Baiting the bear
Back to Casper Mountain for our second time at the Bear Bait 8 hour! What would a little experience on the course, more focused training and better prep lead to? We were about to find out!
Like back in Colorado, winter seemed to be hanging on atop Casper Mountain. Huge drifts of snow dangled right up against the singletrack, forcing a course change at the last minute. I’m not sure I would have remembered the course from last year, so outside a few sections I didn’t even notice the changes. Because of the timing of the trip, we didn’t get a chance to pre-ride. It was going to be new to us! This year, we did have a plan in place for the race based on our times from last year. The goal was 11 laps, but it was going to be close. We both had to be riding strong and not have any issues for us to reach that goal. And I needed to have my head 100% in the cycling game - not thinking about anything else.
Nick started this year - heading out into the chilly morning for the first lap. One of the race organizers had said that the lap times would be low 40s, possibly high 30s. With that in mind, right after Nick started, I headed back to the van to change. What to wear? What to wear? When the sun was out, it was warm, but as soon as it ducked behind the clouds... Brrr. Definitely knee warmers, definitely arm warmers. I tucked my rain coat in my bento box, snuggled into the blue puffy and pedaled to the transition area to wait. When I got there, I put my rain coat on. It was colder then I thought! Then the sun came out... Maybe I didn’t need that extra layer after all. Back in the bento it went! And then the sun vanished again. I would be fine, I would be pedaling hard. That’s what I told myself anyway. Then Nick came up the hill. Time for pondering clothing choices was over and the time to start focusing on the singletrack. We exchanged and I was off.
My first lap was going to be my pre-ride. A pre-ride at race pace is never a wise idea, but that’s what I was doing! And at one of the first trail junctions I had to slow down to make sure I was going the right direction! I actually started down the wrong trail for a few pedal strokes, then realized my mistake and turned around. Whoops. Time to settle down and ride smart. There was one more location where I wasn’t quite sure, but followed the arrows and stayed on the course. Because we hadn’t pre-ridden, I really had to pay attention to the trail. There were things I remembered, like the bermed corners of the Dungeon Trail and the rocks on the Overlook Trail. Then there were other things, like the tree branch that hit my helmet EVERY SINGLE LAP! You’d think I would have remembered that from last year and then remembered this year... Nope. There were a few more surprises on the way to the finish line - including a winding maze through the trees before turning into the straightaway. Now I knew why it had taken so long for Nick to get there from when I’d seen him turning after the last climb!
The hardest part for me this year was the short turn around between finishing a lap and pedaling over to wait to start the next lap. It was only about 25 minutes, during which I had to finish my bottle, wash my face, write down my lap times, fill up my bottle and eat something. Eating something was the biggest issue. I knew I needed to eat something between every lap - I had to keep the stores topped off as much as I could with the Tommyknocker 12 hour race the next day. But the laps were so short that the intensity didn’t lead well to eating that much. Ugh. I tried. I really did - but it gets to the point where all you want to do is sit down and rest, not try to cram more food down the gullet. I finally gave up after my third lap. I just couldn't do it anymore. I needed to focus on staying fast and consistent here, not getting overloaded and sluggish with food.
With Nick starting and doing the Odd laps, I was out well before the 4 hour racers this year. No last minute stress about beating the new rush of riders. One thing that was really cool was seeing all the little kids out riding the 4 hour race. Some were riding with their parents the whole time, some were on teams with their parents and so headed out into woods alone. And they all had the cutest little bikes - from 20" wheels to 26" wheels and everything in between. These are the things you don't see at some of the more serious 12 and 24 hour races - both due to the length of those courses and the fact that many of riders at those races take themselves too serious. Waiting a few seconds to a minute to pass the younger riders isn't a big deal in the greater scheme of things - but some runners definitely don't want wait. The trail etiquette of those younger riders was better then many of the guys I've raced against at other 24 hour races.
My second and third laps were smoother. Know the course helps a lot with being able to ride fast! I was still not efficient on some of the really twisty sections - it's not the style of ride that we do, so there's a learning curve for sure. I think that's what makes the race so much fun - it's hard racing without being super technical. It's finesse riding though the trees, but the faster you go, the harder it becomes. I think that's why our lap times were so close at this race - Nick and I were within a minute on every lap. There's no techy descent or long power climbs for him to gain time on me. I wasn't exactly feeling spunky this year either, but was staying consistent with my lap times. There was no crash like last year. Granted, I also didn't have the crazy 3rd lap trying to beat the 4 hour race this year. My slowest lap was my fourth still. I kind of lost my focus on that lap, getting distracted by the clouds and the weather. It looked like the thunderstorms were building all around the mountain, but we were still mostly sunny. Not that it was warm! I rode every single lap with both knee warmers and arm warmers. The blue puffy also made multiple appearances during the race. It's June - the first weekend of summer and we were using the blue puffy? So many things wrong with that picture. At least it wasn't the weather from last year!
Before heading out for my 5th lap (our 10th) I checked results quick. There'd been an error prior because one of the riders on another team had ridden by the timing mats while her partner was out on course. So there were 2 20 minute laps showing up instead of one 45 minute lap, which had had them ahead of us on results. When I dropped one lap, we had a solid lead - almost a full lap up. But the official results needed to reflect that. And yup - things had been corrected. The timing for getting 11 laps would be close, but it didn't look like we needed to stress. When Nick tagged off, he told me to ride smooth and smart. We had time to to spare. It was tempting to just spin and ride moderately hard, but no. The sooner I got Nick out, the sooner we'd be done racing!
