Before the Race
We arrived in Ketchum just two days before, so acclimating to the 8,000-foot start at Galena Lodge wasn’t really an option. I could feel the altitude, but my wife felt it even more. We pre-rode some of the trails to get a sense of the conditions.
Hydration planning was tricky. I didn’t own a hydration pack yet, so I ran three bottles on the bike with Roctane mix, but the course was so technical in the first half that drinking was tough. In hindsight, a pack would have been smarter — nearly all the pros had them.
For gear, I went with 650b wheels and WTB Sendero 47c knobbies to handle the 25 miles of singletrack. Paired with my 2x (50–34 with 11/34 cassette), it gave me enough range but required constant chain management through the rock gardens. I had a few rim strikes but no flats.
Race notebookView dataClose
Normalized Power
214 watts
Elevation Gain
4,272 ft
Avg Heart Rate
158 bpm
Distance
47.77 miles
Elapsed Time
04:13:53
Moving Time
04:00:12
Avg Speed
11.93 mph
Avg Power
172 watts
Time Stopped
00:13:41
Race Narrative
Early Miles
The neutral rollout from Galena Lodge gave me a great position at the front, but disaster struck shortly after when I followed another rider onto the wrong trail. It took nearly five minutes before I realized, and by then I was forced to backtrack and rejoin behind a mass of riders clogging a flow trail climb. People were walking, traffic was jammed, and I estimate I lost about 20 minutes in total.
Once back on course, I started passing riders steadily, but the effort cost a lot of matches.
Time in power zonesView dataClose
Not pedaling
0 watts
1:05:29
Active Recovery
2–155 watts
37:49
Endurance
155–210 watts
35:56
Tempo
210–252 watts
41:44
Threshold
252–293 watts
37:35
VO2max
293–335 watts
18:44
Anaerobic Capacity
335+ watts
16:36
Mid-Race Grind
The second half of the stage was a slog — two-way traffic, blind corners, and little room to move up. Nutrition went smoothly: two bottles of Roctane, a couple gels, and chews. No aid stations meant being fully self-sufficient.
Tactically, positioning early was everything. Once in the singletrack, there wasn’t much room for big moves.
Route & elevation
Grade
-
Distance
-
Elevation
-
Time
-
Key Moments
The Merriman Trail delivered incredible mountain and river views that made the suffering easier to swallow. The descents were some of the most fun I’ve had on a gravel bike. The river crossing was sketchy — definitely not something I was going to ride through.
No crashes or mechanicals, but that early wrong turn hung over the whole ride.
Power CurveView chartClose
Finish
I rolled into the finish tired but still strong. The extra energy spent clawing back from the wrong turn caught up to me, but my technical skills and gear setup carried me well.
