MTB Marathon Nationals - Palo Duro TX - 10th May 2019

This year the 2019 USA Cycling MTB Marathon Nationals were held at Palo Duro Canyon State Park TX. Given the proximity to Oklahoma City (its around 4 hours away) and the fact I like to challenge myself on longer distance races I decided to pay my entry fee and give this race a go. 

As usual I didn't plan my timing correctly in the weeks before the race so didn't get to preride the majority of the course. Fortunately I did get to preride the trail called Lower Comanche the day before the race, I am glad I did as it had the most climbing and steepest descending of the whole event so it was nice to know that was coming up on lap 2. 

The course 

The course was around 47 miles (to be classed as a Marathon it is required to be between 37 and 62 miles) and made up of mostly singletrack and some double track. 

Course Map

The weekend

Unfortunately due to Amanda's work schedule she was unable to join me on this trip, she did look after Fiona though and I really appreciate that. It then meant I could give a ride to one of my teammates Saxby. We left Oklahoma on Friday morning and rolled through a couple of rain showers to arrive at the park in the afternoon. We picked up our "packets" which consisted of a number and zip ties. Yes this isn't a sponsored event and you pay more money for it hmmmmm...
Then we headed further down to the canyon to ride a little of the course. Saxby has ridden an endurance race at the canyon before but I had not ridden there. I had been looking at trailforks and decided that I wanted to ride one of the more technical sections of the course so I at least had an idea what to expect. Since Saxby hadn't ridden this section of the course either it was perfect for us to scope it out before the race. We were both glad we did as it had the most climbing of the course and a fun downhill with a few tight blind hairpins in. Saxby informed me that a lot of the rest of the course was flatter with more open turns, he was absolutely correct as I found out the next day. 

 A quick photo stop on Lower Comanche

It was pretty cool on the pre ride

The weather

The state park is usually classed as a desert and as such many of the riders were expecting warm/hot conditions and very dry when we signed up to race. As always the weather can be a cruel and fickle beast. In Texas this year there has been a lot of rain, so much in fact that many of the trails across the state are closed.  After we finished our pre ride it was raining again. The trails had been closed Thursday due to rainfall on Wednesday already this week. We headed over to the pre race meeting 17:30. At the meeting we were informed that USA Cycling would be talking with the park rangers immediately following the meeting about how the rain would effect the race, they would then inform us of the outcome following this. As it stood when we left the meeting we were going to be starting the race as planned at 10:00. 

At 21:56 we received an email informing us that the race start was delayed 2 hours to allow the course to dry out a little, they would also reassess the course routing in some sections.  

Race Day

Saturday morning rolled around cool but at least dryer than the previous days. We headed down into the canyon around 8:15 so that we didn't get stuck in traffic. 

This is a cool place

We paid our $8 per person to get into the canyon, no race day discount which was a little disappointing and parked baby groot then set about having breakfast. 

At least the view was nice and the sun was out. 

We relaxed with teammates and tried to find out any more information about if the course changed or start time changes. The course we heard would be rerouted at the far end through one of the camp grounds to avoid some flooded/wet trails. At around 11am everyone was busy warming up and finalising gear before our starts at 12:00. At around 11:45 I heard that the starts had been delayed again to 12:45 to allow people to enter the park. This was very frustrating to me since at the pre race meeting we had been told, "we are not delaying the start if you can't get into the park, be here early." But the races were delayed and there was nothing we could do about it but suck it up. 

My Race

My race started at 12:58. Just like the XC races in the Oklahoma Tour De Dirt series the pace was hot. I was off the back of the pack trying to draft on the road section, my legs felt like they had no power but my heart rate was good and not sky high. I passed one guy before we entered the singletrack but from the magic of post race data analysis I can see that I rolled through the parade lap in 9min 30 seconds and in 29th of 31 places in my age group. 

I wasn't worried though and tried to be smart and ride my race. I was doing well managing my effort so as not to blow up through the first full lap. Around 15 min in I started to be passed by people in the following groups, again very similar to my TDD racing experience. After we crossed the road there were some very cyclocross style sections on lap one which made the riding interesting and challenging. After a friend Keyth passed me I got my line wrong through one puddle and promptly put myself into a bush, fortunately it was not a cactus. 

