ORAMM
Breckenridge, CO
July 27, 2008
By Luis Calderon
Ron (MTB Florida honcho) and I left from Tampa early on Friday morning. Felt a little strange being a passenger in someone else’s vehicle. We made pretty good time and were at I9's doorstep late afternoon so Ron could get a cracked freehub body replaced. There I drooled at all the colored hubs, spokes, scary light road wheels etc... They were busy but still took the time out to give us a little tour of their operation. It was very interesting to see a hub machined out of a solid aluminum block.
After our little detour, we headed to the Friendship Lodge. We checked in and got ready for a pre-ride of Kitsuma. I had decided to run 32 x 21 for this race (following my rule of Dicky+ 2T). I felt good on the ascent up Kitsuma, I rode most of it but I walked a few that I knew would require a powerful burst. No sense in working that hard on a pre-ride after a 10 hour drive. The descent was it's usual fast and furious self. I hit it pretty hard and lost my bike from underneath me on a soft patch of soil. No damage done though and I made a mental note of that spot.
About half of the way down, my left contact went blurry and I had to take it out. I was extra careful on the rest of the descent. We then went up Old 70 on our way back to the lodge. I felt good on the climb and got in a good rhythm all the way to the top, but the 32 x 21 had me climbing seated more than I wanted to, I'm more of a stand up and mash kinda rider.
Saturday, while the rest of our group (who arrived late) went for their pre-ride, I worked on getting the bike ready for the race. I decided to change to a 20T rear cog. I knew it would hurt but I thought it might be a little faster. I rode it to the top of the hill near the lodge a few times and felt good about my decision.
Sunday we woke up early, had breakfast and headed for the start of the race at Old Fort. I dropped my drop bags for the aid stations and was ready to go in good time but when I rode to the start it was already packed. I tried to squeeze my way up to the front and was able to line up 6 or 7 rows from the front. I looked around and couldn't really see anyone from our FL group. The guy next to me said "we're in for some hurt" or something like that... I looked and he was also riding a rigid singlespeed.
3,2,1, GO the race began without too much warning and the pace picked up quite a bit as usual. I was spinning as fast as possible but was still being passed by everyone. I tried not to get demoralized as I knew I would pass a lot of riders on the upcoming climb up Old 70. As soon as the grade changed and the derailleurs started popping and cracking I stood up and got into my rhythm up the climb. I felt good and passed a good deal of people on the climb.
I got to Kitsuma in a good group with a couple of other singlespeeds. We made quick work of getting to the top with minimal walking and descended pretty fast. We came up on a train of slower riders which did not want to allow anyone by. It was pretty frustrating and painful to be on the brakes on a bumpy trail with the rigid fork. After some encouragement from riders behind me (i.e. yelling) they finally let us by and we flew down the mountain. I refilled my bottles at Aid Station 1 and continued on the pavement approach to Star Gap. I chatted with other FL singlespeeders but they eventually passed me.
Star Gap went by fast and soon I was on the never ending grassy road climb making good time. I went fast down the backside gravel descent. I reached Aid Station 2 feeling refilled my bottles and I was on my way. The heat was beginning to get a little bit unbearable, my stomach was beginning to shut down and signs of cramps were already appearing. Not what you want to feel before the slow death up Curtis Creek Rd.
I began the climb up Curtis Creek with a group of geared riders but I was soon off the back. Curtis Creek began to dish out the pain as the grade got steeper and steeper. I had a hard time with my gear choice and my head was about to explode from the heat. I took my helmet off about 1/3 of the way up and that made me feel a lot better. I kept a steady pace, I walked a couple of times when I could feel the beginning of a cramp, always maintaining forward motion. I didn't have a computer with me, so judging how much more suffering was in store was hard. The blue canopy of Aid Station 3 appeared after what seemed like an eternity. Someone said "96", so I guess we were in the top 100 riders. OUCH! As I was refilling my bottles and getting my bearings back Rob (one of the FL group) rolled up.
