Having been a recreational Mountain Biker for a few year, I decided to go all out for my first Mountain Bike race. I signed up for a solo 6 hour endurance race with hopes I could find some friends to join me. Because I had spent most of the year leading up to the race traveling over seas, I was a little under prepared for the race. In all I had about a month of riding in the summer heat of Arizona, and for about half of this time my bike was in the shop for various repairs. To include a last minute replacing of the crank, two days before I departed for the race, because I stripped out a pedal because I didn't realize it was coming loose on a trail ride.
I arrived at BSA Camp Tahquitz early Friday evening, shortly after registration opened. I quickly set up my camp and then took off for a pre ride of the course. Upon hearing that this would be my first race, one of the event organizers offered this advice. "Start slow, and then slow down." On the pre ride, I started to understand how unprepared I was. The course was a loop of around 6 miles, that included a 1,200 foot climb and a loose and dusty down hill of switch backs through the pines. Also the camp lay at around 7,000 feet ASL, much higher elevation than my flat training grounds in Yuma (200 feet ASL). Despite its difficulty the ride was undoubtably beautiful. Riding through pine and sunny meadows in near perfect weather.
When I returned to camp, the rest of the campers had arrived. Most of them from Jenson USA, a title sponsor of the event, riding in the team event and running a maintenance tent for the race. The combination of a ban on alcohol from being on a BSA camp and the early race start in the morning made it an early night in camp.
With my registration done and my bike already set up, I was able to stay in my tent until the race was about to start. When I pulled back my tent flap, I was surprised by all the activity. A few hundred people were now buzzing around ready to race. I grabbed a light breakfast and prepared my aid station.
I took my place at the back of the pack for the mass start. I held no illusions of competing against any of the riders beside myself. The first lap felt pretty good. I kept up with the pack on the flats and even passed a few people on the down hill. At the bottom of the hill I dropped back to the rear of the pack. The second lap went a lot like the first. By the climb of my second lap, many of the leaders were working on their third, I gave way to the leaders as they easily passed me. I made a stop at my aid station to grab some food and top up on water. Once I got started on the third lap exhaustion was already setting in. I took advantage of the Aid station at the base of the climb drinking a few cups of HEED electrolyte and cookies. Once I started the climb my legs were spent and I found myself having to dismount to allow people to pass, especially in the technical sections. The fourth lap even the down hills were a struggle when my legs began to cramp. I made an even longer stop at the Aid Station at the bottom of the hill. Laying down while eating cookies and drinking more HEED, in hopes of curing the cramps before the climb. I crawled up the climb and made it back to the start, suffering the worst of the leg cramps within site of the finish line. I crossed the line at 5:33, relieved that I could stop without worrying that I could still finish one more lap. This race had a hard finish at 6 hours, so any lap that doesn't cross the finish before that time doesn't count, as opposed to races where any lap started before that time will count. I finished 6th of 7 in my age group.
After grabbing a snack I crashed in my hammock to recover while waiting for the award ceremony. Laying around was exactly what I needed right then. I spent the rest of the day lounging around camp with the Jenson USA guys. Many of them were competing in day two of racing, the inaugural Endure race. In retrospect this is the race I should have done, and if I had anything left in my legs I would have signed up.
I arrived at BSA Camp Tahquitz early Friday evening, shortly after registration opened. I quickly set up my camp and then took off for a pre ride of the course. Upon hearing that this would be my first race, one of the event organizers offered this advice. "Start slow, and then slow down." On the pre ride, I started to understand how unprepared I was. The course was a loop of around 6 miles, that included a 1,200 foot climb and a loose and dusty down hill of switch backs through the pines. Also the camp lay at around 7,000 feet ASL, much higher elevation than my flat training grounds in Yuma (200 feet ASL). Despite its difficulty the ride was undoubtably beautiful. Riding through pine and sunny meadows in near perfect weather.
When I returned to camp, the rest of the campers had arrived. Most of them from Jenson USA, a title sponsor of the event, riding in the team event and running a maintenance tent for the race. The combination of a ban on alcohol from being on a BSA camp and the early race start in the morning made it an early night in camp.
With my registration done and my bike already set up, I was able to stay in my tent until the race was about to start. When I pulled back my tent flap, I was surprised by all the activity. A few hundred people were now buzzing around ready to race. I grabbed a light breakfast and prepared my aid station.
I took my place at the back of the pack for the mass start. I held no illusions of competing against any of the riders beside myself. The first lap felt pretty good. I kept up with the pack on the flats and even passed a few people on the down hill. At the bottom of the hill I dropped back to the rear of the pack. The second lap went a lot like the first. By the climb of my second lap, many of the leaders were working on their third, I gave way to the leaders as they easily passed me. I made a stop at my aid station to grab some food and top up on water. Once I got started on the third lap exhaustion was already setting in. I took advantage of the Aid station at the base of the climb drinking a few cups of HEED electrolyte and cookies. Once I started the climb my legs were spent and I found myself having to dismount to allow people to pass, especially in the technical sections. The fourth lap even the down hills were a struggle when my legs began to cramp. I made an even longer stop at the Aid Station at the bottom of the hill. Laying down while eating cookies and drinking more HEED, in hopes of curing the cramps before the climb. I crawled up the climb and made it back to the start, suffering the worst of the leg cramps within site of the finish line. I crossed the line at 5:33, relieved that I could stop without worrying that I could still finish one more lap. This race had a hard finish at 6 hours, so any lap that doesn't cross the finish before that time doesn't count, as opposed to races where any lap started before that time will count. I finished 6th of 7 in my age group.
Obstacle at the bottom of the Ravine
Lower Meadow
After grabbing a snack I crashed in my hammock to recover while waiting for the award ceremony. Laying around was exactly what I needed right then. I spent the rest of the day lounging around camp with the Jenson USA guys. Many of them were competing in day two of racing, the inaugural Endure race. In retrospect this is the race I should have done, and if I had anything left in my legs I would have signed up.
-James
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