It's fantastic earning great race results! It's also good seeing you both having fun just riding together, (don't lose that). I hope you have some recovery ride stops planned for the trip home. Enjoy the adventure!
I saw you guys at the start of the race it looks like you both did excellent I’ve attempted it twice and finally finished this year such a relentless race mentally and physically exited to see the race episode
So glad to see y’all race these kind of trails. This is what trails are like in the Atlanta metro area. I watch bike reviews all the time and really these types of trail systems don’t seem to be talked about. It’s always how the bike does on a long west coast downhill on seated climbs over distance. Never talked about is the slow-twisty trails like these with punchy climbs and abruptly ending downhills.
Your dark glasses comment made me giggle, Syd. I live in the PNW and my must have for MTB here are sunglasses that auto-adjust for the amount of light. Invaluable for forest riding here! Stoked to see your vid, been really excited for it 🎉 the comments from Macky halfway through about jumping in the lake....so real 😂
OK. When i asked you abuot this vs. Leadville...I can absolutely see why this is harder. Good lord.... Nothing like doing intervals for 100 miles! Crazy
Commenting before I even watch - I have been looking forward to your take on the Marji for months!! So happy you two did this race. I’m attempting to sign up for the 50 next year!
We were in town keeping tabs on the race, although didn't see you guys! I had been waiting for a long time to see how Mackey go head to head with Matt Acker! Great job both of you!
That terrain looks very similar to what we ride here in east Tennessee. Lots of punchy climbs and uphill tech. I've found that momentum is key to these punchy climbs. What sucks is when you're too damn tired to build up momentum. Makes for a long day. Stay hydrated and fueled and it'll make a huge difference for you. You two got this. Go out and be the most awesome that you've ever been! 👍💪👊
Awesome videos! I’ve been waiting for this one! So wierd seeing Ramba during the day! It was all dark the whole 7 hours I was out there. Whew! Can’t wait for the next, thanks for chatting with me at packet pickup!
I can finally relate to the trails you're riding. I live in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. We have the same forests and trails as Michigan, so this looks just like my riding.
I love those races where ya gotta stop and get the trinkets and finish with all of them. Did a race in Arkansas years ago where we had to get different colored golf tees. Got to race Tinker Juarez for about 1/4 mile, until he went outta sight.
I've been waiting for this. "Oh flyover country, how can you have mountain biking without mountains?" This is how: punchy, curvy, and dodging trees. Midwest mountain biking is criminally underrated.
I used to race XC in Alaska and while we had plenty of mountain riding and long races climbing up into the alpine meadows, we also had races where we were on cross country ski trails where it was exactly like what you described; short punchy climbs and riding through deciduous forests, dodging trees. In fact there really isn’t much of any riding in coniferous forests up there; the conifers are all short, scrubby black spruce and most of the forest riding was in low altitude deciduous forests (the tree line is low and you get into tundra pretty quickly when going uphill). Midwestern mountain biking isn’t just for midwesterners; it sounds really similar to some of the riding in Alaska. He||, there’s plenty of mountain biking in Florida, with nary a mountain to be seen. P.S., if you think about it, Belgium and the Netherlands should not be a place where there’s climbing in races, yet some of the classic one day races have incredible amounts of climbing because they wind all over the place to find all the hills to climb; and it’s the same kind of thing with lots of short, punchy, intervally climbs.
Most all my riding I've ever done is midwest trails exactly as you describe. Where our "downhill" segments last 5 seconds at most unless you find a rare gem that has you going downhill for closer to 15 continuous seconds. UA-camrs constantly showing their climb trails with long multi-minute long descents do leave me wishing I had even a little bit of elevation closer than a few hour drive away.
@@keirfarnum6811 exactly. I am from the Netherlands and my local track is a 9 km (6mi) ride with 300m (900ft) of elevation gain. Just looping over several small hills (actually a former landfill) over and over. Gradients up to 20%. Fun times 😅
Aspens were a good choice. I see you yard saled the swapped tires the day before, we were staying at the same hotel for the race, but I didn't want to bother you guys. Congrats both on amazing finishes. Do you agree with the "hardest single day MTB race in America" thought from JB or does something else take the cake?
