Snake TT #1 Part 2

After getting everything set I was ready to push on. I saw another rider readying himself and thought that I should get out ahead of him since I was on a singlespeed and it looked like we were getting straight into more climbing. With motivation was low I let him get out first. Another singlespeeder jumped in the mix and before long we were both stuck behind some geared riders. I didn't much care because I wasn't going to be hauling ass anywhere, so being held up for a second was just fine for me - I'd be pushing my bike WAY more than I'd like to ever admit up ahead.

Throughout the entire day EVERYONE on the trail was great. Greetings as we passed by each other. Everyone was quick to let me by as I caught them - which I greatly appreciated, but somehow felt I didn't deserve. At times I was hesitant to pass because my confidence was shaken and I worried it wouldn't be long until they caught back up to me. But most of the time the pass did pay off and held. 

I did hear one message throughout the day that I had a hard time accepting: "you are my hero!"  I guess it didn't matter that I was having my ass handed to me, people were impressed that I was out there on a rigid singlespeed. For most of the trail it was exactly the right bike for the job. I can't fault the bike at all for the climbs. I don't think I can even second guess my gearing (doesn't mean I'm still not pondering a change) because it really came down to my own physical/mental performance - or lack there of.  But yeah, the Glow Worm was the right weapon for the job. 

The only sections I kinda wished for something with a little more... cushion... were the blazing fast and fun descents on the ridge line. They weren't overly technical, just bumpy and fun, and decently long. Although I had been out in Bent Creek hammering through the gnar on a descent and felt AMAZING, my arms were feeling the burn on this trail.

It was my forearms that first screamed at me. They felt like they were swelling to Popeyes proportions and at times I was wishing for the end of the decent as I wasn't sure I'd be able to hold on much longer. Sure enough, on an unassuming turn I couldn't hold it and my front wheel washed out and down I went. I had just passed a group of guys on the climb up so it wasn't long until they retook me - checking to see if I was ok as they flew by. I was. The bike looked ok, my elbow and knee had a twinge of pain, but seemed to be functioning so I pushed on. Luckily my confidence was only shaken for a short time. Well, that and the fact that there really weren't a lot of downward facing trails to blaze through after that spill. 

The next big descent before the fire road climb up to the last section of singletrack was less of a trail and more if a staircase!  This thing was root drop after rock drop, throw some sharp turns in there and you have an idea of what I was facing. Here it wasn't so much my forearms burning as it was my triceps as I was trying to stay as far off the back of my saddle as I could as I maneuvered through the step trail, picking through the drops. At the bottom I breathed a huge sigh of relief that I made it through clean. I had to shake my head as I made my way towards the "final" stretch as now my legs AND arms were sore. 

I hit the last sag station with one bottle left. I thought about pushing through, but decided to refill a bottle just in case. From here there was 6 miles of "the hardest stuff out here" left, followed by 2 miles of road back to the snake pit and finish line. I filled my bottle, ate a little and downed some mustard before I pushed off. 

Soon it was evident that this last section would step up the rock game. At first I loved every second of it. It was a blast picking lines through and over rocks. I started having fun by taking the "pro" line over the crap instead of taking the clear line around. But the combo of rocks, pitch, and fatigue had my speed down a bit too slow for comfort.  There were a few short climbs, and energy spent maneuvering made me curse upward travel. I probably made the first 1/3 relatively cleanly. Then came a mix of riding and hiking. Then came The Wall. This thing was unreal. SUPER steep pitch. Nice switchback thrown in for good measure to dissuade most from even attempting to ride, yet I hear there are some out there that do indeed ride it. I honestly have no idea how one could, but I'm sure they can - I owe anyone out there that can clear it a beer and a high five - you've earned it!

After hiking The Wall I was ready to be done. I soon found myself hiking. I was getting tired if riding and stopping to get over something that my current state wouldn't allow me to tackle so I just never got back on.  Until someone passed me. 

When someone passed me it helped bring me back to reality that I could be riding this stuff and I'd get a (temporary) burst of energy/confidence and hop back on the saddle. Soon I was on a good stretch and I was able to pick through on my bike.  Suddenly I came upon a rider fixing a flat. I stopped to offer help, and lent him a tire lever. As I chatted with him I realized he could handle things and I did want to be finished sooner than later so I left him with my awesome Pedro's tire levers hoping I'd see him at the finish. 

