I was talked into doing my first real endurance race a few weeks back. This was a last minute decision, with out any planning on my part. My friend Mike Pierce told me about it a week before. The race was in Lawrenceville GA (where ?), a place I had never ridden. Why not?!?Let's do it!
I decided on the 9 hour solo category. I wasn't really going to "race", but to experience being on a mountain bike for 9 hours straight. This would be good mental prep for Leadville I thought. There were other categories as well. There were 4 person teams in both the 6 and 9 hr categories. There was also a 6 hr solo category (why didn't I do that one?). There were Greenville folks there, I ditched my bottles and supplies under Brandon Lee's camper. He was on a 4 man team. I rode down with three of my friends from Greenville who were all doing 9 hr solo as well.
Soon, it was time for the start. I left the start line at a leisurely pace, letting a ton of people get to the woods before me. It didn't matter, it was going to be a long day. Every 2 laps, I would stop for a bottle. This race was a good opportunity to figure out my nutrition strategy for Leadville. I had a bottle filled with Hammer Heed every 2 laps (1 lap = 8miles). I also had a flask with Hammer Perpetuem that equaled 3 hrs worth of calories. This strategy seemed to work for this race.....no bonking!!!
Everything was going great until we got to around the 6 hour mark. I decided to try out a bike I had hardly ridden, and my back was not loving it. I did my best to stretch and stood up a lot. It seemed to help, but the back pain never really went away.....it just became more bearable. I was doing some calculating in my head at this point, and I figured I could get in 9 laps. Things started to work against me on lap # 8. It was raining! No big deal normally, but all of my stuff was sitting out in the rain. Brandon's team had packed up and left when they realized they had won and didn't need to ride anymore (must be nice!). All I could think about was all of my clean dry clothes and my cell phone.....they were sitting out in the rain. ARRRG! I rode hard to get back, and found a place to stash my stuff (it wasn't soaked yet, thankfully).
Lap #9 and it's getting dark. I have only a Petzl headlamp, and it's not really designed for cycling. I stick it in my jersey pocket, but I don't think I will even need it. Surely I can make it back before it's too dark. Wrong! About 4 miles in, I have to stop. It's so dark I can't even tell if I am still on the trail. The rain has made every root like ice, and I nearly crash every few feet. I try to put the light on my helmet....not happening. It won't stay on my bars either. the only thing I can do is hold it in my left hand and ride with my right one. I ride the next 4 miles with one hand. Everything is slippery, and I am only using the rear brake. There isn't much time to make it back to the start line. If I make it after 7pm, then the lap doesn't count. As I come out of the woods I can hear the announcer, "only 2 more minutes." It is still about 300yds to the line, but it is all in a grass field. I drop my light, and start sprinting. I can't see anything but the lights at the finish area. I make it with a little time to spare. 72 miles in a little under 9 hrs. OUCH!
It didn't really seem so bad, until I stopped. After a few minutes even walking was painful. Also, my stomach was angry. Everyone kept asking why there wasn't a Taco Stand. The race name, The Taco Stand Classic(http://chainbusterracing.com), actually came from a trail on the course......not because there was a taco stand nearby. Bummer!
I went straight to the van to change clothes. I was muddy, sweaty, hungry and didn't really care about finding out how I finished. Mike walked up to look at results. When he got back he told me to hurry up and change, because I got 1st. No way, I didn't believe him. I had been passed by at least 2 women. I walked up to see for myself. Sure enough, my name was at the top of the list. I had won by an entire lap.....good thing I didn't quit when I was worried about my stuff getting wet....things would have been a lot closer.
Some things I learned about endurance racing:
*You need to have a crew...... If I would have had someone there to take care of my issues (moving my supplies, handing bottles, etc.) it would have been a little less stressful.
*Don't use new equipment......new stuff = pain! My body wasn't used to the position of a different bike and it started revolting.
*Endurance racing is a different kind of pain........you never really push yourself deep into the red, but there is still pain. Pedaling a bike for that long is going to hurt, trust me.
*Nutrition is super important.....There were people with stomach cramps who were curled up on the side of the trail. I think eating solid food is a bad idea. I have never had stomach issues, nor have I bonked while using my Perpetuem/Heed combo. Cramping is a different story. I am still working on that one.
*You have a lot of time to think......I wonder what other people were thinking about for 9 hrs? do some people just zone out to music? I think I am trying music next time, because thinking makes you lose focus on the trail. I found that my handling skills were poor when I was deep in thought. At least quitting never crossed my mind.
Next stop, the Cohutta 100.......
