finally - a win at the 6 hours of power. been wanting this one for a few years.
got to the venue at ellicottville on friday and ran into the race organizer and a local rider pat (sorry, don't know your last name) whom was marking the course over some new sections they had just cut in. the new sections were somewhat fresh and a little soft, with lots of rocks and roots. instead of bombing straight down hill after the last climb on the course, the sections meandered back and forth their way do the bottom.
got out of the woods at dark. ate and then slept.
saturday, awoke at 10am to rain. waited it out and then rode the course two times for a total riding time of two hours. the course was fast.
sunday, race day.
started at 10am with the typical running start. ligned up on the starting line with my eye on a few of the fellow racers, most noteably skip brown of seven cycles. gun goes off and my plan to go out hard was in full effect. got to the top of the first climb with the leaders and with some other solo guys in tow. towards the end of the first lap, it was apparant that i had two companions with me, along with three other solo riders. we finish lap one.
lap two:
i continue putting the hammer down and the only solo riders with me are two other riders as i had dropped everybody else. we stay together the entire lap, going as hard as we can.
lap three:
going up the climb, i start feeling the heat and the effects of going out hard. i drop back to take a look at the other riders. they look like they are suffering, but overall are looking OK. it's about this time they both throw down. i chase them, and catch them. i look at my heart rate monitor - it reads 192. i think that this is waaaaaaaaaaaay too high for only an hour and half in the race and back off to the 180'ish heart rate area. they slowly ride away and out of site. i think they are going too hard.
lap four:
i am feeling it. i am not feeling good, but push on wondering if i went out too hot. i try not to think about it and continue to ride. one of the lead solo guys has a technical near the end of the lap. i pass him and he never catches back up to me.
lap five:
with only one solo rider ahead of me by two minutes, i get a report from my pit crew that he is not looking good and keeps turning around to see if i am coming. i am - and i catch him about half way through the lap.
lap six:
trying to stay consistant, i keep riding hard. the red bull is keeping me going and reports that skip is chasing me has me doing faster lap times.
lap seven:
now taking in two flasks of red bull per lap, i am buzzing with energy. i rip off another fast lap and skip is nowhere in sight. at the end of the lap, i find out that i have an eight minute gap on him and the time clock reads total elapsed time at 5:53. time for another lap.
lap eight:
i am still going on hard, not wanting skip to catch me and i did not find out until after i crossed the line that he missed the 6 hour cut off by one minute. none-the-less, i continued on with the lap going hard on the climbs and flats, and riding fast and safe on the techinical. finished up around the 6:47 time mark, first solo. (and had i entered as a duo team, i would of placed top 5)
afterwards, felt good to the monkey off my back of not winning the race in previous years. it may not be a major event, but i have been wanting to win this race ever since i started doing racing this event about 6 years back.
paid out well for me, was a good course with great weather. bikes worked good and food was right on. perfect.
now, off to do some work. have some pics to post later in the week.
gotta run.
sologoat out.
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