Tatanka Epic 2017: 83 Miles, 10,000' Vertical
Mostly Single and Double Track
Second time here, in addition to the 2014 edition.Overall, it's a great race.The old course had world class doubletrack. The DT alone was worth the race.
It's all gone now. Bad call. ST looks good on Instagram. DT races better IRL.
Aid stations are very well-stocked, at good intervals, with plenty of volunteers and support.
Competition is a cool mix of national dudes, like the two winners this year, and Juarez in '14, plus the best regional riders, like James Meyer of Quarq,
Starting at MT Rushmore was special. Finishing in Sturgis is special. The Black Hills are awesome. If you haven't been, go, now. Rapid City is amazing (don't eat at that mexi joint downtown though, although the margaritas were great). So, there's a lot of great things to say about this race. My last posts on the race, in 2014, were all glowing. So, it's a great race; do it if you have a chance.
On the flip side:
Started a half hour late. In the hot sun, 6 already would have been better; 7:15 was too late.On the track, the first problem was that a lot of people got lost this year. The organizers were quick to point out there were thousands of course markers, and I'm sure there were, but many were in the wrong places. You'd see ten in a row on a long stretch with no other road around, but then you'd be bombing down an open road, and the trail sneakily cuts away back up the hill, surrounded by tall grass, and at that junction there's nothing. Up top of that same hill, where the trail is the only place to go, you're fenced in everywhere else, there's a guy directing traffic. He's directing traffic where there is no turn, but fifty meters down the hill rider after rider are going a half mile down a steep hill and back up before finding the mistake.
There's several people flagging traffic on a deserted forest road, but where you plummet off a steep, rolling, fast downhill right onto the highway, there's nobody for us, and no signs for the cars.
I still think the Malaysians have this figured out. They take bag after bag of shredded paper, and put it on the ground, right where your eyes are looking, at all the intersections and occasionally on the straights. Now, with PETA and whatnot, we can't do that here, I get that. But perhaps we could do something similar with Certified Seed Free Hay, or with an approved ground spray.
As the race wore on, the OTV dudes became a problem. It's a mixed use trail, and they are going to be there, but in my first Tatanka we saw two or three groups. This year, I had to get off the road quite a few times, sometimes for large groups, like a dozen ATVs or more. Then you have to wait longer, because of the noise and dust and fumes.
And the equestrians! There were three ladies in particular that made me wait probably ten minutes behind as they walked down the road. When I shouted at them (politely asking hadn't worked) that there was a biker behind, they wheeled around on me and gave me a big lecture about how to handle a horse.
I think better signage could have prevented the riders from being there. There's an abundance of trails in the area, and the ladies did seem genuinely surprised when a local homeowner finally intervened and told them I was right, there was a race in the area. They finally seemed to process my number plate and attire; it didn't help their treatment of me, but it did make me think that if they had known, they'd have gone elsewhere that day. At many MT races, the course is plastered with "Bike Race In Progress" signs. These would really help a race like Tatanka.
And then there was the overall quality of the first half of the race. The second half, basically all the DT, is great. The ST is simply not ready. There was no mowing, and the grass and overall growth was over the top off the handlebars. Down below, the trail is maybe 6" wide, and there are big nasty square rocks hidden everywhere. Two people went to the hospital with injuries in the first thirty miles or so, and I'm not surprised. You have to hit a course like this with a mow. When I mentioned it to the guy riding behind me, he snapped at me . It turned out he's an organizer for this race and for Dakota 5O. He lectured me up the hill, in awkward, sweaty, huffy breaths, about how hard it is to mow for races like this, how hard it is to do rock replacement. How hard it is to work in the Black Hills. How hard this. . . How unappreciative that. . . . . . How little I knew. . . .
The whole time I was wishing he would pass me and shut up, and also thinking about Maah Daah Hey, where they very effectively mow 107 miles just for the race, or of Nichols which we recently built, and how hard it is to work on the Beartooth Plateau, all due respect to the Black Hills.
He finally did pass me, and not a moment too soon. But his attitude was a fitting final blow for the race that day.
For me, it's kind of a Rapelje - Maah Daah Hey rule (MT pronunciation tip: those two words rhyme). Tatanka presents themselves as a rough and wild race, where getting lost on crazy trails may happen. In that situation, you have two choices.
Rapelje went full PBR / counterculture vibe: low cost, low reward, fuck your complaints, you're probably gonna get lost, this is Mantana, so Man up, kind of attitude. Rapelje didn't sign shit. Fuck you for asking.
Maah Daah Hey went the other way. They raised the entry fee, raised the quality of the website and prizes, made it easy for family to attend and get involved, they make every effort to mark the trail thoroughly, do lots of trailwork in the offseason, and help if there's a misunderstanding on race day.
You don't get to do both though, and that's kind of where Tatanka is now. They have the fuck your complaints, you're probably gonna get lost, this is Stur-fuckin-gis, so Man up, kind of attitude, but the aspirations, entry fees, and hoopla of a more serious race.
Rapelje died last year.
Maah Daah Hey added a new event this year.