8.24.2005

08.24.05 - suicide 6 write up

meant to post yesterday, but ah.... it was my rest day and i decided i needed a day off. sorry fans... but here is the write up on the suicide 6.

08.20.05 - suicide 6 write up
6:30am - alarm goes off indicating that i got 6 hours of sleep. wonderful. with the thoughts of hearing years back in a greg lemond interview before his time trial when he won the tour by 7 seconds that the sleep the night before a race is really not as important as the sleep TWO days before a race, we pack up and head out to the local yocal diner for some grub.

8:15am - after downing some OK coffee, a few bites of burnt pancakes, eggs, toast and some bacon, we make our way to the race.

9am - make it to the race and meet my family there (pit crew #2). register and by the time i get back to the car, bikes are unloaded and bottles are already being prepped by my dad. i make the joke that my pit crew needs training too - but i am serious in that the faster/more efficient they are, the easier it will be overall. your pit times will be faster, things will run more smoothly, nothing will be chaotic. try to expect the unexpected and will you get through the situation very quickly. if you don't, you'll loose valuable time.

so we prep bottles, get my magic pills together and give the pit crew some last minute instructions. i even have time to sit down and relax a little.

9:45am - line up at the start line. i notice some of the guys in the NY series is not there, but don't think too much about it. get race instructions from the organizers and wait for the start. 5 minutes before the start, a young girl walks up with a photo from what i believe is the race i did earlier in they year up in canada. i sign my first official autograph and wait for the race start.

10am - race starts. i put the hammer down not knowing how long it would be until i hit the first single track and when it comes, two guys are ahead of me. we bomb down some technical rocky/rooty/tight stuff and fly out onto a switch back that climbs straight up. by the time i reach the top, i catch the leaders. i pass the one guy but the other guy presses on. i find out on lap two that he is on a team.

lap 3-4
just crusing - i am flying and am now in the lead ahead of all teams and solo riders. some of the team guys catch me, but then i catch them back on the next lap. i am in the "no-pain zone" and the gaps between the tight trees seem to be 5 feet wide and the lactic acid rushing through my legs seems more to push me on then to hurt.

lap 5-6
still just cruzing along, though it is getting warmer and i am starting to wonder how the hell the one solo guy is staying within 3-7 minutes of me as my pit crew tells me. not really wanting to know the details of whom the rider is, i push on thinking that my pit crew is telling me the wrong times to keep me going hard. i tell myself, "maybe he is that close" and i keep pushing it.

lap 7
i now get splits that the second place solo is over 10 minutes behind - i grab two red bull flasks and hammer on.

lap 8
another two red bull flasks. confirm with pit crew that the second place solo is now over 13 minutes behind. i play it safe on this lap, taking my time as i do not want to get in before 6 hours. i feel that i am strong enough that if he catches up to me, i'll go out again and trounce him on one of the early climbs - i need to save my legs for whistler and i don't want to go out again. i come in at 5 hours and 56 minutes and wait for the clock to read 6 hours. i cross the line - win the race, win the NY enduro series.

side notes:
thanks to the organizers of the races/series - great job, great courses.

thanks to all those who said hello/talked to me - didn't get a chance to talk to all of you, but i have a hard time talking sometimes when i am going hard and when i am in the "zone" i don't like talking for some reason. thanks for the support.

hmmm....

that's it - got some studying to do!

sologoat out.

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