Coming to cycling out of motorsport, with the tons and tons of turns, this course looks like the MTB version of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, or as Sir Jackie Stewart named it, The Green Hell
I guess that is common. I mean how trails are built on flatlands. My country’s highest hill is only 314 meters and our XC trails are built same way, small punchy climbs but they never end. You usually get 600-700 meters of ascent per 40 km of riding. ✌️
These organizers seem "almost" as sadistic as Lazarus from the Barkley Marathon. Also, it's cool to see you guys on a pre ride together, just chilling.
Now that it’s over, any tips or tricks you can share? What strategy did you follow? What would you change? Awesome that you were able to pre-ride and get a feel for the last bit of the ride. I’m sure that helped for the mental game during the event.
We are still processing and will probably make a whole video about that! I will say that, at least for this race course, pre-riding the end was definitely helpful because it takes so much longer than it looks like it should on paper, and it's good to know that going in, otherwise you could easily get discouraged.
It was working originally (I tested it) but you're totally right that it isn't working now. I've emailed them to figure out what's going on. I'll let you know what they say. Sorry about that!
Just heard back. Turns out there was supposed to be a 25% off coupon on Amazon and our code did the remaining 5% off to make it 30% off total. If you check now, the 25% off should be back.
Well shoot.. coulda used that nutrition help ahead of time😅... my race day nutrition was a disaster!!! Finished the 50 mile (66ish version) very unpleasantly in 15 hrs 58 minutes😂... at 11pm I was considering putting the bike on marketplace... couple days later, I was contemplating trying to see if I can get a spot for 2025😂 Marji is kinda like a tape worm... it grows on you... it's not pleasant 😅
One of my hard fast rule for marking race courses is "No body every got lost by accidentally turning uphill" ergo if the course does turn uphill your gonna lose racers no matter how well you mark the turn :/
Marquette is a nice little town to visit in the summer. Just be careful as there are a lot of tweekers around. Been there in the winter and it was too cold for me.
Ah, yes. Good old midwestern mountain biking. Down hill for 10 sec and then somerhing that completely kills all your momentum. Always up or down. There is no flat.
Using candy for race tokens is a really bad idea. I can’t believe someone thought that was a good idea. Something specific for each stop should be used to there’s a record for the entire course.
The candy year wasn’t my favorite. On the 100 the first “token” was an atomic fireball. I thought it was a joke so I ate it. Luckily I kept the wrapper with the rest of my trash, or I would have DQd. The bottom of the sucker sticks were painted, so they were specific to the checkpoint you grabbed it from.
We’ve ridden some in Marquette and around Munising, some great trails up there in the UP! Respect for those yooper bikers, hard legs on those folks. Make sure you get a pasty while you’re up there, but better do it after the race! Also check out Pictured Rocks if you have time (thanks me later…). 😎🚵
Can't wait for the Marji Gesick race video? Watch it right now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/113711526
It's fantastic earning great race results! It's also good seeing you both having fun just riding together, (don't lose that).
I hope you have some recovery ride stops planned for the trip home. Enjoy the adventure!
Thanks for putting SI units on screen whenever you mention anything in "freedom units", really appreciated!
I saw you guys at the start of the race it looks like you both did excellent I’ve attempted it twice and finally finished this year such a relentless race mentally and physically exited to see the race episode
Congrats! 🎉
Hey guys, this is Tom from Michigan. Ran into you at the top of Quemazon last month. You guys crushed it at Marji! Nice work!
Can’t wait for the race video. It’s nice to see the end of the course in daylight. I finished at 5:45am 😂
I’ve been waiting impatiently for this video since I saw you guys there on Strava.
So glad to see y’all race these kind of trails. This is what trails are like in the Atlanta metro area. I watch bike reviews all the time and really these types of trail systems don’t seem to be talked about. It’s always how the bike does on a long west coast downhill on seated climbs over distance. Never talked about is the slow-twisty trails like these with punchy climbs and abruptly ending downhills.
