Stumpjumpers Odessa Desert 100, Sun Apr 3, 2022

The day began with everyone up early, excited to go.
Rider info meeting is at 8:30 followed by a parade to the starting area.
100 mile riders line up first and were released at 9:16am
Then the 50 mile riders lined up and the cannon went off about 9:40am
I made it to the half-way point at 1h58m
I had a bad crash on a hill at 2h55m near mile 31. Suffered a pretty bad hit to the ribs, but my gear protected my knee, hip, elbow, and head.
The most difficult hill was at 3h23m near mile 34. I tried walking the bike up under power, but dropped it anyway. Then I got smashed in the leg helping other riders get unstuck. Lesson learned: don't stand behind a bike while pushing and ask him to "hit it" when 50 horsepower can throw a large rock into your leg.
I finally saw the checkered flag at 4h40m (2:20pm). 9:39 to 2:20 --> 4h41m
Ed finished in 3h50m and Jeff was maybe 20 minutes behind him, call it 4h10m.

 timestamps from video files
 PXL_20220403_161555814_D100_Start.mp4                          9:16am D100 Start
 PXL_20220403_163848779_D50_Start.mp4                           9:39am D50 Start
 PXL_20220403_183712902_AfterCheckpoint2_25miles.mp4            1h58m to halfway point
 PXL_20220403_193347770_watching_lappers_after_my_bad_crash.mp4 2h55m where I had my bad crash
 PXL_20220403_200239933_Carnage_Hill.mp4                        3h23m most difficult hill

8:00am

Barb is busted up from the Family Run so not running the D50 today

Jeff getting his bike ready

Chris getting suited up

Ed getting his bike ready

Chris warming up his ride

Barb helping Ed with his number bib

Chris feels like Superman --- before the race start ;-)

Itching to GO!

Jeff is still prepping

Riders are heading for the start

Jeff still prepping

Chris & Ed

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Parade to the starting lineup

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Riders parading past our campsite towards the starting line, 8:43am

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Ed, Jeff, and Chris head out, 8:50am

Kathi's view from the Navion roof watching the bikes parade toward the start

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Ed, Jeff, and Chris following up the rear towards the start, 8:54am

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Some brave fool on an Africa Twin

Kathi and Barb waiting to watch the start, 9:12am

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The 100 mile start from Chris's perspective, 9:16am

The 100 mile start from Kathi's perspective, 9:17am

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Spectators watching the dust 10 minutes after the 100 mile start, 9:27am

That's the gun for the 50 mile start at 9:41am --- the guys run for their bikes!

The 50 mile start from Chris's perspective, 9:38am

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The 50 mile start from Kathi's perspective, riders racing past the spectators. Dust!

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Kathi feeling left out

Just after Checkpoint #1 at the 12 mile mark

At 10:35am, after about 1 hour, I stopped to take off my sweatshirt, drink some water, and eat a nut bar.
I'm still fresh, but averaging only 12 mph!

Just after Checkpoint #2 at the 25 mile mark

Another moment to rest and watch rider #1000 lap me. This is the first 100 mile racer to lap me. He has done 75 miles in 3 hours, or about triple my pace.

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Just after Checkpoint #2 near the halfway point (~25 miles in), 1h58m, the D100 riders begin to lap me.

My big crash

At about mile 31 at about 1:33pm, the 100 mile racers are lapping us about one or two every minute.
There was a big hill where I took a bad fall.

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Watching 100 mile racers lap me after my bad crash

Carnage Hill

A few things to note:

50 mile riders have red numbers
100 mile riders have black numbers
the 100 mile riders have already finished 80 miles and are lapping the 50 milers around mile 30
the hills look a LOT steeper in real life than they do in these pictures and videos
we are all exhausted and are quite intimidated by this hill

I round a corner and encounter a sea of riders contemplatinng an enormous, rocky hill

While the D50 riders stare in shock and awe, the D100 lappers blast past us and up the hill

Lots of riders just stuck on the hill

Ed at the finish line

Hi Ed!

Meanwhile, Ed is reaching the finish line, 1:34pm (9:41 -> 13:34 ==> 3h53m elapsed time. Way to go Ed!)

Chris at the finish line

Hi Chris!

Chris reached the finish at 2:19pm (9:40 -> 14:19 ==> 4h40m elapsed time. Way to go Chris!)

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Chris is Tired!

In line for the podium

Chris on the podium

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proud finisher

ecstatic to be done

bumps and bruises, remember that rock thump I took on Carnage Hill?

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Three happy finishers

So how did I do?

Here are the class results from 2019 for the age 60--69 age group.

65 racers entered the class, 39 (60%) finished.

The 3rd to the last finisher completed in about 4h40m.

Results for 2020 are not out yet, but I think I'm going to be not-last, but pretty close to last of my class group. I expected to do better than that, but I'm still proud to have been able to finish. It was the hardest thing I've ever done on a motorcycle.

Results are in from https://stumpjumpers.org/sjmc/events-and-races/desert100/d100-archive/2022-desert-100-results/

results (pdf)

the 100 mile race (2 laps) D100

965 people entered 21 of them women
635 people finished (66%) 17 of them women
fastest finisher: 3h26m (30--39 years old) Bib #1000 I saw him lap me as I took a break at the half-way point.
fastest woman: 4h45m
slowest finisher: 7h37m

the 50 mile race (1 lap) D50

551 people entered 21 of them women
419 people finished (76%) 17 of them women
fastest finisher: 2h3m (top two and 5 of the top 7 finishers were 15 & under)
fastest woman: 2h46m 60 of 67 women entered in the D50 finished
Ed Gillespie 303 28th percentile 4h11m
Jeff Brooks 315 25th percentile 4h15m
Chris Uhlik 363 13th percentile 4h52m
slowest finisher: 7h12m

60--69 year old class

130 entries, 81 finished 62% with fastest time 3h57m
I was 74th or 43rd percentile of entries, 8th percentile of finishers in my age group

70--79 year old class

6 entries, 4 finished 66% with fastest time 2h51m (damn fast!)
the slowest finisher beat me with a time of 4h29m

80+ year old class

3 entries, 100% finished with fastest time 3h59m (still much faster than me!)
the slowest finisher beat me with a time of 4h44m

Average speed

My time was 4h52m18s for an average speed of 10.26 mph including breaks.
I imagine I was stopped for about 1 hr of that, so maybe really about 13 mph moving average speed.
One serious crash and another minor crash.

Thoughts about what to do next year

Don't crash --- injury slows you way down and it's bad for your health.
Walk the bike up difficult climbs. Not worth the risk and delay of crashing. There were perhaps 3 climbs that I should have walked up.
Get a lighter bike.
Hydration backpack to avoid water breaks.
No long rest breaks. Maybe just one 1-minute break to eat a nut bar. Then keep moving. Getting back into the groove after a long break takes time.
Don't wear too much warm clothing.
Better armor on sides and better actual MX boots.
Don't stop and help and get injured by flying rocks!
Train for the whoops. Lots of running and squats in the weeks before the race.
Practice riding. I have very weak, undeveloped dirt riding skills.
Push a little harder to keep going a little faster where it is easy. Now I know what to expect.
Electric start and fuel injection would be nice so it starts after being on its side.