I put this race on my calendar first thing this year. I thoroughly enjoyed the XC race at Galena in 2007 and this year once again did not disappoint. However, after watching Friday morning my two oldest kiddos have a ball at the MCC Jr. golf tournament, I was not certain I could scrounge up the energy to drive the same afternoon 5 hours to Ketchum, Idaho, for this race. Then, when the Little Rogue (LR) told me he did not want to go to the race even though he had earlier indicated he did (and was pre-registered), well, as you might imagine, that was just about the nail in the coffin for me not going to this race. I mentally pulled out of this temporary duress, pulled LR's bike off of the Tundra in the MCC parking lot, put it on the honda and headed alone to Ketchum to get this race done! Galena is cool, the drive is beautiful (Stanley's Sawtooths above) and I was going to this marathon - period. 
In 2007 Travis Brown went head to head in the marathon with a New Zealander, and ended up getting second. All I really remembered about the 2007 race was a vicious single track climb that killed pretty much everyone near the top. The course for 2008 was the same, with the addition of a new spectator loop in the beginning that had numerous rollers. The marathon was about 45 miles (2 loops) and each loop had about 3100 feet of climbing. Galena also has some elevation itself. I got there at about 6 pm or so and visited with Davey and the Galena Lodge organizer about the course. Davey immediately told me no problem getting a refund for the little guy. They said camp anywhere I like. I went for a partial course pre-ride and could not believe the size of the rollers. Plenty of loose soil and large rocks in that section too.
During the pre-ride, I ran into Bill Martin and Sten Hertsens who are racing for Bozeman's Muleterro. They said they had just placed a note on my truck with directions to their camp site. We had a pretty mellow night and got some rest. In the morning I felt myself for some reason mentally battling why I was putting myself through these things, and being a bit bummed that LR had decided not to come. I had a little coffee (Sten makes strong coffee!), ate some oatmeal and had a few bananas. Bill was cramping a bit and was trying to figure that out? He said no coffee for him as it causes dehydration. I rode down to the marathon registration and then to the beginning of the race which started at 9:00 AM. There appeared to be a fair number of racers in the marathon. It was on the national marathon calender. As last year though, most of the attendees were at Galena for the XC.I had made a final decision the morning of the race, not to wear a water pack. It did turn out to be hot and sunny. However, Shae and I visited at the start, and were both glad not to be wearing packs like we did at the Cascade Cream Puff this year. Shae said his organization is putting on a race in Twin Falls, so he won't be able to come up to the Butte 100 this year. We were sent and headed for the rollers. A racer got caught on the initial section on the wrong side of a tape marker, but managed to get straightened out clipping out and coming back over. As I suspected, the rollers were a dusty mess. The ticket there though, was to simply stay off the brakes and let the bike do the work. They were not bad. We looped around and back through the start area and then up to the next single track loop which climbed for a bit and then also descended back to the road above the start area. On the descent on this track, there were log pyramids to be ridden over (as last year) and a creek to avoid most of the way down. Then to the road and up to the mother of all loops. I was racing well, and had ramped up the intensity on this ride. I had no injuries and was feeling good. I came slamming down a road section and came upon a rider on his back with two racers in blue jerseys standing over him. I stopped. He was alert and talking. I asked if they had notified anyone. Not yet. One of the stations was just below this and I rode down to it and told the volunteers there to go help. One of the racers standing there said the fellow had landed directly on his head. I don't know how it turned out. Racing mountain bikes is dangerous.
The above photo is of Galena Peak area above the Galena Lodge. I got to the climb and guys were walking it. This year it was loose and dry. I was still feeling good. Eating endurolites and staying hydrated. I could not remember what I had in which rear jersey pocket. Kept searching for gels in the wrong pockets. Also, I had a broken water bottle top that popped off and slammed sports drink into my face. After the climb, there was a very nice lengthy descent on almost all single track. Really cool section. Then back to the start again and back around once more. I passed Bill going the other way in the start area, having already done the spectator loop and closely following the Scott pro who was in the lead. Ryon was coming through as well. I think Bill must have killed the first loop on this course. He later said he cramped up significantly on the second loop. 
