I recently had an extraordinary opportunity. I traveled to Salt Lake City on September 13th planning to spend a week there, mountain biking and attending the Grand-Am race weekend at Miller Motorsports Park. What I did not expect was to be racing that weekend in the Mustang Challenge.
The opportunity first arose on Wednesday night, I was at the track spending some time in the garage with John Potter, Thad Aagaard and Craig Stanton, among several others. John co-drivers the #65 Porsche with Craig Stanton in the Rolex sports car series in addition to competing in the Koni Challenge GS class, co-driving with Andy Lally. John offered to sponsor me to race in the Mustang Challenge this weekend. Continue reading ‘Mustang Challenge at Miller Motorsports Park’
I am very pleased to say I successfully completed the Shenandoah 100 (100 mile mountain backcountry mountain bike race) in 10 hours and 6 minutes, placing 152nd out of the 550 riders. The Shenandoah 100 attracts top mountain biking pros as well as amateur riders from all over the country. The race has existed since 1999 and is now one of the premiere ultra endurance mountain bike race events in the country.
The race started at 6:30 am, just as the sun was starting to rise. The first part of the race was one of the toughest simply because the pace was so high. The race started on a paved road before turning onto a winding fire road. After reaching the second checkpoint at mile 31 the race started to settle down and I was able to get into my own rhythm. For the remainder of the race I really went at my own pace, trying not to use up too much energy too soon.
Completing the race was the most difficult thing I have done in my life. I had to concentrate and stay mentally focused for the entire race, which in itself is physically draining. The terrain was rough and the climbs were miles long. When you would reach the top of a climb you had only seconds to rest before you were plummeting down the side of a mountain on rocky narrow single track. Towards the end of the race you are not only feeling the pain in your legs but in your entire body, it’s really something you have to experience first hand to truly appreciate.
Whats great about this type of race is that there is a sense camaraderie amongst the competitors because everyone is facing the same challenges. It makes for a really great atmosphere. Now that I have the experience from having completed the event, I know what I need to work on in order to be more successful at this event and others like it in the future. Below is a video compilation of the race.
