Long time listener, first time caller.
I think this race started in 2008 but I was super committed to racing CX that year, and wasn't a huge fan of the format. I didn't do it the next two years either and then stopped racing. I don't think it was long after that the race became the premier regional MTB Epic and assume that when the Burnin' burnt out, it got even bigger. After I got back on the mtb last year it still wasn't on my radar until the fall when everyone at the One Eyed dog was talking about it, but still, I started this season with plans of XC racing and it wasn't until I dipped my toes back into endurance racing and put the Burnin' on the calendar that I decided to give it a go. True to form, I went totally OCD on the planning and got in some good training rides with Dan, Terry and solo. Riding with Dan and Terry one thing was clear- there would be a lot of 3-5 minute efforts, which was probably my biggest weakness. I was doing almost all endurance training for the Burnin', with the intensity coming on the MTB rides, but nothing too specific. After the Burnin' I had 9 days off the bike and had a few big weeks of volume, but kept the intensity relatively low and not very specific. TBH, that was probably the biggest limiter I had during the race, but still think the endurance volume outweighed the V02 efforts. I'm saying this because I don't want to forget it next year.
The long range weather forecast was calling for a continuation of the heat and dry weather, then a little cooler with a chance of rain, and finally strong storms with possible hail, lightning, tornadoes and 1-2" of rain. My biggest fear was them cancelling or rescheduling the race, the fact it wasn't it still crazy to me, but I'm happy it wasn't
I didn't really care about an age group win so I opted for the Pro Class to get away from the masses, which turned out to be a good strategy. We had the 2024 Elite XCM rider in attendance, the majority of fast regional guys/kids and a good number of out of towners.
I was expecting the attacks on the climbs to be far more chaotic, but I stayed with the main group and wasn't feeling like it was terribly hard, until the first climb in the singletrack. I was blown out the back of the front group pretty quickly and fell back to 8 or 9th, with the lead group of 3 and the chase group of 6 in front of me after the first rocky climb. I burped my front tire in the creek crossing before the climb, but it was rideable so I kept my fingers crossed it would hold air. After the climb my legs were locked and I was suffering, but I managed to keep the chase group in sight, led by Dan, and kept pushing. After the first climb on the Berryman it is mostly flow down to Brazil and I was able to close the 45-60 second gap to the chase group and Dan, Kenny and I took the lead with Brody in tow.
From Brazil to Berryman we put a gap on Brody and rode together, but my weakness was apparent and there were a few of the climbs that I got gapped and caught back up on the flats/descents. We hit the campground at 1:40 or so, which was close to 5 minutes faster than the 4:20 pace I was targeting. The number of people going nuts at the Berryman Campground was unreal and definitely lifted the pace with adrenaline. Dan casually mentioned his NP was 270, which probably wasn't good for me to hear. Kenny tossed his pack, grabbed a bottle and we started flossing.
About 20 minutes later the rain started. Nothing like later in the race, but things were getting slick, my glasses were getting messy and I wanted them off. Sometime before the spring I got gapped. I started the climb after the spring with them in sight, maybe 20 seconds ahead but by the Floyd Tower Road crossing they told me it was 45 seconds, and I never saw them again. I had not seen Brody in quite some time and hit the mid race funk.
At the last fire road crossing before exiting Berryman I saw Mark Grumpke and he was nice enough to take my glasses, which really helped. I exited Berryman, climbed out and hit the gravel. I was trying to stay focused but was getting gravel in my eyes and was feeling the funk. I took some Tylenol and hit the Three Sisters section at about 3:05, a little slower than pace.
This is when the weather started to change. By the first climb it was dark, wet and raining fairly hard. Surprisingly, it wasn't as slick as I would have expected. I was able to ride fairly strong up the climbs and was descending well, considering the wetness. When I crested the last climb it looked to be clear over to the left, where I was heading and was optimistic but by the time I hit the cow pasture it was raining very hard and there was standing water on all the gravel.
I grabbed a bottle at Bass, saw Terry, was amazed that they weren't pulling racers and kept going.
On the climb out of Bass it was pouring buckets and it hit me- I was sitting in 6th overall and just had to ride it out. There was no way I was turning back and in the back of my mind I contemplated the chance of a place change before the finish and got pretty fired up.
When I hit the gravel at the top it was insanity. The gravel was under water, almost completely, and the rain was now dumping. The rain was so heavy from here to the finish that there never was a time I could see clearly. Not long after I turned off the gravel into the singletrack the real shit hit the fan and the storm crested out of one valley and was directly over me on the ridge. There was lightning followed by immediate cracks. I was mostly right thinking it was heading in the opposite direction as I descended into the other side of the ridge. Riding through the technical descent was pretty much Jedi at this point but somehow I only had to dismount to get through the gulley at the bottom.
I think the Tylenol was working and I wasn't feeling much as I climbed out, literally through a stream down the trail. I was keeping my eye on the clock and amazed that I was still running a pretty respectable time, given the obvious slower pace, and crossed the line at 4:23. There wasn't anyone there. It was fairly comical how anticlimactic it was. I went inside, saw Kenny drying off and that was that.
I'm still digesting this and it's a little tough to swallow the "what could have been" aspect of it had it remained dry, but am pretty amazed I was able to do that. I was shooting for a top 15 overall and a 4:20 pace and to finish 6th with a 4:23 in those conditions is quite rewarding and up there with one of my best performances ever.
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