I continued to be passed by people but most of them were not in my age group which was nice. 

Soon I had arrived at the mid lap feed and tech zone on the course and there Steve Cordes and friends were cheering everyone on. I really appreciated the support. 

A little further on and Angela Cordes (Steve's wife) was out taking photos and cheering people on too. The photos are fantastic. 

Seeing a friend always makes for a bigger smile. 

Making me look awesome thanks Angela!

At around 2 hours into the race I was entering the feed zone before crossing the finish line to go out on my second lap. This is when I realised I had not been doing so well on the nutrition side of my race ooophs. I had only drunk one bottle over the two hours which wasn't really enough. It had been so slippery for part of the lap so I had not been eating, then the trail turned into flow but due to the tacky nature of the course we were having to work pretty hard. Oh well, I drank an ensure plus and stuffed some stinger gummies into my mouth and set off for lap two. 

I finished lap one in 26th place in my age group.

Lap two followed the same route as lap one at the start. I tried to eat more and drink more but my stomach was full and saying no more. I once again failed to make the switch back climb on the first part of the course though I did get further up compared to lap one. Once we hit the trail I had pre ridden (Lower Comanche) I was really settling in and enjoying the course. I didn't make a couple of the climbs without putting a foot down/walking but I caught and passed a couple of people who were really struggling. I was passed by a couple of people but all in all I was feeling good.

After Lower Comanche we had around 1.5 miles of road where I hydrated and ate more food, once again so much that I felt bloated, though I had been eating and drinking a little along the previous trails from the start finish line. 

As we joined back onto the course we had previously ridden on lap one the mud and softer trail had mostly firmed up and dried out. This meant that the flow sections were now hero dirt. I was passed by a couple of people on the uphills but on the downs I was able to let off the brakes and catch up with people ahead of me. 

A little further along the trail after passing the feed and tech zone again, I was passed by a guy on a climb. I was not able to climb that fast but was keeping him in sight on the descents. After another climb he was out of sight. A few minutes later and at the bottom of a descent I saw his bike and him sprawled out across the trail. He was telling me to go on but I stopped and moved his bike off the trail and helped him up, he seemed to be in a significant amount of pain and bleeding from his left arm. He told me he was trying to pass a guy and said passing on the right at which point the guy moved right. 

He got rolling and still had some of his power on the climbs but seemed a lot more cautious on the descents. I soon passed him and then myself and another guy were almost at the end of the lap and race. The last 3 km seemed to drag on for ever as we followed the river to the start finish line, my legs were starting to cramp also by this point. The guy dropped me on the flats and I rolled solo into the finish after 4:13:57 of racing and in 22nd place. Which I am very happy about.

Full results here

happy with that one

Post race thoughts

I had a solid race though my legs felt heavy and lacking in power for the whole race. I had no expectations for the event apart from finishing. I do know a couple of the guys I race against in TDD were at the event and in my category or in different categories.
In my category Brandon Merlot once again sealed the deal and took home the national championship jersey. Chris Drummond placed 3rd. In Single Speed category, Aaron McDaniel took home the Stars and Stripes Jersey. In the 17-18 Category Kye Cordes took 4th place and Malaki Caldwell took 5th place. So when I get beaten at the TDD races at least I am being beaten by some fast gentlemen. Congratulations gentlemen.

I once again found I didn't quite nail my nutrition but as always I learnt a little. I think that for longer races, hydration mix in my hydration pack may be my future plan. I love honey stinger waffles but on MTB events they don't work for me during the race. I think I am going to go back to shot bloks rather than the honey stinger chews as they are easier to deal with whilst riding off road. 

The Strava

Thoughts on USA Cycling and the use of this location for the event 

• Communication from USA Cycling would be best described as poor.
• When you pay over $100 to enter an event at a venue, on race day the entry to the location should be free.
• The venue should have had both entry gates open to enable speedy entry of racers I heard the line was over 1 hour long. 
• Mountain bikers love a beer but alas at the state park you can't have one. 
• The awards should not have been plagued by inconsistency and protests. 

Having said all that....

• The trails there are fantastic
• The views were spectacular
• It was close to home :)

Thanks for reading all, until next time.