Davey filled up one of my bottles with heed and I was off again. I still felt pretty well and had a good second half of the race. I had taken my glasses off which were covered with sweat and dirt and I should not have done that. The result was immense dust in my contacts. I finally got mad, stopped, took my glasses out of my jersey pocket and cleaned them, and then rode on. I had one pretty good crash right at the end of the race (tired). I went into a stump that we had to dip above to avoid. The result was a seat slammed into my groin. Good thing it was at the end. The results are not yet posted, but I think I got 5th in the 30-39 open. My time was pretty decent on a relative basis. I pressed quite a bit harder at this race. It is such a fun course. Very well put on too. Sun Valley's Idaho Mountain Express Sports Section's take. 
Sten had a great race, getting 3rd in his division in the cross country. He picked out a new grill as part of his prize and then rode back to the Muleterro campsite with Bill. Knobby Tire had a nice junior race as well. 
The Galena Grinder Marathon is Saturday and is a beast of a course. Lots of climbing which I like. Last year I rode the XC in the Sport division. This year I'm taking a whirl at the whole deal. After he finishes his golf tournament Friday morning, the Little Rogue and I are heading out. If any local racers want a ride, we have an extra seat. 
It was pretty slow going initially as there was a significant head wind from Lolo to Lolo Pass. We probably averaged 16 to 18 mph. It was plenty chilly as well. The above shot is where the Crooked Creek and the Brushy Creek come together to form the Lochsa in Idaho. This is a beautiful area not too far above the Lochsa Lodge. As a matter of fact, this is not too far from some of the most beautiful country in the United States. Lewis and Clark came through this area (click on Max's photo at the top of post) and the stories of their trip are incomprehensible. For an excellent account of this region, I highly recommend Bud Moore's 
We took a brief break here near the Lochsa Lodge and then headed back to Missoula. We had ridden about 50 miles over and on the journey back out of the Lochsa wilderness close to Lolo Pass I took a quick snap of one of the signs before my camera started acting up for some reason. 
We met a couple of young women riders who had stopped at Lolo Pass and were now heading for Missoula too. Lolo Pass has really been improved and is a great stopping point. Max and I rode back pretty strong running at about 22-24 mph for the most part even though the wind had shifted and was once again in our face for some reason. There were a lot of Harleys out today and many of the hog riders gave us thumbs up! It was another great weekend ride, though next time we are taking our rods and a tent! Max said the fishing is too tempting. I agreed!
Rick told me he was pretty certain I would destroy this bike pretty quickly and was not upset that I had to buy it elsewhere. So, last night I left around 5 or so to do some intervals on this new baby and see what it could do after that. I guess like most folks, I find intervals annoying. Actually, they go against the grain of the whole purpose of mountain biking for me really! But, occasionally, I guess I'll have to do them. After doing three of three minutes, then three of two minutes, then 3 of one minute up a gradual Miller Creek dirt road climb on this new rig, I happily headed to one of the better grouse hunting areas in this valley (keep that to yourself please!).
Miller Peak is at about 7000 feet and I like it a lot up there. Brings back a lot of great past memories as a college student at the University of Montana. Used to hunt around the electronic sites there for grouse with a friend from Maine and my wife to be. Once on top, there are two electronic sites and there used to be a lookout and hele pad. You can see the Missoula Valley and Milltown.
On top I ran into a couple of guys on motorcycles who were now walking to the peak, as below it it is gated. One almost panicked as i was blasting down as he did not hear me. He had a pistol on his hip and briefly went for it. I jokingly said "don't shoot." His other partner laughed and said, "Hey, is that a cyclocross bike? Cool." I don't know what they were up to. There are cameras up there on the towers. Jake the Snake and I are going to have a lot of fun together. I can already see that. The carbon front fork put up with a lot up there. Only one front flat on a pretty tough jeep trail. I got home in the dark around ten. My new commuter ride and who knows what this fall?
