Leadville Part 2: Go Time!

Race day was finally here, and the nerves were gone. I slept ok, no worrying or racing thoughts. We sure did have to get up early though.

So, for the first time, the race organizers decided to corral riders based on  previous finish times. Since I had never done the race before, I would be in the last corral.......the white corral......the Leadville virgins! Since there were more first timers than ever before, it seemed smart to get there early to get at the front of the corral. Apparently I wasn't early enough, because when I got downtown there were hundred of virgins already lined up. Argggg!

No, I didn't race in a down jacket!

It was a little chilly at the start (40 degrees maybe). I was only planning to start with arm warmers, but there were people around me in full winter gear. I became a little concerned. One guy told me that I was going to freeze. I remember reading some comments from a few pros, and they usually always start in just arm warmers. I stuffed a plastic bag in the front of my jersey just to be safe. We had been riding here for 2 weeks and I had rarely needed more than arm warmers. I did have my raincoat in my camelbak, you can count on an afternoon thunderstorm.

One thing that I was still nervous about was the number of people. There were thousands of people, some of whom may not have great pack skills. These were mtbikers, they don't know how to ride in big groups.....right?;)

Ok, now I'm nervous.

I decided to be cautious, and try and leave some space between me and others. That was my theme for the day, no aggressive passing or crazy descending (ok, maybe a little crazy descending). The funny thing was, this seemed to be everyone's theme. It was mellow at the strart, and suprisingly spaced out. Maybe it was because I was at the back, and we all had the same mission: finish in under 12 hours and avoid an ambulance (or helicopter) ride out.

An encouraging message on the way out of town.

We headed out on a flat to downhill paved road, and I tried to pass as many people as possible before we got to the dirt road. I saw a lady wearing running shoes and riding plastic flat pedals (and her seat was about 4 inches too low)......I wondered if she would even finish. There were people who looked fit and fast, and people that looked like it was their first mountain bike ride ever. I know I shouldn't judge, but working in the bike industry for so long, I know the advantages of having the correct gear. I couldn't help myself! Before I knew it, we were at the dirt road. I looked ahead and saw a road wide traffic jam. The entire group had come to a complete stop. I tried to pass in the grass, but it wasn't happening. After a few minutes of standing, we started moving again. It had rained all night and there was a giant puddle that had been formed into a road wide mud pit by the thousands of tires that had gone before us. After we got through the mud everything spaced out again. We were heading for St. Kevin's! I hadn't thought about pacing up this climb, I was just waiting to see how I felt. It didn't really matter how I was feeling because, as we started the climb, it was obvious the pace we would all go......slow! The rain had created ruts, and there were only 1 or 2 good lines up the climb. There was a line of riders as far as the eye could see. I got in line and went the same speed as everyone else. Passing was difficult, but every once in a while there was an opportunity. The strange thing was, everyone was content with going this pace. I was listening to conversations, and one guy said "Well, my coach told me not to go out too hard." We all laughed, and I didn't worry about the pace. We would spread out soon enough. I was pretty patient for the most part, but one time I tried to move into a faster line by drifting back and pushing my way into line. The dude I was trying to get in front of wasn't having it. He kept putting his hand on my ass, and pushing me away (Rude)! I pretty much went off on him, but after I cooled down I realized he was right. I kept looking for him so I could apologize.

The arrival at the road signaled the end of St. Kevin's. We took a right on pavement, and it was a long, fast road downhill for a while. This was where I could make up time. My first goal of the day was to make it to the Twin Lakes aid station (40miles) in under 4 hrs. Arrive there any later, and your day is done. Jon and his brother Joey would be waiting there. After a little more road, we took a right on a dirt road toward Hagerman Pass to the Sugarloaf climb. Early on this climb I was passed by my buddy from St. Kevin's, and I chased him down so I could apologize. He was a young hispanic guy, with a deep accent. He was cool with the situation, and said it was just the adrenalin. I laughed and agreed. We would see each other many more times throughout the day, and everytime we exchanged a fist bump:)

Sugarloaf was over pretty quickly, the views of the clouds down in the valley made it a very pleasant climb. The Powerline descent was up next, and the nerves were returning.I was a little worried about descending at break neck speeds with all of these people. We started off pretty spaced out, but I began catching people pretty quickly. People would all stay in single file down the 1 smooth line, and not pass. Screw this traffic jam, I called out "on your right," and cautiously passed on a less desirable line. Everyone was mellow, no aggressive passing or people not holding lines. These were skilled mountain bikers!

