I did the high cascade 100 yesterday .... what a blast!
By the numbers:
Miles riden: 110
Vertical feet climbed: 14,000
Crashes: 1
Lost banannas: 2
Now for the fun stuff! The race started at an early 5:30am and a frigid 28F (yes, that is below 0C!!!) I had winter leg warmers, arm warmers, a under layer, jersey, vest, hat, and jacket on to start. Yikes, it was cold. I knew it would warm up fast. At the start line before the sun ride we could see the man on the mood. The race was at Mt bachelor- away from the city ... and ite stars were amazing!
Up came the sun and off we went .... 5:45 was the official start time by my watch :) The first section was 35 miles - the longest without aide, so i started with a bottle and a camelback. I'm pretty sure my bottle froze because i noticed a crack in it about about mile 15 ... had to drink out of it a certain way to avoid concentrated heed going everywhere!
We started with a road climb and jeep track descent. Everyone went out pretty hot and i would guess I was in the end of the middle of the pack ... usual spot :) The jeep descent and singletrack was dusty so i wore my trusty bandana (thanks Frank!) to protect my lungs. This part of the course was a big singletrack descent followed by a climb. About 22 miles in they had a spot to drop gear. I dropped my warm leg warmers and jacket there :) Yup, it was warming up. After the clothes drop it was a long slog uphill thru the singletrack and back to the first aide/drop and start/finish!
The rest of the race I did bottles and dumped the camelback. The course was full of singletrack, both up and down ... twisty, turny, up and down. SO MUCH FUN!! The course was hard but fun. Things that stood out:
- passing the girl that passed me at mile 25 around mile 100
- starting to feel good around mile 75
- the view of bachelor on the worst climb on the course
- the fun fun fun technical descent
A great race! I'll be back again for sure
