What a Weekend....... Bird's Commentary...

Town Mountain Time Trial…… Weinacker and KP just drilling it placing 2nd in the A’s (Goat) and 1st in the B’s (KP).

12 Hours of Tsali…. Where our Geezer & Gal team of Jim, me, Deb, and Sam took 6th place in the Base 4-person team competition (I would add 1st as a coed team, but since Sam & Deb can ride pedal stroke for pedal stroke with any guy we were not interested in “gender” competition, and I am pretty sure Jim and I were the oldest mtn bikers out there….. and having a Helluva a time).
AND…
Our ladies took top 5 of the top 10 in the finish to Mt. Mitchell and 1st to Marion!
Giselle 4th
Weinacker 6th
Emily 7th
Beth 8th
KP 9th (yes the same, “to big to climb” KP)

Stratton 1st to Marion

Town Mtn Time Trial ….. see write-up below

12 Hours of Tsali…… Goal…. HAVE FUN…. Maybe a top 10 finish…..
Jim and I had only gotten a chance to get on our mtn bikes several times this spring but what the heck…… we had 2 of the best Mtn Bikers we know to round out our team and show us the “ropes”….. 11am to 11pm… 12hours of racing…. Pretty much an hour to complete the 11 mile loop…. 2 and 4 person 12 hour teams, solo 6 & 12 hour entrants….. basically 3 one hour time trials….. (and I am supposed to do Mitchell on Monday….bad idea…. A really bad idea)

The race is a Lemans mass start with the first rider having to run a quarter of a mile up a dirt road, jump on their bike and then proceed into a 2 mile climb……. No volunteers here…… so what the heck… I have not run in almost a decade and with an Achilles that screams in pain at the thought of running I raised my hand…. 300 people…. All with giddy anticipation and really just out to have a fun day in the sun……or mud….Oh did I mention that it had been raining for the last 2 days which had just ended at 9am this morning…… and I am not talking that low land drizzle of Greenville, I am talking Appalachian buckets of rain……

As I run up the road, I am thinking who in their right mind decided running in Mtn Bike shoes is a good idea…… I grab my stumpy and head up the climb…. Middle ring cruise… passing people …. Top out …road changes to single track…….start the descent …. Oh shit…. Out of control….. riders coming up behind me…what are they crazy…how can they go that fast….let em pass…. The foliage is so thick you cannot see 20 ft ahead and the riders are just flying blind…. (I am thinking was the 29er a really good idea for this…) ….. we hit another climb… I am passing those kamikaze’s who passed me…top out … cruising the roller coaster section…. Bike slipping out in the hairpins as the mud allows no purchase for the tread….. keep the sunny side up……. I settle in behind a rider who tells me he knows the trail….only to hit a “puddle” that swallows my bike and gives me a mud bath filling every orifice …. Glasses are useless…. Hit the rutted wall…off the bike jammed up with 10 other riders pushing our bikes up the climb…. Then another climb…… Jon Gillespie is there and shots “it is all downhill from here” …. Not exactly but it is a fast section … I have no idea whether I have 100yds or 5 miles to go….. up a climb around a bend and I can hear a PA….. there is the arch…. Dismount run through…. There is Sam …. The handoff…… WHOA…. 57minutes……just 1 hour…. Covered in mud, heart pumping, head spinning, sweat pouring, gasping for air…….. And that is just the start of the day…….. 2 more times….. yippeeeee…





Sam heads out with a gladiator’s intent that sends her crashing into the first turn (literally) at our tent…… bounces up…jumps on the bike and races through her first lap matching a time of 57 minutes…..








Jim’s off who has spent little time on the bike these last few months…… but this was the one event he really wanted to do this year……so he heads out spending every quarter coming back in spent….. wondering how people can go so fast down the trail…..

Then Deb’s turn, who blisters the track with a time of 54 minutes…..why she is 1st in the SC Mtn Bike standings…… and I am up again……

The sun is out, and riders of all ages, physique, gender are challenging themselves with the 11 mile loop…. Everyone having a helluva time…..

We ride, we rest, we cheer, we talk….. we just have a great time……. On every lap we are moving up in the standings…. Our times never slow… the trail is getting better, and we are feeling better and better…. The sun is setting and we are putting our lights on…….

I head out for my 3rd and final lap at dusk …. Open trail in front of me…. I am intent on laying down a good time on this one….. dark trail ……almost lose it…. Keep it going …… over the climb down the descent…. Up another….down again.. the fast section through the forest…… through a hairpin … keep your speed up…..less than 2 miles to go….. nail it…. Through the left hairpin riding the bank high in the turn…..shit over compensated……damn…handlebar catches a tree……. Thrown off the bike into the bank….. stars….where is the air in my lungs? Ribs? Shoulder? Damn, Damn…… get up …. Get your breath……..Get going…… slow pedal at first……. OK… OK…. Pick up speed…. Pull the limbs out of my helmut……. …… there is the finish…….. Sam ready to go… lights on… Jim is there…….Go Sam GO!




