HMFSB...

Never again.

Bike course 1 Marcy 0

OK, what can I say about the Moritz Ride for Heroes that will not get me banned from BT.

This ride was the worst mental beatdown I have ever had in my entire life. I knew it was hilly. Billed as over 5000 feet of climbing. I figured that the 82 miler would be a good training day for IMTX.

As you can see by my total mileage ^^^ I did not make the whole thing. At about 50 miles I had the opportunity to cut out a 16 mile loop and I did. But more on that later. Let's talk about the course...

Yes there were hills and yes they were insane and one right after another. You would grind up hill, there were some really screaming downhills, but you look ahead and there is another hill starring you in the face. That would have been OK. Hard, but it was was I was expecting from this course.

What I was not expecting was the piss-poor conditions of the roads in Parker County. Of the 65 miles I rode. I would guess that 50 was horrible chipseal, 10 was potholes and really crappy patching jobs and 5 were nice and smooth. It was just unrelenting bouncing and pounding.

My nutrition was not what it should have been, and that was bad as this was another test run for IMTX. My plan is alternating sweet and salty granola bars, Gel Blasts and Sport Beans every 25 minutes. With the terrain and crappy road condition, getting my nutrition on schedule was hard. I felt like I was either grinding up a hill and unable to eat, flying down a hill and holding on for dear life, or being so jostled around by the chipseal and potholes that I could not take my hands off the bars. I did eat, but not on the schedule I should have. I also did not drink enough.

So, back to the part where I end up 17 miles short. There were several different distance loops ranging from 8 to 82 miles. I was miserable. Not physically. I actually felt good but mentally I was totally defeated. I passed the turn for the 60 mile route but decided to keep going. Mind over matter right? As I am heading on, I see riders coming back on the same road. I found an out and back section. A little further down the road, I hit a T in the road. The route goes left and on the right is an aid station. I stop at the T and ask the volunteers there if this is an out and back. They confirm it is a loop, but do not know the distance. I go over to the aid station and they tell me that it is a 16 mile loop. At this point, I wanted to cry.

What to do? I sat there at the aid station for about 10 minutes arguing with myself. I was completely miserable mentally, but physically felt good. I called Steve. As expected, he would not tell me what to do, but knowing that he supported whatever decision I made helped. So at mile 50 I made the decision to cut out the 17 mile loop and head back. The thought of having to be doing this for 90 more minutes made me want to cry.

So, I head back, beating myself up with every pedal stroke. How could I bail on this? I am feeling good physically, I'm a loser. Real motivating self-talk for 60 minutes. Get back to the car and get a better hold of myself. I am not a loser. Nowhere near it. I just rode 65.5 of the hardest hills I have EVER attempted. I don't train on hills. IMTX, while rolling is nothing even close to this. Stop beating myself up and be proud of what I accomplished today.

John (jcagg90) comes in about 10 minutes after me. I was honestly embarrassed that I was standing there obviously not having completed the course. And what does John say when I tell him I cut the course short...

"I don't blame you"

He had the same feelings as me out there. He suffered like I did and stuck it out. About 45 minutes later Shannon (spuphal) comes in and actually told me she was glad I cut it short. She know I was miserable after 20. She had an awesome ride. She told me that if I was not back when she got there, that she was going to get John and go drive the course to look for me since she knew I would be struggling. Honestly, I would have been on the side of the road crying!

The support I got from John and Shannon was incredible and I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends. Thanks Guys!

OK, there were some positives. The ride was incredibly well organized. Love the shirts. The aid stations were abundant, well stocked and the volunteers were amazing. Aid stations with home baked cookies are the the best.

So, been there, done that, got the tee shirt is a very appropriate phrase for this ride. Obviously I will not do this ride again, but the fact that I rode as much of the course as I did, and physically felt great is a confidence booster.

Sorry for the rambling, but thanks for reading!

Not do this ride. I can handle the hills, but chipseal crushes my spirit

Waited for John and Shannon and headed home


Mental demons