By Jeff Kerkove
I have come to the conclusion that this post
would be to time consuming to type up if I did
a blow-by-blow account. So, I will just cut
to the point and highlight some of the photos.
I ended up finishing 3rd overall...1st geared
bike...with a finishing time of roughly 10 hours
and 40 minutes. Rode pretty much the entire
route with Dave
and Lynda. The 3 of us sat in about 4, 5,
and 6th place until the 50 mile mark and then
were able to gap the other riders on the road.
The last 50 miles ended up being the toughest
and most brutal riding in the event. Lots of
rock drops, sand, and sketchy sections. It wasn't
until about 15 miles from the end did I loose
separation with Dave and Lynda due to a flat
tire. And, because of the nature of the terrain,
making up time was impossible. Plus, throw in
the fact I got turned around once which add
about 15 minutes of "which way do I go"
time.
My Nutrition
Intake 190 oz of water/sports drink
20 oz of Coca-Cola
6 Power Bars
5 Reese's PB Cups
6 Endurolyte pills
6:15 AM start
Early hours of the event
on Sovereign Trail.
Rolling behind the Monitor
and Merrimac buttes.
Out on Hwy 313, where we
got our gap into a headwind. This is about 50
miles into the route.
Gold Bar is rough and in
some case dangerous. You got to stay out of
the holes and crevasses.
Gold Bar is also STEEP! Notice
the jeep at the top of the climb.
Here is the elevation profile
off my Suunto T6 for the entire route.
My ride was good. I felt good, strong, and comfortable
the entire time. My new fit to my bike had me
dancing on the pedals. It wasn't until I was
playing catch up to Dave and Lynda did I really
feel that I was having to dig deep. The icing
on the cake? Top 3 riders on Ergon grips. Dave
and Lynda were on GE1's with GR2 barends and
I was on the GR2 with carbon barends.
Moab
Rim Ride
