A bunch of us Madison folk went up to Marquette for the Ore To Shore this past weekend. I hadn't been able to make it up there for quite a while (a year? two years? I don't remember...) so I definitely had a full mental checklist of places to visit and things to do. And Kelly had never been up there, so I got to see everything through her eyes for the first time again, which was really exciting.
After a brief stop in Negaunee to cool off in Teal Lake, we headed into town to pick up our registration packets and get some food. The first item checked off my list was Pad Thai and eggrolls from the Rice Paddy. Aoy was pretty slammed so she demanded that DP, Djonn, and I head over to the Wooden Nickel for a beer while we waited. During my time in Marquette I don't think I'd ever set foot in there, but I knew the reputation. Reportedly it's been fancied-up since then, but I still enjoyed going to a bar that has cheap beer served in Mason jars, sawdust on the floor, and a dog sleeping under the pool table. After stuffing ourselves with food later, further drinking at the Vierling did not bode well for the race the next morning.
The race itself was great. The conditions were very dry and dusty, with many sections of barely rideable sand to capture those with deficient handling skills. They could have filmed the volleyball scene from Top Gun on this stuff. In fact, I could have sworn Val Kilmer slapped my ass at one point, and there really was a guy in cutoff denim shorts. Anyway, the sand would be great on a beach, not great spread over the course of a 47-mile mountain bike race. There were unrideable run-ups larger than your worst CX nightmare. But other than those tricky sections, the trail was fun.
Not being a very savvy MTB'er, I treated the first 20 or 25 miles like a road race and spent too much energy chasing wheels and fighting for position for no reason. The singlespeed was a harsh mistress and I spun out my 36x16 to get in front of bottlenecks that didn't really materialize. Eventually it occurred to me that I still had more than half the race ahead of me and to even make it to the end I had to ride my own pace and let things fall where they may. The race was long and tough, but overall a totally fun time. I won't be giving up my skinny tires anytime soon but I'd love to do more of this. It's both humbling and satisfying at the same time.
Complete results are up at itiming.com. I finished in0 3:21:59.6, good for 128th out of 530, and 14th of 35 singlespeeders, so I'm happy with my result and can't wait to do it again and improve next year. I've seen pics here here, and here, I'm sure there are more out there. Congrats are in order to j*pow for ending up 6th in her age group and a good finish overall and to Cory for slaughtering pretty much everybody. "Mexican Hammergel" was the preferred fuel for the BKB this time around.
We stayed at the Nordic Bay Lodge, which was really cool. Nice rooms, tall ceilings, views of Lake Superior, nearby beach, restaurant, bar, bands playing on-site. After napping in our room after the race, we drove back into town to check more items off my list. Portside for pizza and breadsticks: check. Ran into Melissa there, which was a nice surprise. It's fun coming back up because you never know who you'll run into. After dinner I wanted to show Kelly a small taste of MQT nightlife, so we went to The Matrix. I used to frequent the place when it was the Aurora, and it's not really my scene anymore. We went sort of as a joke, but ended up having a pretty good time anyway, and finished the night with a swim in Lake Superior near the hotel.
Marquette is like a dream (or a drug?). It's amazing while you're there and you can't get enough. You wish it was sustainable for longer periods of time. It's really hard to leave and puts you in a funk for a few days afterwards when it's over. We prolonged it slightly by cruising around town, doing Presque Isle and Blackrocks (no cliff jumping this time). We also stopped in Marinette on the drive home to play in a second great lake in one day. Lake Michigan was warmer, but nothing can hold a candle to Superior for me.
I'm hoping I can invent another reason to get back up there sooner than next O2S.
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