The alarm clock woke me from a coma at 5:20 in the AM. I crept downstairs and quietly fixed up some scrambled eggs, turkey, toast, and coffee trying not to wake up the grommets. Loaded up the bike and fellow racer and friend Adam was outside waiting for his ride. We headed over to Brian Staby’s house to pick him up and then head to Boggs. It was chilly cold out but not raining. The first glitch to my plans came when we were forced to wait for Adam’s friend whom we'll call Larry The Late Guy. Larry wanted to caravan with us to the venue. Needless to say, I was frustrated with the delayed arrival time. We arrived after 7 and the time seemed to tick away at a rapid rate as I scrambled to get registered, find a solo pit location, and meet up with the film crew for the documentary. My pre-race rituals were totally thrown out and I barely made it to the starting line.
Carlos (the event promoter) declared a “neutral” roll out start up the fire road. The first selection was made as the relay team racers set a solid pace up the climb. I found myself getting unhitched as a result of the single-speed. No worries, I was racing those guys anyway. I just wanted to get out to the single track in the front group to keep out of traffic. I was successful and hit the single track in perfect position. In what seemed like only a few minutes I was already at the fire road hill climb at the finish of the lap. I rolled past the eventual Pro Winner Kevin Smallman and we exchanged pleasantries. For a second I thought this should not be happening but I felt solid and kept turning it over.
As I rolled through the start/finish of lap one I knew that I was the first solo in the entire field to go through and I felt untouchable. So where did everything go wrong? Well, sometime during my first lap I started to not feel my fingers in both hands. I didn’t realize the negative implications of this issue until I made an attempt to get some necessary calories to keep fueled. I could barely reach into my back jersey pocket and literally could not grab the food. This was a problem. I knew that I HAD to eat to stay in this race. I had the lead and felt awesome but if I wasn’t able to replenish the calories the infamous BONK was going to get me. I knew this yet I continued to hammer away. It also wasn’t helpful that I wasn’t drinking either. I usually tape GU packets to my top tube but because of being rushed during the pre-race prep I forgot to do it.
I think it was on lap 6 that my fuel tank’s idiot light (no pun intended) began to flash brightly. I had just lost the wheel of the eventual Pro SS Winner Matthias Behrends and I then got passed by Yuri and Sully (Sean Sullivan). It all happened so fast that I was left in their wake thinking, “Wait, what just happened?” I needed to get food on board. I pulled over and after fumbling for what seemed like ten minutes trying to get my stump like hands to work, I finally got some calories. I dejectedly rolled on and lost the mental fight to continue on. I didn’t know if they were only 3 minutes up or 20. Before finishing the lap I stopped off at fellow racer Keith Flood’s pit and discussed my issues with his pit guy Kurt Pickle. He gave me some food and encouraged me to stray in it. I reluctantly went out on my 7th lap. By this time, my mind was my enemy. My body and legs actually felt great (the calories had been successfully converted to fuel) but I just lost the mental fight. I put in a respectable 1 hour lap and then rolled into Keith’s pit once again. This time I told them that I was done. I powered a bunch of their food and became a spectator.
Kurt came over and wanted me to go out on one more lap with Keith when he got back. Keith was in 2nd or 3rd place in the Solo Sport Division but only had it by a few minutes. He needed to do one more lap and fast. Kurt wanted me to stay with him and encourage him along. I agreed and then waited for his arrival. I think I waited about 35 minutes before he rolled through. His last two laps were around 1hr 10 minutes. We rolled out together and I actually felt amazing. I wanted to just hammer away and look for other SSers to put the hurt on. However, I didn’t. I stayed with Keith the entire lap yelling at him to “Turn yourself inside out” and “Come on, this is your last lap, make it count.” We passed a number of geared and SS riders and rolled through the finish in just over 1 hour. Keith was able to not only stand on the podium for the first time in a long time, but he was successful in getting 1st place by a mere 6 minutes.
I finished the race with my head held high. I didn’t land a coveted spot on the podium but I was able to help my friend accomplish a long time goal. I learned a lot from this race and I am confident that it will make me better on the next one. I think that if I had had a designated Pit person giving me food and split times, the race would have had a different outcome.
Anyway, I am hungry for the next endurance test……the Coolest 24hr Race Against Cancer on May 1st-2nd. Stay tuned…….
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It's great to read about what happened to other out there that day. It was for sure cold and difficult conditions. Thanks Mike for the encouragement on that last lap!
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