Ever since I first heard about the Cascade Cream Puff in a blog several years ago, I’ve wanted to enter. This is one of the epic mountain bike races in the US, on par with the Endurance 100 in Park City. It’s often discussed in the same context as the Leadville and Vail 100 mile races, but it has its own quirks that arguably make it tougher than the rest. In 100 miles, riders spend more than 60 miles on incredibly fun twisty/turny single-track trails and climb a cumulative total of 18,000 feet. So naturally I decided to race on my single-speed.I recently finished building my new steed. With the help of Cyclepaths bike shop in Truckee, Chris Kelly of the unfortunately now defunct Kelly bikes in Grass Valley, CA (http://www.kellybike.com/), and my good friends at SRAM/Rockshox/Avid and FSA, I was able to recently pull together my dream bike. 

One of the hardest things about this race is simply registering. With a field limit of 110 riders and preference given to racers from prior years, only 50 spots were open to newcomers; but I was ready. To ensure I got in, I overnighted my entry form to Oakridge, OR, which is so remote that overnight express mail actually takes 2 days.

Preparation for a race like this is tough since it’s hard to recover from training rides of that length. Therefore to prepare, I tried to log one long mountain bike training day (50 miles) followed by a shorter day (20 miles) on the weekend. In addition, I tried to complete a ride of 2-3 hours during the week, made easier since I was working in Boise, with great riding minutes from downtown. It was on one of these rides that I almost ended my chances of even making it to the start line.

Three days before the event, I was out for a quick training ride in Boise to spin out my legs and make sure my technical skills were fresh, descending the “Hard Guy” trail (in retrospect my first mistake since I’m such a softy), and having an absolute blast. The trails are hard, not-technical and therefore extremely fast. I was descending one of these very fast sections of trail with big gently swooping turns at about 30 mph when I hit a drainage ditch. At slow speeds, these large ditches in the trail are easy to absorb. At moderate speeds, they’re easy to pre-jump. At high speeds, they’re just not easy to get over safely. I hit the ditch, got my front wheel over it without incident, but not so for my rear wheel. It was launched into the air and I nose-wheelied the landing for about 15’ (front wheel on the ground and rear wheel straight up in the air). I was so far over that my cell phone, wallet and Clif bars all slid out of my rear jersey pockets! I somehow managed to recover without crashing and decide that was arguably not the appropriate training technique for 3 days before a big race.

I traveled to the race with my friend Eric Russell from Clif Bar. We arrived a few days early and were ecstatic after checking out the course and having so much fun on the descent. The temperatures were in the 80s when we arrived and we heard it was going to be hot for the race, but had no idea just how hot it would get.

Race morning greeted us with 55 degrees at 5:00am in the dark. We met my friend Josie Beggs (Starbucks) and rolled out with a neutral start for 2 miles then hit the bottom of the first 10 mile climb. I was in 8^th place overall (2^nd singlespeed) at the top of the climb when we entered the first section of singletrack.

Gatorade is one of our primary sponsors, and at our team training camp each year, they present the importance of hydration, and the two main reasons behind a 30% carbohydrate mixed drink. Research shows that drinks made up of 30% carbs empty most rapidly from the stomach; more rapidly than both thicker mixtures, and thinner drinks including water. This faster emptying prevents the bloated feeling associated with a full stomach. Drinks with 30% carb mix also are absorbed better through the wall of the small intestine than any other mix. This facilitates not only hydration, but also electrolyte absorption. Gatorade’s High-Endurance formula utilizes a 30% mixture, and I’ve been training and racing with it for years with great results.

However, the race is sponsored by another drink company. I had used it in the past, and not had any problems with it, so when faced with the logistical challenges of preparing bottles for 12 feed zones, I opted to go with it. Unfortunately something happened with the mixture, and the bottles on the course were mixed with a weakened concentration. Even though I recognized that the drink was weak and tried to supplement with Clif Shot, after the first five bottles, at about 30 miles, I started to feel both bloated and low on energy.Nevertheless, I was having fun and picked off a few riders. The air temperature quickly reached 98+ degrees, and I started to suffer from my suboptimal fluid replacement. Several times on the ride, just about when I’d had about all the climbing I could take and I’d start feeling really lousy, the trail would descend an exhilarating section of single track I’d just smile and forget the pain. It was only a temporary mask; I was getting to be in pretty bad shape.

When I finished the first 60 mile lap, I dismounted, set down my bike, took off my helmet and told my wife Lisa who had a complete support area set up under our Clif Bar tent that I wasn’t sure I could go on. I knew I looked bad because she didn’t give me the words of encouragement and try to convince me to press on like usual. Instead, she handed me a Red Bull and a 24 oz Clif Shot recovery drink and I pounded them both. Then I asked for 2 more Red Bulls and another recovery, stuffed them all in my pockets and headed out.

I thought the first time up the 10 mile climb was tough? That time it was dawn and the coolest part of the day! This time, at just about high noon, it was ridiculous. At times I was pretty sure the gravel was melting before my eyes. I weaved my way up from shade on one side of the road to shade on the other. I was cooked! While I waited for the sugar to kick in, it was my mom’s words that kept me going- echoing in my head from when I’d get tired on backpacking trips when I was little, “just put one foot in front of the other”. I focused on one pedal stroke at a time and passed 2 more riders on the way up the climb to the aid station at the top.

At the top, I was met with a few friends who gave me a cold bottle of Clif Shot drink, a can of Coke, and poured ice-water on my head. I headed back out, and very slowly, started feeling better. I settled into my rhythm, one foot in front of the other, and hammered out the second lap of 40 miles. I finished 2^nd single-speed, and 5^th overall, pleased that I did well, but more so that I persevered through the heat; only 52 finished of the 120 who started.

At the end, I felt better and worse than I thought I would. My form was on, and I felt fit. My hydration was not, and made the day more miserable than it should have been. Immediately following the race I was certain that it was my first and last Cream Puff. That feeling only lasted about a week and I’ve already begun thinking about next year; hopefully it won’t be so hot!

My friends also had great races. Eric Russell from Clif Bar finished 10^th overall but required 3 liters of fluid IV in the ER that night. Josie Beggs’ wrong turn lost her 1^st place woman so she had to “settle” for 2^nd place. Josie reported that by the time she tackled the second climb, there was carnage everywhere; at least 10-15 riders lying down on the side of the road. Talk about a hard race!