Well here it is - the down and dirty
5am - wake up call via G's phone in the next tent. It was dark and a little cold, but we managed to get everything packed up and ready without leaving anything.
7am - race start. I wasn't really sure what to eat, but I figured something similar to what I used to eat before cross country races would do pretty well. Unfortunately, I didn't bring oatmeal or pop-tarts, so I ate a banana and part of a bagel and hoped for the best.
the rest of the day:
Uphill on the road, downhill on the road, single track stuff, more downhill on the road, then a flat sometimes rooty section with a big nasty looking rocky section at the end. Said rocky section really isn't that bad, but some dude with a megaphone scared the bejesus out of me when i was almost through it and freaked me out, so I screwed up and had to stop before I killed myself. Stopping resulted in me pissing off some lady behind me and she yelled at me. Oh well, she'll get over it.
The next few miles were uneventful. Rolled through the 18 mile aid station, hit the fire road and started to do some climbing. Next was the paved road section that had some massive rollers that were really tough on the big ole' mountain bike. Finally, I came to a really crowded highway. Wait. Highway? F@#*.
Yep, any doubts that I am, in fact, my father's daughter were removed when I missed an obvious turn somewhere around here:
(would you like extra miles with that?)
After I turned around, I somehow ended up back on course and started picking off the stragglers at the back of the race. I passed some guy who encouraged me by saying "well, you're not going to podium...". Well, buddy, I got some news for ya...neither are you.
Anyways, after climbing for what seemed like days, I got to the 34 mile aid station at noon. After climbing for what seemed like many, many more days, I got to the 50 mile aid station. Here I downed some boiled red potatoes doused in salt, some chips, and a cookie. I decided it would be smart to avoid the offered hotdogs, although, they did look tasty. Thank you, thank you volunteers for refilling my camelback and lubing my chain while I was stuffing my face.
On to the 64 mile aid station where more face stuffing was done, although, by this time, I was starting to really feel the heat. More climbing was followed by a nice flat section, and then more climbing up to the 80 mile aid station.
At mile 80, I sat down, had a banana and something else that I can't remember. By this point I was pretty much dead and was dreading the last 10 miles of the race which were all single track. I was quickly revived when Bruce came up behind me and dumped a bunch of cold water on my head. WOW, that was amazing. Thank you sir, may I have another??
Quick recap
time to mile 34 - 5 hours
34 mile station to 80 mile station - 4 hours
The last 20 miles were a lot harder than I had anticipated. I figured most of the climbing was behind me, but I was WAY wrong. So, I put my head down, got in a rhythm and up I went.
Next up, 90 mile aid station and the beginning of the end. Decided to roll through the last aid station because I just wanted to finish. On my way by the guy there yelled "it's all down here from here!!" Liar. Into the single track I went. The first bit was down hill - rocky, bumpy, typical East Tennessee fare then it went uphill again. Seriously, more climbing? I was over it. The last 9 miles or so seemed like they lasted forever. It seemed like I hit every root and rock possible - even if I tried to avoid it, I still hit it. My right hand was no longer functioning which made shifting impossible, and mentally, I was toast. Finally, I got to the 2nd bridge on Thunder Rock and starting crying because I knew I was practically done. All I had to do was ride down the nice, smooth, paved road, hang a right, then a left and I was DONE.
last 20 miles - 2 hours 9 minutes
overall time - 11 hours 9 minutes
Fellow Knoxvillians
Dave - 7:51 8th in single speed category with a 30 min improvement from last year
G$ - 8:51 Cohutta first timer and crazy single speeder
TEAM ED - Dad busted out in 9:19, best time ever by a couple of hours! (Are we going to have to get you tested?)
Not bad for no training - next big, dumb race is the
Lumberjack 100 in June. Busting out the single speed for that one!
Whew!
