It is Over!!!!

To Start off this post Ill start at the end of the 6 hours of Warrior Creek. This being my first marathon type event I am proud to say I complete it. But I guess the big news is that I came across a name by accident for my bike. "The Culprit". It was a sarcastic comment made to Mutt about getting back on the bike to get the car and it sounded perfect. Especially after 6 hours of riding on it. I was able to stay on the bike the entire time and keep riding and get in a 4 laps. Each lap was a little under 12 miles of sweet singletrack. I have never been on a trail that was so smooth and so well maintained.

Lap 1 - The Start



As you can see, I didn't take off fast, there is just no way I can keep up that sprinting pace that the other guys did for 6 hours. If you look closely you can see me waving to the camera. I didn't take the start to seriously. But it did start out as a 2-3 mile pavement ride just to thin out the pack. There is no way that 300+riders can all take turn one at the same time. I just took my time and enjoyed the view of watching everyone else about to suffer the same fate as me. On the way to the trail I got the honor of passing Mrs. MadSS on an uphill. I gave her a quick push to let her know I was there and continued on my way. MadSS took off up front and the Mutt was behind me the entire time, but I will get to that part about lap 4 or so. The first lap of these is always the most fun, everyone is together and most people are social (at least in the back of the pack like I am) and the conversations get funny. Such as looking into the lake and wondering how cold the water is. Also, the first lap is the most packed and least amount of room to pass. There are always people who started out on a sprint and then got winded about 3 miles in, I wasn't one of those people. It must be a sight to see though, just a train of riders going through the woods. You would heard the common courtesy yells such as "Brake," "Rider up" or my personal favorite "Rider down!" That last one usually ends in diasaster for the entire train as they have to stop and wait for that rider to get off the trail and let everyone pass, at least that is the courtesy.

The first 10 miles went smooth, I was carrying on small conversations with some of the other riders just to occupy the time until mile 11, the rock garden. I was behind a novice rider who looked like he had never seen one before. He fell and unclipped and then I had to get off my bike as well to avoid from falling. Instead of getting off the trail he was running with his bike and trying to get back on while still in the rock garden. It just doesn't work this way and by this time there were 10 people all behind me cussing that this guy wouldn't move. Luckily I past him before we got to the pits so I wouldnt have to deal with him again. This was my fastest lap at 1 hr 12 minutes


Lap 2
I was still able to keep the pace up this lap and started enjoying the ride before. Like I mentioned this was the smoothest trail I have ever been on and some of the hills were so fun and such a high bank that they were about 4-5 feet high. Needless to say my brakes were getting used quite a lot. About this time I was being tailed by another rider who was going my same pace. We rode together for about 8 miles or so and just exchanged stories. He was from Ohio and just heard about this race from someone and him and 2 friends drove down to N.C. just to experience it. That is a lot to say about the trails in this area. After speaking with him he loved how all of the bikers in the area are so sociable and respectful to one another that he wanted to move down here. On an uphill he then took off without me leaving me alone to finish the lap. Then I went into the pit area again and the burrower and Erin were there to help me again with all of the things a good pit crew should do. Full up the water bottles, open up packages of food, and make sure that I finish my sandwhich and banana. I thanked them both multiple times on the ride home because those little things make the suffering that much easier.




Lap 3
This is where my paced dropped off dramtically. I knew it was going to my happen and just glad that my body was just tired and not cramping at all. I guess my training worked. And by training I mean I had to suffer through a week without a beer and even going so far as drinking pickle juice on the advice of Cranky Dan. Due to fatigue this is where my details get a little sketchy of the trail as it all tended to run together. Gone was the high pitched "weeeeeeeee" that all of the riders were shouting as they rode the downhills up the banked turns and in its place was riders standing on the side of the trails stretching to remove the cramps and resting from the torture in which they signed up for. And as one of the other riders pointed out to me, paid for as well. The only real thing I remember about lap 3 was at the 7 mile mark the trail gnomes put out a cooler of water. I also took a small spill on one of the smaller rock gardens which tore up my legs a little bit. Its ok though, chicks dig scars. I needed it as my drink intake rose from the prior 2 laps. I filled up the bottle, took a 2 minute break and with that boost of energy allowed me to pass some of the other solo riders. I get back into the pit area and the clock states 2 hours left. I get to the tent and take in some food and drinks and was lucky that the Mutt had some sort of massage stick he brought with. The burrower was lucky enough to use it on my legs to help roll out some of the potential cramps in which plagued other riders.

Lap 4 - The torture continues.

I was debating on if I wanted to go out for a final lap when I just talked myself into it knowing that I had a little less than 2 hours to go to the end. I knew that I just was going to take it slow keep and keep moving. By this time a lot of the people were finished riding and so spread out on the trail that it was minutes before you passed anyone (or had) anyone pass you. This is also the lap in which the leaders caught up to me and passed me like I was standing still. The winners did 6 laps total which is just beyond me on how they can keep it up for so long. When they did pass me though none of them acted like it was going to make a difference if they past me right away or wait till an opening which I appreciated. They didn't want to do something stupid and have anyone get hurt. I yielded to them and just watch them ride off into the sunset. Also on this lap I found my racing buddy the Mutt, still on lap 3. He was cramping up bad and had to walk up every hill. I took a few minutes and rode with him and we kept passing each other during the others moments of weakness. We finally ended up stopping at the water cooler on mile marker 7 and took a breather and just watched everyone pass us. I was ok with that. At this time the team shop I am on, Southpark Cycles, the owner was doing a duo race himself and passed us at the water station. The Mutts response "uh oh, you just let the boss catch you sitting down on the job" We had a good laugh as he continued on the ride.

I was finally able to break away from Mutt and took off on the last few miles. I was able to catch up and pass another rider who was having cramping issues. He was an older gentleman and an encouragement for me. Not because he was older, but because he was behind me pushing me to make sure I didn't give up. It is always easier to push yourself when there is someone else with you. We ended up finishing together and I gave him a handshake on the ride back to my pit area as we both completed the 6 hours of Warrior Creek. Ill probably continue on this path for the rest of the week with the blog, but hopefully more pictures and stories will surface as the week goes on. I will still try to get in about 4 or 5 stories this week so I will keep you updated. Sorry of the non-humorous stories but this was a race report blog.