Leaving for the Cohutta 100 in TN in 4 days...

I keep checking and double checking for one thing thats not on your list, your bike. Dont forget that!:D

Good luck, have fun, and like Shaggz said we're all counting on you.
 
Yea I'm still waiting on that too. It's in the shop awaiting a tuneup. If it's not ready....the SS is ready...
 
Ryan sent me a text yesterday. He finished around 9:45. Pretty impressive, he was rather stoked . He also mentioned "no knee pain". I'm assuming he's still napping in a tent someplace. :D
 
First of all, amazing venue, great area! Come ride Cherokee Nat'l Forest/Cohutta Wilderness. It was the site of the 1996 Whitewater rafting area for the Olympics.

The race morning started off pretty interestingly. At 3-4 am it started pouring - hard. So I was up in the tent already working my clothing strategy and thanking myself for going with the Blue Grooves. Anyway the rain backed off and I really layered up which was key. I was comfy the whole day. The main concern was the knee.

I took it pretty easy the first 20 miles or so into the fun singletrack and the knee felt good. We got to the fireroads and the climbs and it still felt good. I got to mile 70 and I started to stand and sit laying down the power seeing what the knee could take and it didn't give me any pain at all. So I used what I had left to kill the remaining 30 miles. The climbs weren't steep but they were long and the downs in between weren't enough to recover completely so your legs get tired quickly.

After about 11 am the sun came out and it started to warm up so peeling layers and stuffing them away became key. I stayed hydrated and full of calories thanks to 6 aid stations(2 I skipped). The day was pretty uneventful in a good way. I knew Floyd, Eatough, and Shalk were hammering at the front and I'd never see them so I just stayed at a good pace and kept it going.

I kept doing the math in my head and at about mile 70 or so it became clear that I could break the 10 hr mark. I wanted it so bad. But I had to make sure I was on my game to do it. I passed by the last aid station with plenty of time, and they said it was 12 miles so I started hammering away. Flying through the singletrack to hopefully beat that 10 hr time point. I got to the final section of pavement and put it in the big gear and stood and killed it for the last mile. I finished strong and happily.

My finish time was 9:46:16. I finished 64th of 130 and 99 of 205 overall. I was very happy with this being my 2nd 100 miler. I'm currently relaxing and doing my recovery on the beach in Myrtle Beach SC.
 
Nice report and result, Ryan. You make it sound fun, which is key. Good stuff.
 
Thanks guys! It really was a fun event. Much less painful than the first one, probably because I knew what to expect. I just concentrated on getting enough food, water and chatting it up with people to kill the time. I think I was chatting with people from OH, PA, TN, NC, NY and all over. The singletrack there was killer. I just didn't want the road to keep going up. Those climbs aren't that bad but when you link one after another you just want them to stop. The 45 mph decents with water bars were fun though. Getting 5 feet off the ground and hauling on the decents was fun!!!

I went over to Alabama two days after and rode Monte Sano SP. That's a cool park...if you haven't ridden 100 miles a few days before :drooling:
 
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