{"id":1526,"date":"2026-04-29T22:31:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T22:31:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marshmallowheaddesign.com\/teammandalore\/?p=1526"},"modified":"2026-04-29T22:31:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T22:31:34","slug":"war-daddy-sandlins-shred","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marshmallowheaddesign.com\/teammandalore\/2026\/04\/29\/war-daddy-sandlins-shred\/","title":{"rendered":"WAR DADDY & SANDLIN\u2019S SHRED"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April 25, 2026: War Daddy is the hardest thing you can do on this side of the country, a race report from Rae Havoc<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been at least 3 years since the last time I bebopped my happy ass down to Kenfucky to hang with our southern Appalachain dopplegangers. The Trail Sick team is pretty much the McLain Farm crew with a slightly heavier accent. Their race never disappoints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

War Daddy is a metric century, Sandlin\u2019s Shred is half of that. Is it a metric quarter? I dunno, they measure time by beers down there and measure distance by how many turns you have to take to get somewhere. I did the long version last time, but I really wanted to do the half\u2026 so this year I took the opportunity. April is early early early for mountain bikes up here in the Mahoning valley. I\u2019ve been busting my ass riding an old steel fully rigid single speed everywhere around town and hitting the indoor park as much as possible, but we all know there\u2019s no substitute for actual outdoor singletrack. Basically, I figured Sandlin\u2019s was more than enough of a challenge for me. I set my goal at \u201cfinish. In less than 5 hours if possible,\u201d said goodbye to Jeff & Fitzo and hit the road!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start and finish are at the Leslie County RV Park, so I camped up there in the possum van. There are about 30 rv spots with all the fixins and ample fields and hollers for tent camping. It\u2019s so primitive, I had to make my own fire ring with big rocks from the river. JUST HOW I LIKE IT!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I got off the line in the middle, also just where I like it. I know I can\u2019t compete in the lead scrum (unless someone falls off or crashes and i catch up haha) but I\u2019m also usually faster than most of the B group. Anyways, if you\u2019re faster than me, it\u2019s the responsibility of the more skilled rider to pass. It takes 3 miles of a gradual, paved climb to reach the entrance to the wilderness area. We dropped in and I said, probably out loud, \u201chere we go!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to describe the Daniel Boone National Forest much less the Red Bird Wilderness Area. Again, this is the doppleganger for the McLain race, so they\u2019re roughly the southern more equivalent of Wayne National and Brush Creek respectively. If I\u2019m being honest, they\u2019re dirtier and harder than ours in most places. There is a few decent sections of fast single and 2 track toward the end when you really need it, so there\u2019s that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made it to mile 17 in blazing time\u2026 averaging over 8 mph. Of course, I had a Busch at the side of the road aid station there\u2026 and a rip. Just as I was putting my mobile marijuana device away, who comes slamming down the hill I just rode down using EVERY SINGLE BIT of my braking system? Tinker Juarez. So probably this event is about to blow up since the world\u2019s most famous mountain biker has been to it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 miles from the aid station and approximately 10 miles from my finish, my shoe broke. This was a novel mechanical failure, similar to others I have had yet with its own special infuriating qualities. When I stood up for a steep, rocky downhill, my foot slipped my pedal. I\u2019m a two bolt user, but I did break a crank once, so this was heart stopping. I looked down and saw most of the bottom half of my sandal flopping around the crank arm. I navigated myself to a mud hill to sit on, somewhat off the main line down the hill to assess my situation. You do enough of this shit solo and unsupported, you start to figure out what to carry. Once I broke the cleat in my shoe, so I carry a space cleat. Once I broke my chain so now i carry a few spare links. I typically have duct tape wrapped around my hand pump or spare gps battery because once I fixed a leaky fork with duct tape and managed to finish. So I didn\u2019t cuss too much when i sat down int he mud to assess my shoe- I had a few feet of tape in my bag. Unfortunately it wasn\u2019t enough to do a wrap in the middle as well as at the heel (the 2 places my sandal needed support to work with my pedal.) Guys started rolling past me, \u201cyou okay, need anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, you got duct tape?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 4 of them while I was making the decision to tape my shoe just in the middle and soldier on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately for me, the very worst climb was ahead of me and my floppy, crappy shoe repair. I don\u2019t know what kind of mountain bike wizards are able to ride up this. thing, but not me. Or the 3 guys ahead of me, basically bouldering up it with their bikes on their shoulders. With no help or support from my left sandal, I also began the climb. It\u2019s in my video. It doesn\u2019t even look like a climb because all you can see in front of my bike is a rock wall. Fuck it, tho. I\u2019m there for the adventure! I shouted to the closest one ahead of me, ARE YOU HAVING FUN? I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE. He looked back, laughing, and replied, \u201cI\u2019m ready for the fun to be over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n