Grizzly 100 NUE/ Terrible 10,000`

I've seen you ride - you'll do fine.

 

I'll be out there with the bells a ringing! Good luck on Radford, and most importantly, have fun! Its not everyday that you can tackle SART and the full Skyline in the same day!

The Kasel crew will have two doing the Grizzly, and I know for damn sure we'll be drinking beers afterwards. At least the weather this year looks spectacular, with temps no higher than the 70's.

Its going to be a great day (except for that Redford section).

 

I too will be jingling my awarenessbell.com. hope to see you out there!

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I am so bummed I can't do this one... Next year it will be on my "must do" list. I've had the elevation chart as my wallpaper for weeks.

Good luck to all of you guys out there, and I can't wait to read about it.

 

Broken finger not up to snuff? That sucks. But hey, there's the Death Ride or Grizzly soon...

 

I'll be out there.....look for me on the blue Santa Cruz Highball SS w/ green Crank Bros. wheels. :ugeek:

 

I'm in!

Oh, sorry, I hadn't read the thread yet. Never mind. Good luck sufferers! :wtf:

 

I wasn't smart enough to let it heal. I rode a few times post-injury and made it worse... I'm back to square 1.


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So I'm guessing that Caspers and such is out of the question tomorrow....whew!!!! I mean, dang!!!

 

I don't want to hijack the thread too badly, but would you be up for a long road ride maybe next weekend? I'm thinking about Irvine to Oceanside Pier and back- roughly 120 miles.


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I'll have to verify with my better half...I don't know what nefarious plans she has for next weekend. But I'll know by tomorrow.

 

Okay....where in the heck are the reports on this?????

 

Where to start.

Left the house at 3:40 this morning. Had to make a few stops and wanted to get there early enough to check in. Haven't driven up the mountain in the dark in a very long time. Kept watching the temps drop. Pulled into the parking lot.....40*.....brrrr.

Got checked in....and prepped the rig, mixed my bottles. Had a chamois cream blowout in the truck....forgot about the change in elevation affecting the tube. The "Race" started at 7:00, and we staged up to leave at 7:15 for the "Fun" ride. Our ride started straight up Pineknot Dr. Fortunately by this time it had already warmed a bit to about 45*. After a short section of pavement, we turned off over onto the dirt. Wasn't familiar with the road we climbed, until we popped out at the intersection for Town Trail. Now I know where we were and the general direction we were heading. Was feeling the elevation, and of course the cold legs. Eventually we topped out at Skyline Trail.

We immediately began the drop down 7 Oaks. First time for me. It was described as similar to the very top part of Joplin/Upper Holy Jim...turns out that description was pretty spot on. Passed a bunch of riders, including some of the riders doing the "Race". What a great trail, kept saying that to everyone on the way down. If only it didn't leave you down in the valley with limited options for return, I would hit this more often. More downhill down to 7 Oaks Campground and over to the Frontage Road. Rolling up and down, some big mud holes to navigate through. Didn't take long to get to South Fork and the top of SART.

Now, I have always done SART with others...in a group...so lots of stopping and regrouping. Toady...it was just me. That meant I got to go for it at my pace. That would mean no stops. Again, caught and passed some riders...got passed by a couple myself. SART is getting a bit beat up. 10 miles rolling up and down on SART was a blast. Skipped the Aid Station at Glass Road(actually skipped all the Aid Stations til we returned to 7 Oaks. Down Middle Control Road...again new for me, we usually go up. This would leave us with a section of paved road back to 7 Oaks. Left the Aid Station and headed towards Radford Grade.

This was the section I worried about the most. 4.2 miles/2100'(500' mile). Figured I would be doing some walking. Started the slog up. Fortunately the bottom was scattered with trees and shade. Then, we came around the corner and it was up, up and away...in the wide open sun. Sit and pedal....stand and pedal. Just kept going along. Had 1 horse fly buzz around me for a minute or 2, then decided to move on. Didn't pay attention to the distance, just kept trying to catch the riders ahead of me. Came around a corner and there was an Aid Station. Stopped and refilled 1 bottle. Asked if this was the 1/2 way point.....Nope, 2/3rd's the way up. Sweet. The breeze picked up as we got higher up. Eventually we made it the intersection with Skyline. Cleaned Radford....no walking...even passed some people. Don't get me wrong, it sucks. Reminds me of Main Divide between Lower Holy Jim and Upper Holy Jim. Just really bad real estate if you ask me.

Made the right hand turn onto Skyline and dropped down to the top of Fern Trail....where we were turned around and forced right back up the fire road. Good thing I have been up this road more times than I can remember, so it went by pretty quick. Back at the intersection of Radford/Skyline, stopped at the Aid Station, filled my bottles and ate the only food I would eat on the ride....2 wedges of watermelon. Now all the big climbing was done. it was just a matter of traversing across Skyline. Same as SART, never got a run at it without stopping.

