EX2 Cranky Monkey: 6 Hours of Rosaryville

1^st Place: 6 hour solo overall, 6 laps 5hr 47 minutes

Course: 11 miles of fast twisty Single track

Nutrition: Infinit Go Far for first 4 hours, Infinit Go Fast for the last two hours, one pro bar throughout the race.

Podium Picture

 A Little Background:

             First race of the season, I have been training hard and getting ready, so I was very excited for this race. We raced an 11 mile twisty-turny roller coaster course, completing as many laps as we could in the the given time. This being a 6 hour race meant our cutoff time to start another lap was 5hr and 30 minutes

Pre Race:

            Got up at 5:00 to have some breakfast and pack up car. Had a bowl of oatmeal, a banana and orange juice. Got the car packed up, got the dogs all ready to go and we were off on schedule for Rosaryville. Arrived just a little before 7:00 and had a fair amount of choosing for our pit area, I got setup shortly after the timing tent with some other friends doing the race.

            7:00 until 9:00 Was a cold 2 hours, we spent much of it in the car staying warm. At 9:00 the sun started warming us up, but it was still chilly, after race brief, I made the final debated decision and went with bib-shorts, jersey, long socks and arm warmers. The choice was the correct one, wasn’t cold the whole race! As races always do, the last pre-hour blew by in no time, I was dressed, had done some warm up riding, and we were on the line waiting to start.

The Race:

            I find it hard to figure out where to place myself in the beginning of a lap race. This was the first one I was the first one I felt I could win, which made the choice crucial.  A six-hour endurance race is on the line of endurance races; just long enough to be an endurance race, but not very long in the realm of endurance races. This meant there wouldn’t be the 6,9,12… hours of easy riding until the end of the race where it gets kicked up. I figured I needed to treat this as I would the end of a longer endurance race; which meant I would be going Z3/4 until about 3 hours out. The other hard part was the start; too far back and get stuck in traffic jams, too far up and get pulled into relay team racer pace and blow up early.

           

            I started either the 3^rd or 4^th row of the start group. There was only one other solo racer in front of me; he was in the first row. There were others near me. This race had a prologue start instead of a Lemans. Right of the gun someone hooked my handlebars, I know I didn’t go down and I don’t think he did. Leesa said there were some crashes but not in the lead group. I stayed on the tail of the lead pack, which was a tight group fighting in the corners and muscling for a lead spot onto the single track. 

My Buddy Will and I at the start

Another Good Starting Line Photo

            After we dumped onto singletrack there was very little passing, no one was fatigued and I was in a good technical arena of riders. This was good; I have got stuck in the back with the yo-yo effect. I did feel like I might be going too slow and was worried that I was too far back, I knew there were some solo racers in front of me, but I didn’t know how many. After the first couple miles I was able to start passing people and moving up through the ranks in search of other solo racers. I finally made my way up to a group of solo racers that seemed like a good group. I tried to get a feel of where we were, but this group didn’t feel like talking. We finished the lap, they both pitted and I rolled on through; no need for bottle swap this round. I didn’t know at this time, but I finished 2^nd in my class on the first lap, and 3^rd overall.

And We're Off

            
           Shortly into my 2^nd lap I found another solo racer, he was much more talkative. We figured we were at the front, he said he went hard at the beginning and didn’t’ know of any other solo racers up here. I told him there was one more somewhere; I hadn’t passed the guy on the front lines of the start. For the next while it seemed we started feeling each other out for competition. Finally I jumped in front, he seemed to be slowing more than I wanted. I finished the 2^nd lap 1^st in class, 2^nd overall.

            Shortly into my 3^rd lap I get asked to pass from a duo racer, as he passes I get another request, I graciously pulled to the side; duos should be ripping it, and I didn’t want to break two guys fighting for their rank. My surprise the second guy passing me was good ol’ number 14, the DC-MTB solo racer from last lap, and he is pushing the pace. As hard as we were going, I was letting him set the pace. We had many duo racers comment on the pace we were holding and that it was a fast solo pace. We passed the last solo racer I was looking for and I knew we were in the front. At pit he would pit before the timing tent and I would pit after. Finished lap three: 1^st and 1^st.

