So the SoCal 50 miler was Saturday at Vail Lake. The short version is that the course and weather were great, I felt good and did well. Read on for the long version.
The course was 2 laps of about 25 miles each w/ 2885 ft of climbing. There were two long climbs, one easy fire road, the other steeper and rocky. There were also a bunch of ridge running on the far side of the lake, which was fun (though every down had a matching up) and remote. I had pre-ridden an earlier version of the course, but very little of the final version.
This was my first mtb race, so I was a little nervous about riding w/ a bunch of other folks, especially on downhill sections. This turned out not to be a big deal, mostly because I went out slow and was with other riders who were not shredding the dh. I had trained w/ some pretty long rides, the longest about 35 miles and nearly 4 hours. I was not all that worried about the endurance aspect. Having done lots of long runs and (foot) races in the past, I knew that if I kept my HR low, I could sustain the same effort for a long time. Plus the weather was ~80F and clear, as good as you can hope for at Temecula this time of year.
There were about 120 people total racing in pro, expert, sport, and beginner categories. There were also a few masters categories and a few hard core ss folks. Ouch. We started with a parade lap through the vail lake campground, just a mile or so to let people sort out before really starting. My plan was to go out slow and save for later, counting on lots of chances to pass folks later if needed. Tinker Juarez was the best know pro, but there were a few others (Tinker kicked ass - riding laps as fast as Jason, the organizer, did on his moto). Scott Holland was also racing, his first time at this distance, so he was also in beginner cat. Diana was crewing for me, and between the start and end of lap 1, she hung out w/ Scott's crew in the campground.
So as planned, I went out painfully slowly, letting tons of folks go past but settling in w/ a few other riders at a pace w/ a good aerobic HR level. Early in the course, there was some moderately technical climbing and descending (single track w/ switchbacks, but not too rocky). This went well and I began to feel comfortable that this was a more or less another mtb ride, which I knew how to do. Of course, I'm sure it would have been different if I'd been trying to hang w/ the expert guys.
Anyway, the course then went down tunnel of love, which is a blast, and up a long, gradual fireroad to the top of the dam climb - we then went down the dam climb (dam descent?) to the dam. I paced well up the FR, dropping the folks I had been riding w/ earlier, and catching a few more. The RIP9 really loved the rocky FR downhills. There were also a couple of single track side routes on the way down the dam climb, and I caught a couple of folks walking stuff that I rode - another confidence boost that I was not out of my league (ie, beginner class) in descending skills.
After the dam, we then rode down a sandy wash into a headwind. Luckily it was downhill. Then we turned up and began a 700ft climb. The first half was steep and rocky. Lots of folks were walking, I rode a lot of it, but spun out and walked some too. My HR was just as high when walking as riding, and riding was marginally faster. At the top of this climb, we did a long section that crossed many drainages leading down to the lake. We dropped down and then climbed back up about five of these drainages to reach the second aid station (of 3 on course, plus the start/finish made 4). The 2nd half of the lap was much flatter and faster, including some nice, new single track, several miles of road, and finishing w/ a nice singletrack run through the area just east of the campground/resort.
I was eating a few blocks every 20min, and a gel or two each hour, plus lots of water. I had been continuing to catch people, but was feeling a little unfocused and not too strong/peppy around in the last 30 min before I hit the end of lap 1. Through the pit I chomped a bar, gel, and blocks. My pit was pretty quick, thanks to Diana, maybe 5 min to reload gels and blocks, fresh bottles, and relube the chain. The extra calories during the pit must have done the trick, because after settling in on the long FR climb, I began to feel stronger.
The riders had letters on the back of the calf indicating their category - so you could tell what category someone was in when you approached, or when they passed you. Around the midpoint in the race, I began to notice that I was passing more people w/ Es (men's sport) than G's (men's beginners). I took that as a good sign, but had no idea how many beginners might still be further ahead.
I rode more of the 2nd, steeper climb than I had on the first lap. Lots of folks were walking, and I worried a little that they knew something I didn't, but I felt good. I came up on Scott on this climb. He came through the pit about 5 min ahead of me after having 3 flats during the first lap! His stomach was revolting (pushed it trying to make up time after all the flats). He was very encouraging as I passed, and told me that there was only one beginner ahead of me, w/ green bike and blue jersey. That sounded good, but it's easy to miss someone on the course, so I wasn't 100% sure of the info.
For the ridge run on the far side of the lake, I pushed the flats and downhills, while trying to avoid redlining on the ups. I caught more folks in this section, then came around into the last quarter of the course (last half of the 2nd lap). Before long, I saw a rider in a blue jersey on a green bike. Sure enough, he was in beginner cat - the first one I'd seen in a long time. I caught him on a short steep, which led to a longer, gentler climb. I put as much time into him as I could, and a short ways later there was a hairpin where I could see that he wasn't chasing.
From there, the course seemed to go by quickly (partly bc there was a fast section of old road). I kept feeling good and pushing my pace. Soon I was back in the campground and finished in 5:10. The blue jersey rider was about 5 min back. Scott rallied and came in about 20min later. His info had been correct... I won first place in the beginner category. I would have placed fifth in sport. Overall, I was 42, almost cracking the top third. The race was a loads of fun. Winning was of course great, but mostly I was pleased that I had trained well, followed my race plan, and felt strong.
