Summit County 24 Hour Adventure Race

Some people may think it odd, but the day after my much-loved dog Mushka died, I headed up to Summit County to do a 24 hour adventure race. I was sad and teary-eyed, but I figured I'd be worse sitting around the house moping about Mushka. Plus, I had made a commitment to my teammates on Git Some and I would leave them in a lurch if I abandoned the race one day before it. Had Mushka been hanging on with hours or days left, I certainly would not have gone. But staying home would not bring her back, so I went. Life goes on.

This race the team was me, Derec, Lee and a new guy, Mark who was a friend of Oat's. At race registration we picked up our maps and the Check Point (CP) coordinates for the first and third legs of the race. We would get the other CP coordinates once the race was ongoing. Since the weather looked iffy, we headed to a Starbucks, grabbed some coffee and began plotting the points we had. We would start out the race paddling on Dillon Reservoir, run through an orienteering course on foot, trek practically up to Peak 9, in-line skate and finish on the bikes.

Derec plotting CPs

David, still nursing his bum ankle, came out to support us and help out the race promoter. We headed to the house of a friend of David's; that guy seems to know someone in every mountain town! There we organized our gear and ate before the midnight race start on Friday night. While David (who is a trained chef) prepared our pasta dinner, a gear explosion occurred on the front lawn. Race boxes were emptied and then filled with gear organized to fit the race format. Dinner was yummy. Once we felt sated and organized, we attempted to relax.

Lee, Mark, me and Derec just before the race start at midnight

At the race course, we got into our paddling gear and running shoes. We would be running from the Frisco Nordic Center, race start-finish-headquarters, about 1.5 miles to the boat ramp. Running in a wetsuit and dry top while wearing a PFD and a pack is not so much fun. The bike path seemed to go on forever, but finally we came to the boats and the first CP. I got in one of the inflatable duckies with Mark. None of us had paddled with Mark before, but he's a white water kayaker and strong according to Oat, so we figured he'd be OK.

Our next CP was couple of miles away to the north. The water CPs were all on the shoreline and marked with a glowstick, but you can't see those things until you are almost on them. I am always amazed by the guys and gals who can navigate at night on the water. At first though, there were so many boats all together that navigating was only a problem for the first boat. And that was not us! Mark and I were struggling. We couldn't seem to keep a straight line and we had no power. We were almost dead last at the first water CP. Then Mark asked to switch paddles and we figured out the problem. He had his white water paddle! In contrast to the long shafts and blades on a flat water paddle, white water paddles have short shafts and stubby blades. No wonder Mark was ineffective in steering and applying pressure with that paddle! After we switched, we went a bit faster. But I soon began to get sharp pain shooting down my arms from using Mark's paddle, which had a very thick shaft; too thick for me to get my little hands around. So, we wasted more time switching paddles with Lee and Derec's boat, giving poor Derec the stubby little white water paddle.

This went better as we paddled all the way across Dillon Reservoir and most of the way up the Snake River Arm, seven miles or so away. At this CP (CP3), we decided to switch Lee into my boat and put Mark in the front of the other boat, since he was worked from all the extra effort early on. Lee and I paddle well together and we were all able to go even faster. We paddled back out of the Snake River Arm and headed south all the way to the southern end of the reservoir east of the peninsula. This was another six or seven miles away. The skies cleared and the stars and half-moon illuminated our way as we continued to pass other boats, including teams that usually beat us. We talked some trash and felt really good about how we were making up for the start of the paddle. When we came up to CP4, we were in third place! Git Some!

CP4 in the bag, we paddled up around the peninsula and back down to the marina (CP5). We were all alone now, with the first two boats out of sight, so there was some tricky navigating to be done. Derec and Lee did great and lead us straight in to the marina. Ugh - we had to run all the way back to the Nordic Center! But this time, we were freezing cold instead of hot and sweaty. It's funny how you can be pretty comfortable paddling, but as soon as you stop, your body temperature drops like a rock. Fortunately, the Nordic Center/CP6 had a heated bathroom where I could change out of my wet kayak clothes into my trekking clothes. Dry clothes do wonders after being cold and wet.

