Dirt, Sweat & Gears…a little late.
I’ll keep this one brief….yeah right.
Namrita, Kona Scott, and I arrived Friday afternoon in Fayetteville, TN. We pre-rode the course….sweet! My Kona Hei Hei was gonna rock on this course. Steep climbs, tight single track broken up with fast double track sections with just enough rocks and roots to appreciate the full suspension. I wish we had arrived on Thursday to get another day on it. That would have helped me figure out where to put in my efforts on some of the early laps. We rode and then hung out for a little while. There were lots of festivities going on and dinner was to be served around 6:00. We ended up getting hungry and went looking for food…huge mistake in Fayetteville, TN. We drove through downtown and saw a single sandwich shop and nothing else that serves food. We headed for the “commercial district” aka fast food haven. Not a single sit down place other than a few Mexican places which I usually steer clear of the night before a race. We checked in at the hotel and asked for some guidance…actually I checked the hotel’s restaurant out first: All You Can Eat Fried Chicken Buffet…then we asked for some guidance. Certainly this town had one decent eating establishment….
“…well everyone loves Cattleman’s.”
“What is Cattleman’s?”
“It’s a steakhouse.”
“Do they have pasta dishes?”
“mmm, nope. They have steak.”
“OK, is there a pasta place in town?”
“Oh yes, just past Cattleman’s is Raphael’s, they have pasta.”
….so we go to Raphael’s. It sounds Italian. We pull up to the place and only stayed because there were no other choices. I shoved in all I could, but I was hungry again 2 hours later. We should have stayed at the race sight for the free dinner, I heard it was great. Unfortunately, with a 8:00 AM start there was no time to find more food. I ate some granola and slept.
5:30 AM comes all too soon. I drank some bad coffee, ate some cereal and a banana. At the race sight we set up pit and then I ate some pancakes. I had to forgo my usual breakfast shake/smoothie concoction which have not done since ORAMM 03 (which was a terrible day on the bike).
The start was a start. I didn’t feel great on the first lap, but figured my legs would come around in a hour or so. An hour or so came and went, no better. By lap/hour 4 I was feeling my power fade and my HRM confirmed my mounting fear that I was bonking. I was eating plenty during the race, but the lack of food before and maybe a not so great recovery from the Cohutta 100 left me no reserves. By lap/hour 6 I was fading fast. My heart rate dropped to the 120s and nothing was making it jump. I was really starting to get worried as my handling was getting bad too. This was a pretty technical course and I didn’t want to ride for another 6 hour with no motorskills.
I stopped at the pits after lap 6 and received some tough love from Nam. “Eat, shut up and ride.” Kona Scott came in right behind me and offered some “magic pill.” I was suspicious at first, but he reassured me it was Hammer product and just vitamin B. I figured it couldn’t make me feel much worse, so I popped one and headed out. Sure enough about 20 minutes later I was rolling a big gear again and picking up steam. On my next trip through the pits I asked for an extra bottle and to keep the magic pills coming. It may have been the placebo effect, but I didn’t care. In the words of the sage Stephen Wright “I’m addicted to placebos…and it doesn’t matter if I quit.”
A few laps later race leader, Nat Ross, caught me. I rode his wheel for half a lap and chatted a bit. He looked very comfortable and seemed to be conserving a bit for the final push to win. We bombed the descents and then hit a flat section near the pits. I took the lead and pulled him across the field and then pulled away. I decided my motivation would be to not get lapped.
Pushing on passed Chris from UF, which gave me another position in the solo race and then on the next lap I passed another solo guy I was yo-yoing with most of the first 6 laps. That felt good and motivated me more. The course looped back on itself a lot, so I tried to keep an eye out for the other solos ahead of me, but never saw anyone.
Next thing I knew I was 9 laps in and time was running out. “Good.” I was starting to feel the late race efforts I was putting in and knew I could not hold off another bonk for much longer even with the “magic pills.” Lap 10 was good, but the last lap was pretty painful. Nat passed me again but I couldn’t do anything about that. He was pushing for a win, I was just pushing on. Knowing it was all over soon kept me going, but the bonk was back and the first couple of steep climbs really sapped the last of the power left in my legs. Nat passed me again, but I couldn’t hold on. Then about half way through 2nd place, Josh Tostada, came by. His pace was a little easier to handle, so I chased for a bit. We hit one of the double track sections though and I was unable to hold on. “So much for not getting lapped.” “OK, no more though.” I pushed on, but could see Tinker flying through the sections just up the ridge from me. 5 minutes back…I figured I could hold him off with that. Well, that didn’t happen either. I was on the last climb which was steep and rocky when he came by like a man possessed. He was chasing a fading Tostada and doing a pretty good job of it. I came to find out later he took 12 minutes out of Josh on that lap…freaking amazing effort. I punched over the top of the last climb and cruised in to the finish.
Announcer, Bruce Dickman, was there with a microphone in my face for the post race interview and then as I exited the finish tent, the race organizers were there as well to offer their thanks and congrats. Luckily Nam was there to hold me up and move me toward the pits. I finished in 7th, which considering all of the issues I had was pretty good….but truthfully I was really disappointed with myself. I knew I had some serious power at the Cohutta, but just could not show any of that at the DSG. Next year…
Many thanks to Namrita for her support at this one. She was kind enough to give up her weekend of riding to help Kona Scott and I which is a sacrifice I can appreciate. Thank you. A huge thank you to Kona Scott as well. I was hoping to show off with a big result, but bad days happen. Thanks for making the rest of the weekend such a good time and of course thanks for the support from Kona.
Jeff Kerkove has a ton of pics on his sight…click it.
The DSG race itself was a well orchestrated event. They had big prize money for the men & women which brought in a lot of talent. The southeast just took another step up on the cycling ladder. The local support of the race was great to see. Local non-profits doing the cooking, the mayor of Fayetteville was there (note to mayor, please attract an Olive Garden), tons of picture takers, the volunteers were so kind, and the directors were great too. Clay Higgens called me last summer for some advice about putting on a race….little did I know he was going so big. Nice work.
I’d like thank all of my sponsors:
GNC at Plantation Square in Lakeland, FL
Collette at Sports Massage and Integrated Therapies
SRAM, Rock Shox, Truvativ & Avid
Eddie O