MDH x 1 day

The Maah Daah Hey trail is 96 miles of single track through the North Dakota badlands.  It runs from the South Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park at Medora, ND to the North Unit which is close to Watford City, ND. 
This trail was 30 years in the making since it was first discussed.  Finished now, it winds its way through a wild landscape dominated by layered clay cliffs scoured by wind, rain and the Little Missouri River.
While attempting it in one day is nothing new, many riders have done this, I've never ridden this far before on a trail.  I've done longer road rides but a road ride is considerably easier than a mountain bike trail, especially when approximately 12000 feet of climbing is involved.
Arriving in Dickinson, the group of 4 riders and 4 support crew members finalized the support stops, where the riders could receive food, water and tweak any problems with their bikes and decided to start at 5 am from Medora and ride north.

5 AM Saturday:

It was crisp but not overly cold.  I kept the heat low in the RAV to minimize sweating on the drive to the starting point.  We mounted our lights and set up the batteries, made final preperations to our hydration packs and bid farewell to our sensibilities.  It was very dark and climbing hills on an unfamiliar trail in the dark is fairly difficult because you don't know if you're climbing 100 feet or 500.  Plus my bike wouldn't shift into "granny gear" (the smallest chain ring on the front- FWI for non-riders)  so I had to unclip my foot and push the chain over with my heal while trying to spin with one leg.  Eventually I was able to fix this problem and I don't think it was a determining factor in my end result.
We watched the sun come up and felt the wind begin to rise.  Each competing with each other to see who would be stronger, the wind seemed to be the victor...it never got warm enough that we could ignore the breeze but it was unseasonably warm for the first week of November which was a blessing.  After the first support stop we were able to remove our lights and ride in daylight.  Wardrobe adjustments were necessary as well because it became warm enough to shed a layer or two. 
Most of the ride was just what I expected it to be.  Because my fellow riders are shorter and at least 30-50 lbs lighter than I am; I was off the back just as I always am.  It was neat to see them working their way across a long valley but sometimes frustrating because whenever I saw them above me (especially in the dark) I knew I had a lot more climbing to do.
I had to bail on the ride at about the 140 km mark (it was about 168 total)  after 11 hours 42 minutes of riding time because my knee was causing me considerable pain.  I had partially dislocated it during a race in summer but it was never bad enough to require a doctor visit.  It began to hurt occasionally around 80 kms but would stop hurting for long periods of time.  Eventually, as these things happen, it began to hurt more and longer and at about 100 kms I was in pain non-stop and the waves of the worst of it were beginning to affect my ride.  I abandoned my effort in the end because the zenith of pain was now causing me nausea.  In the end; I chose long term mobility and knee health over short term pride.  I also knew that my slow progress would impede the others as they had to wait for me at the support stops now so quitting was also semi sacrificial to ensure their completion.

I intend to attempt this again but I will do a few things differently.  I would climb more hills leading up to the ride, the trail I chose to train on does not have long enough sustained climbs to prepare ones legs for this.  I would also choose more "real" food over performance food.  I was pretty sick of clif bars and powerbars and when one of the support crew members had coffee ready at the stop where I bailed on the ride, he became my instant hero, even if only for the moment.  Riding in the cool weather like this suggests to me that a soup of some kind at a support stop would have been most welcomed.   I found myself craving real food while on the bike and the bagels with honey I had were great for the carbohydrates they provided but they became "glommy" in my mouth and in hindsight, I would have chosen something else.

Before the ride I had emailed my friends and family to suggest that they consider a donation to a charity of their choice in accordance to how many kms I rode and that spurred me to ride farther than I would have if some had not decided to accept my challenge.  In the end I might have quit sooner but all in all I'm slightly disappointed in my failure to complete this trail but I wonder if I might have been more disappointed in myself had I finished it and caused real damage to my knee because I simply should have known better.

I brought my camera equipment along and had several people assist in filming.  Now begins the process of reviewing what was captured and what is usable.  I intend to make a short film about this adventure but being a procrastinator and of limited creative abilities; I expect it will take several months.

If I knew how to post pics along side the words, I would but I haven't quite figured that out yet...

And before I forget, MANY MANY THANKS TO THE SUPPORT CREW:
Mitchell R
Mark Z
Kellye P
Susan D

and the other riders
Tom Q
Gregg P
Craig D

Ride on...