I'm not in super great shape, nor have I been riding like I normally do, whatever that is. I mean I get the dogs out for a few miles a day, 4-5 days a week. I go on 2-3 hr rides on the weekends, and thats about it. So I was relying on my 20+ years of cycling to get me through the 25 hrs of Frog Hollow. Honestly, I felt great! I was a little nervous at the start, but otherwise calm and relaxed. I was totally looking forward to spending 25 hrs in the saddle, overcoming the challenges which will evidently arise. but WHAT challenge will arise today?? ahh, will my stomach go? will I bonk? will I sustain an injury? will my bike breakdown, and if it does how?? Seriously I don't think too much about these things, but they are thoughts that come and go. What I do think about is how to be efficient in and out of the pit, how to stay strong mentally through tough times, knowing they will only last a short time, remembering to eat and drink and how important that is, and how to use any resources that are available to me, oh and of course to have FUN!!
The race started with a nice jog to Magic Wanda aka Salsa Ti El Mariachi (I love this bike) and it was go time! I felt really good, and was riding a moderate pace knowing I shouldn't crush myself. It's hard not to get caught up in that speed trap in the beginning. My 1st 5 laps were between 1:03-1:20, and I felt I could sustain a 1:15 hr lap comfortably. I thought I was going to have support, but it fell through during the race. A few people checked in now and again, gave me some food and lubed my chain, but for the most part I was filling my own bottles, getting my own food and tending to my bike, which is fine, but it would have been great to know before the start of the race so I could set myself up a little better. Lesson learned.
After the 1st 3 laps the vision in my right eye started to blur. It occurs only in my right eye during intense biking and when I sweat a lot, it could be dehydration or dry eye, but since I've been racing for over 20 years and it just started happening this year 2012, it's definitely odd and of course I have to get it looked at. I do wear contacts, so I changed the right one out, but there was no difference, it was m eyeball fer shure. I've already talked to 2 doctors and it was recommended to see an ophthalmologist.
By lap 5, my forearms were KILLING me! I had never felt this pain before, it was very sharp, uncomfortable and made it hard to ride over any kind of bump, which there were a lot of. I figured my arms were out of shape, but I soon found out I had been riding rigid the entire time. My fork was broke, didn't move up and down. If you rode this course you would know the importance of front suspension. I also had some front derailleur issues, like it wouldn't drop into the granny gear.
After my ninth lap and riding one eyed in the dark I decided it was time to rest my eye with the hopes it would fix itself and stop burning. It was 11pm, I set my alarm for 1am. When I woke up my eye was still burning, so sleep it was. I woke at 6am, 7 hrs later-ugh, my eye was betta, I ate some food and started riding again.
I finished with 11 laps, less then I had anticipated. Overall I had a great time at this event and highly recommend it if you wanna have fun! The course was a mixed bag of terrain, which was awesome and kept it interesting. In the future I would definitely bring my support man JayP, no one does it betta and I shure did miss him at this event!! I am undecided about the bike choice and wonder if the Salsa Spearfish would have been a better ride for this course, guess I'll have to find out next year!
Til next time!!
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