Stoopid 50

The Independent Fabrication team showed up in force at the Stoopid 50 with six riders (Harlan, Elk, Greg "the leg", Buck, Vt. Jeff and Wurster) representing the spectrum of classes and putting in some solid and some not so solid rides - Harlan 3rd overall, Elk 7th in singlespeed and the rest of the crew coming in all over the place but with smiles on their faces. During a preride of the course on Saturday some of the scenery suddenly started to look very familiar (in a painful kind of way) and at the top of several different climbs I realized I was on the Wilderness 101 course. Further riding brought back more memories, this time of the 2005 Singlespeed Worlds, turns out the course was a combo of the two and if memory held true it was going to be one of the more painful rides on record.
After weeks of never ending cool rainy conditions race day dawned with clear skies and warming temps making this the hottest ride of the season. The start was a controlled role out from Tussey Mountain ski area with a 2+ mile climb up the fireroad before spilling onto some beautiful singletrack and ridge riding (that is if you had time to take the scenery in). The first 4 miles of singletrack had more trees across the trails and rock gardens then I ride in a full season back home. I now realize just how spoiled we are with singletrack as smooth as glass, this was rough and raw with sections that would put a smile on your face and a half mile later have you shaking your head and commenting on how stoopid this course was.
The next 25 miles of the race saw a mix of fireroads and even more singletrack with even more logs and rock gardens. At least the race ended with 12+ miles of fireroad climbing before being dumped onto a 2 mile descent that was loaded with, yes more rock gardens. With the Masters class age cut at 45 the results were painful to look at - 12th in class and a sore back from a misadjusted seat.
My memory of the race is log crossings as numerous as theseand rock gardens that seemed like these