It was nice not to feel rushed in the morning. We spent
around an hour eating/working between 7-8am and then got ourselves ready to
leave. We prepared everything the night prior (food, sport nutrition, gear,
etc.) in addition to our hydration packs (2 each), which we kept cold in the fridge.
We left around 8:20am and arrived to Pleasant Ridge (event venue) around 20 minutes
later.
I had a cinnamon raisin bagel w/ peanut butter and jelly at home and then had a
Chobani cherry flavored yogurt in the car. I sipped on water in the car and had
another bottle of Skratch to sip on at the venue. Karel had oatmeal at home and
½ bagel w/ peanut butter in the car. Compared to Friday weather which was warm (70)
and sunny, Saturday was much colder – in the upper 40’s. With a lot of outdoor
riding in the cold, we both had an idea of what to wear, with most of gear
removable (ex. leg covers, arm warmers, jacket, etc.).
After we arrived, we set up our area in the “loop” section of the course. We
used a small table for our nutrition and we also brought a chair, foam roller
and blanket for the ground. With this being our first of this type of event, we
weren’t sure what to bring but I felt like we covered the basics with what we
needed a just a little extra. We set our stuff up next to our friend Thomas who
was also participating in the event. With only ~60ish participants, we saw a
few familiar faces (well more like faces that Karel knew from the bike scene).
After Karel parked the car in the designated parking lot, we made a bathroom
stop in the indoor bathrooms (there were no port-o-potties). Thomas and I
reconned the start and finish of each loop which included a bit of climbing and
descending on dirt/gravel. At 9:45am, we made our way to the “athlete briefing”
and at this point, I felt a bit nervous as everyone was lining up for the
start. Karel got to the start of the line whereas Thomas and I stayed more toward
the middle. There weren’t a lot of ladies at the event but a few lined up near
the front so I knew they were much more experienced than me.
Once the announcer said go, we made our way on the grass, and then on to the
road before starting the first climb of the loop. The course was pretty simple –
a 5.8 mile loop with ~600 feet elevation gain. The course started with the more
technical features (rocks) and then made its way into a flowing section where
you could get some good speed. I’ve learned with MTBing that even with the
downhill sections, there is no “resting” as you are always on – being focused,
alert and moving the body. Then came a mile of roots/rocks – although not super
technical, it does require a lot of focus and skills to get through. There were
a few berns and rollers, which I am still not great at when it comes to picking
up speed. Then came a short grass section at the front parking lot where most
people used for drinking/eating before a mile or so of climbing with a few hard
efforts to get over obstacles. Nearing the end of each loop are big tree roots
to get over before descending back down to start it all over again.
When we started the loop, there wasn’t much rolling as it
was single file and a few people started unclipping and walking. Karel warned
me of this in advanced so I knew what to expect. I was able to eventually get
riding until I struggled over one obstacle and had to unclip. Since I’m so used
to riding by myself (or with Karel a little ahead of me), it was challenging to
navigate the terrain and the actions of the other riders. I let other riders pass
me as I didn’t want to get in their way. There are still so many skills that I
need to continue to work on.
After getting through the rocky section, we came to a very tight right turn
switchback which I usually clip out for. Well I completely forgot about it and
approached it way too fast, which then caused a slowdown behind me as I tried
to unclip but found myself somewhat falling. I struggled once again on another
section that I find challenging – it goes from a curved downhill across
pavement and then up the hill – but the hill is somewhat curved with a tree
branch to navigate around, a few rocks (which are always wet) and then a few
more limbs. I really messed up with my gearing at this place and had to unclip
again. I let more people pass as I pushed my bike up a bit to a place where I
could get momentum to clip in again. Once I got back up, I found myself near
the end of the pack and behind four guys. Although I felt like I could ride a
little faster than them on the climbs, I felt like I needed to play it safe and
smart for the next few miles.
It was only 15 minutes and 2 miles into the ride when I passed a paved trail,
changed my gears to accelerate up a short climb and boom – I couldn’t pedal
anymore. I thought my chain dropped so I got off the bike and went to put the
chain back and then I felt a rush of sadness – my chain broke. With 5 hours and
45 minutes left in the event, my day was ruined in 15 minutes. I blamed myself
for not making smart gearing choices but later on, Karel blammed himself that after he waxed our chains, he didn’t put my chain link on correctly and it bent and then broke off. He said he’s never made
that mistake before but I don't blame him. We learn and move on. Anyways…..
I wanted to get back to the race start/finish area before Karel finished his
loop so I scooted and pushed my bike .88 miles on the path. The spectators who
were around asked if I was ok and I responded that my chain broke. Two guys under
a tent asked me if I was ok and I asked if either of them know how to fix a
broken chain link? One of the guys stood up and walked over to me and my bike. Thankfully,
he knew how to fix it and thankfully, Karel brought his toolbox, an extra chain
(and two extra links) as well as two extra tires. Karel was prepared for
everything. Although it felt like this issue took forever, it only took him 10
minutes (8 minutes I spent walking with my bike). And just as he started fixing
it, Karel rode by in 4th place. I didn’t want Karel to stop as I
didn’t want him to ruin his race so I told him that my chain broke but this guy
was fixing it. I am so grateful that I was able to get help! During this time,
I started to get a little warm so I took off my leg warmers and ear cover. After
what felt like the longest 18 minutes, I got back on my bike and rode back to
where I broke my chain (another .88 miles) to restart where I left off.
At this point, I had a rush of thoughts going through my mind but never did I
think about quitting. Sure, I’m competitive but I can still be competitive and
not be winning the race. This event was all about learning and exploring my limits
while testing my skills. I wanted to give it my best effort and I wasn’t going
to let a little setback derail my day. I had many more hours to go and I know
from experience after 17 Ironmans, that anything can happen but you have to
keep yourself moving toward that finish line.
