I've just realized today I didn't do an update about the race. Forgot totally.
It was a blast, mostly. I got into Marquette lateish on Friday, but in time to pick up my packet. I'd given up beer for the week of the race so I didn't grab a beer at Blackrocks that night. It was hopping though. I drove over to my hotel - it was in Ishpeming so I was close to the race start. It was at the Wonderlands Inn. Not a fancy place but cheap and clean, got the job done. Just a quick review, it's the kind of place you can go for a mtb race or whatever, like one step up from a tent at a state park, but probably not where I'd take the wife/kids.
Anyhow, on to race day. Start was at 10am so there was plenty of time to relax in the morning and get set. I was one of just under 100 people doing the long race, I think just under 200 did the short. I got set at Ishpeming High School and settled in to my pre-race stuff. I don't have this all dialed in yet for fatbike races, but it worked out. What I really struggle with is what to wear (like a girl) and also what to bring to eat/drink. Also tire pressures is a struggle for me with my lack of experience on the fatty.
I settled in on what I'd call "lighter" gear as I figured I'd be pushing and the temps were in the high teens to low 20's for most of the race. I used my frame bag and had spare tube/tools/pump and a couple snacks, along with my water bottle. The bag worked flawlessly.
Race started - we were off following the Red Bull truck to the trail. Instantly I could tell I had too much pressure but I tried to fight through. Ended up stopping about 2mi in to drop pressure, then again a few miles later. I ended up riding with that amount of pressure the whole race until almost the finish. More on that later, but my starting point was 7psi front and 8psi rear. I think I ended much lower, like 5 or less front and 5-6 rear.
The trails were made up of two singletrack loops separated by some snowmobile trail (open for sleds). The first section of singletrack was the one by Ishpeming, I think called the SBT. It was fantastic, in pretty good shape overall. I loved the trails, really fun, groomed well, and except for the parts that I could tell were not the "normal" trail. People complained about the hills but I did not find them to be that bad.
The snowmobile trail (Heritage Trail I think) inbetween the two singletrack sections was fine - nothing really notable but still very gorgeous and a good ride. It was nice to get some speed in after the slower singletrack.
The second set of singletrack (the SBR) was pretty bad. The long course here overlapped with where the short course had already run so the trails were incredibly chewed up and soft. Anywhere there was an uphill, people had walked and that made it nearly impossible to keep pedaling. The majority of this loop was spent trying to maintain the bike in a 6" wide rut with 5" wide tires that had in general too much pressure to ride right. I didn't go lower as I didnt feel it would help much.
The culmination of crappy trail conditions was the section coming down near the last aid station, including the part along the ski hill. It was just so damn soft and with 20+ miles of fatigue it was very hard to stay on the bike with any sort of speed/grace. I made it through but much slower than I'd wanted to. The last section into town was easy and welcome considering the crap I'd been through. The "technical" line they set up was much too easy, I would've loved to see some real difficulty there.
I ended up finishing the course in about 4:45. I was bummed as I'd saved some energy for the second singletrack section so I could push but ended up not being able to use it due to the snow conditions. I felt good when I could pedal, the power class must be helping because hills were not so bad as I thought they would be. I was consistently reeling people in in the parts where I could pedal, I was only passed by one guy after a crash once we settled in to the race, other than that I was passing people.
Looking forward to the Fatbike Birkie this weekend, I have a few learnings. I'm going to go much lighter on the bike/gear and rely on aid stations a bit heavier. I will still carry a tube/tools/air and water, but other than that that will be in. I'm not expecting to finish first or anything but would like to continue to work my way up towards the earlier parts of the pack. Id say I like to finish in the top 1/3rd of the finishers, haven't really settled that yet though. I plan on grinding it out and really pushing hard, I want to give it all and see how well I can do.
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