18 hours race report

18 hours of racing seems like a long time but honestly, it’s more fun than racing a regular event. After weeks of preparation we were finally ready to do the Scout’s Honor race held in Goochlands, VA (just outside of Richmond)…

The week leading up to the race I got a message from one of my fellow chicky teammates. Her poor doggie was very ill and she was going to have to drop out of the race. We asked everyone we knew if they’d be interested in racing & no bites until our friend Moe stepped up. Moe rides some but has never raced…ever! Woo Hoo..back to 4 Chickies!...

We caravanned out to the venue, Hubby, Chas & me in the Outback. …about halfway there, hubby’s phone rings…”dude..you may want to pull over, your wheel is working itself loose from the wheel fork on the roof of your car”…No sooner had we hung up the phone when we see the wheel bouncing from the roof onto the side of the road!..Thank God we had exited the highway already. Chas opened the car door, grabbed the wheel & held it in his lap until we got to the gas station. It was pretty comical..but could have been a more dire situation. We were truly lucky…
We arrived at the venue & checked on the status of rooms. There were 2 more cabins available near the girls cabin..with showers, running water, etc!..we decided it would be better for all 3 teams to stay nearby….

We unpacked, got the bikes ready to go & headed over to the racers meeting. The organizers said to watch for surprises through the night & the usual race stuff..stop to help others in trouble, yield the trail when the opportunity presents itself, watch out for trail tramps (more on this later).blah, blah, blah.

I was the first in our rotation. The first lap was good..not the blistering pace I expected..probably because we were led out by a guy on a unicycle…yes I said unicycle. We circled a gravel road, then dumped into the singletrack, rode through the transition area & then we were on our own. I paced with 5 or 6 guys for the first 3 miles or so…The course was fast, and dusty…As I continued w/ my lap I wished I had a harder gear. It was ok on the up hills but I just spun myself silly on the flats. It was frustrating to get passed by other females on other teams simply because they had gears. Oh well..that comes with riding a single speed. I finished the 9.5 loop in about an hour. Handed off our “baton” to Mackenzie & headed back in to recover. Mackenzie finished her lap, then Moe headed out followed by Kristin.
Our team stayed strong through the evening. From 10 pm on, we had Moe take a break…so the remaining 3 of us raced through the wee hours of the night.

During my midnight lap, I noticed the first “surprise”..there were lots and lots of rubber chickens with glowsticks in their beaks dangling from the trees. Weird…I said something to the race people & they were using those for prizes on the upcoming laps. Apparently if you brought in a chicken, you got a prize.

During my 3 a.m. lap I encountered the trail tramp. She was this short little blonde, dressed in …well, I don’t know how to describe what she was dressed in. She was standing by the side of the trail just inside of 2 miles to go. I could see a glow in the distance as I approached but I didn’t know what it was. As I zoomed past, I noticed 2 guys with her. They yelled at me to stop and to sign her. Huh? I stopped, grabbed a pen, and wrote my name on her shoulder. As I was leaving, 2 more guys pulled up behind me. I told them to stop & say hello.

After my 4th lap around 4:30 -5 a.m...things started to fall apart for our team of chickies. I felt ok when I came in but I must have chosen the wrong type of food to refuel with. Within 20 minutes of refueling, I was close to puking it all out. I would need to rest. Kristin was also a little woozy. We decided to take a break and rest…..Mackenzie came in & I don’t remember anything until around 7 a.m. when Mackenzie woke me up. She asked how I felt…I wasn’t sure but I wasn’t nauseated. She said Moe had gone back out on course & was completing her lap. She had checked on our place in the standings…we were currently 3rd!..even with taking a 2 hour break….The only problem…It was close to 7:30..the 4th place team had a girl on course before Moe & had 2 waiting in the wings. We only had until 10 a.m. to complete our laps. We calculated & recalculated to see if we could retain third….unfortunately it was not going to happen. Even if we got Mackenzie & I back on course, we would still be a lap down. Bummer!!! We decided to forgoe the laps. I went over to the 4th place team to let them know we were stopping. They decided to continue racing to make it interesting for the 2nd place team.

All in all it was a great time, hanging out w/ good friends & making some new ones.
Here are some quick thoughts/ thanks/kudos
Mackenzie & Barry – thanks for racing w/ us. You both did awesome for being so new to the sport
Moe – you totally rock. When you were not racing, you kept all three teams in their rotations throughout the wee hours of the morning. You go girl!!!
Kristin – Watch out for those trail tramps!..thanks for racing on my team…
Team 4 brothers from different mothers – you guys rocked the house..taking 1st overall…way to go
Team Sasquatch – thanks for the laughs…& congrats on your 7th place finish.
Dave & Gordon – thanks for checking the “clunking” noise on my bike
The chiropractic/massage dudes: THANK YOU…you were my saving grace…coming in getting my neck/shoulder/back worked on after laps was wonderful!...It kept me pain free during my laps.

18 HOURS ON FARM

Race report coming soon.....

55 miler….

Got up early on Sunday to get a long roadie ride in before it got too hot. Hubby & I ventured out towards Troutville & beyond. We started from the house, cruised through downtown, then out Hollins Road, Plantation Road & eventually ended up on Read Mountain Rd. From there we turned on to Rt 11, stopped in Troutville for a potty break, then made our way out towards Nace & Lithia. This is such a pretty ride out through here. Lots of field/pastures…the ride is relatively flat, there are a few rollers but not like Bradshaw Road. We kept a good average pace heading out Nace Rd…probably around 22 mph. We passed quite a few people out on their road bikes today too.
As we approached the end of the road, we encountered two riders taking a quick break. We said hello…turns out they know one of our sponsors from Mail It Plus. As we chatted a bit, we learned they had a flat at the start of their ride. It took them 50 minutes to change it! Ow!
We took a quick snack break then headed back the way we came. It was a bit tougher heading back b/c we had a head wind...Yuk!...we still averaged close to 17/18 mph heading back. There were a couple of points I stared to fade so we slowed the pace down a bit. All in all it was a good ride.. I think we ended up doing 55 miles in a little over 3 hours.
Got back, had a smoothie (YUM), grabbed lunch, then snoozed on the couch off and on while watching the Olympics. I saw bits and pieces of the women’s road race. They raced in horrid conditions….hard rain most of the race. There was this rider from Korea who crashed & took out a couple of riders w/ her. She ended up in this ditch…pretty scary to watch. The finish was exciting w/ a gal from Great Britain taking gold. There was also a 49 year old from France racing!!! I hope I’m still racing at 49!

Girlz night out…

Went out to the Cove Thursday night for the regular group ride. Got there a little late b/c I had to let the spoiled pooch out…she had been home all day & I didn’t want to come home to any little “gifts” . I also tried to locate the bottom bracket puller for Chris’ new fancy Rig…but could not locate it quickly amongst the unpacked boxes which remain in our basement.

Upon arrival Laura (aka “Michigan”) greeted me in the parking lot. She said the boyz had already gone on their way. She had already ridden for an hour & came back to wait for Jen & I. Plus the boyz were climbing up Hi Dee Hoe or Buck..whatever it was, it didn’t sound like fun.

Jen arrived & we got ready to go. There was another group out there & we checked to see what route they were taking…they had not decided yet, so we decided to go on our way. We did the usual low lander meander route. Songbird to Arrowhead to Little Bell to Schoolhouse, to EF, to Comet, to Connector.

I was still riding pretty conservatively b/c the neck is still stiff. I have more range of motion but still can’t turn completely to the left to look over my shoulder. I tried not to push it too hard on the climbs..and some stuff I walked which I can normally ride…..I guess I’m still hesitant b/c I don’t want to risk further injury. Other than that my legs felt good. I could definitely feel the effects of being off the bike for 2 ½ weeks.

Jen led most of the ride As we got to Arrowhead trail, I tried some of the creek crossings ..I think I got through the first one & that was it. The others I footed out..and I didn’t try the last one b/c the rocks in the middle were wet & I didn’t feel like crashing.
We continued on to Schoolhouse & Little Bell. When I got to these trails I felt as though I needed a steeper gear b/c I was spinning myself silly. However, when I got on the climbs, my gearing was just right. I think I’ve gotten stronger from riding the single speed but I don’t know if I’m ready to go into a higher gear….. Laura rides a SS too….I asked what gear she runs b/c she is really strong, yet stays seated on everything & makes things look effortless…she runs a 36-20…equivalent to a 32-18…..I think that’s too steep for me right now..but maybe one day.

We dumped down to EF….saw a bunch of deer hanging out where the water used to be. There was a large buck among the deer. I think we saw him the last time we rode through there. He’s probably around an 8 pointer. As we approached the creek crossing, we heard lots of voices. We stopped for a bit to see which way the riders were heading. While we waited, I noticed a large spider web on one of the trail signs. I grabbed a stick to do some further investigation. When I saw the legs, I knew it was a Black Widow….I looked a little closer & saw the red hourglass on her belly. Yuk!! Fortunately this one was smaller than the one my hubby & I killed a few weeks back…but it was still scary.
Once we got started, we ran into the boyz. We heard one of them remark..oh, they’re not riders..it’s just the girlz….or something to that effect. We jeered as they past by us….saying “we don’t need no stinkin boyz” They just laughed at us.

We finished Comet and dumped back out on the fire road. We contemplated whether to go up the climb to Connector or head out the paved road. We opted to climb. I took it really easy up the climb. Laura took off…seated the entire way..it was awesome. We met back up w/ her at the entrance to Four Gorge…and proceeded down the trail. Laura & Jen took off…I just paced myself b/c my back was stiffening up. At one point Jen waited for me…I told her not to worry about it.but she said “I never drop riders”….We descended down Hi Dee Hoe, back to the parking lot.

It was a fun ride..w/ great company. I’m looking forward to the next ride w/ the girls..we might to a roadie ride to mix it up a bit. Plus Jen & I need to get ready for the next derailer race to be held at Candler’s Mountain in Lynchburg. I told Jen lots of road riding will get us ready. Woo Hoo!