7.22 - friday
got a late start out of town due to me sleeping in as i was somewhat beat down from the day before coupled with the fact that my maid (myself) did not do any packing in the days leading up departure. gets super hard to get anything done during my long hour week of training other than the basic ride/work/eat/sleep combo as free time is something i don't have. so, i get to my parents place to meet up with dan the man around 1'ish.
the drive took forever and then some as the race was taking place in athens PA - which is about 10 miles south of elmira new york (exit 60 on route 86). lets just say it was an easy 2.5 hours past ellicottville where the 6 hours of power was.
get there and start riding the course which i believe was roughly 7-8 miles long. started with a lot of double track 4 wheeler trails that went gradually uphill, along with some smaller sections of single track thrown in. these sections had loose flat rocks all over and were dusty and rooty - all thanks to the 4 wheelers. nothing was majorly bad, but one had to constantly switch lines back and forth on the trail to avoid the deep ruts/roots/rocks.
and then you went down.
this was interesting - a super bermed switch backs backed down hill complete with super dug out ruts, lots o' dust, and rocks a plenty. this went on for awhile and was compelted by a super steep and short uphill section that went to a flattened out area.
this then transitioned into some cool little singletrack that was tight and turny that eventually led to a place where i could get feeds and time splits from dan the man as it came out of the woods near the start/finish line.
then back into more single track that was twisty/turny with lots of rocks and switch backs. nothing ever was straight - you were either dodging trees or going up short steep little climbs.
this eventually came out to a little down hill that led up to the longest climb of the day (maybe a 3-4 minute climb max) that led up to the start/finish.
pre-race lap time was right around an hour. race lap times would be TWENTY minutes faster.
7.23 - saturday/race day
get up at 6am to grab a bite to eat at some place like a denny's, then off for the 30 minute drive to the race. a "visitpa.com" guy was there whom was part of the duo team that took second at big bear - that was the only guy i knew of that would be of concern.
lemans start/lap 1:
we run through the woods and out into a field for the quarter mile run to our bikes. i am about the 10th guy in but due to my cross skills, i quickly grab my bike, run and leap in full cyclocross style into 3rd place. (it pays to have mad skillz, yo.
the start goes up a gravel road up a short little climb that immediately weeds everybody out. the visitpa guy is about 100 feet in front of me, a local is right behind him and i am sitting in third. at this point, my heart rate is flying around 187 and i am not feeling good - which may have to do with the fact that i had over 20 hours in my legs this week and that i took heavy narcotics the night before to ease the pain i had in my back from muscle spasms last week. so i decide at that point to race my own race, settle into my zone, and then pick them off at the 6 hour point.
lap 2:
going up the first gradual climb of the loop, i catch second - and he already has the tell tale signs of going out too hard - rolling shoulders, all over the trail, head down... i fly right by him. i get a time split at the end of the lap on first and find out he is about 2:30 minutes ahead of me.
lap 3:
I still haven't caught the visitpa guy and i am getting somewhat concerned. i am not feeling in my groove and by laps end, it still seems like i cannot find the right lines as i have crashed pretty good twice. at the end of the lap, i find out he has 3 minutes on me. grrr.....
lap 4:
i continue pushing on as hard as i can, finally feeling like i am finding the lines on the course. i am now in the zone at this point, where it feels like i can go as hard as i want and feel no lactic acid, where i almost get so concentrated on my objective that all i see is the trail in front of me - it feels euphoric. about half way through the lap, i catch the visitpa guy whom looks like he had a flat. i don't wait aroud to see what is going on, and push on. on the downhill before the final climb i hit a rock and my rear wheel starts having a very slow flat. so i lock out the front fork, unweight the rear wheel and power up the last climb with just enough air to get me safely to the top.
lap 5:
get a fresh bike while dan repairs the flat. by laps end, i find out he is 5 minutes back.
lap 6:
i now find out he is on a single speed bike, apparantly a victim of bad luck (later find out he lost the pin holding his rear brake pads in and had to ride a backup single speed bike for one lap). knowing that there was no possible way he could ride some sections with that bike, i go out as hard as i can. by laps end, he is now over 10 minutes back.
lap 7:
visitpa guy now back on a geared bike, but the damage is done. he tries to catch me, but i only put another 3 minutes into him uping my time gap to 13 minutes -- despite having a flat somewhere around lap 6.
now to hours: 6 hour point
i have now lapped the entire solo field and start to ride conservatively for i have to a little somethin' somethin' for the wilderness 101 this coming weekend.
7 hours 50 minutes:
the race organizer informs me that it is impossible for 2nd place to win and that i have won based on time and he will declare me the winner if i want to stop riding - but if i want to another lap, i can. thinking about this for about roughly one billionth of a second i tell him i'll stop. race over.
after:
speedgoat.com is awarded two prizes:
1rst place solo - sologoat/ernesto marenchin
1rst place best mechanic - dan the man
7:30pm'ish
start driving to ellicottville.
9:55pm'ish:
at a bar in ellicottville drinking a cold pint and ordering up a juicy burger. yummy.
sunday:
9am ride on the 6 hours of power course with dan. 2 laps at around a total time of 2.25 hours.
and by 5:30pm, up to see jennifer and her family. huge meal topped off with her famous triple choclate cake that i actually had visions of during my race the previous day. mmmmm.... choclate...
once again, dan the man came through with the support from speedgoat.com and asylum bikes. it is no doubt that i would never have had the chance to race at this level, with this type of support and with the quality of components to race with if it wasn't for them.
thanks speedgoat!
sologoat out.
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