Calling all fat bike enthusiasts! If you are looking for an amazing race that ticks all the boxes, I would highly recommend putting the 28 Below on your race calendar for 2022 and beyond.
Staged in the beautiful Spearfish Canyon the 28 Below is a 30-mile race through the best of the Black hills. I was privileged enough to compete in the inaugural event back in 2014. It was awesome to see that the race has grown exponentially. My wife Emily and I made the trip from Madison, which is roughly a 6 hr drive for us, arriving the night before the race. The Ridge Riders of the Black Hills worked with the Spearfish Canyon Lodge to secure the ENTIRE lodge for riders only which was fantastic. We were able to secure the Potato Creek Suite which included a gas fireplace. The lodge itself was spectacular with great staff and service. Being that it is situated in the canyon cell service was nonexistent. But the lodge provides wifi for public use. Across the road from the lodge is the Latchstring restaurant which we ate at for all of our meals. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were spent here for 2.5 days and we never had a bad meal.
The morning of the race saw 28-degree temps that were forecasted to rise to nearly 40 degrees. This meant that the ground and snow would be frozen early on in the race, but would become sloshy and muddy the longer you stayed out. From what I heard each year of the event has been a different style of race. Some years there is a fresh layer of snow for the riders from the lodge all the way to the turnaround point. Other years there is no snow at all. This means that a great deal of thought needs to be put into not only your clothing for the race but tire pressures and bike setups.
The race started at 7:30 AM sharp with 116 riders taking the line. This was a special race for Emily because it was her first bike race ever. The start was quick with no thought of warming up for the race leaders. Superfast! I did my best to keep up with the front group, but my heartrate said otherwise. Being that I don't have a power meter on my fat bike, heartrate was my best indicator if I was going to blow up or not.
At the end of the day, I came across the line in 22nd place. More importantly, I averaged 170 BPM during the race, had an incredible time on the trails, didn't crash, and made some great friends. And not to forget Emily absolutely killed it and came across the line in one piece as well.
Take a look at some of the photos below and a short video edit of the race from multiple perspectives. The GoPro died before the finish, but I was able to capture some fun key moments of the ride. Special thanks to the Ridge Riders of the Black Hills for an amazing support crew and organization! You guys rock! Also special thanks to the Spearfish Canyon Lodge for the amazing hospitality. A winter storm rolled in on Sunday and we decided to hit the road early to beat it. The lodge kindly refunded our last night's stay allowing us to travel home with a little extra cash in our pockets. They most definitely didn't have to do this, and we appreciated it greatly.
See you all at 28 Below 2022!
#RidgeRiders #RidgeRidersBlackHills #BlackHillsSD #SouthDakota #FatBike #28Below #FatBikeRacing #SpearfishCanyonLodge #SpearfishSD #28BelowFatBike
Comments