Idyllwild Challenge

I almost don't want to spread the word on this one because it is such a cool race just the way it is. A bunch of mountain bikers getting together for an EPIC 30 mile course in the mountains. As a race it's pretty opposite of the World Cup that was going down in Europe, but the Idyllwild Challenge is well organized, there are great facilities, and the races are very competitive, with some significant prize money for the pro field. The weather was really cool and cloudy with a threat of rain in the morning, but turned into another beautiful SoCal day by the time we were halfway into the race. The pro field was about 25 riders strong and there was a sweet $1,000 waiting for the winner.

The initial pace was quick, and the group strung out pretty fast considering the race was going to be longer and harder than your typical 3 lap cross country race. About 20min into the race it was Sid Taberly showing his strength and getting a gap for the first KOM prize. After that I was able to re-group with Sid, Manny Prado, and Aaron Olson on some gradual fire road climbing sections. Manny was flying and led the way through the first really technical section. It's by far my favorite part of the course with super fun, twisty single track through the trees with a couple really cool sections rolling over some huge boulders.

From there the real climbing begins with a grind up a VERY technical single track. Of course the legs aren't quite as fresh since this section is over an hour into the race. But I was able to stay focused and ride all but 1 section of the climb. Sid found it a good place to pull away from me and Manny and once we came back out onto a fire road where you could actually see a minute or two ahead he wasn't even in sight. After a weird section through what I think was a park and a residential street, Manny and I hit the last main climb together. It starts as a typical fire road climb, switch backs a couple times, and then turns to pavement... because it gets too steep for cars to go up if it were dirt. I don't know how long the section really is but it seems like a mile. And at this point we've raced for about 2hrs and climbed about 5,000ft. Manny attacked right at the steep part, I was already at my limit and had to let him go.

Once over the top it's about 30min to the finish if you're really flying. That's what I tried to do in hopes of somehow catching Manny. It was hard to have much concentration at this point as my body and brain started running really low on energy. Still I rode the smoothest I could for about 20min and next thing I know there was Manny around a bend. I put my head down on a couple pedaling sections and slowly reeled him in. He led the last few technical downhill sections at full speed and I attacked as we hit the flat pavement about 1/4 mile from the finish. Manny was glued to my wheel and then attacked himself. He got the gap and I did everything I could to respond but was was only able to hold it even. My legs were cramping, and my mind was too, causing a bad mis-shift which dropped my chain and any chance of bringing him back as we hit the last couple hundred yards of single track before the finish.

In the end it was an AWESOME race and we finished around 5min faster than last year, which was a very fast race itself. Sid took the win in about 2:25 with Manny 1:30 back and myself and 30 seconds back. Aaron Olson and Sean Donovan rounded out the top 5. Beginner and sport racers were finishing a shorter lap around the same time and the stories started flowing. It's a hard enough race that everyone feels good about finishing it, and the vibe at the finish is a very good one - hard to describe - but very good.

Now it's time for a very welcome week of rest.