Race Report: 2022 Mammoth Tuff
Race: Mammoth Tuffest 2022 - Long Course
Date: September 17, 2022
AVRT racers: Niky Taylor, Kristina Okamoto
Top Result: Niky 5th/8, Kristina 6th/8, but 1 and 2 in our age group :)
Course: This was a 107 mile gravel race so I am sorry that this report is so long. About 30% of the course was paved road, 70% was dirt/gravel road. Sand and washboard were major themes. The course started in Mammoth (about 6500ft altitude) with a 5 mile neutral roll out and went towards Bishop, overall descending into the valley for the first 55ish miles. The last 52ish miles involved climbing back up to Mammoth. Overall the elevation gain was about 8000ft for the whole course, and it being concentrated in the last half and on sandy roads made it a really difficult ride. There were aid stations at 55 miles, 78 miles, and 98 miles. Each was fully stocked with water and nutrition, and the station at mile 55 included a drop bag that we had each pre-packed.
This was Kristina’s and my first true gravel race, and going into it my main goal was just to do it. It was also longer than any gravel ride I had done before. We arrived in Mammoth late on Thursday to give ourselves some time to adjust to the elevation and prep. We rode the 18 mile pre-ride on Friday and were thrilled with the condition of the dirt roads we did on that ride. Unfortunately, most of that route wasn’t included in our race route.
The night before we packed our drop bags and bikes. In the morning, we took a bit too long making breakfast and ended up rushing to the start line. As soon as we rolled up, I realized my back tire was flat because my valve stem had rattled loose. A really nice guy lent me his CO2 to re-inflate it since we only had 30 seconds to race start, and I only had my pump with me. We got it inflated and caught on with the neutral roll out quickly.
After this fairly stressful start to the race, I saw several other riders get flats or mechanicals within the first 5 miles. Since it was during the neutral roll-out, most of them just did a quick fix and jumped back in. At 5 miles the race started and about half the group took off. The rest of us spent the next 10 or so miles spreading out and forming small groups, finding our pace, and enjoying the beautiful mountain views. We were mostly descending, so I found myself pushing to keep up with Kristina who is naturally a better descender. I started to realize how effective drafting still was even though we were on dirt. Kristina and I rode with two other women, Charity and Sam.
Around mile 19 we hit road and drafting became even more effective. Some guy shouted to me, Kristina, and Charity to do 30 second pulls. Sam was farther ahead. He pulled for about 5 seconds, then pulled off so Kristina took over. Charity and I did our pulls, then we caught up to two other riders, then Sam. A couple other guys, Kendall and Albert, caught onto our extremely disorganized group and we all drafted the two guys in front, until I went up and asked if they wanted help. They said sure, so I yelled at our group and got us going in a rotating paceline. Possibly the most successful thing I’ve ever done in a race.
At mile 30 we turned back onto gravel. Albert and Kendall missed the turn so we had to shout at them to come back. Then we began to hit more intense descents. Kendall dropped his chain and several other riders got mechanicals. Kristina was cruising. I was comfortable with the descent, but I was feeling a bit off and realized I hadn’t eaten anything. I managed a few sips of water and a clif blok, but the descents were getting sandier and steeper and soon I couldn’t take my hands off the handlebars.
We hit the major descent around mile 40 and I knew I was about to lose Kristina. She rocketed down the -12% sandy gravelly slope. I followed, nearly crashing in some sand but managing to keep it together. Somewhere I lost a bottle off my fork, but since I had 3 more and knew I could get another in 15 miles I didn’t bother looking for it. Kendall caught up to me but dropped his chain again. The road began to flatten out, but it was completely washboarded and still pretty sandy. Thus began what would be about 20 miles of choosing between washboard and sand or both. I saw Kristina in the distance and buckled down to catch up to her. I tried to eat something but the road was so bumpy it was still really difficult. This was probably the most frustrated I was during the whole course, because the washboard just made it impossible to pedal smoothly or eat or drink.
I’d just caught Kristina when my second bottle on my fork fell out, and I stopped for it since I had already lost one. I realized that the bolts on my fork were rattling loose and I had lost two, hence why I kept dropping bottles. I fixed it as quickly as I could with some spare bolts, slammed a handful of trail mix since I was stopped anyways, and then got moving.
At mile 55 I reached the first aid station. Kristina had been there for several minutes already. If we had been more serious about racing, this is the moment where we lost the race (well, where we lost third place) because both Charity and Sam had rolled up with Kristina and then taken off again quickly. Kristina and I both realized we had brought too much of the wrong types of food, but luckily we had plenty to choose from in our drop bags and at the aid station. We ended up taking about half an hour re-packing snacks, re-organizing kit, adjusting hydration, using the bathroom, and in general just fixing all the things we’d realized needed adjusting in the first 55 miles.
