This was a mountain bike endurance race. 104 miles. Over 800 riders total. About half raced in teams of 2 ("pardner") or 4 ("posse"). I registered with "pardner" Kurt as a duo. We decided to alternate riding, two loops each. This was my first mountain bike race or, for that matter, first bike race ever. Had only done triathlons and running races before.

The first loop was a bit longer than the rest because we were routed around the camp before getting onto the actual race course. "Le Mans" start was a big cluster f#ck. Took forever to get to my bike and then I had to wait to mount until the people in front of me were going. The trail was too narrow for such a start. Maybe they should chip time with a TT start instead. That would also cut down on all the congestion and dust on the first miles before the field thins out.

It took me a long time to warm up the old engine. I also ate a lot of dust from the riders in front of me. Didn't know the course (was out of town for the pre-ride in May) and am not a confident, technical mountain bike rider. So, it was slow going on the first loop.

I could handle most of the moderately rocky downhills by going slow, just maneuvered around the rocks and tried to follow someone's line but when we got to the steep, rocky descents on the last 1/3 of the course I had to get off the bike. There was no "line," only big rocks and a cliff to fall off on the side. Heck, it was hard to WALK down that slope!

I was glad to cross the finish line and send off my "pardner" Kurt on his first loop. Wasn't happy with my time of 2:54:52 though and wondered if I had been dead last. A look at the result sheets they kept posting confirmed that we, as a "coed duo," were indeed last in that category but that several other riders in other categories had been even slower. Ha!

So I hobbled back to my car, changed quickly out of the wet gear, refueled and took a nap. I knew it would take Kurt at least 2, maybe 2.5 hours. He's an experienced rider but he broke his thumb this summer on the day before the original Barn Burner date and was out for 6 weeks after surgery. (He broke it crashing on the mountain bike!) So I knew he wasn't in top shape.

At this point I realized that if I went even slower on my second loop we might miss the cutoff for the last loop and thus not finish. They did not allow anyone on the course after 4 pm. So when Kurt came in after a 2:45:43 loop I knew I had to kick it up somehow. I had 3:20 left until the cutoff.

Since I was probably going to be a bit slower on the straights and uphills I figured the only way to make up time was by going faster on the downhills. So I hammered! Well, at least for me. Almost crashed twice. Still had to get off the bike and walk a couple of times on the very rocky part though.

I made it in 2:40:14. That was 15 minutes faster than my first loop. Yeah! I got to send off Kurt with a 30 minute cushion. We knew it would get dark at 7 so any minute extra he got for his last loop would help. He was a bit slower on his second loop (3:00:24) but made it just fine. Total time: 11:21:13.

Hey, in the end we even beat one other coed duo, but both agreed this was the toughest race we've ever done. Kurt had trouble with the sheer length and the amount of climbing. I was fine with that, kept passing people on the uphills (only to be passed by them again on the downhills) but for me it was mentally really tough.

I got angry on the first loop. Not just about Red Rock's advertising of a "roadie course" and for getting stuck with having to ride it but at the actual rocks for being in my way. I yelled at them a few times! :)



Not register for a course I'm not technically prepared to ride.

Collapsed in the grass right behind the barn and tried to breathe. I had really kicked it up on the last 10 miles--that included a steep incline.


ROCKS


This is not a "roadie course" but should be advertised as a "low-technical" mountain bike course or whatever. I will not do this race again and wouldn't advise anyone to attempt it unless they have experience on technical courses too.