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Shenandoah 100

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    • #18716
      AvatarTom S
      Participant

      Lynda,

      I have been following your Masters 50 Mile PR Plan for 2 years. To wrap up this season, a friend and I did the Shenandoah 100.

      I lengthened my weekend rides as you recommended and followed the 100 miler tips in one of your articles. I kept the cadence a bit higher than normal to start and kept HR in zones 2-3.

      My GPS showed 94 miles and 13,248 feet of vertical. I finished in the middle of the masters group at 12:06, 30th out of 60 finishers. Muddiest and longest event I have ever done. The course has you do “The Death Climb” twice and at the top a local rider pointed out a tree affectionately known as “The Crying Tree”. The course follows a ridge with multiple summits, that’s when the thunder storm rolled through. Kinda scary but no where to go so you just pedal harder. No real crashes, no injury, no mechanical issues. Most important, it was paced well enough to have energy for the last climb.

      My 16 year old daughter joined us on the trip and volunteered in the kitchen for the post race meal. It was great to have her along for the journey.

      If someone told me 3 years ago that I would be riding a 94 mile MTB event for fun, I would have told them they’re nuts. It’s amazing what you can build up to in a relatively short period of time.

      Best regards,
      Tom

    • #18717
      AvatarLynda
      Keymaster

      Tom,

      Awesome to hear you wrapped up a great season with a strong Shenandoah 100 finish, on a muddy course! Sounds like you are super strong now.

      Thanks for the race report!

      Lynda

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