The start of the steep rutted downhill section on Powerline.

The downhill ended at a road, and we took a right. I was in virgin territory (ok I will stop using that word). I hadn't seen the next 30 miles of this course. The profile showed rolling terrain with one longer flat section. I looked around and tried to find a group to ride with. It wasn't long until I was in a paceline with a group of guys and a lady I named "The East German." She was a big burley gal, that enjoyed frequent long pulls at the front. We were hauling ass across these flatter sections, and I felt pretty good about making it before the cut off.

The race is fairly flat all the way to the Pipeline aid station. I stayed in my group until we got there. No need to stop here, we had been riding a little more than 2 hrs. There were a few steep short climbs mixed in here, and the only section of singletrack on the entire course. A little piece of advice, don't stick out your tounge at random camera men, because you may somehow end up with that picture. Oh, and that's "The East German" directly in front of me.

Dork!

I was feeling good, but still concerned about making it to Twin Lakes in time. We approached a section that looked like it could be a dam (Twin Lakes aid station is on the Twin Lakes dam). I asked The East German if that was it, and she stared at me for a long time without speaking. I thought maybe she really was German, and couldn't understand me. When she finally spoke, there was no accent. She told me we had another 45 minutes. We would make it with time to spare! Why was I so worried?

Twin Lakes was a welcome sight!

I got to Twin Lakes with 30 minutes to spare. That doesn't sound like a lot, but I was pretty happy about it. It was the only cut off I was concerned about. Jon was set up at the opposite end of the dam. We had discussed the details before, so he would be easy to find. There were thousands of support crew members and spectators on the damn, so finding one person sounded difficult. I got a little freaked out when I got to the last few tents and hadn't spotted him. Just when I was about to go to plan B (steal food from another nearby tent....jk), I saw his tent. I tossed my camelbak and bottle to he and Joey and headed to the woods for bathroom break #1. When I came back, I was ready to go with 3 hrs worth of liquids. I felt great and headed out in good spirits. My niece, Anna, waved and wished me luck. She informed me later that night that she wants to do Leadville, but she's doing the run!

Pre riding all of the climbs had come in handy thus far, but thinking about climbing Columbine was getting me down. On the flat approach to the climb I was deep in thought about the suffering to come. I was so deep in thought that I wasn't thinking about the possibility of 2 way traffic, and almost took out the 3 leaders. My bad! And then it (Columbine) began.......riding in a slow single file line again, except this time everyone was ok with the slow pace. It wasn't very long before I was in the pain cave. I wasn't going that hard, but I was suffering. What was wrong with me? Oh yeah, the altitude. I will admit, lots of people were passing me. I don't do long sustained climbing so well. At this point, the fast people were coming back down from the top. Staying far right was very important, because they were MOVING! When we finally got to the steep part at treeline, I was toast. I saw everyone up ahead walking. The race founder, Ken Chlouber, was standing on a four wheeler beside the road. I heard him shout, "You can ride it, you've ridden harder stuff than this." Everyone was still walking. I decided I wasn't walking. I stayed on my bike and rode in the line of walkers. I was going the same speed, but they were working harder than me. The guy behind me was encouraging me to stay on. I rode the entire first steep gravel section!!! When I got to the next steep section, you could see people walking in a mile long line. I cramped immediately. I guess I'm walking.

Almost to the top!

After a little walking, I got back on and rode the last short section to the turn around. It was cool and windy, and very crowded. I only needed a waterbottle refill and bathroom stop # 2. There were no trees, so we all just went out in the middle of the field. Nice! 10 guys peeing and 1 girl squatting. I went back and searched for my bike in the sea of bikes (that took a few minutes), and headed down. Just under 6 hrs, and I'm halfway.

