longest ride yet
Yep this year it took me more time to complete the 40 miles from Hayward to Cable then ever before. It was a strange feeling to finish in 3:16 and not really care about it.
The day started at 5:15 am in Hayward, placing the bikes 5 rows back. Went back to the hotel for a quick nap and breakfast and a planned to return back to Hayward by 9:00 am.
The cannon blew off and we are rolling. This year I put the bike right on the yellow line and it paid off pretty well when the road narrowed up. I moved up a bunch of spots even before we made the left turn at the fountain. Then bang bikes were flying all around and the lady on a tandem was sliding to the curb and crawled into the grass. We all came to a stop in the middle of the road.
Then the bomb was dropped. The guy on the front of the tandem told the lady "get the f*&k back on the bike now" as he was standing in the middle of the road yet and plenty of riders could not believe what he said. I heard later that the bike was laying in the grass after everyone rolled through. Wonder if she walked to the divorce attorney in town. Well we made it to the next right turn then past Wal mart and the pace picked way up. Rosie's field was pretty tame this year. I held the good lines as long I could and just kept grabbing a faster wheel. It started to rain and it felt kinda good for the first 15 minutes.
Before I knew it we where rolling across 00 and I felt great. As we crossed 00 it was apparent we where leaving the nice ski trails and the mud and puddles were appearing more frequent. I just stayed glued to a wheel and stayed out of the soft grass. Somewhere about 17 to go the leg started to give me issues. It couldn't keep a good cadence, the smooth pedal strokes were going away. On a long climb at the 15 to go the leg cramped solid from my quad to my groin, my race at the 2008 40 was over. I stopped and ate some bloks and took a few drinks of heed. In what seem like 1 minute I watch 200 riders go by maybe more.
I stood there and scrolled through the buttons, I was 26.4 miles in, my14.9 mph average was over and a 183 bpm average was going to go way down. I rode my way to firetower and was starting to get cold, the engine was shut down and not creating any heat. At the top of fire tower I had a 1/2 brat and warmed up a little by the fire before rolling on the arm warmers and jumping back on. The leg was feeling a little better until the next birkie section where I ended up walking the last three hills. I seen bubba and kyle go buy. I just rode it out, stopped and help a few riders with chain suck and I just looked around. There was no thrill like most years when seeing the last water station and preparing for an attack on the last road section. I just stopped and filled a bottle and rolled on.
Right after the stop is the moment that slapped my out of the funk I have been in all year with the injury. Just as we left the road for the last time with 3 miles to go I was pulling 3 guys along. It was pretty easy to tell from the conversation they were together. The one guy asked if he could pull, of coarse I pulled over and he did some pacing and the other two pulled along side and we were talking. The guy next to me asked if I was happy about my finish. I said. hell know this will be my worst finish ever in 14 years. He didn't say anything till the 1 mile to go. He said he was sorry for asking, just that he was happy he would take at least an hour off last years time. That they all would, for 4 years now they have all ridden together and pushed each other. Wow what a kick to the jewels. I apologized for sounding arrogant and congratulated them on a major improvement and then pushed them through the last couple of hills. I was going to go around them at the top of the last climb to the finish but just couldn't do it until they went high and got caught behind some other riders.
While sitting in a chair getting rained on at the finish I wondered why we ride so much to prepare for any race that will rip your heart out if you have a bad day. Should we ride for fun and bask in the glory of having a strong finish like those three guys did that, I bet you will never see them cross the finish line with their heads down like so many did at the great event.
The day started at 5:15 am in Hayward, placing the bikes 5 rows back. Went back to the hotel for a quick nap and breakfast and a planned to return back to Hayward by 9:00 am.
The cannon blew off and we are rolling. This year I put the bike right on the yellow line and it paid off pretty well when the road narrowed up. I moved up a bunch of spots even before we made the left turn at the fountain. Then bang bikes were flying all around and the lady on a tandem was sliding to the curb and crawled into the grass. We all came to a stop in the middle of the road.
Then the bomb was dropped. The guy on the front of the tandem told the lady "get the f*&k back on the bike now" as he was standing in the middle of the road yet and plenty of riders could not believe what he said. I heard later that the bike was laying in the grass after everyone rolled through. Wonder if she walked to the divorce attorney in town. Well we made it to the next right turn then past Wal mart and the pace picked way up. Rosie's field was pretty tame this year. I held the good lines as long I could and just kept grabbing a faster wheel. It started to rain and it felt kinda good for the first 15 minutes.
Before I knew it we where rolling across 00 and I felt great. As we crossed 00 it was apparent we where leaving the nice ski trails and the mud and puddles were appearing more frequent. I just stayed glued to a wheel and stayed out of the soft grass. Somewhere about 17 to go the leg started to give me issues. It couldn't keep a good cadence, the smooth pedal strokes were going away. On a long climb at the 15 to go the leg cramped solid from my quad to my groin, my race at the 2008 40 was over. I stopped and ate some bloks and took a few drinks of heed. In what seem like 1 minute I watch 200 riders go by maybe more.
I stood there and scrolled through the buttons, I was 26.4 miles in, my14.9 mph average was over and a 183 bpm average was going to go way down. I rode my way to firetower and was starting to get cold, the engine was shut down and not creating any heat. At the top of fire tower I had a 1/2 brat and warmed up a little by the fire before rolling on the arm warmers and jumping back on. The leg was feeling a little better until the next birkie section where I ended up walking the last three hills. I seen bubba and kyle go buy. I just rode it out, stopped and help a few riders with chain suck and I just looked around. There was no thrill like most years when seeing the last water station and preparing for an attack on the last road section. I just stopped and filled a bottle and rolled on.
Right after the stop is the moment that slapped my out of the funk I have been in all year with the injury. Just as we left the road for the last time with 3 miles to go I was pulling 3 guys along. It was pretty easy to tell from the conversation they were together. The one guy asked if he could pull, of coarse I pulled over and he did some pacing and the other two pulled along side and we were talking. The guy next to me asked if I was happy about my finish. I said. hell know this will be my worst finish ever in 14 years. He didn't say anything till the 1 mile to go. He said he was sorry for asking, just that he was happy he would take at least an hour off last years time. That they all would, for 4 years now they have all ridden together and pushed each other. Wow what a kick to the jewels. I apologized for sounding arrogant and congratulated them on a major improvement and then pushed them through the last couple of hills. I was going to go around them at the top of the last climb to the finish but just couldn't do it until they went high and got caught behind some other riders.
While sitting in a chair getting rained on at the finish I wondered why we ride so much to prepare for any race that will rip your heart out if you have a bad day. Should we ride for fun and bask in the glory of having a strong finish like those three guys did that, I bet you will never see them cross the finish line with their heads down like so many did at the great event.
posted by bmxmtbfam at 12:12 PM
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