It wasn't my fastest lap, but close. And I felt really good the entire time. Might not have been spunky, but consistent. As soon as I finished, I headed back tot he van to start packing things up. I knew when Nick finished, he'd want to get the bikes up and get ready to roll. We hadn't gotten much stuff out for the race so the repacking was pretty easy. I was keeping an eye on the trail near the van as I packed, wanting to make sure I saw Nick when he rolled by.
Again, the race was really well done and a lot of fun. Only a few issues with the course, but that was more my fault then anything else. We hadn't pre-ridden and they'd had to make some last minute course changes. The band playing as the last riders were finishing and we were waiting for results was really good. The food truck that came cooked all day - starting with breakfast burritos and ending with hamburgers. We lucked out with the weather - while it threatened rain a few times, it never got really bad. Bear Bait 8/4 is definitely a race to check out - and if possible we may be back next year!
Like back in Colorado, winter seemed to be hanging on atop Casper Mountain. Huge drifts of snow dangled right up against the singletrack, forcing a course change at the last minute. I’m not sure I would have remembered the course from last year, so outside a few sections I didn’t even notice the changes. Because of the timing of the trip, we didn’t get a chance to pre-ride. It was going to be new to us! This year, we did have a plan in place for the race based on our times from last year. The goal was 11 laps, but it was going to be close. We both had to be riding strong and not have any issues for us to reach that goal. And I needed to have my head 100% in the cycling game - not thinking about anything else.
 |
| At least the sun was shining! Nick all bundled up as he headed out for the start, |
Nick started this year - heading out into the chilly morning for the first lap. One of the race organizers had said that the lap times would be low 40s, possibly high 30s. With that in mind, right after Nick started, I headed back to the van to change. What to wear? What to wear? When the sun was out, it was warm, but as soon as it ducked behind the clouds... Brrr. Definitely knee warmers, definitely arm warmers. I tucked my rain coat in my bento box, snuggled into the blue puffy and pedaled to the transition area to wait. When I got there, I put my rain coat on. It was colder then I thought! Then the sun came out... Maybe I didn’t need that extra layer after all. Back in the bento it went! And then the sun vanished again. I would be fine, I would be pedaling hard. That’s what I told myself anyway. Then Nick came up the hill. Time for pondering clothing choices was over and the time to start focusing on the singletrack. We exchanged and I was off.
 |
| The twisty singletrack heading to the finish straight was a little tricky |
The hardest part for me this year was the short turn around between finishing a lap and pedaling over to wait to start the next lap. It was only about 25 minutes, during which I had to finish my bottle, wash my face, write down my lap times, fill up my bottle and eat something. Eating something was the biggest issue. I knew I needed to eat something between every lap - I had to keep the stores topped off as much as I could with the Tommyknocker 12 hour race the next day. But the laps were so short that the intensity didn’t lead well to eating that much. Ugh. I tried. I really did - but it gets to the point where all you want to do is sit down and rest, not try to cram more food down the gullet. I finally gave up after my third lap. I just couldn't do it anymore. I needed to focus on staying fast and consistent here, not getting overloaded and sluggish with food.
With Nick starting and doing the Odd laps, I was out well before the 4 hour racers this year. No last minute stress about beating the new rush of riders. One thing that was really cool was seeing all the little kids out riding the 4 hour race. Some were riding with their parents the whole time, some were on teams with their parents and so headed out into woods alone. And they all had the cutest little bikes - from 20" wheels to 26" wheels and everything in between. These are the things you don't see at some of the more serious 12 and 24 hour races - both due to the length of those courses and the fact that many of riders at those races take themselves too serious. Waiting a few seconds to a minute to pass the younger riders isn't a big deal in the greater scheme of things - but some runners definitely don't want wait. The trail etiquette of those younger riders was better then many of the guys I've raced against at other 24 hour races.
 |
| Nick out on trail |
Before heading out for my 5th lap (our 10th) I checked results quick. There'd been an error prior because one of the riders on another team had ridden by the timing mats while her partner was out on course. So there were 2 20 minute laps showing up instead of one 45 minute lap, which had had them ahead of us on results. When I dropped one lap, we had a solid lead - almost a full lap up. But the official results needed to reflect that. And yup - things had been corrected. The timing for getting 11 laps would be close, but it didn't look like we needed to stress. When Nick tagged off, he told me to ride smooth and smart. We had time to to spare. It was tempting to just spin and ride moderately hard, but no. The sooner I got Nick out, the sooner we'd be done racing!
It wasn't my fastest lap, but close. And I felt really good the entire time. Might not have been spunky, but consistent. As soon as I finished, I headed back tot he van to start packing things up. I knew when Nick finished, he'd want to get the bikes up and get ready to roll. We hadn't gotten much stuff out for the race so the repacking was pretty easy. I was keeping an eye on the trail near the van as I packed, wanting to make sure I saw Nick when he rolled by.
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| Attempting to balance on the podiums! Third Place - Team Gnarlow, 10 laps, 8:24:45 Second Place - No Wheelie, 10 laps, 8:13:38 First Place - Round is a shape, 11 laps, 8:33:59 |
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