Still trying to recover from the weekend of riding down in Reddick, FL at the 12 Hours of RazorBack. Mark D, Beth Mac and I left Perry last Friday, right on time at 9:30am. We made good time getting down to Razorback only stopping at the Florida Welcome center and Steak and Shake. Monte was already there when we arrived. We got ready and set out for a pre-ride lap. Beth was not sure if she was going to race the next day, she wanted to see how the pre-ride lap went before she made her decision. All I will say is, "She did not race". I fell in love with the place right off the bat. Very technical climbs and downhills with fast flowy rolling trails in between. Plus the fact that its in Central Florida, one of my most favorite places to visit. After grinning all the way through the Pre-ride we registered and then bolted to Santos to set up camp. We got there with just enough time to set up before dark. We went and ate at Pasta fair in Bellview, FL and it was delicious as usual. We got back to camp and I had to make some minor adjustments to my seat and front deraileur. I had just put a new chain and derailuer pulleys on the night before so the Pre-ride was the only miles I had on them. I wanted to make sure everything was tight.
Race mornin we woke up to 22 degrees! I got up about 6:45am got the fire going then the coffee brewing. I wore shorts, 1 short sleeve t-shirt, under a long sleeve shirt, under my Maxxis Jersey. Of course I wore PUMA socks, and my PUMA trail running shoes to race in. We ate at BK on the way to RazorBack and the Pit area. Beth was to be the pit master for "Team Collard Green" made up of Monte, MarkD, + Mike and Kevin from Jacksonville, FL. There team would be racing against Sport and Expert teams. I set up my chair along the course not far before the start finish. I had plenty of Perpetuem and Power Gels. There was a prologue run at the start about a quarter of a mile. I got to my bike about mid pack of the runners. It was stacked up for the first mile and had to wait inline to go through some tight sections. After everyone spread out I set into a good steady pace and just had a good time riding. I drank a whole water bottle of Perpetuem each 10 mile lap and ate two Power Gels, also sipped plain water as I went along from my Camel bak. I had left my whole tool kit back at the camp from working on my bike the night before. Knowing I had just put that chain and pulleys on, I had no way of fixing any mechanicals. I did have a Pump and tubes. I did not worry about it, I thought to myself every things gonna be fine and that shimano XT chain is gonna hold, and it did, just like a champ. My bike was shifting crisp and clean the whole race. I felt great every lap, never cramped, I had to stop on the trail and pee one time so I knew I was staying hydrated. My back did not start hurting until after the race was over and I was sitting around the pits.
We did not get back to camp that night till 1:30am after eating at Waffle House on the way back. I used my Etrex Legend GPS to find us a Waffle House. It has points of interest loaded in the map. I just looked at what was on each exit of I-75 along the way back to camp and found one that had Waffle house listed. 441 is the road from Santos to RazorBack and it runs parallel to I-75 through Ocala, FL. Once back at Camp I went and took a HOT shower, as I came out of the shower it was pouring Rain! It didn't matter, I was soo exhausted I did not even care. I slept like a rock! No literally, a rock, because my air mattress would not hold air and I was laying on the hard ground. We had planned to get up Sunday and do a lap at Santos but since the Trail was wet we just packed up and Headed North. I great Weekend! I am looking forward to next years Race!
Monday, February 19, 2007
12 6 Hours Of Razorback
Monday, February 19, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment