This One Doesn't Quite Go To Eleven

The Stats:

• 10 Laps
• 91 Miles
• 13,680' of elevation gain 
• 7:10:08 on course 
• 1st-Place Solo Singlespeed, 1st Solo Overall 
• # of Wrecks: 0 
• Max Speed: 40mph 
• Max Temp (measured on my Garmin): 98.6F.  Oof.

That was my goal, to complete 11 laps in eight hours on the ~9.1-mile Knobby 9-to-5 course on Saturday.  I probably had just enough time to complete that 11th lap before the eight hours was up, but I was cooked.  Lots of learning.

Erica Zuber leads the charge to our bikes, with me a few spots back.  (Eric accidentally registered in the Solo Women's Singlespeed division, which resulted in much ribbing.)
Photo: Gene Marcowka

The 9-to-5 started as these races do, with a LeMans run to the pile of bikes and a scramble to get out of the mass before trampling/being trampled by everybody else.  As soon as we started pedaling I could feel that my legs were still fatigued from the last couple of weeks, which made me feel good about my plan to temper the pace in the first few laps to allow me to warm up into racing.  

Only marginally successful.  I rolled the first couple of laps in 4th place, faster than I wanted but letting myself get sucked into a faster pace by the 3 leading soloists.  And then somewhat unintentionally started pushing a bit harder to reel them in.  Not entirely a tempered pace.  

Fast, fun singletrack with Matt Woodruff.
Photo: Robin Purcell

Somewhere in lap 3 I caught and passed Matt Woodruff, and rode the next few laps with him as the other two leaders faded back.

Lap 4 was when I started to get a glimpse of the day's upcoming challenges.  Yeah it started to get hot, but the real bummer was that I was already starting to cramp.  Had I taken Anatomy & Physiology in college I could probably name the muscle that travels down the inside of the thigh; regardless, that was the first one to fire.  

Pedaling through it seemed the only reasonable option, and it did go away after a few minutes.  Alas, it was only a preview.

"Where is that guy?"  Dad tries to anticipate my arrival at the pit.
Photo: Robin Purcell

Riding with Matt was fun, but I knew I was going to need to try and break away eventually.  The way the laps were going, I was putting a small gap on him in the spinning climb up Spring Creek (my 34x19 gearing was the perfect choice for this course, by the way) and he would make up some time on the upper descents by shifting into a big gear.  Then I would make a small gap up Burnt Car Gulch and he would close it on the next descent.

"Thanks Mom!"
Photo: Robin Purcell

Lap 6 was the turning point, both in our race and in my legs.  I decided to put in a burst up Spring Creek to see if Matt would follow, and when I got to the top of the steep finish to Burnt Car I was alone.

(Finally) riding alone, and starting to feel it.
Photo: Robin Purcell

This day's Ultimate Support Crew: my parents and the Ruester.
Photo: Robin Purcell

What that burst meant for my legs was that for the rest of the race at least one muscle was cramped at all times.  It varied which muscle was firing, but the favorites seemed to be the inner thighs, calves, and quads.  As I kept pedaling the cramps kept traveling, but they were always there.

At one point my left quad cramped so hard that my leg was locked straight.  That sucked.  Thankfully I was on a slight downhill so the bike kept rolling while I forced my knee to bend.

Whoa, this hurts.
Photo: Robin Purcell

Feeling broiled, and heading out for #10.  Mom's ice bath was key.
Photo: Robin Purcell

Between the heat, my severe under-hydration, and the resulting cramps my pace slowed significantly from the start of the race and it took more and more oomph to head out on another lap.  (Early laps were in the 38-minute range; by the end they were more like 48.)  My Garmin topped out at 98.6 degrees (in the sun) during the dead-air Burnt Car climb--damn.  My body just isn't ready for that at this point in the summer!

Done.  Thanks for the support, Dad.
Photo: Robin Purcell

When I rolled into base at 4:10:08 and race maestro Hal told me that my last two laps had taken roughly 48 minutes each it slowly crystallized in my broiled brain that lap 11 wasn't going to happen.  Sure, I might have been able to pull off another one in 48, but I was freaking worked and if I finished at 5:00:01 the lap wouldn't count.  Knowing that nobody else was going to make an 11th lap either and that I had secured the win defeated my motivation to even contemplate heading out for another, so I stepped off the bike and went to lay in the shade with the Ruester for a spell.

Ah, that's so much better!
Photo: Gene Marcowka

At the finish with Matt Woodruff and his wife, Jana.
Photo: Tom Linnell

Matt rolled in a bit after me, as did Fitzy teammates Dave Byers (after achieving his 10-lap goal and a second-place finish in the 40-49 Men's Solo division) and Kim Beres (with a second-place finish in the 40+ Women's Solo division in her third-ever mountain bike race--all of them these whacko ultra-endurance things!)  Go team!

The Singlespeed podium, with Cameron Lloyd and Eric Zuber.
Photo: Tom Linnell

I didn't make my goal for the day; that stings, but it was a day full of learning.  Here's a bit of it:

• Rest.  I hadn't allowed myself to recover from the Winds ski trip and a chunk of hard training during the intervening weekend.  And I should have done a better job of prioritizing 8 hours of nightly sleep last week.
• Hydration.  Plan to drink more, and then do it.  I had drastically under-estimated the quantity of liquid I would need for this race.  Even doubling my fluid intake by slamming a bottle of water at each pit starting after Lap 6 I never even contemplated needing to pee during the race.  And after downing multiple bottles of water and a quart of chocolate milk at the finish, when I finally had to pee it was the most dehydrated pee of my life.  Might this have led to cramping?(!)
• It's possible to ride through cramps.  Just keep pedaling; it will get better.  Or it won't, but at least you'll be further along the course.

Of course there's more than that, but that's where my head is at so far.  I really wanted that 11th lap, just blew it in prepping for the race.  More of a learning experience than a perfect race, but good enough.  Glad I got the gearing right, at least.