The forecast called for a 50% chance of showers and that is exactly what happened. It rained on and off all day long. Sunny to torrential down pour and back again. The puddles were deep and the rocks were slick.
I woke up at 12:30am and I drove to the race from my house at 1:30am with my dad! He and I had an awesome adventure together. It is fun driving down the morning of, racing, then driving back. While I raced, he worked as a race volunteer and took a hike in the woods. It was a great day for both of us!
All of the single speeders started together. Quickly after the start I was with Matt Ferrari, Justin Pokrivka, Gerry Pflug (read his Race Report), Ron Harding, and Lance Byrd. Soon after that Ron, Gerry, and I were able to get a small gap on the others and we got into a group with a few geared riders.
The course consists of 6 major climbs and lots of technical single track. The second climb was mostly walking/running. I got a small gap on Gerry and Ron but they easily caught me on the following descent. The 3rd climb (mi 35-40) was a brutal one! Ron and I got away from Gerry and we didn't see him again. After the race I found out that Gerry DNF'd shortly after that climb. He is the leader of the series and the championship is next weekend. If Ron won at SM100 the tie breaker would be between him and Gerry next Saturday at Fool's Gold. Gerry was smart to call it a day and save his energy to be fresh for the showdown at Fool's Gold, if Ron were to beat me for the win.
After that it was Ron and I battling for 1st. On the 4th climb Ron made a move. I promised myself that I would not let Ron take me outside of my pace like he did to me at the last race. There are only 2 things that you have 100% control of in these races: pace and nutrition. I was going to make sure that I did both of those perfectly. If I lost after that then so be it.
To keep pace I never allowed myself to go above a Zone 4 heart rate on any climbs until the last 15miles when the race really starts and you can let it all out.
My nutrition plan was to eat extra (healthy) food at every meal the day before the race. The morning of the race I at 2x normal breakfast and a PROBAR 2hrs before the start. During the race I ate 1 PROBAR every hour for the first 5hours and then GU and HammerGel for the 3hrs after that. The reason for this strategy is that PROBARs take longer to digest but they give you sustained energy... eat them in the beginning. The GU and HEED get into your system fast so eat them towards the end. I drank 3 bottles of water and 3 bottles of CeraSport... no bonking.. no cramping.
After Ron got away from me, we entered the most epic/longest/hardest climb of the day... It was a 20mile climb with the last 10 being totally ridiculous, especially with the wet conditions. As I caught geared racers going up the climb I always asked them how far ahead Ron was. At the start they told me 5 minutes! Towards the end someone told me 2 minutes!! I was hesitant to believe I was catching him, but I just held my pace and with only 1 or 2 miles before the top I caught him. I passed him going extra fast and trying to make it look like I was not tired.. hehe.. I was hoping to dash his spirits so that he would not want to chase after me. I was able to get a gap on him but he rallied and never gave up... that's for sure.
Passing him gave me a huge boost of energy! I was < 20miles for the finish so I could let go of my pace and really go as hard as possible... ha... well at mile 80 of 100miles 'as hard as possible' was about the same pace as I was keeping all day, I could not go any faster.
I thought the major climbing was over after the 20mile climb but I was wrong, there was a significant 5ish mile climb right before the finish! This was actually kind of good for me because I was feeling good. I passed 3 more geared riders on this last climb.
With just 1.5miles left on the final descent I cut the sidewall of my back tire on a rock!!!! I could not believe it... after all of this! I was going to loose because of a flat tire. NO! I would ride the flat to the finish, surely destroying my wheel in the process, but it would be worth it to win. Fortunately the Stan's Sealant did its job and after only 30 aggonizing seconds of listening to the air hiss out of my tire it stopped!! Magic!!! Wow! I lost < 5psi and I was rolling again. I <3 you Stan.
I crossed the finish line as 1st place Single Speed and 12th place overall with a time of about 8hrs and 8minutes.
Ron finished just 3minutes behind me... that guy is freggin tough.
Teammate Lance Byrd finished his 1st 100miler, he was also on a SS. He was 8th placed in our category! Congrats Lance!
REALLY awesome win and time considering the conditions. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteNice job Pat! thanks for sharing!
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