I did not go back and don’t plan to. Nothing I particularly liked about, but maybe if it were local I’d consider the 100k. My days of racing past 8 hours is over, I don’t enjoy it and the recovery is too long.
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The Shenandoah 100 is the best race….period. Do the 100 miler if you can. The 100k cuts out some wicked trail.
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A few thoughts, as I’ve done both.
First, the courses may change since I raced them. The promoter was denied permission to use state roads last year - if that isn’t resolved, there will be a reroute from what I rode.
Both are great courses. Typical for mid-Atlantic Blue Ridge. A fair bit of fire road and double track to link single-track. Typically, it’s fire road up, single-track down. Nothing too technical - just a few moderate rock gardens on the ridge trails. Race tires will be fine, if you’re used to them. I raced on 2.3 Ikons or something like that. I have friends that race it on Aspens.
The 100 was my first XCM/NUE style event (2015?). And my first century period. It was my A-race and I trained consistently for it. It was still hard.
I did the 60 a few years later (2017? 2018?). Much easier from a training and recovery perspective. But lots of the same trail, so still fun and challenging.
If either course starts up Lookout Mountain, you’ll want to get out of the gate pretty hard, as the climb is steep and the ridge/descent are rocky. So there will be people walking and falling over.
If the courses start on the fire road to Narrowback, you have 7? miles of forest road/double track before the first single track climb, so less chance of hike-a-bike (unless you get caught in the back of the pack).
Anyways, Chris Scott (the promoter) is a good guy, the race has a fun local vibe, and being part of NUE means there are usually some faster guys. The 60 runs on Saturday now, 100 on Sunday, so trails shouldn’t be crowded no matter where you are in the pack.
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Hmm, I’ll preface this with I consider myself an above average descender and comparisons are tough, but overall there is stuff at Breck that is well above anything you face in the 100. The “traditional” 100 course has what I’d consider maybe 2-3 technical sections of descending, and those are easily mitigated with a reduction in speed. I can’t think of a single downhill at the 100 that you see a large portion of people walking, but can think of a few at breck where I saw people dismount. I can still replay a few of the trails in my head that without speed you are walking them, and speed took brute physicality, which may or may not exist on days 3-5, and the confidence that your bike can do it.
There are trails in the GWNF that would do better to prepare you, lookout mountain down towards the bridge and timber ridge (from reddish to wolf) to name two. They both feature some decent rock gardens.
Biggest difference between the two IMO is the climbing. I’ve done the 100 on a 1X11 with a 32/42 and had to walk a few bits (still sub 10). I had 34/51 at breck and needed a lower gear much more often. It’s just relentless sometimes, I could have easily used a 30/51 on some days I think.
As to the 100 vs 60, the 60 just removes the trail I hate the most (Brayleys) and the death climb\chestnut ridge. Mile for mile the 60 packs more climbing though I think. The 60 is the easier route though as it’s a much easier day.
I will say that given the opportunity I’d do breck again in a heartbeat. It’s an absolute blast and it’s run by a top notch crew.
While not any of the technical ones, I did take a GoPro with me on a few of the more fun days and those are on my YouTube channel (along with a bunch of useless stuff, haha).
Gold Dust Trail - YouTube This is the last day descent and you can find a few others on there as well including the Colorado trail on day 2.
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Wasn’t this race canned at the 11th hour last year, thanks to complaints from a few but vocal locals, or am I mistaking for another race?
That is correct @Chawski. BikeReg page has what is described as “county compliant” course.
Great to hear! Such an awesome race. Wasn’t able to go anyway last year, but 2 friends literally packed and ready to leave when they were notified!
Worth noting that it does link to the standard courses (if you can’t tell by the header of 2014 course for the 100-mile map).
Here were the adjusted courses that they put out prior to canceling in 2022. Based on the spring events (60/40 and Stoopid 50) you should expect to be single file on a loose 10% grade climb for a mile at mile 2.3. I might be in the minority for really liking the Braley’s section of the SM100, but with that removed from the 100m this year, I see no reason to do the longer course other than saying you did the death climb. Descending Chesnut is probably the least interesting downhill on the course.
100k- Shenandoah 100 - 2022 - 100 Kilometer - FULL ROUTE - A bike ride in Augusta County, VA
Pseudo 100m (85m 11kft) Shenandoah 100 - 2022 - 100 Mile Pseudo - FULL ROUTE - A bike ride in Augusta County, VA
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Cool thanks for the insight. I’m newer to mountain biking so would consider myself a below average descender but working on getting better. I guess having to dismount to do a few things potentially isn’t the end of the world. I’m leaning towards the 100K SM distance this year as the 100 miler is just such a long day.
@Brettn13 thanks for pointing that out, hadn’t noticed the header - I have only done the 60/40 so not all that familiar with all of the trails. This year’s 60/40 start was hectic, not sure how interested I would be for that to be the start of a 100 miler (glad they had a mechanic at the bottom of Lookout with a flash pump!).
It’s tough because that is one of my favorite trails, but it being the start of a long race really ruins any appeal for the race. The climb up Narrowback was enough of a conga line even with 7.5 miles of rolling gravel before it on a normal year, and even with waves in 2020 there was plenty of traffic to navigate.
I just know someone who will finish an hour behind me would be willing to treat that first 3-mile climb like a short track and then tiptoe down the technical descent.
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