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| I am just going to leave this here... |
I was more than excited to get away from the city and work to spend the weekend on a long bike ride with awesome people. In addition, I was even MORE excited to be part of this first time race put on by a long time friend of mine (that would be the one and only Quadsworth). I was so excited that when he first posted about the race, I poked and prodded all my friends and talked it up. I was thrilled that so many folks wanted to come down and support this adventure and suffer with me. No one was disappointed (except maybe my drive train!).
We arrived late evening and got to see the sun set over the inter-coastal waterway as we crossed the bridge from the mainland to Emerald Isle.
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| Setting sun over the sound. Photo courtesy of Samantha Brann |
In the morning, I got up early and took the pups for a walk on the beach while everyone else was still snoozing. The sunrise was pretty damned amazing.
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| The ball of hydrogen and helium rising above the horizon. |
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| There might not be anything cuter than Shiba fluff sniffing the edge of a sand dune. |
Okay, one more sunrise photo from Friday morning to make up for my terrible videography skills.
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| So peaceful! |
We ended up riding around town to stock up on beer and later to grab some fresh seafood for those who eat such things (eww!). It was gloriously sunny, warm, and just spectacularly beautiful.
We were told by my wonderful teammates back in VA that were getting ready to head down that the DC area was getting a late season snow storm. They were sending videos and photos of the snow. I laughed and sent them this photo:
We took Nola (Bella was too tired) back to the beach and walked around for a bit, dipping our feet (purposefully this time) into the ocean. It was quite relaxing.
Anyway, Friday was the perfect pre-race day of loafing, sitting in the sun, and enjoying good friends. We also ran over to the Ridge Supply Service Course to pick up our race swag and numbers and purchase a couple new pairs of socks. I could not have asked for a better way or better folks to spend the day with.
Around 6:30 or so, we headed over to the race venue (a local speedway) for the pre-race briefing. I got to see the rest of my teammates and a ton of friends who came down from the DC area and around VA. It was awesome to see so many friendly faces at a first time event. I got a chance to catch up with co-race director Gordon Wadsworth along with Emily Hairfield and their awesome trail pup, Pippy. It was great to see them and catch up for a few minutes during their very busy (but awesomely efficient) race prep.
I completely failed at taking photos of the pre-race brief. *sigh*
After the race brief, we all headed back to our respective abodes to have loads of food and catch some sleep before heading back to Carteret Speedway in the morning.
After a decent night of sleep, our house quietly got up, made breakfast, walked dogs, loaded up, and headed back to the speedway. It was chilly when we headed out, and there was a lot of debate about what to wear. That debate got even more heated when we arrived and it was about five degrees colder than by the beach. I ended up with knee warmers, arm warmers, a vest, buff around the ears, mid-weight thermal gloves, and toe warmers in my shoes. I am glad that I brought as much stuff as I did, because by the time I fired up my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, it was a frosty 36 degrees out!
Lining up, I still have a tendency to hang out in the back. Mass starts scare the crap out of me. AND... I still kind of suck at starts. But mostly, it is because mass starts are usually a giant cluster of testosterone and terrible bike handling skills. So, I hung out in the back with some teammates.
After a quick pre-race announcement, we rolled out for a neutral start around the track and out onto the road. The neutral pace was pretty quick, as even the back was rolling at about 20 mph. The road was clear thanks to law enforcement and the road was flat and paved, so it felt pretty good to get those pre-race jitters out early.
Once we turned off the pavement onto gravel (a mile or so?), the field started to split pretty quickly. Those who were "in it to win it" took off, while a mid-paced group settled into a few good pace groups. The slower folks splintered off the back into several groups, from what I hear. I was near the rear of the mid-paced group and was having a hard time finding a good pace. I would fall in with one group, then realize they were going to slow and would pass and fall in with another group only to get dropped after a few minutes. I have a lot to learn about pace-line riding. Especially in gravel with lots of pot holes.
Eventually I got in with a group that was lead by teammate, good friend, and all around awesome person, Pete Beers. A few other teammates were with him along with some other folks. I settled into their pace even though I would have liked to have pushed it just a bit harded... Foreshadowing, be careful what you wish for. It should also be noted that Pete was not only on a single geared bike, he was on a fixie. For 150 miles... Woot!
