Hanson Hills 50 Race Recap

My expectations were tempered for this event. I simply wanted to test my fitness and get a finish. Lets get into it....

I ended up not heading up to camp the night before so I could sleep in my own bed. I was up and out the door by 6:15am. I arrived at Hanson Hills Recreation area just after 9am. Plenty of time to get checked in and geared up. This is a smaller event so not a ton of people around. I took my water and extra bottle (for the second lap) over by the pavilion and tucked it into a corner out of the way.  

I was relaxed and feeling pretty good overall. I chatted with a few people about how it was the last event. To my surprise many of them were only riding 1 lap. Just to say they were there for the last rendition of the Hanson Hills 50. I rolled around a bit in the parking lot. Knowing I didn't really need a warm up. More on that in a bit. I grabbed the pic below at the entrance and just rolled a bit more.

At 9:50 the race announcements started. Brent was explaining everything and thanking everyone for coming to the event. There was about 50ish...maybe 60 people racing. I saw one tandem and I believe the youngest rider was about 13 years old. Then it was time to go.

At 10, Brent took off down the pavement for the controlled rollout. We go down thru a little neighborhood before kicking back into the park. Didn't take long for the group to get stretched out and the separations to begin. Knowing this is a long ride I just dropped into a group and tried to draft. Mountain bikers in general don't understand the 'peloton' mentality. lol. A few people looked nervous to be in the group so I just stuck to my line and the group started to break up. We moved back into the park and around the buildings before crossing the Finish line to start lap 1. 

The initial trail is pretty flat and open. We had a decent group riding together and I was feeling comfortable with the pace. I held on for the first couple of miles before the first real climb and I dropped off the pace. Feeling pretty good I tried to settle into a pace that I knew I could manage. I was pushing a bit, because I wanted to make the cutoff time. I kept finding myself riding harder. Mentally I had to slow myself down. Eventually I settled in.

I would see people now and then. Some behind me, some just ahead. Overall I rode by myself for the majority of the first lap. One time I was very sure that I was off course. There is a long section of 2 track and I didn't see any signs for a bit...so I was getting nervous that I missed a turn until I spotted the red arrow. The woods gave way to a big clearing and I recognized where I was on the course. Last time I did this race, in 2021, they had just logged this area. There were huge log piles everywhere and it was like riding in a tunnel. This time it was wide open and the sun was shining pretty hard. The dry dust and warm sun made this section warmer than I prefer. lol. 

I finally reached the last climb...and I slowly made my way to the top. I cleared this hill for the first time ever. WIN. I was then descending back to the finish area. I had some heat coming into some sand and got kicked off the trail....almost losing it. But I stayed upright and collected myself a bit. I rode around the buildings and back to the finish line. I crossed with a time of 2:35:28. I crushed the cutoff time! I stopped at the pavilion to swap bottles and refill my bladder. Then I headed off for the second lap.

The first section went well enough. My confidence was pretty high after that first lap. But the first major climb had other ideas. I knew I pushed to hard on the previous lap and it was time to pay the price. The first climb made me cry. lol. I got hung up on a root and had to stop. So I walked a bit to the top. I took a second to look around. The woods out here are beautiful. This area in particular I actually snagged a pic. Rolling hills and open forests are the best. Because of how far North Grayling is located, this area reminds me of Big M. Love it up here.

I kept going....knowing I wasn't the last person out here...well....hoping I wasn't the last person out on course I knew I had to keep moving. Something went awry with my derailleur. I still need to look into what is happening with it. But it was making my gears grind constantly. I stopped and tried to fix it. It would get better, then it would start doing it again. Annoying for sure...but I was still moving forward. There is a nasty sandy section of 2 track about 8 miles into the course. I was doing ok, riding to the right of it. But eventually the sides were too sandy and I had to drop back into the sand. Front wheel hooked and dumped me off the side of the road. Thankfully I was going slow...but a big dude hitting the ground is hard to miss. The friendly volunteers at the aid station all asked if I was ok. Mostly....lol. 

So now I was starting to struggle. I was getting tired. I had crashed. My bike wasn't working right. My frustration level was growing and I still had a long way to go. I was able to mentally get past those moments and keep rolling. I caught a guy. He caught me a while later. I caught him again. He caught me again. Another guy passed. I was feeling like I was the last person out there because I had slowed down so much. I finally saw the last climb. I made it almost to the top before I just couldn't do it. It kicks the last third and my legs were wasted. I reached the top and rode safely down into the finish area.  

I crossed the finish line with a time of 5:32:13.   

I crushed my goal time by nearly 20 minutes. I really paid the price for a fast first lap. Most people that had finish times around mine had similar results. Strong first lap, much slower second lap. I took last in my category, but was NOT the last person out on the course. Some people had slower times than me. Still, this was a great test for me. This course is similar to LJ100 (much more sand). It was a good test for my nutrition, endurance, and mental fortitude. It does make me nervous about the distance. But my mindset for 100 will be much different than it was for 50. 

Always a good day on the bike...even with the issues. Next up is Dirty Donut this weekend. Weather looks to be HOT HOT HOT so that will be interesting.