We were given the coordinates for the orienteering course and the guys plotted them. Then we headed out on foot for the orienteering course at around 4:40 am. There were 30 controls (CPs in an O-course) for us to find. Any missed CPs would cost a 10 minute penalty. So, if a control would take more than 10 minutes to find, it wasn't worth the effort. While plotting the controls, the guys had devised a strategy for which ones to get first.

Me and Derec coming in from the trekking O-course

O-courses are super fun. It's like being a kid again playing Treasure Hunt in the woods. It was dark when we started out, so we used our HID bike lights and held them in our hands to shine on an area we thought a control would be. The control flags are reflective and shine back brightly in the beam of an HID.We ran in the woods and through areas recently cleared of pine beetle infested trees; it was sad. We ran on a trail on the edge of Dillon Reservoir as the sun came up, casting a pink glow to the sky that was reflected in the perfect calm of the water. It was so beautiful that I tripped on something as I was distracted by the beauty. I went down hard, banging up my knee and hip. Yes - I crashed in a race on the running section! We bagged all 30 controls and ran back to the Nordic Center/Transition Area for CP7.

This was a quick transition, since we wore the same clothes we did on the O-course. We just grabbed some more food, reloaded on water and made sure to put a jacket in our packs. I also grabbed my new trekking poles. David saw us off on the big trek at 7:40 am.






Team Git Some taking off for the big trek

We ascended Miner's Creek Trail, and I mean ascended. The trail started out in the forest and trended southwest toward the Ten Mile Peaks. It was super steep in many sections; I began to appreciate my trekking poles. We found CP8 at a trail junction and then motored on south, the trail continuing up along the east side of the Ten Mile Peaks. We popped out of the forest onto alpine tundra and were treated to spectacular views. Derec felt like singing Sound of Music songs!

We saw another team behind us and gaining on us slowly but surely. It was Team Go Lite, a fast, sponsored team that usually beats us. Mark was leading and I was just behind him. Except for my sore hip that felt out of whack from my tumble, I felt great. Derec was having trouble with his feet though, which had gotten wet and were feeling hot, a sign of impending blisters.

We stayed ahead of Go Lite as we crossed over the saddle between Peak 5 and Peak 6. The trail rolled up and down. We ran the downhills, which were rocky and sketchy; now I was really happy I had the trekking poles! Miles and miles of mountainous views lay all around us. The tundra was smattered with wildflowers of all colors; white Bistort, purple Mountain Bluebells, purple and yellow Columbine, red Indian Paintbrush, many different colors of asters and lots of flowers I cannot identify. As we trekked through this stunning landscape, we realized we may not have found the best route to the CP, but at least we had found the prettiest!

After the saddle, we descended back into the forest briefly to a trail intersection. We debated which way to go and then headed onto the one that went back up again. More climbing, of course. We hoped that Go Lite would make a mistake and go the wrong way, but no such luck. As we popped out above the tree line again, they came up to us and then passed us. Getting passed is no fun, and our spirits sank for a bit. We soldiered on and could see Go Lite ahead of us for awhile as the trail dipped and rose. We finally came to CP9 just downslope and east of Peak 9 where the trail intersected a jeep road. We stopped to rest a bit, eat and for Derec to dry his feet out a bit. His skin was turning to mush and I'm sure it was getting pretty painful for him to trek at this point.

We got going again, heading down the jeep road to the ski runs of Breckenridge. We were required to stay on trail during the trek (i.e., no bushwhacking) but we were allowed to use the ski runs once we encountered them. We followed the jeep road as it switchbacked, wishing we could cut through. Finally, we came upon the ski runs. We took Cashier at first and then switched over to Columbia. These were blue runs and they are a lot steeper without snow than they seem with snow! It's difficult traveling down steep ski runs on foot. Unlike a trail that trends downhill with meanders and changes in grade, ski runs have a consistent, unrelenting grade down. Now I was super happy I had the trekking poles. All of us were experiencing sore toes (from our feet banging into the front of our shoes) and achy knees. Downhill is hard on your body!

