Ryan and Bonzai Rock TOE 100k

Ryan rips the woods–OregonVelo

The Test of Endurance race was held on Saturday July 6th. New for the 2013 event was a 100k option over Mary’s Peak. Wanting to try a big challenge this year, and never having been on top of the highest point in the coast range of Oregon, I decided to sign up for the 100k in the single speed class. After having to do a bit of convincing, I was able to get my good friend and teammate Dave Hill to also sign up for 100k of pain and suffering. Dave turned 50 this year and we had talked previously about racing the High Cascades 100 miler to celebrate him turning half a century old. It wasn’t going to be 100 miles, but the challenge would be just as great with over 10,000 feet of climbing in just 62 miles.

I picked up Dave and drove down to Bloggett in sunny skies and cool morning temperatures we arrived ready to check-in and start our big adventure. After a quick meeting from race promoter Mike Ripley we were off and rolling. About mid-way up the first big gravel road climb I started to get warmed up and catch and pass some of the geared riders. By the time I had reached the first aid station where we would turn left and head up to the Mary’s Peak loop I started to talk to one of the geared riders and asked him how many people he thought were in front of us. Totally to my surprise he said only three! This gave me some serious motivation to try and finish in the top five overall. After a short gravel climb it was time to tackle the North Ridge trail. After 13 switchbacks and three miles of trail climbing and a bit of hiking I hit the summit and it was time for the suffering to end and the REALL fun to begin descending down the East Ridge trail. This is truly an amazing trail that goes through some of the most beautiful forest Oregon has to offer. With massive old trees and an amazing view of the Willamette Valley, this trail was worth all the climbing to get there!

After all the sweet descending we jumped onto a short trail that ran parallel to the main road. I had decided it was time to relieve some built up bladder pressure when all of the sudden my buddy Dave comes around the corner to find me in the middle of the trail. I quickly jumped back on the bike and thought, this is going to be super fun riding and racing with one of the coolest guys around! But that was about the last we would get to ride together and I slowly pulled away as we made our way back to the TOE 50 course. We were only separated by a few minutes but were never really close enough to get to chat and talk about how much fun we were both having. My legs were feeling good so I was really trying to push the pace on the long steep climbs and maintain a nice smooth flow on the trails. All of the standard trails like Root Down, Super Tree, Dinner and a Movie, and Carl’s adventure were a bit hard and rough from the warm dry weather but still super fun to rip down. Once I finished the first lap I stopped at the second aid station to quickly refill my bottles. The aid station crew was simply amazing! I didn’t have to do a thing. There was someone to fill my water bottle, someone to fill my Heed bottle, someone to hold my bike, and even someone to take my energy bar wrappers. The volunteers were so awesome it made me feel guilty just standing there trying to quickly recover for my second lap but I was stocked up and ready to keep the suffering going!

One full lap and four hours into the race my legs and lungs were feeling pretty good but all the climbing was starting to take it’s toll on my back. About half way through the second lap on one of the long logging road climbs I got off my bike to push and try to stretch out my back for just a few steps. When I went to stand up my back was completely stuck in a hunched over position. It took about 20 yards of walking before I could finally straighten it out. I really hate to have to get off and walk during a race, but this quick walk was a smart move and just what I needed knowing there was still a lot of hard climbing left to go. I was still riding in the 5th overall position and wanted to keep pushing the pace. Towards the end of the lap I started to encounter some of the TOE 50 racers that had started after us which was a pleasant delight since I had basically been riding by myself since Dave had found me on the trail earlier in the race.

After the last bit of steep stair step climbing it was down a rough collarbone alley double track and one last decent down panama canal to the flat two mile gravel road, a sharp left hand turn and one last bit of pain up a one mile climb to the finish line. My final Garmin stats for the 100k adventure were 62 miles, 10,705 feet of climbing, 3,922 calories burned, and finished in 6 hours and 33 minutes. I Finished 1st place in the single speed category and 5th place overall on a 29er single speed geared 34-19. It was a great weekend for Reall Racing. Dave Hill finished the 100k in 1st place in the 50+ category, too!

A special thank you to race promoter and all around great guy Mike Ripley and his awesome staff of dedicated race volunteers who make this event so much fun.

Thanks for reading,
Ryan Eisele