To be continued........

Leadville Part 1:

So it all comes down to this.....2 weeks in Leadville and then it's go time. An entire year of training dedicated to this one goal: Finish the Leadville 100. We arrived in Leadville and set up camp right outside of town.

The plan was to spend the next 2 weeks riding the major climbs of the race, and doing some easy fun rides in between. We were joined by Tad Nielsen (Jon's co-worker from Sunrift) and his friend Sonya Loftis. They were in Colorado on a mtb vacation, and decided to spend a few days with us.

After they headed home, it was time to focus. First up, we would ride the first climb of the race: St. Kevin's. It seemed like the climb started very near where we were camping, but the race map was tough to read. Thankfully, Tad had bought a trail guide book while he was in town and it detailed every major climb of the race (including directions to the start). This little book came in very handy for the next few weeks......Thanks Tad!!! We rode from the camp ground to the start of the climb (only a few miles away).  It started out fairly flat on a hard packed dirt road, but quickly kicked up and became rutted and rocky. After 1 mile of steepness, a sharp switchback to the left and the climbing gets easier. A few hundred yards later and the sight of old mine tailings tells you the climbing is almost over. A few rolling miles later, and you end up back on County Road 9 (the same road that our campground is on). We turned around and did the entire thing in reverse. Since the LT100 is out and back, I would be riding this last part at about 90 miles in. Not so bad, and the descent was scary fast!!!

A few days later, we rode Sugarloaf and Powerline. This would be the next climb after St Kevin's, and the Powerline climb would be on the return trip (about 80 miles in). The Powerline climb is said to be the hardest in the race, and the sight of many a DNF. We drove to the start of the climb, and started down a long flat gravel road. A sharp left took us to the start of the climbing, and it was very rocky but not all that steep. As we were winding around to the summit, there were gunshots nearby. Jon and I both started yelling, hoping that they weren't shooting in our direction. We rounded a corner, and a young girl was holding a handgun. It looked like a family was doing some target practice.....no big deal, but they seemed surprised to see us. Thankfully, they waited until we were a little ways off before they started shooting again. The adrenalin made the rest of the climb seem easy. After a little route finding, we were on the Powerline descent. 

If you have ever seen the movie "Race Across the Sky", you may think that this descent is gnarly and dangerous. If you have ever ridden or even attempted to ride Farlow Gap in Pisgah, then you could probably ride the Powerline descent on a cross bike. I may be exaggerating a little, but it really isn't that bad. It has some ruts and  big rocks, but it also has some pretty clean lines. Before riding this, Jon was sure that I would die on this section during the race. Good thing he pre rode with me, now he should have no worries.

The ride back up was a different story, the very end of the descent is super steep. It flattens out after that and ends at a road. We turned around here and went back up the super steep part. You can see this steep section winding off in the distance, and you can even see the top (which was a blessing and a curse). I was determined to ride this. I had a triple on my bike and a 36 tooth cassette, and I was not getting off. Also, we had spectators for this pre ride. A photographer and a couple of pro riders were standing in the middle of the steepest part. I put it in my easiest gear, and started spinning. It was slow, but I wasn't walking. I rode right past them and up the first of the steep sections. There was a not so steep section separating the 2 crazy steep parts, and when I got to it I tried to recover. The next part was so steep that I was starting to spin out from all the torque it took just to keep moving. My rear wheel was spinning out most of the way, but I made it! Jon rode most of it, but had to walk the second steep pitch. The remainder of the climb was still hard. It was rocky and there were more short steep sections. This would be tough after riding most of the day, and no way could I ride the steeps if I weren't fresh. 

We took a few days to do some fun and easy rides:

Turquoise Lake Trail, near our campground

Mine Tailings on the Mineral Belt Trail

We saved the best for last.....Columbine. 7.5 miles and 3,126 ft of climbing topping out at around 12,400ft in elevation. Sounds like fun, right? We started a few miles away with a gradual uphill gravel road approach. I wasn't feeling very good at all. I really wanted to quit and go back to the car, but this was the last good day to ride this, so I sucked it up. I felt better when we actually got to the climb and out of the brutal crosswinds on the open road. Columbine isn't terribly steep at the bottom, but it gets steeper as you go. As you near the treeline it gets steep and rocky.