It was weird coming down from the back country to civilization at the Breck base. There were all these tourists walking around, staring at us as we appeared in their clean, comfy world. Who were those grungy, half-crazed looking people?!?!?? We ran through the ski resort base town and then onto sidewalks until we arrived at CP10 at the City Market in Breck. We arrived about two hours after we had originally thought we would, greeted by a fantastic cheering squad. Mark's wife and a friend were there with cold beverages and sandwiches. Seeing them picked up our mood and we changed into our roller blading gear as we shoved food into our mouths. The clouds had been building up toward the end of our trek and now it looked like the heavens were going to open up. We saw lightening in the distance and a strong cold wind bore down on us. Downdraft. Just as we shoved off on our in-line skate section, it opened up, the rain coming down hard!

Roller blading is not my thing. Roller blading in the rain has never been my thing. I was nervous about the bike path surface being slick so at first I bladed slowly. Then, I became more confident and we all picked up speed. We bladed faster than I ever did in my practice sessions. The whole section was only about 1o miles long and it was over faster than I expected (thank god!). We arrived back at the transition area and CP11 under dry skies.

I was pooped. Although I felt good on it and I was moving at a good speed on the trek, it had taken a lot out of me. The paddle had also been hard. At the transition, I was worried about what I had left in my legs for the bike section. David helped us get fueled up and rehydrated.

Me and Derec staying warm in the car before the bike leg

I changed into dry clothes and stayed warm in Derec's car while Lee plotted the bike CPs.

Lee plotting bike CPs while Mark looks on

Feeling very spent, David sent us off for the final chapter of this race somewhere around 4:00 pm. We had been on the move for more than 16 hours without stopping.

Team Git Some heading out for the bike leg

I normally like the bike section, since mountain biking is my best discipline. However, my legs felt so leaden when we started out, I was worried the remainder of the race would be awful. We began on bike path and picked up CP 12 on the side of the road. Then we turned onto Tiger road, which turned into gravel road. Of course, we went uphill. I had to ask the guys to slow down, since I was redlining it just to keep up. I felt like I was letting them down. Lee towed me for awhile and then Mark did so to. Finally, when we got onto single track, I began to get my legs back. I think part of this was due to the food I ate at the transition kicking in, but part of it is something in my head. For some reason, I can be completely whooped but able to find the energy to keep going on single track trail. Paved and gravel roads are really tough for me when I'm spent.

We rode up a long climb in the woods after the gravel road ended. I must admit, I'm not completely sure what trails we were all the time. On the east side of Highway 9, we first hit CP16 somewhere off the Middle Fork of the Swan River. We elected to skip CPs 15 and 13; they were not worth the penalties we would incur for missing them.

I was feeling good again and was now following Mark in front, instead of being dragged a long from the back. The rest of the mountain bike section was super fun. We rode some sweet trail, much of which was fairly technical. We bombed down the gravel road I had struggled to come up. The bike section had certain time cut-offs by which teams would be allowed to proceed on to certain CPs. We knew we would miss the first cutoff, which required us to be at CP17, co-located with CP12, by 6:00 pm. Therefore, we would not be permitted to go for CP18. The next cut-off for CP17 was 7:00 pm and this one would allow us to go for CP19. We decided we had time to run out and bag CP14 on the way back to CP17. This was located a few miles off the Dredge Ship Trailhead on Tiger Road. There was some steep, rocky climbing and the guys seemed to be tiring. Well, except for Mark. He was going strong, but at 27, he should be going strong! On the way out to CP14, another team, Eolus, came up upon us. Both of our teams headed back out to Tiger Road together and then back to CP17 .

We made it to CP17 at 6:15 pm and immediately headed up the Gold Hill Trail (the sign said Wheeler Trail, but my teammates say it was the Gold Hill Trail - so I'm confused). This went up and was rocky and techy. Toward the top of Gold Hill it got very steep and I found myself getting woozy when I was pushing the cranks really hard. I decided to walk the really steep parts, as did Derec and Lee. Once over the top, we raced downhill to the intersection of the Gold Hill Trail and the Peaks Trail where CP19 was located. Not less than 30 seconds after we punched the passport at CP19, Eolus showed up. They had ridden up Peaks Trail to the CP and were going to head down the same way to the finish. We knew we had to hustle to beat them across the finish line, so we took off.

