Muleterro - 7, Butte100 - 1

The 4th incarnation of The Butte100 is now in the books.  And true-to-form for this event, it was an utter sufferfest.   A couple of changes this year made for a particularly brutal race:  1) Race organizers added another 800 ft of climbing to the South Loop, and 2) The entire South Loop was ridden in reverse!    (Where: The term "ridden" is used lightly as course changes made many sections completely unridable for most racers.)   To add to the misery and better distance this fine race from those "other" hundreds, the race organizers spent the last 10 months in a catch-and-release program to buffer the population of wild mosquitos on course.   Their efforts didn't go unnoticed as many racers noted the insects' voracious feeding activity throughout the day.

Eight Mules showed up to race.  Erik, Sten, and Rich rode the Hundred; Ben, Colter, Ryan, Somer and mule-elect Jessica rode the Fifty.   Also in attendance and sporting his new Team TripleRing kit was Mule-at-Heart and 2-time winner, Bill Martin.

The Hundy start fast.  Many of the 80 racers were expecting a neutral roll-out down the treacherous Herman Gulch descent.  Nope.  Somebody said "GO" and the front-row pack of race favorites were off like a shot in hopes of making that first group which would undoubtedly contain Tinker Juarez and defending champ Clint Muhlfeld.  Erik, Sten, and Rich all had great starts that kept them out of trouble and put them at the base of the formidable Nez Pierce climb well ahead of the main field.   Somewhere between Aid2 and Aid3, veteran-Mule Sten announced that his "Legs were Shot".  At Aid3, Sten opted for shade, cold beverages, and better company than Erik and Rich could provide.  Sten gladly took a seat that didn't require pedaling and declared his race over.   Erik and Rich pushed on to strong finishes barely 15 minutes apart and somewhere around 20th place.  (Only 30 finished!!)  Bill also had a great race (unless you ask HIM) and landed in 5th place.  Nice work guys!!

The Fifty came with some drama.   Of the 120-odd riders, about 30 missed the first turn and then chose poorly when confronted with subsequent options to recover position.    All Mules in the fifty fell victim of blindly following, and ended up riding the "Butte 63".   (Stubborn Mules? Perhaps.)  That said, everybody had a great race and a ton of fun.  New-Mule Colter was the top finisher on the team.  Ben and Ryan also had good rides despite lack of 50-mile days.  Jessica and Somer (aka "Powder Puff" for her liberal use of baby powder as chamois cream) rode the entire race together as to best maintain sanity and safety.    Nice work guys and gals!!

And so it ends.   Muleterro - 7, Butte100 - 1.    We collectively logged about 575 miles, 98,000 ft of climbing, and 97,000 mosquito bites.    We'll call it a WIN.

As is typical for a race of this magnitude, our friends at TripleRing Productions have been inundated with online feedback that will help make the 2011 race even better!   Of note is a comment from one gentlemen who clearly didn't understand the extend of the effort to transplant wild (as opposed to domestic) mosquitos into the area and thus make this race a truly epic event for the ages:

"Is there something you can do about the mosquito population there? maybe like they do in China - only one baby mosquito p/ mosquito couple. Would you mind looking into that?"  


Muleterro's response?  "Sure.. TripleRing may decide to look into that.  But honestly, you won't even notice any bugs next year  -- with all those Wolverines that they plan to release on course."    


Sweet.  We'll be there.