It then flattens out a little, and then it gets ungodly steep......and I am pretty sure there is no oxygen. Walking even sucks (I didn't ride this second steep part, and I almost passed out when I started walking). After this section of hell, we actually got a short section of downhill (which was evil, because we were gonna have to turn around and go right back up that) and we arrived at Columbine Mine. The view was spectacular!

Columbine Mine.....Brrrr!

I laid my bike on the ground, and the wind was blowing so hard that the bike started rolling across the ground by itself. Crazy! I put on my rain jacket to keep warm on the descent. The descent was very rocky, and the lines were sketchy in some sections. During the race, there will be 2 way traffic on this section....giving you even fewer line choices. I tried to stay on the right side of the road, but every once in a while I would end up on the left. Hope that doesn't happen on race day, because speeds can easily reach 40 mph on this descent. :-(

Bike racing wasn't the only type of racing going on in Leadville. I am pretty sure I want to start a mini donkey racing series in SC (are you in Jackie?).

We did some mellow rides on the Mineral Belt Trail (Leadvilles version of the Swamp Rabbit), and rested up for the big day.........

Week #2

We have been away from home for 2 weeks now, and I am a little homesick. I miss my friends, family, and my cats. We have been camping right outside of Frisco, CO for exactly 1 week. We had thought about moving on to Steamboat, but this place has so much going on that we have decided to stay here until we make our way to Leadville on Sunday.

                                                         Downtown Frisco

                                                      Our home for the week!

There are recpaths that connect almost all of the cities in Summit County, and each town has miles of trails and gravel roads. I would guess there are over 100 miles of paved recpaths. We can leave from our campground and ride to Vail, Breckenridge, or Keystone on one of these paths. Each town also has its own bike park and skatepark, and they are free and open to the public. This area is a little touristy, especially Breckenridge.......but without tourism $$$'s there would be no recpaths and bike parks. This place is road bike nirvana. Cookie rides every weekend, and tons of epic climbs. Colorado even has it's own hillclimb series, for those of you that are into going uphill.

                            Peaks Trail goes from Breck to Frisco. We made a loop
                                by taking the recpath up to Breck and riding the trail back.


We have ridden some great trails in Breckenridge, but my favorite so far was the Lenawee Trail near Keystone. We started off riding 6 miles of road up the Loveland pass and continued to climb another 3 miles up a gravel road to the top of A-Basin ski area. This road was steep (22% in some places), and the gravel was big and loose. The Columbine climb in Leadville should be similar to this (I think so anyway). We were at over 12,000' of elevation when we reached the top.

                                   The top of A-Basin. The area behind us down in
                                      the valley is called Montezuma Bowl.

From there, we took a thin ribbon of singletrack back down to the Keystone. The first 400yds of this trail were narrow and very exposed. It was at least a 300ft drop down to the boulders below, and there was nothing to break your fall. Needless to say, Jon and I walked this section. The remainder of the trail was technical, but rideable. This was one of the more technical trails we have ridden on this trip.

                                Above treeline, the singletrack was buttery smooth
                                                              (and cold)

                            Things got a little more dicey once you were in the trees

I still notice the affects of altitude when we are above 11,000', but not like I did when we first arrived. Jon, who is not quite as fit as he usually is, is struggling more with the altitude. It is so hard to stay hydrated here. The air is super dry, even though we have a rain shower every afternoon. Two more days here and then we're off to Leadville! I am starting to get a little nervous........:-)

                                   

Living the Dream

Jon and I have been in Colorado for 1 week of our 4 week mountain bike odyssey which will culminate with the Leadville 100. We have gone from Grand Junction to Crested Butte and now to Breckenridge. I am too tired too type a long blog entry, so I will just post a few pictures for now. Enjoy!

