Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Third Knee On My Hip

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 176.5#, 11.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 178.5, 11% BF

Quick weekend recap: Friday was a hot lap on the towpath, followed by an abbreviated evening out (bed by 11:00 I'd guess), Saturday was a rest day, did some chores and had an even earlier evening out, bed by 8:00 for Sunday's 4:30 wake-up.

Michaux: A Race Report (something I wrote up for the Chain Gang)

It was an excellent day for racing and riding yesterday, and trail conditions were ideal, maybe even a bit on the dry side with a few notable exceptions. Joe and I, having left his house at some ungodly hour, and being sent on a detour through the woods, arrived around 8:30 AM, just after the 50-mile racers took off. Register, prep bikes, port-o-john, warmup, more port-o-john, and then we lined up for the start about 10:30.

The start setup, by the way, was different from previous years: we lined up on the dirt road behind registration, heading towards the parking lot entrance but from there straight, up that dirt road climb for about a mile and into about 4 miles of mixed single/doubletrack I'd never seen before. Very nice stuff, but also very tight and twisty, hard to pass -- and if anyone stops ahead, everyone's walking. That area ended with a boggy section, one of only three wet spots on the whole course, but like those other spots it was a giant mud pit; the trail literally went through a swamp. It was rideable, but once again we were forced off the bikes by the general chaos. That swamp was the last place I saw my left cleat...

I was pretty ticc'ed at first, and I lost a lot of time figuring out what happened & looking for a spare in my pack (no such luck or foresight), but in the end the handicap might have helped me: I was forced to be very careful with my foot, especially on technical climbs, and as a result I just toodled up at a sedate pace (where I might have gone in more aggressively, blown up, and walked), and actually passed a lot of guys walking up the hills.

Downhill I wasn't so fortunate. There's a lot of bike-handling done unconsciously through your feet, and for the most part (by forcing myself to think about it) I was able to compensate for that -- until one double log where I just bunny-hopped without thinking first... Foot flew to the side, bike plowed into the log and stopped, and I did a somersault over the bars, landing on my hip on a rock. I got to watch all the guys I just passed on the hill go by, thinking "those %$#!!&$ dudes probably think I'm some kind of roadie, passing on a hill and then crashing! I'll show them! Ow, I'll probably feel this tomorrow." (I was right on at least one count.)

The rest of the ride was uneventful. I was pretty far behind, and when I got to Grave's Ridge I was disappointed to see it was empty because I was cleaning it -- until I dabbed on something stupid in front of the only two spectators. That was at mile 15; there was maybe another mile or two of loamy singletrack, then a 5-6 mile jeep road climb (log sled trail, mainly), followed by a mile or so of rocky singletrack before the last bit of dirt road to the finish. My final time was 3:11 or so, just about what I expected (shooting for an average of 7.5 mph) so I was happy.

Saw Joe at the finish, first time I saw him since the start. He rode with Jay for most of the race, and his story is better than mine but you'll have to hear it from him. I also saw Joe Gabor at the finish; he did the 50-miler, and finshed not long after I did. He looked like death warmed over and said "this was harder than the Wilderness 101!" I'm guessing I made the right course choice...

Long ride home, made even longer by construction delays, but it was still one heck of a good day.

One last observation: the atmosphere was very laid-back, very "old school" as both Joe and Jay noted: things were very relaxed, there were quite a few racers taking "spliff breaks" on the course, and most everyone had a bottle of barley pop at the end. Sue, who ran support for Joe G at the rest areas, told us of one guy (probably not an official) trying to induce the 50-mile singlespeeders to chug a beer at the last rest stop, on the grounds that if they were that damn hardcore... He had a few takers.


So anyway, I have a huge (and very sore) welt on my hip, but last night's yoga helped out, and a few more days should get me back up to 100%. Dinner last night was at the monthly Mug Club at Which Brew, and tonight it'll probably be something light.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ouch! Hopefully, the welt will go down quickly. Applying ice might be a good idea.

Don said...

I've been putting arnica on it, but not done much else; I have a few cold-paks waiting, but haven't had the time to ice it -- whenever I've been home the last two days I've been sleeping...

Probably I'll get the chance tonight.

Anonymous said...

Wow!
That was some ride & some spill!
Talk to Uncle Pat who took 2 bad spills in Santa Fe last week.
The sport isn't for the faint hearted.

I hope your hip is OK
Do you think you need X-Rays?

How many races have you completed at Michaux?

Don said...

Michaux: First one was in 1995, and the only one I missed was last year so we're talking an even dozen -- plus one or two other races there at slightly different venues. Quite a few when you think about it!

Spill: I've taken worse (obviously!), it really wasn't much of a hit except it was right onto a rock. I'll have to drop Pat a line, see what his story is.

Anonymous said...

That's quite a record!
The years add up!

BTW check out ForSaleByOwner.Com at our zip code & see our ad There are about 6 from Manalapan...we're about mid range pricewise.
I can't figure how to upload pix! Darn!
Chris is "Administrator" & Kodak won't allow anyone w/o code to upload.
Were you planning on visiting Sun?
Tara invited us over at 5.
We can visit anothertime if you're racing etc.
Also, traffic is the worst this Sun.

Don said...

I think I'll be visiting next weekend, as I'm racing Sunday.

Good luck! I will check out your ad when I get home.

Anonymous said...

We'll be glad to see you whenever!