SSWC09: TANDEM GEEKS RACE REPORT (& PHOTOS BELOW)
Henry Abel & Amy Mitchell
Bend, OR
When you're driving 19 hours (one way) with a tandem on the roof of your van - you're secretly hoping that everybody that's told you that a tandem can't ride the course at SSWC09 is wrong.
This is our second year in a row that we've shown up at SSWC with a tandem, so obviously we (A) have a good sense of humor, and (B) we're looking for a challenge.
But the odds were not in our favor.
We don't mind running the risk of embarrassing ourselves on the tandem, but I usually prefer to do it closer to home. We had 19 hours of driving to think about the worst thing that could happen. And short of getting hurt, the worst thing that could happen is that we'd walk more than we rode, or not make the time cut off for the first loop because we were walking too much.
Oh, or it could pour rain on us during the race. After seeing that it had rained all week leading up the now - that was Amy's worst fear.
The time cutoff that was announced for the first half of the course has us worried. Two hours and 30 minutes was all we were given. Carl Decker told me the day we arrived in Durango that it took him 1:45 to casually ride this very same loop. This upped the anxiety level for both of us. The tandem can be slow going - but we always try and finish. Theembarrassment of being (in our minds, the ONLY bike) pulled had us more motivated and nervous than anything else that day.
We spent friday resting up from the huge drive to Durango the night before and declined some offers of riding up to check out the course. We have made a habit of not pre-riding burly race courses. We figure that we'll get to the nasty stuff soon enough and Amy is unique in that she sleeps better the night before if she doesn't know what's coming. Amy made her case two years ago when we raced the tandem at Downieville. We had a fantastic race then, and the tradition has stuck.
Come race day in Durango the sun was shining and it was beautiful!
We rolled up to the start line and the comments started coming. You know you're up to something when a man wearing a bike helmet and a tutu (and drinking a beer at 10:30 in the morning) looks at you and your tandem, then starts the conversation by telling you that you're both insane.
Evidently, according to a lot of people at the start line, we were completely out of our minds!
The race started and we were thrilled to be on our way. The streets were packed elbow to elbow with single speeders! I could not believe the crush of crazy people that we rode thru town with! Durango residents and tourists were lining the roads and neighborhoods that we rode thru and cheering us on like crazy! The few that weren't were wondering just what in the hell they'd stumbled upon.
I was pretty happy that I hadn't caved into pressure to further reduce our 29er tandem gearing from our usual 32/22T. I'd seen people with 25T cogs on their bikes at the start line and it was pretty clear who they were as we passed quite a few people spinning like crazy to try and keep from getting run over.
Coming our of town on to the first big pavement climb (up towards the college?) the roads were lined with more people cheering and heckling. That always makes it more fun! It seemed like everybody was passing us on the climb, but in reality we'd started near the front of the race and even if we were in 300th place already, that still meant that there were really 700 or more riders behind us.
Once we got to the first bits of singletrack our rolling parade suddenly turned into a start and stop session of trail riding. Some double track, some single track, some FUN singletrack, and then the walking started. The steeper the climb got the more we'd have to come to a stop and wait. And as we got closer to the first big hike-a-bike section the starting and stopping turned into stopping and standing. In some cases standing long enough that you could take a whiz in the bushes and still not lose your place in line!
If you're going to get stranded on a big-hike-a-bike it's best to do it with a thousand single speeders, as you'll never get bored. And few got frustrated. The jokes and one liners could be heard up and down the trail. We all knew we'd be walking at some point and we all knew there was a big hike to be had about 5 miles into the race. I'm not sure we realizes that we'd ALL be walking! And it got steep! Steep enough that by the time that we came along in 350th place there were footsteps kicked into the trail to help you get your footing. These come in handy when you're pushing 40 pounds of tandem up the trail.
Cheers could be heard as we got closer to the top. "I'm riding, I'm riding my bike! I'm pedaling on my bike!" It was too good to be true.
