TL;DR
This race was soul crushingly awesome. Thanks Ryan for bringing us an amazing new endurance event. I'll be back next year for more pain and suffering and smiles. Let's hope for dry rocks and less humidity next year though.
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First off, huge thanks to
@xc62701 for getting this race off the ground. I can't imagine the logistics of pulling off something like this with the manpower available. Thanks
@Dave Taylor,
@terrabike01,
@Sven Migot,
@afurlong,
@thegock, and everyone on Team Hb that isn't on here or whose screen name I don't know, and anyone else that was involved behind the scenes or that I forgot. Also thanks to
@jimvreeland for going way above and beyond for me to get my fat bike functional so quickly after I destroyed my rear hub two days before he was leaving for Paris.
I don't like racing, but I like slowly riding my bike all day. As soon as Ryan announced this race, I was in. I did Wilderness 101 last month which was almost 13 hours for me, so I figured this would be a cakewalk. LOL. I get to the scout camp around 8am, register, and just hang around the parking lot. No point warming up for a race like this for me. I eat brownies and cookies (thanks
@sarcaro), and I eat banana bread muffins (thanks
@Mare45), and then I roll down to the start line.
The race starts and I just slow pedal up the road. We get in the woods and I immediately realize that the rocks are covered in ice. I had a slippery rock throw me off the trail, but I stayed upright and it was no big deal. Not long after that, I went down a little rock step down or something, and it almost sent me over the bars face first into a giant rock. I really lucked out and decided to walk a bunch of rocky stuff that I would normally ride from then on, and just aim to not get hurt. 25 milers start passing me, and at some point
@Santa passed me and then immediately crashed in a slippery rock garden. Thanks for pointing out the slippery rock garden, Dominic! I walked it.
I made a mental note that Lumpy Bumpy was 10 miles into the course. I played it safe and walked a bunch of it. By the time I reached the aid station,
@sarcaro was there, and I told her I was hurting and didn't think I would make the next time cutoffs. I was pretty sure I was only gonna do one lap at that point. It was only 15 miles and I was already hurting, and I knew I still had the purple climb up from Tranquility. I slammed some of DT's PB&J's while he filled my bottle, and then I got rolling, because what else are you gonna do at that point. By the time I got over to orange, I was fighting off some little twinges of cramps in my legs. This was a good indicator that I didn't drink nearly enough, as I don't ever cramp when riding. I hit purple pretty hard, hoping to make the time cut off for the first lap. I figured that if I made the time cut off, I would at least try and make it another 15 miles to the aid station. I got to the pit at like 4:07 or something, so I figured I had to keep going.
I didn't have anything setup for myself in the pit because I figured there was an aid station there, but I didn't see any sports drinks. I knew I would be fighting off cramps the whole second lap, so I filled my bottle with water and
@taylor185 saved the day by hooking me up with a GU tab. I'm not sure if I would have made it to the aid station without this, as I needed the electrolytes to keep from cramping. I also slammed more PB&J, heckled
@seanrunnette a little, and then took off. It had taken me 2:35ish to reach the aid station on lap 1, so I knew I couldn't go much slower on lap 2 to not get cutoff. The rocks were dry now, but my hands and upper body hurt from all the rocky trails, and I was definitely going slower.
I knew that lap 2 was at least a little different based on how we started the lap, and I was hopeful that it might be a little shorter, so I could make it to the aid station in time. I was super happy when I got to Lumpy Bumpy after only 6-7 miles and realized I might make it. I managed to ride most of Lumpy since it was dry, and then I cruised over toward Ice Cream. Everyone loves this descent, but it sucks on a hardtail, especially when your hands and arms hurt. I went super slow and maybe even stopped once. I made it to the aid station in like 6:45 or so, ate some PB&J, chugged a bottle of Skratch, and then Frank refilled it and I was on my way.
This is the best part of a race like this for me. I know that I'm slow and will have issues making the time cutoffs, but once you make that last time cutoff and know you are gonna finish, it feels great. I mean, I probably still would have finished anyway at that point, but it's more rewarding to finish in the allotted time. That last ten miles still hurt a lot, but I knew I was almost done and would actually finish on time, so I didn't really care. I even managed to ride the entire purple climb except for the one loose and crappy section near the top. I was in my granny gear the entire time, which I would never do normally, but it was all I could manage. I eventually make it back and come out to the road and see my car and am super happy to be done. Then I realize I have to ride up the road to scoring, and I make a mental note to punch Ryan in the face. But when I got back down to the parking lot, Ryan was smiling and was happy for me, so I decided not to punch him in the face. Then I ate pizza and he gave me a beverage and all was forgiven.
In the end, I finished in 8:40. I was hoping for 8, but figuring 9 or 10, so I'm pretty happy with that. I managed to not crash, and while I had the beginnings of cramps off and on the whole second lap, I never really cramped. This race was awesome even though it was soul crushing at times. This was one of the most painful and rewarding bicycle experiences I've ever had. Lucky used to bust my balls about my ridiculous bicycle and its giant tires, and I could hear him in my head laughing at me all day yesterday. You can definitely count me in for next year.
I'm super stoked for Cranks Around the Campfire next weekend, but I might only do rides at Stephens and Deer Park.
@sarcaro sent me this pic of me. I assume it's from the beginning of the race, because I look dry and not in pain.
Edited to add more pics from
@sarcaro. Me reaching the aid station already in pain, only 15 miles in.
Looking forward to next year and I think this pic sums it all up what this is all about. Riding bikes, fun, friends, cool metals, HB swag,
