Warrior Creek Recap

37 degrees.  That is what I awoke to at 430 in the morning because I couldn't sleep anymore.  I was afraid to trust my alarm as the Burrower (check our her blog here) was out of the time zone in Illinois (don't pronounce the "s") visiting family and welcoming my new newphew Peyton James to the world.  I stayed back to make sure the dogs got fed and because I signed up for this race in October.

Anyway, back to the story, me and Steve met up at the Trek Store in Charlotte to carpool up to the 6 Hours of Warrior Creek in Wilkesboro NC.  I did manage to see the Mutt coming out of his place where I assumed he stayed all night.

These are some of the best trails you will find anywhere in the country and they are basically in my backyard.

39 degrees, that was the temperature right after the pre-race announcements.  Me being the smart one I am looked at the weather forecast and didn't do a darn thing about it.  I just brought my jersey and shorts for the ride.  I saw everyone dressed up in arm warmers, leg warmers, wind breakers.  Me, I just found a sunny spot and waited for the start.  I am glad I did though. As soon as the race started, it was on like Donkey Kong.

I started off in the back, letting most everyone go ahead of me.  This being my 3rd year signing up for a 6 hour race I knew what to expect and decided not to rush myself.  I was happily moving along in the first lap after dealing with crashes, people dabbing their foot, falling off their bikes into ravines, the usual for a mass 300 person start.

Finally around mile 8 of 12.5 I was "lucky" enough to have the person in front of me fall and hit a tree.  After the obligatory "are you ok" I lost the group of 10 I was traveling with.  Seeing how I was only riding for 45 minutes at that point I made the decision not to waste energy by trying to chase them down.  It was a smart move at that point.  I had an open trail in front of me and I could see the group about 4 or 5 turns ahead.  I didn't waste any extra energy using my brakes needlessly and stopping and starting and I caught up to them right at the start/finish line.

This is where I made a mistake.  I swapped out my water bottle, took some electrolyte tablets (for my leg cramps which I knew would be coming soon) and headed out.  I didn't eat any food which was a mistake to haunt me later.

Lap 2 was pretty uneventful. I just enjoyed the trail, talked a bit with a few people before I passed them or they past me and kept going.  But towards the end I started to feel hungry.  I grossly underestimated  my calorie usage and the stomach felt weary (but the legs and lungs were strong).  It is hard to figure out what to eat for a 6 hour race when the longest in which I have rode is about 2 hours.  But I finished the 2nd lap and ate some clifBars, grabbed more electrolytes and more water bottles and headed out for lap 3.

I was feeling real good but just weak.  My leg cramps were keeping under control, I was keeping my fluids down.  I enjoyed the rest of the 3rd lap and decided to take a seat.  I had more than enough time to go out for another lap (over an hour and a half before the cutoff time), and very possibly could have gotten 2 more in (if I was in shape).  But I decided to sit down, enjoy the sun and have myself a beer (err, not allowed on federal grounds, it was a coke with a lot of foamy head)

The final results weren't bad for my time, I was the 3 or 4th person to "finish" with 3 laps, so I must have been doing ok.  It was fun time to just hang out in the pits as always and watch everyone else suffer while you have a cold refreshing "coke" and cheering them on.  I met a lot of great and fun people on the trails and in the pits and it was a great event put on again, and learned more lessons about endurance mountain biking for next time.

My race calender is free for the next week or so, and then the Southern Classic Series starts up again.  This will definatly make me faster, maybe even a top 10 finish?  Nah, lets not get ahead of ourselves.