Race Report : Outback Challenge

Third race weekend in a row. This time it's in Lakeview, in South-Central Oregon, in an area known as 'The Outback'. The town is the highest in Oregon, and the race starts above 6000 feet. Only a coyote hair over a 3-hour drive from Bend, but it seems like I was the only one from here to make the trek. Of course this means no 'Bend-factor', allowing me to place up there in my age group - but conversely the category will probably be sparsely populated.

Do the scenic drive on Saturday afternoon, arriving at the race start area up in the mountains around 7 pm. Not a soul in sight, but plenty of whining mosquitoes. A quick scan of a hard-to-read map I printed out from the web-site, shows a camping area a few miles down one road. This is confirmed by the road atlas, so head that way. Lots of roads branching off everywhere, so accomodations should be easy to find tonight. Find the Twin Springs camping area, and cruise in. Hmm, just one tiny loop road, with one group of campers in there. See bikes, so stop and chat. They have a fire going to ward off the pesky flying critters, and a nice spot backdropped against some rocks, with a spring gushing some water out of a pipe. I decide to move in next-door, and commence camp setup.

The mosquito situation, which I had been warned of, was just plain out-of-control. Hundreds, perhaps thousands swarming all over you. I put on full coverage, spray myself down, and finally put to good use the bug head-net I bought a long time ago and never used. Cuts down on vision, but allows some sanity. Finally the tent is up, and bag, pad and pillow are quickly stuffed in with minimal zipper-openage. Grab a beer and head over to the other site to enjoy the smoke of their fire. It would seem the mosquito density is proportional to the square or cube of the distance from the fire. Forays off to a tree to relieve oneself are quick proof of that. I mooch a hot-dog, and hang out with this biking family for a while : Mom, Pop and Junior are all doing the race. Then back to my spot, where grab another cold one and build a fire. Tons of fuel around, I've got one blazing in a few minutes.

The night is peaceful, with only frogs and crickets, and no wedding partiers. One miserable moment during the night, as get out of the tent to pee, and am of course swarmed by skeeters. Brush off as many as I can before zipping into the tent, but several are able to piggy-back in, and spend some time executing them all. But of course in the morning I realize my kill ratio was not 100%, as fat little blood-gorged suckers are hanging out on the netting, waiting for me to release them so they can go forth and multiply. Splat! Not.

Another hot day awaits it would seem. And even in the blazing sun the bugs persist somewhat. The turnout is small - maybe 20 Sport/Expert/Pro riders are lined up for the 10 am start. We have just been briefed on the course - it is mildly confusing with a few key intersections to pay attention to. I listen carefully and commit it to [my faulty] memory, as don't want to make a wrong turn for the third race in a row. We set off, and I don't know if it's the altitude or what, but I'm hyperventilating 30 seconds in - probably the crappiest start I've ever had. We do one initial loop that's maybe 5 miles long, before heading to the main loop which everybody will do, and then Experts get to do half of it again. Manage to calm things down halfway through this first loop, and I'm riding along with TomC - who's in my class, and a Sport guy I know - JustinT who has caught up to me. We hit the first intersection, and Tom slows down to go left, but my memory actually works here and I advise we go straight. To add confusion, another rider is now coming back towards us, thinking he should take that left as well - he had gone ahead but freaked out thinking he went the wrong way. Tsk, tsk, don't these people pay attention ? :) I direct them all to go straight ahead. Wrong-way guy is in lower age group expert, and we converse a bit. He mentions it's only his second mountain bike ride of the year - he's a big road racer. We break away from the rest, and I guess that I'll probably drop this roadie on the first downhill or technical area. But surprisingly, he hangs onto my wheel as we drop around the other side of the first mountain, and as we finish that loop he's still there.

Start the main loop. Visibility is great up here with the lack of trees, and there's no one else in sight ahead. No incentive to race hard from the lack of other competitors in my class, but I'm determined to stay ahead of the Roadie, and also the Sport guy not too far behind. A long downhill at the Southern end of the loop allows me to gain a few seconds on Roadie, and Sport is no longer visible behind. Traverse a long section in open meadow, and do frequent head turning to check on Roadie's progress behind me. Slightly gaining I think, and as we start a long steep loose climb up to repeat the main loop, he's only 20 or 30 feet behind. Dammit ! But this gives me reason to push... The middle section is a dismount for me, and for him as well. Top third is steep, but smooth and rideable I think - yep. Reach the top, and my lead is now significant. Hit the downhill and the meadow, and no one behind me now. Pass many Sport racers. No idea when to initiate finishing kick, but estimate it OK with a few miles to go, and come in at 2.5 hours - fifth overall in Expert/Pro.

Am socializing around the finish area, when I realize I don't see Tom around - he couldn't be that far behind ? Mention it to someone and they start laughing - they know the guy, and they said he beat a hasty retreat after getting lost and pissed off. Apparently the second time he hit that intersection people were so confused about, he mistakenly went left, and ended back in the start area. Then had some wipe-out turning around, went back the way he came, and then a few minutes later he was seen riding back to his truck, throwing the bike in the back, and then peeling away in a cloud of dust. So I end up getting first in my class - the only one who finished. Cool medals were had by many people, and lots of great raffle prizes. Had some difficulty carrying all the loot back to the car.

Well I hope next year the race is scheduled without the numerous competing events that were happening this long weekend : there was another race at Mt Hood the previous day (gets the Portland crowd), some important road race, and a Mountain bike clinic in Bend. And maybe have it in August like last year - won't the skeeters be all dead by then ?:)