Whiskey 50 Race Report

start/finish. photo toby

this more a trip report than a race report.... arizona was a good time.

i rolled out thursday afternoon with toby and we headed straight for scottsdale to crash with tom for the night.  after a good night sleep we hit mcdowell mountain park to shake out the legs.  the conditions were perfect and we knew we had made the ride call to enjoy the warmers temps down in scottsdale before heading up to prescott.

mcdowell competitive track. photo toby

once we got to prescott we checked in for the race, met up with ryan and sarah, picked up some supplies (beer), and head to our cabin.  it was a super mellow night with ryan, sarah, and toby.  we made an epic dinner and were in bed early.

sunset in prescott from our front patio.

race morning.  we headed out the door to the start and it was 39 degrees... but warming fast.  thankfully sarah was at the starting line and we able to shed some layers before the gun (literally) went off.

the race started out pretty fast up the initial road ride and I had an ok start and was able to bridge back up to the back end of the front group before we hit the fire road. the group split then and the lead pack (top 10) got away. i worked hard once we hit the single track climbing.

that trails were sick. perfect single track... tacky. so fun. i was riding well and making some passes. I saw brent (who later told me he was in 12th at the time) with two guys on his wheel a little bit a head of me. so i hammered to bridge and was making good progress until i went of course. it was my fault.

i was hammering on a short fireroad section between single track climbs and totally missed a turn. before somebody yelled at me about 10 guys went by... the race was tight to say the least.

got back on the single track climb and just kind of sat in and made passes where i could and then it was time to descend. the descent was rad and maybe some of the most fun stuff i have ever ridden. so rad. i didn't see anybody ahead or behind me the whole descent.

the rest of the race was kind uneventful. the long out and back (12 miles each way) was definitely hard. 12 miles descending only to flip and climb 14 back. it was tough but I was able to work really hard thanks to brent.  i sat on brent's wheel for 75% of the way back up until i couldn't hang anymore. he was killing it.. after flatting earlier in the race.

i ended the race riding strong and making some passes and got passed by one dude on the final descent when i had a pretty good crash.

at the end of the race i was smashed! the hard riding and altitude definitely did some damage. very satisfying effort.
results:
time 3:44
24th overall

overall a pretty rad day on the bike and solid effort. my only goal heading in was to go hard and try to break 4 hours. mission accomplished on both fronts. i think 3:30+ is attainable for me on this course now that i know what's out there.... and if i could deal with the altitude.

good chance i will be back next year....

ryan had an awesome race and so did my my other celo teammates brent, ben and cliff.  I am also super stoked for toby.  i talked him into the doing this race a month or so ago after he got his mtb.  he raced the 25 miler race and knocked it out.  pretty rad after not racing his mtb in 12 years!

well deserved!

the afternoon after the race toby and i hit whiskey row and most importantly The Raven.  they had an epic beer selection and awesome food.  we were both pretty beat though and i was in bed before 9pm... yep... lame old man!

some damage from the weekend.

sunday morning we were up after 9 hours sleep, cleaned up the cabin, and headed to granite basin (thanks for recommendation Jason R) to shake the legs.  we rode for just over an hour on some super fun single track.  then it was back to the raven for breakie before making the trek back to socal.

overall it was a rad trip and really want to get back out to prescott for more riding and relaxing.  hopefully i can get beth out there this summer.