Mud, Blood, and Revenge! 2014 Syllamo's Revenge

Deep in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas lives the legend of Syllamo, a Native American who slaughtered hundreds of early settlers in revenge for the devastation of his Tribe.  For the last 10 years his spirit has been returning to those rugged, wooded areas to seek his revenge against the Mountain Bikers who arrive every spring to race on his land.

The Syllamo's Revenge Mountain Bike Race in Mountain View, Arkansas is considered on of the most technical, physically demanding off road races in the country.  Nearly 50 miles of roots and rock gardens await those who enter this singletrack gauntlet.  This race has a special place in my heart as It was one of my very first races.
This was my 3rd trip to Syllamo's.  I keep coming back because i also love the area.  Mountain View, AK is a cool Ozark town and folk capital of the world, but what i really love is the remote area surrounding the Syllamore National Forrest.  There are campgrounds, cabins, and a cavern, but....... No Alcohol!  That's right!  The entire county is dry as a bone.  So always come prepared!

Race Course

This year I made the trip with my fiancee Rebecca; we split a cabin with our good friends Emilie(Wonder Woman)Flanigan and Mike(I can build my own furniture)Flanigan who arrived not long after us.  After chatting, eating, and stressing bike set up we went to bed early for our 7:30am start time.  Unfortunately, not long a after falling asleep, i was awoken by a massive thunderstorm that would be the ultimate game changer for the race the next morning.

6am came way too soon.  It was an absolute struggle to get moving in the morning.  The rain was still coming down steadily and it was cold for May in Arkansas (in the mid 40's).  Not a recipe for race day excitement!  I barely manage to get my act together in time for Rebecca to drop me off in the campground to register and line up.  But i did have time to share some STL pre race love with all of the awesome people who showed up!  Not long before we were supposed to line up, the word went out that they were postponing the race start to 8am in hopes that the rain would let up.  It did not......

On the way to the race.  Not motivating. 

This race starts with at 1 mile climb up pretty steep forest road.  You can usually tell how the race is going to go based on how you feel after this climb.  Your positioning and your legs need to be excellent before entering the gauntlet.  This year, all i could think was "this is going to get nasty" as we made our way up the hill.  The rain was still falling and even this relatively tame forest road was was causing issues for many of the riders.  After entering the trail things only got wilder.  Besides the miles and miles slippery rocks and roots, this year boasted the addition of calf deep mud bogs, rivers of water flowing down trail at you, extra deep river crossings, and bike destroying sand.  Oh and i forgot to mention mud.  The kind of mud that slowed your cadence to a crawl and removed any of the grip your tires could have provided for the on coming rock gardens.

Pain Face

Now i know this sounds awful, and at first it kinda was.  But when you finally accept that this is more of an adventure than a mountain bike race, it really made all the hiking and water more tolerable.  I had finally made this shift in my mindset around 14 miles in, just after i was forced to slow down in a rock garden and fell in a 3 foot hole off the trail.  I am happy i decided to focus on enjoying myself on this adventure, because after the crash and a punctured tire that would require additional air every few miles, (A big thanks to Steve Friedman, for giving me all of his inflation devices!) a good race time was out of the question.

The most difficult aspect of race like this is defiantly keeping your spirits high.  Its easy to get caught up in the excitement of the race.  Everyone comes to these races with some type of expectation or goal to meet, and when things don't unfold in your favor, it's easy to get upset.  Being upset only wastes precious energy and zaps your concentration.  You have to teach yourself how to shift your focus and adjust your goals as you move forward, not dwell on an idealized result.  Adversity come up quickly and without notice, typically the best way to deal with your situation is to accept it, find a reliable solution, and move on as quickly a possible.

Way to go Hunter!

It felt extra amazing to cross the finish line. Covered in mud, slices all over my legs from overgrown, evil vines, and a bike that was sounding its death call. Today to every ounce of focus to complete.  It was awesome to see Rebecca and many of my favorite people from the STL race scene.  The war stories were pretty good that day!  So was the massive plate of spaghetti I inhaled immediately afterwards.  Huge congrats to my fast friends Hunter Henry for a top 10 overall finish and Emilie Flanigan for an awesome 4th place finish!
Despite the difficult conditions, i still love this race!  It's just plain hard.  Thanks for taking the time to read, until my next adventure!