Leading up to this race the weather forecast was troubling. There was a call for ran the morning of the race. It wasn't a huge deal because the trail needed some rain but if it got too much the trail would close. The race director setup an alternate race route on the park roads and gravel roads surrounding the park so the race would happen on way or another.
Still now knowing whether we were racing on dirt or gravel, I decided to setup for dirt and bring my tools to change my gearing if they decide to run gravel. Luckily, the trail ended up in pretty good shape for the race and the "cold" front that brought the rains dropped the temps into the mid-80s.
This was a 4 hour race and slightly different than some of the previous endurance races I have done. This race ended at 4 hours. Any lap completed after the 4 hour mark would not count in the standings. That will be important later.
I got out to Erwin park around 3:45pm, checked in, and found a nice spot to setup my little pit area. I got there early enough to snag a picnic table.
I ended up setup my SS with 32x21 gearing. I would be slow and would be completely screwed on an downhill sections but it would be a lot more knee friendly. What I didn't anticipate was the initial roll out would be on pavement and I would be immediately dropped by the entire field. It was just me, a couple other single speeds and the fat bikes in the back. By the time I got to the trail, some slower riders ended up in front of me and for a little while I had to play follow the leader but eventually worked my way around.
- Lap 1 - "why the fuck do I sign up for these races"
I went out too fast and almost blew up (and threw up). I was chasing another single speeder with the thought that if I pass him at least I won't be DFL. Pretty stupid.
Lap Time - 45:22
Pit Time - 2:35 - Lap 2 - "everything hurts and I want to die"
By this time I was hurting from Lap 1 and was in a bad place mentally. I struggled with heart burn and almost threw up a couple times. I really wanted off my fucking bike at this point but I was able to control my pace better and recover some.
Lap Time - 58:23
Pit Time - 6:48 - Lap 3 - "hey, I might actually finish this"
I forced myself out for lap 3. I kept telling myself there wasn't any good reason to quit other than being a pussy so I pushed out. I had to put my lights on for this lap and the temps started to drop and as the sun went down dew started to form on the grass and roots. The trail was getting a little slick. On this lap, my triceps were on fire. My rigid SS beats the shit out of you on rough courses and Erwin as a shit load (I mean a shitload) of roots.
Lap Time - 1:01:31
Pit Time - 3:09 - Lap 4 - "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."
I knew I barely had enough time to get another lap in and my goal was three laps but I had to try. I had used up my legs and my entire upper body was on fire so I was creeping along. I was all over the trail at this point, my control was shit. A couple riders passed me and I would try to jump on their wheel and would get dropped within a couple minutes. I just couldn't hold the pace I needed. About a mile from the finish line I could hear them warning about the cut off and then could hear them counting down but I was too far out. I missed the cut off on my last lap by 2 minutes. :(
Lap Time - 1:04:16
So my official time was 3 laps in 2:53:39. My Garmin time was 4:02:04. I ended up 23rd overall and 3rd Single Speed. The only did the overall SS winner so no podium today.
The group that put on this race (The Spinstry) are awesome. The races are well run and always have free food after. Not many MTB events have food or drinks available. After the race I grabbed a burger and a mountain dew and watched the podium awards. By the time I go how I was exhausted and really, really sore. But pretty happy with my performance and cool t-shirt too.
UPDATE:
The official results were released and they included my 4th lap. WOOHOO!
I moved up from 23rd to 22nd overall.
No comments:
Post a Comment