The drive is 6+ hours each way ... a long trek. It rained most of the way down, but the weather was pleasant down in NC. It was amazing how much warmer it was there, maybe 20 deg warmer. There was a 30% chance of rain overnight, but it never materialized so we had beautiful summer-dry trails.
We arrived around 4pm and drove straight to the trailhead to register and get in a pre-ride lap. The trail was awesome! So many swoops, berms, tight turns ... a real roller coaster. Just enough climbing to keep things interesting but mostly an ungodly number of berms. This course demanded every ounce of concentration and even then, it tests your sense of equilibrium. I worried about getting dizzy after 6 hours of it. We did our first lap in about 1:07 and it felt hard. Half way through I hit a rock that split open my brand new Racing Ralph which spewed Stans all over but didn't seal. So we had to put a tube in. I am NOT loving those Racing Ralphs after both of them split on rocks in the W101 last year. I've giving them just one more chance before switching away from Schwalbe.
Race morning came and we got an early drive over to the course to get a good parking spot for pitting. We had about 2 hours to burn while waiting for the start. There were about 300+ people lined up at the start and the key was to decide how closely to get to the front. Too close and you get burned out in the first lap. Too far back and you get stuck behind a bunch of couch potatoes or nancy's. I got about 5 people deep (about 50 riders) and I think I got it just about perfect. The first lap was just a bit too fast but not unbearable. But I never found myself in a spot wishing I could get around someone in my way.
We hit the first extended lap in 1:21. I could see John just ahead of me and I sensed Todd was just a few seconds up the road. I think I caught a glimpse of him in the parking lot section. I went through for lap 2 without pitting. I caught John quickly and passed him when he crossed up his front wheel on a berm. I reeled Todd in shortly after. Then I got on a great train of about 5 riders, one of the better pro women just in front of me. She had great lines and was easy to follow. The pace was high but bearable. At this point I was worried about making 4 laps, perhaps calling it after 3. Lap 2 was a quick 1:10. At the start of lap 3 I pitted briefly. Then headed out fast on the trail. Todd and John were both kaput and decided to stop/rest. I immediately broke my chain. Fortuitous because it only took me 5 minutes to run back to the pit crew. I got a power link to put on and was back out on the trail. Maybe 10 minutes lost.
Lap 3 was marked by a lot of passing. I was starting to slow but there were tons more slower people out there. Some of them had just slipped by while I was fixing my chain. I even caught a few people still on their first lap. Lap 3 went by in about 1:29.
I was tiring but still found some depth. I hit lap 4 aware now that a 5 lap day was a possibility. I started doing mental math and figured I could ride a 1:30 lap and still make the time cut-off of 3:40 for the last lap exit. I rolled in about 20 minutes under the cut off, stopped for some water and food and headed out for lap 5. John and Todd had both called it after 3 laps (both had bad mechanical issues) so I was aware that I was now holding them up for another hour+. I rode a good solid 5th lap finding bits of power here and there. I was passing lots of people. This was the first time I saw people going by me quickly. I figured they were pro solos, but it turns out they were all relay team riders; I didn't get lapped by a single solo.
I was also only 12 minutes down on the first woman pro and might have caught her if not for the broken chain. I finished 6th in the 40+ open men (out of 56). I finished in about the 11th percentile of all solo riders. This was my best mountain bike race finish by far. Especially considering how the brutal winter has limited training, I did much better than expected.
It was nice wearing the Freeze Thaw kit and I got quite a few comments from people who recognized it. The race was super well run and the course was in immaculate condition. Props to the race crew! Thanks to John G and Todd who split the driving on the way back. I was so spent I couldn't have driven more than an hour or so. We arrived in Granville a little after midnight. I also note that we had 0 beers the whole weekend. Our dinner place had no alcohol license and the state park didn't allow alcohol either. Then we were in the car and driving.
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