Whiskey Off-Road

Whiskey Off-Road
Prescott, AZ
April 25-26, 2014
Scott Thomas

  So Whiskey would be the first race for me since my worse finish ever at 24 Hours of Old Pueblo.  It wasn’t scheduled that way in January, but after 24HOP I needed some time.  Well that’s what I got was some time to do nothing.  Heading into the Whiskey 50 I was in the worse physical shape that I have ever been going into a race.  So the Monday before the race I opted to switch my registration to the Whiskey 25 (actually 28 miles) and as you will read further it was a good choice for me.

  Friday mid-morning I headed out of town and up to Prescott.  After battling a road closure and traffic delays for a small brush fire I made it up to Prescott about 2pm.  Was able to catch up with Ben from Serfas for a bit and even chatted with Mike Perry from AZ NICA.  Got checked in and all of the good stuff with that.  I had heard they were doing an amateur crit this year for the first time and made sure I was getting in on that.  Caught up with a few other friends and watched the start of the Whiskey 15 (actually 19 miles).  Then I headed to get changed knowing the crit started at 4:45pm.

  Got back to Whiskey Row and over by the crit area.  Rode the crit course real quick, just to make sure I knew it.  A couple of good quick climbs.  Lined up for the crit and listening to the rules….only to hear that it was a single lap crit.  Kind of felt cheated and wanted more.  None the less was dressed and ready, so did it.  Maybe 25-30 of us all in.  It was a fast course after the two climbs.  I think I came in 5^th out of the overall pack, but because it was more for fun there was no real tracking or prizes.  Oh well it was a good quick workout and I was able to get back over and watch a friend finish the Whiskey 15.

  On to Saturday.  Well when I left Phoenix on Friday it was 80-85 degrees.  Friday evening in Prescott was sunshine and about 60.  Perfect weather.  Well waking up Saturday morning to 38 degrees and raining was a change.  I had heard that weather might be changing to this, so I was packed accordingly.  Original plan was to leave my car at my friends house that I was staying with and ride down to the race and then back after the race.  Not any more.  I went ahead and got ready and left the house about 8:30am for the 9:30am start.  Just as I’m leaving the house the rain turns to snow and it’s heavy.  I’m sure there was ½” or more on my car just driving the 2 miles to the start line.

  I got down to Whiskey Row and Don and I got our bikes staged only to hear that they had pushed the start from 9:30am to 10am.  10am start gets pushed to 10:15am and everyone starts lining up with their bikes to go.  About 10:10am the announcement comes that they will be delaying the start to noon.  Time to go back to the house and warm up. 

  Here we are at noon lined up and ready to start.  Whiskey 50 riders are starting to come in and look like hell.  Can’t say enough about those riders that hung in there and finished the 50 miles in those conditions.  Noon start was pushed to 12:15pm and then the announcement comes that all 25 riders will be pushed to the 15 course.  At this point I’m just ready to ride something.

  Finally the race starts.  The pack is heavy and tight.  Due to the change in course it would be a steady 8-9 miles of climbing before any relief came.  The weather held out and we caught a little sun along the way and a pretty steady 5-10mph winds with 20-35mph gust.  Climbing is a strong point for me, so finding the right spot and just climbing away made it easy to block out the weather around me.  Because of the course change the majority of the first 8-9 miles of climbing was on roads or fire roads.  Once we hit the little bit of single track there was a short bottle neck of riders, but moved along pretty quickly. 

  Getting through the first climbing leads to some more climbing on the fire road and tying in with some of the 50 riders coming back up from Skull Valley and hitting some fast down-hill.  Well fast if you just let go of your brakes.  Very choppy and loose rocks, but fun.  I think I made up some more time there just before hitting the base of Cramphill.

  So Cramphill is exactly how I remembered it from last year.  I was much more spent by the time I got to it last year, but it’s really only a mile to a mile and a half of climbing and then it’s all fun quick single track to get back to the road.  Getting back to the road you know it’s all down hill and burning everything you have left to try and make up any time you can.  After turning off of Gurly one little climb of ¼ mile then it’s as fast as you can to the last ½ mile to the finish and I’m pretty sure I left it all out there on this section.

  Huge thanks to all of the volunteers, Epic Rides for another epic race and all the people of Prescott that come out and support and cheer us on.  Additional thanks to Serfas(saddle, grips, eyewear, bib, shoes. tires), Poc (helmet, gloves, gear bag), GUEnergy (chomps, Roctane GU, Roctane Brew), Crank Brothers (wheels, pedals), Stan’s NoTubes (sealant, wheels), Geigerrig (hydration packs), Polar Bottle(water bottles) and Progold (lube, and much needed bike cleaner).  Also all of the friends and family support.