Race resultsView 139 resultsClose
| Place | Rider | Time | Speed | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew L'esperance | 2:48:09.25 | 17.04 mph | :00 |
| 2 | Payson Mcelveen | 2:48:09.38 | 17.04 mph | :00 |
| 3 | Bradyn Lange | 2:48:09.84 | 17.04 mph | :00 |
| 4 | Brennan Wertz | 2:50:37.30 | 16.80 mph | 2:28 |
| 5 | Eli Kranefuss | 2:50:59.65 | 16.76 mph | 2:50 |
| 6 | Stephen Mull | 2:51:30.97 | 16.71 mph | 3:21 |
| 7 | David Greif | 2:58:42.11 | 16.04 mph | 10:32 |
| 8 | John Borstelmann | 3:06:48.17 | 15.34 mph | 18:38 |
| 9 | Marc Spratt | 3:07:05.64 | 15.32 mph | 18:56 |
| 10 | John Shalekbriski | 3:08:04.77 | 15.24 mph | 19:55 |
| 11 | Griffin Easter | 3:11:25.58 | 14.97 mph | 23:16 |
| 12 | Carl Decker | 3:11:57.22 | 14.93 mph | 23:47 |
| 13 | Jordan Cheyne | 3:14:12.41 | 14.76 mph | 26:03 |
| 14 | Riley Arian | 3:19:41.61 | 14.35 mph | 31:32 |
| 15 | Innokenty Zavyalov | 3:20:47.64 | 14.27 mph | 32:38 |
| 16 | Travis Presnell | 3:21:30.57 | 14.22 mph | 33:21 |
| 17 | Zack Allison | 3:21:58.24 | 14.19 mph | 33:48 |
| 18 | Anthony Brantley | 3:22:59.00 | 14.12 mph | 34:49 |
| 19 | Nathan Spratt | 3:24:15.62 | 14.03 mph | 36:06 |
| 20 | Peter Stroble | 3:24:59.69 | 13.98 mph | 36:50 |
| 21 | Carter Ramsay | 3:25:03.38 | 13.98 mph | 36:54 |
| 22 | Jason Gowans | 3:28:44.49 | 13.73 mph | 40:35 |
| 23 | Greg Binns | 3:29:08.91 | 13.70 mph | 40:59 |
| 24 | Jacob Hora | 3:29:35.64 | 13.67 mph | 41:26 |
| 25 | David Harward | 3:30:05.48 | 13.64 mph | 41:56 |
| 26 | Richard Cox | 3:30:44.15 | 13.60 mph | 42:34 |
| 27 | Stephen Simpson | 3:31:33.60 | 13.55 mph | 43:24 |
| 28 | Olaf Auerbach. | 3:31:33.68 | 13.55 mph | 43:24 |
| 29 | Aaron Friedman | 3:32:22.27 | 13.50 mph | 44:13 |
| 30 | Yuri Hauswald | 3:33:59.46 | 13.39 mph | 45:50 |
| 31 | Jackson Long | 3:35:51.80 | 13.28 mph | 47:42 |
| 32 | Andrew Morrison | 3:37:13.26 | 13.19 mph | 49:04 |
| 33 | Shawn Katz | 3:38:18.66 | 13.13 mph | 50:09 |
| 34 | Joshua Wells | 3:39:43.77 | 13.04 mph | 51:34 |
| 35 | Nadav Elkabets | 3:40:00.76 | 13.03 mph | 51:51 |
| 36 | Todd Jackson | 3:40:24.83 | 13.00 mph | 52:15 |
| 37 | Brelon May | 3:43:08.42 | 12.84 mph | 54:59 |
| 38 | Paul Burdick | 3:43:16.73 | 12.84 mph | 55:07 |
| 39 | David Stanfield | 3:43:33.07 | 12.82 mph | 55:23 |
| 40 | Jason Rose | 3:44:14.67 | 12.78 mph | 56:05 |
| 41 | Jimbo Jones | 3:44:44.62 | 12.75 mph | 56:35 |
| 42 | T.j. Morton | 3:46:06.68 | 12.68 mph | 57:57 |
| 43 | Karl Kroll | 3:46:07.82 | 12.67 mph | 57:58 |
| 44 | Nicholaus Slone | 3:46:14.46 | 12.67 mph | 58:05 |
| 45 | Jerome Mcnamara | 3:46:32.28 | 12.65 mph | 58:23 |
| 46 | Jiri Senkyrik | 3:47:01.79 | 12.62 mph | 58:52 |
| 47 | Cassidy Keeland | 3:47:33.48 | 12.59 mph | 59:24 |
| 48 | Shannon Owery | 3:48:19.60 | 12.55 mph | 1:00:10 |