We rolled the first half of the course picking up a few stragglers along the way. After making the turn at the aid station/timing mat, we headed out towards my first glimpse of Savage Road. This is where my race completely fell apart. We had been in a relatively tight pace line up until this point. Our average speed was a little below 18 mph, which was incredible but completely doable in a group. Pete is a workhorse and is a great pace setter. However, once we got to the technical section, the folks in front of me started to slow down and ride much more cautiously. Which, granted, I did as well. However, the woman that was directly in front of me freaked out at one point, got off her bike and walked a section. It was relatively narrow and there was generally one line, so no passing. I got dropped like a hot potato.
Once I was finally able to get back up to some speed, I caught up to a couple of folks, but once we got off Savage Road and back onto regular gravel, it was clear that those folks were not going to help me catch up to Pete and company. So I booked it, passing a few more stragglers on the way. A woman named Libby ended up grabbing my wheel at some point and we chatted for a few minutes. Turns out she did Dirty Kanza last year, but was only doing the Fifty that weekend. We rode together pretty much the rest of that lap. She on my wheel the majority of the time.
As I was rolling towards the speedway for the end of lap one, the big group of Bikenetic teammates were rolling out. However, Pete, Cyndi, and Paula were not with them. There was still hope that I could catch them before they rolled out... Alas, they must have rolled out as I was rolling on the back side of the speedway towards the timing arch. Oh well... It was time to shed some layers and grab a snack!
I was met by Samantha, who due to an unfortunately accident, was running support and volunteering instead of racing. She was seriously a HUGE asset to our group since she cheerleaded, made she we had everything we needed during lap breaks, and walked my dogs multiple times throughout the day. I can not say it enough... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
I fueled up, grabbed some sunscreen, and headed back out. On my own.
The second lap was pretty lonely. I did end up passing a guy on the one hill on the course and he grabbed my wheel but refused to trade pulls. I was a bit annoyed with that, so when I rolled through the aid/turn around, I dropped him. Savage Road was a lot easier on the second lap, since there was no one in front of me and I was more familiar with the line choices. I slowed down and used that section as a recovery and hit the gravel running after that. I caught up to a few folks and was able to hang on to a wheel for a bit before they slowed down. I offered my wheel up in return, but they advised they were toast and to continue on. Either way, thanks for the five minutes of respite from the wind that was picking up!
About 10 miles from the speedway, I caught up with an old friend and owner of my previous bike shop back in Lynchburg, Davy Hazelgrove who was nearing the finish of the Hundred. I slowed and chatted with him for a bit. My friend and one of my favourite racing nemesis Lindsay, also nearing the finish of the Hundred, came up behind me then as well. We rode off together until all of a sudden my right foot started hurting beyond belief. It actually felt like the bone was being crushed in my shoe.
If you recall, I had this problem last year, with the women's version of the Pearl Izumi Alp Enduro shoes. I ended up swapping to the men's version, which was wider at the ball of the foot, though even the smallest size is too big for my silly feet. Well... the pain was back and worse than ever. I slowed down quite a bit and watched Lindsay pull farther and farther away.
There may have been tears. There was also panic. There was no way that I was NOT finishing this race. But how in the world was I going to keep going if my feet were in this much pain?! I thought about all the solutions and what it would mean... The best thing to do was going to be to swap over to flat pedals even though I did not have a pair of Five Ten's with me. Flat pedals and trail running shoes... Ugh. Well, it was either that or not finish.
I cruised into the start/finish sat my bike down and immediately took off my shoes. Luckily, I had a horde of Team Bikenetic and friends around to help me out. I got my shoes and pedals out of the car, my wonderful partner, Dane, swapped the pedals. Samantha grabbed me a beer. Someone reminded me to take my helmet off for a few minutes. I ate half a bag of salt and vinegar chips.
After an embarrassingly long time, I got back on the bike and headed out for lap number three. On my own again. This lap was literally spent 100% alone. I saw folks heading back in when I was headed out and saw a couple of folks still heading out when I was headed back in. The wind had picked up considerably and it was in my face the entire way back out. I thought I would never reach the aid station/turn around.
