What I Do.: Royal 162

I don't even know where to start. What a day. I guess it started back in September 2013 when Diana and I were choosing a wedding date. I told her that every weekend was open EXCEPT the weekend after Mother's Day. That weekend is never going to be open.

Then January rolled around and I got out a postcard and instead of writing Almanzo 100 as I had for the past 4 years, I slowly wrote Royal 162.

The next order of business was to get a geared gravel bike. I didn't have the cash to just plop down on a nice one so I had to wait and see what happened when I filed my taxes. Turns out it's nice to pay in a lot.

Thanks Obama

So then the training started. Other gravel races. Pushing hard at the gym. Pushing hard on 2 hour rides. Eating...better. All of this in hopes that it would pay off over the course of 162 miles.

I did a final training ride with Curt a week out and felt OK, but not great. When I finished the 62 mile ride I felt a bit exhausted and then immediately thought "I have 100 miles to go at this point next week" I think that's the first time that it really hit me of what I was about to undertake. I contemplated for a day if I should just switch over to the 100. Ultimately I kept coming back to the thought runs through my head at races whenever I get down, harden the fuck up.

Race day morning I woke up at 3:45am and headed for Spring Valley, MN. I arrived at about 6:10am, checked in and drove over to the finish line to park. I got everything ready to go and hoped that I brought enough supplies.

From there I headed over to the start where there was maybe 110 people? Can't be too sure. Chris said a few important words and then we were off. I was with the lead pack for maybe 5 miles and then decided that they were pushing too hard up the hills for me so I backed off to a comfortable, conservative pace.

Once we hit Nature Rd. I couldn't help myself but to climb a little faster. It was still a bit cold at that point so I thought going hard might warm me up a bit. I don't think it did, but it made me feel good mentally to get out of the saddle and push a bit.

( The very first photo and from here until the very last photo are all courtesy of Craig Linder

https://www.flickr.com/photos/craiglindner/ He did an amazing job of capturing the beginning of the Royal and all of the Almanzo. Great photos.)

From the first to last photo you can see the gap I was creating. jk. they caught right back up on the flat

From there it was just up and down. Looking ahead and seeing what looked like a wall of hills and then getting closer and realizing that it's not that bad.

I happened to look at my overall ride time as soon as it hit 2 hours, which meant this was going on:

Man I missed this.

At mile 60 there was a gas station just off course. At first I was not going to stop, but decided that it would probably be a good idea. I picked up 2 red bulls, a powerade, a snickers, and some beef jerky. I ate the snickers and drank a red bull. Then drank half the powerade and poured the rest in one of my bottles. Back at it.

From there is was more rollers and the gravel seemed to get a little whiter. At some point we dipped into Iowa, I am guessing this is when I saw the Amish people, and then road along the border and then back into Minnesota. It was good to be home.

At mile 105 I crested a hill and saw a bunch of people. For a split second I thought I had caught a group, and then realized that I was back on the Almanzo course. I was feeling good at the time, but this lifted my spirits a bit more.

After riding for a couple minutes and passing a lot of people I began looking around and seeing the carnage. There people were 50 miles in and were suffering. People standing in the ditch on their cell phones calling their SAG wagon. People just laying in the ditch. At one point I think I saw a picnic (Can't be too sure) I felt bad for these people. I am sure that they trained very hard and were disappointed with their performance. I kept looking to see if there was someone that looked like they needed water or a gel, but no one had that look of complete distraught on their face.

It was shortly after this that the temporary crown that I had on my front tooth rattled off. It was pretty weird. I stopped and fished it out of my mouth, threw it in the frame bag and made sure that it went in deep and then continued on with a smile that contained a widdled down tooth. Not a good look.

Once we made the left onto the road that leads to Forestville State Park I started to feel like shit for the first time. I was about 118 miles in and getting exhausted. I pressed on knowing the park was not far ahead and that I could relax there.

Once I arrived I set my bike up against a fence, grabbed bother water bottles, a bar, and my hydration mix. I laid in the grass for probably 15 minutes just breathing deeply and moving every so often so that people would not stop and ask me if I was alright. After I felt I regained my composure I filled my water bottles and was off.

I took it very slow up the pavement as I wasn't quite all together and just wanted to get my legs feeling good again. The second half of the pavement climb after the bend I started to pick the pace up a bit and then when I hit the downhill on Maple road I was feeling good again. I approached the first big hill with caution, but the legs felt fine so I tried to push as hard as I could up that section of hills.

When I got to the creek crossing there were a lot of people sitting and taking their shoes and socks off. Having ridden with wet shoes at the Heck of the North and Ragnarok, I knew that wet shoes really meant nothing and that taking them off would be a waste of time.

I hope this is still standing

Not me, but I used the same method

I climbed out of the quarry and it soon flattened out and I was feeling good enough. With 14 miles? to go I ran into Troy and Scott and rode with them for a couple miles until Scott got a flat and needed to swap it out. It was good to see them and talk to some people that I knew.

With about 8 miles to go came the suffer fest that is Oriole Road.

For some reason there was a group of about 6 people standing at the bottom looking at their note cards. As I rode by I said "Unfortunately, this is the correct way." I have never made this climb. I have always walked part of it. I started out strong but after my tire slipped a couple times in loose dirt I said screw it and just walked and drank a red bull. It felt good to give me ass a break and use a different muscle group.

After that the last big climb was at the Masonic Park. This hill I have never walked. I was close last year, but after seeing Scott and Kyleen at the top I felt the peer pressure and stuck out the entire climb. This year my legs were feeling better and having some gears made all the difference. After that my spirits were high and with about 4 miles to go I gave it all I had.

As I made the left hand turn onto the paved path I knew for sure that I had made it. I don't usually get worked up about finishing these races, but I did shout out a couple "Fuck yes" as I saw the 500m sign.

At the Finish line there was Chris waiting to shake everyone's hand. Very classy. I told him how much I enjoyed the race and thanked him for putting it all together.

Also, not me

After I was done I was just exhausted and wanted to sit down. It felt so good.

The thing that made me the happiest all day was that our entire crew finished. Jose, Larry, Troy, Scott, and even Curt. It makes for a great day for all.

Afterwards we went and got some food at The Pizza Place and shared some of the days stories.

A huge thanks to Chris and the entire Skogen family for putting on such a great event. there's no other race that compares. Also, a big thanks to all of the volunteers and to the people out on the course cheering us all on.

I'll be back next year, but I'm going to scale back to the 100 for a bit.