This Saturday I was in Payson Arizona for the Whiskey 50 miler. I flew into Phoenix to meet up with my good friends and usual crew members Donna and Charles. I spent a day in Phoenix getting the new Stumpjumper 29er HT dialed in and ready to race. I changed out some tires to a beefier tread and sidewall after quizzing a few locals on the rocky, single track course. It is great to be out in the desert heat riding in shorts, slathering on sunscreen and coming out of hibernation from the Idaho winter. The race was held in Prescott, AZ and has a great reputation for drawing over 1000 people to the race and music festival. I met up with more friends from Idaho who race for a new team from my home town, Club Ride Apparel.

We all pre-rode the first four mile climb of the course on Friday just to get a taste of the opening climb and the local single track. I was immediately happy with my choice of bikes. I was riding up little rock ledges on the single track without even thinking about it. The field was shaping up to be a strong showing with my good friend and 24 Hr National champ teammate, Gretchen Reeves, Sarah Kaufman and Sonya Looney for the women's field. Tinker Juarez and a bunch of other hard men were lined up on the front of the line. The start climbed for 4 miles on road before diving into the single track. I got a decent start and entered into the single track right behind Gretchen. I was happy to be racing with her because she's a super strong rider and would be a good gauge for me to check my early season fitness. After coming off a really disappointing race at Sea Otter, I was anxious to see where I really stood in a longer race with more familiar faces. The fact that I was near Gretchen was a boost to my confidence and I spent the next many miles of fast, technical single track really having fun on my bike. The course consists of two really fun single track sections that are split in the middle by a really, really long fire road climb. At the start of the 15 mile climb and the meat of the race, I was told I was 1 or 2 minutes behind Gretchen. I put my head down and setting in for the long grind. I was feeling pretty good and knew this was the part of the race where I needed to push hard to try to catch Gretchen and extend my lead on 3rd and 4th. About 1/2 way up the climb I felt my rear tire skating around a bit. I looked down and it was definitely low. I stopped for a quick inspection and could not find a cut or thorn, so I topped it off with a C02, listened for any air leaks and did not hear any so I jumped back on and kept climbing. At the top of the climb, I was told I was now down about 5 minutes on Gretchen. I knew I had lost time riding a soft tire and stopping for repairs, but I still had a few more miles of climbing before diving into the last 30 minutes of single track. I pushed hard and was really excited to crest the hill and hit the single track. I was having fun on the bike again, but feeling the affects of the hill. The small rollers on the single track were bringing on some cramps, so I pounded my water and Endurolytes and focused on not scrubbing speed on the descent. I was following another racer and just at the moment I was fumbling around eating and drinking, we must have blown past a course marking and onto the wrong trail. We were descending super fast but I started to feel like there were not enough tire tracks on the dirt in front of me. I stopped as another racer came up behind me.

It felt wrong and it was. We all turned around and rode back up the hill. We got back on course but I had blown at least 10 or 15 minutes and I figured I was now in 4th place. To top it off, my rear tire was soft again, so I stopped and put some more air into it. I finished off the rest of the single track and the race and just rode to enjoy the trail and get a great workout for the day. I was a little deflated about the wrong turn and as I expected, I had dropped two places and ended up 4th in the women's field. I found out later that a few other people got lost on course, including Tinker Juarez, who was about to win the race. This was definitely another lesson to me in paying attention and not letting my guard down. I was focusing on descending and eating a the time where I took the wrong turn, but I still need to keep my eyes open.

The good news is that I still won a cool Whiskey 50 flask, although it was presented to us empty! What's up with that? I also got to gauge myself against Gretchen and get a great 50 mile race under my belt. I know that if I had not ridding a soft tire and gotten lost, I would have been much closer to her pace. That alone gives me confidence going into the next races and training blocks.

This morning, I went for a magical run in the desert along side lizards and rabbits. What a change from the cold Spring training in Idaho! The rest of today will be shopping therapy with my friend Donna, then back home to Idaho. It's always great to travel from home and meet up with friends in the desert. Something is soothing about just riding bikes and listening to music with good friends. Thanks for tuning in and be sure to watch where you're going!