Tahoe Sierra 100 Race Report

Alright, here we go.....Let me first start with that this race barely happened for this cat. If it wasn’t for a number of super generous friends in the cycling community, I would not had even been able to race. Training for the TS100 was nearly non existent. Now my day job is a Firefighter for Santa Rosa FD and I was scheduled to work both Friday and Saturday. With no vacation available, it seemed like a done deal, and I wasn’t going to race it. A last minute vacation day came available and another Firefighter agreed to work the shift trade and bam, I had the time off to race. So the next order of business was to register and figure out the logistics of getting my truck to the finish in Foresthill and somehow get to the start in Soda Springs AND find someplace to stay on Friday night. To make a long story short, it ALL came together thanks to fellow SSer Matt Zanner, Roger Lackey, Steve Gallo and family, and Dawn Bean.

Okay, so before I go into the race I want to point out a little TS100 history. I competed in this race both in ’09 and ’10. I placed 2nd both times. In ’09 the gap was about 5 minutes and last year the gap was 2 minutes. My goal was to not let that happen again.

So the start....I got a surprisingly great night sleep on the pull out bed. 5:00 AM wake came fast. I shoveled down a turkey sandwich, banana and coffee. Next thing I know it’s 5:30, I guess I’ll miss the mandatory racer meeting. Steve Gallo and I roll out to the start, check in and get ready to do battle.

The temperature was noticeably warmer than last year. I knew I was going to doff the windbreaker at the first aid station. The pavement start was nice to break up the peloton but it was a little challenging to on the one-speed. I hit the dirt in the top 15 spots and was surprised at the amount of dust. I was stuck the rear wheel of some geared guy hoping he was picking good lines. It was like riding blind.

Selections were being made and I knew I was making the right moves to stay up front. When we finally made it to the Soda Springs fireroad descent, we were informed by a spectator that 40+ riders made a wrong turn and had at least a 5 minute lead on us. Great, now I had no idea who or how many other SSers were ahead. Not ideal.

I descended Soda Springs like a mad man. Unweight the front end, cover the brakes, hold the attack position and go. Flying past geared guys like they were walking, it was great. I think I picked off one or two SSers on the way down. Ditched the jacket, got to the bottom and got ready to climb. A few minutes into the climb I caught Matt Zanner, he felt bad that he was part of the misroute. He said that there was one more SSer ahead of me. It was Ron Shevock, a very strong and experienced SSer. He was a marked man from the start. I began picked off riders left and right but no sight of Ron. I wanted to catch him fairly early so I could keep him in check the rest of the race. As I started the second descent I got caught by a couple of geared guys and together we killed it. On the approach to the Redstar Ridge climb, I got dropped by the geared guys. There are limitations to racing single speed.

When the climb started I was back in my realm and got into a comfortable rhythm. I picked off all but one of the geared guys that dropped me earlier. I paced off of the last guy and made great time to the top. As I got to the end of the climb I noticed we were reeling someone in. I knew once I saw him that it had to be Shevock. His pedal cadence was a dead giveaway. We exchanged pleasantries and rolled into the Redstar Aid Station together. I stopped to get some breakfast. I had been riding 2 hrs and 40 minutes. Ron, rolled past the aid station like it didn’t exist. I let him go. At this point he was in reach.

As I started to traverse the ridge it became clear straight away that it was going to be a rough technical ride. I caught and passed Ron a few minutes later, didn’t expect it to happen that soon. Shortly after that I was caught by last year’ winner Rich Thurman. The strong man from Team Chico rode my wheel like glue. My pace lifted a tad and so did my HR. Good thing I wasn’t wearing the HR strap.

The pavement descent couldn’t have come sooner. It was a nice respite from the technical descent off of the ridge. Rich rode away and that was that. On the paved descent I got caught by Carl Sanders and another rider. They flew past me like I was walking, another disadvantage to the one-speed.

Climbing up Road 43 was tough. It always is. As I neared the top I rolled up to Carl and Rich who had stopped to help Eric Northey (Jim’s brother) who had taken a fall off of his moto. Eric was no badly injured and he insisted that we carry on with the race. Reluctantly we kept riding. I saw Eric at the finish and he seemed to be in good shape.

Anyway I arrived at the Road 43 aid station battered. Nothing a little coke and PB&J won’t fix. Fueled up and started up the gravel climb towards Cavanaugh Ridge. Steve Gallo caught me right as we started the descent (5hrs and change). It was clear that Steve had pre-ridden this section as he quickly pulled away from me. The climb up to Dusty Corners was brutal. The temperature was rising as was the steepness of the climb. It seemed like it took forever to get to the Mad Cat aid station at Dusty Corners.

Let me say right now that the Mad Cat crew was awesome. Now the other aid stations were more than adequately supplied with grub, but the Mad Cats took it to another level. The bacon and potato tacos were to die for. Literally, the tacos brought me back to life. I ate more food than I probably should have but I knew I had a bit of flatish riding to digest the calories. Gallo rode off my wheel after pucker point, I couldn’t hold the 120+ cadence any longer.

At this point, I remember Jim Northey mentioning that after pucker point there was a fast fireroad descent that had a number of water bars that come up quickly. That was an understatement. The fast descent was a nice change and the mileage starting ticking away. The first water bar was in the shade and it was huge and presented like a quarter pike launch. I wasn’t prepared for the take off and hit it all wrong. As I flew through the air I was way over the front end and ended up doing a front wheelie at 30 mph. That was a close one.

The technical singletrack descent approached and it was game on. The quad burn was replaced by some intense triceps burn. I was thinking, “I hope these Formula Brakes don’t fade on me. The descent seemed to go on forever, I started to dread the anticipated 40+ minute hike-a-bike (HAB). After downloading the Garmin, it ended up being a 35 minute push. Crossed the bridge and caught up to Gallo. Together we pushed and pushed and pushed.

It seemed like forever until I could actually mount my trusty steed and start turning the cranks. Rolled into the Deadwood Aid Station (mile 74) and got topped off and rolled out. Another fast and sketchy descent approached in earnest and the triceps burn appeared. At this point, it turned from racing to surviving. Steve rode away from me again and I never saw him again. Crossed another bridge and started yet another HAB section. My legs were fragged and the trail was just a bit too steep to ride. On and off the bike for another 45 minutes. Losing time for sure but still in the lead. Limped into the last aid station and devoured the homemade cookies. 6 miles to go. Easy game right?

Some more loose descending followed by another HAB. It was hot, but I could start to taste the victory. Reaching the pavement was amazing as the added traction was a nice change. Climbing again but it was doable. With the mileage ticking away, I got closer and closer. I knew there had to be a paved descent. When I reached the top and started the descent I looked back just out of habit. You never know. The two second place finished in two years was finally going to change. I rolled through the GBE banner in 9hrs and 54 minutes.

The victory felt great!

Thanks for reading

Mike Harrison
www.onyourrightcoaching.com