Well, I’m back. After lots of planning, our long vacation was over before I knew it. I hate when that happens. I guess that’s why you should stop to enjoy what you’re actually doing every once in a while. It started with a race, some driving, some sightseeing, moar driving, some riding…
Well, you get it.
Since I mentioned a
race (and I have lots to talk about), I’ll start there.
The 2016 Southern
Classic Series kicked off down near Sumter, SC the Sunday before last, and
conveniently it was on our way to Florida.
I worried the day before about which bike to bring (geared or single
speed.) I would pull one bike down, look
at it, put it up, get another one down, and repeat. Having never ridden anything down there, I
couldn’t make up my mind. I eventually
said, “Who gives a shit” and decided to race Darth Maul, my rigid single
speed. I heard that it was sorta flat down
there with a few climbs. I needed to
suffer to start the season right, so I knew I made the right decision.
Because we were
leaving for an extended vacation, we had to get up extra early to load
everything up in my truck. It was along
drive so early in the morning, but I made it with plenty of time to pick up my
race number and get warmed up.
When everyone
started lining up, I got the familiar pre race jitters. I tried to calm myself down, saying that I
was just there to ride (sorta fast) and see what happens. I was the only one in my class with just one
gear, so I told myself that I wouldn’t take off fast to get up front.
I’m so full of
shit.
When the race
started, everyone took off (it was a big class too.) I had trouble clipping in my left foot, but I
got in as the group started picking up speed.
I started spinning fast, and before I knew it I was in second place
right on the leader’s wheel. I felt
pretty good, so I kept that pace. We
starting putting a big gap on the rest of the group. “Holy shit.
Maybe I’m in better shape than I thought” I said to myself.
The trail was wide
open for the most part, but pretty flat.
All that fast spinning was getting to me though, and about a third of the way
into the first lap I started slowing down.
One guy caught up and passed me.
Then another. Eventually I was
down to sixth place. I took it easy, and
with no one in sight behind me I decided to try to recover to see if I could
catch back up.
The course was two
twelve mile laps. At full speed (and spinning) it was
tiring. There were a few climbs here and
there, and they gave me momentum. One
climb in particular was really steep, but I powered through it pretty
well. It was towards the end of lap one,
so I started getting myself ready for the big comeback. I passed through the start/finish line,
neglected to grab a full bottle of Nuun from Little Miss Sunshine,
and sped through the beginning of the second lap to catch the lead group. Soon after entering the woods, I started
catching up to and passing people. A few
were in my class. After counting those
that had started in my group, I realized that I had worked my way back into
third place. “Hmm, podium chance” I
thought.
But all that damn
spinning was wearing me out again. Instead
of putting a gap on everyone behind me on the climbs this time, my legs were
too tired to mash properly. I pushed
harder, but that only made it worse.
When it flattened out, one guy passed me again. This time, for good.
Fourth place. Not bad I guess. Except that I still had a long way to go and
I was out of water. I was able to keep a
decent pace on the flat stuff again but I was slowing down on the climbs. No one was behind me though, and I saw third
and second place up ahead when the trail got all twisty.
And then that big
ass hill showed up again.
There was a crowd
at the bottom doing a little heckling, and although they were doing a fine job
(and helped tremendously on the first lap) I was struggling. I got about three quarters of the way up and
my legs locked up. I was in excruciating
pain and I couldn’t move. Not sitting,
no walking the rest of the way, no nothing.
I watched as two more guys passed by.
There was nothing I could do.
As the pain slowly
started to subside, I shuffled my feet (still couldn’t bend my legs) to get
moving towards the top. I managed to
grab my leg to get off of the bike, and slowly started stretching. Once I got loose enough to bend my knees, I
hopped back on my bike before my body knew what I was doing. The last part was relatively flat, so I spun
like crazy to get that shit over with. I
crossed a small bridge, and got behind a guy that had just passed me.
“Go ahead”, he
said.
I obliged, even
though he could’ve easily outpedaled me to the finish with his many gears. I crossed the line in 5th place I
think, but more importantly, I wasn’t last, didn’t die, etc.
And I looked pretty
damn good.
Our friends from
the Lowcountry showed up to ride after the race, so we shot the shit with them
for a while so I could “recover.” I damn
sure wasn’t ready for the season to start, but I was ready for a vacation.
A few hours (and
miles) later, the little lady and I ended up in Saint Augustine, having some
good food and beer at a local watering hole.
We spent the rest
of the evening relaxing and planning our next move. It was gonna be a long week and we were
ready.
Are you? Good, because I haz lots more tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment