Boyne Marathon XC

It's a done deal. The Boyne Marathon lived up to it's reputation as one of the most demanding XC events Michigan has to offer. The weekend started for me on Friday, July 11 as I made preparations and set out for Boyne Mountain, about 250 miles North of fabulous Garden City. It was warm and muggy and the forecast called for rain Saturday. I arrived at the "round cabin" in the woods a couple of miles West of Boyne Mountain.

Team mates Glen "Shakey" and Ali "Mudshine" arranged the ideal hook-up for some nearby lodging. The Yurt-Cabin ROCKS!

Within 1 hour after arriving there was a commotion out on the road in front of the cabin. We went out to find this pick-up truck smoking and thought the engine was on fire. After finding a container to hold water (trash can) Glen delivered the H2O and they determined the smoke was coming from a burning brake rotor.

Soon the volunteer fire department arrived and doused the offending wheel. Very thrilling stuff!

After a nice dinner we went down the road to Boyne City on Lake Charlevoix. Boyne City is a very cool little town with access to Lake Michigan that draws people in boats from Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. There was a car and boat show going on in the street. We were just trying to score some ice cream in a sea of people.


Is bigger really better?

Now to the race. Woke up on Saturday to a little rain. It was overcast and conditions were good. Oatmeal, banana and coffee. Good to go.

The Dog Pound:

Daniel & Jennifer:

Start of the Expert Men's race:

Lining up for the start in the Advanced Single Speed class with only 5 riders I should of realized then that this was a sign. The remaining 50-75 riders entered into the Elite, Sport and Beginner classes chose to ride with more than one gear. What was I thinking?
The promoter combined my class with the Expert 50+ men and I soon found many of the riders clogging the singletrack within the first 2 miles of lap 1. The trail was tough. On the rigid singlespeed I found myself standing and pulling myself up the steep trail at a very low cadence trying to get around geared riders who were spinning their granny gear at 100 RPM's. I found it difficult to gain and capture any momentum and I found myself standing for every climb as well as standing for the descents. My legs were on fire. I had a small bobble on a descent and went over the handlebars in a reverse-pirouette and found myself face-to-face with other riders bombing down the trail. No injury. OK. Re-group. There was very little saddle time to allow any rest and by lap 2 I was dropping off the pace fast. Lap 2 was a blur and I found myself walking many of the climbs. The sun came out and the sweat was pouring off me. I was taking in plenty of fluids and nutrition and had no cramping. Lap 3 was even slower and halfway through I got "chicked" (passed) by a very talented Elite women's rider, Jessica Woodard who was riding singlespeed. "It's all good" as I trudged up many of the hills and pushed hard to get it done. I finished 3-12.5 mile laps in 3:13:04 and placed 5th (last) in my class. I heard many other riders mention the trail this year placed more demands on the riders. It was a great effort and I'm looking forward to doing it again next year, only faster. This trail can only make you a better rider.
Preparing for the kids race:

Pimpin' on the road to recovery: