Dukes of Hazard take on the Twain Reign of Pain 6-Hour Duo MTB Race

Start/Finish line was on point!

I have raced several 6-hour lap races in the past but never a duo race where you team up with a fellow MTBer and swap laps. My good friend, training partner, and Rescue Racing teammate called me out to see if I was at all interested in racing the Twain Reign of Pain Duo 6.5 hour race with him. It took me a good amount to deep thought to finally decide that I was willing to race with him. All 6-hour races are hard, but the difference maker in a Duo format race, and at least in my humble opinion, is the downtime when you are not shredding singletrack but waiting for your partner to finish their lap. That downtime is my biggest concern and as I heard and chatted with other racers is definitely one of the top 3 concerns that racers are lamenting over. Do you sit? Do spin? When do you warm your legs up again all while not overdoing it and no missing your teammate hit the finish line when you had better be ready to tag and GO!


Being inquisitive and doing as much research as I can into any race I consider, I read through all of the event details. One of the rules was that racers are to swap each and every lap, no exceptions. Except for the exceptions.  I had a conversation with the Race Director, Kenny Kocarek of Knobby Side Down Racing, asking if we can run more than one lap at a time, say 2 or even 3 laps before swapping to our teammate. My reasoning should be obvious, but I wanted to cut down on the downtime that my body absolutely dreads ... oh so much! Hey, it never hurts to ask (until you do three laps in a row ... LOL) and the result of my asking?

"funny how the biggest request I got for the Twain Reign of Pain was the ability for teammates to be allowed to do more than one lap at a time... well the Scott Morman amendment has been added...you don't have to alternate laps now just match up lap count with your teammate...I fully expect Scott to do three laps in a row and thank me for it afterwards"

HECK YAY!!!! For the endurance folks, this was just so great to see an update to the race format because after one lap we are just starting to warm up. Dave and I talked about our race strategy and settled on a 2-2-1-1 format. After riding the course for 5.5 hours as a training ride the weekend prior to the race, going 2-laps each and then swapping 1-lap each afterwards would work out best. It means the guy sitting, and waiting, is not waiting for 3-hours and it allowed each of us to get into our singletrack grove after the first lap and head into that second lap warmed up and in-tune with the course. It also meant that each of us would have to deal with that nasty feeling of waiting for a full lap before being able to head back out on course for our final lap so we still certainly had to deal with that little bit of hatefulness.

Rain predicted before and after. Meh.

Race Description - Twain Reign of Pain Duo Race

• Race start was at 10am from Camp Tuscazoar in Zoar, Ohio
• Number of Registered for the race was ... no clue. 
• Distance is 9.8-ish miles per loop w/ 1700ft of vertical per loop
• The course is a loop format covering East (flow hand-built) and West side (old school) trails
• Aid station was a pit area where racers could set up whatever they needed (easy-ups mostly)
• The weather was forecast at RAIN RAIN and more RAIN with temps around mid-70s to 80s
• The Fuel - Infinit Nutrition all the way!! #gofarcranberry #jetfuelandspeedapplecinnimon

Honestly, the weather ended up being perfect! As per Ohio forecasts the rain kept getting pushed out to later in the day. The sun broke out, the trails dried up and turned into Hero Dirt and the day was just so much fun!! 

Eagle Hill Rocks - the early days

Dave and I registered under the team name of the Dukes of Hazard, I used to watch the show all the time! Love the name and with some of the rock features on the course (Eagle Hill), Hazard was perfect for my lack of rock skills. Quite humbling for sure. The trail description for Eagle Hill:  "Eagle Hill is where all the rocks at Tuscazoar have landed. Large rock gardens and an alternative drop line exist along the way. This is a black diamond alternative for those looking to break up the end of the Roost Trail and get a quick adrenaline rush." Ain't gonna lie, its one of the best rock features in Ohio that I have witnessed and "ridden". Good stuff and will only continue to be fined by the Dirt Line and Knobby Side Down trail builders and maintainers.

Dave and I decided that he would start with his first two laps. Lots of reasoning behind this decision and I honestly feel that it was the right approach for our dynamic. Dave does much better in the slicker conditions, prefers the cooler temperatures, and does really well with working his way around other racers. I prefer warmer temps, struggle more on slicker singletrack (ST was slick for the first lap or two), and prefer the warmer and muggier temperatures. It also meant that my downtime would be reduced to only an hour between the time that I finish my two laps and when Dave completes his final third lap, so Dave was a real champ of a teammate to afford me that luxury. 

The race start was fairly uneventful and of course Kenny had his megaphone in hand and was loving life as he got the stoke raised, called out the race rules, and we all gave respect to a very well known avid racer, cyclist, and family man who most unfortunately lost his life last year in an accident just last year, Jeremy Grims. Ride On of Wooster cycling is putting on an event in his honor. 

The Race

Nobody seemed to be in a hurry to shoot off the front and Dave easily stuck with the main pack heading to the 2.5 mile Eastside Flow trail. I watched the start, then grabbed my bike and headed to where the racers pass back through before heading out on the 7+ mile Westside Old School trail system. At a good pace the Eastside trail takes roughly 12-15 minutes to cover while the Westside trails, that can be more challenging, will take on average 40 minutes to cover. After the racers began entering the Westside trail and I saw Dave come through, looking strong as usual, I headed out to warm up by doing a full loop of the course knowing full well that I would not hinder the other racers in any way. I did the full lap in one hour and 7-minutes and knowing that I would be full-gas had the thought that I may be able to see inside an hour for at least one of my laps. I was back at the start line in plenty of time and continued to spin my legs really easy for roughly 35-minutes until I took notice of Dave coming up the final climb back into camp. I shot over the race start where Dave came through, we tagged, and I was off to the races. I took notice of the time that Dave came through and I believe those were his two fastest laps on the course. The time was 2-3 minutes past noon and with a start time of 10am ... Dave had a SOLID first two laps. 

The group towing the line at the start.

Eastside Flow Trail

I kept the pace as high as I could while maintaining some sense of lines on the trails and not overshooting corners. My heart rate shot up to zone 4/5 and stayed there the entire time but it all felt fine so Pin it To Win It!! Or something like that. While I enjoy flow trails I was more stoked to head into the Westside Old School trails. To me, this is much more fun and challenging to race. I was very familiar with the course features and was fully aware of when to push and when I needed to back off especially around the more technical rock gardens of doom. I am able to cleanly ride the entire trail with the exception of one corner on Eagle Hill that continues to elude me. Sure as shootin I cleaned all the rocks leading up to that gnarly little corner but put a foot down as I got into it. Meh. Maybe next time? This was a challenging spot for all of the racers, even the podium guys that are young, strong, and fast were discussing it before the race started The important part about these sections is to just keep moving forward and know your limits. It never hurts to walk stuff and you will most definitely clean it with practice. Finished my first lap in under an hour!! Woo hoo!! 58-minutes and change, but could I do that again? Well at this point I was warmed up and in-tune with the trail, so I pushed to see how well I could do on the second lap. Essentially this would be my third full lap since I did a full loop for my warm-up plus I also never backed off on training leading up to the race, so the legs were not super fresh coming into this event. Regardless, I settled in the best that I could, managed the discomfort in the legs that would always show its ugly head on the climbs, and took advantage as much as possible of any free speed. Wrapping myself around the switchback climb to the start/finish line I noticed Dave at the top of the hill and waved him on to get to the line so we could make a clean transition, which we did. Finished my second lap in just under 1-hour, tagged up with Dave, and he was off to the races on his third and final lap while I could collapse into a pool of sweat just destroyed from two hard laps.

Knowing full well that I had one more lap to finish our team goal of six laps, I decided not to sit and let my legs tighten up. Rolled easy back to our easy-up tent, grabbed a bottle of Infinit Jetfuel that I had pre-loaded, grabbed a small bit of food, and I rolled back over to where Dave would come out of the Eastside trails and then head to the Westside trails. Dave was making great time and looking strong. I decided to spin easy in the parking lot where the Eastside trails resided and would ride a lap of the trails when there were 30-minutes left on the clock for Dave to complete his final lap. Dave had a great lap with 1-hour and as he rolled through the start/finish, we tagged up and I was out the door ... sorta kinda. That first punchy gravel road climb, while short, is a quick reminder of why duo races are so difficult on the body. The legs complained, my oh my did they ever complain! I knew this was the final lap for our team so I just kept pushing as one team had left a couple minutes prior so I thought just maybe I could reel in another position. While riding through the woods I heard an all too familiar sound that resembled a mechanical issue. It always unfortunate when that happens and you never want to win in that manner, but it is a part of racing. I zipped past the racer, called out to make sure he was ok and kept on trucking. Not knowing what type of mechanical he was experiencing I pushed the hammer down as much as feasible on some weary legs, completed the short Eastside loop, and scooted over the road crossing to the final lap of the Westside loop. Dave was out spinning his legs and cheering me on as a great teammate does. I vaguely recall blurting out how my body was crushed at this point and he just continued to encourage me. Dave's pretty friggin awesome!!

Pre-race cleanup on Eagle Hill by KSD Racing Crew

I picked up the pace even more as the trails had dried out to the point where this was now Hero Dirt. Carving corners, gaining some free speed along the way, and doing the best that I could up the short grunty climbs. When I came upon Eagle Hill I got the sense that someone was coming up behind me. Dang it all! Well, it happened to be a very young racer, probably in his teens or very early twenties. I fumbled my way through the nasty little corner and kept moving trying to keep him behind me. When the trail turned up I decided to just let him through as he obviously caught me and had more in the tank than I did and far be it from me to hold someone up. I let him through and he skated on by. I did my best to stick on his wheel thinking just maybe he will wear down and I can scooch past him at some point. Well, that is exactly what happened. The trail pops out onto some double track that you can really pick up some nice speed on before dropping down a fairly steep descent. To me, it felt like he was backing off a bit so I just laid down whatever power I had to shot past him on the right-hand side, made it to the descent, and shot down as quickly as I could. I fully expected this young buck to be on my wheel in no time but he never came. As I carved my way through the wet river-like section before we head up a gnarly, grunty little climb (which I had only cleaned on my warm-up lap) I could see him out of the corner of my eye behind me a ways. I had created a small gap and figured this wouldn't last very long, but it did. When I got to the top of that steep climb I quickly remounted and shot off as best I could. At this point, I knew how much trail was left so I pinned it! I have not seen that much zone five HR in a long time! Shot my HR up to 170 and just kept it there. As I was on the final climb and just as I was able to see the top of it before we roll back to the start/finish line I noticed another racer just ahead of me ... uh uh ... no way did I have anything left in the tank to try and reel that guy in. He was at the top and I was a good tenth of a mile away from getting to the top of the climb. Already pinning the HR, I just needed to make sure that young stud did not reach back into his reserve stores and pull me back in, which he did not. Finally reached the top of the climb, pushed with everything I had left and crossed the finish line in a third sub-one-hour lap. Absolutely crushed!

I had planned to ride one more full loop as a sort of cool down, but that thought was quickly dashed when after 5-minutes of finishing the skies opened up and it began to rain. Small drops at first but it soon picked up the volume into a rather good soaking. I felt bad for the remaining racers on the course and I decided to just spin the legs easy for a few minutes in the parking lot and be done. I torched myself during the race and nothing was to be gained by riding the fifth loop today.

Open Men's Podium

The Twain Reign of Pain was such a fun event but going into it I really had my doubts. It just goes to show that you should always try new challenges even given personal reservations. Definitely interested in finding other Duo MTB races to tackle with my riding partner as this style of racing brings with it a whole different type strategy and PAIN!

Dave and I both had to take off to get back home and had not realized that we actually hit the podium with a fifth-place finish. Amongst all the young dudes, that was a solid accomplishment. 

Big thanks to 331 Racing for having the event and the Knobby Side Down Racing and TheDirt Line crews for maintaining the incredible trail system.

Thanks of course to the most awesome sponsors of Rescue Racing!

Chamois Butt'r for such a great product that keeps me moving on the long hauls with no negative after effects that tend to be discovered in the post-event shower!! #winning

Infint Nutrition for making the tastiest, most effective custom sports nutrition ever that keeps me fueled and charging hard towards the finish line!

Maxxis Tires kept me so grounded at this race with the Forekaster 2.35 up front. I had never run this tire and WOW!! This thing grips like no tire I have ever run and will be my choice for the Marji Gesick 100 coming up in September. Traction to spare. SImply amazing!!

Of course, tires are no good without a set of incredible wheels to run them on and that wheelset was custom built by none other than Chris Shadburn of Build To Last Wheels who put some love into my custom Nox Composite 2/ i9 Torch hubs.

When it comes to tubeless sealant I have shifted all my tubeless setups to TruckerCo! I have tried Stans, it just balls up, I have tried Orange, several punctures have not sealed for me, and now TruckerCo. The first puncture I ever experienced was sealed by TruckerCo! Well ... nuf said ... it just works!!

Of course, if it wasn't for my favorite morning brew from Christopher Bean Coffee, that I look forward to EVERY morning, to get my energy level cranked up past level ten on the energy meter, then I'd be hitting the starting like looking like a zombie. So many flavors to choose from and all roasted to order!!

Camp Tuscazoar Trail Map