just had a hard time putting together solid clean runs. More than a single pre-ride might have been a good idea.
I ended up 5th in masters (50+) but my wife kept it in perspective, reminding me the guys who beat me were ages 49, 49, 50, & 55.
I wouldn't do well competing with 50 year old Roxtar either .

[Roxtar]

Good to know. Watched a few videos and looks like Chili Dog is the main classic with the big drop. The gnar actually looks somewhat comparable to Big Sky. Rocks or Dust. No dirt at all.

Jagged Ax is actually the chunkier of the two.
The drop at the end of Chili Dog is ugly. It's just a really awkward roll up to it that kills momentum. There's a go around that doesn't lose much, though. It'll cost you more cheers than time.

They were both built by the same guys who built Ore Chute and the rock work shows.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

A few months ago, I posted that one of my races was a 12-Hour Solo MTB race in Denmark.

It went pretty well. 1st Overall Solo. 141 miles and 8800 vert in a smidge under 12 hours.

My first across the pond win

https://www.sportstiming.dk/event/11848/results

[buttahflake]

Whoa, that’s seriously impressive. Well done, Tyrone.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Wow Tyrone that's hudge!

[Iowagriz]

Congrats!

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Wow Tyrone that's hudge!

That's what she said!

[allmountainsnowskating]

That's a big win! You must've been cranking!

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

[Roxtar]

Very impressive.
Nice work!

[t.odd]

After a bunch of years of dragging my heals, I signed up for the Merritt Crown https://merritt-crown.mailchimpsites.com/ race after I found out a couple of guys i know here in Squamish had signed up too. Course stats are 117km, just over 3000m of climbing, and all in 1 big f'ing loop. https://www.trailforks.com/route/mer...wn-2023-46964/

Well, Saturday was the big day and wow what an event! I put in the miles early season this year, half a dozen or so 100+km road rides, and some 40-60km mtb rides, albeit coastal so imo, a much harder earned type of mileage, but ultimately have never done a race that long with that much climbing on my mountain bike. While there was certainly a bunch of paved, gravel, and doubletrack along the way, there were some absolutely great trails, from hyper tech jank, to flowy banked corners, grasslands meadows, and some of the steepest shale chute surfing I've done this side of Dirt Diggler. The most unexpected for most of us was the big lake/grasslands section which had some incredible rolling loamy tech xc for a couple hours. Reminded me a lot of the Chilcotins, but without having to go over 2200m passes.

On the back half about 5.5 hours in we turned back towards town and into the most vicious sustained cross-headwind I've ever ridden in, probably 40+ km/h, even with a pace line of 4 guys most of the time you were still not getting a break, even once back on trail on the side of the mountain I thought we'd get a break, NOPE, around a corner? headwind. downhill? headwind. uphill? headwind. The final climb from the 96km aid station on paper was a nice paved grade for 15+km to the last set of trails, what should've been a casual pedal was face on the stem, screaming at the incessant hammering wind, I swore at it and got emotional with it, but eventually got to the top and cruised the final descent and drawn out meandering climb back to the finish for a time of 9h7m in 22nd place out of 72 starters.

Originally I had a totally uninformed goal of 8 hours, take out a 4km wrong turn mistake, and maybe turn the wind down by half, and maaaaaybe that's possible. Guess I have a goal now! Final stats were 120km and 3359m of climbing. My buddy finished 3 minutes up on me, about how much extra time I took at the last aid station compared to him. In the end though I didn't have any mechanicals, my legs and body felt solid and I didn't have any cramping all day. Was super cool to do such a small town event, and be able to see some much of an area in one loop, and ride so many unique and diverse trails, it definitely exceeded my expectations and now I'm keen for some more stupid big events!

7am start line


big lake trail


flowy trail on the 'scenic traverse', not shown, headwind


never ending final climb


fin

[LeeLau]

Well done Todd. Merritt is so underrated. Looking at that map it's 3 days of riding you all did in one day

[t.odd]

Well done Todd. Merritt is so underrated. Looking at that map it's 3 days of riding you all did in one day

cheers, lee! had a been there a couple years ago, but didn't resonate quite as much, probably the company I was with too! haha! Thought about the ill fated Shulaps attempt a few times riding into that headwind too!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Well done Todd! That's a big ass ride.


I raced NAEC on Sat and Sunday. Practice Friday with some kids about 15 years younger than me and holy shit that was fun. I realized I still knew how to shred. Definitely burned too much energy riding with those kids and on the big 5 stage day on Saturday I was pretty tired lol. 30 some odd miles of racing and 5000'+ of climbing on the big 37/38 pound hog. I have ridden that place a bunch and this was the best conditions I have ever seen. The place is all roots/off camber and in the wet it is pure hell. Only a bit of rain Friday night and Sat was mostly hero dirt. Got caught by a few wet roots and had some minor lay downs the first few stages on Sat. By Stage 4 I was in the zone. Serious fresh cut steeps (like you couldn't walk back up if you wanted to) with zero margin for error or you drift off track and end up many feet down the hill. 5 I rode all my lines but was just mentally/physically smoked by then.

Sunday was one big 19+ minute stage from the summit. 3400 foot descent. It was in the 40s and windy up top while waiting to drop so everyone started cold. Around 15 minutes in you are wondering if you can get to the bottom in one piece. By 17-18 minutes you are reaching enlightenment as you have pushed your body through new boundaries and you enter flow state and are ripping. Uncontrollable "woo-hoos!" start to happen. I had the same experience on day 4 of Transierra Norte in 2021 which was the last race I was in.

Honestly due to PT for the shoulder and lifting regularly with the Cannondale Farm guys I felt stronger than I ever have. My cardio is coming back but I should have spent more time on the trainer this winter and less time skiing blower. Oh well lol.

First time racing on the GG and I was really happy. A more playful bike suited me well. I felt it was much easier to pull for doubles or gap over root clusters than when I was on the SB150. The bike also handled the gnar no problem. Having a fork that worked really well made a big difference.

The fire is back. Ready to jump right back into training and find some more races to enter. BME Big Sky in August is on, but I need to find one or two more before then.

Was happy mid pack in 30-49 Expert and I think with some cleaner runs and a bit more pedal fitness I could have cracked top 5 for sure.