I picked up the pace and left the station to descend and then climb back up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. On this descent I went fast and had a couple of Oh shit! moments on the gravel. I made it down safely to the bottom where it flattens out for a while before shooting up again. The usual handful of geared riders passed me including Rob from our group. The climb to the Parkway was not as bad as I remembered it from 2006 but the heat was ridiculous and my brain was getting fried from the lack of calories. I was popping endurolytes and I was still fending off the more serious cramps, but I could tell that it was only a matter of time until I had full leg lockout.
I got to CP 4 as Rob was leaving so I knew I had made good time on the climb. I thought for sure I would pass him on the Heartbreak Ridge descent. I rode the 1.2 miles of pavement pretty slow and climbed the Heartbreak hike-a-bike even slower. Once at the top I let it all hang out down the mountain and got some sweet revenge on some riders that passed me on the climb. I did pass Rob while he was on the side of the trail changing a flat, sucks! I wanted to make a clean pass.
Halfway down HBR my contacts went blurry and I could barely see. It was a pretty intense descent on the rigid. I had to brake more than I wanted to due to my vision and slower riders (if you've ever operated a jackhammer that's what grabbing a handful of brake feels like on a rigid fork). I took a few risks on the switchbacks which resulted in one endo, and a few: "oh shit! nice save!" moments. I reached the bottom of the descent and rolled into Aid Station 5. I saw Ron there who had a race ending mechanical. I asked the volunteers for HEED and they said "water or gatorade" I was so delirious I took water even though I had a drop bag with two bottles with HEED powder in them, dumbass...
The climb up Mill Creek Rd. was pure hell, like being cooked in an oven, I was holding on by a thread trying not to cramp more than I already was. I walked some sections to prevent serious cramps and poured some of my water over my head. I was happy when I reached the top but I knew the worst was yet to come. I rode to the base of Kitsuma and as soon as I stood up to power up the first steep section of trail the cramps hit me hard. I got off and pushed my bike most of the way up, I figured I wasn't going to ride it significantly faster anyway. On the way up a dehydrated rider was asking for water. I was very low myself but I gave him the few ounces I had in my 2nd bottle and kept around 5 ounces for me. I stopped a few times on the climb to take some deep breaths as the world was spinning a bit.
Kitsuma punishes you with a sweet descent followed by another climb up to the peak. I was so happy when I finally reached the top. I let go of the brakes and rolled down the mountain as fast as possible in that state. I'm sure I was close to losing it a few times but I managed to stay on trail and take the abuse of the rigid fork all the way to the bottom.
As I exited onto the last pavement section Ron was there and I mumble some incoherent crap and headed into town as fast as possible. I just wanted to be done. I finally saw the "1 mile to go" sign and knew I was done. I rolled through the bridge at the finish in 7:41.
I could only think about jumping in the creek going up Mill Creek Rd. and now that I was done I could not even move without cramping all over my body. After drinking some juice and breathing deep for a few minutes I managed to make it into the water. AAHHHHHH! It was heaven; I would have stayed there forever...
I did not check the where I was compared to other singlespeeds, hopefully top one thirds, but on the overall I believe I was 113 of 400+ riders. I'm pretty happy with the result given the course and the unbearable heat. I know I could've not gone any harder than I did. To improve this time would require me to actually train for this race and dial in my nutrition under horrible heat conditions.
Equipment thoughts:
The Waltworks was perfect as usual, not a single mechanical, it climbs like a goat and descends the rough even better.
The rigid fork was especially brutal on HBR and the last Kitsuma descent. My lats were sore from pulling on the bars while climbing making it really painful. A suspension fork would definitely be more comfortable down these descents. We'll see what happens next year, I'm not a purist.
32 x 20 gear - unnecessarily painful for this course and my fitness level. I broke my rule and I paid for it. Even worse Dicky told me at the finish that the 19T was unnecessarily hard too (This didn't stop him from scorching the course in 5:51, winning the SS class and setting a new SS record) Damn!
Thanks to the boys at Twin Six for hooking me up...the jersey pockets didn't drop any of my crap and kept me relatively cool under the conditions. Word on the street is that they are developing a jersey technology that will keep you 20 deg. cooler than the ambient air temperature, stay tuned!
Congrats to everyone that raced and finished, it was a tough one for sure...
lc
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