On the long straight stretch before the turn around point, I saw the cutest turtle that I have ever seen! However, that sucker was fast and not in the mood for photos. So instead, I took my first picture of the race day. What you do not see in the photo above is the 25 mph headwind. Eventually I made it to the aid station/turn around point. I was disappointed to see that they had pretty much broken everything down. As usual, I was one of the last folks out on course.
I headed back out and was very heartened to see a few more folks headed out to the turn around point. I might be one of the last, but I was not THE last! I headed out towards Savage road for the last time. Because of the tail wind, I actually felt pretty good by the time I got there. I even stopped to snap a photo of my bike.
Due to the wind, warm temperatures, and sun, a lot of the wet sections of Savage Road had dried up. Even rolling at a cautious recovery pace, I was still averaging 14-15 mph on that section. WAY better than the 12-13 mph previously.
However, after turning off Savage Road, the wind kicked back in. It was no longer a tail wind, but a wicked cross wind that seemed to smack me in the face no matter which direction I turned. I ran into Susannah Cadwalader heading out towards the long, lonely road and the aid station. She was in great spirits and her smile put a little pep in my pedal stroke. (Thanks for that!)
The rest of the race was pretty miserable, if I am being honest with myself. I had run out of water at the end of Savage Road and only had about a half bottle of Nuun mix left. There was a nice two mile sand pit that you hit each lap both coming and going that felt longer and longer with every pass. This last pass through it almost broke me. My drive train started to grind and squeak with every pedal stroke. The wind kept up with unrelenting force. Since I was on flat pedals, there was absolutely zero ability to swap muscle groups for longer than a few seconds. My speed had slowed considerably by this point. I was barely getting an average of 13-14 mph. Finally, I got out of the sand pit and hit more solid and stable gravel. That helped a bit, but the sun was getting lower in the sky and things were getting chilly with the wind. I started counting tenths of miles and was down to about a sip of Nuun left.
All of a sudden, I looked up and I saw this bright and shining face coming towards me wearing pink and green. For a second, I actually thought I was hallucinating. But it was none other than super woman Paula Caro coming to keep me company on the last two miles back to the speedway. It was probably the most amazing thing anyone could have done for me at that point in my day. So THANK YOU!
A little company was exactly what I needed. I perked up, we chatted, the wind did not seem that bad, and that little ache in my neck seemed to go away almost instantly. Less than ten minutes later, Paula pulled off at the entrance to the speedway and let me take my "victory" lap to the deafening cheers and screams of Team Bikenetic. I immediately rolled over and drank like two gallons of water!
The amount of stoke waiting at the finish line for me was pretty incredible, even though it was late in the day. I was a bit disappointed in my finish time (10:27) since I really wanted to break 10 hours. But knowing that I can ride 120+ miles by myself after getting dropped makes me feel better about it. The race was one of the best organized events I have ever been involved in. And this was their first year! So many smiling faces, so much swag, and so much amazing gravel.
I ended up only missing the podium by about 20 minutes, but finished sixth in a VERY strong field. I spent a gloriously sunny day out on some pretty awesome gravel roads surrounded by amazing people. It was totally worth every mile, every pain, and every piece of sand in my drive train. I am already planning for next year's race and seriously think this is a world class event. Better watch out and sign up early once registration opens up, because I have a feeling Croatan Buck Fifty is going to sell out next year.
My solo finish also makes me feel pretty good about my goals for Kanza. I am more optimistic about finding folks to ride with there, since the field will be quite a bit larger. Plus, it is hilly, and I do much better with hills than flats. If I take my average speed for Croatan (14.9 mph moving), that puts me at finishing right around 15 hours (including stops and additional slow down for the last 60 miles). I will also have dedicated support (thanks, Dane!). My goal is 16 hours. I REALLY want to make that happen.
Oh! Quick shout outs to the awesome folks of Team Bikenetic (and friends) that helped to make this day superbly fun! Also, to the folks of Ridge Supply, Ridge Rodeo, and Quadsworth: Keep doing what you do. This was SO awesome and I can not wait to come back and suffer through it again!