After crest after crest of expecting to see the radio tower it finally came - I was actually worried I had missed a turn as the ridge line rock fest seemed to go on FOREVER!  From the radio tower it was mostly all downhill. First down a gravel service road, to old asphalt, short singletrack to a short pavement climb and then twist and turn down. I was happy to tuck and coast down the hill - hitting up over 30 mph letting my hub hum. Seeing the cones ahead taking the right lane for us was the most glorious sight... I had made it. Up over the curb, short grass turn uphill to a gravel parking lot finish.

I made it.  All of a sudden all the doubt and fatigue left me.  I had complete 34 miles and 5000+ ft of elevation.  Sure, it was much slower than I had hoped, but in that moment it didn't matter.  I was done.  Texting ensued to catch up with Dwayne and Mike (who had finished and left on their journey back to NC) and to let me wife know that I was still alive.  I headed back to the pterodactyl to change so I could get some delicious chili.  As I pulled my leg warmers off I discovered that my crash left a nice bloody skinflap on my knee. No biggie

 Post skin flap - that stuff is just gross to look at, so you are welcome!

Got my chili and waited around for a bit to see if I could recover my tire levers... I couldn't wait - I had a 5 hour drive ahead of me and I surprising felt like I could drive... so I took off.  Sunday morning when I woke my knee was a whole different story - I could barely walk on it!!  I don't know what is going on with it - it kills me when I stand after sitting for a prolonged period of time - like at work, and is a little swollen.

Rest assured, I am NOT on the toilet. 

I'm hoping it's just a bad bruise, but only time will tell.  It's too damn cold out to be riding anyway, so I'll take the next couple of days to rest up before I get back at it and prepare for round 2.  Of course I'm coming back!!  I mean, what kind of "hero" would I be if I just gave up??

I hope to see some of you out there - if you haven't tangled with the Snake, you should!  Regardless of the crapfest of a performance I put out in round 1, it was a blast of a course to ride!! 

Snake TT #1 Part 1

I was meeting D-Wayne and his buddy Mike down in Dalton since I had to work Friday. As I was leaving school my garmins led me to believe I would arrive at 7:15 - with stops for gas I knew it would be a little later, but that sounded pretty good to me!  Two accidents within a mile or so of each other had something to say about that ETA so Dwayne was kind enough to pick up my number for me.

As I was getting settled in discussions turned to what to wear. First thing first, I had my new team kit in my hands (for a second).  Due to the temps, no one see it anyway, but the kit is going back for a few minor adjustments. That being said, the thing is SICK!  Seriously, I may enter races (or maybe just show up and just hang out) to show this thing off!  If your team (or even just YOU) need a new design hit up Dwayne. The guy is super easy to work with, lightening fast with responses and works tirelessly to get you what you want. Oh yeah, and he's a mountain biker - can't get much better than that, now can you?  (He also races cx and rides the roads, so you folks will feel equally at home working with Dwayne). Seriously, if you have a need or even just an idea please consider talking/emailing Dwayne, you won't regret it. 

So before I had to give the kit back I of course took some creepy hotel bathroom selfies.

The rest of the night was filled with going back and forth with wardrobe thoughts. When I left for GA it looked like it was going to be in the 30s by race time. When I got to GA it looked like mid 20s for the start, that didn't sound fun at all. But, it did make my choice easier. With temperatures staying that low I felt confident that I would be able to wear my jacket the entire time and not have to worry about needing to shed it with huger temps. In the end I went with my jacket and a short sleeve jersey - it was perfect. By the end of the first half I did have the jacket unzipped half way. 

The plan was that Dwayne and I would be racing the full 34 miles while Mike was riding the 17 (he had ridden it before and said all the fun stuff was in the second half anyway).  As we got down to the snake pit to load our bikes and shuttle to the start Dwayne throws his bike in the 17 miler trailer... the hell?  In the minute from the hotel to the parking lot he changed his mind, looked like I'd be going it alone. Turns out it was probably a really good idea for him as he ended his race feeling pretty damn ill. 

