Tahoe Trail 2024

Racing
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Save The Date July 20th 2024, Northstar Resort, Truckee/Tahoe California.

Distances
100 KM Solo/Team
50 KM

Leadville Qualifier
Corral Times.(were not changed between 2022 & 2023, so no reason to expect a change for 2024)
Gold : Sub 4h 15m
Silver: Sub 4h 30m
Red: Sub 5h 5m
Green: Sub 5h 30m
Purple: Sub 6h
Orange: Sub 6h 30m
Blue: Sub 7h

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I am in and have a 1 bedroom condo right at the start line where I could get one more person in if you’re up for sharing the cost, DM me.

I’m headed to Utah/Colorado directly after this to acclimate for Leadville.

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Looks like the Royal Fire which is about 15 miles away from the course, isn’t likely to grow much as Cal-Fire and Forest Service jumped on it pretty quickly. Wind conditions could create air quality issues, but at this point it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a factor on Race Day.

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Im doing the 50K…I live in Reno. That fire seems to be under control as we haven’t had much wind but we have been getting a bit of smoke in Reno. Had a friend preride last week and said the Tahoe Talc is bad…dryer than ever…so expect more dust than usual. I’m shooting for a sub 2:50 for one lap which will be a PB since my double knee replacement in '20 & '21.

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Will be a nice change from the mud fest that was Lutsen. Probably going to leave Ralph on the back instead of swapping to a Thunder Burt.

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I’ve been running the new Wolfpack tires…cross in front, race in back…loving them.

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Conditions were super super hot and dry today. I was coughing up phlegm for quite a while!

Struggled today to put the power down without feeling like I was going to cramp. Crashed on a totally benign section and went over the bars. Thankfully the landing was pretty soft, but my neck is sore.

4:59:57 … move up to the Red Corral for LT100! No idea how I’m going to survive Leadville. Today at 6-8000ft was already tough!!

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Yeah, Today was not my day. It was hotter than last year and I did zero acclimation this year but expected a better result from last year.

Downhills were no problem. I wouldn’t be surprised if I PR’d most of them (I did and some climbs which is mind boggling)

Every time it turned up hill, I could keep the cranks turning, but it was a struggle. I thought for sure I wasn’t going to make the cut off to start lap 2, but I did with more than 5 minutes to spare even with swapping out bottles, and bladder in my hydro pack.

I started lap two and got to the uphill turn on to the Tryumph where it just goes on forever and I knew that I didn’t have the legs to finish lap 2 without getting swept. It just wasn’t there today. Altitude was one part, crap sleep wasn’t helpful, likely was starting on the back foot from a hydration standpoint.

Lots of lessons and everything but my FTP and weight are all addressable in the next 3 weeks.

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I only did the 50K and had a pretty good day. I had both knees replaced in 2020 & 2021. I was trying to break 3 hours in 2022 and 2023 and missed it by a few minutes in 2022 and 30 seconds in 2023. I was able to do a 2:55.45 and got 4th in the 50-59 AG. Far slower than the 2:34 lap I turned doing the 100K in 2018 but that was when I was 15 lbs lighter and over 4wkg. Was only 3:30 off third place and I know where I lost it. Got stuck in a slow train going down the wallternate DH, then going up the Deer Creek climb someone had to dismount in the only line going up the left side and I had to stop and push my bike. Maybe next year. I think it is wrong that they use gun times vs. chip times on these races. I was back about 50 yards from the start banner and it took me almost a minute to cross the start mat. You guys doing the 100K must have loved that the second lap started a mid mountain and not the village.

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Boo… 4:59 doesn’t get Red corral this year. :frowning:

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Tahoe Trail 100 Race Report

Result: 15th in age group (4:59:57)
Weight: 187lbs
Conditions: hot & dusty

Summary
Felt like I rode much more within my capabilities for the first lap and didn’t have that performance drop-off in the 2nd lap. In fact, was able to go faster on the 2nd lap. Best result yet, could have been even better without hardware issues and crashing. Strategy from coach was to limit HR to 155 on first lap and then go for 165 2nd lap.

Pros

  • Best result / best power output (average, NP)
  • No front brake but still survived
  • Did not cramp!! Played with it
  • Descending fire roads & smoother single track much faster

Weaknesses

  • 2xCRASHES — gotta stop crashing
  • Pulled some skinny guys through the fast flat part, didn’t mean to do that
  • Could not stand for some reason, was too tired
  • Weak descending chunky stuff with big rocks, weak descending burms. Was not a major issue but would have loved to be faster

Pre-race

  • Got great sleep the night before. 7 hours. That’s more than I get normally. Really embraced the “can’t wait for this to be over” mentality the night before, instead of worrying about the work that I’d have to do.
  • Woke up at 5:50, ate instant oatmeal
  • All gels and bottles filled and ready
  • Was feeling sore and tired prior to race already, arrived at elevation day before

Start

  • Went out hard as expected, felt my legs and lungs burning much before the first climb ended, decided to shut it down instead of blowing up right there. Could have gone harder but didn’t.
  • CRASH: Pile-up crash in front of me, I also crashed but it was pretty benign, I got back on the bike easily. People were rushing past me. I tried not to panic.
  • Up the first steep part, I was hemorrhaging placement. People were going past me so fast. They didn’t seem to be breathing super hard, but I was already feeling pretty tired so didn’t chase.

First Lap (goal: HR limit 155, ideally 140-150)

  • This was a practice in throttling. Kept thinking to myself “negative split, negative split” and kept HR under 155bpm
  • Was really hard to let people go especially on the steep parts where I know I can push harder than I did, but that would have broken my HR goals. In order to keep up with skinny guys on steeps I usually have to put out pretty high power (>360W).
  • Front brake has always been squishier than the rear. It got worse after first hard descent. By the end of first lap, it was lever all the way to the bar and I was braking with my rear only. I seriously considered pulling out of the race but decided if I could just take it easy on the descents. This didn’t really happen but that was my strategy. Had 2 near death experiences sliding my ass through turns. I’m going to be so much faster with a front brake!

Second Lap

  • No front brake, No worries
  • Felt really good for a moment, right after feed zone and drank my coke
  • Started to put on more controlled efforts on the climbs
  • Was going super fast on the flat single track sections
  • CRASH: not even sure what happened, front got hooked up and I got ejected, flew over the bars, landed on my back. Lost my water bottle
  • On the fast flat part, ended up having a group hop on my rear wheel, I wasn’t even aware of it. They thanked me later for the tow, and I realized I really should be careful about giving folks a free ride. Especially the skinny guys who I would be giving a lot of advantage in my draft; they’ll just pass me later in the steep sections and it’s not like they can help me there
  • Stopped at an aid station and had volunteer pour water on me. Worth it IMO because it was hot.

Finish

  • Final climbs, I felt like I was about to cramp so really couldn’t put in the 165 HR efforts coach had said would be OK. I stood up once to test my legs and started feeling my legs lock up, so sat down again. Felt like I was going in and out of cramp zone. Kept throttling and drinking.
  • Was so tired I missed 2 big trenches at the end, almost lost control cuz was sitting down. Need to maintain focus
  • Final push/sprint, I felt my hamstrings start to lock up, it was so hectic, just pedaled as hard as I could and crossed the finish line

Hardware

  • Front brake malfunction - yes this sucked
  • Left dropper button lost in crash
  • Glasses got super dirty / dusty — they always get sweat inside. Need to address this.

Next Steps

  • Get a shop somewhere to bleed my front brake correctly. The shop at the resort tried and it’s still squishy on first pull
  • Get a new eTap dropper button
  • Recover my neck from the crash
  • Improve chunky descending & burms
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