Charlie Farrow and I conversed the other day about gear ratios, arrival & departure, the possibility of riding together for as much of it as we could, etc etc etc. For those interested in what awaits us info can be found
here.
The anticipation is driving my nerves crazy!!!!!
1 comment:
Hey Dave: Below is the recent email I received from a dude I know that has experience at 7 Oaks...
Hugs, Charlie
From: Ben Shockey
hey charlie,
thanks again for the kind words. i don't always take compliments well and coming from someone as well respected as you i'm very flattered.
my brief past with boone/7 oaks:
i LOVE this course as an xc course. its like decorah but a little bit easier. i've had varying degrees of success at the handful of xc races i've done there and i've run them all 32x18 (or some similar mathematical equivalent) and always rigid. never once a problem. could climb virtually everything depending on weather conditions. just enough climbing to keep a single speed in the race with geared folk. as for the 24 hour race, i failed pretty catastrophically last year. it was my first ever attempt at a 24 solo and 5 hours in i was suffering from a pretty massive heat stroke and was stretched out 2 feet from the trail on oxygen for a couple of hours trying to get my head and neck to no longer be blue. i was attempting that geared 32x20 and rigid.
based on my experiences from last year, my more recent endurance races and conversations with other people that have done boone solo, these are my thoughts:
1. it is "doable" rigid. there's no way i would attempt it rigid again if i wanted to last the full 24.
2. i would start 32x20 with a 22 tooth cog for back up. regardless, you will walk. a lot. it is a ski hill and climbs accordingly. not afton by any means, but last years 2nd place finisher was walking 10+ times a lap by the end.
3. the event continues to grow and because of that i think the possibility of being truly competitive for the overall victory on a single speed is very slim. not impossible, but...
4. very, very few places you'll be spun out in the flats with a 20. they mow some contrived extra mileage at the base of the ski hill but you'll be ready for the break when you get there. otherwise, you just won't be as fast as someone going all out but i'm assuming you won't want to push that hard anyway.
5. this is, in my opinion, not a traditional 24 hour course due to the large percentage of singletrack. there will be some roots and typical wooded singletrack riding however i do not consider it a very technical course by comparison to decorah. by comparison to 24/9 it is incredibly technical. its not one of these wide open, built for 500 riders sort of courses. its like going to your favorite trails and trying to ride them for 24 hours. its mean.
6. because i love racing xc here it can be difficult for me to separate how to race it for the 24 instead which is probably what led to my disastrous results last year, but again i think if it was me i'd race xc 32x18 rigid and 32x20 suspended for a 24.
sounds like there should be a good group of guys there this year. if you want more detail/inside information i'd try to get ahold of squirrel. he won it a couple years back and rides there a lot with plenty of ss experience. i actually committed to the dakota 5-0 the same weekend so won't be down there. best of luck! would love to make it up for the heck of the north and really appreciate the invite, unfortunately my work situation limits me to one weekend a month off (apparently the weekend is the busy time when you run a bar...weird).
let me know if you've got any other questions of if i missed anything.
take care,
ben
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