Prescott Monstercross

Just some random thoughts from the day. I am glad I did it.

Neutral start was fun, buzzing down Prescott Lakes Pkwy at 40+ mph with a bunch of like minded folks. I was very pleased to outroll Dan at max velocity:)





We headed down Peavine to the Lakeshore trail where Dan took off, Scott, Chad, and I followed. I passed Chad in short order and pinned it through the Dells where local knowledge rules. Scott hung on to my wheel and cleaned on-sight pretty much everything, including some amazingly tough climbs. I've said it before, but he is the best tech climber I have ever ridden with, and he proved it again yesterday.



I led down the ubertech descent of over-the-hill trail since Dan had gotten off course somehow in the heat of racing. Dan and Scott passed me at the we started the hike a bike out of the ravine.









Chad and Aaron from Flag caught me on the Hike a bike, then we hung together on the ride to Willow Dells.



Scott joined us after going briefly off course and Dan was off the front. We rode through the Willow Dells together and that whole group took off from me never to be seen again.

I rode pretty much alone until the middle of the Granite Basin loop where Becker and Nino caught me in Mint wash. They did not seem as excited about the first hour of tech riding as the rest of the leaders:) It literally took them two hours to gain back the time I put on them in the Dells.

The Dells are a great start if you want to suffer because they force you to make power moves at the beginning of a long day. Let me tell you: I did suffer. I felt like dog meat all through Granite Basin. I ran into Scott who was quitting due to a sprained ankle in the Dells. Jeff from Scottsdale passed me and slowly pulled away up 332. I stopped at Iron Springs to refill water at a cache. This is 3-4 hours in and I honestly felt pretty bad. I was very slow on any climb and felt utterly spent from the way to fast start. I rode the next five hours alone and did not see any of the racers before or behind me.

I made my way across the Thumb Butte area at a snail's pace, and finally got to Copper Basin Rd where I stopped to inspect a creak in my drivetrain. It turned out to be a broken chainring bolt. I had a spare in my pack, but it would not fit this bike with the thick chainguard. I almost abandoned (it was sooooo tempting) until I was able to put the inner part of the bolt in. Since this carries the majority of the load, I just zip tied it in place, and trusted my perfectly straight chain line. I tested the set up while climbing Quartz mountain, and it was working fine, so I descended Quartz and started up 396.

At this point I knew I was going to finish, just dreading the Spruce road climb. 396 went okay if slow, and I was on to Spruce. Amazingly, I was able to dig deep and clean the Spruce road climb. This was my proudest moment, 45 minutes of steady, barely moving, upward progress. I could see Dan's tracks squirming back and forth up the road so that inspired me a bit.

Then it was down Smith Ravine. At this point, the down were hurting more than the ups if they were fast. I crashed and skinned a knee half way down. 305 was fine, but the lower half was a total mind game. I just wanted to be done.

I rolled in to Scott, Chad and Jeff and a fresh pizza! Thankfully they shared, and it was the best piece of pizza I've ever had!

As it turns out, my 9:13 was good for fifth place or DFL, but....I don't feel too bad because seven of 13 starters abandoned or got lost.

Final stats are 59 miles and around 9-10k of climbing.

Thanks to Chad for organizing this!

The only take a way I have from it is this: Sometimes if you feel really, really bad, keep going because eventually you will feel better. That was a new experience for me, and I am glad I didn't quit the many, many times I wanted to.

PS: The Sinister is a stellar bike....for a two hour ride. Full suspension is the way to go for something this long.