The next stop was the gas station where I bought a coke and two bags of ice. The coke was for after the race and the ice...well, you know. The temps were supposed to be close to 80degrees!
I got on the interstate and noticed some fires burning on the mountainside. The firetrucks were already there. It looked like a small sized fire. Pretty eerie actually. As I drove through the pre-dawn darkness, I had a lot of thoughts, some of which I didn't really mean, ie I hate mountain biking..... I was pretty relaxed, and excited about riding my bike with 299 of my best friends.
I managed to get lost somewhere between Morganton and Lenoir, and after stopping for directions and getting pointed in the wrong direction, I got back on route and was running about 20 minutes behind schedule. I was really surprised and glad when the phone rang, and Nolan informed me that he had a spot in the pits that he was holding for me. That was HUGE, as by the time I got there, the place was packed out.
And then it was go time. I went to the back of the field and we discussed how many people were in front of us. About 290 riders. When they said go, it took several minutes for us to start moving, so true to my sarcastic nature, I started yelling, at the top of my lungs" GOOOOOOO!" It only made people laugh.
Nolan getting ready.
The first lap, I did everything I could to hold back. It was going to get hot, and I didn't want to overheat. I managed to keep the pace steady, it was still a little faster than I wanted to go.
The trail is one where you almost constantly pedal. There are a couple of short downhills, but I was mostly pedaling. There are a couple of short climbs and lots of swoopy, tight singletrack. It is a fun course, but you better come ready.
I finished lap 1 feeling good. I switched my bottle, refilled my Camelbak and hit the trail again. There was a lot less traffic now and I was able to keep a steady pace. I passed and got passed, and it had no affect on me. That was nice for a change. I was hoping to get 5 laps in, but halfway through the second lap, I realized that 4 laps was a more realistic goal. So, as easy as pie, I changed my goal.
I came into the pits after lap 2 and realized that it was starting to heat up. I knew that I had at least two more laps in my legs, but also knew that it was a race against the heat, my biggest competition. I continued my steady pace as I had plenty of time to complete 2 more laps. I was feeling good and not worried about overheating, just monitoring. Halfway through lap 3 though, something told me that I could be in trouble. I'm not sure if it was psychological, but something snapped in my head.
Last year, I bailed halfway through lap 4. As I thought back and assessed my current condition, I thought that I would be able to make it.
Rolling in from lap 3, I could tell that the heat was having an affect on me. I was taking in enough calories and knew that I was taking in enough fluids. I would later realize that I might have been taking in too many calories, and possibly not enough electrolytes.....
One quarter of the way through lap 4 I stopped to pee. I had only gone once in the race about a lap and a half before. As it turns out, I would stop 3 times in lap 4. Hmmm, this had me concerned. As I got rolling again, I was all alone and thought it would be nice to have some company. God must have heard my plea, because a group of 3 rolled up, and I ended up riding with an Inland Construction rider for about 7 miles. We didn't talk much, but just enough to keep my mind off of the pain. ( Thanks, whoever you were).
I got to the midway point of lap 4, where I bailed last year, and felt decent. Not great but not terrible. A couple of miles later, I knew that there was a chance I would have to bail again. Nooooo!! I was hot, and not feeling decent anymore. I had brought an extra bottle of water, so I started dumping a little bit on my head to stay cool. I managed to stay cool for a while but when that ran low, I blew into my Camelbak to pressurize the bladder so I could cool myself down. It worked. I walked up the last couple of hills and was able to roll through the downhills at the end of the lap. I even picked up the pace a little and passed someone about 200 yrds from the finish.
Getting back to the pits, I sat down and gently dumped water on my body to cool down.
Before
After
I ended up 59th in the male solo cat. More importantly I got one more lap than I did last year. Improvement for sure. What went wrong? I'm not sure. But, searching on the internet, I found that pigs eat less food when the temps get hot, in order to stay cool. Hmmm, something to think about.
Have a great day!!
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