Curmudgeon 100

Late in 2014, John challenged me with figuring out a route to do 100 miles on my local trails. I wasn't sure it was possible, but cranked up Topofusion to give it a try. Sure enough, I was able to put together 100 miles of riding on trails. So I reached out to some folks and found a few who were willing to give it a try. Nancy and I decided that we may as well start it at our house since it is only about a mile from there to the trails. Picked Jan 2, 2015 as a date and it was on. 

We had 6 show up and 4 finish that year. The course was very tough and the weather was VERY cold. It was not an easy ride by any means. Surprisingly, a couple of the folks who did it wanted to try again. So, if we were going to do it again, we needed to give the ride a name. Ray came up with the Curmudgeon 100 - I'm guessing that refers to his personality? Anyway, I liked the name and it stuck. 

Wanting a better experience than 2015's beatdown of a route, I created another challenge for myself and decided to route the ride entirely on the east and north side of the McDowells - no going over the mountains. With some of the new trails in Brown's Ranch and some creativity, a new course was created. 

For the 2016 version I cast the invite net a bit wider and ended up with 8 people in for the full meal deal and 1 who wanted to do a "partial". Again, Jan. 2 worked well. The forecast leading up to the event called for sunny skies and temps near 70 - already shaping up to be better than last year. 

The morning started out pretty chilly - but not as cold as it could have been. Everyone actually arrived on time - I was determined to start at 6. 

Getting ready

We headed out at about 6:03 - close enough. Rolled the mile or so on pavement to the entrance to MMP (McDowell Mountain Park). There is an entry point to the park from our neighborhood - so that was the last time we'd ride on pavement until the end of the ride. The drama started early as John tagged a Staghorn Cholla. Joe and I stayed with him while he did extraction - the rest of the crew motored on. We then headed up to the intersection of Chuparosa and Pemberton where Nancy was waiting with Sean. Since he lives close by Sean opted to meet us there rather than at the house. Brian rolled up soon after. The fast boys (Ray, Steve, Bob) had jetted ahead - anxious to get cranking on the miles.

Sean - ready to roll

Joe is all excited

That cactus came out of nowhere

We rolled on, to Escondido. The sky was just starting to lighten. I love being out on the bike during this time - watching night turn into day. At this point Sean had turned on his hyperdrive and left us in the dust - didn't see him again. So it was, me, Nancy, John, and Joe - just like 2015. Brian was taking his time and doing his own thing, so we didn't see him for the rest of the day.

The sun starting to come up on the Escondido trail

Nancy climbing Scenic as the sun continues to rise

View from Scenic

View from the competitive loop parking lot

On the loop of the Sport trail (competitive loops) Joe had a little mishap on a high berm. This caused a bent derailleur, which he bent back by hand. However, he noticed that the derailleur hanger had a crack in it, so he did not want to mess with it any more. I was sure that thing was going to snap off at any moment. Amazingly, it lasted the whole ride. Pro tip for you gearie types: Carry a spare derailleur hanger with you. Weighs next to nothing and can save your ride. Or get a single speed - just sayin...

After doing the sport loop we hit the jump line and pump track - just because it was there. Then on to the long loop. Somewhere in the long loop John dropped back. He would battle a broken seat and some fatigue early in the ride, before finding his mojo later on.

Gotta hit the jump line

And the pump track

I was surprised to run into Bob on the way up Delsie. He was doing some saddle adjustment on his new singlespeed. Yeah, he brought a new bike on a 100 mile ride without sorting all that stuff out first. That's one way to do it.

The "Oasis"

Bob rocking the rigid SS

Nancy and Joe heading up to Bell pass

At this point Joe, Nancy and I were riding together - with Bob joining us from time to time. As I approached the "summit" of the Bell pass part of the route I saw Steve coming toward me. Apparently he had gone the wrong way on that part of the loop. Same mileage, but he had to do the grunt up Prospector - which is tougher. So, bonus climbing/HAB for him.

As we passed Dixie mine, we noticed these big metal structures. Given that there is nothing out there but the abandoned mine, we couldn't figure out what this was for.

Bob suggested that maybe they were setting up for a Styx concert

The miles rolled on and on and on. As we approached the cooler cache visions of lunch started to dominate my thoughts. We rolled down Gooseneck until finally reaching the cache with about 55 miles under our belts and it was right about noon. Way better/faster than last year.

Best part of the day

Soaking up sun along with fuel

We still had another 50ish miles to do, so we didn't linger. Steve left first, then Nancy, Joe and I. Bob would come along later and meet up with us at the Brown's Ranch trailhead.

Bob, Joe and Nancy getting water

After the BR trailhead Bob, Joe, Nancy and I pretty much formed a train for the rest of the ride. For me it was a bit of a push to keep up with the group, but the pain was worth it. We made excellent time through Brown's Ranch. Ran into a couple of folks we knew. Saw our friend Spencer out there - that was cool.

As we ripped though BR I noticed that the sun was far higher than last year when we were in the same general area. I knew we should be able to take some time off of the 15 hour finish we had last year due to an easier course and better weather, but wasn't sure how much. Nancy and I thought we could get under 12 hours since we had both done other 100 milers in that time. My goal was to make it back before we needed lights and the stretch goal was to make it back before sunset. These goals helped me keep the pace we were setting.

We arrived back at the cooler, which meant we had about 12 miles of mostly downhill left. My GPS said 1:13 till sundown. Yeah, I think we can do that. Bob and I toasted with a couple of beers for the final push, then we were off. 54 minutes until sundown.

Cheers!

Almost back

We ripped down the Pemberton, rolling a pretty consistent 18mph. I'm glad there were few other people out there. Near the end of the Pemberton section I lost my rear tire and took a spill. When I got up my GPS read 100.0 miles. Sweeet. No harm, no foul - onward. We continued to burn down the trail to the gate in our neighborhood.

When we hit the gate the sun was still shining. Stretch goal acheived! We eased down the mile or so of pavement to the house, Got out the chili that Nancy had put in the slow cooker before we left in the morning and had started the stories/recap/refueling part of the ride. Ray had already left since he finished at 3:40 (how does that old man do it?) and was tired of waiting for us. Steve had finished a bit ahead of us. Sean had finished before us too, but finished at his house. Brian had done his custom loop and headed home earlier. John finished a bit after us, but wayyy before last year's time. All in all a VERY successful ride. The new course is a keeper and will probably only require some tweaks for next year - especially since they are still building new trails at Brown's Ranch.

Thanks to all who came out. This was super fun.

Made it before sunset and under 12 hours

GPX file here