I love that Fanttik air compressor. I got one after seeing it in one of your videos, and it works like a charm.
glad to see you back in Michigan. hope you had fun.
Your dark glasses comment made me giggle, Syd. I live in the PNW and my must have for MTB here are sunglasses that auto-adjust for the amount of light. Invaluable for forest riding here!
Stoked to see your vid, been really excited for it 🎉 the comments from Macky halfway through about jumping in the lake....so real 😂
Love the way you spec out the equipment and course and nutrition and race strategy for us.
Recently got into mtb again, and been watching or (binging) y’all’s videos. Your bring inspiration to ride better and better!
OK. When i asked you abuot this vs. Leadville...I can absolutely see why this is harder. Good lord.... Nothing like doing intervals for 100 miles! Crazy
The production values of this video are 10/10
All of Syd's & Macky's videos are of this quality. They truly are professional.
Good luck. This looks mega-difficult. I was impressed with your planning for food and drink intake.
Grew up in UP (Negaunee) and miss it, but home is now CO for past 30 years. Thanks for the fun content🎉
"if you're going downhill for more than 10 seconds, better be looking for the uphill turn!" perfect! 😂 (3 x finisher)
Good luck to both of you! Have a great race!
Commenting before I even watch - I have been looking forward to your take on the Marji for months!! So happy you two did this race. I’m attempting to sign up for the 50 next year!
We were in town keeping tabs on the race, although didn't see you guys! I had been waiting for a long time to see how Mackey go head to head with Matt Acker! Great job both of you!
Cool trail riding.Hope the weather was as beautiful for the race.Guess I will find out on the next video
Welcome to Michigan!! Love it
I did a 36 mile tech singletrack ride one time. That was definitely enough mountain biking for one day.
That terrain looks very similar to what we ride here in east Tennessee. Lots of punchy climbs and uphill tech. I've found that momentum is key to these punchy climbs. What sucks is when you're too damn tired to build up momentum. Makes for a long day. Stay hydrated and fueled and it'll make a huge difference for you. You two got this. Go out and be the most awesome that you've ever been! 👍💪👊
y'all are in my hometown and im super excited to see your take on it
Awesome videos! I’ve been waiting for this one! So wierd seeing Ramba during the day! It was all dark the whole 7 hours I was out there. Whew! Can’t wait for the next, thanks for chatting with me at packet pickup!
So glad to see you riding trails I’ve been on. We do a Copper Harbor trip almost every summer and grab a couple of days in Marquette on the way home.
I can finally relate to the trails you're riding. I live in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. We have the same forests and trails as Michigan, so this looks just like my riding.
Nice! We make the Gallup to Michigan drive almost every summer! My wife and I enjoyed Marquette this summer.
That course looks positively brutal!
I was not mentally ready for the AI music. Also, I’m glad I’m not the only one whose rear shock sounds like a squeaky toy sometimes.
I love those races where ya gotta stop and get the trinkets and finish with all of them. Did a race in Arkansas years ago where we had to get different colored golf tees. Got to race Tinker Juarez for about 1/4 mile, until he went outta sight.
I LOOOOVE Marquette!! (And the UP) Im only 12 hours away and went a few years ago. Its still one of my favorite MTB trips Ive been on.
It's crazy watching yall ride the trails I ride everyday, glad we share the same thoughts on some of those climbs 😂
I've been waiting for this. "Oh flyover country, how can you have mountain biking without mountains?" This is how: punchy, curvy, and dodging trees. Midwest mountain biking is criminally underrated.
Yup, same type of ridding in Southern Ontario, up, down and up again.
