Patapsco 100: Getting My Long Awaited Finisher Jersey

3rd Men's Open / 4th Overall

10 Hours 35 Minutes

Offical Results

Strava Data

Strava Bobblehead Race Replay 

 Photo by: Jerry Jackson

Patapsco 100 brings so many different feelings to different people. Some think it is too hard, some think it is too technical. For me it is the Goldilocks of endurance racing; just right. I love the amount of singletrack in this race, and it has just the right mix of technical sections. The nice part is some of the singletrack gives you a break while you just flow on some nice trails, sure you still have to pay attention but it’s still some sweet singletrack. I have raced my fair share of 100 mile mountain bike races and long endurance races. I would have to say that even though this course lasts longer than other 100 mile races it went by the fastest.

The 100 mile racers lined up at 0600 and rolled out to a beautiful brisk morning that recent rainfall had brought us. We quickly entered onto our singletrack that throughout the day was perfectly tacky aside from a couple muddy spots that weren’t that bad. Patrick Blair, Gordon Wadsworth and Greg Capelle sat up front and I settled in right behind them. Where’s Kevin Carter, we had all seen him hanging out around registration, he’ll show up, he always does; fashionably late.

Over the last years these trails have been my backyard to romp around in, play and most importantly on this race day, learn. I knew this race course inside out I knew where the log overs would be, I knew the lines to take. I had my own strategies to save energy and when to put it on the line. I knew when to get off my bike and run and the precise moments to do so.

I had been building my fitness focused on this race for the previous months and of course with my year round training. Recent training rides on and off the course with fast AFC team members and other friends had helped boost me to where I was today feeling strong and ready to perform my best.

With my preparation where it was for the technicality of this course I really wanted to get out front on the course but not try to chase down racers out of my league. This was tough from the start, Patrick and Gordon were easy to let go. This left me Greg and Jesse Kelly to fight for our ranks. Greg and I have done enough rides together that I know he is a stronger rider than me. He gets bullied into being strong at our weekly Wednesday team rides and still can usually out climb me on those tough days. I’ve raced with Jesse once earlier this year and had a good race for me, but still came in about 15 minutes behind him. I knew both of these riders are strong, so I needed to count on my training to prepare me to be a stronger rider today and most importantly focus on my strengths for the day; this course.

Jesse quickly let me lead out during our first couple miles of technical singletrack, but who’s this other guy behind me wanting to pass. I was stubborn and decided to just pick up my pace a little but took the advantage that I was in front and knew I wasn’t going to dab on the features. This was a strategy for mine through the whole race; don’t sit behind someone during anything technical, if they dab, I dab and then I spend wasted power. Smooth riding all day conserves energy and allows for faster racing.

Arrival at the first creek crossing came shortly and provided an opening for me to let my competitor by. We were moving into some steeper climbing that if the person behind me really should be passing then we shouldn’t have any issues. So I let mystery person by and, ahhhh, there goes Kevin Carter. I apologize as he goes by and feel like if I had known it was him I would have let him and his jet fuel past me. Kevin was super kind as always in racing and was even patient even though he was needing to catch up to his competition. Sorry I held you up Kevin :)

Cedar Creek Crossing First Lap, Kevin Carter coming up behind me. Photo By: Jerry Jackson

Greg decided I was going to slow for him around mile 10 at the top of a steeper climb into a big open field. I felt I had been holding him up, I thought he was just going to stick my wheel and take off later. When he passed I figured he had bigger fish to fry and was trying to catch up to the lead group. From here I rode alone for the next 15 miles or so until out of nowhere Jesse comes up behind me. Was I riding too casually to have him sneak up on me, sometimes I slow down when I’m riding solo. He tells me about the troubles that he has had early in the race and then we start swapping positions back and forth. The urge to pee starts getting pretty strong for me and I pull to the side with a small gap on Jesse. Dang the longest pee in the history of Paul, there goes Jesse and here I am still peeing.

I worked to catch back up to Jesse but as we got to the flats I had about a 10-15 second gap on him. He made sure to ride away with his Jesse power. I let him go, figuring that the effort spent to chase him down would burn me too much for the energy saved sucking his wheel and then I would probably get dropped on the Johnnycake climb or go too hard. He put a good gap on me and I went into my second lap without him in sight.

