We checked out the course on Saturday. There were a few punchy climbs near the beginning followed by one longer section with a short hike a bike to the top. The descent was a little rocky off the top and was really fun, fast and flowed well after that. It would be a challenging course for 6 hours.
When we arrived for race day the sky was overcast and it started to rain lightly. I was hoping it would clear up or things would get interesting. It was a relatively fast start but I tried not to get carried away and just settle into my pace. My lap times seemed to be fairly consistent for laps 1-4. I caught up to Steve on lap 4 and when I asked him how he was doing he said it may be "Four in the Stix"! Unfortunately he was having some cramping issues.
The weather was really random with showers, sun and wind. On lap 5 the rain started to come down hard. The rocks were pretty slick when I started the descent. I decided to dial the pace back. I didn't think it was worth having a crash and hurting myself. I actually thought about pulling the pin if the rain continued. Luckily the rain stopped as I headed out for lap 6 and it actually warmed up a little. I was looking at the time and knew I would only get one more lap after this one. I wanted to ride strong but smart. I passed one girl who was stopped in the bushes and thought there was still one ahead of me. I just kept grinding away.
Hit the timing tent one last time and grabbed a bottle of Infinit. The last lap was tough but I knew this was it. When I came into the timing tent the announcer said you still have time for another lap. I asked how much time I had and he said 40 minutes. I knew I would not make it as I had not turned a 40 minute lap all day. So I finished with 7 laps, 83km, 8300 ft gain, winning my category.
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| The solo champions! |
It was a good race and well organized. A lot of strong competitors showed up, especially in the single speed category!
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| Shaun & I. Nice work on 3rd place for SS. |