So what have I been doing?
A whole lot of recovering.
It never fails to amaze me how freaking long it takes to recover from a 24 hour race. In my case, it takes almost two full weeks before I start to feel normal again.
I've been riding, but only about two hours a day (if that) and it's been slow moving. So slow in fact that I got dropped by my parents this weekend when I joined them for a ride. In my own defense, my parents are pretty fast. But still....I got dropped by my parents!!!
This weekend my coach has upped the intensity and I think I'm ready for it. I need to do something fast so that I won't go into complete shock at the start of Chequamegon 40. This is a race I've been wanting to do for a long time, and I'm really excited for it. I don't know much about the course, but have been warned repeatedly about some fountain that's in the middle of the course. I would hope that I wouldn't ride right into a fountain, but I think we all know that that's exactly what I would do :-)
2 comments:
Oy. That's all I gotta' say. You know how the neutral start at Lumberjack isn't all that neutral? Multiply that by 1000 and you get Chequamegon.
Seriously. Get to the front as quickly as you can. There is ALWAYS carnage about 150 racers back, big crash on the road about a mile into the race. It's an open road, so use it. Do you have a preferred start?
Get to the front and hide from the wind, and then drill it through the field. That's when it sort of shakes out, and you just find a group and hang on. It's 99% doubletrack -- though rough, it's not hard once you find your speed to hop on groups.
Save some for the Firetower -- that is a beast of a climb, as it stair-steps. And don't underestimate the last few rollers into Telemark -- from about 3 miles to go, there are a couple of ups that really start to hurt.
It's kind of the opposite of a 24-hour race, so be ready for that -- keep in mind, for a 40-mile race, the finishing time is only 2:10 for the winners -- the same as for an XC 25-miler. Crazy.
Cheq= Fast, relentless rolling terrain, speed, transitions, hang on for your dear life on the gravel road sections and Birkie Trail, watch out for the green cesspools and sketchy roadies and turn on the after burners 8 miles to go (my favorite spot other than the descent off of fire tower hill)! Oh,and watch out for the water fountain (first turn) and the weird curb (second turn). Good Luck!
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