Berryman Epic 2009

Epic it was. Where last year we had near perfect conditions, true to 2009, this year we had lots of water, lots of mud and a little rougher trails to contend with. I spent Saturday night out at scout camp with the family, what better way to prepare for a race than smores? A short night's sleep and it was time to leave. Coming off of a good result at Burnin', I didn't know what to expect. I pedaled twice in the two weeks between the events with no real focus. After looking at the list of registered racers, I had decided this would be more of a ride than a race. The conditions chased a hand full away but there were still 120 something racers. As soon as I showed up the priority was to pick up my registration. I was greeted by a few friends that asked me if I had seen the shirts. I responded with a no and then asking why. One wouldn't tell me and the other said, "you're going to like it". Finally Scott Mortimer gave it up, they put the names of the top ten finishers from last year's Epic on the back of the shirt, my 6th place included.


I must say, that's the coolest thing I've seen yet and in addition to the copious amounts of cash, this too will be something to chase after. Immortalized on the backs of all who take the challenge, I think it's cool!

The lineup looked fierce. Steve Tilford, Eric Pirtle, Garth Prosser, Dwayne and Jim, Jon Schottler, Bill Stolte, Josh Johnson, Mike Best, Clayton Bell, Matt Keeven.....No way for top ten, MAYBE a top twenty if all goes well. This is one time that I can say that I would change the results if I could because all didn't go well, I wish I had placed 10th.

After starting the race by climbing over Scott's trailer that he beached in the river so we didn't have to ford a waist deep river, the fast guys were gone.







Nothing new until making the last descent to Brazil Creek where I saw Eric Pirtle being carried up the hill not looking too good. Eric was in the lead when he hit a rock buried in the leaves and went over the bars "taco-ing", as he said, his body mid air into a tree. Another racer, Jason Ozenberger stopped to help him along with many other spectators by the time I got there. It looked to me like he had hurt his ankle the way they were helping him. The way I see it, Eric and probably Jason would have and should have finished ahead of me. I would gladly give up my place in this scary situation. All we knew after the race was that he was transported to a hospital in Sullivan and someone said he was having issues either feeling or moving his legs. We now know that he is home after being transferred to Barnes and released with a reasonable prognosis, bad bruising and a concussion-get better Eric! I can say without a doubt, I have never seen or been around ANYONE that can handle a bike the way he can. The day you think you are good, ride behind him and you WILL be humbled. Trust me, I've been there!. Can't wait to give it a try again soon. Scott the promoter gave Jason O lifetime entry to the Berryman Epic for stopping to help Eric, that's class!

Now that I feel puny, I'll continue on with the race report. Nothing too notable after the first check point at Brazil Creek. I started the first climb with a group of riders just ahead. I could see Matt Keeven, Jim Vandeven, Mike Best, Bill Stolte and Garth Prosser. I knew they would leave me on the climb and they did. Soon I found myself on Bill Stolte's wheel. He bobbled on a switch back and I was around him. Mike Best was right there and we soon had a good gap on Bill. We rode together with the traditional climb/descend yo-yo thing going on the whole time. We came to a long flowing section and Mike let me by. He stayed with me for a while. Somewhere in there I passed Jim Vandeven messing with a tire. I could not figure out what was happening, why was I passing all these doodz? Made the first Berryman check point and didn't even stop. Keeven was up ahead on his single speed looking like he wasn't even working. We made our way down to Hwy 8 which is followed by a serious creek crossing. Scott had built a killer bridge across the deep water. It was awesome, rode it no problem. Matt walked it and then I briefly was in front of him. I knew the climb that followed would leave me only a memory of his smooth climbing form as he disappeared into the distance.

Soon I figured out why I was passing all those riders. I was going too hard. Once Matt was long gone, Jim and Josh came by like a freight train. I knew they wanted to be together for the gravel sections as they could work together well. It wasn't long and Bill came by. I kept him in sight for a while but I had to back off. I finally lost him a few miles into the first gravel road section after the 3rd check point. It was at the end of this section while forcefully plowing through the deep water that was crossing the road that I caught Matt. We stayed together up part of the climb back to Berryman. He was about 30 seconds up on me at the top. I stopped to get fuel and I guess he did too. It was almost as if he was waiting for me to go into the last section of single track before him. Thanks for the Oreo, Jim! We were within sight of each other almost all the way to Harmon Springs, the end of the single track, the end of the Berryman trail, the beginning of my advantage over the single speed. He would have killed me if we were on the same bikes. I did expect Matt to catch me on the last double track climb, but I never saw him. I was in survival mode now, so I merely "got back". Must just be late in the race but that last 7 miles always seems tough. The trailer was gone so we had to cross the river on our own, it was deep and cold. Within minutes we were done.

I missed the 5 hour mark by 6 seconds which was 7:01 slower than last year. I felt good about being slower in those conditions, very impressive that Jon Schottler and 3 others were able to trump Chris Ploch's record from last year. Dwayne was on fire and got 3rd not far behind Steve Tilford, as in 30 seconds and 43 behind Schottler. Sounds like Steve had some flat issues but that's racing. Vandeven pulled one off and got 5th, Josh was right there for 7th. I was over 11 minutes behind Josh with Keeven right on my tail. Mike Best wasn't far behind with Jeremy Bock closing in fast. Jeremy made up huge time from the 4th check point to the end on me, Keeven and Mike. 11th place! Nice job. Bob Arnold rode an impressive race as did Zach Brace. Hats off to the non-racer of the bunch, Todd Hecht. 2 broken chains, a wrong turn and finished with a smile. There were some tough girls there braving the elements. Karen, Christine, Wendy, Loreen, all finished. Any riders that finished after about 5:45 got rained on, hard.

5 of the top 10 from last year made the top 10 this year. I'll have to give Scott positive re-enforcement on the shirt thing. Now we can have a saying, "I made the shirt!"