I wait around for Sam to come in and Jim to head out before I head home to prepare for Mitchell …….. what a great event, what a great team….. Sam our logistics and team captain, Deb the mechanic and anchor, Jim the Doc and voice of reason, and me….. having a great time……. I am only sorry that I am leaving and not seeing the team through to the finish……..

Mitchell
I have done Mitchell before……once…..worst bike ride I have EVER had…. 2008 where the temperatures set all time records …. Where I got a full dose of heat stroke that caused me 4 weeks of recovery……. Where I cramped so bad that a SAG would not let me continue and ordered me in the car……. Where I swore I would never do it again……. I mean, I am all about descending….what a climb without a descent?….. mashed potatoes without gravy?...what are they thinking…….

But a team event is a team event…..and as the Jens V domestique I am called to duty…… doing 3 1 hour time trials in the woods 2 days before is NOT what I would recommend….. But the great thing about being a support person…… you do your job then sit back and tempo ride to the finish (you hope)…

6:30am start…… all together…. Randall, Perry, Christina, Goat, Stratton, Giselle, Bethster, Emily, Mel with Joe off to the side with his powerhouse of a daughter Cynthia……. Goal …. Setup some of our women for top placings…… My goal is to get them to Marion with a good time and with plenty left in the tank for the grueling 20 miles of climbing…..

Off….. like a Cat 3 race we go out covering the first 4 miles at 23+mph….Heart Rates are skyrocketing… I know several teammates are with me but I am singularly focused on what is ahead….. the pack accelerates to 25mph for the next 7 miles…….. Giselle comes up…. Weinacker is here…. Stratton is here…… Where’s Randall, Emily, Bethster, Christina, Perry……… our pack is split from a lead pack who is about 50 yards ahead…… “Giselle should we try to bridge?” “NO…” I am glad she said that as I note we are going about 30mph……. sit in….. fast enough …. Conserve…… work towards the front……. Giselle and I are close…. Where is Stratton? Weinacker? Drift back….. they are OK….”Move up…need to move up” work my way back up… at the front…try to keep the group at a smooth pace….. its fast enough…could be smoother…… drift back…….. move up….we need to move up…. Stratton on my wheel as we move up through the pack…at the front going through a pace line….Stratton there going through……

Giselle “nature break???”…… Kristi OK…. Goat OK…. Head back through the pack where is Giselle…..Ray tells me she stopped for a P….. oh shit…… Stop at the top of the hill, do the same…… pack moves off down the hill….. Giselle comes up and goes by…. Ray and I back on the bike chasing…… Giselle eases and waits for us….Pack is gone…….. going …. Pick up another rider…up a climb….. down then to Bills Hill….Ray off….. legs are like cement…..no go on the climbs …… too tired from Saturday’s effort……. Giselle is cruising up the climb ….. “Giselle, Go ahead…Keep going” I shout as I decide to back off and will wait at the top for the rest of the team…….. Ray comes up ….. a big pack behind …keep going….. jump in the pack coming up behind you…..

Wait, wait……. I am watching rider after rider crest Bill’s Hill….no one…no one is smiling (unlike Tsali where everyone was smiling) there is Emily…Perry….. we acknowledge… I look for Beth……no Beth…..oh shit…… I wait…..and wait….Mel coming up…… Mel, where is Beth?? She is ahead in a pack with Perry…….damn, damn……

On the bike…… go go go….. how long has it been…. 30 miles to Marion……. 10 minutes back maybe…. Damn….. Mel cannot hold my wheel, nor does he want to…….. picking up and dropping riders along the way….race pace…not good……do the math….you will not catch them…… 5 miles…got to try…..10 miles…. Keep it going……15 miles….this bloody hurts…… 20 miles….. I am DONE…… do go… no desire…… Mitchell will not happen today…. Settle down…. The girls will be out of Marion before I get there…they will be on their own…….

I have faith in everyone of them….. they are the most tenacious, gifted, women I have ever ridden with….. I will only be able to cheer them on in my thoughts…….. and hope, just hope the weather holds…..

One thing I have learned over the years doing events….be it hiking Mt. Whitney or the Presidential Range, doing a half ironman, sail boat racing in open water, a double century, a road race in gale force winds…. Is that sometimes it is better to call it a day…. And save it for another day…… If it’s the day you don’t have it, maybe it is the day to back off and “chill”……….. 58 and still going strong……

Oh, and my faith was well founded as Giselle, Goat, Emily, Beth, and KP did Headstrong proud….. Congrats to all of them on a great ride…..