Mother's Day revenge
Sandwich 50 yesterday. 50 people, 50 miles. 7 7 mile laps. got there with B and the boys about 8:30 for the 9am start. 50 racers all started by touching a fence and then on go ran around a playground and then back to your bike to ride a short prologue. this may have been my favorite part of race because Wyatt yelled, "go daddy go!" the whole time. i could hear him almost the whole way. i got back to the start from the prologue and Wyatt was there yelling, "go daddy go!" over and over again. pretty sure it doesn't get any cuter than that. the look on his face was great. i could see his smile and dimples from about a mile away in the morning sun.
i got into the course and it was greesy as i heard, also very tight as i had heard. i was taking it very easy as this was my warmup and i have been riding about once or twice a week for a while. i had 50 miles coming and i was being very conservative.
i got about half way through and was starting to warm up and feel pretty good. right about then i took a big stick to the rear derailler and looked down just in time to see it snap off... the derailler not the stick.
it was only about a 200 yard walk back to the start/finish point so i got lucky there. i got back to have not 1 but 2 very nice guys offer me a bike! i couldn't believe it. what a save. gave much thanks to those guys. switched my pedals out and took off with a single speed 29er. this taught me two things. i now want a 29er at some point and i never want a single speed. 3 things actually. i'm actually pretty glad i have a dual suspension too. this ride was a hard tail and it reminded me how much fun it is to soak up those bumps. i will take a little bob on the uphill.
got about a lap and a half in my loaner and i was called in by the guy that lent it to me after completing lap 2. he needed it back because his son had broken his chain. he said we were playing musical bikes.
these guys were so cool. they already had the 3rd bike set up to match my seat height on my bike as i was out. switched pedals out to this one and i was off again. this time with gears and i was thankful for that.
on the 3rd lap i stopped at the bacon point. Ron Moffit was on the trail grilling and i had seen and smelled the bacon on lap 2 and it looked good. stopped and got a piece on round 3 and yes, the bacon was awesome.
completed lap 3 feeling pretty good. This was now 21 miles. got about half way through lap 4 and got passed by one of the leaders. i was curious so i tried to stick with him. i was surprised to stay with him for about 4 or 5 miles.
that push, lack of feeding well during the race, lack of breakfast, and the bacon all came crashing down on me about half way through the 5th lap. pretty sure the bacon had found it's way directly to my left quad. sang my "just keep spinning" song to the tune of Just Keep Swimming by Dori from Nemo for a few miles. promised myself tons of water, gatorade, and calories if i just made it back to the feedzone.
got back there and took in the promised fluids and food. felt like a train wreck. called it an official bonk and laid down. i did not go out for the final 2 laps. B and the boys would be back in about an hour so i decided to try to take that time and get back to human. 35 miles would be enough.
pretty sure the universe was punishing me for scheduling a 5 hour race on Mother's Day. i hear you universe. i will pay more attention to Mother's Day when looking at races from now on.
i got into the course and it was greesy as i heard, also very tight as i had heard. i was taking it very easy as this was my warmup and i have been riding about once or twice a week for a while. i had 50 miles coming and i was being very conservative.
i got about half way through and was starting to warm up and feel pretty good. right about then i took a big stick to the rear derailler and looked down just in time to see it snap off... the derailler not the stick.
it was only about a 200 yard walk back to the start/finish point so i got lucky there. i got back to have not 1 but 2 very nice guys offer me a bike! i couldn't believe it. what a save. gave much thanks to those guys. switched my pedals out and took off with a single speed 29er. this taught me two things. i now want a 29er at some point and i never want a single speed. 3 things actually. i'm actually pretty glad i have a dual suspension too. this ride was a hard tail and it reminded me how much fun it is to soak up those bumps. i will take a little bob on the uphill.
got about a lap and a half in my loaner and i was called in by the guy that lent it to me after completing lap 2. he needed it back because his son had broken his chain. he said we were playing musical bikes.
these guys were so cool. they already had the 3rd bike set up to match my seat height on my bike as i was out. switched pedals out to this one and i was off again. this time with gears and i was thankful for that.
on the 3rd lap i stopped at the bacon point. Ron Moffit was on the trail grilling and i had seen and smelled the bacon on lap 2 and it looked good. stopped and got a piece on round 3 and yes, the bacon was awesome.
completed lap 3 feeling pretty good. This was now 21 miles. got about half way through lap 4 and got passed by one of the leaders. i was curious so i tried to stick with him. i was surprised to stay with him for about 4 or 5 miles.
that push, lack of feeding well during the race, lack of breakfast, and the bacon all came crashing down on me about half way through the 5th lap. pretty sure the bacon had found it's way directly to my left quad. sang my "just keep spinning" song to the tune of Just Keep Swimming by Dori from Nemo for a few miles. promised myself tons of water, gatorade, and calories if i just made it back to the feedzone.
got back there and took in the promised fluids and food. felt like a train wreck. called it an official bonk and laid down. i did not go out for the final 2 laps. B and the boys would be back in about an hour so i decided to try to take that time and get back to human. 35 miles would be enough.
pretty sure the universe was punishing me for scheduling a 5 hour race on Mother's Day. i hear you universe. i will pay more attention to Mother's Day when looking at races from now on.
Comments
Great job persevering through the mechanical. That must have been a great moment in vocabulary history, right there! Good job putting in 35 miles on someone else's bike. Glad you got to try a 29er. Sorry it was a SS. I must say it's best to gradually work into a SS, not get thrown on one in your first race of the season (okay, second if you count Decorah).
See you Thursday? I have a 29er you can ride if you don't get your bike fixed soon enough. It even has gears. But it is a hardtail. Not sure if the seatpost will go high enough for you, but we can try.