I like to go downhill fast and I got my chance here! We descended almost recklessly. Derec's brakes were malfunctioning, but he had to keep riding fast since we didn't have time to stop and fix them. This part of the race was super fun, even though my legs were so tired I could barely keep standing over the saddle. We dumped off the trail onto the bike path, got chased by a large dog and finally screamed across the finish line at about 7:00 pm. Elous and 4CAR came in for a photo finish not more than a minute later.

We were the 2nd team to cross the finish line, but Elous and 4CAR got more CPs than us, so they likely beat us. Boulder Performance Network finished first, but there are outstanding questions about a protest filed against them, so we shall see where we end up - 3rd or 4th overall. Much to our surprise, we beat Go Lite outright. They attempted to get more bike CPs on the east side of Highway 9 and timed it poorly, failing to make the time cutoff. Thus, they were not allowed to go for CP19. Therefore we had the same number of CPs as they did, but since we finished 30 minutes before them, we beat them. This pleased us since they are a very strong, sponsored team that we usually lose to. Plus, they had passed us on the trek so it was nice to get them on the bike.

Derec, me, Mark and Lee, all looking surprisingly fresh after 19 hours of non-stop racing

Here's the map of the CPs. It's hard to get the scale of the distances we covered and the hieghts we climbed if you are not familiar the area. You can't get from one CP by going straight to another CP; you have to take a more circuitous route in order to stay on trails/road or stay on manageable terrain.



We always have things we can improve on, but I felt we raced really well. I'm super pleased about my paddling - it has improved so much since last year! I also felt great about my trekking/running. I have been working on this discipline for the last month or so and I am seeing improvement. I'm also really happy with my team. They are all great guys who have excellent navigational and athletic skills. Plus, I have fun with them (sick joke for this race had something to do with Lee's ginormous left nut; dead babies are old news)!

The race allowed me to not think about Mushka and also gave me long stretches where I was free to let my mind wander back to her and the imprint she had on my life. I'm glad I decided to race! More pictures here!

A Sad Farewell to a Great Dog - Good Bye Mushka

I am sad beyond words. My beloved dog Mushka died yesterday. She was my friend, confidant, protector and trail partner for more than a decade. She was such a wonderful companion and she enriched our lives in so many ways. I will miss her. I already do.

Mushka had been sick for a little more than a year with Dilated Cardiomyopathy. We did not expect her to make it this long with the disease. During this difficult year, she was a stoic trooper; happy even when uncomfortable and more interested in pleasing us than herself. I have never met a more selfless being in my life.

Jesper and I nicknamed her My Morning Mushka because of her excitement every single morning to start the day. Once the alarm went off, she would prop her front paws on the bed and make noises like a howler monkey. And then she learned to trill. I've never heard a dog make a noise like that. Sometimes she would run off and grab a toy and shove it in our face as if to say, "Get up, start the day and play with me!"

Of course, she was also interested in being fed (she was part Lab afterall). But as she got sicker and sicker and her appetite diminished, she was still excited to start the day even though her interest in the food was low. My Morning Mushka.

Mushka made her presence known; she was no wall flower. I called her Queen La Mushka. She was black, female and large and in charge. Queen La Tifa should be honored. I felt safe with Mushka no matter where I went alone. She was very protective, especially of me. Although it was sometimes embarrassing when she would bark and growl at other people when I ran or biked with her, I knew that nobody would mess with me.

We are comforted that she went quickly and hopefully did not suffer in her last minutes. Although she had a rough year, she was not in pain and was happy. We take solace that we were able to afford the treatment she needed this past year; many people would not have been able to afford the medication and other treatment necessary to keep their precious pet alive for so long with this disease.


I have more than 12 years of wonderful memories of Mushka, the last 4+ that Jesper shares with me. Mushka had physically diminished in the last year, but in my minds eye, I see her as the strong, lean and muscular trail dog that she was up until she got sick.

