Stoopid 50, Stokesville Edition.
Snow up there! Photo by Chris Scott
This past weekend Kelly and I got to preview the new Stoopid 50, put on by Chris Scott and Shenandoah Mountain Touring! As I have only recently gotten back into riding a bit more, this was definitely like diving into some pretty cold water! A super challenging course profile promised slightly more than 50 miles with over 9,000ft or climbing, on almost all trails. To put that into perspective, the Shenandoah 100 is about 3,000 more feet of the up up in double the distance, and has larger percentages of fire road and pavement.
This data didn't matter much to me, as I knew pretty much all the trails we were going to ride, and hadn't seen the actual elevation numbers. I was really figuring it to be about a 4 hour ride. I was a little off!
The night before, it was super windy and had snowed a bit in the mountains, leaving a pretty white on them as we drove out to Stokesville. After Chris filled us in on some of the course details, we started to head up out of the campground with the excitement of riding some trails less traveled and some fresh trail work up on Dowell's Draft.
Plenty of sweet singletrack, awesome vistas and even a little powder at the higher elevations did justice to the old Stoopid 50 course in PA, which was one of my favorites. I will snag Kelly's GPS file from the day, as she didn't forget hers like I did!
After I pulled my sore, cramping, sorry self into the finish almost 6 hours after the start, the day had gotten really nice. With the help of the great post race food, I started to feel good enough to reminisce with friends about the day we just had. It renewed my desire to get into better shape so it won't be quite so painful the next time I undertake an event like this!
Thanks to Chris Scott and the support crew for a great event! I sure hope it's here in Virginia to stay!
Chris
Jeremiah and I after the aid station at the bottom of Dowell's. Photo by Chris Scott
A BIG climb! Photo by Chris Scott
Glad to be back at the mothership. I love the view of Massanutten mountain from the campground. Photo by Chris Scott
The sweep comes in after a long day in the woods! Thanks! Photo by Chris Scott