Like watching a train wreck...

Have you ever seen "road kill" on the road right before it dies? You know, when it's in full survival mode and trying to crawl to the shoulder of the road? That's the best description that I can give of what I looked and felt like racing the Wilderness 101 this weekend.

Granted, I knew that the race was going to be tough. I always feel really slow the week after a 24, even if it's just an easy road ride. However, nothing, NOTHING prepared me for how I would feel in 93 degree heat, trying to climb 10,000 ft and bombing down the sickest, rockiest trail I have ever seen. Now I know why the good folk from out East are such good technical riders. There is some crazy trail out there!!!

Here's a brief summary of what I haven't managed to forget yet...

The start: This race draws out big names. Big, big names. We rolled out neutrally for about half a mile, then turned for a 5-10 minute climb. I knew that I was in trouble with my first pedal stroke going up-hill. My quads automatically started killing me, and I was pouring a cold sweat. I saw some of the lead women take off, tried to respond and had nothing. I literally felt like I just rolled off of the 9-Mile course and was just continuing my race from a week ago.

It only took about ten minutes of the race for me to want to quit. I wanted to stand on the side of the road and cheer everyone on. My lower back was still numb from last week, my arms were aching, and my legs had no power whatsoever. There was nothing to do but keep trudging along. I grabbed a water bottle as I rolled by the first aid station, chugged it on the next climb, and made why way over to aid station two where I needed to grab refills.

There were two huge climbs after aid station two. It was at this point that people started to explode. A guy next to me had to get off of his bike to grab a bottle that was left on the side of the road. There were a few drops of warm cytomax in it and he sucked it dry. I ran out of water too, and was lucky to run into my friend Dan. He gave me a few swigs out of his water bottle and I managed to make it to Aid Station 3.

Normally, I'm in and out of the stations pretty quickly. This race...not so much. I only drank ELOAD and sustained energy at Nationals, and I think I might have overdosed on it. I could barely drink either at Wilderness, and resorted to coke and swedish fish. A nice alternative, really.

Throughout the race, I couldn't tell what was worse. The uphills or the downhills. The climbs lasted forever, and were on gravel or doubletrack roads with a lot of washouts. The sun was super harsh and it was hard to see where it ended. At one point a guy riding next to me said, "don't worry...every climb has a top." There were several times when I wasn't so sure that they did. The downhills didn't bring the relief that they normally do either, because they were covered with a million rocks. It was like riding an out-of-control roller coaster. I just kept my bike pointed in the right direction and kept spinning as fast as I could.

Towards the end of the race there were two covered bridges that we had to go through and it was like plunging into a black hole. It was impossible to see what was on the ground or around me and I was lucky enough to stay on my bike. I heard a few reports that there were boulders scattered around on the ground. In the second tunnel I started to hear giggling half-way through and thought that I had "officially lost it." As I got closer to the end I found out where the voices were coming from. I wasn't alone in the tunnel...there was an entire family walking through. It was pretty trippy.

After a million hours (10.5) I rolled into the finish line in 7th place. Battered, bruised but smiling. This race was probably the hardest race I've done, both mentally and physically. I'm really happy that I was able to push through it. The NUE series has been a great opportunity to race against some of the best female endurance racers in the country. Completely supportive, super fast and super nice. This was the last race that I could do in the series, and I pretty much gave away the series lead with my finish. I really wish that I could go race Shenandoah but I'll have to wait till next year. If all goes well, I would like to do the whole NUE series...and this race.

The best part of the race? Hanging out with everyone at night. We had a good circle going...Dan Frayer, SS Paula,Dejay Birtch, Harlan, Tim D. and Rebecca T. (who is doing Team Dickey's old bike proud).

Here's the few pics that I took...

Chasing my friends on our pre-ride

I'm officially cool now. Nothing better then having my lucky number on my water bottle!!!

This spider was huge....I had to check my sheets every time I got into bed.

Our cabin...slightly small but it got the job done.

Dan trying to sleep.

Female podium

Mens podium

SS Podium

Masters podium