Another June trip to the Sierras has come and gone as Ornot made our yearly pilgrimage to what has quickly become one of our favorite events of the year. Lost and Found holds a special spot in our hearts for the unparalleled riding and community gathering. It’s an incredibly hard 100-mile race, impossible to do without support, that we feel privileged to participate in. Top notch execution by all involved has led to a near perfect course design, stocked aid stations and a party conclusion that shows the real meaning of the whole weekend.
We learned a few things on the ride. As much as we love to chill and ride together at a semi-social social pace, all bets are off when there is a timing chip or a number plate. If it’s a race, we honestly can’t help ourselves. This makes for a great personal test, but it also means that while following wheels in semi-discomfort, many of the details of this great ride get past by. Matt Quann demonstrated this to the fullest finishing near the lead group at 21st in the stacked Pro Men's field (Story and results here). If you ask him about the rest stops, or that "cool section, with the great view and fun descent" it's like talking to a wall. Most of the rest stops end up skipped and the vistas become a blur. Also, you crack. Everyone cracks, it's just a matter of when and if you can climb back out of the broken state via sugar, or if you're body just throws in the towel and forces you to limp to the finish. The fact that "normal" people are "racing" for 6-7 hours still seems a bit weird to us, but as long as they keep handing out number plates and timing chips I guess we'll prepare to jump in that hurty zone right around hour 4. In the Pro Women's field, Ornot was well represented by the effort of Boulder resident, Leslie Ethridge who finished 10th overall (story and results here). For her, it was just a walk in the park since she lives at altitude and trains like a monster and has an endless supply of Bobo's. Last year she raced Dirty Kanza 200, so Lost and Found at just 100 miles was a breeze. Also, yes, Dirty Kanza is 200 miles. Crazy.
Other notable highlights of the weekend include our first big test of the new Santa Cruz Stigmata that performed like an absolute champ. 2 of us celebrated #newbikeday with the 100 mile maiden voyage at Lost and Found. Other than a few small fit tweaks the bikes performed perfectly. The team also ran the newly released IRC Boken gravel tires in either 36mm or 40mm. With the new tires, we had zero flats, while ripping fast rocky descents. The tires also offered plenty of grippy traction through the dry hardpack and wet thick mud. Want to learn more? Check out the mega gallery over at The Radavist, Ornot.
Also, our van got stuck.
