I’m headed to Steamboat for my first 100. I’m riding the blue course, 99.1 miles with 5973 feet of climbing between 6700 and 8200 feet above sea level. Looks like 30 miles of paved roads and the rest good gravel, no single track I can see. How many beers do I earn over a 100 miles?
This is schedule as a training ride for my “A” race, the Dakota 5-0 on 1 Sep. Fifty miles of single track in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
I will be there. My brother in law is one of the race promoters. I’m doing the Blue course as well but have ridden up there a fair bit and rode most of the course at one point.
Will be a good day on the bike. I’m the one with the black Mosaic GT-1 in one of the other threads on here, although there is 650 people in the blue course so not likely anyone will see someone they know.
I’m riding the 140 mile course. Or that’s the plan, but we’ll see how it goes. My brother is in town for the ride, visiting from sea level. So depends how he does with the altitude. May take the bail out option and finish on the 100 mile course instead.
Excellent. I’ll be on an orange Salsa Cutthroat. Look for an old dude with a grey beard who’s Just Riding Along.
I’m planning on the Black course with friends, hoping for sub 11 hours. I’m not in the shape I hoped to be, but I put out 95 miles on mixed terrain the other day in 6 hours and felt “okay-ish” so maybe there is some hope for me!
Look for the fat bearded Pactimo Brand ambassador on a trek checkpoint, say hi if you see me!
Here is what it took to race the Blue 100 mile course. Ended up 188 out of 500 something. Weight was higher than normal due to AC separation surgery earlier this year so I’m sure I would have been 10-15 minutes faster at my normal weight. Actual race time was 6:38:43.
Ted King, Payson McElveen, Jacob Rathe, and Colin Strickland came by me in the last 20 minutes of the race so it was really cool to see the pace they were going on the same roads.
As I said my brother in law was one of the promoters and our family set up and took down all the aid stations, start finish, expo, etc. so if you have any comments leave them here and I can pass them along.
I hope to make this event next year.
Edit to add, some discussion about the event on the latest CyclingTips podcast:
Had a great day on the bike. I hoped to ride between 7 and 7:30 and my chip time was 7:01. and a few seconds. Only real leg fatigue was on the last climb. My rear tire developed some bulges about 25 miles in. I just kept riding it and prayed it didn’t blow. I’m not sure I would have blasted the last chunky line, which was my favorite part of the race, as fast if I would have know how bad my tire was. The pavement home went “whomp, whomp, whomp.” Still made it to the beer and smiles.
Now to recover and do final prep for the Dakota 5-0 on 1 Sept.
So is there a consensus that people would do this again? Thinking about it next year.
I really had a good time on the ride. My riding buddies didn’t come so wasn’t as much fun without them. We’re already decided we’re going to ride next year. I’m thinking about riding the Black course vs. the Blue for 2020. I’ll start my training in Nov
I of course will be there since my family is involved but from a racer standpoint it was a fun race. Really good course that is fun to ride or race if you’re going for a placing. I have a couple friends that did it and were over 8 hours but they were just trying to finish and taking time at aid stations. They had a good time as well. There is a lot to do in Steamboat so I think it has a lot going for it vs some races that are in small towns with nothing else to do. There are good restaurants, a river that you can float down in a tube, hot springs close, fantastic mountain biking, a rodeo on Saturday night every weekend, plus the expo and race related stuff on Saturday.
I would highly recommend figuring out if you’re going to do it and make sure you sign up the day it opens. It is going to sell out again and probably faster than it did this year.
I’ll ride it again. I did blue this year with my brother who was in town from sea level. Hopefully he’s fit enough to ride black next year 
There’s also a 100 mile gravel route in the tour de steamboat which is held a few weeks earlier. Different route, but great gravel also.
And if you get there a few days early, bring your MTB and ride the local MTB trails. Some nice climbs and long descents. And the steamboat stinger MTB race the week before if you want to make a week of it 
