Matthew and I pulled into Albion Hills on
Friday afternoon to set up our race pit.
(Matthew is my son who abandoned his studies at university to help out
his pappy in the pit, and to volunteer for Chico – the race organizer- at the
event). This is him:
.JPG)
Sooo, anyways, once we got our pit set
up...
Matt was off to work the registration desk. When Egggman, my tag team teammate, showed up
we made our way around to meet other friends competing in the race. Then after
a couple of Wellington sleeping pills, it was time to hit the hay.
The geniuses at Environment Canada had
predicted 10 -15 mm of rain Saturday, and we woke up to it raining on and off,
so we thought we were in for a soaker…but…it stopped by 10:30 and the day
turned into a scorcher…and humid!!
So, Egggman opted (sort of), to take the
start lap (the route was a lap of about 16 kms of many short, steep, punchy
climbs and switchbacks, with a couple of long fast descents), and we had
decided to pull double laps as long as that would carry us. So at 12:00 noon, the race started and
Egggman was off with a group of hundreds of other racers (there were over 2100
racers in all at this event).
Egggman finished his first lap in 1hr4min,
and called out as he passed our pit (our pit was just off the trail near the
start), so I knew I had to be ready to go in an hour. 1hr5min later Egggman pulled into our pit,
handed me the baton and I was off for my first lap. The course was challenging…the last 5 kilometres
especially. A long gradual climb, into a
very steep loose climb… followed by grassy climbs, then a long fast descent
into the climbs of ‘High Roller’. The
last kilometer was great, almost a complete descent. The huge grass ‘half pipe’, was fun…and my
favorite trail ‘Pinecone Express’. So, my
first lap was going great, but about half way through something didn’t feel
right. I looked down, and yup, my right
pedal was pulling off its spindle...then snap...off it came. I rode out the lap on the spindle, with the
pedal still clipped to my cleat; pulled into our pit at 59mins after completing
the first half of my double. I pulled
into the pit calling for Egggman (actually I called “Mike”...that’st his
nickname...I don’t get it but to each his own).
I said “dude you have to go for a single lap while I get this broken
pedal fixed!”. He gave me the ‘go f’k
yourself’ look, something like this...
Egggman
relented and headed out for a single.
Matthew and I took my bike and a spare set of pedals to the on-site
mechanic (from Sporting Life....they do a GREAT job!), to get fixed up. We got fixed up, with working pedals, and
Egggman pulled in after finishing his single, and I headed out to do a real
double.
I finished the first lap of my double....it
was so dang hot!!!...after 1hr even...and continued on for the second lap. As I started I went to swig from my
camelback, and realized, in the pedal confusion I had misjudged and hadn’t
taken enough water...in fact, I was out as just past the start of my lap. During the lap, I kept sucking on the bite
valve hoping to get some, a drop, of fluid.
I pulled every drop out of that bladder...which would cost me
later. (dum, dum, dum!!!! Dramatic cliffhanger eh???). I finished off my double with a 1hr2min
lap. Pulled into the pit, as Egggman
pulled out….and worked on rehydrating; and made certain I filled my camelback
full for my next double.
2hrs21mins later Egggman finished his double…and
I pulled out to do another…with lights ablaze as it was now dark. A couple of kilometers in I went to take a
swig of my water. My camelback was full,
but nothing came through the bite valve…I pulled/sucked on the bite valve again…still
nothing. Apparently in sucking the bladder
dry last lap, I had twisted something inside; blocking the flow. I spent the lap continuing to pull liquid
through but nothing. Another dry lap!! I
was so parched!! Almost like this!
I
finished the first half of my double in 1hr7min, pulled into our pit calling
for Matthew and Egggman…they got my camelback/bladder straightened out…and I
pulled out to finish the second half of the double. With now a full 2 litre bladder I was good
for this lap! Wouldn’t it be nice to
have a full double with no issues??
Maybe my next one?? 1hr11min
later I was done and Egggman pulled out to complete our 11th and 12th
laps.
2hrs48mins later Egggman pulled in from his
double…and I pulled out…again lights blazing, it was 2am. Somewhere along the first lap, I came down a
singletrack descent then up and around a tight switchback, to come face to face
with a big dear on the trail! I touched
the brakes, and yelled “Hey lady, move!!” and the big doe, startled, thundered
into the bush. Another rider pulled up behind me as I accelerated to continue,
and asked what I yelled at him…haha.
Finished lap one of my night double in
1hr13mins…headed out for the second.
Things were going great till half way through…my bar light went
out. Damn!! OK, I still had my headlight. For about 10
minutes….then it went out. Pitch
black!!! Seriously; could not see my
hand in front of my face. (Who puts
their hand in front of their face???).
Where the hell was this Supermoon
everyone was talking about???
When you have your lights going, you don’t
realize how really dark it is out there!!
So, I spent the rest of the lap stopping and waiting for a rider to pass
so I could follow them as long as possible with their lights. If they pulled away, I had to stop and wait
for another rider. I did, manage to finish
the lap this way…but it took 1hr25mins.
Egggman pulled out to start his double…but
he made it clear he was starting to hurt.
Egggman is one of the toughest dudes I know, which made him a great partner
for this race! I was also hurting. Especially on the second lap of our doubles…they
were agony…but necessary for the rider in the pit to get sufficient rest. But we were in second place!!! With 3rd and 4th close on
our tails (first was well ahead)…we were motivated. I managed to get about an hour’s sleep in a
gravity chair while Egggman completed his double…and Matthew managed to get
about a half hours sleep. He was a superstar
helping out and he was well in need of rest!!
Egggman pulled in in almost exactly 3hrs. We were now in 3rd place, and as I
headed out to do our 17th and 18th laps, Egggman stated that
he did not think he had another double lap in him. I was not so sure I did either…but off I
went. I finished lap 17 in 1hr10mins…we
were back in 2nd! I finished an
agonizing lap 18 in 1hr18…we were now in third.
Egggman pulled out to do a single lap, our
19th lap…it was now 11:27am.
If he got back in time, I would have time to get a single lap in. As I recovered in the pit, Matthew getting me
food and drink while I stretched and changed gear; Lois and NewfieSteve walked
up. They had driven up to help us out,
and cheer us on to the finish (and to help pack up at the finish…thank
Heaven!!!). Egggman completed his lap in
1hr25mins. It was 11:27, which meant I
had 1hr 33minutes to get a 20th lap in. I pulled out to do so in an attempt to
preserve our 3rd place. I
finished the lap in 1hr8mins…we had taken 3rd!!! Podium time!!
This is how you look when you know you are done! Me, Egggman, EnglishJim(who anchored a 5 man team).
So another great Summer Solstice in the
books!! Our first podium of the year…more
to come?? Special thanks to Egggman, a
great teammate!! Special thanks to
Matthew, a great pit boss…and he put in a couple of volunteer shifts for
Chico! And thank you to Lois and NewfieSteve
for doing the packing up!!
When is the next big race?? Stay posted!!
Recovery time!!
Awesome recap!! Man you had some bad luck there... but pulled through, typical of Superman!
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