Into my second lap Greg shows up behind me somehow, he has had a rough day riding and has crashed a fair amount of times. I had to give Greg super kudos for even putting his wheel on the line, just about six weeks prior he suffered from a separated shoulder and had worked up enough to still race. The crashing was wearing him down though and I felt real bad for him. I really wanted him to finish, but the troubles of the day along with a cracked frame had him call it after his second lap.

I left Greg right before the Switchbacks and went to chase after Jesse, I really want to catch back up to him. I’ve now passed the halfway point of the lap which also puts me halfway through the race. Every long stretch I have I am looking ahead for Jesse, but no sign of him. I get back to start finish and throw down some boiled potatoes with balsamic vinegar, oil, salt and onions, yummm. One V8 down the hatch, a kiss for Leesa, my wife, and I’m off for lap three of goodness.

As I finished the picnic loop I see Jesse coming up towards the start finish, he hasn’t been ahead of me all of lap two, he is about 10 minutes behind me. This gave me a surge of energy, I was back in third with a strong lead. This surge of energy was short lived as I hit Pickall for the third time, the most technical part of the race with steep climbs and rocky rooty terrain. It wore hard on me this lap but I finally made it through it and checked it off my list for the day. As I started fatiguing on the third lap I got off the bike and ran instead of halting and crashing on a couple spots I knew were troublesome for me when I am fresh. I felt I made the correct decisions throughout the day on navigating this wonderful course. I hadn’t crashed, I felt good, my power had been consistent due to fluid maneuvering of the trail.

Two refreshing water crossings every lap!!! Photo By: Jerry Jackson

Of course mistakes happen and made one I did. I forgot to grab probars at the start finish. I started feeling the need for food very quickly into the third lap and knew I needed something. I started getting clumsy, and tired, and sick. My eyes were heavy and I felt very light headed, I just wanted to pull over and take a nap. I had my liquid nutrition that was working decent, but I needed something else right now. I still flew through Daniels Aid station and decided to push through till Woodstock for my aid bags. Probably not the wisest decision but it seemed like a good idea to a delusional mind. I kept forcing down my liquid nutrition, it provided calories and electrolytes even though it wasn’t hitting me just right. I luckily got to Woodstock fine, unfortunately I got there 10 minutes slower than the last two laps. I threw down a pro bar and took one to go, it did the trick and got me going a little stronger again.

I was so worried Jesse was right on my tail, I had lost ten minutes, and these could be the same ten minutes I had on him. If he was charging hard or keeping a same pace he could be right on my tail. I was close to the end now, but close is still 1 hour and 50 minutes away. I had to navigate Woodstock which only had two real climbs in it, neither were too demanding. After Woodstock a couple longer climbs one that was draining with a lot of rocks and roots with a steeper pitch at the top. Then of course to top off the day for climbing in the woods is Hell of the North, a hike a bike section, only rideable on a fun day. On race day, it would take more exertion and not really save time to ride it. I also didn’t mind the hike, Hell of the North would allow me to use my calf muscles more than my other muscles that have been fatiguing through the rest of the riding. I was still much slower on this segment than previous laps. Once at the top it is smooth sailing down some of the sweetest downhill this course has to offer, jump on some flat riding and hit the last road climb to the finish.

I kept looking back when I had long stretches to view, but no sign of anyone was behind. I climbed my way to third place open and was greeted by a bunch of friends and my earned my spot 3^rd on the podium. I crushed my goal of 11 hours by coming in at 10hr 35min. and I accomplished my goal of 3^rd place. Both were goals I knew were going to be hard to achieve. My training paid off and I was very proud of my accomplishments!

Thanks to my wife first for working with me on all the training and racing I do. AFC for such a great race. Everyone who contributed to making this race happen were amazing, Mid Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts(MORE) and especially Ed Dixon and Eric Crawford have continued to keep Patapsco such an amazing place to ride. Training friends to help me get here. No Film Photography and his band of photographers for putting together some great coverage.