Lost in the Rocks & Trees
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Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by jackp42 on Jul 6, 2007, 8:23am
Alan and I are heading up Firday July 20th for the Saturday Lost in the Rocks & Trees 100km mtb enduro race up in Mattawa.
This will be my 4th time participating and Alan's 2nd.
Not for the faint of heart. It's a real challenge to test your skills and endurance.
Race check in/registration is manditory on the Friday night.
If you are interested, here is the link to the race http://ltr.northbaycycling.ca/
Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by brad on Jul 6, 2007, 8:59am
Maybe next year I'll try this one again.
Jack is absolutely right - this one's not for the faint of heart. But if you've been doing lots of riding and are in good good shape, there's no bigger challenge or feeling of accomplishment around (well, maybe a 24-hour solo or tag-team).
When I did this race in 2003 it took me 9 hours and 46 minutes - almost twice as long as the winner. But I did finish, and it remains one of my premier accomplishments on a bike.
Good luck Jack and Alan! Ride safe and have fun!
B
Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by jackp42 on Jul 7, 2007, 11:27am
Brad, I was pretty impressed with what you did in this race back in 2003. I think most would have abandoned long before the finish. Take about will power and drive. Just think what you could do now!
Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by lexus on Jul 11, 2007, 11:35pm
No way i would love to participate unfortunately i just read this post now and the notice is a little short, my whole family lives in mattawa i think it would be a riot, the area is beautiful i could loose myself in the bush there forever!
Definitely will be on my list for next year without a doubt, it sounds like an awesome challenge and it would give me an excuse to visit the inbred relatives..lol
Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by jackp42 on Jul 12, 2007, 7:39am
It's usually middle of July each year.
Next year I will post once registration is open.
Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by jackp42 on Jul 16, 2007, 4:59pm
Below is part of an email I recieved from the orgainizers this past weekend. Looks like the ride at 3 Stages in the mud will be pretty mild compared to what it looks like we are in for. The hard part this year is that they are changing it to doing a 50k loop twice. Going back in for a second time if it was hell is going to be hard.
"The last few years of the Lost in the Rocks and Trees have been a battle against the weather. In 2005 it was 34C with heat stroke being a very real issue, 2006 brought 2C, rain, snow and some wet trails. In 2007 the story could once again be the weather. North Bay and area has had rain every day in July, and yesterday was no exception. Ed (my right hand man) and I spent 4+ hours in the rain yesterday on ATV's, doing a survey of the course. We will be using the same course as last year, but it is not going to be the same course to ride. All of the rain has eroded the course, making it more rocky and more difficult. Not to mention that there WILL BE some very large wet sections. By wet I mean some sections will be under water, others will be very muddy, depending on what happens between now and next Saturday (did I mention it rained today and is supposed to rain tomorrow?)
Yes, this will be Ontario's Toughest Mountain Bike Race. "Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by morris on Jul 16, 2007, 8:51pm
The way I read it you should be bringing the 250cc bike rather then the White.
Good luck and have fun. When you are at the finish line dead tired and dirty as can be I am sure there will be a smile on your face as Tracy hands you the first of many beers.
Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by jackp42 on Jul 17, 2007, 7:38am
I think I need to pack an inflatable raft with an outboard motor.
My WR400F would also be a good choice.
Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by morris on Jul 23, 2007, 11:57am
Well are you going to fill us in? Was it all you hoped for?
Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by jackp42 on Jul 23, 2007, 12:38pm
I knew going in it wasn't going to be all I had hoped for, though for a change, the weather was awesome.
1st, I would much prefer the original 100k 1 way from Mattawa to North Bay. The 2, 50k loops looses a lot of the appeal. It looks like a fair number of the 100k competitors abandoned after the 1st lap which is so much easier to do when you are so close to home.
2nd, I haven't done much long distance riding this year. Having too much fun riding the Supermoto.
I managed to get my way through the 104k course in about 7h50m. I had leg cramps set in at about the 65k mark. Much of the course was soft sand/small gravel that was dry as a bone and rolled badly or the other extreme of mud holes. One was about 3 ft deep as Alan found out on our first lap. He was nearly up to the number plate on his bike before he gave up trying to pedal through.
The best parts where the rocky desents. I think there where 3 good ones that we got to do twice each. My odometer peeked at 56 kph which I'm pretty sure was on one of these decents. Alan managed to get a front flat on one of these. Luckily it wasn't a sudden lose of pressure and only a slow puncture. Crashing on these decents would have been tragic.
Glad I pushed myself to the end and finished. Would have like to have done better but not really interested in doing any kind of training regiment for this kind of thing. Want to keep mountainbiking as fun and not a chore.
I think this year the course was a little too cardio/road oriented with not enough challenges other then the mud and DH sections.
I'll have to wait to see the posted results to see exactly where I finished.
I believe the overall entry was a fair bit down from previous years. I think there was about 38 in the 100k catagory and about 50 in the 50k catagory. I think they were close to the 100 mark for 100k competitors in years gone by. If they chose to run the twin 50k loops again, I probably won't bother doing it again.
Re: Lost in the Rocks & Trees
Post by jackp42 on Aug 8, 2007, 11:12am
Alan had a GSP with an altimiter function on for the race. Looks like we did 2711m (8,900 ft) of climbing. Seeing that this was over about 105 km, not nearly as much as the 11,000 ft in 45 km for Ellicottville. Then again, not much of it rolled very nicely.