Trans-Sylvania Epic 2014 - Day 2
Bad. Long. Hot. Never under estimate the difficulty of 40 miles of Pennsylvania rocks, hills and more rocks. We have rocks in Western North Carolina but they are typically small and usually move. In PA they are big and reach up from the earth to grab tires as you roll by. Upon completion of day one i knew that a podium spot in my age group was very unlikely. I knew that coming into this race. The Enduro aspect is still in my sights. Unfortunately there is only one winner in the Enduro category and it's winner take all. No second place losers. Long story short, I bonked around 25 miles in, went through two 3 liter camelbaks, 2 water bottles, 2 flat tires and 2 naps trail side. Distinction between reality and la la land was a fine line of which i was straddling over. A kind biker and two young riders stopped to ask if i was ok and if i needed help. All i could say was nothing at all. Then finally i lied and said i was ok. She read my answer and pressed on with questions which evidently pulled me back from the la la land side of things. I remembered my name, which a few moments prior i could not, and decided that i had to get out to the next check point and call it a day. Finally, after what seemed like the longest walk of my life i came to the last downhill and rolled into the check point, 30 minutes past the cut off. The race director knew i was toast and complimented me on my arrival. Ego hurt. Legs hurt. Feelings hurt. Brain hurt. Hands hurt. Everything hurt. I climbed into the sag vehicle with sad bike strapped on the back and got a king of the mountain segment on Hwy. 322. Somehow me and my bike averaged 57.x miles per hour up a 4 mile climb. I just wish i would have been on it.
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