This year the Friday pre ride was great. The weather was beautiful and we really enjoyed it. Toadinator decided to make a change and move up to the beginner level and ride two five mile laps after the pre ride. Sten on the Mule's team had indicated a few camping areas may be available further up the road from Bohart so we drove up and found Ross and the Browns at a site not to far away near Battle Ridge Pass.
The Little Rogue could not put down the last Harry Potter book even though he's read it now 2 times!? When we got up, I went to the outhouse on site and along the way was bitten by a dog that was owned by someone camping next to us. I told the owner that it had not broken the skin and it was ok, but I was pretty mad. He said it had had its shots. It soon started bleeding and I went back over and to ask the guy his name but he was now not coming out of the camper, so I took his licence plate number. If I start foaming at the mouth this week, now my friends will know why! Martin later said "What is it with you and camping at Bohart?" All I could do was look stupidly and remain silent.
The Little Rogue said this was his favorite race yet. He had a ball completing the 10 miles and says he can't wait to come back next year. He said he used a "Rickism (the terrorist one) to pass 4 people near the end. GAS had a live band and beer and food for the attendees. It was really well done. We drove down to Bridger to see if we could find Thad and check on how he did in the marathon run that was simultaneously occurring, but we could not find their race area and decided to go fishing. We fished along the Warm Springs in the Butte area as someone told me we could find florescent green monsters of the deep with one eye. It was when the Little Sheephead hooked a pair of men's boxer shorts that we decided to call it a day and head for the barn. Fun trip.
I told the troops that I had kid detail around 2:00 and would have to bail then. It was a little brisk when we headed out. Rick wanted to take us into the Rattlesnake a bit early, but soon Tom (with the Garmin) reminded him we first needed to head up the Kim Williams, then over through Marshall Canyon (above photo Marshall Climb with Kern on point) and then down into the Rattlesnake via Three Pines! "Oh yeah, sorry about that Tom." Rick said in front of the Doubletree. One could tell immediately that Rick and Tom were old racing buddys in the Missoula and Spokane area. They spoke often about past races and brought up many "Rickisms." For example, "If you don't want to go fast, just stay in front!" Or Rick's favorite, which is during the last mile of a race when everyone is tired, "just pretend a terrorist is shooting you from the woods." "You'll drop everyone." A little easier said than done I was thinking! We 
rode to the top of Marshall Canyon and then headed over for Three Pines. Dan had broken his collar bone 6 weeks ago, so we were a little concerned about the downhill ahead; however, he did it in stride only walking one dangerous section. The trails were in good shape. Tom is an accomplished downhiller and smoked down the Three Pines section. "Don't you wish you were back here, Tom." Rick was teasing. Clearly Max has been out riding his new 29er hardtail and appeared to be loving it. Once down Three Pines, we headed up Sawmill's "Squiggly Section" (I'd never heard it called that before) which I told Rick his other mechanic Raphael flies down! Chili and Johnny were not with us this morning and Chili was probably watching rock climbing on tv from a warm bed somewhere! These guys are trying to put together a team to go do the Moab 24 in October. 
We made it to the overlook with Max blazing the way up. Once there Rick proceeded to tell us a story about a friend of his who was attacked by two mountain lions riding down just below this overlook towards the Stuart side. It was the same cat (s) and same year that the kid was attacked in the Marshall Ski area. Very scary as the rear tire was actually slashed by one of the two cats according to Kern. Each of us were wondering what we would do in a situation like that. Fight like hell I guess, unless we could ride away. The climb up Sheep and the Beargrass and in a lot of areas around here are slow going. Where is pepper spray immediately at the ready on a mountain biker? How about a .45? We were not sure. We dropped down the Stuart Peak side back to the creek and then headed up the Corridor.
It was getting to be about noon now. It was a beautiful day. Tom was telling me about his experiences as a racer in the Cascade Cream Puff in the past. Also, as an instructor for the Missoula Freestyle team for a while as well. I sensed he missed Missoula a bit.
