Ft. Yargo Race Recap

^I'm on the left - this is 2 minutes in and I would never be cleaner^

Well, I'm done racing for a while, unless the team want to pay my entry to the big track race this weekend. I won't waste my cash, as it seems I still don't feel 100% myself. I feel better, but I definitely don't have the top-end power I'd need to be competitive at the track.

I raced 6 hours at Ft. Yargo this past weekend. My mom and dad came in town to help with childcare (Thanks, Mom!) and race support (Thanks, Dad!). Dad and I got up early Saturday to pretty nice weather and arrived at Yargo a little past 8am. I got my number and we walked around, found a good pit, and set up. Having a little local knowledge really helped, as I knew a clean and vacant bathroom was only a quarter mile spin on the bike away from the crowded, nasty bathroom next to the start.

I went through my nutrition plan with Dad and went to the line. The announcer said there were around 400 riders, however there are lots of teams, so not that many actually line up, but there were at least 200 at the start. We took a parade lap before hitting the singletrack to sort things out. I hit the singletrack in the top 25 and settled into a pace. I got passed quite a bit the first half lap before finding a comfortable spot.

At the end of the first lap and into the second I rode with my friend Matt. We talked, and it got me through the "pissed off" stage I seem to enter early in a race. I picked up the pace about 1/4 into my second 11.5 mile lap, and finally started to feel a little better. I am not climbing worth a shit and really need to work on staying seated like a mountain biker, and stop standing. In the wet it just makes you lose traction and you spend more energy standing, but it's just my natural thing to do.

About 2/3 into the second lap I don't know what happened, but I went into a tree like it jumped into the trail. I don't know how, but I came to an abrupt stop and my saddle went up my ass like like that thing that takes your money at the bank drive thru! I immediately felt like I had just spent my first night in prison. I could feel the skin rip and was worried that I might have broken something. It brought a sweat across my brow and my eyes swelled up. I got back on the bike gingerly and rode a little tenderly for a few minutes.

The third lap started to feel pretty good and then my front tire went down quickly. I got off and changed it pretty damn fast. I honestly don't think I lost more than 2 minutes, but it pissed me off. I rode a little more aggressively after that, then all hell broke loose from the skies. It absolutely poured! The trail quickly looked like a small creek bed. Most people start bitching about this time, but for some reason I thrive on that shit. I came in the pit and it was just storming. I got my GU, my salt tablet, and my bottles from Dad and told him I had flatted, but that the rain wasn't bothering me at all.

Unfortunately, it only rained about 25 minutes. When I saw the skies start to lighten I was not a happy camper. Not only would it become ridiculously humid, but the trails would actually get muddier as it dried, and my ass (which had stopped hurting for a while) was going to start getting raw as my clothes dried.

The fourth lap just sucked. It became hard to ride lots of parts of the trail, my ass was killing me, and it had become obvious that I wasn't going to make my goal of six laps. The interesting part was that no one had passed me in over an hour, and I was slowly picking people off left and right.

I came in for my final lap and got some chamois cream to put in my shorts to ease the chaffing. Relief. I took off, but was starting to really feel the pain. My shoulders just wouldn't ease up, my left hamstring had been bruised from my wreck and was starting to hurt. I felt on the verge of cramps on each hard climb, and my hands were starting to blister as my gloves dried. To top it off, my bike was starting to protest all the mud, water, and grime. I was getting "chain suck" in my small cog, and rendered it useless. I could only stay in three gears, some of which were just not enough, and forced me to get off and run a few sections. I'd try the small ring every now and then only to have it bind up, get off bike, unwind the chain, and get back on.

I fell apart focus-wise for about 20 minutes, and just slugged my way through. I had no idea where I stood as far as placing, and I was just too close to cramping to push as hard as I wanted. About a third of the way through the lap the course started to dry enough to be confident in corners again, and I decided to catch anyone I could, and put my head down. It hurt, but I just kept walking down anyone I could see in front of me. I crossed the finish line and sat on the bike a minute and talked to my dad. Fortunately, he had packed everything up and I didn't have to do any of that tedious crap when you feel like hell.

I went down to the lake and hopped in with all my stuff on, and proceeded to remove about 90% of the mud. It was THICK and everywhere. When I finally got clean enough to put clothes on, we went to see if it was worth sticking around for the awards ceremony. It took a while, but we finally found out I had finished second in class! I was really pleasantly surprised, as I had no idea where I stood. The good news was that NO ONE had completed 6 laps, even the Pros, so I didn't feel bad about not meeting my goal.

We got my medal and bag o' swag and headed into town for one of the best Burger King burgers and Butterfinger pie I've ever had. Both of us were starved.

I still didn't feel 100%, but I think I'm feeling a little better. Unfortunately, it will have to wait. I've got other things in life I need to get straightened out before I worry about racing anymore. The next in the series is not for a couple of months, so I'll re-assess my motivation, fitness, and financial standing in a month or so. I have to say that despite not feeling great physically, I think I am enjoying these endurance races, and think if I can get my shit together I might be pretty good at them. We'll see.