100MoN: Winner of the Completely Insane 200 Laps Around a Half-Mile MTB Course Division

10.23.2014 | 8:06 am

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A Note from Fatty: Today’s 100 Miles of Nowhere Race Report comes to you courtesy of Mike K — the very same Mike K I (unsuccessfully) spent chasing in the 6 Hours in Frog Hollow race last April. 

I gotta say, it’s pretty awesome to have Mike, a guy I previously didn’t know at all, now riding the 100MoN and posting a story. 

Enjoy!

I completed my version of this nutty challenge at the Eagle Bike Park in wonderful Eagle, Idaho on Monday, 10/20/2014.

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The weather was fabulous and at the end of the day…well take a look below!

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I got my inspiration from other past participants such Bull Schuck for doing his ride in a Cul-de-Sac; I know that I am not tough enough for that sort of thing, but I figured if I was on my mtn. bike and playing in the dirt, a short course would not be that difficult.

Well let me tell you, the mind can be a terrible thing!

As the picture above shows, the Eagle Bike Park has many wonderful, fun and challenging trails. However, I was on a 0.5 mile section that took me approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds to complete. I pressed the lap button 56 times in just under 2.5 hours before I finally cried uncle and decided laps really do not matter.

On all but four occasions, I did not deviate from my route! Two of those were for nature breaks and the other two when I tried to break up the monotony and go in the opposite direction. I felt like Derek Zoolander, because I could not go the other way; my turns were all off and I was forced to ride much slower.

So like a lab mouse I figured the safest thing for me was to do the same route; over and over and over again! But I still made sure to have a little fun.

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I was fortunate to have a couple of friends join me off and on for the first 5 hours; Rich Brown and Rich Miller (my photog) chased me or had me chase them while yelling encouragement. Good times!

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Rich Brown in chase mode

NewImageRich Miller; follow my leader!

I stopped every hour for a fresh bottle of Tailwind and on occasion a Clif bar or Roctane. I also needed to clean and lube my drivetrain during that time since the moon dust was so thick.

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At the 5-hour mark, when I took a short lunch break, I finally let myself look at the mileage and I was very happy to see 64.2.

YES!

I honestly thought that I might be riding into the night, since the laps were so short and I was too paranoid to peek at mileage any earlier.

After lunch I was ready to rock and set out to push myself a little harder. If I had not yet mentioned it, I was treating this as a race and not a ride. I figured this was my last big training effort before 25 Hours in Frog Hollow; being both physically and mentally taxing due to the course.

My next mileage check was not due until hour 7, so T.V. on the Radio, RHCP, the Beastie Boys and a host of others kept me company until that time and time went by fairly quickly.

I really was having fun in my little maze!

Hour 7 arrived and I switched to the mileage screen; 91.1 miles. Oh yes! It was looking like I was going to finish by 5:30pm, which was some arbitrary time I had thrown out to my friends. Another small victory!

I took my last feed and headed out to knock off those remaining miles. Now I already knew that I should switch my Garmin screen back to ride time and not have the mileage up, but hey it was less than 9 miles to go; how long can it take? Well it took forever and I kept looking at the darn screen! 91.7; 92.2; 92.8 and it just went on.

All I had to do was reach down and press a button twice and I would have my ride time up and life would be better again.

Nope, I had to suffer, watchig the tenths of a mile tick by.

At mile 97 Rich Miller came by to check on me and give more encouragement, so I lied and acted cheerful and exclaimed “only 3 miles to go!” He even got a picture of me with the lie on my face.

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Well those miles eventually showed up on the Garmin; I passed my pit area at about 99.7 miles so I got one more lap.

All in all it was a great experience and I plan to do another 100 MoN; in fact I think I have a spot already picked out. I need to thank the local cross racers for making most of the course that I followed: Waffle Cross was the 18th and 19th and those darn dirty crossers know how to have fun.

And thank you Fatty for one off-the-wall challenge!

15 Comments

  1. Comment by Tom in Albany | 10.23.2014 | 8:16 am

    Dude! 1/2 mile loops?!? That’s nutso!

    You fit right in. Nice job.

  2. Comment by Corrine | 10.23.2014 | 8:17 am

    Great post. Love the photos, you do look like you raced the whole time! Good luck and have fun at the 25 Hours of Frog Hollow. Fatty, aren’t you doing that race solo this year? Maybe you can chase Mike K again all day and night!

  3. Comment by davidh-Marin,ca | 10.23.2014 | 8:22 am

    I think Fatty should set ‘tempo’ for Mike at Frog Hollow, after what he’s put him through. With his ’secret weapon’ he can guide Mike to the podium!

    But Mike. Where’s the Strava link?

  4. Comment by Liz M. | 10.23.2014 | 8:42 am

    Wow, that’s hardcore! Half mile loops on a MTB! Well done and good luck in Frog Hollow.

  5. Comment by Andy@wdw | 10.23.2014 | 8:56 am

    Oh, the insanity! What a great bike park! What an awesome tiny little course! Glad you had such a good time!

  6. Comment by ClydeinKS | 10.23.2014 | 9:07 am

    Major kudos on completing the 100 MoN on a 1/2 mile loop! Looks like you had a blast! Welcome to the club of Nowhere!

  7. Comment by Welnic | 10.23.2014 | 10:36 am

    Was the moon dust bad when you started? Or was is caused by all of your laps?

    Nice ride!

  8. Comment by Jojo @ RunFastEatLots | 10.23.2014 | 10:57 am

    This is equally insane and awesome. I am convinced to attempt 100 MoN next year

  9. Comment by RodNeeds2Ride | 10.23.2014 | 1:24 pm

    Sweet socks! Love the write-up, especially the Zoolander reference! Good luck at Frog Hollow. Fatty, do you think you can beat Mike this year? How about we take bets on who wins and raise some money? Yeah, that!

  10. Comment by NancyJBS | 10.23.2014 | 5:59 pm

    In other news, Eagle Idaho residents note the high volume of particulate matter in the air and wonder if there’s been a stampede. The wild wild west!

    Loved your write up! Look out FC, this guy’s got discipline!

  11. Comment by Mike Kennedy | 10.23.2014 | 7:50 pm

    davidh-Marin
    Here is the Strava link, but it is boring. I have thought of creating a dozen or so segments just to get some KOM’s, but that is just too much work : )

    http://www.strava.com/activities/209837504

  12. Comment by Mike Kennedy | 10.23.2014 | 7:55 pm

    So there will not be a repeat of the single Speed battle from the 6 Hour race due to a knee problem; I had to switch to the geared Solo category in order to even come close to doing more than 10 hours. But I am really looking forward to see Fatty and meet the Hammer! My inspiration for riding a bike really hard for a really long time : )

    Also thank you all for the kind words!

    Cheers

  13. Comment by davidh-Marin,ca | 10.23.2014 | 8:52 pm

    You heard him Fatty! You’ve been challenged to a ‘geared’ competition at Frog Hollow!

  14. Comment by lynn e | 10.23.2014 | 9:24 pm

    “what’s this stuff?”
    “Something surreal – it’s supposed to be good for you.”

    “Let’s get Mikey!”
    “He won’t do it. He hates everything.”
    “He likes it! Hey Mikey!”

    Life.

  15. Comment by Suffolk Cycling | 10.24.2014 | 2:16 am

    That looks pretty bonkers. Thanks for a good read.

 

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