Taho Trail 100 Race Report from Glen A. (2023)
Mountain Bike Race? Usually a few hours, laps of a circuit and a steady rider exodus to gravel because gravel races are more fun. But what if you just raced a bike over mountains, at elevation, over miles of single track and forest service roads, through alpine meadows and pine forests? This was Tahoe Trail 100, July 15th 2023.
I looked at the distance: 100K, climbing: about 8500 feet and elevation 6000-7000+ and said I’m in! I trained on local trails riding close to 100k and 8500 feet of climbing and I’m good with elevation up to about 10,000 feet. East bay trails can be rough in parts and very steep, but they’re largely adobe clay mountain bike highways. High Sierra trails are different. Singletrack yes, about a third of the course. Single track hiking trails through alpine meadows exploding with brilliant yellow wildflowers, well designed bermed mountain bike singletracks, some seemingly designed designed by gnomes after their autumn bacchanal - steep, rooted, basketball sized granite rocks midtrail, drop offs, closed in by pines. I hope the gnomes came out and laughed at the humans trying to race through. These single tracks were connected by forest service roads, rougher and rockier than our adobe highways.
After 25 miles and 3 hours the terrain and elevation wore me down. I could not race or pretend to race anymore. The next 35 miles were simply about surviving to finish. I climbed with an Ironman triathlete, Death Ride finisher guy. Small talk. Much pain, survive the 90 degree heat over the next few hours. Then it went quiet. Sounds of tires on dirt, gears turning, wind in the trees, birds chirping. Sights of wildflowers in vast meadows, pines, crystal blue sky, snow capped peaks in the distance. The fragrance of pines in thin mountain air. Calm, painful, quiet hours. Drinking bottles of sports drink and water. Stopping at aid stations to soak myself against the heat and returning to the calm, painful quiet.
Soon enough, the last rest station. A volunteer wiped my glasses clean with his tee shirt. Things became clearer: vision and pain. I finished in 7 hours and 17 minutes. 55th of 68 finishers among men 50-59 with 15 more who DNFed.
Race Report from Glen A.
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