D2r2 2018

[prototoast]

Originally Posted by ergott

Everyone was happy when the rain rolled in because it was a relief from the oppressive heat otherwise.

I was happy when it was dry, and quite unhappy and uncomfortable when the rain rolled in.

[sparky33]

The family ride was awesome - we pretty much crushed the thing. Smooth shady gravel, sounds of rushing water, good chit chat, snacks and a leisurely river session.

[Pinned]

This was my first D2R2 - I did the 180k with a friend and had a blast. The rain was just part of the fun, IMO...just wish I had lower gears! But I made it through.

It was a great event, and extremely well organized. Big thanks to all the volunteers - everyone was happy and it was amazing to know there was food and water at every stop.

[eippo1]

Peanut butter is the perfect description for the mud/sand/gravel. First hour was so humid that I had to take a hit of my inhaler. Then it was a down pour followed by 4 hours of rain. Followed by sun finally when I took a wrong turn and my derailleur broke in the big ring.

Kicked it into the small ring and found another guy that missed the same turn and we hauled ass back. But it was awesome because I was able to do the majority of the ride with my amigo.

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[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by weisan

hill pal, it's great to hear from you and knowing that you have safely made it through, kinda like entering back to earth's atmosphere, those few minutes of radio silence with folks on the ground holding our breath.

How did those gravel kings work out for you?

The gravel kings worked pretty good aside from when it was down pouring a bit on Franklin hill and lost a bit of traction. Overall though they did well.


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[cabbagelookin]

After 2 years of 180k, switched to the 160k. Much fun had by all. 650b snagged me a silly Strava cup on the gnarly descent!












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[R3awak3n]

Was a rough one for me, definitely did not have it in my for the mystery 130k. All the climbing in the beggining, we had about 6500k by lunch time

I was done. Luckily and in the spirit of D2R2 met some really nice gentleman feom the area and they pretry much told me, for me to get back there is no short way, you are going to have to ride 30 miles back to the start. So they told me to ride with them till the river and then do the last 15 miles along the river since it will be flat. So I somehow kept up, walked a big climb. Those guys rocked, waited and were just class acts. Made it back to the start in one piece.

Manage to get really bad chainsuck when it started raining and there was grit everywhere (also major props for someone who gave me aome chain lube, saved the rest of the ride - I will be carrying it from now on on rainy rides on gravel)... my new open now has a few bad paint gouches on the stay (luckily its mostly just paint), lost my prescription okleys ( hope someone found them and will take em to lost and found), lost my waterbottle.

It was a mess and a tough day for me but the beer at the end was good and got to meet aome new people and just hang out.

Met ebaumann on his lauf fork, did’t look tired at all ahah

Also met hilltopperny and we chatted for a bit.

I will be back next year, hopefully without rain.


Also heard someone crashed pretty bad and someone had a heart attack, hope both are ok

[weisan]

R3 pal, appreciate your honest report, glad you survived.

D2R2 is not an easy ride. It puts the rider in a natural environment that requires mutual respect and appreciation.

[marciero]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

Was a rough one for me
...

Wow-does sound like a rough day. Glad you made it through. We did see some eyewear-a few pairs- placed on the fence posts at lunch as if they had been found and placed there. If you just put them down somewhere and forgot them (as opposed to, say, dropping them on the course) I think there would be a high likelihood that they would get picked and returned to lost and found. So I would check back with the organizers if you have not already.

We did the 100k on our tandem and had a very enjoyable ride. Aside from the complete deluge that lasted 20 minutes, I thought the rain was pretty manageable. Yes, we did get totally soaked during that downpour, despite the fenders that I decided to leave on the bike. Ran into ergott at lunch after spotting the bike, then the jersey.

As far as course conditions-we didn;t see much of the sloppy, gooey stuff until the last gravel/class IV section. Even that seemed like it would have been manageable without knobs. We did have knobs (WTB Resolutes, tubeless) and they may have allowed us to stand on some sections we would not have otherwise been able to. Hard to say.

[ergott]

Originally Posted by marciero

Wow-does sound like a rough day. Glad you made it through. We did see some eyewear-a few pairs- placed on the fence posts at lunch as if they had been found and placed there. If you just put them down somewhere and forgot them (as opposed to, say, dropping them on the course) I think there would be a high likelihood that they would get picked and returned to lost and found. So I would check back with the organizers if you have not already.

We did the 100k on our tandem and had a very enjoyable ride. Aside from the complete deluge that lasted 20 minutes, I thought the rain was pretty manageable. Yes, we did get totally soaked during that downpour, despite the fenders that I decided to leave on the bike. Ran into ergott at lunch after spotting the bike, then the jersey.

As far as course conditions-we didn;t see much of the sloppy, gooey stuff until the last gravel/class IV section. Even that seemed like it would have been manageable without knobs. We did have knobs (WTB Resolutes, tubeless) and they may have allowed us to stand on some sections we would not have otherwise been able to. Hard to say.

