So we get up to the trail with just enough time to set up ‘camp’, stage our fuel at the pit area, wait in line to sign a waiver, pick up plates, and get body markings. Unfortunately it rained ALL day the before so BOTH of the team members that were up there on Saturday were unable to ride, and thus unable to provide a scouting report to Jason, Chuck, and myself. The organizers decided to make things interesting and start each race LeMans style…as if we’re not going to SUFFER enough over the next FIVE hours, let’s start the race with our heart rate pinned. According to the race organizer, even with this being the inaugural year of the enduro class, it was one of, if not, the largest category with over 50 registrants, and 48 at the starting line. I recognized one of the competitors, aka Pork Chops, from the Sproute (adventure race organized by hradventures.com). We had a few moments to chat and I found out his name was Robert…terminally cool cat. Anyways, the nerves weren’t too bad, but I suppose that would be the power of the denial. I did have a small amount of time to peruse the field, and saw all forms of competitors, from young and old, to skinny and well, not so skinny, with again as much variance in their choice of steeds. It doesn’t really surprise me, as it has garnered a good reputation to be a solid endurance platform, that I saw many Fuels, and an overall preponderance of full sussers. It also doesn’t surprise me that I actually saw a couple of single speeds. The mentality that it takes to do an endurance event coincides well with the fringe element of single speeders.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!!
It was to be a short-lived glory as I was lucky enough to quickly navigate to my bike, mount up cyclocross style, and make a hole shot across the dewy field to the opening in the single track. We made our way into the single-track area, and I had secured a third place start. It wouldn't take long to bite me in the ass, but a decision on my part, mistakenly so, to hang with the big dogs for a little while and let them pull me resulted in a pretty quick pace for the better part of the first lap. Thank God that the trail drains well, because even with the exceptional drainage, certain areas of it were down right treacherous. I repeatedly joke with fellow riders that some of the corners should’ve had a giant banners, “this corner sponsored by CREAMY JIFF” because that’s about how much traction was afforded. From the outset it became apparent that several climbs were going to require a hike-a-bike ascent strategy. If one adheres to the get it out of the way and over with paradigm, I managed to crash TWICE on the first freaking lap, and all I could think was, sweet jeebus is the entire race going to be like this. In keeping with previous race experiences, as soon as the inclination became positive vs. negative, I got dropped like a bad habit. Thus my day in the sun was over, and was quickly relegated to mid pack status. By lap two I had settled into a pace and was trying to hydrate as much as I could. It sounds easy to just say that, but the focus is so sharp on just staying upright, and trying to find a good line through the root infested, mud slathered trail, that you forget to take a drink sometimes. You know they say misery loves company, and in keeping with that, by the end of lap two I was accompanied by my first mechanical. Trek had a pit area just past the Start/Finish Line, so I was able to make a quick stop to get some air for a slow leak. It turned out that this would be all but a band-aid of a repair, because about ½ through lap three the leak had worsened into an almost flat. To look for the silver lining, it did give me insight to the traction aspects of low double to single digit air pressures, because on several of the climbs it actually became quite easy, albeit slow, to just sit, spin, and grind them out. It also gave me a whole knew set of brains on cornering/descending aspects of such wonderfully low tire pressures. By ¾’s of the way through that lap, I had to get off and walk some sections because the pressure was just to sketchy. I suppose that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing because I was beginning to descend deep into the hurt locker at this point. I have to give a shout out to Jason because as I broke my bike down to begin the repair effort, he refueled my camel back. I also have to give a shout out to the Trek pit because one of the pros/mechanics helped me get the tire back on. I discovered the joy of trying to get a difficult to begin with tire bead to seat, on a tubeless rim, under the stress of race fatigue. I was able to get a short amount of rest at this point, and also hook up with Chuck who I’d only seen briefly since the beginning of the race. So lap 4 begins, and at I was fatigued enough that I really didn’t know what lap I was on. I was coherent enough to hear an individual with the initials CK mutter something about, “I’m going to shoot your ass for talking me into this”. The trail condition, with a few egregious exceptions, had actually improved remarkably due to the high volume of traffic that had simply burnt in/push out the mud. Minus the time it took me to change my tire, the first 4 lap times were hovering in the 40’s and low 50’s. The last lap was just sheer hell. There is no other way to describe it. I also learned just how bad everything deteriorates under fatigue. Sections that I easily cleared during the first 2-3 laps, by the 5th lap took momentous concentration and effort. During one section of the trail, I fell on an off camber section, and at the same time cramped so bad I couldn’t bend my leg to click out of the pedal, and was ‘turtled’ helpless on the trail, just waiting to get pummeled by someone rounding the corner. I laid there for about 2 minuets and was finally able to unclip to gimp out the rest of the last lap and call it a day at 4:14:??. I will say that it was quite possibly the best beer I’ve ever had in my life standing in the fuel area, watching the other enduros finish out the last hour.