I placed my bike with the other 34 milers and waited to get moving. A couple things going through my head while we were transporting: Damnit, I should have brought my bottles with me on the bus - they are probably going to freeze on the way to the start (they didn't, but that was a scary risk - I was thinking if ways to heat them up the whole ride to the start). It was getting warm in the bus, so much so that I had to shed my gloves as my hands were sweating. Yet my feet were cold!  My feet are always cold. ALWAYS. Even with thin wool socks and DeFeet Woolie Boolies on my feet were cold on a warm bus.

The other thought battling my potential water bottle issue, what to do about the creek crossing. My main plan was to strip cleats and socks and walk across. I had extra socks (mostly to use to dry my feet) and really didn't like the idea of risking wet feet in suck cold weather - especially with my naturally cold feet!  When we arrived I had to wait for the trailer with my bike to show for a few minutes. By the time it was all said and done I was starting around 10:00 and the temperature forecast didn't look so bad. 

I've always been good with temps over 30, so I felt good with what I had on - although still a little conserve end with the possibility of overhearing. In all I had one two pairs of wool socks, leg warmers, bibs with baggies over them (last minute decision to also wear boxers - didn't want any chance of my junk freezing over the 34 miles), short sleeve jersey, and bike jacket (rated for I think 60, but worthless to me unless it's at least under 40), my cyclone winter gloves with the inserts of my snowboarding gloves, and a balaclava (helmet, cleats, glasses of course). 

I planned out nutrition for 5 hours with individual Osmo packets for bottle refills at the aid station (had 2 bottles) and packets of mustard if the cramps came to play. 

By the time I was starting there weren't many of us left (I'll be sure to get to the snake pit earlier in February) so it was go when you were ready - I had heard it was a 5 at a time start. I started alone, which was great as it removed any temptation to destroy myself off the start. I did try to keep things up on the fire roads to the creek to get my legs going.  I think my legs had gotten out of the car and decided to walk the rest of the way as I say in traffic in Greenville, unfortunately they didn't make it for the start of the race. All day I had burst of great performance out if them, and then bouts of childish protesting from them. I never knew which I would face each time I came to a climb - it was a fun little game they were playing with me. 

The creek crossing.  My feet were frozen as they hit the ground before I even got to the water, which made the water not so bad really...  The only thing that saved my feet for the rest of the race was the fact that the race promoters gave us a goodie bag that had in it those packet hand warmers... when I put my socks back on I slide on in - my feet were not cold the rest of the race (or at least I didn't notice).  

After the creek it was straight to business with a climb.  It was a doubletrack climb that I grinded away on.  There was a singlespeed rider up ahead of me so he was my carrot the entire climb.  I caught him as we entered singletrack toward the top as he stopped.  I pressed on for a short time until I stopped myself to drink something.  Throughout the first half of the race anytime I "stopped" I tried to at least be walking.  The trail in the first half was "nice."  Nothing, trail wise, challenging - but there wasn't much relief from an upward tread, so it wore on me.  There were times (when my legs weren't cooperating) when I started thinking about the possibility of throwing in the towel at the halfway mark... if I was struggling this much now how would I make the rest of it?  But then... then I would hit bursts where my legs felt right on and I powered through climbs.  Toward the end the trail starting turning down - the end was near.... signs appeared to check your speed - and of course in this "dangerous" speed trap the camera guy was posted up... he had a good spot - a nice hump to allow riders to air it out - not sure that I really got off the ground - I was more interested in enjoying the downward ride than grabbing a great picture.  Up ahead... the road.  And the pit stop.

I made it.  I instantly knew I wasn't done - I could make it.  I think I pulled in at a little under 2.5 hours.  Slower than I had hoped, but considering how I was feeling it felt like I was "ok."  During the pit I ate the rest of my clif bar I had been trying to eat while riding (I was also downing gummy worms while riding), finished the remainder of my one remaining bottle, and then refilled both of them dumping in my single serving of Osmo, and downed two packets of mustard.  I wanted to do as much as I could to stay ahead of any cramping.  So far, so good.  My pace was a bit slow during the pit and I had to zip my jacket back up as I started getting cold.  I knew I should get going, but I couldn't seem to pick up the pace to get everything ready to go.

I did eventually get going... but we'll get into the second half tomorrow.