Savageman HIM : Official Thread (Page 2)

Travel for work aligned for a first crack at the SavageMan bike course yesterday (4/9). I knew it was going to be an extreme ride. It did not disappoint. Westernport is the last time I felt normal. Unbelievable climb after climb. IMO the worst are Killer Miller and Maynardier Ridge...maybe because they come after 5000' of climbing...who knows...I can say I have a compact crank with an 11-23 and I wish the 11-26 I bought off Slowtitch would have arrived in time for the ride. I think I would of cleaned the "wall" with it. The wall? Hard, yes, but it's just the beginning of the most challenging road biking I have or will ever do. Kudo's to Josh Kaptur and Trish for completing SavageMan...because throwing in a 13 mile run after this ride is at present blowing my freak'in mind...

Average was 14.1...completing the course trumped worrying about average speed. Adding perspective, on a group ride Saturday we went 54 miles at 19.3.

The roads are FULL of gravel from all the snow. When you climb at 3-5 mph and your wheel spins ....well .... its a stink! Descents are hampered by the gravel. I found myself on the brakes hard and constant. I'm not quick to use the brakes. I started the course with 50% pads, finished with 25%. Pads last me 2-3 years.

I did this on a road bike, don't own a TT bike yet and won't consider doing SM on anything but my road bike....or maybe a motorcycle...

IMO you should ride SM before race day.The cue sheet is spot on but some of the road signs are not....Westernport (825), Miller (sign missing), Maynardier/Brennan confusing...mostly because delirium sets in. ENJOY!

This is the reason I signed up for a half-mary in May!  I knew I needed to get my run capability up early so I could try to maintain it while I worked on getting caught up on the bike.  It sounds like run training after hill repeats might be a good idea for the weekends. 

my legs hurt from just reading your description.........

Allright, the first SavageMan ride report of the year!!  Early April is early to be on the roads of Garrett County.  My guess is that you saw some snowpiles tucked away in shady corners.  And that cinder they put down over the winter usually isn't cleared away until early May.

Hard, yes.  But did you enjoy it? 

For those of you that don't know Kyle Yost is the wicked Pied Piper (race director) that's drawing you to a faraway land to do something you have no business doing.


Did I enjoy it? It's been haunting me! It is without a doubt a beautiful, epic ride.

Did you guys read this about Savageman?  http://www.savagemantri.org/TriathleteMag_100BestRaces.pdf/>

Good.  You'll definitely love the Garrett County Gran Fondo then!  
http://www.winthefight.org/granfondo.htm

Edited by knyost 2010-04-10 4:17 PM

NO WAY! You should really consider being the crusie director at Club Gittmo. Seriously, 126 miles, 100 miles? I know there's a 50 but how could you ride the brag ride with the 15,000 footers knowing you did only 50 miles?

2nd ride completed today. Glad to say the cinder is ~80% cleared. Huge improvement! You could choose and hold a line....changed the cassette from 11-23 to  11-26...definitely helped.
No zigzagging or dismounting on Killer or Maynardier. Still didn't clean the Wall. Had the balance right out of the saddle but the rear tire broke traction. I'm hoping a 28 cures the slip.

Added a behind the seat bottle mount in addition to the 2 on the frame. Being able to carry 4 bottles kept me from having to dip in the creek on Savage Mtn for a refill....good news is last time I don't think any cows were upstream....

Without  doubt an epic ride. Even with Hammer Gel, added salt in the bottles and GU Electrolyte replacing Gatorade leg cramps gripped me on McAndrews and the last mile.

Good news...correctly navigated Maynardier to 495 to Olendorf. Last time I took a right on Frank Brennan and probably added a couple hundred feet of climbing....Something you really shouldn't do an a Yost ride.....came in at 14.9 today. Just need 6mph more to challenge Bjorn... Felt like maybe a 2 mile run was possible at the end but choose to boogie on down to BK and get a Whooper!

K-did you paint yellow SM arrows? Didn't see them in early April?...




Edited by 2moremiles 2010-04-30 7:27 PM

Arrows are left over from last year.  Glad to see they survived the tough winter and the cinders.  We'll refresh them soon for all the folks who soon enough will be out scouting the course.

3rd time's a charm for clearing the wall.  Ride it like a mountain bike.  Weight way back on the saddle to keep the rear wheel from spinning. 

Well, I pulled the trigger today and registered.

I'm happy to say that clydesdale is a thing of the past.  So now it's me against the 30-34s for now.

I agree with Kyle... 3rd time's a charm on the wall.  It was for me.  Of course, don't be too much like me or you'll be putting a foot down on race day!