I tried to stay up on my hydration which was a lot easier with my hydration
pack compared to grabbing solid food out of my jersey pocket. I brought my new
favorite bar – Supra Beet
the Competition – and had the package open before I started for easy
nibbling.
One thing I’ve learned to love about mountain biking is the need to always be
focused. I am constantly thinking about what’s in front of me and what’s just
ahead of me. With distinct features of each part of the course, I never felt
bored or that time was passing by slowly. Because I hit my lap button my
computer for each lap, I didn’t have any idea of the time of the day or how
long I had been riding. I do a similar thing in an IM as it really helps me
stay focus on the present moment. Once I started to feel like I was getting
into a good rhythm, I got to an obstacle where I needed to unclip with my left
foot (non-dominate foot) and I wasn’t able to unclip. I thought maybe my cleat
was stuck with mud or something but either way, I fell over because I couldn’t
unclip. To get myself back up, I had to slip my foot out of my left shoe. I
looked at the bottom of my shoe (which was still attached to the pedal)and the
cleat was still on the bottom of the shoe but something was preventing it from
coming off the pedal. I tried to wrangle with it but I couldn’t get it off. At
this point I thought my day was officially over – just less than 2 hours into
the event. Well, I still needed to get back to the race venue (1.75 miles away)
so I slid my foot back into my shoe and then clipped in with my right foot and
told myself that I needed to ride with the best skills possible for the next
1.75 miles – no second guessing! Nearing the main parking, Karel passed me and
I told him that my cleat was stuck. I wiggled my shoe around to show him as he slowed
down and he said for me to tighten it when I got back to the race venue. I told
Karel that maybe this wasn’t my day and I should quit the race as it felt like
a good idea at the time. I could just cheer for Karel since he was having a
great race and it seemed like nothing was going my way. But Karel told me that
there was still so much left in the event and this would be a great training
day for the Ironman. He was right and I tossed that quitting idea out of my
head.
Once I got back to the race venue, Karel was there. I didn’t want him to stop
for me but he said he needed to take off some of his clothes as he was getting
hot and he needed a break as he moved himself up into 2nd place but
totally blew up and moved back to 4th. He quickly looked at my shoe
and noticed the bolt fell out. He pulled the shoe off the cleat and told me to
get my other pair of shoes. This stop only took 90 seconds. Thankfully, I
brought a 2nd pair of shoes (and a 2nd helmet) just in
case. I put on a fresh pair of shoes (which actually felt really good) and made
my way back up the hill for another loop.
At this point I had been riding for 3 hours – which is a really long time. But it
was also halfway in the race which meant I still had another 3 hours. Although
this event was a “6-hour event” the results are based on who can complete the
most laps in 6 hours while making the cut off time of 5:15hrs (or 3:15pm) to
start the last lap. And you can stop as much/little as you want. I lost track of how many laps I had done and
what time of the day it was so I kept on riding. Sometimes I would choose the
right line but other times I was just so tired that it was hard to muscle my
way over the rocks. The positive of my two stops is that it put me on the
course pretty much by myself so I was rarely around others. Some of the faster
riders would pass me and would call out in advance or I would hear them coming
and I would pull over an unclip. Everyone was really nice and looking out for
one another.
For our “aid station” we had a Mexican coke bottle (opened) that I sipped once
but only used that station to swap out hydration backs. Each pack was filled
with ~2 bottles (each bottle was filled with 2 scoops INFINIT). I had one pack
of fruit punch and another pack of strawberry lemonade. Just like in an
Ironman, I like to change flavors to prevent taste bud fatigue.
Although I didn’t have any low moments, nearing the last hour, my back really started
to hurt (lower right side). I was getting tired. The accumulated elevation
gain, jerky movements to get my bike over obstacles, climbing, descending and
falling/unclipping made my back feel like I had just done hours and hours of
deadlifts. I tried to engage my core more and do whatever I could to relax my
bike. Nearing 3pm, I saw my mom, her boyfriend and Campy at the venue and that
just made my day. I wasn’t expecting them so I stopped and stretched my back as
I said hi. Once I got to the last lap, I told myself to make this my best lap.
I made all the obstacles (except for the first rock/root series) and finished feeling relieved and accomplished.
Karel finished a little behind me as he was able to overcome his low moments and
really push the 2
nd from last lap to make that 3:15 time cut off. So
he was able to squeeze in one more lap for a total of 10 laps, 5:44, 58.3 miles
and 6355 feet elevation gain. Karel came in 3
rd place. He credits relying
on a lot of the mental skills that he uses in an Ironman to help him get
through the low moments during this race. I completed 7 laps in 5:06, 43 miles,
4000 feet elevation gain and 1
st place AG (out of 2). There were
some really strong ladies there which inspires me to continue to work harder to
get better. We received really cool awards which was a nice bonus to this grassroots
event.
Karel and I were completely smashed after the event. So incredibly sore and
exhausted. But we also had a lot of fun. The vibe was awesome, everyone was
really nice and supportive and we got to ride our bikes in nature for almost 6
hours on a beautiful Saturday!
Marni laps (including stops)
1 – 1:09 – broken chain
2 – 41.07
3 – 44:05
4 – 47:33 – broken cleat
5 – 44:05
6 – 44:35
7 – 44:05
Karel laps (including stops)
1 – 33:22
2 – 31:56
3 – 32:47
4- 31:30
5- 33:00
6- 35:30
7-39:00
8- 35:00
9 – 32:00
10 – 34:42
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