There is a certain phrase I often hear passing from the lips of mountain bike racers after an event: “Damn…that was a brutally hard race!” I’ve said it many times myself… as recently as this past weekend when I competed in the Michaux Trail Cup. The MTC was one of the toughest races I’ve ever done (another phrase I’ve used before). But it got me thinking about just what makes one race hard in comparison to another. The answers are fairly obvious…first is the course itself. For most racers, the difficulty of the course comes down to how much climbing it has, and how technical the trails are. The second factor is level of competition, and how hard you have to push yourself to try and win. When I reflect upon my history of racing mountain bikes, which is getting close to 9 years, the races I rank among the hardest all have various combinations of the aforementioned elements.
Where the course is concerned, it’s safe to say that even if you enjoy it (which I genuinely do), climbing is still hard…when the hills get steep, long, rocky or all three, it puts a hurting on your legs and often forces you to push yourself into the red to keep from dismounting and losing time. Technical trails (also a favorite of mine) are tough on your bike and your body, causing everything from flats to crashes to hand, arm and shoulder fatigue in the long run. The toughest courses force you to ride harder and beat you up regardless of who you’re racing against.
Competition? If you’re the fastest guy (or girl) in your class by a wide margin, you need only go so hard to stay ahead of your competition, but if your field is stacked with other racers who have the potential to beat you on any given Sunday, trying to best them can force you to go deeper into your pain cave that you thought possible. That, my friends, will make even the smoothest, flattest race course seem like a painfully hard affair.
This brings us to the Michaux Trail Cup, which for me was a perfect storm of a brutally hard course, and very stiff competition. The mere mention of the name Michaux is enough keep some riders from even showing up. The races held in this massive PA State Forest are widely known to be some of the hardest on the planet, and for good reason. The courses here are epic, point to point monsters with tons of long, steep climbs, scary white-knuckle descents, and endless miles of singletrack, laced with sharp rock gardens and rock features. This is why I love the place, it appeals to my sense of adventure. When you complete a Michaux race, you really feel like you’ve accomplished something on the bike.
The MTC was a brand new event but the pre race info on the website told me it was going to be more of what we’ve all come to expect from Michaux. 42 miles, 6000 feet of climbing, and lots and lots of rocks (which, thanks several hours of light rain, promised to be wet and slippery). What I wasn’t expecting was that it would be on two separate 20ish mile loops…an interesting new format for the course layout. Nor was I expecting to see NUE Masters champion and former 29er Crew Teammate Roger Masse in the parking lot when I pulled up (he wasn’t on the pre-reg list). Roger is in my class and when he’s on, which he usually is, he’s a full gear faster that I am. Oh well, I thought…maybe he’ll have an off day and I’ll have a shot. Dave Funk was there too. He almost beat me at Tuscarora, and may very well have if he hadn’t flatted.
So the stage was set. I had a very tough competition on a very tough course...this was not going to be easy day in the saddle. As expected, Roger, Dave and I were alone at the front for the first few miles. After trading spots in the lead we came to a long stretch of fire road that had some rolling climbs. The pace was very high and though I could have held it, I didn’t want my HR to be in the high 170’s for too long. It was going be a long day and I knew I needed to conserve my strength, so I backed off and let them get a gap of 100 yards or so. The course turned onto singletrack, and by the bottom of the first rocky downhill I was right back on with my rivals. Hmmmm….food for thought.
We we’re picking our way through some heavy traffic of Open Class and Single speed racers when I got stuck behind a rider who slid out on a short steep climb, and had to dismount while Roger and Dave rode on and out of sight. Damn, they were really moving! In the next technical section I was back on yet again. I was sitting 3rd wheel we came to a narrow, rocky power line descent. Rog attacked and at that moment, Dave did not have the testicular fortitude to stay with him. Unfortunately, I could not get by Dave so we both lost sight of him.
On the first big climb, the pattern with Dave solidified itself. He was flying up the hills, and for me to stay with him I’d have to push my HR into the red, so I just let him go, thinking I’d catch him when the trails inevitably got nasty. This cat and mouse game continued, and we were riding together with no sign of Roger, when we hit the long fire road climb back to the start/finish area. We tried to work together to reel Roger back by taking turns doing pulls, but Dave was just too fast for me to keep pace with him…this guy can climb! I told him I needed to back off and away he went. I settled into a comfortable tempo and watched as Dave gradually disappeared from sight. After a quick stop at the Start/Finish area feed zone to replenish my bottles, I was off again on the second (and much harder, we were told pre-race) of the two big loops, This one started with at least five miles of gnarly technical single-track. I felt like I was in a nice groove at this point and was comfortably floating over the rocks. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before I caught Dave. All the time I have spent training in the rocky parks of North Jersey had prepared me well for the perils of Michaux. I passed Dave in the singletrack and rode the rest of the race nearly alone, taking gels and sodium tabs when appropriate. The remainder of the course had two seemingly endless fir road climbs and countless miles of technical singletrack. The last 7 miles may have been the toughest for me both mentally and physically. I knew I couldn’t let up at all…for all I knew, I could be gaining ground on Roger or losing it to Dave. The last few miles featured a sick 45 degree loose, rocky downhill that was pretty terrifying. That was followed by a big creek crossing and a long gradual singletrack climb to the finish that sapped the remaining strength from my legs. I gave one final push to the finish and was rewarded for my effort with a searing cramp in my left quad as I crossed the line. So much for looking cool.
Roger was already in so I knew he’d won, I took second and Dave rolled through about 4 minutes behind me to round out the Masters podium. I checked my average HR and found it to be an incredibly high 164bpm…the highest average HR I’ve every achieved in an endurance race. One of the first things I said to Roger after congratulating him on getting the win was “Holy shit that was hard!” He agreed. Michaux as always, lived up to its reputation, and with the competition level this high, it was truly a race to remember. Promoter Zach Adams put on a great race with a beautiful course that was well marked and incredibly scenic, if you took a moment to look up from the trail. The prizes and post race food were also excellent. Every mountain biker owes it to themselves to come race Michaux at least once…if for no other reason than just to say that you’ve survived it!
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