Last weekend I had another rough day on the saddle at the second race of the Dust Devil Series. The race was at the McDowell County Park just north of Phoenix. This was supposed to be a training ride for me. The marathon race was supposed to be close to 50 miles long, which I was supposed to complete at an Endurance pace, according to the results of my fitness test, unfortunately I can't seem to convince myself to take it easy but unlike other times where I finished ready to die, this time I couldn't even finish. Norma did finish her race not before donating some skin from her knees in the process, but she did finish.
Once again, we didn't get enough sleep before the race. Even after trying hard, I still found stuff to get done the night before and didn't go to bed until past midnight. The race was supposed to start at 7:00 AM so we got up at 5:30, Norma made some burritos which we ate on the way and shortly before 6:30 AM we were there. I was curious how we were supposed to start at 7:00 AM if it was still dark 20 minutes before. After completing the registration we were told the start time had been changed to 8. Darn, I could have really used that extra hour of sleep.
Anyway, it was probably good they delayed the start, one because it was a little cold but most importantly, we had left the jug of water to use during the race at home, so that gave us time to go get water from a nearby gas station.
After the last minute scrambling, I went to the start line a few minutes before 8. A quick look at the competition showed me that none of the guys that had beat me at the previous race were there, so I really didn't know how things were going to play out.
And off we went. Just in the first 100 yards it was clear that no one wanted to take the lead, eventually the guy in the inside line took that lead after the first turn and I took his wheel. The first couple miles were through some short rolling hills but the leader's pace was a little slow for my preference and I was wasting a lot of energy keeping his pace, so less than 10 minutes into the race I decided to pass him and set the pace at the front.
Two other rider followed my wheel and to make the story short, they stayed on my wheel for the next two laps of 10 miles each. I thought I was keeping a comfortable pace but even when I offered them to take the lead, neither of them was interested. The rest of those laps we rode together in the same order and we never saw the rest of the group behind us.
Shortly after starting the third lap, the guy sitting on 3rd attacked, the guy on my wheel followed and so did I, unfortunately that was my error. The effort of pulling them around the course for more than 20 miles had really wore me out, so when the attacks came I didn't have much left, yet I chased and got back on their wheel. They kept a pretty steady pace until we started passing some of the Sport riders. The traffic helped to bring the pace down but going up one of the steep uphills, one of the Sport riders had a little biff and two of us got stuck behind him. While we waited for him to get his bike out of the way, the guy that had sat on my wheel for the most part attacked and we never saw him again. We tried chasing and I was having a hard time staying on the chaser's wheel but instead of letting him go, I stayed on until the end of the 3rd lap. With 30 plus miles on my legs and at least 18 more to go, my stomach started acting up. First I felt like all the food consumed during the day was growing in my stomach, then there were the nauseous feeling and finally the puking (Sorry for the visual).
The 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th laps were supposed to be shorter (about 3.5 miles each). I struggled to finish the 4th. Stop by the car and try to get rid of some of the weight by leaving the tools and my hydration pack and taking just a bottle, then headed out for the 5th lap. With the Kids race starting just a few minutes before I started that lap, I had the embarrassing opportunity to ride a hill almost at the same pace as a 7 year old girl on her singlespeed, pink bike. That's when you find out that you are not having a good day. The rest of this lap was as painful, with another stop for more regurgitation until I finally made it to the finish line, 3 laps before the end and called it quits.
Yeah, I am not proud of it. I felt guilty for the rest of the day for not staying 'til the end but it was probably the best thing to do, or else I could have had to be taken out in a ambulance. On a positive note, by "finishing" early, I was able to watch Norma finishing her race on 6th place overall and 4th in her age group. She did crash once and had some chain problems but finished strong and with a big smile.
Next up, is more training, some gym work and long training rides. The next race is at Estrella on Dec. 4th and I am hoping to take that one easy and finish it.
Pura Vida!
Jeff