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| I seriously suck at selfies! |
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| Cheers, fools! |
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| Hi, Nola! |
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| SO much SWAG! Photo Courtesy of Robyn Spann (since I am too lazy to take my own) |
I completely failed at taking photos of the pre-race brief. *sigh*
After the race brief, we all headed back to our respective abodes to have loads of food and catch some sleep before heading back to Carteret Speedway in the morning.
After a decent night of sleep, our house quietly got up, made breakfast, walked dogs, loaded up, and headed back to the speedway. It was chilly when we headed out, and there was a lot of debate about what to wear. That debate got even more heated when we arrived and it was about five degrees colder than by the beach. I ended up with knee warmers, arm warmers, a vest, buff around the ears, mid-weight thermal gloves, and toe warmers in my shoes. I am glad that I brought as much stuff as I did, because by the time I fired up my Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, it was a frosty 36 degrees out!
Lining up, I still have a tendency to hang out in the back. Mass starts scare the crap out of me. AND... I still kind of suck at starts. But mostly, it is because mass starts are usually a giant cluster of testosterone and terrible bike handling skills. So, I hung out in the back with some teammates.
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| Fist Bumps! Photo Courtesy of Samantha Brann |
Once we turned off the pavement onto gravel (a mile or so?), the field started to split pretty quickly. Those who were "in it to win it" took off, while a mid-paced group settled into a few good pace groups. The slower folks splintered off the back into several groups, from what I hear. I was near the rear of the mid-paced group and was having a hard time finding a good pace. I would fall in with one group, then realize they were going to slow and would pass and fall in with another group only to get dropped after a few minutes. I have a lot to learn about pace-line riding. Especially in gravel with lots of pot holes.
Eventually I got in with a group that was lead by teammate, good friend, and all around awesome person, Pete Beers. A few other teammates were with him along with some other folks. I settled into their pace even though I would have liked to have pushed it just a bit harded... Foreshadowing, be careful what you wish for. It should also be noted that Pete was not only on a single geared bike, he was on a fixie. For 150 miles... Woot!
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| Hi Pete! Photo Courtesy of Brett Rothmeyer |
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| Savage Road Photo Courtesy of Natasha Calderwood |
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| One of the tamer mud holes on Savage Road Photo Courtesy of Natasha Calderwood |
Once I was finally able to get back up to some speed, I caught up to a couple of folks, but once we got off Savage Road and back onto regular gravel, it was clear that those folks were not going to help me catch up to Pete and company. So I booked it, passing a few more stragglers on the way. A woman named Libby ended up grabbing my wheel at some point and we chatted for a few minutes. Turns out she did Dirty Kanza last year, but was only doing the Fifty that weekend. We rode together pretty much the rest of that lap. She on my wheel the majority of the time.
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| This is a pretty blurry photo, but me leading, Libby on my wheel. Photo Courtesy of Brett Rothmeyer |
I was met by Samantha, who due to an unfortunately accident, was running support and volunteering instead of racing. She was seriously a HUGE asset to our group since she cheerleaded, made she we had everything we needed during lap breaks, and walked my dogs multiple times throughout the day. I can not say it enough... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
I fueled up, grabbed some sunscreen, and headed back out. On my own.
The second lap was pretty lonely. I did end up passing a guy on the one hill on the course and he grabbed my wheel but refused to trade pulls. I was a bit annoyed with that, so when I rolled through the aid/turn around, I dropped him. Savage Road was a lot easier on the second lap, since there was no one in front of me and I was more familiar with the line choices. I slowed down and used that section as a recovery and hit the gravel running after that. I caught up to a few folks and was able to hang on to a wheel for a bit before they slowed down. I offered my wheel up in return, but they advised they were toast and to continue on. Either way, thanks for the five minutes of respite from the wind that was picking up!
About 10 miles from the speedway, I caught up with an old friend and owner of my previous bike shop back in Lynchburg, Davy Hazelgrove who was nearing the finish of the Hundred. I slowed and chatted with him for a bit. My friend and one of my favourite racing nemesis Lindsay, also nearing the finish of the Hundred, came up behind me then as well. We rode off together until all of a sudden my right foot started hurting beyond belief. It actually felt like the bone was being crushed in my shoe.
