Creampuff Recap

Sunday was my 2nd appearance at the Cascade Creampuff 100 miler and 2nd time I’ve won the event.  This race is a classic 100 miler on the super fun trails around Oakridge, OR. Like last year, I used this race as a great pre-Leadville prep race.  With nearly 18,000 ft of climbing and finish times between 9-10 hours, it’s longer and has more climbing than Leadville.

I use this race as a gauge on my form, a chance to work out bike specifics and practice my Leadville race nutrition.  The race is also a really early morning start, so I get to simulate that part of the Leadville race as well.  I rode my new Specialized FATE, women’s 29 hardtail and am working out gearing and fit specifics. The bike was incredible and at 18.5 lbs, it just flies uphill. I got to travel to the Puff with a few good friends from Idaho.  It’s always way nicer to go to a race with friends instead of alone.  Unfortunately, Greg missed his first Puff in years because as course director for USAC Nationals this weekend, he was stuck at home working.

I made a few mistakes in the Creampuff this year, the most costly one was forgetting to bring Perpetuem, which has been my main endurance fueling for years.  I had other food, but my body is really used to Perpetuem and not having it cost me time on the third lap around the 33 mile course.  I was basically just running on empty because I didn’t have the fat and protein nutrition that I’m used to.  Despite eating plenty of calories in the form of carbohydrates, I was starving at the end of the race.  I still had a good, solid training effort, but I re-learned a valuable lesson once again.

Each lap was 33 miles with most of the climbing on the first 1/2 of the course.  The climb is a grind on a fire road that takes about 90 minutes.  It’s long and hot and by the third time around, it’s a mental challenge.  However, you are rewarded on the 2nd part of the course with challenging, fun single track.  It is full concentration at high speeds.  My triceps were just as sore as my legs after the race was over.

I was happy with my result. I finished 1st in the women’s category and 7th overall.  The only bummer was since the course was slightly different than last year, I couldn’t compare my time to see how my training is progressing this year.  I also missed having Greg and some of the other racers from last year on the start line for comparison.  I know I’ve been working super hard all season and feel like my training is ahead of where it was at this time last year.  However, it’s an elusive process and I never really know how I’m doing unless I have someone else to compare against.

This week is ramping up really quickly with all the festivities, races, athletes and craziness that comes along with hosting the USAC National Championships.  It’s going to be a crazy, fun week at home. I’m heading out this morning to try out the course on my Fate.  I just had it changed over to a single speed set up for Nationals, so this is the first test run on the Fate without gears.