We clicked across the Franklin Bridge and on up the road to the Wrangle Creek Trail Head and Rattlesnake Wilderness. The corridor road honestly is a mess in my view. Mainly because it is a bit rocky and jarring on the system coming out. I did not notice any mountain goats on the side cliffs and every time I go up there I love the scenery. There were numerous other riders out today. Also, a forest service truck was at the Wilderness Trail Head. Some of the riders were looking a bit ornery in this last shot at the top.
I had to bail to get back to the kids. Told Dan and Tom it was nice to meet them and hoped to do another ride someday. Thanked Rick and Max for the excellent morning and wished them well finishing their full day's ride. I think they were headed up Deer Creek next and then out Sentinel. I had ridden 7 1/2 hours by the time I got back to the Hanger. A great ride!
LR and I went to the meeting at the school gym in Westfir. Scott and the city mayor introduced themselves to the racers in the bleachers. The gym was baking and sweat was pouring off most of the attendees. Everyone was pounding water bottles while listening. "Welcome to the CCP... 1/3 of you are not going to finish... if you are told at any of the four stations to stop racing, you are not to argue... tomorrow is going to be very hot and we are worried about dehydration... we want this to be a safe race and we want you to have a good time... the x-men and disciples of dirt have worked hard to buff out the single track for you and clear the trails... here they are, give them a hand! You are all going to get poison oak too by the way... there is tecnu in the school shower area - use it, it works to remove the poison oak... do not go where the pink ribbon is, you will get lost or worse... stay with the orange ribbon with black stripes and the orange arrows... the course is well marked, but for the first time ever, we have had foul play recently with the course markers... use the stations!" "The USA cycling ultra endurance people had been in touch with me and they want a piece of this for their series, but we turned them down. It's about the trails, Westfir and you!" The place erupted! Scott's enthusiasm was great. The meeting went from 4:00 until 5:30. They gave away a lot of swag at this as well. Then there was nice meal put on by the local Kiwanis Club too. We missed that though, as I had five mouths to feed. When LR and I left the school, he looked at me and said "Dad, don't take this the wrong way, but I think you are going to be part of the 1/3." Contra Mundum! I just said thanks son and we drove to the hotel. Low and behold, there was a University of Montana plate on a black 4Runner parked right next to our room. It was Clint with his wife and kid. I introduced us and said we were heading to the coast Monday after this race and he said they had just been there. There were lots of places to stay, so it was pretty ironic. Two Montana plates and the rest were from Canada, California, Arizona, Colorado, you name it. 
At 10:00 the most amazing thunder and lightning storm came into the valley. The lightning streaked across the sky and the rain dumped! The owner of the hotel sat out in a chair and watched it. "It absolutely never does this." she said. I thought about two things that night as the storm continued on. I have to get up at 3.50am for a 5:15 start and it is pouring rain. Many of the other racers were camped out on the school grounds in this rain. I think I went to sleep at 12 midnight. Tomorrow was a 100 mile race with at least half of it on a single track in the jungle of the Cascades which were now drenched. At 4 am my wife gave me a ride to the Red Covered bridge where the race was to start shortly. (Below photo by Tyler's 2110 album.)