                                          Lunch Loops bike park, Grand Junction

                                           Eagles Tail trail, Grand Junction

                                         

                                      I decided to do an XC race my first day at altitude,
                                      not a good idea

                                          401 trail near Crested Butte

                                    Wildflowers were still in bloom at elevations above 10,000'

                                          More Wildflowers!!!

                                           Jon G looking powerful

                                          401 trailhead, it was pretty crowded

                                           

12 Hours of Insane (aka 12 Hours of Tsali)

This race is always one of my favorites. For the past three years I have done this race as a member of a 4 person team. I have always thought that the people who did this race solo were a little insane.....

Its a pretty simple format: the race lasts from 10 am until 10 pm. Teams or individuals try to get as many laps as possible in that 12 hour period. 1 lap is around 11 miles. This year I decided to go solo. My only goal was to get in 10 laps. Lots of local folks had come out to this race. Team Pumps n Hose was competing in the 4 woman team category (Catherine James, Nina Elliot, Kate Ross, Christy Keely). Elizabeth Brady was joined by Ann Moore on team Go Pig, a 2 woman team. Steve Sperry was there as Brady's pit crew. Paul Mills and Rodney Dender had decided to go solo as well (Paul 12 hour and Rodney 6 hour). The Team Globalbike duo of Noah Metzler and Ben Renkema took on the duo category. It was cool to see so many Greenville folks.

The race began with a Lemans start, not my favorite. I ran the 1/4 mile to my bike at a leisurely pace, no need to be in a hurry. Pacing is very important when attempting to ride your bike for 12 hours. Go out too hard, and you will pay for it later. It may be 5 or 6 hours later, but you will pay for it. I rode a steady pace for the first few laps, never venturing into the red. I had no idea how I was doing. I would check out the #'s of any ladies that I saw. Single digit #'s were my competitors. I didn't see any until around lap 3 or 4. I caught a girl on a climb, and she was struggling. I kind of assumed that I must have lapped her, because she was going way to slow to have been ahead of me. On the same lap I passed a girl who had stopped on the side of the trail, and she had a single digit #. #7, that's what I started calling her. I immediately went into competitive mode. She ended up catching and passing me later on in the lap. If she had come around and pulled away from me, I probably would have let her go and not really have worried about her. A funny thing happened though, something that pretty much changed the race for me. She slowed up. I caught back up to her, and sat on her wheel. "Do you want to pass," she asked. "I'm good," was my response. I sat on her wheel for the last 3 miles of the lap, and  I figured out that she climbed better than me but I was faster everywhere else. Game On!

This course suited my riding style a little more than most. Most of the climbs were short, and there was lots of fast flat singletrack in between the climbs. The trails aren't super technical, but they still reward those that know how to handle their bike. Most of the turns are bermed, and if you know how to ride them then you can carry a lot of speed through them. I tried to push it on the climbs and recover on the fast singletrack sections.

When we got back to the start finish, I went to my pit to grab a fresh bottle. I lost track of #7 . At the end of the next lap, I caught her again. The battle was heating up. We were pretty much neck and neck for the first half of the race. I still didn't know if we were battling for 1st, or if someone else was ahead of us. I tried not to think about it and just focused on pacing/eating/drinking.

On lap 6 it started to rain. Lap 7 was pretty darn muddy. I came into the pits and everyone asked what I needed. I really wanted to change my shorts (mud in the chamois is no fun), but I was worried about losing time. I didn't know where she was, so I opted for no chamois change. When I came through on lap 8 Catherine told me that I was in 1st, but only by 2 seconds. Arrgg, I was angry that #7 was making my life difficult. I need to go to the bathroom, change my shorts, eat some real food.......but no, I had a race to win. I grabbed a bottle and left.