This morning was too quiet. No howler monkey noises and no trilling. Absent from the breakfast routine was Mushka prancing about for her food, for the treat she would get when we ate our breakfast and for when she would lick the plates before they went in the dishwasher.

I know the rest of the day will continue to be filled with her absence. I miss her.

'Splorin'

Today, Jesper and I did some 'splorin' up behind Jamestown on our mountain bikes. Since I'm going to be sitting on an airplane for a good part of tomorrow (headed to Toledo for BIZ), we thought it'd be good to get me really tired. Mission Accomplished!

Jesper!

I can't say exactly what trails we rode (or I'd have to kill you), but we put in 5:30 and according to my GPS, only about 1:30 was stopped time. Well, 1:30 stopped for me at least; more stopped time for Jesper, who is riding super strong on his Spider 29-er! Most of my stopped time was for picture tacking, lunch (with incredible views!!!!), and a wee bit of route finding.

Lunch View!

Oh - we also stopped at the Gold Lake Spa near the end to bum some more water off them, since we were almost out. It was hot and dry, so we were sucking down the H2O from the start.

We climbed a lot, especially at the start. That is a guaranteed way to jack up my heart rate!

Elevation and Heart Rate (HR Super high in the beginning!!!)

After the first major climb, we hit some super fun trail with awesome views.

Jesper on the Sweet Single Track

We climbed again. This time is didn't seem so hard since I was warmed up. We we bombed down this meadow with skinny single track. We hit a "road" that was so grown over it had converted back to single track. We hit a dowhill single track trail that I had ridden in September with my friend Kathleen from Arizona. This time, since we were riding in daylight, I smoked it! Super Duper fun (fast Tuesday night girlies, you will LOVE this trail!!!!). Then we bombed down the trail we originally rode up back to the car. Fun Fun Fun!

There's more trail out there for us to sample, as well as making a HUGE ride by crossing over Peak to Peak Highway to add in a bunch of stuff around northern Sourdough.

We'll be back!!

In Between Races

The Firecracker is over. My next race, a 24 hour adventure race, isn't until July 25th-26th. In the interim, I guess I'm "training." Or, at least I'm playing with a goal in mind. Those goals are:

1. Improve my running
2. Train at higher altitudes
3. Practice In Line Skating
4. Stretch more to avoid injury

Here's my summary, not in order of my goals:

Yes, I said In Line Skating. That sounds much cooler than "Roller Blading." My next race has an In Line Skating section of all crazy things, probably on the bike path from Frisco to Breck. I'm guessing most adventure racers don't get out on their In Line Skates very much, if they even have a pair. I imagine the race director is chuckling right now as he thinks about all these elite athletes floundering about during the race, completely out of their element. I bought a pair of skates (I confess I did own a pair 20 years ago) a couple weeks ago and have been out twice so far to practice. I looked and felt like a complete dork the first time out, but saw significant improvements the second time around. I'm sure I still looked like a dork, but maybe not as big a dork. Dire Straights Roller Girl hummed through my head; I may have to learn all the lyrics so I can sing it out loud during the race. Anyway, I plan to get out a couple more times before the race to refine my skilz. My goal is to hang with my team and not kill myself. Actually, in my dreams, Team Git Some passes the professional adventure racers, who are totally inept at this discipline.

I've been running a lot. I'm not a bad runner, but I could be faster to allow my team to maintain a more aggressive pace in races. This is where the other teams often have the advantage over us. It's been really hot, so it's been hard to get quality runs in. Thus, I've combined this goal with the goal of training at altitude by running up near Brainard Lakes (10,000 feet and up). It's kinda pretty up there!


I've also done some brick days with running and biking (mostly 'cause I just enjoy biking). I must admit yesterday's running/mountain biking brick at Marshall Mesa (not a high altitude day by any means) cooked me. My legs felt heavy and I was just tired. Probably a combination of all the "training" and the 90+ degree heat. Almost time to taper. Hopefully, all this running effort helps in the upcoming race.

As I mentioned, I've gotten up to higher altitudes to train. In addition to hitting the Brainard Lake area, I have been mountain biking up on the Colorado Trail near Copper.


The views didn't suck up there either!