| 49 | Eric Anderson | 3:49:23.64 | 12.49 mph | 1:01:14 |
| 50 | Matthew Burns | 3:49:54.55 | 12.47 mph | 1:01:45 |
| 51 | David Haase | 3:50:42.09 | 12.42 mph | 1:02:32 |
| 52 | Daniel Wren | 3:50:50.72 | 12.42 mph | 1:02:41 |
| 53 | Joshua Lerner | 3:52:32.20 | 12.33 mph | 1:04:22 |
| 54 | Richard Northing | 3:52:40.91 | 12.32 mph | 1:04:31 |
| 55 | Zeban Stroebel-haft | 3:53:14.78 | 12.29 mph | 1:05:05 |
| 56 | Nikos Mills | 3:54:19.28 | 12.23 mph | 1:06:10 |
| 57 | Robert Gruss | 3:54:24.32 | 12.23 mph | 1:06:15 |
| 58 | Samuel Elenes | 3:54:41.36 | 12.21 mph | 1:06:32 |
| 59 | Cody Fredrick | 3:55:04.15 | 12.19 mph | 1:06:54 |
| 60 | Jesse Jarjour | 3:55:14.82 | 12.18 mph | 1:07:05 |
| 61 | Ryan Drew | 3:59:36.11 | 11.96 mph | 1:11:26 |
| 62 | Chris Aymond | 4:01:57.47 | 11.85 mph | 1:13:48 |
| 63 | Andre Abreu | 4:02:26.51 | 11.82 mph | 1:14:17 |
| 64 | Eric Wang | 4:02:59.04 | 11.80 mph | 1:14:49 |
| 65 | Chris Sivak | 4:04:26.55 | 11.72 mph | 1:16:17 |
| 66 | Nick Grudzien | 4:04:27.73 | 11.72 mph | 1:16:18 |
| 67 | Joe Constantino | 4:04:28.15 | 11.72 mph | 1:16:18 |
| 68 | Adam Saegebarth | 4:04:49.04 | 11.71 mph | 1:16:39 |
| 69 | Michael Darter | 4:05:50.68 | 11.66 mph | 1:17:41 |
| 70 | Joseph Saban | 4:07:33.92 | 11.58 mph | 1:19:24 |
| 71 | Rick Anderson | 4:08:43.46 | 11.52 mph | 1:20:34 |
| 72 | Michael Lopez | 4:08:59.94 | 11.51 mph | 1:20:50 |
| 73 | Rob Haggart | 4:09:00.20 | 11.51 mph | 1:20:50 |
| 74 | John Kugler | 4:09:05.90 | 11.51 mph | 1:20:56 |
| 75 | Andrew Brightman | 4:09:55.44 | 11.47 mph | 1:21:46 |
| 76 | Andrew Hoehn | 4:10:11.82 | 11.46 mph | 1:22:02 |
| 77 | Adam Gilberd | 4:11:12.17 | 11.41 mph | 1:23:02 |
| 78 | Jacob Lescher | 4:13:40.29 | 11.30 mph | 1:25:31 |
| 79 | Darrin Grella | 4:14:36.45 | 11.26 mph | 1:26:27 |
| 80 | David Mcmullen | 4:16:23.85 | 11.18 mph | 1:28:14 |
| 81 | Mikhail Vyazmensky | 4:16:37.42 | 11.17 mph | 1:28:28 |
| 82 | Jordan Rayboy | 4:17:34.62 | 11.13 mph | 1:29:25 |
| 83 | Scott Pinizzotto | 4:18:42.54 | 11.08 mph | 1:30:33 |
| 84 | Kevin Dolan | 4:18:51.46 | 11.07 mph | 1:30:42 |
| 85 | Mark Clendenin | 4:20:25.34 | 11.01 mph | 1:32:16 |
| 86 | Randy Brendal | 4:21:06.00 | 10.98 mph | 1:32:56 |
| 88 | Mike Cannon | 4:24:19.51 | 10.84 mph | 1:36:10 |
| 89 | Gavin Brooke | 4:24:44.14 | 10.83 mph | 1:36:34 |
| 90 | Joe Kraxner | 4:25:56.18 | 10.78 mph | 1:37:46 |
| 91 | William Toth | 4:26:07.05 | 10.77 mph | 1:37:57 |
| 92 | Robert Bingham | 4:26:26.92 | 10.76 mph | 1:38:17 |
| 93 | James Smith | 4:26:46.00 | 10.74 mph | 1:38:36 |
| 94 | Bryan Yates | 4:29:53.47 | 10.62 mph | 1:41:44 |
| 95 | Jonathan Limbird | 4:30:46.18 | 10.58 mph | 1:42:36 |
| 96 | Matthew Hale | 4:31:31.98 | 10.56 mph | 1:43:22 |
| 97 | Guillermo Modad | 4:35:41.81 | 10.40 mph | 1:47:32 |
