Back On The Podium!
Chalk up another podium finish for Cateye Enduro! I rage'd to a 2nd place in the Solo 12 hour race at the 12 Hours of Sugar Creek in Wisconsin. Overall, I was pleased with my performance. I was consistent and never had any problems with nutrition, gear, and the mental aspect that goes along with enduro events.
The race started at 8:00 AM. The weather was pretty sketchy...was it going to rain? The course was a hair over 4 miles per lap with 700 or so feet of climbing per lap. It had a mixture of everything...rocks, roots, bridges, tight turns, 5 minute climbs, paved road, etc. So this course was well suited to the well rounded rider. There were some great solo riders that showed...Lee Unwin (Salsa Rider and Solo World's Racer), Ray Coyle (Top 20 Leadville 100 finisher), and Spencer Faulkerson (Age Group Winner at Solo World's). I knew that myself and any of these guys could pull out the win. The race started with a 4 wheeler lead out on the paved road to the big climb. The climb is huge....700 ft with way steep pitches! Myself, Ray, and Lee took the lead in the Solo race. Climbing in 2x1 we reached the top in like 4 minutes. At the top we continued to push the pace. I was running 150ish on the HR. The 3 of us rode together for about 3 laps. On the 4th lap, myself and Ray dropped Lee on the climb. Now it was just me and Ray. We rode the next 8 hours together setting a good tempo. I would set pace through the singletrack, and Ray would set the pace up the climb. Around noon o'clock, we got some rain. This made the course pretty sketchy in spots. The rocks were getting slippery, and so where the roots. I could see Ray was having troubles with his Bontrager tires he was running. So I up'd the pace a bit and made him have to work a bit harder. I was running the Maxxis ADvantage tires, and was having NO problems with hook-up. The rain lasted about 4 laps. After the rain ended, the sun came out, and then it got pretty warm. The larger climb of the day was like a sauna. I would be climbing, and the sweat would be dripping off my arms. With the warm temps and all the other racers on the course, the course became hardpacked. It was way fast. It was like a video game. There was no pain, no worries, no suffering. Just flying through the tress at a fast pace having a good time!
By about the 12th lap or so, we were climbing the big climb in our granny. This climb was starting to take its toll....atleast on me. At about the 8.5 hours into the race, Ray attacked on the climb! He took off, and I had nothing to match it. Ray is an excellent climber...it is his strongest skill on the bike. That was prett much it. For the next 3 hours I would be chasing him. I started pushing it a bit harder. I was running 5-10 beats higher on the HR, and taking riskes on the course. There was a few times that I over shot corners, and got a bit out of control on the downhills. Every time I came through for a pit stop my parents would say..."He's 3 minutes up...He's 7 minutes up...He's 13 minutes up." Damn! This guy was still making time on me. I was running out of time. I was pretty much racing for 2nd place. So I keep the pace high and just finished out the 12 hours.
Ray ended up winning, and I got 2nd. We both did 23 laps, while all the other solo racers were 3 laps or more behind us. You can see the results HERE. For the first race of the year, I was pretty pleased with my performance. All my gear (THANKS SPONSORS!!!!) work perfectly, and my nutrition didn't let me down. Looks like the next race on my list is the next WEMSeries race in Franklin, Wisconsin at the end on May.
Other bits from the weekend...
- Thanks to my Nutrition Distribution Manager (my dearest mother) for another job well done. And HAPPY MOM'S DAY also.
- Thanks to Chuck for the hookup at the Holiday Inn and breakfast in La Crosse. I owe you dude!
- Congrats to first time 12 hour solo SS speed racer Kraig. This dude came to the race with Chuck. He built the bike up last week...he is in the process of quitting smoking...and he did the entire 12 hours solo on a singlspeed with platform pedals and regular street shoes! Keep at it man and continue to pimp those sponsors!
- This was one of the best 12 hour race courses I have ever done!
- 16,000 feet climbed during the entire 12 hours.
- Approx. 95 miles raced.
- 11,000 calories burned.
- Average HR of 154 for the race.
Out.
Jeff Kerkove said at 5:20 PM
