I am not an experienced gravel rider (Plenty of MTB), but no way I would have raced a gravel bike. One of the hardest things for me was the extended descents and arm / shoulder strength as I hadn’t spent a ton of time conditioning those muscles early in the season - and that was on more of an Enduro Bike. Single track sections weren’t bad on MTB but the last one there’s no way I could clean fresh on my best day. (I was solidly mid pack last year finishing around 6 hours on an Ibis Ripmo and am probably currently a ~5 hr rider being stronger and on a much more appropriate bike)
Talked to at least one guy who did it on a gravel bike and he said - horrible decision. No way he’d do that again.
If you’re really experienced on gravel, go for it. But YMMV, looking at the elite end of the field I didn’t see any gravel bikes.
I came in 9th on a gravel bike. But I had a suspension fork and 2.2” tires, so more of a monster gravel bike. It was definitely still the wrong bike but it was fun. I’ll be on an XC bike for sure this year. I still consider it a gravel race, just one that’s better on a MTB if that makes any sense.
Up until last year the single track was significantly easier in the Blueberry trails, but I was dropped like a stone the minute the lead pack hit the new trail that they added last year. I did come back to the lead group but that certainly cost me more effort than if I had been sitting in the draft on a mountain bike.
This is a fun, challenging, and well-supported event. In fact there’s a guy from Placid Planet who has made the trek west to do it. I’ve done the 100K 3 or 4 times… not sure what the course will be this year but they did add another 15-20K’ish of single track on to the 40K that already existed going through the state park section). The rest is gravel for the most part plus some chip seal… on punchy climbs… with one that’s particularly demoralizing. Ha!
Just got the email announcement that WW100K is back on.
On behalf of the Adirondack Sports Council, we’d like to thank you for taking the time to complete our event survey and for providing valuable feedback.
We’re excited to announce that the Wilmington Whiteface 100K and 50K Mountain Bike Race will return this year on Sunday, June 4th. Please note that this race is no longer a Leadville qualifier.
We are excited to continue this MTB legacy and hope to see you in Wilmington, New York!
I didn’t care for the section either. It was really out of keeping with the rest of the course. The other single tract was all pretty flowy and fun, but that section at the end was way more technical. A lot of people ended up walking through sections of it.
I agree, the other two sections were fine. But, I personally couldn’t have cleaned that section fresh on my best day, let alone 100K into a race. Maybe about 95% of it.
I remember busting my ass up the ski hill in the heat coming into that section thinking it was almost over, and then basically swearing not so under my breath straight through until I was out in the open coming into the finish area
Still fun overall, but I’d be glad that section was gone!
Well, looks like I’m going to “race” the WW100K this year. Now that I know what my schedule looks like, it actually fits in pretty well as a workout or B/C type event to get some time in the saddle under race conditions.
Found you in the results, nice job. I thought the new course (added technical MTB trails) was great, and I loved the smaller town race vibe. Hopefully it grows for the organizers’ sake, and they can order up this weather every year!
I had a great time, really hope they keep doing it. I wasn’t going 100% today as I have a full week of training this week before a taper for Lutsen, so kept the real hard efforts under wraps and tried to stay pretty steady without blowing myself up. But because of that and everyone going out so fast though, I think I was passing people from the entrance to Blueberry all the way home which was fun.
I like the new course a lot better - the added singletrack was perfect and I wasn’t a fan of the part they got rid of. Cold weather was awesome, but it screwed up my fueling pretty good, I had everything mixed in my bottles, so ended up having to stop and take a leak like 4 times. Need to switch to gels when I’m not sweating.
Only downside, I did have a guy crash HARD right in front of me on the big descent down into Elizabethtown. Front wheel washed out at speed, and he went over the bars face first. I had to lock up the brakes pretty good to avoid him - he ended up face down, bike on top of him, face and nose scratched up, helmet cracked so had to help him out. After making sure he was mostly okay (pretty sure he cold cocked himself and concussed himself) I went down and stopped to tell the EMT’s. Hoping either they helped him out or he was able to make it down ok.
Whoa, glad you were there to help and thanks for doing that. That descent is scary. I was following a few people and couldn’t see anything through the dust. Next time I’ll make sure I’m first down that thing (would have been first or second wheel but I stopped to grab a bottle I’d stashed at the top).
They cut out like the last 20-30 minutes. There used to be a left turn off the road to head over towards Whiteface after the Hardy singletrack, where you climbed up and did singletrack there before finishing on mountain.
Instead of making that left, you go straight and finish like 2 miles up in Wilmington on the east side of the Au Sable river. Mostly flat road finish.
To make up the difference they lengthened the Blueberry singletrack at the mid point, which in my opinion was a lot nicer and more fun.
Start and finish was in Wilmington at a public park / field there. Got a free beer and a meal along with your shirt and mug.
Only downside is there was probably under 200 people so there wasn’t a ton going on at the finish.
But, unless I’m doing something stupid like Unbound, I’ll be back next year.
