Skip to main content

Trans-Sylvania Epic 2014 Day 4

Trans-Sylvania Epic 2014 - Day 4

He's not heavy. He's my brother. But my bike is heavy. Real heavy. It seems as everybody has grown an affinity for carpet fiber or carbon fiber or fiber crabon, what ever it is, i decided to grow an affinity to a heavier material...steel. Steel is real so they say. It's also heavy. It breaks less than carbon fiber when your weight is around 215#. I stopped weighing my bike once it crossed the 30lb milestone. Than i added a dropper post, heavier fork, boo bar and a super thick rear tire made from hippopotamus hide or something very similar. Any way, I'm riding a tank. 

 So today i woke after a good night of sleep to rain tap tap tapping on the camper roof. This is not what you dream of as a mountain biker. I don't recall ever exclaiming "yay" I'm going mountain biking in the mud and rain. Oh boy! Maybe we'll have some summer hail or tornado or a giant lightning storm. Luckily we did not. The rain stopped 5 minutes before the race start and off we went. So many people in so much better shape than me. I usually feel like I'm in decent shape however when you are surrounded by Olympic athletes, professionals and lifers, it's easy to feel like a turd on the trail. I am not a turd on the trail. I'm a turd on a heavy bike, having a good time with people i like being around twice a day: the start and the awards ceremony where i get to witness them collect their daily accolades for being super fit and dedicating their lives to vo2 max and proper nutrition while I'm off worrying about the next payroll to meet. Is it a trade off? Yes, but they all welcome me none the less, for one common thing we share. We like to ride and with this group all are welcome. All you need is a bike and a smile. Heck you don't even need a bike, just a kind smile. I like being around these people. I feel somewhat at home at these type of events. No matter how i do. I've been on the up side of winning and now I'm experiencing the other side and that's OK. I'm slow and that's OK. I'm more fit than the average Joe, well maybe, but I'm OK, and gosh darn, people like me. 

 Back to the race - It started off fast as usual but it was mostly gravel road. We had a few miles of single track mixed in and two very long Enduro segments. My plan was to start off a little faster than the prior 3 days in order to avoid multiple hours in the woods. The plan was good however poorly executed. I stayed up with a few faster people and continued with them until the Enduro segments. The first segment was a portion of an Enduro segment from stage one. That segment went well along with the other two. Part of the course was on the Wilderness 101 route which covers a long run on an abandoned rail road grade complete with old tunnel. Prior to the old rail bed was "Fisherman's Trail". Aptly named since it is mostly used by fishermen for fishing access along Penns Creek. Parts of this trail look like the bottom of an abandoned rock quarry. Needless to say, it is difficult to ride especially 25 miles in on a 42 mile day. As i rode and walked the fishermans trail all i could think about was cooling off in a clear Pennsylvania mountain stream. Sure enough, partway through the trail appeared this magnificent specimen. I proceeded to lay down my bike, remove my back pack and sit in the middle of the stream. It felt amazing. As a back of the pack racer i get to experience way more than the top riders. After the cool down i finished the rockathon and got out onto the former rail bed where i was alone. There were no other riders in sight so i slogged forward to trestle crossing #2. Many moons ago while racing the Wilderness 101 i rode across said trestle with skinny cross country style handlebars which barely fit between the wooden walk way railings. I knew my fat Boo Bars weren't going to fit so i pulled the front wheel up and wheelie walked the bike across the bridge. Next came the tunnel and a great surprise. At  the end of the tunnel was a fine surprise. Evidently some smart person assumed bike racers enjoy adult beverages so they made a bee double E double are you n and were handing out the results of said bee double E double are you n in nice sanitary plastic cups handed out at the end of the tunnel. The day was hot. I was closer to DFL than i was to Captain First Place so i stopped, stood in a cool puddle in the tunnel and helped the kind people rid themselves of evidence. My melancholy mood changed to chipper. I rode the next 1.5 hours at my pace. Bombed the last couple Enduros and called it a day. It was a good day.
Peace. 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alley oop oop. Oop. Oop. Oop!

July 3, 2011 - First Annual (hopefuly) Brevard, NC Alley Cat Race. What a blast! Thirty some odd people (i use odd loosely) including kids, adults, adults who are still kids and in-betweens. This was my first participation in an Alley Cat Race. Typical alley cat format is basically no format at all. This race consisted of 10 or so check points, each worth a certain amount of points based upon their distance from the starting point. Also in the mix were a number of local landmarks, people and combinations of both that were each worth an additional 3 points each. Who ever has the most points and returns to the designated finishing area by the cut-off time wins. My buddy and official H8R, aka ZB, decided he just wanted to follow me for the race since he doesn't know Brevard all that well. Together we sped through Brevard and its outskirts, collected pictures, signed sign in sheets, danced, busted some rhymes, begged, consumed liquid refreshment, obeyed all and any traffic laws, improv...
11 comments
Read more

A day in PA

“Where’s this David Cook guy?” ripped me out of a semi relaxed state of welcomed non-stimulus after 101 miles of rushing thoughts, focus, attentiveness and sweat. I was sitting on the grass, cross legged, eyes closed, with my back against the blow up Kenda banner at the race finish. Apparently another Clydesdale racer didn’t like seeing his name in second place on the results page because he was questioning the race director for David Cook and a scale. Much to this fellows surprise, “he’s right here” directed at him from my mouth with the same tone he addressed the race director, seemed to stop him in his tracks. I guess he heard me, but assumed someone would present them self to him. I didn’t. I knew what he wanted…my digits on a scale. The race director, went for the scale with said questioning racer in tow. The racer came back to where he heard me announce my presence from the comfort of my make shift Kenda pillow and was looking around. I looked up at him and said “I’...
4 comments
Read more

Snake Creek Gap time trial #2

Snake Gap Creek time trial – race 2, Feb. 5, 2011 First race of the season, and I hurt. It’s been a long comfortatble winter……on the sofa. “On the sofa” can be used like “between the sheets” in fortune cookie lingo but it’s not a good phrase to describe your fitness. This race made me feel as if I were “just off the sofa”. At least I’m headed in the right direction. Snake Gap Creek is run on the PInhoti trail in Northwest Georgia. Being from GA I’ve ridden most of the trails, but not the Pinhoti. It opened up after I fled for WNC (Western North Carolina) in 2004. The route was a 34 mile point to point race with about 4,000 feet of climbing, per some unknown rider on the bus who seemed to know what he was talking about with exception of the rocky section of trail near races end. As a self designated “seasoned racer” I leave my mind open to all trail suggestions, hints, pointers, etc. however, I put those pointers in the back of my head until I get to the spot referenced then I make my ...
2 comments
Read more