2019 Filthy 50

The Quick N’ Dirty Crew has been doing great things for the San Diego County Mtb community and the annual Filthy 50 mtb race is their biggest event of the year. It’s been a few years since I have been able to compete in the event, so I was excited to be able to compete in this year’s suffer fest.

One of the biggest things that had me fired up for this years’ event was I that on the all new Intense Cycles 100mm Sniper. 50 miles is a long time in the saddle, so you need comfort and speed. The Intense Cycles Sniper give me just that and now I had no excuse when it came to my equipment. The race is an out and back with an extremely fast pace until you hit the 24 mile mark and that where Victor Sheldon “founder of the event” and his team put the riders in a position to suffer with about 2,000 ft of elevation gain in 5 miles. After that section you make your way back to the start finish line ending with a climb up raptor ridge only 5 miles to go that tends to hurt a lot of racers.

I did a pre-ride two weeks prior and was ready for what I was getting myself into. My goal was to stay in the front group as long as possible to get away from the riff raff, but getting up to the starting line late didn’t allow me to get a good starting position. The race went off and I made some moves quick to get into the top 40 but was struggling to get to the group that I wanted to be with all the while I was wasting energy and power making passes. Heading over Raptor Ridge I knew I didn’t have the power to catch the group on my own, so I stated to settle in with a group of guys that I was very familiar with. Chris Layton, and Kurt Rood are two guys I would call any day of the week to suffer so to see them 15 miles in I couldn’t have been more stoked. We are started clicking off miles all the while talking shit and having a great time. We were making passes and moves and everything was clicking. It was a hot day, but my PNG hydration and gels were doing the job to keep my body feeling perfect.

Our group grew by two or three guys and at the 35 mile mark I was out front pulling. I felt good, I was in a zone that I was comfortable with. With 5 miles or so to go we hit Raptor Ridge and I told the guys behind me if they were feeling froggy they better go because I didn’t know how my body was going to react. One or two guy’s went ahead and I just put my head down and went to the eagle bail out gear. I was able to drop 5 or so guys including Chris and Kurt “Sorry I’m not Sorry” guys it was a race haha. I latched onto the two guys ahead of me and we left everything we had on the flat section heading to the finish line. It was a sprint for us to the finish, but I chose to sit up and cross smiling.

I didn’t care what place I finished, I didn’t really care about my time, what my main goal and objective was to have a great time and get everything out of my body that I put in. I didn’t cramp, I raced great and most of all I got to put in almost 40 miles of racing with a great group of guys. With these long races in the elite class I will never race for a win or podium. I race these races for the story that follows. The story isn’t always a good one but in this case it was like a fairy tale. Could I train more, smarter and harder? Yes! I don’t have the time balancing a family and work so being able to ride well and test my body is the biggest win of all.

If your schedule is free late October 2020 and you want to race your Mtb I suggest you get out to this event. The Sheldon Family puts on a great event. That hit every mark this year! Great course, great location, and most of all great vibes. I look forward to the next XC race.

Strava Stats