Other racers were showing up. I drank two full water bottles, had had some oat meal and a few bananas. The rain had stopped, but things were wet. Scott called off all of the numbers and I only heard one DNS. It was still pretty dark. A guy came up to me and said "Are you from Missoula?" I turned and recognized Shae Mayner, a friend from the Knobby Tire Series in Idaho. We both laughed and wondered what we were getting into here. He said he had a new 7 month old to add to his other 3 children. I said congrats and he must have some wife to let him train for these things and raise 4 kids! Many of the races were in their 30s and 40s. Scott got on his bull horn and started the race by riding his motorcycle up the road for a bit, then bailed off. Well, we were off. I had on a camelbak octane full of water. Inside were a few tools, tubes, a GPS unit, forest service maps, shot blocks, cliff bars, gels, a shell and so on. I had two water bottles full of heed. The racers headed for the first 4000 foot climb. I had slept 4 hours prior to the start. The only injury I had coming into this race was my left hand. I had smashed it between the bar and a rock in a simple slow fall a couple of weeks ago at Georgetown and I knew it was going to be a problem on the single track, especially the downhills. I listened to the other racers talking on this initial climb up a forest service road. One guy on a single speed was talking about his experiences at 
(Above photo from Tyler's 2110 Webshot album.) There were high ridge lines looking down into darkness (I did not look down too often, because mountain bikers know you end up where you look). There were trees as big around as trucks that had fallen across the trail, but had been cut just enough that we could ride through. One we rode between, then came to a sudden switchback, dropped below and came back under the the other half of the tree. You can get the idea with this link: 
It was Hot! I drank like crazy. Tried a turkey sandwich, but could only eat a quarter of it. I did get down a cliff bar. I climbed around again to the number 2 station eventually and it was probably 3.30 or so. Time to head down the Alpine Trail and it started by going into again the Tire Mountain Trail and I was so frustrated with that that I went back to station 2 and asked, Was this right?" Yep. Stay on it and you will see the new turn down. I followed some girl in a pink jersey up initially and confirmed things with her while riding. She said, "you've already been down it once, right?" I said "yeah, twice" thinking she was talking about the Tire trail, not the Alpine trail! I found out later that she won the women's race and had indeed already been down the Alpine and back up and was now heading back down her 2nd and final lap down to the Red Covered Bridge! Her voice sounded European or something. This descent was killing my hand and I was in full caution mode. It was a spectacular trail going down for over an hour through everything you could imagine. I never thought it was going to end and could not believe when I got down to station one near the Red Bridge, I was going to have to wind along the lower creek and then back up 4000 feet again to station 2 and then back down again to finish. That woman really played mental games with my head and I was looking for some closure. The kids were at the bottom at Station 1 and were sure I was dead. It was 4:00 and I loaded up on oranges and bananas and protein liquids and off I went. This final climb was the end for quite a few folks. First I came across Shae who had stopped half way up and looked at me as I was riding by and said "I guess this is it for me, I'm headed back down the road." I pleaded with him to take a 10 minute break and not give up, he was almost there! Still as I write this, I don't know what his decision was. There were a few red jersey's that passed me on the final descent and I hoped one of them was him. 
(Above photo by Sasquatch.) Continuing up the final climb, I was riding along with a strong lady in a red jersey on a SINGLE SPEED which blew my mind. I have to complete this climb! People were walking. They had to get to station 2 by 7 pm or they were going to get pulled (I think that's what Scott said). I rode by another lady who asked a guy in front of me if he had any extra water and that she was out. He said he was almost out and she could not have any. I gave her my bottle. My other one was empty, but I had a little left on my back and knew she could make it and so could I. Last year in Butte during a 100 mile XC I ran out of water and I'll never forget it. I took a 15 minute nap trying to simply remember who I was! A guy rode by and never offered water. I probably should have asked though. I got to the top and loaded up on fruit and water and headed to the final descent down the Alpine Trail again. One smart ass up there said, remember "ride fast ride hard"! A quarter of the people I passed on the way up rode by me on the way down and I did not care one bit. I pulled out of their way. It is now Wednesday, the race was Sunday, and my little finger and the one next to it on my left hand have almost no feeling. I did have one small crash on the way down. I was being too conservative. It was dark under the canopy now and I had my amber glasses off. When I heard those trains and saw that Red Covered Bridge from above I almost went into tears. I crossed the finish line at 8pm, 14 and 1/2 hours, 100 miles and something like 16000 or more feet of climbing. Scott was waiting at the finish line seeing everyone through and giving them their hat. "Have you done this before"? "No" I said. "Those trails were incredible!" The kids were there waiting. My wife was in the car with our youngest. She said Clint had finished at like 3.30 or so. They had been there since 3pm I guess and LR had been crying asking where his father was and why was the last lap taking so long. There were still people finishing behind me. I hope Scott has some photos. Hydration was the key. Next time will not stop so long at stations and will pre make protein bottles somehow. What a day! Max in Missoula had prepped the Big Sur well for me once again too! The hardtail's second 100 in the books now. Then, we went to the coast for some recovery food at the Little Rogue's place!
