After race registration, I headed for the relaxation of a good night's sleep in a local inn. My plan sounded good enough; I'd booked a room three miles from the race in Milheim, PA, in an inn with a restaurant. Almost 300 years old, the inn was in a small five block wide village that was once part of a the big lumber and mining boom. I ate a my spaghetti dinner and garlic bread and thoughtfully looked around at images of the days before mine. On the walls were pictures of FDR and Teddy Roosevelt and old mirrors blackened around the edges and some really old lithography. The place had seen great days. And though now it's under cared for, I thought I would still sleep well.
I was wrong. My #7 room was just above the bar. It was hot, no AC or TV, but had a nice Dutch quilt with colorful blue squares, an old figurine lamp with a little candle-shaped bulb and some dark handcrafted furniture. The noise of Leonard Skinard and Van Morison and some loud 80's hairband drove me batty so I asked the tattooed lady bartender with a cigarette in her mouth for a new room. She obliged and sent me off to the third floor. Now, if I thought 83 degrees was hot, my new 92-degree room with closed windows was a furnace. I was patient, and strained to open what looked like (original!) windows. The wood was coarse ribbed and near black with age and there was a crack in one. I thought this room was more like Transylvania than Pennsylvania. So I lay there with a wet rag on my head to stay cool and I was still way too hot. My skin was tight and red like an overcooked hot dog and my feet and arms where almost itchy. I can now understand why so many old folks died in the 2003 heat wave of France. 14,802 more people than normal died in that record hot August.
Despite the noise, I retreated downstairs, had another cold shower in the common bathroom and tried again to sleep. I was SO happy when the music shut off at 12:34 in the morning.
The next morning I naturally woke up at 5:30 - always a good omen on race day - and headed out to the service station for the reliable hot water tap on the side of the coffee machine that I used to make oatmeal and my French press coffee. There was a nice dining area and I enjoyed a few early morning hours. I had 101 miles of Pennsylvania mountain bike racing to look forward to and I was glad to put the dark hours behind me.
The race started promptly. Just as I finished screwing the lids onto my bottles, I looked up to see the group slowly rolling out on the road. Good thing these endurance races start slow and usually on the road.
The fist 20 miles were mostly dirt roads and the lead pack of 30 riders that had developed was rolling. Coated in dust, I realized that if I moved to the front of the group I would have some fresh air.
After the fist aid station a group of five started pushing the pace. The group included Brandon Drugelis (third at 24 Hours of Adrenaline Solo Worlds in '06), Tinker "The hair" Jaurez, Harlan Price (IF), mountain boy Sam Koerber and a guy racing for Giant. It was great having a motivated group because the 101 race has a lot of dirt roads where drafting can help a lot.
Sam jammed his chain and had to make a pit at aid station #2, but I too had to lube my chain so I told him I would wait. I slowly rolled out and looked back to see him sprinting to catch on. Whoa, Buddy! No hurry! I should mention that he is just as green as he is talented. I was surprised how long it took us to close the 30 second gap, but I figured out they put an effort knowing I was off the back. As soon as I got back on the group, we hit a big climb and Harlan was again rocketing at the front. I thought, he has a whole extra gear compared to last year's speed! (Sure enough, his 2007 finish time would be a personal record by 30+ minutes.)
We mostly kept together. It was then just Sam, Tinker, Harlan and myself. I wanted to thin things out and was getting ants in my pants, so I took to a good clip on the tough single track climb out of aid station #3. Harlan and I were now up the road and I put it into a good clip on the climbs and put some pressure on him returning the stiff pace and couple attacks he made earlier.
I put my full suspension Top Fuel to use with about 15 miles to go on a rough single track railroad grade downhill that lasted for close to 10 minutes. Harlan was using a really light 29'er hardtail. I just put it in the Paris Roubaix gear and stood on the cranks. It worked like a charm.
It was funny, although I was 30 seconds ahead at the last check, Harlan pulled up behind me because I was having to fill my bottles up but since he had to do the same it worked to hold the same gap.
Realizing I was in striking distance of Chris Eatough's course record I put her in overdrive. I hit the last hill like it was the last 5 minutes of the race however the hill was bigger than I thought, in fact... twice as big. I was almost seeing stars but I kept telling myself I would cool off after the hill on the railroad grade four miles to the finish. I didn't of course and blasted it until I arrived at the course's famous finish line features: the rocky and completely dark railroad tunnels.
With 6 hours, 51 minutes of racing, I set a new course record! After the race I was treated to a dip in the river, a cold beer and rest on a fuzzy blanket that Erin packed in the GTI.
It's events like this - in Pennsylvania and Maryland - that I cut my teeth on. Some 15 years ago, it was on the same trails of Coburn where I competed in my second race. As a kid who was bumming a ride from Rick Anderson, I thought it was crazy that some of the racers where doing the then-titled "Coburn 101."
This brings back a lot of memories and refreshes what I love about the mountain biking scene: good racing stories, barbecue, and hanging out with great people in the outdoors.
Go ride your bike!
JB
Labels: Endurance Racing