On Skyline, more up and down rollers. In the past we had only done a portion of the trail. Passed that and Skyline just kept going. Was starting to feel the short punchy climbs, especially in the kitty litter. Turns out Skyline just keeps going and going and going. Seems like some of the extensions are pretty fresh. Still....a lot of fun.

At this point we were at 54 miles...and I figured it was just enough miles to get us back to the Finish Line. Even bypassed the last Aid Station, thinking we were done. Then we got to a sign that said 100k goes down the opposite way....towards Mill Creek Park. I was confused, but kept going. Then the arrows pointed us up Pineknot Trail. Started out ok....then WOOF....the legs started going. More of the kitty litter was giving me traction issues, so ended up walking some of the climb. Finally....got to the top and knew it was mostly downhill to the finish.

Fast run down the road and across the finish line. What a ride....really liked it. My type of ride. Long grinding climbs, fast fun DH's.

Aid Stations were well stocked and the volunteers were all great.

Would definitely do it again.


Now for my rant:

If you are going to sell the ride as the Grizzly 100k / Terrible 10,000'....then you should make sure that you lay out a route that accomplishes this. While I finished with 61 miles....my elevation topped out at just under 8900'.....my Garmin only showed 8200' at the finish line. Even the route the organizer posted up on Strava only showed 8900'. Just disappointing.

[strava]https://www.strava.com/activities/354097647/embed/b120d6ce5f97a0e9fe2325562947d8bfc2eb56ad[/strava]

 

You're a freak. :wtf: :crazy:

No one complains that a route is only 8900 feet of climbing.

Incomprehensible fitness and performance. I hate you. :wave: :clap: :thumbup: :wtf:

 

It is more the principle of it....kinda like buying a ticket to a football game, and them only playing 3 quarters. Just didn't get what they sold the event as.

 

nice! and I get it. why advertise it as a 10K when only 8K? maybe I will be in shape enough to try this someday

 

Nice job out there, J! I was waiting for this write up all day, and it doesn't disappoint!

That's pretty curious about the advertised elevation versus the actual, but I'm not sure I'd be unhappy, though... ;-)


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I think I was doing the walk of shame when you passed me.

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Too busy cramping, and getting post-ride nutrition to write a report, but mtnbikej said it all.

Great job cleaning Radford on the SS...there were a few SS in the race that had the wrong gearing for the 9% AVERAGE.

Much better course than last year...no repeats. No flies. Cooler temps. And as always great volunteers and stocked aid stations.

 

I totally get J's rant.

 

Nice work J. While I don't know that Radford climb, I somewhat expect you are underselling your accomplishment there in cleaning it

I totally get you on the 10k rant, although I know had I been in shape enough to try it, I would have been THRILLED it was just short of 9k in the end (but I don't have aggressive mileage/elevation goals that you do). hehe.

 

Huge respect for MnMDan, Drifter33 and MntbikeJ for doing this ride, great job guys. I looked at the profile a little more, holy cow that's a big ride, especially at altitude. Heck I drove my old Bronco up Radford once years ago and wasn't sure it was going to make it, loose gravely stuff and super steep in places as I remember. The route does seem to have a huge amount of great singletrack.

Weenie that I am, I've been planting seeds with some friends to do a "big" ride that starts at Bear mountain, Skyline up to 7 Oaks, drop down 7-O, take the road up to Southfork then SART down to Middle Control, where we pick up the other car and drive back up!

 

mtnbikeJ,

You did that ride on a SS!?!?!? Like Herz said.......freakish!!!

BTW is 7 oaks a better ride up than Radford? Rocky, sandy??

 

I do all my rides on the SS. :crazy: :ugeek:

Personally I don't think 7 Oaks is climbable....too narrow, too steep, too soft/sandy/loamy. At least Radford IS climbable.

 

If I were out there riding by myself....then I may have stopped....may have walked. However, having those damn rabbits in front of me kept me going. I kept expecting to have to stop at some point. After a while it just became my stubborness that prevented me from getting off. Still took me 1:05 to get up it.

I did the smart thing and turned the Garmin screen onto just the tracking map, so I didn't get to see the distance/time/elevation, etc.

Don't get me wrong...it sucks...it is every bit as bad as I expected/heard it to be. :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

 

That would be a great ride!

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I'm only looking at the elevation chart, so I'm trying to get an idea- just in case for next year. I'll try to keep the hand intact next summer. Is the Radford section anything like climbing Harding in difficulty?

 

I think Harding is easier.....I would compare it to Main Divide from the top of Lower Holy Jim to the top of Upper Holy Jim....loose/rocky/rutted/steep....just 4.2 miles of it.

 

Darn... I saw that in your original write-up. I was hoping it was an exaggeration. That stretch of MD sucks! I've done it on foot and on the bike, and hated it every time.


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