Wente 8 hour Solo

[Mark Gibson]

This was my 2nd time racing this event at Wente, a beautiful ~2,000 acre Boy Scout Reservation just outside Willits. Last year I had won my category (expert 40+) but only after battling through a pretty disastrous 1st lap with a flat tire which left me at the back of the field and playing catch up all day. I had eventually taken the lead at the beginning of the 10th lap, and held on to complete the 10 laps in 8 hours 11 minutes. This year my goal was to finish 10 laps in under 8 hours in order to be able to get out and complete an 11th lap under the cut-off (the last lap has to be started in under 8 hours, and completed in under 9 hours). I thought this was very realistic as at last year's race I had lost around 20 minutes on the first 2 laps, so all I needed to do was complete the first 2 laps at least 11 minutes quicker than last year, and then the next 8 laps in around the same times as last year. Pretty simple, right?

The race started at 8am. I got to the start line pretty early and lined up a couple rows back from the front, and chatted to the guys around me. The first mile or so is a steep and wide fire road climb, which gives the field some time to sort itself out with the racers on teams naturally heading out at a quicker pace than solo racers. After that initial climb, there's some rolling terrain, but it's still wide open all the way to the top of the first descent. I set off on the climb feeling good but, conscious of wanting to beat the 8 cut-off, at a pace that was probably a little too quick. I got to the top of the climb somewhere probably in the top 20 and set off on the first descent. After this, you climb for a short distance to some really sweet trails which are a mix of fun twisty singletrack and flow trails. After some more up and down traverse, there's a long-ish climb out to a fireroad which then brings you out to the start/finish line. I came through to finish my 1st lap in 42:10, and was already 18 minutes or so up on last year's time and well on track to finish 10 laps in under 8 hours.

At this point, I was about 2 minutes ahead of 2nd place in my category, and also in 1st place overall in the expert categories. So far, so good, but a long way to go, and I needed some luck as well to be sure I didn't suffer any mechanicals.

Having the cushion I needed already, I told myself to back off the pace and stay in Zone 2, knowing I would risk blowing up if I continued pushing. Ignoring my own advice I pushed too hard going up into Z3 on the climbs. At some point on one of the fast descents, I heard a pop from the back wheel. A quick look down and it seemed like the tire was OK. However, the back of the bike was feeling a little mushy. Another look down when I could and the wheel had a bit of a wobble. I figured I had broken a spoke. Not a huge deal at this point, but with such a long way to go it was a little concerning. I finished the 2nd lap in 44:22, extending my lead over Eric by half a minute or so, and maintaining the overall lead in the experts. Lap 3 was more of the same with me not conserving like I should have on the climbs, and coming in at 44:42. So by this point, after 3 laps, I was over 20 minutes ahead of where I was at this point last year.

However, the back of the bike had started to feel much worse, and the wobble was now pretty significant, with the tire almost rubbing on the stays. Another spoke had broken, and with no replacement I would now need to nurse the wheel through the rest of the race. I didn't know it at the time but there were 3 broken spokes and they were flailing around making a ton of noise.

Knowing I was ahead of pace, and worried about the wheel, I backed off. Lap 4 was 47:30, and lap 5 was 48:31. I had finished the 1st 5 laps with an average of just over 45 minutes per lap, and knew that all I needed to do was the 2nd 5 laps in average of 50 minutes to easily make the cut-off. However, on lap 6 the wheel was really becoming a factor and started feeling like it was going to blow up. I also started feeling that I had gone out too fast, and felt the onset of some cramps. This was a relatively slow lap at 51:35 and I was falling behind the pace I needed to maintain. Lap 7 was 50:59. I now needed to finish the next 3 laps in an average of 50 minutes, but I was suffering pretty badly at this point and my legs were cramping every time I tried to pick the pace up. The climbs on Laps 8 and 9 were torture. My times were 52:23 and 55:33 and I resigned myself to the fact I would not be making the cut-off. Lap 10 was 53:53, and I came in at 8 hours, 11 minutes--almost exactly the same time as last year! (actually just 8 seconds quicker). The 2nd half of my race had been so much slower than the previous year, mostly the result of going out too hard, but in part from the wheel issues, and the heat/not taking in enough fluids and sodium.

I did end up winning my category by around 31 minutes, and overall was the fastest expert racer by around 7 minutes. On a very hot day, there were no solo racers that did more than 10 laps.

In a perverse way, it turns out that the flat tire that I suffered last year was of some benefit as it forced me to take the first couple laps easy, leaving me stronger later on in the race. It was the opposite this year, albeit with the exact same result.

So, I was happy with the result, but have some regret over my lack of discipline on the first few laps, and for not having a spare wheel or pit bike as a back up.