Sp'akw'us Challenge recap and Rundles Revenge

The Sp'akw'us Challenge is a two day endurance race in Squamish, BC.  It's the fourth of five races in the BC XC marathon (XCM) series, and the Sp'akw'us was a race that we were really looking forward to all winter.  The first day was a 43km (even though they call it the Sp'akw'us 50) technical challenging course that climbs about 1300 metres.  The course takes you up some tough climbs and sends you down some of the deadliest, most fun descents that Squamish has to offer.  Day two was scheduled to be around 29 km but due to a family of bears roaming around the top of a trail named Mad Hatter, the course was shortened to around 26 km.  It was a bit tamer, and featured some of the more flowy trails in the area.  We wanted to do both days for two reasons:

1) Doing back to back longer races is great training for Singletrack 6 which we'll be doing at the end of July.
2) We drove all the way across BC, so WHY NOT do two days of riding sweet trails instead of one day?!

Jena's recap:  

There is more to racing than just trying to go as fast as you can. After a tough mental, emotional and physical race at Nimby Fifty two weekends prior, I was determined to set and attain some very specific goals at Sp’akw’us. Set and attain I did!

 

43km: Pre-riding the course the first two days, I was a bit tentative on riding some of the features. The wetness was psychologically psyching me out. But, I knew that I had to try some (which I did) and knew that the rest I would be able to conquer in committed race-mode and once the course had a day to “dry-out.” One trail called “Border Patrol” was the most challenging of all the trails and when I cleaned it fully during the race, my eyes filled up with joyful tears and I smiled ear to ear to the finish line. Despite making a major tactical error at the start of the race, which may have cost me podium, I kept it together and raced my race. I made sure to do whatever I could to be in the present moment of my ride and make the suffering enjoyable.

26km: We did not get a chance to pre-ride this course (the first 5km was the same), but we knew it was a less challenging route. Less challenging it was, but incredibly fun! I came back with focus and gusto to not make the same tactical error I did on Saturday…and I was successful! I hammered up the climb in 2^nd place and was passed in a descent with 1/3 of the race to go. I did my best to close the small gap that had opened up, but couldn’t quite get there. I was proud of my effort, however, and finished the weekend of racing with a happy heart.

Dylan's recap:
This weekend was full of ups and downs and learning lessons for me.  Pre-riding went really well for me Thursday and Friday, and I was happy with my course knowledge and ability to ride all the tricky parts nice and clean.  But then the race happened.  Saturday's main event was not my finest result (finished 9th in Elite Men - 20th overall).  I was in around 7th or 8th after the big climbs were done and I switched my bottles (put the full one in the main cage).  A minute later, I reached down to take a sip and there was nothing there.  That was only the beginning... I had lots of racing left to do and I knew I needed something to drink to finish.  So I stopped at a station to fill up and then WHAMEE! Hamstring cramps.  After a quick stretch and a refill, i got back on the saddle and went out again.  Chasing all the people had passed on the climb.  I had to go easy for a while to ensure I didn't cramp up again, but once I was feeling better I laid down some power and caught some people in the last 5km.  Lessons learned: Make sure your bottle is all the way in and don't go out too hard.  Pace yourself in a marathon race.
Sunday's 26km event: The combination of switching my tire to a Saber Pro and having a good warm up had me feeling good at the start line.  Smaller field today.  Reminded myself that no matter how good I felt, to just go easy for the first couple climbs.  And I did.  And it worked.  I rode fast, smooth and clean the entire race.  I was in 6th position going in to the final turn down to the finish line.  Aaaaaaand then I blew past the tiny arrow sign and went off course.  I didn't realize what had happened for about 5 minutes so I turned around and found the turn I missed.  Very unfortunate, considering I just had a phenomenal race and felt great all day.  Lessons learned: Go easy to start and you'll be faster in the end.  HEAD UP AT ALL TIMES. 
Overall it was a great weekend and made me a better athlete and I know how fast I can be if I focus on all the small things.  
 

We stayed with an old friend of the family in Squamish and it was amazing, except for the fact that our beloved pooch, Apollo, got himself into a cesspool of oil in the ocean.  Here's a before and after photo.  Poor guy had to be scrubbed and bathed for about an hour!  

Rundle's Revenge
Jena and I were excited for this race in Canmore.  The course was awesome and it was a 75km race which we were using as training for a point to point, 75 MILE race we'll be doing in Utah in September.  Unfortunately it was cancelled due to heavy, unrelenting rain.  The trails would have been destroyed, so the organizers made the right call.  Ah well... next year.