In my relentless pursuit of novelty, I couldn’t resist signing up for the Angry Horse gravel bike race in Bone, Idaho. I registered for the 82-mile version, the Stud Run, because, I mean, why not. And I signed Cy up too, because misery loves company.
The "town" of Bone is tucked into the
Caribou foothills east of Idaho Falls. As we drove through a wind farm at 5:30 a.m., the turbines turned sluggishly and I wondered if that boded well. Turns out, yes. Barely any wind until the race ended.
The 82-mile race was one big loop, which as you might have noticed by now is something I find deeply appealing. It's made up mostly of excellent dirt roads. I started out at a very conservative pace, chilled to the bone and annoyed by all the roadies around me. The first forty miles swooped
through farmlands. Rain from the previous evening had turned some sections into
slick, churned up mud but it was never quite bad enough to be problematic;
rather, the mud added interest to the ceaseless up-and-downs of the ag roads. I
knew that the course elevation profile was mellow at first, with a series
of long climbs coming in the second half of the race, and I was impatient to be done with the rolling terrain. It made my knees hurt and these roadies kept leapfrogging with me. When the climbing started in earnest I settled in happily. I love long climbs. Also the roadies dropped me. Whatever.
With the elevation gain we emerged into a crazy beautiful new ecosystem of
aspen groves, wildflowers, and lush fields with little brooks trickling beside
the road. The landscape was so hyper-saturated with green that it felt like the
plants were beaming their own light onto my face and arms. The temperature was
perfect and the wind never picked up. Caribou Mountain, still snowy, stood
sentinel in the distance and over one rise I saw the Grand
Teton on the horizon.
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| Words and photos do not do it justice. It was SO BEAUTIFUL out there in Bone. |
Near the end of the race we dropped into a scenic creek
canyon, then had to climb ten miles out of it to the finish line. It was a slog, and scary to get on a busy highway for the first time all day. Idaho Falls drivers don't give one solitary fuck about safe passing of cyclists. The
cumulative miles wore me down and my upper body felt withered and weak, but I
finished the race in much higher spirits than usual. I never descended into that dark place where I hate everything and want to quit for no good reason.
It definitely helped to have my perpetual riding partner at
my side. I did not want to ride with Cy the whole race, because I think those kinds of couples are gross, but he has become a real endurance athlete and I could not for the life of me drop him on any of the climbs. He was actually putting time into me on everything but I'm wickedly stubborn and consistent if nothing else. This is the first race we've done in which he crossed the finish line before me. But just barely.
In a pretty strong field of roadie women, I placed sixth. It's kind of a shitty finish but as I’ve come to learn
in recent years, I can either choose to prepare for races or I can just wing
them and accept mediocrity. And every time I opt for the latter.
Anyway, the Angry Horse was a nice run-up to the premier
event of the season: this weekend's Teton Ogre Adventure Race. The race
directors had us all convinced that last year
would be the final chapter in the Ogre book, but apparently they love hosting
the challenging bike-and-trek scavenger hunt as much as we all love doing it,
so it’s back for 2019. I can’t wait to see where the Ogre will take us this year.
Midway through the DH
