Sorry I'm a little slow to get this posted. I was waiting for more event pictures to be posted, hoping I was in at least one of them, but somehow I was not in the right place or the right time. I only have a couple pictures where part of me made the shot.
This year I didn't do the 100 mile version. I decided to take it "easy" and to the 100k. I am signed up for Lumberjack 100 and didn't feel like doing two 100 mile races 2 week apart. As it got closer to the race I was very thankful for this decision. Life has been busy and I have not been riding as much as I should be and I was taking longer than expected to snap back from my efforts at PMBAR. My last ride the week before the race had me feeling that maybe I was turning the corner, but I was sure I would still be struggling more than I could be.
I made sure everything was ready for the next morning and got to bed as early possible. I actually slept pretty well, but a little more time would have been nice. I headed down to the lobby to get some coffee and check out breakfast. It was not exactly what I wanted, but close enough that I decided to eat stuff there and not get out what I brought to eat. I was ready earlier then normal and soon enough I needed to put the finishing touches on my pregame setup and headed out the door to meet the rest of the group in the parking lot. The little ride in to town doesn't take very long and really is not enough to be a good warm up, but I was not going to do any more than that.
We kind of pulled up along the side of the pack. It was a little farther on the side then I normally would have gone, but it was closer to the front than if I would have went all the way to the back. Once the race starts, it will be all spread out pretty quickly anyway. After all the announcements we were finally ready to get underway. It seemed like we got there kind of late, but it still took a little while before the race was actually started. Then they said go and we were off down the road.
The start out of town is always very congested. There are a lot of
racers starting at the same time. Everyone wants to get in a good area
that will work for them. It is really hard to tell where you need to be
in this group. The pace is usually pretty peppy and all the adrenaline
it can be pretty nerving. I tried to settle in to what the pack was
doing. I wanted to move up as far as I could with out over doing it. The
climb out of town is one of those places that I can push it too hard
and hurt myself more than I want this early in the race. I have my own
pace of warming up that helps me have a good day and if I go too quickly
I can have a pretty bad day.
I really wanted to move up. I figured I was not the only one. I did my best to find good places to pass and I asked nicely to get around. I did not want to force anything since it would make the other person mad and it would just hurt me more than needed. I did dig deeper than I wish I needed to for a couple passes, but they were much needed. Most of the time was when I was a gap in front of the rider in front of me.
This first trail section is a lot of fun. I was really enjoying the ride and feeling pretty good. I kept trying to drink often and even eat some. When I rolled in to the first aid station it felt like I was drinking more than previous years. I stopped to top off my one bottle, ate a small container of pickles, most of a Honey Stinger gummy package and then off I went. I ended up back in some traffic for this next section. I tried to take my time and not force passes, but eventually I needed to start moving forward. There was a guy behind me that helped talk me in to it, and off we went. We kept moving forward pretty well then hit the road.
 |
| Right before the start photo credit: Alyssa Broner |
Once we got of to the upper area, the speed picked up. I was riding the tight corners a lot better than a few in front of me and it didn't take me long to get around and have some clear trail. I was doing pretty well for a little while. I could hear the heckle group at the water bar as I neared that area. It was kind of crazy to hear them and wondered what kind of craziness was ahead. Once got passed the trail crossing, the next section has more rocks and is a little more technical. It didn't take me long to find another conga line. I was now working harder than I should be just to go as slow as the riders in front of me. I made a few passes, but they were hard to come by with how the trail was.
I was really wanting to ride the water bars this year. I mean, who wants to get off in front of a large group? Well, as I turn the corner toward the muddy parts, the guy in front of me goes right over the bars. I had to stop and put a foot down. I alternate between riding and dabs for the next short section before being able to get fully moving again and out of the trail. I made the next turn off of the road, grabbed more food and drink and started climbing. It was not a super steep hill, but big enough. I passed a couple people and was feeling good. That was right up until I hit the muddy climb section. I forgot about this part. It was too steep and muddy for me to worry about trying to ride. I just got off and started pushing, just like everyone else I could see.
