May 1, 2012
XXC Magazine contributor and XXC Podcast co-host Ben Welnak shares is experiences from the 2012 Whiskey Off-Road in Prescott, Arizona.
Hang on to your seats…this is a long race story/report. With such a high quality event, it’s hard to not give it some love and go a little over the top. So, to help you, the reader, out with your time, I added a couple subtitles. If you want to hear just my Sunday race details, just scroll down. If you’d like a fuller idea of the weekend, just start reading.
THE EXPERIENCE
Friday was a good day. After arriving to beautiful weather in Prescott, I didn’t have too much time to get over to the racer meeting. We parked the car downtown, I headed over to the theatre for the racer meeting and Amy, Brandon, and Brett made plans for the afternoon. Brandon and Brett headed out for a short ride around the first section of the course while Amy hung around the sunny and green town square.
The racer meeting was an interesting gathering. I signed in, grabbed my number and race bag and signed the Whiskey 50 poster. The organizers had laid out 6 or 7 posters for all the Sunday racers to sign for sponsor companies. Just signing the poster was odd. Who am I to be writing my signature for others alongside racers like Geoff Kabush, Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, Tinker Juarez, Georgia Gould, and Pua Mata? Not to mention the huge group of some of the country’s fastest men and women.
I sat down, relaxed, and took in the scenery. Tinker Juarez sat down just to my right and a several other notable riders strolled in. I know my place – I’m no top racer and currently I’m only a later midpack racer in a pro/open group like this in a 50 mile race.
I’ve been asked why I decided to race Sunday’s race with the pros and have a very mediocre placing rather than getting a good placing during Saturday’s amateur race. It’s a pretty easy decision. Am I an actual licensed “pro?” No, but this isn’t a race that is sanctioned by one of the governing bodies. While it’s easy to talk about getting out of your comfort zone, it’s not always clear what that is. The “comfort zone” is like porn, you can’t necessarily explain it, but you know it when you see it (or in the case of your comfort zone – feel it… well, that would work in the porn discussion too, but we won’t go there.) Ever hear the saying, “do something that scares you every day?” I don’t aspire to be the fastest amateur, rather to be good enough to line up against any pro field and be in the mix. Why would I pass up such a good opportunity to race against some of the best around? Was I nervous? Hell yeah, who wouldn’t be?
“Endurance mountain biking is especially good at forcing personal change and adaptation.”
Remember your first race? You showed up with what you thought was your best setup. You lined up with your equal competition in whatever category – beginner, cat 3, cat 2, etc. Not really knowing what to expect, you were probably questioning your abilities as you scanned the racers’ smooth legs and kits filled with logos. You flew off the line, heart racing from both effort and adrenaline, and realized that you were among your peers. You probably traded places with other riders during the race and ended somewhere in the midpack. As soon as the race was over, you were tired, but wondering what was next. What can help me be faster and race with the better guys? How can I push myself more? Two or three years pass and you chuckle at your first experiences. You see people who are at that beginning stage and realized that you tried something new, learned a lot, worked, and came out the other side a stronger rider and person, who is more willing to try something that pushes you out of your comfort zone. Endurance mountain biking is especially good at forcing personal change and adaptation.
I want to look back and chuckle at what I thought was fast. I know that I have the ability to get there, but without sticking my nose out into another world, it won’t happen. It’s a personal risk for sure – it’s easy to worry about what others think. I’ve had the comment, “what if you do bad?” By putting myself out there constantly by writing on this blog, updating all social media, and doing other public work, it makes my mistakes that more prevalent. Sure, there probably aren’t a ton of people reading, but I challenge anyone to publicize your ups and downs. Props to all the pros out there in any sport for what they can do and deal with on a daily basis – I can’t imagine. So, long story short, I’ll throw out the cliché; if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.
“Was it fun? I’m still not sure.”
Friday’s crit was set to start at 5:15 for the women and 6:15 for the men. It was set to be 20 minutes plus three laps. It was mandatory for people racing on Sunday to start the crit or else be penalized eight minutes. The laps were very short – maybe .5-.75 mile (I’d have to check the exact course detail to confirm), so being lapped by world cup level riders was inevitable. Racers that were lapped during the first 20 minutes were pulled off the course. Those who stuck to the lead lap through the first 20 minutes, could hang around for the final three, even if they did get lapped at that point. I managed to hang around for three full laps before being consumed by the lead group on my fourth laps around. Although I was picked off relatively early in the race, I still accomplished some goals.
I wasn’t last. Having never done a race like this, I had zero idea what to expect. From what people said and watching it last year, the pace promised to be over-the-top hard. If fulfilled that promise; however, surprisingly, I wasn’t terribly far back and it wasn’t something that I couldn’t handle for at least a short period of time. I came around the first lap not too far from the huge lead group and then proceeded to implode from there. I continued to push each lap, but my legs and lungs were maxed out. Lactic acid continued to build piles in my muscles and my lungs burned with a strange steel and blood-like taste that only appears from such hard efforts. Was it fun? I’m still not sure.
I think the fun comes in accomplishing another goal. It was a great experience to get a taste of the pace that the top guys push. Watching them fly up the short, steep hill uninterrupted is impressive and almost mind-boggling. The front group barely slowed down for a hill that had a mid teen’s percent grade. That’s strong riding. While I don’t expect I will be ever racing with that lead group, I know I have the capability to someday make the first 20 minutes without being pulled.
There was also a beginner “15 proof” race on Friday afternoon. The 15ish (the distances of the race are not exact, admits Todd Sadow during his XXC Podcast interview) mile race is a great opportunity for beginners to test their mettle against some fine mountain biking trails.
The amateur races for both the “50 proof” and “25 proof,” as well as the singlespeed race were Saturday morning. You can check the full results by going to the Epic Rides Results Page [HERE]. The singlespeeders were racing for an opportunity to go to the Singlespeed World Championships in South Africa, so the competition was heavy. The field was so fast that the overall winner of the 50 miler was a singlespeed racer.
A racer passes during Saturday's amateur race.
Amy and I got to Whiskey Row with enough time to grab some pictures and pick up the spare gear that Brandon and Brett had worn to warm up while riding over from the hotel. It’s a great scene – hundreds of riders anxiously awaiting the starting gunshots (yeah, gunshots) from the guys dressed as pioneers. The guns were fired and they were off. We hit up Cuppers Café for a drink to go and headed over to Skull Valley to have friends’, Brandon Newcomer, Brett Ebben, and Ben Jones, bottles and food for a resupply at the halfway point. Ben came through first in under two hours. Brandon wasn’t far behind, trailing Ben by only minutes. Brett rolled through looking strong several minutes later. Ben finished in 3 hours 45 minutes, Brandon finished in 3:47, and Brett finished with a time of 4:02. They were all strong efforts. It was fun to get out on course, get some pictures, and cheer on all of the racers.
After their race, I headed up into the Prescott National Forest to get my legs and mind ready for the race effort that was to come the next morning. I headed up the initial road climb to get a feel for the climb right out of the gate and imagined what the pace would be. Instead of heading over to the initial section of singletrack, I continued up the gravel road until I reached the next segment. I climbed that a bit until I reached the intersection with Trail #9415, which I believe is referred to as Halvorson’s Trail (or gulch or valley…not totally sure). What I am sure of is that it is a great section of trail. It’s a downhill mix of rocks, newly cut (and properly engineered) trail, and smooth trail through open pines. I didn’t feel perfect, but good enough to give it a good effort.
