By Ed Wisneski
Excerpts from the Daily Courier article originally Published: April 30, 2015 6:01 a.m.
CHINO VALLEY, Arizona – The inaugural 106-mile Chino Grinder cycling race last year
from Old Home Manor Park in Chino Valley to Elk Ridge Ski Area in Williams and back
lived up to its nickname, The Beast.
Elevations vary from 4,000 to 7,500 feet along the tortuous course that covers 43 miles
on pavement – including a 22-mile ascent from the Verde River to Williams – and 63 miles
of gritty gravel roads traversing wash crossings, corrugated stretches called washboards,
rollers (small short hills), and smooth hardpack, including a 1.5-mile climb to the halfway
point.
“Next time I’m bringing IVs and a different bike,” quipped Dan Whitehill, one of the 38
non-finishers swallowed by the The Beast in 2014.
“Great event, best support, hardest bike ride to date I’ve done,” said Terry Schmidknecht, who was 20th among the 91 riders who survived the ordeal. “Can’t wait ’till next year.”
Next year comes this Saturday morning, May 2, when 136 cyclists embark on the arduous adventure. Chino Valley mayor Chris Marley will start the race at 7:30. Sixty-four cyclists will ride in the 42-mile event to Perkinsville and back and 15 others in the new one-way 53-miler that stops in Williams.
Chloe could duplicate her “Triple Crown” from 2014 when she won the 50-mile Whiskey Off-Road and Crit sprint through the streets of her adopted hometown. Last weekend she won both races again. “It takes an event like the Chino Grinder to push you a little further than you thought you could go,” she said after placing 19th overall with a women’s best time of 6:55:15. “I finished and that’s an accomplishment. “While on a particularly brutal incline into a headwind, a vulture flew right in front of me and landed on a dead calf beside the road,” she recalled. “Perfect. I figured they’d be picking up some racers before too long.”
Last year’s male champion, Jamey Driscoll, will defend his title. He completed the 106
miles in 5:36:44 (average speed 18.8 miles per hour), 15 minutes ahead of TJ Woodruff. Driscoll will be accompanied by his Raleigh/Clement Racing Team that includes Caroline Mani from France, who finished second among the women (33rd overall). This Saturday there will be twice as many female competitors (34) compared to a year ago, including 70-year-old Melinda Berge in the 42-mile race.
Last year pro cyclist Nicole Duke was the favorite to become the women’s champion. But
she had to turn back to Chino Valley before the halfway point because of a series of flat tires, a twisted chain, a bent front derailleur, and her malfunctioning shifting that was “whacked from all my mishaps,” she said. “It was some of the most unforgiving gravel I’ve ridden,” Duke recalled. “It was deep in some places, rocky in others, and the pace of the lead pack was continuously kicking up large rocks, slamming against bikes, bodies, and sometimes sunglasses. I believe the pace was hastened [the dozen leaders set a torrid pace of 28 miles per hour on the first 21 miles of gravel] by the fact that everyone wanted to be in the front since it was the safest place to be, away from… flying missile rocks. It
was so bumpy that even the cattle guards went unnoticed.”
Chino Grinder organizers did not provide fountains of youth at the three aid stations last year. Nevertheless, a pair of 65-year-olds – Mike Ingram and Charlie Brown – persevered and completed the 106- mile race. Ingram came in 75th, and Brown straggled in dead last
(81st) in 11 hours and 23 minutes, nearly two hours after his fellow senior citizen. This
Saturday 71-year-old Lauren Stearley will attempt to supplant them as the oldest finisher in the Chino Grinder.
Why do they do it? Michael Marckx provided some insight in an article in Sports Illustrated.
He’s president of San Diego-based SPY Optical, which sponsors the Chino Grinder and other gravel races, including the Belgian Waffle in Carlsbad, California.
“With the amount of riders we have, most people are in survival mode,” he said. “About 20 percent want to race for a time or place, and even among [them]…at some point they abandon the idea of being competitive and segue quickly into the idea of just surviving.”
That was the case with Brian Harding, the 70th rider to cross the finish line last year.
“We finished, we had beers, we laughed, and we couldn’t walk correctly for a week,” he said.
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