I was pushing pretty well and felt fairly good once I was going again. The down hill on the other side was a lot of fun, well that was right up until that very last corner. I came around a bend and there were a couple root drops. I went over the first one and my front wheel sucked right into the mud. Over the bars I went and I landed right in a big mud hole. I came up covered in mud. I tried to clean myself up and kept moving. Just a short section later I was back on the road trying to keep going the best I could.
 |
| Photo credit: Stephanie Austin |
The section out of this rest area is always tough. You have the one really big gravel climb and if that's not bad enough, when you are done with that there is another one just ahead. The legs were heavy and I just kept trying to move forward. That is always my mantra, just keep moving forward and you will get there. I played some yo-yo with a few people here and some wheels I could grab on to help me go faster. I was not climbing super fast, but I was climbing. I knew when I made the turn in to the one gravel road that I was heading up to the zip line area. This area is never easy for me. The trails are steep, hard, rocky and always wet.
In one of the areas that the trail switches back on to itself, I could see Cooper. It was hard to tell if I was really gaining on him or not. I was not sure how much trail was between us. The few people I was around at this point was good to work with. Most of us went similar paces and went back and forth for this whole section. I was really feeling it, but I had felt a lot worse in this section before. I knew it was a long way to aid 3 and just tried to be patient. There was one section where everyone was pushing up a steep hill and I could see Cooper near the top. He was still ahead of me, but I felt like I was getting closer. I pushed it through the grass in to aid 3. It is easy to go a little harder with all the people there cheering. It may not be good for the legs, but I couldn't help myself.
 |
| photo cred:Tammy Bushong |
The gap grew a little, but he was not too far ahead. He stopped and took a beer hand up from Kenny, so when he came out to be I could not resist. It was not really that great of beer, but at this point it tasted pretty dang good. Cooper had a pretty good gap on me now and with the legs hurting I figured some beer was the last thing they needed. We both got back on a riding for the second half of the hill. He was still up ahead, but it didn't seem too far. That was until he went over the top of the hill. Once I got there and over we was pretty far ahead. Then over the next hill he was gone. Well, I figured that might be it. I figured he had to be hurting and I kept pushing the best I could. Somehow I bridged the gap enough that I could see him ahead.
I kept getting closer and eventually we were back together. We rode together for the rest of the road/gravel section. My legs were really feeling it. They were very heavy, but thankfully they had not cramped yet or shown signs of doing so. I was happy when I saw the road. I knew we were getting close to the home stretch. Along the next road, around and down the hill then under the bridge. I figured there was really no reason to stop at aid 4/5. I had everything I needed and should be able to limp home. I also figured that if I stopped, Cooper would not and leave me. I was starting to wonder if we would hold it together till the end and have to race for the finish.
Right before we got the aid 4/5 someone said smile your on camera. Well that was the wrong thing to say to me. I pulled up and road a wheelie the best I could. The things I do for a camera (anyone have that footage?). I then kept rolling toward the trail. I was trying to see who was going to go first. It seemed like no one was jumping, so I went. I figured if I'm in the front then I can go my pace. This can also be bad and cause me to go a little too hard and finish blowing my legs up. The first climb was really hurting. I could really feel that silly wheelie. The thought even crossed my mind that I just lost the race between us because of it. Legs were heavy and feeling bad, but I kept riding. There was another little steep climb and I heard him spin out. I made it up the climb and kept going.
My legs were hurting, but figured I needed to keep pushing the pace and see if I had a gap. I kept moving forward the best I could. Being so close to the end and the feeling of being chased had me with a little more energy. I put my chips on the table and was going all in. I thought possibly his legs were hurting more than mine on the climbs, so every climb I pushed just a little more than I wanted to. I was running scared and on the gas (well what gas was left at this point, but it felt wide open). There was a spot around a corner that I could see behind me. I didn't see him, but a little later I could hear him. Not really sure how far back he was and knowing we had a little bit of road to the end I was not sure if I could hold him off.
As I went through the camp ground and down the road I was happy to be done. I took a look over my shoulder one more time and didn't see the shadow I had been running from and knew I had it. I didn't know what I had, but it sure was a lot of fun actually racing down the home stretch. I rolled across the finish line at 6:23 and ended up in 12th place SS. Cooper came in just a little behind me and it was great hanging out and talking about the day over a couple beers and watch the other racers roll in.
 |
| Congratulating Misty of a great ride photo credit: Jason O'Bradovich |
 |
| SS winners |
 |
| 100 mile winner Dylan Johnson getting interviewed |
No comments:
Post a Comment