The North Dakota Badlands got it’s name from Sioux Indians who called it 'mako sica', meaning 'lands bad'. It is more commonly said that the Native Americans couldn't harvest it or plant anything at all, hence the name. Wonder if thi
s area will ever try and farm crickets?
The terrain in that area is indeed unforgiving, so I was sure to be prepared for the Maah Daah Hey 100, an annual race held there, now it’s it’s 3rd year. It’s a challenging event run by race director Nick Ybarra and his family. It’s 100 miles of continuous single track and known as the “Baddest Race in the Raddest Place.” The trail needs constant maintenance due to the harsh weather conditions and use by people and animals. (It’s an active cow path!) This trail has an incredible amount of community trail building support behind it, mainly orchestrated by Nick and his family.
I had signed up for the 50 miler, which I read in the race notes was the hardest part of the 100 miler. I’ll take their word for it, 6,000 feet of climbing on my singlespeed would make for a hearty day.
In order to prepare I drank water like it was my job; ate a lot the few days leading up to the race. I’m very careful with what I eat leading up to the races and afterwards. Cricket flour and whole roasted crickets have been a great go to protein source for me this year. It’s not often I eat meat since it takes so many resources to digest. If I’m going to eat 500 calories, I want all the calories I consume to go for fueling, not for digesting. Since crickets share the same amino acid profile as meat, this has been a great pre- and post-race choice for me. The days leading up to the race, I’d snack on the roasted crickets with some salt; smart snacking is key.
I spent most of my time preparing for the race in the town of Medora at the Dakota Cyclery, a wonderful shop run by Jen and Lauren Morlock. They rent bikes and run shuttles to some of the great trials along the Maah Daah Hey trail, this was also the host shop for the races doing the shorter distance.
The race winds it way along the through prairies, rugged terrain, it’s spectacular and not for the faint of heart. The heat, the climbing and the relentless single track will take its toll. I was lucky enough to have a clean race and a great day on my single speed. In the days after I was able to enjoy The Theordore National Park, sharing race stories at the shop, share crickets with Jen and enjoyed some a delicious recovery smoothie made with the Aketta cricket flour. The Badlands wasn’t so bad after all!