If you recall, I had this problem last year, with the women's version of the Pearl Izumi Alp Enduro shoes. I ended up swapping to the men's version, which was wider at the ball of the foot, though even the smallest size is too big for my silly feet. Well... the pain was back and worse than ever. I slowed down quite a bit and watched Lindsay pull farther and farther away.
There may have been tears. There was also panic. There was no way that I was NOT finishing this race. But how in the world was I going to keep going if my feet were in this much pain?! I thought about all the solutions and what it would mean... The best thing to do was going to be to swap over to flat pedals even though I did not have a pair of Five Ten's with me. Flat pedals and trail running shoes... Ugh. Well, it was either that or not finish.
I cruised into the start/finish sat my bike down and immediately took off my shoes. Luckily, I had a horde of Team Bikenetic and friends around to help me out. I got my shoes and pedals out of the car, my wonderful partner, Dane, swapped the pedals. Samantha grabbed me a beer. Someone reminded me to take my helmet off for a few minutes. I ate half a bag of salt and vinegar chips.
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| Yep, that is me on the ground with no shoes on... Photo Courtesy of Sheila HC |
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| Longest, loneliest stretch of gravel in the world. Not pictured: 25 mph headwind |
I headed back out and was very heartened to see a few more folks headed out to the turn around point. I might be one of the last, but I was not THE last! I headed out towards Savage road for the last time. Because of the tail wind, I actually felt pretty good by the time I got there. I even stopped to snap a photo of my bike.
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| Definitely my favourite part of the course! |
However, after turning off Savage Road, the wind kicked back in. It was no longer a tail wind, but a wicked cross wind that seemed to smack me in the face no matter which direction I turned. I ran into Susannah Cadwalader heading out towards the long, lonely road and the aid station. She was in great spirits and her smile put a little pep in my pedal stroke. (Thanks for that!)
The rest of the race was pretty miserable, if I am being honest with myself. I had run out of water at the end of Savage Road and only had about a half bottle of Nuun mix left. There was a nice two mile sand pit that you hit each lap both coming and going that felt longer and longer with every pass. This last pass through it almost broke me. My drive train started to grind and squeak with every pedal stroke. The wind kept up with unrelenting force. Since I was on flat pedals, there was absolutely zero ability to swap muscle groups for longer than a few seconds. My speed had slowed considerably by this point. I was barely getting an average of 13-14 mph. Finally, I got out of the sand pit and hit more solid and stable gravel. That helped a bit, but the sun was getting lower in the sky and things were getting chilly with the wind. I started counting tenths of miles and was down to about a sip of Nuun left.
All of a sudden, I looked up and I saw this bright and shining face coming towards me wearing pink and green. For a second, I actually thought I was hallucinating. But it was none other than super woman Paula Caro coming to keep me company on the last two miles back to the speedway. It was probably the most amazing thing anyone could have done for me at that point in my day. So THANK YOU!
A little company was exactly what I needed. I perked up, we chatted, the wind did not seem that bad, and that little ache in my neck seemed to go away almost instantly. Less than ten minutes later, Paula pulled off at the entrance to the speedway and let me take my "victory" lap to the deafening cheers and screams of Team Bikenetic. I immediately rolled over and drank like two gallons of water!
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| Cheers! I am DONE! Photo Courtesy of Samantha Brann |
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| Always be laughing! Always. Photo Courtesy of Brett Rothmeyer |
My solo finish also makes me feel pretty good about my goals for Kanza. I am more optimistic about finding folks to ride with there, since the field will be quite a bit larger. Plus, it is hilly, and I do much better with hills than flats. If I take my average speed for Croatan (14.9 mph moving), that puts me at finishing right around 15 hours (including stops and additional slow down for the last 60 miles). I will also have dedicated support (thanks, Dane!). My goal is 16 hours. I REALLY want to make that happen.
Oh! Quick shout outs to the awesome folks of Team Bikenetic (and friends) that helped to make this day superbly fun! Also, to the folks of Ridge Supply, Ridge Rodeo, and Quadsworth: Keep doing what you do. This was SO awesome and I can not wait to come back and suffer through it again!
WTG, Casey!!! You kick ass!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this. Reading is better than riding.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!. Wss just googling the race and bam! HI Casey!
ReplyDelete