Lap 9, Paul Mills gives me my light and another bottle. Deb Whitmore cleans and lubes my chain. All of this is done NASCAR pitcrew style! Sperry asks if I want a coke on the next lap. Kudos to my impromptu pit crew! I am pretty confident that I am gonna win at this point. I finish lap 9 and 10 and am feeling good. I have time for one more lap (this one is totally dark). I see strange birds with glowing red eyes, which I later learn are Whippoorwills. The trail is covered with frogs. I try to avoid them, but almost wreck a few times. I decide to just squash them :( During the last few miles, every time I see a light coming up behind me, I think it is #7. I kill myself on the last lap trying to stay ahead of these unknown competitors. When I come to the finish, a crowd has gathered. Most people are already done, and they are hanging out and cheering the finishers. I hear "Debbie does Tsali" and "Yeah dirty Debbie" as I cross the line. The announcers says that I am the solo women's winner, and I am relieved. I ended up doing 11 laps in around 11 hours and 40 minutes. #7 gets 2nd with 11 laps as well, but was about 20 minutes back.

Team Pump n Hose destroyed the 4 women's team field, lapping the 2nd place team. Brady's team was the 1st women's team finisher in the Duo category. Team Metzler/Renkema finished a close 2nd in the very competitive Duo category. We pretty much dominated, and fun was had by all. The promoters that put this race on are my favorites. They do everything they can to make their races fun. They always have great prizes/payouts. They always have podiums/food/music. Don't miss this one next year! Check out goneriding.com for results.

Cohutta 100

This past Saturday I did my first ever 100 mile mtb race. The race was the Cohutta 100, the first race in the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) series. That means that this race would be stacked with fast people. Racers that I now believe come from another planet. More on this later.

This race is touted as one of the easier races in the series. The reason for this is that the entire middle section of the course is gravel roads (other races have more singletrack). I am here to tell you that this is no easy race. Coming in to this race my goal was to finish in less than 12 hours. This would also be another opportunity to figure out nutrition and pacing before Leadville. In the weeks leading up to this race, I began to think maybe I hadn't put in enough miles. Would I even be able to finish?

Jon and I went up the day before. The race started and finished in Ducktown, TN. We did an hour pre-ride of a section of the course when we arrived, and I was feeling good! I started to believe that maybe I could finish in closer to 10 hours. I only need to average 10 mph, not so impossible I thought.

The race started at 7 am on Saturday. Usually that seems way too early, but I was excited to race. I got to the start line, and it was a little weird. Normally, everyone is pushing and fighting to get a position on the front. The only ones that cared about being up front were the pros, everyone else was spread out all over the parking lot. I pulled up right behind all of the serious folks at the front. I decided I would push myself a little harder at the start than I have at past endurance races.

                                                           The calm before the start

I am not going to give you the play-by-play, here is a brief synopsis. I maintained my 10 mph average until the half way point. The climbing got to me. At around mile 62 there was a 9 mile steep gravel climb that destroyed me. About 1/2 way up I stopped caring about finishing at all. I even vowed to quit when I got to the next aid station. I knew Jon was at that particular aid station, and I thought I would just quit and go home with him. The climb took me 2 hours! At the top there was a left turn, and I was on one of the sweetest sections of singletrack I have ever ridden. It was almost totally downhill, and fast!!! After that and a little more gravel, I was at aid station #6......75 miles into the race. Jon was there, and he was telling me that it was mostly downhill back to the start. That news, combined with the adrenalin from the singletrack.......I couldn't quit.

The next 25 miles were not all downhill. It didn't bother me so much, but a few of the people I caught up to were not happy about it. One dude was having a melt down. Every time I would get near him, he would rant about how stupid this race was, or about how this was mostly uphill, or ask how far to the last singletrack section. It was kind of entertaining, and I was glad this crazy guy was riding with me for these last few miserable miles. When we finally reached the right turn which would take us to the last 7 miles of singletrack to the finish..........let's just say it was awesome. Even the climbing was more bearable when it was on singletrack. I got got to the finish line in 11 hrs and 35 minutes. That is a hell of a long time to be on a bicycle. Even though I had a pretty slow time in comparison to the winners (the women's winner finished in around 8.5hrs!!! She is definitely from another planet.), and even though it was miserable for most of the ride, I found myself thinking about what I needed to do to be faster by Leadville. I think I can do Leadville in 10 hours, no problem!!:)

                                        This is how you look after riding your bike for 11 hrs!

And for those that are curious:  http://app.strava.com/rides/7571848

Taco Stand Classic and other ramblings....

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.......