Trans-Sylvania Epic - Stage 2

State College, PA
Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic Sunday May 30, 2010
by: Joseph Castle

TSE Stage 2 - 40 Miles of Classic State College Single Track

Stage 2 was brutal!  The ride started with a short gravel road section leading into a rocky, loose, dirt climb.  Everyone took off on the climb with remenents of people being left on the side due to fatigue, broken parts, and the heat.  The tempature reached 85 degrees with high humidity and it seemed to impact every racer including the leaders.  The climb took be 30 minutes to complete with my heart rate being around zone 5.5.  It was very painful and almost disorienting. 

Next was the downhill and all the people I saw pass me on the uphill, I passed on the downhill.  It was small reward considering how the rest of the day was to play out.  At mile 15 there was a check point where I refueled and kept going to some good single track.  Prior to mile 15, I started cramping but forgot to take my electrolytes at the stop.  I had to stop on the trail to get some pills down and then I was on my way.

The mileage between 15 and 28 were mostly a blur.  There were times where I was hunched over my bike wondering what was happening.  I was fatigued just pushing my bike to the point where I finally just sat down and took a break for a while.  Come to find out that most racers during this point of the stage where suffering close to the way that I was.  I think I was at the verge of heat exhaustion from starting too fast and at times, I couldn’t figure out if I was going to throw up or pass out.  It was horrible.

At mile 28 things started to get better.  A lot better.  My fatigue was gone and my heat cramps were subsiding.  At every point forward, I would stop and talk to volunteers and just take it easy on the way back to camp.  I knew at this point I would finish because I passed the cutoff point at mile 28 by 40 minutes.  The ride home was somewhat enjoyable knowing I made it through the stage while feeling so horrible.

It turned out that the heat affected the leader board significantly.  Those that were used to the heat did better.  One weird story was from a guy who was walking so much that he had a severe blister on his foot.  He took his shoes off and walked/ran barefoot to the next checkpoint.  He said about four miles.  This was a hilarious dinner story and made me realize that my suffering was similar to others.

When I came into the finish, I saw the race promoter, Mike Kuhn, and he said that I had just completed the toughest stage of the race.  Another day down, yea!