Overall the vibe was great, the trail was awesome, the camaraderie excellent, and of course the ‘scenery’ was spectacular. Having said that, I can’t wait to do Lodi Farm two weeks from now. Congrats to Jason for taking 3rd place in beginner class. Chuck and I took 27/28 out of 48 with 5 laps(about 5 dnfs), and Tim took 5th with 7 laps. One lap was 6.8 miles.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, GO!!
It was to be a short-lived glory as I was lucky enough to quickly navigate to my bike, mount up cyclocross style, and make a hole shot across the dewy field to the opening in the single track. We made our way into the single-track area, and I had secured a third place start. It wouldn't take long to bite me in the ass, but a decision on my part, mistakenly so, to hang with the big dogs for a little while and let them pull me resulted in a pretty quick pace for the better part of the first lap. Thank God that the trail drains well, because even with the exceptional drainage, certain areas of it were down right treacherous. I repeatedly joke with fellow riders that some of the corners should’ve had a giant banners, “this corner sponsored by CREAMY JIFF” because that’s about how much traction was afforded. From the outset it became apparent that several climbs were going to require a hike-a-bike ascent strategy. If one adheres to the get it out of the way and over with paradigm, I managed to crash TWICE on the first freaking lap, and all I could think was, sweet jeebus is the entire race going to be like this. In keeping with previous race experiences, as soon as the inclination became positive vs. negative, I got dropped like a bad habit. Thus my day in the sun was over, and was quickly relegated to mid pack status. By lap two I had settled into a pace and was trying to hydrate as much as I could. It sounds easy to just say that, but the focus is so sharp on just staying upright, and trying to find a good line through the root infested, mud slathered trail, that you forget to take a drink sometimes. You know they say misery loves company, and in keeping with that, by the end of lap two I was accompanied by my first mechanical. Trek had a pit area just past the Start/Finish Line, so I was able to make a quick stop to get some air for a slow leak. It turned out that this would be all but a band-aid of a repair, because about ½ through lap three the leak had worsened into an almost flat. To look for the silver lining, it did give me insight to the traction aspects of low double to single digit air pressures, because on several of the climbs it actually became quite easy, albeit slow, to just sit, spin, and grind them out. It also gave me a whole knew set of brains on cornering/descending aspects of such wonderfully low tire pressures. By ¾’s of the way through that lap, I had to get off and walk some sections because the pressure was just to sketchy. I suppose that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing because I was beginning to descend deep into the hurt locker at this point. I have to give a shout out to Jason because as I broke my bike down to begin the repair effort, he refueled my camel back. I also have to give a shout out to the Trek pit because one of the pros/mechanics helped me get the tire back on. I discovered the joy of trying to get a difficult to begin with tire bead to seat, on a tubeless rim, under the stress of race fatigue. I was able to get a short amount of rest at this point, and also hook up with Chuck who I’d only seen briefly since the beginning of the race. So lap 4 begins, and at I was fatigued enough that I really didn’t know what lap I was on. I was coherent enough to hear an individual with the initials CK mutter something about, “I’m going to shoot your ass for talking me into this”. The trail condition, with a few egregious exceptions, had actually improved remarkably due to the high volume of traffic that had simply burnt in/push out the mud. Minus the time it took me to change my tire, the first 4 lap times were hovering in the 40’s and low 50’s. The last lap was just sheer hell. There is no other way to describe it. I also learned just how bad everything deteriorates under fatigue. Sections that I easily cleared during the first 2-3 laps, by the 5th lap took momentous concentration and effort. During one section of the trail, I fell on an off camber section, and at the same time cramped so bad I couldn’t bend my leg to click out of the pedal, and was ‘turtled’ helpless on the trail, just waiting to get pummeled by someone rounding the corner. I laid there for about 2 minuets and was finally able to unclip to gimp out the rest of the last lap and call it a day at 4:14:??. I will say that it was quite possibly the best beer I’ve ever had in my life standing in the fuel area, watching the other enduros finish out the last hour.
Overall the vibe was great, the trail was awesome, the camaraderie excellent, and of course the ‘scenery’ was spectacular. Having said that, I can’t wait to do Lodi Farm two weeks from now. Congrats to Jason for taking 3rd place in beginner class. Chuck and I took 27/28 out of 48 with 5 laps(about 5 dnfs), and Tim took 5th with 7 laps. One lap was 6.8 miles.