As we finally pedaled up to what was sure to be the top of the hiking section the beer hand ups began! I'm not much of a beer drinker, but when the tandem came riding into view of the first keg the assembled crowd went berzerk. And when somebody has hauled an iced keg up to the top of a climb and poured you a cup, it's rude to say no. I took a swig of mine to make it official. We were finally off and racing at SSWC09!
Once on top the ridge it got rocky. This was the part we'd been warned about. It was obvious that we'd be walking big sections of this. Carl had told me that we'd have trouble here. And walking it was nearly as sketchy as riding it. Big chunks of rock, some of it loose, all along an exposed ridge. The view was beautiful, but I had to be mindful of my footing. Amy has it better in that she could look around a little bit more, but she didn't have the tandem to use as a crutch like I did so she had to keep here eyes on the trail as well.
I snuck a peek and the view of Durango and the surrounding ridges was awesome! No wonder the hike seemed so steep!
"Bikes back!" Amy informed me. "Walking bikes or riding bikes?" She let me know they were walking, too.
We walked most of the first third of the ridge, until we found a few sections where we could sneak in some pedaling. Getting off and on is a bit tiring in itself, so walking was easier. Lugging the tandem along was a bit of work. I pushed the lifted the front through the big rocks and Amy pushed and helped guide the rear through the tight turns. Everybody was walking so I wasn't too bummed.
As it started to open up we rode a few sections of trail. Then walked some more. Occasionally a group or riders (actually riding) would ask to come thru and we'd cheer them on as they came by, giving hope to us and all the rest of the walkers!
And eventually the trail started to mellow out some. We started riding, and then after getting a taste of it rode some of the rocky sections to keep from having to get off again. Not so bad. If you start with the really nasty stuff, everything else gets easier!
Next thing you know, we're riding the ridge! And man, was it FUN! We didn't really start riding it all until probably the last third of the ride - and once it started heading down we were loving it! And keeping pace with the single bikes. We'd get a rider behind us, but most of the time they were getting such a kick out of watching us that they'd decline to pass and instead cheer us on. And as it got steeper the tandem got much faster on the way down the ridge.
Amy was having fun now - and we were actually passing people. There was some carnage to be seen on the sides of the trails. Broken bike, flat tires, bloody knee, cramping rider... Nothing awful, but I heard later that this was the place where Travis Brown crashed out of the race earlier in the day.
Snaking down the ridge I knew we were getting close to the end of the first loop. About 11 miles. The crowds along the trail were getting heavier, and I could hear huge cheers off in the distance. Huge cheers at a race like this usually means that you're approaching something that could potentially kill you, and the crowds are there to let you know how much they appreciate your crashing in front of them. They don't really want you to get hurt, but we all know that people watch NASCAR for the crashes.
A fast descent suddenly spit us out to the start finish line. The trees and course were so tight here that we had to get off in front of everybody and lift the tandem to get it around the s-turn that had been taped off in the trees. I was offered a beer to chug at this point but declined since we were actually racing now. A look at the watch and we'd make the cutoff in 2:19! Time to go tackle the second loop!
The second loop was much easier. Probably because now we didn't have to rush. I felt bad for the hundreds of people behind us on the first hike-a-bike. I knew that it had to have taken them another 30 minutes or more to walk up that first climb and doubted that a lot of them would make the time cut off. But this is SSWC and rules were meant to be broken, so I'm sure you could keep riding if you felt the need.
The trails here were rocky and loose, but after walking the ridge everything afterwards was seeming easy.
At around mile 13 we could hear a large crowd up ahead. Amy rightly stated that there must be something up ahead that would likely cause us to die if we tried to ride it.
This was one of our favorite moments of the day. There was a big rocky slab that led into a small ravine. I could already see skid marks down the face of the rock and a few bikes were walking it. As we approached the tandem got a big cheer. And once the volunteer at the top of the first turn suggested we walk it, I decided we'd give it a try and see how far we could ride it. The rock slab looked pretty slick and I trusted our tires more than my shoes.
Turns out it wasn't so bad and we rode it from top to bottom. The crowd went nuts and the tandem had elevated us to rock start status as that moment. As we rode out of the bottom of the chute high fives were given to us! And we got beer poured all over us. Rock star status has its downsides, too.
