The Longest Ride
How, exactly, does one prepare for a 400+ mile bikepacking race?I have no idea. It is one thing to be preparing to win an ultra-distance event, but my aspirations are much more modest than that--I simply want to challenge myself, enjoy the ride and survive, SNF.
Being completely new to this concept of riding/racing, my strategy has been to ride consistently, throwing in a few epic rides every 6 weeks or so. Is it enough? I have no idea, but with the race starting in less than 2 days, it will have to be.
Boise to Prairie, Idaho
For my first overnighter, in February, I rode to Prairie, Idaho, the first micro-town on the SNF route, about 50 miles from my front porch. Given the variability in southern Idaho weather, what started out as a beautiful Saturday afternoon, dawned as 6 inches of fresh snow on Sunday morning. Despite the snow, it was a beautiful and enjoyable ride over the first 50 miles of SNF. |
| Saturday afternoon... |
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| Sunday morning. Prairie, Idaho. |
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| Looking east towards Prairie. |
Boise to McCall, Idaho
The drive from Boise to the resort town of McCall, Idaho is just a few clicks over 100 miles on Hwy 55, but the back route I chose was in the 140-range with 13,000 feet of climbing. Due to my Memorial Day personal schedule, I left Boise late Friday evening, intending to camp at Bogus Basin ski resort 16 miles and 3,000ft above our capital city. The inadequacy of my Garmin navigation skills caused me to end up the the bottom of the furthest lift from the main lodge on the far side of the mountain--about 3 miles and 2,000ft from where I had intended to bivy, but hey, it was dark and topo maps are hard to read in the dark on a 2-inch screen.
Scott Thigpen, author (Trail Magic--or the art of soft pedaling) and Tour Divide veteran, told me that the best way to prepare for long bikepacking races is to go out on a weekend trip and, "hope for [things] to go wrong". Well, I took this advice to heart and made lemonade, so to speak, by bedding down in one of four Forest Service toilets conveniently placed near the ski lift. Don't laugh. It wasn't so bad, given that it was warm, safe and because it was May, had not seen customers for months so there were no ready reminders of those who had visited previously.
The remainder of the trip to McCall was gorgeous, but I learned a valuable lesson about the need to eat at least 200 calories each hour spent pedaling on the bike. That is a lesson most people only need to learn once.
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| Bogus Basin, after successfully climbing out of 'the hole' |
Boise to Ketchum, Idaho
In August, a former running teammate of mine and a fellow aspiring SNF participant, Grant Beebe, talked me into riding from our North End homes to his cabin outside of Ketchum, Idaho, about 165 miles away. Because this route would re-trace the road to Prairie and then continue on the SNF route to Ketchum, this was an easy call. Although this was Grant's first bikepacking adventure, he passed the many tests we encountered with flying colors. We had a great time meeting and chatting with the locals in Prairie and Featherville, all of whom were eagerly anticipating the arrival of the 90 or so riders in the 2015 edition of SNF. The restaurant owner in Featherville had even bookmarked the trackleaders website so he could have advanced warning of the approach of riders to avoid the long delays in delivering food that had occurred in 2014. He was eager to welcome anyone on two wheels as an inviting sign hung outside his establishment demonstrated.
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| Dollarhyde Summit--the 'Biggie'. Ketchum is 25 miles away--all downhill. |
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| The reward: The view of the Boulder Mountains from Grant and Mary's deck near Baker Creek, north of Ketchum. |
Garden Valley, Idaho to Boise
After a family camping trip near Lowman, Idaho, I had my wife Angie drop me and my bike off at the junction of Harris Creek Road and Hwy 21, so I could ride the last 45 miles or so, of the SNF route. I had already ridden these roads in the opposite direction on my ride to McCall, but I was a bit blindsided by the severity of the two climbs that present themselves prior to the turnoff onto the Bogus Ridge Road that leads back to Bogus Basin resort and the prelude to the final descent into the finish in the Hyde Park section of Boise's North End.
The charming micro-town of Placerville is full of colorful characters who, like those in Prairie and Featherville, were well-versed in the details of SNF including the number of race participants signed up at that point. I was even filled in on which riders had been through town in the past 48 hours!
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| Placerville, Idaho. Last re-supply before Boise. |
Ready or Not....
It is hard to know if I have done enough work to survive this crazy race. Even as I write this, less than 36 hours before the start on Wednesday morning at 6 AM, I can see that there are riders who's SPOT devices have betrayed their location out on the race course, pre-riding sections, I assume. I only hope that this is not a requirement for success, or I may as well just ride my cruiser bike with my backpack loaded for a 2-week adventure.
Due to recent weather changes, the daytime highs and the nighttime lows are both expected to be higher than average, even in Stanley, Idaho, which is often the coldest spot in the nation (Duluth, eat your heart out). As such, I have modified my kit a bit, opting to leave the winter riding gloves in favor of Windstopper over-shells, and I have ditched the Gore-Tex socks in favor of Castelli booties.
Anyone can watch the race unfold from start to finish on trackleaders, and this year you can even hear reports of how each rider's day went, both the good and the bad, by surfing over to MTBcast, where each racer will call in daily and leave a short message. I would love to have you follow my blue dot and give me a message of encouragement or two on the trackleaders page.
This will be fun!
Cheers!
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