Tonight I'm getting up to Ned for the Tuesday Night Gurlz Ride. It's around 8,000 to 9,000 feet, so I consider that high altitude training. Saturday, Jesper and I are riding up high near Jamestown. Don't worry, I'll get some more running in there too.

Finally, I've reincorporated yoga into my life. I'm doing 30-40 minutes almost daily. It's helping me feel better and loosening up my tight IT band and piriformis muscles. I'm no spring chicken, so I really need to be diligent about stretching, especially with all this "training." Plus, yoga calms me down.

Hopefully, with all this prep, I'll get to the starting line rested and ready to race hard. I'm looking forward to it!

Firecracker 50 on the Single Speed - OUCH!

OK, that one hurt. I knew the Firecracker 50 would be tough on the Single Speed, but I seriously underestimated how tough. That race kicked my butt and I'm happy to just have finished.

The Firecracker 50 is a fantastic 50 mile mountain bike race held in Breckenridge, Colorado (i.e., at high altitude for added difficulty). The race takes riders through two 25 mile loops that each gain a purported 5,400 feet (more than 10,000 feet over 50 miles). To those who do not bike, that's a lot.


I had done this race 2 years ago on my geared, full suspension bike and I found it to be challenging but fun. Last year we missed it because we were in Europe. This year, both Jesper and I were excited to race it, both on the Single Speeds. That means we would be on bikes with only one gear, a gear which is often too tall for the climbs, forcing us to walk, and too slack for the flats, causing us to spin out. The Single Speeds also do not have rear suspension and Jesper, nut that he is, doesn't have a suspension fork. Thus, the ride is harsh, which takes it's toll on your body after many miles, especially on this course, which has lot's of rocky downhills to jar the fillings out of you.

The length of the race is also an issue for me. It's too short to play well to my strengths. I am an endurance gurl and I really start to shine after about 6 or 7 hours. Before that, lots of folks can beat me. After that, I don't really slow down much and the competition starts to drop like flies. Of course, that wasn't going to happen at the Firecracker 50, and I knew it. The fast gurlz would be fast the entire race and I would probably struggle to stay on their wheels. Since the race was also the USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships, many of the racers, including those in my SS Class, were professionals. After racing for years in Ohio and beating the few women there handily, I am happy to race against super fast women who show me what the fairer sex can really do (i.e., I don't mind getting my butt kicked by these gurlz!).

The race starts at a civilized 11:00 am, so Jesper and I were able to get some good sleep at home and drive up to Breck the morning of the race. To create a super festive atmosphere, the racers begin the course as part of the Breckenridge Fourth of July Parade. Escorted down Main Street by a flag bearer, it's impossible not to smile as little kids high-five as many racers as they can. Once through Main Street, the racers veer off to Boreas Pass Road and the suffering begins.

It was a beautiful sunny day and we were hopeful that afternoon thunderstorms would hold off for the race. Once into the race, I suspect many people were wishing it would rain - it was so sunny with very little wind, people were getting baked under the high altitude sun.

There were 7 Single Speed Women including me. With all that competition around me, I went out hard, sticking with a group of three other SS Gurlz. My heart rate quickly jumped into Zone 5. Other than the downhill after the 1st Flume Trail (Pinball Alley, I think it's called), my heart rate stuck to about 180 for the first 12 miles, peaking at 192. That's way too high a heart rate to maintain for 50 miles! Once the downhills after the Iowa Mill began, I dialed it down and my heart rate dropped into Zone 4 (160's to 150's) and even dipped into Zone 3 (140's) for a bit. Much more sustainable! Unfortunately, I saw the other SS Gurlz keep going and I was soon in last place in my class. I silently hoped they would blow up.

