« Floyd Landis in Harrisonburg | Main | Bye Bye MySpace »
September 4, 2007
Shenandoah Mountain 100 Results
I finished! It took me 13.5 hours, but I finished.
The weather was absolutely perfect. We took off at dawn (6:30AM). There was a bit of a racer-bottleneck at some of the initial climbs, but it eventually stretched out. At approximately 57-65 miles, my calf muscles started cramping up, especially my right. Thankfully, that went away and never returned. I was eating the Margarita flavored Clif Shot Blocks like candy (that flavor contains extra sodium), so it's possible that it helped. There were a handful of riders who were dealing with muscle cramping much worse then me -- I can think of one guy who couldn't stand upright. All-considering, After mile 65 I felt really good. I'm guessing that the heat of the day was a cause for some of the bonking. Also, Tim Richardson, one of the owners of Shenandoah Bicycle Company who was helping out as a bike mechanic at aid station 3 (45 miles), recommended that I lose the Camelback. His advice couldn't have been better. I cooled off quicker, and I didn't have that extra weight on the bumps. I had two water bottle cages on the bike, so that was enough fluid. I went tool/pumpless for the last half of the race, but I had a tube in my jersey just in case; I figured I could bum a pump off another slumming rider if necessary. The next time I do this, I'll put my tools on the bike, food in my jersey, and ditch the Camelback. At the 5th aid station I picked up my light just in case. I finished at 8:07PM with barely enough daylight. I didn't make my sub-12 hour goal, but did manage to make my backup goal of finishing without the use of lights. You gotta love backup goals.
I've been riding a full-suspension Jamis Dakar for the past year. The two weeks before the race, I was in Colorado visiting family. While there, I rented a hard-tail with 29" tires. Most traditional mountain bikes have wheels with a 26" diameter. On my last ride before vacation, I bent my dérailleur beyond quick repair (needed to order a part), so upon returning I was in a bit of a bike quandary. Since my experience with the hard-tail 29er was so good, I decided to go a bit nuts and buy a new bike. I'm now the proud owner of a 2007 Gary Fisher Paragon.
On some of the downhills, I was bounced around a bit more than I could have hoped. Perhaps I went soft with my full-suspension and didn't try to find the best line. With the Jamis, I could just point and shoot and it would just fly through stuff. The sorest part of my whole body after the race are both hands, from holding on during the downhills. In fact, I got so tired that I stopped braking as much as possible and just let 'er rip -- terrifying but it gave my hands and forearms some needed relief. With the exception of the steep, rocky downhills, and rutted sections of the course, the 29" wheels really rolled and climbed great.
During the race, there were times when I was cursing myself for attempting such a stupid thing, but I'm certain that come this time next year, I'll be lining up at the start hoping to beat 13.5 hours. They haven't posted the results for the 'normal' people yet, but there's a great write-up in Cycling News. There are some great pictures beneath the article, if you're curious to see some of Floyd.
UPDATE: I should point out that a local Harrisonburg rider, Sue Haywood (Trek/Volkswagon), set a new course record for women by breaking her own previous record. She finished in 8:11 (12th overall) -- that's pretty cool. Floyd Landis finished in 7:23.
UPDATE: I stopped at the 6 rest stops for a total of 1:10, there's definitely some time to be made up there.
Posted by mark at September 4, 2007 9:15 AM Subscribe (FeedBurner)
Comments
good job...
I think that everyone questions themselves at this event
but we forget the pain and remember the pleasure and then we return for more abuse
I was nearly an hour slower this year
too much time at the check points?
maybe not enough training?
perhaps being 15 pounds heavier than last year did not help
in the end I am satisfied with my numbers
compared to the top folks we are all just a bunch of freds on a bike tour
Posted by: gwadzilla at September 5, 2007 11:56 AM
way to go, man. glad you did it, finishing within at least one of your goals! :)
Posted by: Nate at September 7, 2007 1:59 PM