Drop Off During Race

            I stopped for my bottle swap and with a mix-up with the bottles I saw #14 fly past my pit, I took off and caught up to him and we rolled another lap gunning like it was the last lap. As fast as we were travelling with the prologue and extra trail for the timing tent and pit area, I didn’t see us getting in a 7^th lap. At this point I knew it was a 6 lap race and we were on the 4^th. This was where I would say it was time to kick up the tempo, but it had been there the whole race, I just kept hoping I wouldn’t blow up. The two of us were just driving each other till one of us broke. I got ran off the course twice during this lap when passing. As I went around someone the person came back on the trail and pushed me off the trail, both times I crashed; one was an endo crash. I was happy when on the 4^th lap #14 started fading on the climbs. He gave me some opportunities to pass, but I was quite happy letting him set the pace. Even if he was slowing I didn’t think that this was the time to drop the hammer and try to separate myself for the race. We rolled into pit and again, 1^st 1^st.

            Another bottle swap, I saw someone go past my pit in red as I as swapping, but was confused how #14 could have passed me. I started lap 5 chasing down a red jersey. About 15 minutes into the lap I had passed 3 red jerseys and decided it wasn’t him; I was sitting 1^st solo and had put the separation on us. I though #14 was fading last lap and I felt I could keep the gap, but 2 hours out wasn’t when I was expecting to set that gap. I was flying through the inner loop, which is a bunch of log overs, a couple drop offs and very twisty. I think my legs got tired of the jarring stop-start of the inner loop as one leg decided it wanted to cramp up on me. It gave me warning and I listened. I immediately slowed down, drank a good amount of  drink mix, gave it a couple minutes and was back in the game. I knew I needed to preserve myself to some extent though for the end of the race. Finished this lap 1^st 1^st.

            Had a quick bottle swap and took off on my last lap. #14 had done his job and had worn me out at the beginning of the race; I was beat and wanted to go slow. I just kept having in my mind someone coming up on me, so I kept moving. I went at a slightly slower pace but wasn’t getting passed; I figured it would be better to have something for the last couple miles if I needed it. I came to the exit of the inner loop which put me about 4 miles out, with only a little bit of slight climbing and a lot of roller coaster downhill, I gave the last of my race my best. Coming to the last stretch, someone came up on me and I just was hoping that the finish wasn’t going to be a sprint against a solo racer. I saw that he was a duo racer and I let him take his strong sprint for finish.

            I finished 1^st Overall Solo and later found out the next person back was the single speed solo finisher, he was 8 minutes behind me. I had actually come into the race thinking he could have beat me. The next back was #14 and he ended up dropping 14 minutes back. I ended up crushing the solo race and was stoked. I never knew how far back my competition was and just kept going like someone was chasing me down. The crashes had taken their tolls on me during the race; I find crashing leads my legs to cramp easier the rest of the race, so I was very frustrated about getting run off the course. Once I finished I noticed how sore my back was, another outcome from the endo, I thought it was normal lower back soreness, but once I got off the bike the pain attributed itself to the crash… time for some recovery!!!

Thanks:

            Thanks to everyone who has helped me get here. This is my first overall 1^st in any race. I have been on the podium a fair amount of times and I have won my age group. First and foremost a BIG thanks to Leesa, my wife,  she has let me train to the extent I do, and was an amazing pit captain at the race. Patrick provided great coaching advice coming up to this point and has been a great friend the whole way. I am new to the AFC Team this year and they have been amazing good friends with good rides, good times and good cause! The Hub has been a great sponsor to AFC and has treated me very well. My friends at Crofton Bike Doctor for all the help they give to me. Thanks to WsW!