The first lap kinda sucked since all the racers were bunched up (there were over 500 finishers in the races and many more that started but didn't finish). That created a big problem for me, and the other Single Speeders, on the uphills. On a Single Speed bike, you need to go fast enough to stay ahead of your gear, otherwise it gets too hard to pedal and you end up walking. On a geared bike, you can down shift, sit back and take it easy on the climbs. With all the riders bunched up and the geared bikes going too slow for a Single Speed pace, I had to get off and walk most of the big climbs: the steep rocky one up to the Iowa Mill where the guys with the cowbells sit and cheer (11% average grade); the long loose climb up French Gulch (16% average grade) and the little grunt after the meadow before Sally Barber Road. This was frustrating because I actually had the energy to ride a lot more of this but I couldn't due to the pace of the geared riders. I made up for the walking by rocking up Sally Barber Road, which is a gradual uphill (10% average grade) with plenty of room to pass slow geared riders in their granny! Ha! Take that granny!

I also finally passed a Single Speed Gurl!! She was a really good climber but was simply awful at the downhills. We had been leap frogging all that first lap and I finally dispensed with her on a long jeep road downhill. She would be the only SS Gurl I would pass, although I almost overtook another at the end. I rolled into the start/finish with a lap time of 3:04 for my first lap, a very respectable time. However, I was cooked and I knew my second lap would not be nearly so fast. I decided to enjoy the rest of the race, as much as I could recognizing that just continuing would mean suffering.

Oddly enough, I enjoyed this lap much more than the first lap, I think because the crowd had dispersed. I was able to ride my pace without other riders getting in my way, even though that pace was slower than the first lap. My average speed dropped by a whole mile per hour! My heart rate stayed mostly in Zones 3 and 4. This time around, I walked the same big climbs, now due to fatigue and not other riders in the way. On the way up Illinois Gulch Road, I even partook of the Wild Turkey Challenge, riding over some log "stunts" and downing a small shot of whiskey. I already felt like crap, so I figured the booze couldn't hurt! It gave me a psychological boost that lasted for a few miles.

I stopped at each aid station on the 2nd lap and made sure to eat something and drink some water. I had been drinking Accelerade in my bladder throughout the race and in the end, I ate 11 Clif Bloks, 1 gel packet, one small Clif Bar and about 80 ounces of Accelerade. I think I was getting enough fuel, but I still felt crappy. Actually, I felt like crapping, not a good sensation when you are trying to race (sorry if this is more information than you wanted to have!). I certainly was hydrated enough because I did end up stopping once to take a leak just before the end of the first lap. Note to self - do not double knot your board-style shorts! It took me forever to untie my pants with my full-fingered gloves on, long enough that had I worn something less fussy, I might have beat the gurl in front of me.

This race starts out super fun and it also ends super fun. After the climb back up Sally Barber Road, the trail hits some downhill jeep road and then tucks into the woods for some fairly technical and fun single track. I looked at my GPS and realized that I could make it under 6:30 IF I hauled ass! So I did. The single track portion is my kind of trail; I am good at technical. Several super nice guys somewhat struggling on this trail heard me coming (probably sounding like a freight train) and kindly pulled over to let me pass. Thanks guys! I cranked it hard to come over the finish line at 6:28:32. Close, but I made it under 6:30! I was less than 3 minutes behind the SS Gurl in front of me (darn that nature break with the wardrobe malfunction!). For reference, two years ago on my geared bike I finished in 6:16 and felt I could have gone out harder.

This race really worked me over. I think I might have gone out too hard. I also think this race is not remotely Single Speed-friendly. Compared to the geared bike race two years ago, I found the race on the Single Speed considerably harder. It was hard from the very start to the end (well, except for the last couple miles of single track where I was jacked up with adrenaline!). When compared to the Laramie Enduro, a 72 mile race I've done on the geared and the Single Speed bikes, the Firecracker 50 is much harder on the Single Speed. The Laramie gets really hard for the last ten miles, but otherwise is really fun on the Single Speed. The Firecracker 50 was never really "fun" on the Single Speed. It took me until Sunday to feel good again.

Nevertheless, I am glad I raced it on my Single Speed and I'm proud to have finished in a decent time. I felt awful the whole race and think many people feeling like I did would have quit. I saw a lot of racers quitting the race, especially a lot of Single Speed Men. All of the Single Speed Gurlz finished the race - we are a tough lot!

Speaking of tough people, Jesper also finished on his rigid SS with a fine time of 5:46:57.

Who knows, maybe amnesia will set in and I'll race it again next year on the Single Speed.