09.01.06
Friday evening, headed out to the race venue with my parents in a SUV over packed with supplies for the weekend. Hurricane Ernesto fears were dancing in my head as the further east we got, the colder and wetter it became.
09.02.06
Awoke to cold and rain in Pennsylvania. Soon headed south and the weather cleared and temperatures were rising and drying out the ground.
Pre-rode the first 10 miles of the course which got me to the top of the first climb. In the first miles, it was real gradual and started out on the road. Then, it got a little steeper as it turned to unpaved jeep trails and towards the top you took a left hand turn and it got to be loose rocky stone that was decently steep at the very end. I could tell from the lack of good lines and how loose the stones was in the last mile of that climb that it would be the first real place the group would start to split up.
After some discussions about the course with other riders, I got back from the ride and switched out tires for some brand new treads and pumped the air pressure up to 55 pounds – hoping that my wheels would be flying on the tons of jeep trails that this course is known for.
09.03.06
4am wake up time was in order to get some grub and get to the venue. The local Waffle House is open 24 hours, so getting breakfast would be no problem. Get to the Waffle House, eat breakfast all the time being entertained by some drunken lady who was yelling at the top of her lungs across the diner to another patron. The story was something about a person she knew had her husband die when he was 34 because he was working 80 hour weeks to get a house. How did I know she was drunk? She must have repeated the same story 4 times in a matter of 15 minutes to the same person.
Got to the venue and got ready just in time for the 6:45’ish start. The pack was 400 riders and is was stacked with a lot of good riders – Chris Eatough, Jeremiah Bishop, Nick Waite, Harlan Price – just to name a few. It was going to be a fast race and word was out that Jerimah was there to break the course record.
Gun went off and there was a mad dash to the front for the next half mile. Things didn’t really didn’t thin out until the left hand turn on the first climb where it started getting steeper. Temperatures were cool at the start, but things were starting to heat up.
Soon after the top of the climb was the first section of single track. This section was rocky and rough – and was the first of many to come. By the time this section was through, the pack was split and little groups of riders were formed.
My group contained Garth Prosser, Justin Pokrivka, Dave Duvall and one other rider. We would split and regroup several times over the next 20 miles, until the second check point.
At check point two, I grabbed a quick bottle of Heed and started my way up the next climb. I dropped the group I was with and for the next 70 miles, I would only ride with two other racers – I was basically alone for the next 5 hours.
I was climbing well, but being cautious on the rocky descents. Most of the climbs were long and gradual and I was able to make up time and keep a high pace for long periods of time.
Shortly after the fourth check point started a gradual 20 mile climb – check point 5 was about 15 miles into the climb and then the last 4-5 miles continued upwards. On that climb, I met up and climbed with Visit PA rider Ray Adams who would finish 9th on the day. We rode together for awhile, but he was having chain suck/shifting issues and about 10 miles into the climb I ended up dropping him.
From check point 5, there was roughly only twenty miles left. A few more miles of the climb I was on, a long descent, another climb, and then about 4-5 mile mainly flat section. I just had to roll it in and keep upright to hold my 8th place.
The next 5 miles of climb seem to last an eternity – the altitude was around 4000 feet and because of the cloud coverage, it did not dry out completely. The trails were soft, rocky and in some sections steep and overgrown with weeds. This was probably the only section I really didn’t feel too good on the entire day and I was glad when the trail started heading down instead of up.
Right before the last check station, I recreated a scene from Superman during a stream crossing when my bike when right and I went left. Luckily, I somehow did not go down, but my bike was now dirt free as it lay in the stream I was trying to cross at 20 miles an hour.
I dropped off my hydration pack at station 6, got a fresh bottle of Heed and rolled up and over the last climb of the day – the last few miles were pretty scenic as you got a good view of the area on your way back to the start/finish.
At the end, I finished 8th place – roughly 60 minutes down on the flying Jerimah and 50 minutes down on Chris Eatough. Tough day in the saddle and it was a pretty good result considering the competition and that the course was new to me.
Hats off to race promoter Chris Scott – the course was marked out really well, trails were awesome and the venue/free beer/atmosphere were second to none. Definitely a race to include on the schedule for next year.
Sologoat out.
