Slayed by the Dragon
On Saturday April 5th I met fellow teammate Jeremy Arnold (www.goatandabandersnatch.blogspot.com) in Craig County Virginia for the hardest “bike ride” I’ve ever done. We met the evening of the 5th for some dinner at Olive Garden and talk of riding the much anticipated Dragon’s Back XXC race. We quickly ate and went back to the hotel. The rain started as I checked in and continued for the remainder of the night. The sticky mud that this produced on the forest roads would eventully lead to my downfall. After check in, I went upstairs for a good nights sleep. Luckily, I was upstairs away from bash that was occuring downstairs, approximately 50 feet from the Arnold’s front door. After one of us got a good nights sleep we packed up and headed for the forest.
We quickly checked in, chatted with Kris and Misty of Vassago as we got our gear together and then lined up for what would be the hardest race I’ve ever done. Here’s where I should thank the female who pointed out that my bike was the prettiest bike she had ever seen. I must say, I agree. That pink Bandersnatch is a pretty bike and it stayed that way for the first 30 or 40 seconds of the race. Anyway, I’m not sure if that’s the kind of thing you want pointed out at the starting line of a XXC race in front of a bunch of macho male mtn bike riders. There were approximately 50 riders in our class who lined up to start the race and fortunatley, non of them made any comments (that I could hear). From my understanding, 13 of these racers DNF’d. That’s a pretty high percentage and instead of giving you a play by play of my ride I’m going to tell you why I thought about joining that group of riders on more than one occassion.
This was the most technical course I’ve ever ridden. The 36 miles seemed like 66 and the 8,000 feet of climbing was continious. There wasn’t much down time or time to recover. The hills were steep, the mud was deep and the rolling hills on the ridgeline were covered in sharp, jagged, moving rocks. As if the rocks and mud weren’t enough, they were covered with leaves that were sometimes so deep that your feet would be buried on your downstroke. Approximately 5 of the 35 miles of the race was not ridden but pushed and this was often in piles of leaves that would come up to your knees. Did I mention that the mud was so tacky that it almost pulled my shoes off my feet when I was walking to the tent to sign up for the race. This is what several sections of the first 3 or 4 mile climb was covered with. Finally, there was the fog. On the ridgline, which was approx. 9 miles long, the fog was so thick that it was sometimes impossible to look more than 15 feet ahead and pick a line. In fact ,when you combined this with the leaves it often made it difficult to distinguish where the trail was. I got lost once and had to hike back up the mountain to find the trail again. Get the picture yet…..
I rolled across the finish line 5 hours and 37 minutes after the start in 24th place. Mentally and physically, I dropped out of this race about 4 hours before that. At that point, I decided to just enjoy the ride as much as I could and try to finish the course. This race turned out to be the most challenging “ride” I have ever completed. It took my body two weeks to fully recover and my ego is still in the process.
This race was well organized and had a grass roots feel that I always enjoy. The course was well marked and the volunteers were great. Congratulations to the First place Female, Michelle Co and the First place Male, Shawn Altizer. Michelle finsihed in 6:10 and Shawnin 4:09. Fellow teammate, Jeremy Arnold finished in 18th place about 17 minutes before I did (on a SS). Great job guys.
If any of you are looking for a race that will challenge you more mentally and physically than the ORAMM, the SWANK, or the 24 Hours of Pisgah, try this one next year…..
