Two laps down, and a whole bunch to go.
I forgot to mention that when I started the Tree Shaker, I had forgotten my music playing
device. I yelled at Lunchbox to grab it
for me out of my truck when I passed him on the first lap, and when I stopped
to swap out bottle for my second lap…there it was. I turned it on and listened to music during
that fast, yet painful second lap, until it made a funny noise and shut
off.
That’s about the time my back started hurting.
Anyway, I headed out for lap three, ready to settle in at a
steady pace. I felt pretty good still,
and my legs weren’t even tired. I kept
hearing people bitching about how hot it was out there, but I was enjoying
it. Remember, I grew up in the Sunshine State, and I can ride in that shit all
day long.
Nothing eventful happened on lap three, and I seemed to be
making all the right moves out there in regards to climbing, picking the right
lines, and recovering. I even passed a
few people out there that said I was crazy for riding a single speed. Funny, I used to say the same thing to people
before I started riding SS.
I came in from that lap, and my back had loosened up quite a
bit. I grabbed a little food to eat,
refilled my bottles, and chatted with Little Miss Sunshine for a few
minutes. She had just finished her four
hour race. I eventually made my way back
out for lap number four. My break this
time wasn’t as long, because I figured that I needed to keep going to prevent
myself from falling over.
Taking a short break was actually a good idea, since I still
felt pretty good as long as my legs were moving. I noticed that I was on autopilot most of the
time, which I guess was a good thing because it kept me from making stupid
mistakes. It felt like I was using The
Force to guide me…
I popped out of the woods after that lap and started up the
fire road climb back to the start/finish area.
I noticed that Lunchbox was riding his bike out there to catch a photo…
I rode through the pit area and made it to my tent, and
Lunchbox had beat me there (he took a short cut.) Since I was
good and tired from four laps, he decided to go out there and ride one with
me. I was tired, so I took another break
and refueled. We eventually headed out,
and I told him that I probably wouldn’t be riding too fast. He didn’t mind that at all.
It was really nice of him to ride with me, and it really
kept me going. I felt like I had more
energy, and we even had some good conversations along the way. He washed out in a corner at one point and
wrecked, so I had to stop to make sure he was alright. It’s a race and all, but he’s still my kid
and making sure he was okay was my priority.
He was unharmed (aside from a few scratches), so we got
going again. He pushed my pretty good up
the climbs, and I pulled him along the downhill stuff. We had a blast, until we got about two miles
from the end of the course. He told me
his front tire was losing air.
Rather than leave him stranded, I grabbed a Co2 and blasted
some air in there. I didn’t see any
obvious leaks, so I figured that he would be good enough to get out. We hauled ass just in case, and arrived back
at Tent City
Lap six, and with the time remaining in the race I knew it
would be my last. I started out all
alone but quickly passed a few people and ended up behind Sherry, the better
half of the MadSS. She was running the
same gearing I was (but on her 9th lap), so she happily let me ride
with her for a while (I also rode with her on the first lap for a while.) She keeps a great pace, never slowing or
speeding up. I kept with her for quite a
while, until a small hint of cramps got me on a climb. I had to let her go, and I figured that I
would suffer by myself until the end.
It didn’t take long though until I had some company. The MadSS zoomed by (on his 10th
lap) and I picked up the pace to keep up with him. He looked as fresh as he did on the first
lap, and I didn’t hang on long. I was by
myself again, with only a few miles to go.
I knew I would finish, but the cramps were getting worse.
On the very last section of singletrack, local single
speeder Eric Hagerty came flying by.
With such a short distance left, I decided that I should give it all I
had to get the hell back to the finish.
I stayed with him (and another guy) for the rest of the single
track. We kept a blistering pace, and
for some reason my legs kept working. I
rocketed up the last steep climb (to get out of the woods), and the cramps hit
me again. I made it to the fire road,
and spun my way back to the finish.
Almost sixty miles on a single speed in eight hours, and I
was happy. My goal was to push it and
see what I could do, and I succeeded.
When the awards came out, of course I wasn’t included. However, I got a surprise in the form of “not
last place.”
Good enough for me.
Have I mentioned that I really love this single speed shit? It’s definitely making me stronger, and I
think the fact that it was more difficult than racing with gears made the
suffering even more fun. I have lots of
room for improvement, but at least now I know I can do it.
Maybe I can start training and getting a little more serious
now.
Pffffffft. I'm getting right to work on my "recovery."
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