Greenbrier

2nd Place (racing on SS in the Geared Marathon Category)

Strava Data

Full Results

I really wanted to race in the Cat 1 Open category but it did not start until 2pm and I had to be home for a cookout with my family, so I opt'd for the Geared Marathon category starting at 9:30am and lasting for 4hours!  When I went to register I was SUPER HAPPY to find out that Kevin Carter was registering as a 'day-of' because he missed the online registration.  He STOMPED me at Bakers with his fancy gears on a super fast/flat 13hour course but with the epic climbing at Greenbrier I knew that I would be closer, I didn't expect that I could beat him but I knew I could at least make him work for it (hopefully).

At the start Kevin did his normal (albeit strange) start of waiting for the field to take off and leaving a few seconds later.  I need to ask him what his logic is behind that kind of start?  I took the hole shot (meaing I was the 1st into the woods coming off the start line / open field) into the woods.  From there I kept a steady pace up the 1st 1/2 of the course, which consists of 3 major climbs.  Nearing the top of the 3rd major climb I looked back the field was no where in sight... except for Kevin of course...

Thanks A.E.LANDES for the picture

At the top of the 3rd climb he caught me.  He took the lead on the downhill after that.

I was able to hold his wheel through the technical rocks at the bottom of the climb, near the end of the 1st lap.  He stopped just after the rocks, right before the start/finish, to adjust something on his bike.  I kept going, through the start/finish and hammering up the climbs again, hoping to stay away.  After all the climbs he was back on me and he lead the downhill again.

I stayed with him through the start/finish and he stopped for a water bottle just before we entered into the woods again.  I hammered the climb, but again he caught me towards the top.  This time when we hit the rock garden (3rd lap) I bobbled a little, he took full advantage of that and got a 30second gap immediately!  That was the last I saw of him.

For the rest of the 9 laps there was a ton of traffic from the Beginner and Sport races that started while we were on the course, so I always had company.  I enjoy cheering on teammates and other racers... it is so fun!  It was a really beautiful day.

In the end I lost to Kevin by about 6 minutes.. he was 3:57 I was 4:03.  My lap times were pretty consistent and I was able to keep a pretty fast pace without slowing up too much throughout the day.  The first few laps when lapped rider traffic was not an issue it was much easier to keep a fast pace.

Here are Kevin and my lap times:

	Kevin	Patrick
Lap 1	00:25:04.68	00:24:34.52
Lap 2	00:25:01.47	00:25:32.76
Lap 3	00:25:35.33	00:25:57.55
Lap 4	00:25:45.35	00:26:57.27
Lap 5	00:26:04.25	00:27:23.68
Lap 6	00:26:29.34	00:27:38.47
Lap 7	00:27:28.40	00:27:53.41
Lap 8	00:28:41.55	00:28:27.11
Lap 9	00:27:32.72	00:29:10.38

Baker's Dozen

1st place Single Speed (17laps 148miles)

Strava Data

Results

Pre race pic with a few of the 30+ AFC racers at the race

Switching my bike to fully rigid was a very very bad idea.  I was pretty much miserable immediately and it was a 13hour bike race!!!  UGGG....  I barely kept it together.  I am going back to my shock for sure.

I just kept pedaling and tried not to take breaks that were too long after every lap.  I definitely took wayyy too many breaks but I knew I was in 1st by a decent amount so I took the chance and had my breaks.  In general if you want to win these races you just gotta keep going and almost never stop, I broke that rule and I was lucky to still pull out a win.

So many times I just wanted to quit.. so many.

Myself, Lance Byrd, and Paul Tarter (right behind Lance but not visible in the pic)

The first 3 laps I was happy to be riding with teammates Lance Byrd (finished 2nd SS!!) and Paul Tarter (finished 3rd gears!! and right behind Lance and I).  After those laps I was pretty much by myself for the rest of the 17laps (148miles) of my race.

At most of the endurance races I only eat what I bring but since this race had laps and since I was taking long breaks between laps I was tempted to eat things that I normal don't... bad idea.  I made the mistake of eating some donut holes after lap 7ish and that was definitely a lesson learned from this race.  They wrecked me!  I need to be more disciplined and stick with the PROBARs and CeraSport that I started with and that I know my body will digest and use as fuel immediately, instead of giving me tummy aches and diarrhea like the donuts did... that almost ended my race.  

I hope I don't fall apart like this at my first Wild Cat 100, my first NUE race of 2013, because if I do I know I won't be so lucky as to squeak out the win.. there are a lot of heavy hitters going to that one and they will all be super hard to beat even if I have the perfect race
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