Great to meet you!

[ShadRides]

Hey R3, same thing happened to me on the 'short' mystery ride. When the rain started about an hour before lunch, I knew I was in a spot of bother. Stopping at lunch just made me cold, really cold, so I ended up bailing at that point too. Hooked up with local Conway guy who was also skipping the afternoon section and we did mostly pavement (33 miles or so) back to Deerfield.

Last year I had over 70 rides in the tank before the D2R2; this year, only 33 so my conditioning was not there. I could NOT have climbed that hill after lunch.

The crash that seriously injured a rider occurred about 5 seconds before my buddy and I arrived. On Hog Hollow Rd. Very scary and very bad. Had to race to the bottom of the hill and go into a house and call 911. Don't know exactly what happened or how the rider is, but I heard he was airlifted to Springfield with a skull fracture. Definitely the worst moment I've experienced in six D2R2s; left my buddy and I pretty shaken.

[weisan]

Shad pal, glad to hear you made it too. Thank you for taking care of that fallen rider.

[BikeNY]

Hi all, here's my report from my first D2R2. I signed up for the 100k only about 3 weeks ago, figured I could manage 62 miles. As the event drew near, I looked a little closer at the stat's, over 7000 ft of climbing and more like 68 miles. Weather forecast wasn't helping either, but I decided to go ahead and give it a shot anyway. As others have said, the first half was dry and humid with a quick 10 minute shower, second half was a steady soaking rain. I started at around 8:45 after my 2.5 hour drive. I met up with a couple of riders early on and staying with them for a while, but they were moving just a bit too fast for me, and I think I paid the price for that later. I did walk a couple of the steeper sections which was a good idea. It started raining just as I got to lunch, and didn't stop until about 10 minutes before I pulled into my driveway around 7:00. I had a hard time enjoying the ride along the river after lunch because of the weather, and when the 100k turned up the hill away from the river, I pulled the plug and kept following the river South. My disc brake pads were just about gone by that time as well, so probably best I avoided any more big downhills. I pretty much followed the 40 mile route back to the start, and ended up riding with a local for the last 10 miles or so, which was nice. I still ended up with 63 miles and about 5700 ft of climbing, so I'm still calling it a successful Metric Century! The only picture I took was of the bike at the and. It's a beautiful area, I'll be back!

Building up a brand new bike right before the event was also probably not the best idea. Bike performed great, but I think my position is a bit off from the previous bike, which caused some premature soreness.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by ShadRides

Hey R3, same thing happened to me on the 'short' mystery ride. When the rain started about an hour before lunch, I knew I was in a spot of bother. Stopping at lunch just made me cold, really cold, so I ended up bailing at that point too. Hooked up with local Conway guy who was also skipping the afternoon section and we did mostly pavement (33 miles or so) back to Deerfield.

Last year I had over 70 rides in the tank before the D2R2; this year, only 33 so my conditioning was not there. I could NOT have climbed that hill after lunch.

The crash that seriously injured a rider occurred about 5 seconds before my buddy and I arrived. On Hog Hollow Rd. Very scary and very bad. Had to race to the bottom of the hill and go into a house and call 911. Don't know exactly what happened or how the rider is, but I heard he was airlifted to Springfield with a skull fracture. Definitely the worst moment I've experienced in six D2R2s; left my buddy and I pretty shaken.

There was a lot of climbing before lunch, those 2 major climbs were no joke. Steep and went forever. After lunch there was a good 10 miles or so of really fun roads until that climb you mention, which I ended up doing... well, I did half of it and then walked the rest. I was walking almost as fast as people ridding up.

Last year I was in about same shape, and did the 100k mystery and was totally fine. This one was MUCH harder than last years mystery. Not the 28k more but the elevation which was 2k more but also crammed all almost before lunch.

Next year I will probably be dumb enough to attempt the same thing. I do think this short mystery is a great ride, I think it should replace the 115k

[AngryScientist]

done and dusted. [most] of the 180k in the books again this year.

made the smart move this year and rode at my own pace the whole day. started super early and just took my time. got to see some forum buddies briefly and that was nice. decided to pull the plug a little early to get back to the car at a reasonable hour for the drive home, over 90 miles clocked and over 10k'. good enough to call the day a success.

made the last minute decision the night before to pick up a tire with a bit more beef to it at one of the tents by the registration tent. WTB Riddler went on in the hotel room in the rear and stuck with the Cannonball up front. 37/35 combo worked perfectly. just enough traction where/when it was needed. i think it was a better move than the smooth compass tires i originally planned. honestly, the roads were nowhere near as bad as i expected they might be.

other smart move was putting on some SPD pedals this year, instead of my usual road pedals and shoes. they are not as comfortable for me, and not what i'm used to for long day, but it was nice to be able to put a foot down without fear of totally fouling the cleats in this years mud.

only one "field" picture this year.



hotel tire changes...



these are actually some lovely tires.