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.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
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
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.
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!!:)
And for those that are curious: http://app.strava.com/rides/7571848
Monday, March 19, 2012
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.......
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.......
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Here we go......
Actually, this all started about a year ago when I announced to my husband that I wanted to do the Great Divide race. After an argument about the absurdity of that idea (I don't think it is all that absurd) I decided to start with something a little more reasonable. I needed something big to keep me motivated. Leadville was my compromise. I have never done a 100 mile mountain bike race, so I have created a grand plan to make sure I am ready. My first real test will be at the Cohutta 100 on April 28. On paper, this race is harder than Leadville. It has over 14,000 feet of climbing (Leadville has 12,000) and way more technical terrain. One thing the Cohutta doesn't have is altitude. That will be the subject of a different post. If I finish this race in under 12 hours, then Leadville should be no problem, right?!?
Feel free to comment or to offer up advice, I want this blog to be an exchange of information. I will post any interesting info that I come across as well. Hopefully we can all learn something along the way:)
Feel free to comment or to offer up advice, I want this blog to be an exchange of information. I will post any interesting info that I come across as well. Hopefully we can all learn something along the way:)
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