We had spent the past two evenings in the mountains. Everything so far had been fantastic and real good times. It’s such a nice place to go too and the riding and the vistas are so epic that it is truly worth the time and effort you spend making the event. The morning was cool and the day was clear. The race conditions could not have been better and they just announced that the race would start at 830am thirty minutes later then expected. Well, I still got to the line around eight and thank god I did, cause as soon as I got there at 810am, they decide its time to roll a full 20 minutes earlier then the previous announced time.
Well here we are an enormous Peloton of mountain bikers rolling along at a pretty good clip. The first couple of miles, and I was counting them down all day, were on a road with a slight uphill. The group is moving at a good speed, not too fast, not too slow and I managed to get myself somewhere in the middle to the front of the pack with the intention of starting off as fast as I could.
A caravan of spectators and support vehicles is coming by the group which in its current size inhabits the entire lane of traffic and reaches up as far as my eye can see. As they complete their pass I start experiencing problems with my brakes, which I had switched pads the day before and thought I had done a great job of adjusting them. Things quickly proved otherwise as the brakes start squawking and squealing like wounded ducks and I Immediately pull over to try and analyze the problem. It is at that very moment that I realize I had left my saddle pack with my tool and my tube in my truck with my wife. Well fantastic, I dial the red pads all the way out cause I figure its going to be uphill for a minute and I won’t need brakes anyway. Just as I start to remount my bike, a car pulls over and a nice lady with a bike jersey and a cowboy hat ask me if I need help. I say I sure do, and she hands me a tool and I do my best to adjust the brakes once again. I thought I did an OK job of it, the best I could, and got back on the bike. Well with one problem remedied as much as it could be and another on my mind, I pull out my cell phone and call Paloma to tell her about my issue with the tube. Well, with all the noise and the commotion of the race beginning, she couldn't hear the phone, especially as she drove by and the cowbell was really in effect. I texted her a message and resolved to ride all the way to rest stop 2 if I had too without tools and a tube, knowing full well that If I flatted I may have to resort to walking.
I Started making my way up the first climb and after climbing up the road making time on riders I see a man pointing away from the road up another much steeper road. Well this steep detour only got steeper as we rounded the final double track portion that shot you into marvelous hike a bike that seemed to go on forever. The brief mountain climbing stint did lead to an awesome downhill trail that shot me past even more riders. It dumped us thru a wooden scrap heap right back onto mill creek rd where the climb had started earlier. I pushed my self hard when I hit the road and kept my speed up in the 18 to 23mph range taking full advantage of the road and the rolling terrain. I catch up at the bottom of Kitsuma to another group of riders and we start trudging to the top of the mountain. Kitsuma is hard to climb. So walking is sometimes a reality. I managed to climb a good portion of it because it was faster then walking, but it was tough and it seemed to last forever and I still had to get off and push my way thru some of the switchbacks.
I crested Kitsuma and made my way down, passing everyone I had started the mountain with and even more people who were up the trail. I took advantage of every downhill regardless of my brake problem. White knuckles and forearm fires was the meal for the moment, since I had no choice but to keep moving forward as fast as I could.
Paloma showed up at rest stop 1, I got my kit and kept rolling. Not long after that stop I made it to the starting double track road that goes over the rail road tracks and leads to star gap. I have no Idea how many switchbacks or how long the ascent is once you get to the single-track. But I can tell you this; I walked almost all of it to the top. At that point I really did n’t see the benefit of granny grannying it all the way to the top. I figured I would save my energy and enjoy the walk. So did about 20 other people. But, while I made my way up, riders did come thru. And again once I crested it, I bombed it, caught up to most of the other riders before I got to the bottom. The descent on the other side is spectacular and has many hairpin switchbacks that have you using all your skills to navigate them. You immediately get dumped into this grassy double track that masquerades as single track. And it rolls at some points, and then climbs for a long time, rolls again, climbs again, and then finally dumps out for like the last half mile all downhill. It actually proved to be a section for me where I could make a lot of time. I was able to reel in the rest of the people I had seen going up star gap and bridge my way to new people that I simply flew by while I was descending at nearly 30 plus miles an hour.
When I got to rest stop two I took about a eight to ten minute break knowing full well that the 9 mile climb was up ahead and I would need to be in my completely prepared for what layed ahead.
I started the climb strong; I even did the first mile or two in the Big Big combo. I was really in a good rhythm, the trail got steeper and I dropped to the middle and again spun the biggest, strongest gear I could till I had to eventually drop down to the smallest of gear combinations that I could muster. Spun it for 3 miles when I just got tired of the effort and resorted to walking. I must have walked for about 2 miles or so when I thought I had saved up enough energy to get back on the bike. I rode the rest of it and when I got to the top I was elated. I had finally conquered the monster and I still felt good. I was having a strange issue with the very top and back of my thigh muscle that was alleviated by a shorts change.
Now I started the undiscovered portion of the ride for me. The previous year I had surrendered at stop 3. I started making my way up the
Eventually there was the welcoming sign of orange tape leading you into an even steeper hike a bike climb then the one from the start of the race. I haul myself to the top and start ascending the ridge. It got pretty wild, but there were some spots you could do with no brakes and not be concerned about losing your life. And I did my best to stay as fast as I could and get down as quickly as possible. Eventually, after descending for several miles I started catching people again and recognizing that I was now descending the part of star gap I had walked earlier. Because of my brake problems I had a couple of scary moments on the switchbacks and ended up having to climb up to the side of the trail from the mountain. I had two crashes that were like that and was not hurt in either one. I made it to five and had the mechanic from liberty bikes adjust my rear brake and I took off again as fast as I could towards the mill creek road climb which sucked again, and then down the mountain towards Kitsuma. I rode by myself pretty much till the Kitsuma descent when I passed about four or five riders.
On the road heading towards the finish, three riders had got organized and passed me and left me behind. Shortly thereafter we were greeted by a downhill which allowed me to reel them back in, pass them and launch a counter attack in the high 20mph range that gave them no opportunity to respond. Crossed the line, hungry, but cramp free, in good spirits and ready to party.