I used to race XC in Alaska and while we had plenty of mountain riding and long races climbing up into the alpine meadows, we also had races where we were on cross country ski trails where it was exactly like what you described; short punchy climbs and riding through deciduous forests, dodging trees. In fact there really isn’t much of any riding in coniferous forests up there; the conifers are all short, scrubby black spruce and most of the forest riding was in low altitude deciduous forests (the tree line is low and you get into tundra pretty quickly when going uphill). Midwestern mountain biking isn’t just for midwesterners; it sounds really similar to some of the riding in Alaska. He||, there’s plenty of mountain biking in Florida, with nary a mountain to be seen.
P.S., if you think about it, Belgium and the Netherlands should not be a place where there’s climbing in races, yet some of the classic one day races have incredible amounts of climbing because they wind all over the place to find all the hills to climb; and it’s the same kind of thing with lots of short, punchy, intervally climbs.
Most all my riding I've ever done is midwest trails exactly as you describe. Where our "downhill" segments last 5 seconds at most unless you find a rare gem that has you going downhill for closer to 15 continuous seconds. UA-camrs constantly showing their climb trails with long multi-minute long descents do leave me wishing I had even a little bit of elevation closer than a few hour drive away.
Shhh!!
It’s terrible here.
@@keirfarnum6811 exactly. I am from the Netherlands and my local track is a 9 km (6mi) ride with 300m (900ft) of elevation gain. Just looping over several small hills (actually a former landfill) over and over. Gradients up to 20%. Fun times 😅
Looks like you both are loaded down like pack mules so thanks for the go pro footage too. Always enjoy your videos!
Aspens were a good choice. I see you yard saled the swapped tires the day before, we were staying at the same hotel for the race, but I didn't want to bother you guys. Congrats both on amazing finishes. Do you agree with the "hardest single day MTB race in America" thought from JB or does something else take the cake?
Yup, hardest single day race we've ever done for sure!
riding through deciduous hardwood forests is my favorite enjoy!
Awesome song. Hope you do it more.
love the soundtrack... and "death by a 1000 cuts" hilarious 😁😁😁
Wow that looks crazy! Can’t wait
Coming to cycling out of motorsport, with the tons and tons of turns, this course looks like the MTB version of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, or as Sir Jackie Stewart named it, The Green Hell
not sure why Maxxis Recon Race tires are never considered, I love mine...
It's because in most terrain, Aspens are better
Good Luck I will be cheering for team yellow bottle cap and team blue bottle cap.
How you concidered doing the Strathpuffer 24 MTB race in Scotland? It is on the 7th of January next year.
Compared to the Netherlands that’s mountainous compared to what we have. Rocks! They have rocks! We practically have just dirt
I guess that is common. I mean how trails are built on flatlands. My country’s highest hill is only 314 meters and our XC trails are built same way, small punchy climbs but they never end. You usually get 600-700 meters of ascent per 40 km of riding. ✌️
Just like my local trails, constant up and down, and never for very long. Ten miles of that is usually enough for me.
I hope there are gonna be guiding signs everywhere. Seems not easy to find the path. Specially if you go fast. Good luck.
Assuming your running tubeless, what psi do you run in your tires?
Hi, what kind of lever do you use for the dropper seatpost and the suspension lockout? thanks in advance ✌
Here you go: alnk.to/g3bVXO9
Oh and I just kept my tokens in a ziplock, I feel so shameful to not have given them a proper place to live during the race. 😅
We were just afraid we would lose a zip lock 😂
These organizers seem "almost" as sadistic as Lazarus from the Barkley Marathon. Also, it's cool to see you guys on a pre ride together, just chilling.
I like the subtle Herbie Hancock scratch pad ambience.
As a Michigander welcome
Welcome to God’s country!!! Awesome video and so cool to see you guys there.
Welcome to the land shaped by glaciers!
This sounds slightly Barkley Marathon-esque minus the you almost have to die to finish part.
Good Luck
Say ya to da UP eh! I was signed up last year but got sick. Hoping to do the 50 next year.
Ha! these look a lot like the trails in Dallas/FTW area. death by 1000 cuts for sure
Macky, I also love toads!
Now that it’s over, any tips or tricks you can share? What strategy did you follow? What would you change? Awesome that you were able to pre-ride and get a feel for the last bit of the ride. I’m sure that helped for the mental game during the event.
