The much anticipated Shenandoah 100 (the 18th one!) happened this past Labor Day weekend. Ryan, Kelly, and Myself raced it this year. It was Ryan's first time, Kelly's second, and My fourth. We all had our own goals, mine being a podium finish, Kelly trying to improve upon her result from two years ago, and I think Ryan was just hoping to finish without any major issues (he had A LOT of spare parts in his Camelbak).

The course is largely the same as it's always been with some great new re-routes from SVBC on Wolf trail and Dowell's Draft. For those unfamiliar, it's a mixture of trails and fireroads with about 12,000 feet of climbing and 5.5 aid stations to refuel along the way.

Conditions were perfect - a bit dusty from our dry late summer. 400 of us rolled out of the Stokesville Campground at 6:30am, just as the sun is peeking up and the road becomes visible. The usual morning chill was noticeably absent this year but no worries, as the high was only going to be 83 degrees or so, which meant at 4000ft it will be 75 or so. Perfect.

Quite a few of our friends participated from many states. I saw about a half dozen people from upstate NY, where I grew up, and dozens of local riders from town or Staunton.

Friends Wes and Alan both had great rides! It was Wes' first time racing here, and Alan's second. Alan bested his time by a bit over 20 minutes and Wes was just outside the top 20 with a time just over 8:30. Kelly had an awesome ride getting seventh overall for the ladies and improving her time by almost two hours! I also had a great day on the bike, good enough for fourth place.

My setup was an important part of my success. I rode a Specialized S-Works Epic with the brand new 2017 Renegade 2.3 tires, which have a totally new tread pattern and Gripton rubber that made a huge difference. I run a little higher pressure during the 100 mile races, as they tend to have more road and the higher pressure seems to help me not flat on the trail sections. I was 163.5lbs on race day and ran 25psi front and 28psi rear along with Stan's Race Sealant. A few other things were my Evade GC skinsuit which is certainly worth some time, and road shoes and pedals, which aren't always optimal but with only one place on course to walk up they were great.