2023 Fort Custer Stampede Race recap

Happy Mothers Day! Lets do some racing! 

I made the trip over to Fort Custer early so I could watch the Expert/Elite riders start. I was there WAY too early, but I had a good parking spot. ha. It was a bit cooler than I figured it would be but that meant a good day was ahead. Watched the first waves go off and chatted with a few people before heading back to the car to relax a bit.

Eventually it was time to get warmed up and check out the start and finish. These were both different than in years past and I wanted to have an idea of what was coming. I checked out the start first. Normal start down the hill towards the building. Instead of riding past, the trail hung a right and rode along the parking lot before crossing the road and dropping to the Green trail. The finish was the same as it was a few years ago. Kick off the green, and cross the road before riding around the pavilion and around the parking lot to the finish. No big deals, just wanted to have that knowledge. 

It was time to line up in the Sport Men 40-49 class. Seemed like the biggest class of the day. Over 20 registered, but only 17 were racing. "why not clyde" you might ask.....well....with the lower turnouts there are less categories and clyde is one that is easy to sacrifice. There was no single speed or fat bike classes either. Thanks a lot covid!!!

I was lined up towards the back as the gun went off. The front guys were off like rockets, but the back of the group wasn't as intense as I figured it would be. I dropped into the line and we crossed the road before taking the first left into the tail end of the Green trail. It was a pretty solid line of riders and I was holding the wheel in front of me. This section of the Green is very root filled. Riding close together can be sketchy, but we got thru unscathed. Then it was full tilt to the yellow trail. Its flat and open so we had a good clip going. 

I stayed with a few guys into Crazy beaver. The fast guys from the classes that started after us were starting to gain. There was a steady trickle of people passing for the next few miles. Eventually we hit the 2 track leading into green again. Another guy and I were riding next to each other. I could tell he didn't know the trail, so I said...this dumps into the green singletrack again, and he told me to go ahead. We flew into the trail and reached the base of Erin's climb. I pushed hard to the base, dropped a few gears and powered over the first section. I cleaned the second section and took a second to catch my breath, but not much. I knew people were coming so I pushed on again.

Before I knew it I was past the boat launch climb. I looked at my computer and was shocked to see the speed I was holding. I crossed the road and rode around the parking lot, crossing the finish line at 49 minutes and 7 seconds. As a numbers guy I started doing the math. I was on pace for my goal time. Wanting to ensure I made it I pushed on again. 

The second lap was fairly quiet. A few riders here and there would pass. I was starting to catch a few people too. I was feeling good but I could feel my energy start to drip. Well, it was mental...and I broke thru a barrier on that second lap. I got to the stop of a switch back climb at the end of crazy beaver and wanted to slow down. My body was telling me to ease up...and my brain wanted to as well. Instead, I pushed past that wall and kept pushing. As I got to the top of the boat launch climb I looked at my computer again....and knew I was going to beat my goal time. Instead of coasting in, I pushed as hard as I could. I made that last left and crossed the road the last time only to be greeted with a head wind. lol. Generally not a factor in a mountain bike race, but there it was adding just a little bit more to the grassy finish stretch. 

 

I crossed the line under 50 minutes for the 2nd lap as well. Finish time of 1:39:03!!! I blasted my goal time by almost 6 minutes. I was guessing that the 1:45 would be tough to hit, but I had a really good day on the bike. Felt good for most of it and finished as strong as I could.

Early in the race I caught a stick and apparently took it along for the ride. Had a decent sliver I had to dig out after I was done. 

As always, thank you to the SWMMBA for all of their work for the Stampede and the trail work. Your work is underappreciated. Thank you to all of the volunteers as well! 

Next up is the Hanson Hills 50 in a couple of weeks. Going to go up to Big M this week and to a loop of the race course so we have an idea of what to expect and continue testing the new Eagle setup. Just want to make sure its all good. Otherwise, will be out there grinding those miles on gravel and hitting Yankee for hill training. 

Weight loss update: I have lost almost 39 pounds this year. I have dropped at least 1/2 a pound every week for the past 11 weeks. Some bigger than others....but consistently seeing the scale going in the right direction. Really going to buckle down again these next few weeks and get down another 10-15 for Lumberjack. That will make a huge difference with all those hills!

Keep moving forward!