Oh, and don't lean back TOOO much to put weight on that back wheel... or you'll be doing a wheelie and it ain't coming back down (this is the voice of experience).

LOL,  you heard the distant call to a far away land. Awesome.

i am planning on driving out to savageman on saturday 6/19 with my wife and kids.  i will be riding the course by myself, but wondering if any of you all might also be there as well for a training ride.  is it Kosher to ride that course alone????

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I really want to go but I'm nursing an achilles problem in my left leg.  I'm going to do plan 2 rides.  One in July and one in August.  If you end up going during those months, I'm in. 

Just cuious... is the run fairly flat?  I heard the swim is salmon-style where you have to swim upstream, even leaping over small dams.

Damn, that is savage!

the run is not flat!

You guys have it easier than the inaugural savages on the run... we had some pretty technical trail running... such that a year later it was deemed not practical to race on it.  But you still run up a LONG hill on cinders to the fire tower... TWICE (I think)... and back down (ouchie).

Then again, the bike course has killer miller, which the first SM did not.

The run isn't flat.  But, it doesn't go all the way up to the Fire Tower like JoshKaptur says.  Just a short way up, about 1/4 mile or so.

It's a tough run course, but nothing like the bike. 

Shhhh, I left out the part about getting to spawn before being eaten by a bear.  Breen, you are doing SM, right?  My goal is to be off the bike before you finish. 

Edited by Pector55 2010-06-15 3:57 PM

I'm definitely doing it.

my first time riding over 38 miles today, so it was an adventure in following small print directions, looking for a few non-existant road signs, and considering nutrition and hydration for the first time. so i wasnt out to set a benchmark for my race pace today. i wont be lolligagging and rubbernecking like this during the race. 
FYI, there is no sign (that i saw) for Miller road.  if you come to a road that cuts back to the left like the directions says, that's the road you want.  i asked the mailman where Miller road was and he said "right here, and there's a NASTY hill on it". i smiled and told him that's why im here!
i cleared the westernport wall!  straight up!!!  some lady stopped at the top in her car to watch my climb it and when i got to the top she gave me a thumbs up and waved at me!!  i thought that was cool that the townspeople are interested in that. i heard a few others along the streets saying "there goes someone to try out the wall!" that thing looks CRAZY whether you're at the top or the bottom!
by mile 30 i was mentally broken.  i realized that there are hills out there that just pi$$ me off because they keep going and going.
by mile 40 my legs were wrecked. they werent sore, they HURT!  from thigh to ankle! i wanted off that bike so bad!
maynardier ridge - nasty.
killer miller - very nasty - popping wheelies at 4 mph. not good.
mcandrews hill - nasty
the climb (not sure of its name) on otto road - real nasty.
it took me 4:10 to ride it which included stopping to check directions, check out scenery, send a few txts, and generally taking thiings as easily as possible, which isnt that possible.  i am still projecting to be able to ride this course in 3:45 during the race, we'll see.
but, i rode the whole thing without walking.  got slightly disoriented 2 or 3 times as to my location but kept things mostly on track.  plus it was frickin' hot!  i started around 11:00 and got to the top of westernport at exactly noon.  so all the climbing afer that was in some nice heat!!
i went through (3) 24oz bottles 2 of which had gatorade and one with ice water, 2 clif shots, 2 hammers.  seemed about right for me for the nutrition but i could have used a 4th bottle.
i used every gear in my (30-42-52) & (13-26) setup, most of which took place in 30/26 at 4 mph!
my legs were hurting pretty good once i got back to where T2 is going to be.  it took a good 10 minutes for the pain to subside so i would imagine that im going to walk that first mile so i can get my legs back.  after those 10 minutes my legs felt normal again and feel fine today!
so you guys yet to ride it, enjoy it!  its INSANE torture!!!!!!  but totally awesome! 
im SOO glad for the practice ride!!!  cant wait for the race!!!!

Edited by wabash 2010-06-20 1:22 PM

Sounds like you can't wait to do it again.  Let me know so I can plan ahead.  I'm ordering a bento box and an extra water cage.  At least with me tagging a long, you will be able to rest your legs at the tops of each hill as you wait for me to catch up. 

Good Job! Well done on the wall. I'm eyeballing an 11-28 to match up with my compact...hoping that does the trick...

Weren't you tempted to fill bottle 4 in the creek? Definitely a good move to ride this before race day.

I'm planning on riding it again sometime during the week of August 9-13.

another nice thing on my way home was that the first exit for Columbia maryland has a Cici's pizza. we stopped in there afterwards and i downed about 8 slices of pizza, 2 brownies, apple cobbler, a sticky bun, and 2 pepsi's.
perfect refueling food!