Was able to get to sleep fairly early (~9:30) and actually got some decent sleep before the alarm went off at 2:30am. Got up, ate some breakfast, got the last items ready and went to pick up my training partner Susan at 3:30 then headed to Blackstar and the check in. When we arrived, the temp gauge in my car said it was already almost 60 degrees, which was nice at the time, but I was worried about heat later in the day. On to the race:
Section 1) Blackstar/Motorway- steady 8 mile climb followed by another 8 miles of steep ups and downs, then a fast, loose 3 mile downhill: I lined up in the back half and didn't see Susan or my friend Charlie at the start, who probably wanted to start further up towards the front. The gun went off at 5:30, and off we went. I slowly picked my way through and caught Susan in the beginning of the climb. It's always so cool on the Blackstar climb to see all the lights stretched out above and below. I was really trying to pace myself well, knowing that going out too hard on Blackstar would really hurt me later on. I got to the golfball in just over 1 hour, so I was on track. I took a quick hip flexor stretch break, took a swig of gel and headed towards Motorway. By this time, I started to go back and forth with some riders, including AJMTB from Strava, who ended up being the top female finisher. I really tried not to over exert on the numerous steeps on the Main Divide, thinking about the analogy of having a limited number of matches to burn. Got to the start of the Motorway in just under 2 hours, so I was definitely on track and feeling pretty good. On Motorway, I found myself behind some slower descenders, but patiently waited for good opportunities to pass. I found it interesting that slowing down made things noticeably sketchier, and made my arms more tired.
Section 2) Maple Springs to Santiago Peak/Holy Jim- long, steady 11 mile climb to the peak, then down Upper Holy Jim (more technical) and Lower Holy Jim (fast and fun, with some stream crossings): at the bottom of Motorway, the friendly volunteers helped me quickly fill up my hydration pack. I also filled up my bottle with the Prolong mix, went up the road for a quick nature break, then began the grind up Maple Springs. Was feeling pretty good at this point, and knew I just needed to pace myself through the last steep part of the pavement through the first mile or so of the dirt, after which the climbing becomes more moderate. Saw AJ a few times more, said hello to Neil from The Path riding a SS, then a couple of miles from Four Corners I saw Laura from Troupe. I stayed behind her and kept her in my sights until Four Corners, but I took another quick stretch break there. I took off with her and another gal barely in my sights, and they eventually pulled ahead out of sight. Made it to the peak in 1:52 from the bottom, which was still on track. Upper Holy Jim is fun but risky when tired, so I dropped the seatpost and decided if in doubt I would walk sections. I walked a few of the sketchy turns, but still passed a number of people and made it out unscathed. I found out later that Charlie had a bad crash here and finished the race with a busted lip requiring some stitches post race. That's tough! Lower Holy Jim was really fun, and I passed quite a few people on this section, including Laura and the other gal who dropped me on the way to Santiago Peak. There were quite a few hikers on the trail--they picked a bad day to hike Holy Jim with hundreds of mountain bikers descending--but they were all nice and didn't slow me down much. It was fun to ride through some of the creek crossings too, though the wet socks I believe contributed to the rubbing and blister problems on WHT later on. Strava said 47 minutes down from the peak to the VQ/CC split, and my total time at this point was 5 hours even. Exactly on target to reach 7:30.
Section 3) Trabuco/West Horsethief/Trabuco- tough, steep 2.5 mile climb up Trabuco to the West Horsethief 1.5 mile hike a bike, then across the Main Divide, down Trabuco and out on the Trabuco wash to the finish: I quickly refilled the bottle and pack again, and saw Roy from Troupe who was there supporting his team. He was nice enough to lube my chain, then off I went. By this time, it was getting warm and I knew this section was going to be really tough. Got to the start of Trabuco and was doing okay for the first part, but as it got tougher, I started to walk the bike more. I saw Ben from Troupe, who let me pass a bit before we reached WHT. Finally made it to WHT, and started to hike it up. I'm not sure why--maybe it was the heat--but I think WHT gets tougher every year. Fighting through blisters on the back of my heels and my back getting stiff, I kept telling myself to just keep going. It's about as deep as I ever had to dig. Someone was talking after the race about a guy who was ahead of him on WHT, but then said 'f... this!', turned around, hiked down and DNF'd! It did make me feel somewhat better that I slowly caught and passed two other racers, so I couldn't have been doing that bad. I finally got up near the top where I could actually ride my bike again and on the slight downhill section, I veered off towards the side of the trail, hit some kind of stump hidden by the shrubs and went OTB! Am I the only person in the history of VQ to crash on WHT?? I must have been really tired. Anyway, finally made it to the top. I passed on having a burger (thanks, but no thanks!), but grabbed a potato chip, some Gatorade and headed towards Trabuco. Strava said I made it over in 17:47, but it seemed to take forever. Before heading down I quickly did the math in my head, adding up my ride time and rest time and saw it was at 6:46. This meant I had less than 45 minutes to break my goal time of 7:30...wuh woh! Heading down Trabuco was fun, but by this time, my arms were on fire, especially anytime I had to brake. I just tried to relax, think about yoga breathing, have fun and keep going. I caught up to another of the guys I had been going back and forth with earlier who said he was done. I told him, c'mon, we're almost to the finish and it's all downhill from here!
When I passed the section where Trabuco intersects the bottom of WHT, I saw numerous people going up Trabuco, including Willie from Troupe. I was thinking how they were on the tough part that was about to get even tougher, but Willie still said hi with a smile on her face. I made it to the gate at the bottom of Trabuco and knew I needed to push it to make 7:30. The first part was rolling and fast, but the last flatter part of the road had a slight headwind and seemed to take forever. I knew it was going to be close. I finally made it around a turn and saw some people, then the finish line and just hoped my Garmin and my math was right. I saw the official clock and it read 7:28 when I crossed. Was really happy, but also vowed it would be my last VQ! Would have been so pleasant to just turn right at the VQ/CC cutoff and head to the finish instead of trudging through the H-E-double hockey sticks that is WHT.
The traditional finish line shot with the VQ feather:
Ride stats (moving time of 7:10 with stopped time of :18):
Bike notes: everything felt and worked great on the Spearfish. No flats! I guess the Ikon Exos were worth it. My arms seemed to get tired fast, which made me think my saddle might have been pointed down slightly. Speaking of the saddle, my ass hurt, but not any worse than expected. The Silverado seems to be a good choice for me.
Nutrition notes: made it through predominantly on the mix of Herbalife Prolong/Perpetum in a 3:1 mix, with some tea extract added in. Otherwise only had half a Clif Mojo bar and half a Honey Stinger Waffle, and half a flask of Hammer Gel Tropical. By the time I was heading down LHJ and the heat came, it was difficult to eat or drink anything, and in fact it was hard to eat after the race. I think I probably had about 750 cals from the drink mix, 250 from Hammer Gel and another 250 from the Clif Bar and Waffle. Also popped 4-5 Endurolytes even though the drink mix also had electrolytes. I think I drank about 150L total from the hydration pack, plus the 2.5 bottles of drink mix and the dixie cup of gatorade mix a the top of WHT. Felt some very preliminary twinges, but didn't fully cramp at all, which was great, especially considering the heat on WHT.
A quick thanks to my friends at Whole Health Clinic who kept my back healthy the past 3-4 months.
Next up: the Whiskey Off Road, then Leadville!
No comments:
Post a Comment