Racing (Road, MTB, Gravel, Cross)

The Mother Lode Epic is a unique single-day stage format endurance race featuring five timed stages over 40 miles (33 miles of racing) and a mid-race boat transfer across Folsom Lake. The course follows California’s gold discovery route from the Magnolia Ranch Trailhead near Coloma to Historic Folsom. The event was June 7, and three PAA members, Evy Gin, Mike Macatula, and Dru McMackin, participated in the XC race in their respective categories. The region has dozens of miles of XC single-track trails along the shoreline of Folsom Lake. 

Legendary Italian Pro Cyclist, Mario Cipollini was quoted as saying ‘se freni, non vinci’ if you brake, you don’t win (I’m always contemplating where I can brake less in XC MTB racing) – turns out if you don’t drink, you don’t win also. A proper summer entrance for the PAA Dirt team in hot race conditions, we all suffered from dehydration issues that impacted our later-stage performance. Five stages in one day will expose any weakness you bring to the starting line. Sure, it’s only combined ~40 miles (~33 miles timed stages), but the nature of the event compels you to go all out for 5 efforts anywhere from 25 minutes to 90 minutes at a time. Mike, Evy, and I – our first time at this – came away with lists of what not to do. We also came away with a sense of accomplishment and excitement to return. It is such a unique event that is approachable to an experienced MTB rider (definitely not a beginner experience). 

Mike and I had solid stage 1 and 2 finishes to open the day, but found ourselves fading due to cramping mid-pack in our age groups by stage 3 on. What might have been with better pacing and hydration strategy? Evy tempered the stages 1 and 2 efforts to her benefit and arrived at stage 3 with a fuel and hydration strategy to see her through with a strong effort. As Mike and I were fading in the later stages, Evy was going faster – and was faster than us guys on the final stage 5! For a 5th place overall in her age group. A fair amount of course detail, elevations, etc., can be reviewed at our Strava uploads.