The alarm went off at 5:30 am this morning. I don't do mornings well, never have, probably never will. My body simply does not function until the sun comes up. The coffee maker cranked up next and I started mixing my bottles and getting everything ready. In the truck and loaded by 6:40am, the family still sleeping, I hit the road. I tried to drink my meal replacement shake but could not. I sipped on water, and drove. My eyes blurred and I had to concentrate on staying awake.
I did not feel good. I had not slept well, my back hurt. I had a nightmare that I was doing a building project, the one I finished back in April. Only this time I did not get a building permit. The City Inspector happened to come by and see the project and proceeded to bust me. I had other dreams but can't remember them.
Needless to say, I was not set up for a good start.
I got to the start/finish line, changed and saddled up. The atmosphere was very laid back as I got in the back of the group. The race would not start until we hit the dirt road 2 miles after riding on Hwy 276. Once we hit that, everybody left me. Hmmmm.
The route today took us past the horse stable and up Clawhammer Rd. This is a nice long meandering climb that brought us to Buckhorn Gap. I'm not sure what all the trail names are, but at some point we ended up on Squirrel Gap Trail. This is old singletrack, cut into the sides of steep mountains. At some points we were riding on a 4 inch wide ribbon of single track with a long tumble as a consequence to a poorly calculated move.
I was in pain. All the little jolts jarred my back and I questioned continuing often. I knew that I would finish the day, but did not know if I would come back for stage 2.
After a shin deep river crossing, we hit a gravel road climb for 3.5 miles. We will take this same climb again tomorrow. The last time I was on this road was with The Goat, the sun was setting, we had 6 miles to go before we got back to the cars, and the temps were right around the freezing mark. We had gone through rain, snow, and sleet. It was a good day.
Today though, up to this point the skies had been clear and blue. As I neared Yellow Gap, the cloud cover thickened and threatened rain. At the rest stop on Yellow Gap, Rodney and friends encouraged me to eat and drink on the ride down FSR 1206. I heeded the advice.
As the day dragged on, I continued to spin. We took a really pretty trail by the creek, and if I were not so tired, I would look the name up for you.... I ended up back at rest stop 1, which also now served as rest stop 3, I didn't even stop. I had enough food and fluids, and knowing that there was a wicked hike a bike for the next mile or so, I went for it. Slow and steady.
I had trouble carrying the bike on the steeper parts. I usually sling it up on my back, but the pain was too much so I ended up pushing is a lot. I was so glad to finally get up and over black mtn. From here it was mostly down, steep techy down. From the last switchback, grassy field at the finish caught my eye. The sun had come back out, and I was almost there. I crossed the line in 5 hrs 42 mins. Slower than I thought I could do, but considering my condition, I am happy to have been out there and even happier to have finished.
Right now my back is feeling better than is did this morning. I'm looking forward to starting Stage 2 tomorrow and seeing how things go. The stage holds 42 miles. 5 more than today...
Have a great day!!
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