Along the next section of trail Amy and I exchanged kudos for a job well done and now focused on ticking off the last 7 or 8 miles. (I'm still not really sure how long the race was. 20 miles? 23?
The trail got smoother and more fun as the loop went on. Some steep sections had us out of the saddle and pedaling in slow motion to get up them, but at this point we had an extra boost of energy and didn't mind. It also got a lot quieter out here. There were still some crowds at the trail intersections, but fewer and fewer riders were coming by. The few that we passed usually cheered us on, and then groaned that they'd been passed by the tandem.
The next hike-a-bike section was REALLY hard. As steep as the first, or worse, but not as long as the first one. It didn't matter, since we were pretty smoked at this point. The tandem felt much heavier and my legs were getting tired from pushing. If Amy took her hands off the tandem I could feel the full weight of it rolling back towards me.
Riders started piling up again as we hit the really steep part. Again, there were steps worn into the trail from all of the riders before us trying to get a foothold. This seemed to help.
At the top, we witnesses the best aid station of the day. Bacon! Two guys cooking bacon on a camp stove and offering the skillet to us as we marched by. With full finger gloves on you could grab some warm bacon right out of the pan! Amy's a vegetarian, but she sure appreciated the smell! And the humor of it. Twenty feet later we were offered shots of whiskey! I decided to stick with my warm Cytomax.
Once the trail started heading down again we were treated to some great Durango single track. Very steep, and a bit of a handful on the tandem - but mostly all rideable! Sweeping turns and tight trees. Exposed edges and rocky drops. We don't mind technical riding so long as it's downhill. There's some security on knowing that you're not going to go over the bars when you're on a tandem. So long as you keep it pointed in the right direction there's not much that will stop it in its tracks. We drug the timing chain across the top of several rocky sections, but our momentum carried us over. Good bike!
Faster riders came by us. Some declined to pass and preferred to watch and ride behind us. Others came up on us so fast that we pulled over and let them come by in groups.
We were getting close to the end - I could feel it! I was actually a bit bummed, as tired as I was. Now that we were heading mostly down the riding was getting easier and the tandem was going faster than most of the single bikes was came across. There's nothing more fun than coasting past some single bikes on a trail. "Big bike on your left!"
Less than a quarter mile from the finish we were greeted by one more nasty, rocky hike-a-bike that had us off and pushing again. I hoped they wouldn't deprive us of getting to ride across the finish line.
SSWC is always cruel, in that I hear that the courses are always tough. We'd only raced in Napa in 08, and that was the hardest single speed tandem riding that we'd done at that point. Durango took it to another level, but it was still doable. Whenever we were walking, there were usually others walking too. Granted, these were the "others" that were in 500th place with us so the faster and more skilled riders were well ahead of us at this point.
Fortunately the hike was very short and we were able to jump back on at the top. The crowds were supportive and the chant of "TANDEMMMM!" has us motivated to finish it off with gusto.
Once on the home stretch we could see the archway that marked the finish line. It was a gradual uphill to the line and we locked out the fork so we could stand up the last bit of the climb. The crowd went berzerk when the tandem came into view! Very cool.
Coming across the line people were trying to high-five us but my hands were full as we were still standing to keep our momentum across the line. It was suddenly thick with racers and spectators and we were done. Lots of people came over to ask how we did on the course and to remind us that we were crazy.
I can say that the crowd response is the reason we were there. Amy and I love to say, "Hey, anybody can ride that trail on a single bike!" It's a little cocky - but it's true. The tandem is a challenge and that's why we do it. Nobody would have noticed us on single bikes.
Amy and I had an awesome race! Whoever said that tandems are divorce machines, probably had much bigger problems in their relationship than a tandem bicycle. After 2 years on the single speed tandem we're still in love with each other. Probably more, after another SSWC!
New Zealand is a long ways off, but I'm already thinking of ways to get the tandem there...
Henry Abel
henry@webcyclery.com
Looking for tandem races on the west coast? Visit NWTandemRacing.com
Thanks to Jo Maralit for sending us the photo of us coming across the finish line!