We set out again more calmly and resolved to just ride together for a bit. We’d done the first 55 miles in 3 hours, but knew it was the “easy” 55 miles and the toughest was yet to come. We continued on more sand and washboard, but now I was able to eat having exchanged my stupid trail mix for more practical granola bars.
The road began sloping up and Kristina started to fall behind me. When we hit the main climb around mile 68 she told me to just go. There were a couple people there handing out water, a “bonus aid station” that wasn’t planned. It was getting hot. The climb was about 2500ft over 8 miles. I made sure to pace myself and focus on drinking as much as I could. This climb had really cool rock formations, and if Kristina were writing this race report it would probably mostly be about the cool geology, but unfortunately I’m writing it so you have to just hear about how bad an idea trail mix was.
I saw a few people on the climb, but for most of this stretch I rode solo. I saw a snake. There were some other climbs after the main one. I contemplated how I probably didn’t need 4 full bottles of water, and how hydration mix is fantastic and I should just get more of that. I felt great rolling up to the second aid station at mile 78. I restocked on hydration and waffles. After a few minutes I headed out right when Kristina rolled in. Since there were some descents coming soon I figured she’d catch up.
Turns out there was more climbing that I forgot about. I was tired but it was fine, all about 4-5%. The scenery was nice. At mile 83 I hit a descent. It was incredibly sandy, and it started with a short -16% section. I somehow managed to slip and slide my way down without falling, then continued through essentially a 3 mile sand pit. I was super stoked that I was able to ride it all, and I passed several people who were walking their bikes through the worst of it.
I was feeling pretty good after the sand, and then at mile 88 I turned onto a stretch of road. I thought, excellent, I just rode through sand, this is gonna be really great. No. It was not great. Because I am a feather, and there was a strong headwind, and I got absolutely wrecked for 5 miles. I desperately wanted someone else to show up but I was totally alone.
At mile 93 it was back to gravel, still with a headwind. I was really struggling, but eating and drinking and just telling myself to keep pedaling. It was amazing how I went from tired but fine to totally spent in the span of about 6 miles. At mile 95 a very chipper guy suddenly popped up next to me and said hello. I was hyped to see another rider, and was even more hyped when it turned out he was riding with Kristina. The guy introduced himself as Andres, and then happily told me how caffeinated he and Kristina both were because they’d been drinking the monster energy drink at the aid station and eating lots of caffeinated goo. I told Andres I hadn’t had any caffeine and he assured me that it would solve all my problems.
We got to the aid station and I just couldn’t bring myself to try the monster drink. So I tried my first ever goo to get some caffeine. I did not like it very much. I ate a caffeinated waffle instead. Kristina said something about getting on her bike, so I followed her. Andres was happily chatting to someone else, but saw us leaving and grabbed his bike to leave with us.
That was really nice of him because we were still going into the wind, mostly on pavement, and Kristina and I mostly drafted off him. I learned Andres was at Mammoth racing to win, but had some mechanicals and was set back so much he’d bonked after catching back on. So he recovered and then decided to just have a good time and hang out with people. He was hugely helpful both for moral support and for letting us draft him. At one point I tried to return the favor, even though I was way too exhausted to pull for long. He told me to stop it, saying either I needed to grow or he needed to shrink for me to be an effective draft.
At 104 miles we hit the final gravel climb. Kristina fell back a bit and I continued up, Andres slightly ahead of me. We turned onto the final stretch of pavement, which felt like nothing when I’d biked it that morning but now felt like the longest mile of my life. As we approached the finish, Andres slowed down and I got confused. I asked what he was doing and he yelled “go go go!” and pushed me to cross the finish line before him.
Kristina rolled over the finish line a minute later and we celebrated by taking a selfie with Andres. I was tired and the sun was in my eyes and I did an abysmal job of aiming the camera, so I’m not in the picture. Then I got free pizza and talked with other people about their rides. This race was great, so well organized and quite the challenge.
Thank you for reading my novel. The end.
Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/7825480539#kudos
Nutrition: I started with 3 bottles of water, 1 bottle of Nuun hydration mix, and tons of snacks including clif bloks, a couple honey stinger waffles, trail mix, and jerky. Over the first 55 miles I had a bit less than 1 bottle of Nuun mix, 1 clif blok, and the pack of trail mix. At mile 55 I reorganized so I could better access food. From there I ate at least 4 or 5 waffles, a Kate’s bar, a Bobo’s bar, a full sleeve of clif bloks, a packet of jerky, a vanilla gel, and 2 bags of lays chips. I drank about 5 bottles of various non-caffeinated hydration mixes from aid stations, water, and Nuun. Fueling was difficult the first half of the race, easier once I adjusted. In the future I would only carry 3 bottles, not 4, and I would pack mostly small bars like the Kate’s and Bobo’s which are easy to open and eat in a bite or two.
Feedzones: 55 miles, 78 miles, 98 miles. All had water, monster energy drinks, gatorade hydration mixes, lots of snacks including chips and waffles and gels. Mile 55 included drop-bags that each rider had pre-packed for themselves.