6 hrs of Ithaca (Eric Patterson)

The second attempt at a Fun Promotions Endurance event landed me up in Ithaca, Michigan this Saturday. Since my completion of the Lumberjack 100, I decided to start transitioning back over to shorter cross country races instead of the endurance events that I have grown to like this season. So why did I decide to attempt the 6 hours of Ithaca? My main reason was to support Ben in his first solo 12 hour mountain bike race. I figured while I was there I might as well ride the 6 hour event and then assist Ben the last 6 hours of his race. It turned out my assistance was far from a necessity. It turned out to be like a Vanhoose family reunion. Since they kept Ben’s hydration, nutrition, and mental spirit in order during the first 6 hour; I had Rachel dedicated to keeping my hydration and nutrition in check. I did not really need the spirit uplift for this event because I was already out to have fun and had plenty of Red Bull from Chris to keep me high spirited. It worked out perfect and once I completed, I joined the large barbecue and party at the tent as we cheered Ben on every time he came around.

As for my race I made a lot of first time choices. The biggest one was deciding to run my Niner Air9 fully rigid. I had never ridden the course, but Ben’s pre-ride report disclosed I should be fine. So I favored the weight benefit in such a long race or at least that is how I rationalized it to others when they asked. To be honest, the atomic blue carbon fork (instead of the white suspension fork) when matched to my Kermit green frame is just sick looking. Then, just to add icing to the cake, throw in a set of pink rims and the color combo gets me every time. Another change since being taught some information from Lumberjack and Stony Marathon in these hotter times of the year, was my nutrition needed some tweaking. The last important choice I made was to run my tires at the lowest air pressure I have ever raced at before. I am new this year to tubeless wheels and I know if I roll the bead off the rim then I am not going to be able to pop it back on to the rim with just a trail side CO2 inflator. When I run my tires at “normal” pressures in the past it causes some extra hardness on the roots and rocks with no suspension fork and a “pin-ball” effects at times in the real rough sections. I figured since I was just going out to have fun, it wouldn’t upset me too much to loose a tire off the bead and have to fangle with a tube to get back going again. Some how all these choices never bit me once in the ass during the entire 6 hour event. I was very lucky and very happy in the end with all my choices plus some more options that Rachel threw on to me as I was racing; soon to be mentioned.

As usual, even though I always tell myself I won’t do it next time, I was busy all week and was never really prepared to leave for the race. I worked late on Friday and had a pile of my stuff in the corner that I had to take early Saturday morning but I always forget something. As we pull into the race and get unpacking the sun is high in the sky. Mark (Ben’s dad) and Rachel start to put the tent up, which I remembered, and were unwrapping the side curtains when I looked over and said, “oh wait, those are the sides, let me get the top”. As I turn around to look in the trunk, I get that memory flash back of grabbing the box of poles but not the bag with the top in it. I turn back around to tell them I didn’t have the top and sadness fills Rachel’s eyes. Mark thought it would be funny to still put up the poles and at least take a picture but I really just think he wanted long term proof of my mishap. Well, by the time I came back from registering, Mark broke out the duck tape and was taping the side curtains together to make a top that we could duck tape on the frame. Ingenuity at its best around the d2 Racing camp for this event, plus it came out so good that no one ever mentioned it, or I don’t think, noticed it.

Once Brent (race promoter) let the solo riders go, I filed in for an easy pace for a few laps. I saw a few people take off out of the gate like we were running a 50 minute time trial but I knew starting out like that in the mid-day heat would render me hurting in a few hours. Plus, I didn’t know the trail at all so I figured I would take a few laps to learn the trail and its advantages and disadvantages. After getting around the trail once I realized it wasn’t my style of course, what it lacks in elevation it makes up for in numerous tight turns. The key to unlock this trail was finding the perfect balance of speed. Riding too fast would be an extreme waste of energy because I would have to brake hard and accelerate hard out of corners. This seems to slam the legs worse than a few good steep climbs. I found that balance and I was excited to know that I signed up for six hours instead of the twelve hours that Ben was signed up to do. There is always a plus side though and I try to focus on the positives instead of the negatives. One positive was the trail was less then 5 miles, so I got to see Rachel and Ben’s family (which grew to probably over 8 people as the race went on) every 24 minutes. The other positive I focused on was mastering the trail to get the most efficient lap done. I always resort to my no-brake game where I try to hit my brakes the least amount without slowing down my overall speed. After a few hours I think I had the trail really figured out because my lap times were consistent by plus or minus a minute and my heart rate was dropping into an easy endurance zone.

Every time I came through the pit area it was a party, I was excited to see so many people around and Rachel was there with perfect bottle hand offs. I was keeping up with my nutrition but consuming more water since the temperature was over 90 degrees. Somewhere in the 4 hour area, Rachel pulled an audible and gave me a water bottle filled with a light tan like fluid. When I took it from her hands I wasn’t sure what it was but I knew all my mixtures were of orange coloring. I thrust it into my cage and hauled off down the trail. A mile or so in I grabbed it out for a quick drink. Holy cow, I thought to myself, this stuff is amazing. I kept trying to place the flavor but I just couldn’t figure it out. The closest thing it reminded me of was the powdered ice tea mix my grandma used to make when we worked in hay mows. I had a quick mental image of mowing hay in a barn and quickly changed from that thought to make a mental note of how ice tea would be a good idea to have laying around in the future. Somehow in that 24 minute lap I consumed the entire bottle and don’t remember much of the lap since my mind was marveling at this new fluid mixture that I had in my possession. The time started to fly by and soon enough I rounded out the event with 16 laps under my belt. Then I got to hang out at the pit area and party with the VanHoose’s as Ben kept going.

The last six hours of Ben’s race went by real fast for me since it was consumed by good stories and food all made possible by Ben’s family. There was a grill going with every form of a grill-able item being cooked; they had hamburgers, chicken, hot dogs, and even Boca burgers. Mark brought my favorite snack of peanut butter filled pretzels which I won’t buy for myself because I would consume a whole bin in a few hours after purchase. There was also chips, soda, beer, deer jerky, turkey jerky, and anything else you could imagine being present at a barbecue.

As the sunlight faded to night we broke out the lights for Ben and ourselves. As Ben pulled in for the light swap we outfitted his equipment while he got ready to finish the last few hours in the dark. I was kind of envious of Ben at this point (even though I am sure he was thinking the same thing in relation to me since I was hanging out with his family and eating food while he was still riding a bike) because I really like to race in the dark. It brings out a new experience and a whole new trail. There is just something mystical about night riding and I feel once you have done it you would feel the same way.

The final 12 hour mark was called and we were proud to see Ben place a first in his age bracket and a 3rd overall for the 12 hour event. My final result was surprisingly the same, a first in my age bracket and a 3rd overall for the 6 hour event. Another amazing Saturday spent with friends, bikes, and podium finishes! Thanks go out to Mark and Cathy for supplying all the food, Lisa for keeping the food going on the grill, all the VanHoose family and friends, and Adam from Bud’s Auto Parts for coming out and supporting us at the race.