We are still processing and will probably make a whole video about that! I will say that, at least for this race course, pre-riding the end was definitely helpful because it takes so much longer than it looks like it should on paper, and it's good to know that going in, otherwise you could easily get discouraged.
one of those clips of 80 is right outside the town I'm from lol
Hell yeah guys 💪 ❤❤❤
Sorry, how does the trail go again? Was it “Dllodldldllooodldldloo”? 😂
Come on to the BT Epic on the way back!
I want a bike pineapple shirt like the one Macky has, where can I get one??
That's an old one of Cyclelogical's (cyclelogicalgear.com/). Don't know if they make it any more...
Doc nobs was largely built by Nick Dobbs
Will break for toads! 🐸
Yeah, this is 100mm travel territory
Great video
Id love to see yuz do a short silly video of you two doing the “stoppie-kiss” in real life…in halloween costumes….pls include the bloopers
This event feels a little bit like the Barkley marathons for ultra running..
I noticed that, too.
Mackie is that you singing!
Nope. One of the other racers that we met sent us some songs he wrote about Marji and said we could use them.
Exciting!!!
I put in the code for 30% off and just takes off 2.99 shipping. I used 8:15 code but definitely not 30% of. Any ideas?
It was working originally (I tested it) but you're totally right that it isn't working now. I've emailed them to figure out what's going on. I'll let you know what they say. Sorry about that!
Just heard back. Turns out there was supposed to be a 25% off coupon on Amazon and our code did the remaining 5% off to make it 30% off total. If you check now, the 25% off should be back.
@@sydandmacky thank you. Appreciate the response.
Well shoot.. coulda used that nutrition help ahead of time😅... my race day nutrition was a disaster!!! Finished the 50 mile (66ish version) very unpleasantly in 15 hrs 58 minutes😂... at 11pm I was considering putting the bike on marketplace... couple days later, I was contemplating trying to see if I can get a spot for 2025😂 Marji is kinda like a tape worm... it grows on you... it's not pleasant 😅
😂
Answer honestly, did you get in though the normal signup process?
Nope. That's one of the benefits of having a reasonably large UA-cam channel about mountain bike racing.
One of my hard fast rule for marking race courses is "No body every got lost by accidentally turning uphill" ergo if the course does turn uphill your gonna lose racers no matter how well you mark the turn :/
Big fan of your videos but please stop adding the Membership pop ups that never disappear.
hmm, youtube must be doing this automatically. where does it pop up?
🔥
Hope you won that dollar
Marquette is a nice little town to visit in the summer. Just be careful as there are a lot of tweekers around. Been there in the winter and it was too cold for me.
Ah, yes. Good old midwestern mountain biking. Down hill for 10 sec and then somerhing that completely kills all your momentum. Always up or down. There is no flat.
Awesome video. Please no more ai songs!
Using candy for race tokens is a really bad idea. I can’t believe someone thought that was a good idea. Something specific for each stop should be used to there’s a record for the entire course.
Oh, it's specifically meant to be a bad idea. That's the whole point of Marji. Keep the racers guessing. Even the veterans don't know what's coming.
The candy year wasn’t my favorite. On the 100 the first “token” was an atomic fireball. I thought it was a joke so I ate it. Luckily I kept the wrapper with the rest of my trash, or I would have DQd. The bottom of the sucker sticks were painted, so they were specific to the checkpoint you grabbed it from.
Oh man that squeaking is annoying to listen to. Hopefully the race video doesn't have it.
We’ve ridden some in Marquette and around Munising, some great trails up there in the UP! Respect for those yooper bikers, hard legs on those folks. Make sure you get a pasty while you’re up there, but better do it after the race! Also check out Pictured Rocks if you have time (thanks me later…). 😎🚵
Was that a custom made song for you guys?
My guess is AI. A MI local has (@wildgiant) has used similar songs in his 906 videos.
@@clipless03John from Wild Giant wrote this one and sent it to us!
@@sydandmacky pretty cool ✌🏽