Michaux Curse of the Dark Hollow

Rain had been relentlessly dumping on Pittsburgh for about two weeks, and the only riding I had been doing was my work commute.  Come Friday, my patience had run out and I just NEEDED to be on my mountain bike. I wasn’t really feeling the local races, so I packed the car and headed to Michaux State Forest. Michaux hosts an endurance series, and the second stop was the Curse of the Dark Hollow. I went into the race knowing full well that the course was both rocky AND hilly- a draining combination. But I was stoked to have some serious 1:1 time with my bike, and just be outside in this beautiful area of the state. I ended up car camping underneath a beautiful clear sky- which was a good sign that the weather was going to actually cooperate.

 I committed myself to trying out this whole endurance thing this year, so I signed up for the 40 miler. I was expecting to be out around 6-7 hours, and would be totally stoked with a Michaux 40-miler finish. I packed extra tubes, derailleur hangers, brakes, superglue, you name it. It’s that kind of course. As expected, there were tons of rocks. What I didn’t expect was that the course was completely covered with blooming mountain laurel. And the massive rhododendron, although not flowered, provided a cool and dark shade from the blazing sun. It really was perfect. The first 25-30 miles were tough, but manageable. The course dipped in and out of single track that varied from straight up 5 mile rock gardens, to flowy pine sections, to ridiculous hike-a-bike sections. And despite a few crashes, I was feeling really good as I entered aid station 3. With 8 miles left, I was at around 4 hours and was so excited to be making decent time. Then I hit a series of slick muddy trails and just plain insane rocky descents/ascents. Trust me- if you see a DANGER sign with a cross and skull bones at Michaux, you know that’s the real deal. Those last 8 miles took me almost 1:40 minutes to finish. Always seems like these tough courses save the hardest parts for last. Makes you dig deep!

Despite my struggles though the end, I managed to take 3^rd place behind Sornson and Yeager and FINALLY got a podium spot. Making the jump from Sport XC to Pro/Expert XXC events is a hard transition. You train harder, you ride further, you repeatedly destroy your body and bike – and then you go home.  You know that you are getting better and stronger, but the reward is much harder to reach. Let’s just say I needed this podium for my soul (and gas tank). Rock on!