Almanzo 100 Recap

Friday I picked up the rental car, loaded up hastily (more on this later), and hit the road for Rochester. Earlier in the day I received an email stating the boys from 612 would not be coming Friday night but Saturday before the race.



I was about 1/3 of the way to Rochester when I realized I’d forgotten to pack my Camelbak Mule in my hasty packing. Crap. I stopped in Austin and checked a couple of places but they did not carry Camelbak products. Arriving in Rochester I noticed a Dick’s Sporting Goods store. They were open and I purchased a 3-liter bladder for my other Camelbak. I was using it to carry clothes and was thankful all I needed to buy was a bladder. Whew!

I checked into the hotel and was glad the boys for 612 decided not to take my offer for lodging. The hotel room was very small. I don’t know how four dudes, with bikes, would have fit into it. Things work out – sometimes.

After a pretty good night’s sleep I loaded the two (2) water bottles I brought with a Hammer Nutrition product and filled the water bladder for the Camelbak. I tossed in three (3) Clif Bars and two packages of dehydrated apples and I was ready to go. I hurried to the start, checked in, and prepared for the roll out.

I found out later Mark had major car trouble and an international flight later that day so he needed to skip the race. Patch was not able to attend because sometimes things don’t work out. Hurl was there riding a baby blue Surly Pacer.

We lined up and the cowbell signalled the start. The pack remained pretty tight as we navigated the city streets. I worked my way to the front. We soon left the city streets for a paved trail and then we hit the gravel. I was still riding very much up front at this point. And then came the first significant hill.

The first big hill was steep and long. The geared boys rode away and many of the single speeders and fixed gear riders walked the hill. I was one of the walkers. Better to lose a bit of time than fry the legs on the first hill.

After a few more rollers the terrain flattened out. I could see riders ahead of me and I set my sights on them and attempted to reel them in. I was slowly able to pass quite a few riders and was only passed by two. I knew I was moving up.

The terrain changed from somewhat flat to rollers and back again. Of the many hills, and there were many, I walked four. All were before the halfway point in the race. The downhills were, ah, interesting. My top speed on a decent was 35 MPH and 30 MPH was not uncommon. It is exciting to be going 35 MPH on 700 x 37 tires on gravel roads. I pointed the bike, trusted the bike, didn’t use a death grip, and let ‘er run. I didn’t crash all day. No close calls, either.

Part way through the race I met up with Eric from Banjo Brothers. I was able to ride with him for part of the race. He said he converted his single speed to a geared bike the night before the race. He was doing well. We made it to the one checkpoint at about the same time. He went to the Kwik Mart for water and I took in calories.

I left the checkpoint with three other riders. We rode together for a while and then I pulled away. I spend most all of the last third of the race riding alone.

After the checkpoint most all of the riding was into the brisk Northwest wind. One stretch of road had been freshly graded and this section proved to be the most tedious. I was glad when that section was over.

At last I hit the edge of town and pavement. There were some significant hills to climb on the edge of town but knowing there were only a few miles to go and riding on pavement I got out of the saddle and powered up them. I pulled into the parking lot and the finish line seven hours and thirty-one minutes after I left. It was good to be done.

I was looking at the results online. See them HERE. A few dudes did the race in five hours and forty-four minutes. That is incredible considering it was a hilly course mostly on gravel roads. What was equally impressive to me were the dudes riding fixed gear bikes.

I placed 24th out of 59 riders. I have an email into the race director. On the website a dude with a 12 minute slower time than me is listed as second place in the single speed category. Perhaps it’s a misprint or something. Or, I may have taken second in the single speed category. I’m sure this little mystery will have an explanation soon. So, I may or may not have gotten second place – single speed.

It was a very challenging, but fair, course. The race director put on an outstanding race. I didn’t hear any complaints regarding the race. A big thanks to all of the sponsors. I HUGE thanks to Summit Brewing – that Pale Ale tasted awfully good after a long day on gravel. I’m very certain I’ll be doing this race again next year. It was a good challenge but a lot of fun.




Ride On.