One For The Books

The first race of the season is now complete, and BOY was it a kick in the butt! Dusty, Tim Garret and I left for Arkansas on Friday morning, and arrived in Oden about 5:30pm. We unloaded the expedition, rested for about an hour and then went for some BBQ. After that we went back and hung out at the motel for the evening. The next morning we went out for a mid morning breakfast, and then returned to the hotel to prepare for a pre-ride of some of the course that we would be racing on the next day. We first rode the final miles of the race to see what it looked like. We wanted to know so that the next day, when things go familiar we knew we were about do

After this, we met up with Lelan Bobby and Randy at the venue. We then road the first 10-12 miles of the race so we knew what it looked like before riding it with hundreds of other riders all around. A good time was had by all, and we found out that we were in for one heck of a day climbing, and climbing, and climbing!
Post pre-ride we went back to the motel to shower, clean bikes and gorge ourselves with pizza. After filling our stomach's we went back to prepare for the next day and hit the sack early.

The next day was a blur! Got up at 5:00am to rain. We quickly dressed, had some leftover pizza, loaded up and headed out to the race. By the time we got their it was wet and cold. We quickly got ready and headed for the start line. When we got their we met up with some friends from Kansas City and visited for a few minutes. This is when the first sign of bad luck showed up. I was sitting their messing around, and all of the sudden my front break went out! Close by their was a person with a tool bow. We borrowed a couple of tools, and get it temporarily fixed.

We had to rush over to the start line and find a place. The start was FAST but uneventful. We started of course with a pretty long climb up to the first single track. It was quite congested and moving was sluggish due to being behind a few people that were unsure on the single track. When arriving at the first check point, I opted not to stop so I could get around some of the slower people, and it worked!

The second section was my best of the day. I was able to cruse at will and take my own pace. I was making good time and passing a few people here and their. And the climbs went well in this section. I was able to work hard!

When I pulled into the second check point I was feeling pretty good, and I stoped for a few minutes to refill the water, lube the chain and eat a quick power bar. By this point I was thinking that the climbs were a killer, but was quickly informed by the volunteers that the next section was the toughest, and they were not lying! The third section was by far, one of the toughest areas that I ever remember riding. Their were unrelenting steep, long, long climbs, and then when you were exhausted they threw in some rock gardens that were tough to even walk through!

It was in one of these rock gardens (mile 43) that things turned BAD! I was making my way through one of the rock gardens, and it was very muddy with standing water. As I was riding through, all of the sudden I remember laying on the ground, vision a little blurred, and my right shin hurting. I stood up, and walked for a couple of minutes to gather my composure. I then got on the bike to ride away when I noticed that my read deralure are bent bad. The bike would not peddle properly and I had 2-3 miles to the next check point.

When I finally arrived, the mechanic worked on the bike while I got something to drink and had another power bar. After leaving, the bike was working muck better, but was still not quite right. I went through the last section of some really steep climbing and the legs were shot, and I had climbed DEEP DEEP DEEP into the pain cave. I soon spilled out onto the gravel roads that led back into town to the finish. I was so excited by this point that I was able to move quite quickly down the rode to the finish!

I crossed the line after 62 miles of trails in 7 hours 2 minutes, with 7,375 feet of climbing. Like I said, it was by far one of the toughest things that I have done, was totally exhausted, and had one of the best times of my life! Would I like to do it again?....................HECK YEA!!!!

Peace out!