Maah Daah Hey 150 Race Report Part 2

Climbs are getting steeper and longer the further North I go

There is always a point in the race where the focus becomes more on just turning the pedals over versus enjoying the physicality and admiring the surrounding beauty.  This point hit me from mile 80-95.  This might have coincided with the hoofed up trail sections.  The free range angus cattle were becoming more frequent now and a few times I had to dismount and work my way around them because they would NOT move off the trail.

During one of my SAG stops Bill offered me a can of Starbuck's Double Shot.  Just what I needed:  it went down so smooth and tasted like heaven.  Not sure how much caffeine was in that, but it gave me a little mental boost a while later.  At least I felt faster.  Most of the washes this time of year are dry, but there were two, maybe 3 that had water in them.  I chose not to ride across but dismounted and hopped across.  That water looked toxic, like poop soup!  

I managed to get out of my funk at the second Little Missouri River Crossing around mile 100.  Bill took his bike off the rack (which he had picked up at his house back in Medora, ensuring that I WAS going to finish this race, if I broke my back up bike 😆) and rode down to the crossing with me.  I had changed into my secondary shoes for this walk across the river and would change back into my primary shoes and dry socks at the next SAG stop.  The water here is very silty and the sun was beginning to set.  I wanted warm, dry, and blister-free feet for the remaining 50 miles.

Knee deep in the middle

If you hadn't read into it already, Bill was AMAZING support.  He is Zeke's doppelganger ... Zeke's brother from another mother kind of guy!  He worked as hard as I did to ensure my success.  From soigneur to mechanic to photographer, he was my backbone.

As I made my way towards Magpie, I encountered more cattle.  Tired of giving way to them, I began to act like a maniacal cyclist and played chicken with them.  Fortunately, I acted crazy enough they wanted nothing to do with me and ran off.  I wanted to get in as many more daylight miles as I could and the sun was quickening its approach on the horizon.

I was able to hit Devil's Pass in the daylight.  It is a stunning feature of the MDH, a narrow ridge with 150 foot drop offs on both sides.

Mother Nature must have known I was needing a little boost as the sun began to set.  I was 120 miles and 15 hours into my journey.  She put on THE MOST SPECTACULAR show.  The skies filled with colors as the sun set and the full moon rose.  I swear it was over an hour of just this brilliant reddish orange that filled in the horizon.

Suddenly my legs didn't feel so heavy and the nagging pain between my shoulder blades disappeared.  I was awestruck.  I didn't care that my average mph was decreasing as I was constantly stopping and taking photos of this breathtaking show.  I didn't care that this might "cost" me my goal of finishing in 18 hours.  This was a once in a lifetime experience and I wanted to soak up every bit of it into my memory banks.

I finally made the decision to put my camera away, once I began to feel the chill of dropping temperatures.  But not before I took one final pic of the moonrise.

The moon shone so bright that I didn't have to turn on my lights until 7:45, more than 30 minutes after the sun set.  It was so surreal to be riding through the prairie by moonlight.  As the moon rose higher, I was enveloped in darkness and turned on my light.  Now my field of view was only the circle of light just in front of me.  I wasn't creeped out, even when I began to see ALL the eyes looking at me whenever I would scan ahead.  Some of those eyes were right on the trail, but scampered away as I approached.  The only time I thought I might die was on a climb; I was pedaling slowly, and happened to turn my head slightly to the left.  There, just 5 yards off the trail, was a massive Angus bull.  He stomped his front feet and blew at me.  Having no where or no energy to go fast, I braced for the charge.  But it never came, Thank God!  He probably was thinking exactly the same thing as I, in that moment.

There were times in the darkness as I wound my way up and around buttes that off one side of the trail was complete and utter blackness.  I didn't pay much attention earlier in the day, but got to thinking that there was a lot of exposure on this trail. One wrong move or overshooting the trail on a tight turn and I would be falling into an abyss of darkness.  After thinking of what could happen, I focused solely on the trail in front of me.

As I approached mile 140, I knew I had to diverge off MDH and take some double track and dirt road around the North Unit of Teddy Roosevelt National Park and then hop back on the MDH after a few miles of this "re-route."  Both my GPS units were still alive and so I had the breadcrumb trail to follow, but there were also a few red MDH150 stakes for affirmation.  The 2 miles of dirt road was a nice "breather" and gave me a mental break from the intense focus of riding single track at night.

But then, there was the hike-a-bike from hell.  Nick chose to link the double track farm road to the MDH trail the quickest way possible ...straight the f*$K UP!!  Holy cow Batman.  At mile 143, I began a 300 foot, 1/4 mile climb up loose dirt.  Think 2 steps forward, 1 step sliding back.  I could only laugh aloud at how pitiful I must have looked.  And then I saw cow poop on this.  Well, if a 1200 pound cow can climb up this shit-hill, surely I can pushing a bike.

Finally back on the MDH, I could smell the barn.  7 miles to the finish, and a tailwind!  I cruised along the prairie sections, and then struggled to stay upright on the increasingly technical sections down and up the washes.  I was beginning to have trouble with depth perception and managed to run smack into two big step ups on the exit points of dry creek beds.  

The final 2 miles were some sweet single track heading down off the final butte. Normally this would have been a fun descent, but I was so ready to be done.  It seemed more like 5 miles long, but finally I heard a cowbell and someone screaming my name.  My grimace was replaced with a big ole smile, as I crossed the finish into the CCC campground at 11:19 pm, 151 miles and 19 hours 19 minutes later. As soon as I rolled up to Nick, my headlight died ... perfect timing!

Totally Spent

This was the first year since its inception that a woman has finished this race.  And this year, two of us did.  The other BA was Mandy from North Dakota, who started earlier than I and had finished at sunset.  But I managed to grab the win with the fastest time and therefore the course record.  So the bar has been set ladies!  Not too high, tho, and with good conditions and with the right fitness and mental fortitude, I expect someone to take it from me next year.

Cannot say enough about this man, Bill!

A huge thank you to Bill, who was out there as long as I, ensuring I had the adventure of a lifetime.  For giving up his day to support someone he did not know ... and who passed out (not sleeping, but a full on fainting spell) in his truck on the way back to retrieve mine.  So then he proceeded to take me back to my hotel and then pick me up the following day to take me back to my truck.  If there were only more Bills in this world 💓.

A huge thank you to Nick, who camped out at the finish all week to greet the racers each and every day.  And who allowed me to warm up and change in his RV.  And then surprised me with pizza and a home made salad.  That was the most special finish ever.  One I will never forget.

Nick asked me to describe this race in one word.   MAGICAL