Well it started out at 60 degrees with 100 foot visibility do to the over night rain, which made for some real interesting greasy singletrack. Notice I said singletrack because the course was 90% singletrack and 10 percent duo track, which made for real slow going, especially with the 800 plus feet of climbing and descending per lap. Tymor would be the closest course I can say it reminded me of, with strong climbs and awesome single track. Well, correction, being out on a course for 11:13 minutes, nothing is awesome.
I raced in the 30-9 SOLO geared division which was kind of cool, being that all 11 of us were sport riders, so we did not have to race the super powers of the experts, like in the other solo age divisions including SS. There were lots of riders from our area and h2h series, that made the 160 mile trip up to Pennsiltucky (Pennsylvania), which made me feel at home. That's till the gun went off and these guys took off like it was a 15 mile sprint, I was like wow these guys must be team riders. No, I was wrong they were solo guys and 47 minutes later when I crossed for the start of lap 2 in dead last place in my division and 20th overall, I realized it was going to be a long lonely day of suffering. All the early bird sprinters started to die out around lap three and started pitting, right about when the 85 degree temps with blazing sun appeared. So I just kept it consistent, navigated the course, bombed the downhills and creeped up the climbs, and stayed out till lap 5 before I made a pit. Just before my pit I heard the announcer say that I had the lead in the division and made my way up to 9th overall. That really excited me, and when I pitted I prepped the bike which was nasty with petrified early morning mud, refueled and ditched the stupid camel back. Twelve minutes later I was back on the bike. At this point the east side of the mountain was dry and fast, funny how it still had those nasty climbs though, which at the end of the day, I death marched! By the end of lap 6 I had built up a 36 minute lead on the group behind me, consisting of three riders chasing . I was averaging about 51 min laps, and know the mental games started, why I was here, this bike sucks, life sucks, I should be home with the kids, I should pull money out of the spiraling market, my ass is sore , my balls ache, will I ever be able to get a stiffy again??? all that stupid mind crap. Then I remembered I was in the lead, wow this is pretty cool, that was till the rains came at like 230, then back to the mental crap again. Its like a private Mental soap opera out there, up, down, up ,down etc. Just as the sun came out again and the temp went back up to about 75 I pitted on lap 8, ditto of the first in and out in 17 minutes. The course was getting fast again till the monsoon came with wind, 60 degree temps and lots of scary lightning. The trail know became very tough with slippery roots, rocks and peanut butter mud which quickly became little streams. There was one climb that you went straight up a power line for about a 1/4 of a mile and a gain of about 160 foot vertical, and it was in the wide open and besides the waterfall coming down the lightning scared me like a little boy. I climbed that pretty quick to get out of the open and back into the thick canopy that the rest of the course was under. There were riders and spectators slip, sliding ,falling and study Geography all over the place. I pitted for my last time on lap 10, put my 60 lb. Titus in the stand, blasted it with the hose back down to 25 lbs, rested up all for a total 20 minutes and went out into the absolute torrential down pour for 2 more laps. I caught second place and just rode his wheel thinking that he was a whole lap down, to my surprise he was almost 2 down. So as George says I do so well, I just half wheeled him. At hour 10:20 I started out on the final farewell lap. The monsoon stopped and the course was like a war zone, but juiced and confident with victory, I managed not to fall , and actually rode a good lap. I came through at 11:13hr mark and I could of gone out for another, but the promoter said there was no reason, that second place was on lap 10 and he only had 17 more minutes till cut off. So trusting their judgement on the bad conditions, and not wanting to abuse the bike or cause any bodily harm I called it a day. Second place came through with 11 laps in 12 hours 6 minutes I believe, so he was about 2 hours back.
I ended up, I was told 4th overall with the winner doing 15 laps in 12hrs ,second doing 12 in 10:45 hrs, third 12 in 11:06, and myself with 12 in 11:13. The post race meal was awesome, sausage and peppers, chicken penne, ziti, pirogue cheese pie, hot dogs, hamburgers, beer, soda, vitamin drink, and a awesome band. I think I ate two helpings of everything. That day I used (3) 24oz 1300 calorie perpetum cocktails and 128oz of heed, 3 pb&j's, a good breakfast, and huge post race meal and I went from 194lbs-186lbs....crazy! I got a bottle of wine, really sweet floor pump, and a 35 pound polished engraved granite trophy, for my suffering..... very cool. Oh yea and our sponsor at the shop says if we win we get our entry fee back......is that so Bobby?????
Its funny, that in the gallop the week before under perfect conditions on a hard tail single speed I had all sorts of problems. If I did not have Steve Prushki and all his tools I would have never had completed the 15 mile race. But this race in horrible conditions with gears and all the suspension pivots, I had a great race, and besides alittle chain suck, no mechanicals/ flats for 12 hours......again crazy. In all it was a great race, nice course, great food and cool awards. So will I go back .........????
see you on the trail
CWEBB
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