| 98 | John Seivert | 4:35:43.25 | 10.39 mph | 1:47:34 |
| 100 | Michael Koved | 4:36:21.24 | 10.37 mph | 1:48:11 |
| 101 | Steve Richardson | 4:37:04.01 | 10.34 mph | 1:48:54 |
| 102 | Bill Ludington | 4:39:32.11 | 10.25 mph | 1:51:22 |
| 103 | Todd Ritzman | 4:42:02.32 | 10.16 mph | 1:53:53 |
| 104 | Ken Krome | 4:43:31.57 | 10.11 mph | 1:55:22 |
| 105 | Brent Davis | 4:44:29.68 | 10.07 mph | 1:56:20 |
| 106 | Marc Thompson | 4:44:58.55 | 10.06 mph | 1:56:49 |
| 107 | Ben Zuehlsdorf | 4:46:06.85 | 10.02 mph | 1:57:57 |
| 108 | Peter Blommer | 4:48:21.23 | 9.94 mph | 2:00:11 |
| 109 | Wayne Brander | 4:48:26.86 | 9.94 mph | 2:00:17 |
| 110 | Frank Laurencio | 4:50:29.48 | 9.87 mph | 2:02:20 |
| 111 | Jason Hoffman | 4:52:05.06 | 9.81 mph | 2:03:55 |
| 112 | Troy Crady | 4:52:55.34 | 9.78 mph | 2:04:46 |
| 113 | Robert Ayres | 4:53:00.86 | 9.78 mph | 2:04:51 |
| 114 | Doug Nagel | 4:53:19.90 | 9.77 mph | 2:05:10 |
| 116 | Todd Huckins | 4:55:13.46 | 9.71 mph | 2:07:04 |
| 117 | Scott Rhodes | 4:55:13.54 | 9.71 mph | 2:07:04 |
| 118 | Stu Watada | 4:56:32.49 | 9.66 mph | 2:08:23 |
| 119 | Thomas Williamson | 4:59:05.61 | 9.58 mph | 2:10:56 |
| 120 | Jacob Bolm | 5:02:41.49 | 9.47 mph | 2:14:32 |
| 121 | Mike Schreck | 5:03:38.24 | 9.44 mph | 2:15:28 |
| 122 | Todd Conlan | 5:06:11.22 | 9.36 mph | 2:18:01 |
| 123 | Greg Rowley | 5:07:17.36 | 9.33 mph | 2:19:08 |
| 124 | Marc Aguilar | 5:11:27.19 | 9.20 mph | 2:23:17 |
| 125 | Paul Duren | 5:11:46.48 | 9.19 mph | 2:23:37 |
| 126 | Nicholas Bardonnay | 5:24:06.84 | 8.84 mph | 2:35:57 |
| 127 | Michael Weber | 5:26:05.87 | 8.79 mph | 2:37:56 |
| 128 | David Jones | 5:28:27.42 | 8.73 mph | 2:40:18 |
| 129 | Jeremy Albrecht | 5:29:42.20 | 8.69 mph | 2:41:32 |
| 131 | Taylor Thornton | 5:31:08.73 | 8.65 mph | 2:42:59 |
| 132 | Patrick Muskus | 5:33:01.87 | 8.61 mph | 2:44:52 |
| 133 | Chris Christensen | 5:37:20.97 | 8.50 mph | 2:49:11 |
| DNF | Brian Miller | 00:00:00 | ||
| DNF | Vick Dyer | 00:00:00 | ||
| DNF | Tim Conlan | 00:00:00 | ||
| DNF | Ken Gallegos | 00:00:00 | ||
| DNF | Mitur Sakoda | 00:00:00 | ||
| DNF | Garth Honhart | 00:00:00 | ||
| DNF | Padraic Gallagher | 00:00:00 | ||
| DNF | Amir Matityahu | 00:00:00 | ||
| DNF | Jason Lopez | 00:00:00 | ||
| DNF | Max Dingemans | 00:00:00 |
What Went Well
- Great gear choice: 650b with knobby tires was perfect for the singletrack.
- Strong technical riding — no crashes or flats despite some rim hits.
- Nutrition was dialed in and stomach handled altitude well.
Needs Improvement
- Navigation: I need better Garmin alerts or awareness to avoid losing the course again.
- Hydration strategy: a pack would’ve made fueling at altitude and on gnarly trails much easier.
- Positioning: losing the front group to a wrong turn cost me ~20 minutes and a lot of energy.