Post by dgaddis1 on Jan 9, 2011 13:39:15 GMT -5
Friday afternoon I met up with TedS, mhanna, and wala at TedS's place. We loaded up into mhanna's truck and hit the road. Got to Dalton, checked in at the hotel, dropped off our stuff there, got a bite to eat, checked in for the race, and then watched some America's Funniest Home Videos/comedy/Tosh.0 at the hotel.
Since we had already checked in for the race that made everything Sat. morning go easily. Got to the finish line, met up with seenvic, loaded our bikes onto a truck/trailer and found a seat on one of the shuttle buses. Seenvic, wala, and I did the 17 mile race, TedS and mhanna did the big-boy 34 mile.
Temps were in the mid 30's and stayed that way most of the day. In the afternoon it started getting a little colder. No rain/sleet/snow, just some wind here and there. The weather was basically perfect.
Our bikes got to the start line the same time we did (nice a change from years past when I've had to wait around shivering in the cold for as long as half an hour). Mine was one of the first off the truck, I went down the road a bit and back up to try and warm up a little. The start line was just starting to form, I got in. I was one of the first 20 or so racers to leave the line. Wala and Seenvic both started a good ways behind me.
My goal for the day: don't get caught by Seenvic or Wala. I didn't care if they were faster, I just didn't want to them to catch me.
The intial climb sucked as much as it always had. It goes up for two miles and gains like 600ft. It doesn't ever give you a break. I wasn't warmed up enough. I did a lot of walking.
Once up on top of the ridge I felt better and enjoyed the ride. For the next 10 miles I rode in a loose group of about a dozen or so people, we were always passing each other back and forth. About six or seven of them passed me on a flat stretch just before a long technical downhill off the mtn. I made it to the bottom faster than I ever have before (suspension is a good thing) and I passed all of them back on the DH. One guy had crashed and someone had stopped to make sure he was okay (they said he was) and the others all pinch flatted on all the rocks.
At the bottom of the downhill there's a few creek crossings, then a long climb on a gravel road. At the top of the climb is the SAG stop at mile 8. I made it there in just under an hour and was feeling great. Grabbed a bananna and ate it while walking the singletrack (gotta keep moving...).
About a mile or two later my legs decided they were done. Even a moderate effort made my quads lock up just above my knee. I was even cramping while WALKING my bike! I had to sit down two or three times to make the cramps stop.
The loose group I had been riding with all passed me, and so did a bunch of people I hadn't seen before (not a good sign). I kept looking over my shoulder for seenvic and wala...I knew they were back there somewhere, and had to be getting close.
Half a mile from the end of the singletrack, while walking, I heard someone behind me say "Mr. Gaddis!" SOB. Seenvic. He caught me. He offered something to eat or drink, but I was almost done, so I declined.
Finished the singletrack, bombed the gravel road faster than ever before, one last short piece of trail, then onto the road for the 1.5 mile long drop down to the finish line. Just as I started down the road I heard someone behind me, I looked back and it was someone on a geared 29er.
I yelled back at him "I'm spun out, come on around me and let me catch your wheel!" So he came around, I tucked in behind him and enjoyed the draft for some extra speed and much warmer air all the way down the mtn.
I finished in 2:58. 10mins faster than last Jan, 18mins slower than my personal best.
Pretty sure the cramps were because I forgot my sports drink mix and was sipping on just water, so I wasn't getting any electrolytes. And I probably went too hard on the first half as well. Oh well. Plenty of room for improvement next month.
It was a fun weekend, traveled with some good guys and rode a brutally fun trail. Can't wait to go back in a few weeks!
This is the only picture I took - our bikes in the hotel room. Wala took a few more.
![](http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx147/dgaddis12/22773558.jpg)
Since we had already checked in for the race that made everything Sat. morning go easily. Got to the finish line, met up with seenvic, loaded our bikes onto a truck/trailer and found a seat on one of the shuttle buses. Seenvic, wala, and I did the 17 mile race, TedS and mhanna did the big-boy 34 mile.
Temps were in the mid 30's and stayed that way most of the day. In the afternoon it started getting a little colder. No rain/sleet/snow, just some wind here and there. The weather was basically perfect.
Our bikes got to the start line the same time we did (nice a change from years past when I've had to wait around shivering in the cold for as long as half an hour). Mine was one of the first off the truck, I went down the road a bit and back up to try and warm up a little. The start line was just starting to form, I got in. I was one of the first 20 or so racers to leave the line. Wala and Seenvic both started a good ways behind me.
My goal for the day: don't get caught by Seenvic or Wala. I didn't care if they were faster, I just didn't want to them to catch me.
The intial climb sucked as much as it always had. It goes up for two miles and gains like 600ft. It doesn't ever give you a break. I wasn't warmed up enough. I did a lot of walking.
Once up on top of the ridge I felt better and enjoyed the ride. For the next 10 miles I rode in a loose group of about a dozen or so people, we were always passing each other back and forth. About six or seven of them passed me on a flat stretch just before a long technical downhill off the mtn. I made it to the bottom faster than I ever have before (suspension is a good thing) and I passed all of them back on the DH. One guy had crashed and someone had stopped to make sure he was okay (they said he was) and the others all pinch flatted on all the rocks.
At the bottom of the downhill there's a few creek crossings, then a long climb on a gravel road. At the top of the climb is the SAG stop at mile 8. I made it there in just under an hour and was feeling great. Grabbed a bananna and ate it while walking the singletrack (gotta keep moving...).
About a mile or two later my legs decided they were done. Even a moderate effort made my quads lock up just above my knee. I was even cramping while WALKING my bike! I had to sit down two or three times to make the cramps stop.
The loose group I had been riding with all passed me, and so did a bunch of people I hadn't seen before (not a good sign). I kept looking over my shoulder for seenvic and wala...I knew they were back there somewhere, and had to be getting close.
Half a mile from the end of the singletrack, while walking, I heard someone behind me say "Mr. Gaddis!" SOB. Seenvic. He caught me. He offered something to eat or drink, but I was almost done, so I declined.
Finished the singletrack, bombed the gravel road faster than ever before, one last short piece of trail, then onto the road for the 1.5 mile long drop down to the finish line. Just as I started down the road I heard someone behind me, I looked back and it was someone on a geared 29er.
I yelled back at him "I'm spun out, come on around me and let me catch your wheel!" So he came around, I tucked in behind him and enjoyed the draft for some extra speed and much warmer air all the way down the mtn.
I finished in 2:58. 10mins faster than last Jan, 18mins slower than my personal best.
![:P](http://storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/tongue.png)
Pretty sure the cramps were because I forgot my sports drink mix and was sipping on just water, so I wasn't getting any electrolytes. And I probably went too hard on the first half as well. Oh well. Plenty of room for improvement next month.
It was a fun weekend, traveled with some good guys and rode a brutally fun trail. Can't wait to go back in a few weeks!
This is the only picture I took - our bikes in the hotel room. Wala took a few more.
![](http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx147/dgaddis12/22773558.jpg)