Big breath. Transylvania Mountain Bike Epic – summary statement: It was TOUGH, REALLY TOUGH. and hot (90-93 degrees) and humid.
I rode stages 1-4 of 7. The only stage I completed was stage 1. Stage 1 was a 12 mile prologue. Was supposed to be sort of a warm-up type thing. Was more than a warm-up effort for me though. Had a good portion of singletrack mixed with some fire road type stuff. Hilly and rocky – think Decorah & Chequamegon on steroids.
Stage 2: Rode about 11 miles on dirt & gravel roads then approx. 1 mile singletrack. Lots of fist size and larger rocks bumping up all through the trail. Had a long climb that was rocky enough that I had to walk it. Made it to checkpoint #1 at mile 11. Then continued to climb on gravel road for 1.5 miles. Rode that whole piece and then descended a bit to enter some singletrack. I was getting really hot and feeling pretty puny by the time entered the singletrack. It was more of those rocks plus some gooey muddy sections that really sucked my energy. I rode about 1 mile maybe on that and then was having many doubts. It was 15 miles yet to the next checkpoint , I’d been riding over 2 hours total so far, and I didn’t know how much of it was going to be singletrack like I was on. If it quickly turned into fire road or gravel I thought I’d make it to the next checkpoint , if it stayed like I was on I was questioning whether I’d make it. I made a tough choice, but one that I thought was safest for me and I turned around while I still knew how to backtrack to the previous checkpoint. Gotta admit there were some tears involved. I knew I was saying bye to getting a finisher’s medal. I got back to the checkpoint and hung out there for about 2+ hours until they could give me a ride back to the camp. As I sat there and saw the time it took for people that were ahead of me to get to that second checkpoint I felt good about my choice to turn around when I did. I ate and drank and tried to recover while I waited. A few other people stopped at the checkpoint too due to broken bike or injury. One especially interesting part of being at the checkpoint was watching the women leaders come through and quickly restock and grab food and race on.
I was going to skip stage 3 thinking I was too beat and just in over my head. However, some advice from my coach to think on it some more in regard to what my goals were for the week and the year led me to choose to go after it again on Tuesday for stage 3. I headed out on Stage 3 to pursue my goal of improving my mental and physical toughness . I tend to turn back when I probably could really keep going and my stage 3 goal was to overcome that. Again it was HOT and humid. This day was mostly on road of some sort ranging from asphalt to rugged fire road. There was some super rocky singletrack downhills for short pieces too and I was pleased with how I handled those sections. I felt pretty crummy in my tummy for the first 45 minutes and then I burped big enough to rattle the trees and felt MUCH better. The first checkpoint was going to be at mile 17-18. I was stressing a bit when I didn’t see it right away thinking maybe they had packed up b/c I was so slow, but then at mile 18 there they were! I had run out of water and was very happy to see them. One of the elite riders was there and had to stop b/c of being sick. I saw her talking to someone and she had tears too. I rested a couple minutes and headed on to the next checkpoint at mile 33-34. I was in a “you can do more than you think you can” mindset and just kept on moving. Some of that moving was walking up hills and some was pedaling, but I was moving! There were some awesome dowhhills to go with those uphills and that felt good. The trail went through an old train tunnel and it was scarey. Couldn’t see the light at the end of it when entered b/c of a slight curve. I was trying to look over the top of my sunglasses and ride in it but that was freaking me out so I stopped and stuck my sunglasses on top of my helmet and started baby stepping along. Creeped me out more b/c could see water to the right and in my mind I imagined it being way deep. Actually, was like 1/2″ deep tops 
) As I was shuffling along I looked down and heard my sunglasses drop on the ground. Crap. Couldn’t see anything then, except the other end now. I stood still and started pawing my hand on the ground until I felt my sunglasses, sighed, and walked on. Was refreshingly cool in there too. As I pedaled away from that tunnel I thought “that is one scarey @ss tunnel!” The climb from that tunnel to the ridgeline where the next checkpoint was located was loooong. As I neared the top I had run out of water again and was cooking hot. Riding along the fire road I was choosing my line as to what looked the best to ride combined with what was in the shade. At times I had to walk too, but by now my goal was to survive to the checkpoint. I understood the checkpoint to be at mile 33 at a vista. I got to a point that was about 33.5 and a vista and nobody was there. Used alot of mental energy to not freak out. Used my cell phone to call the race director and leave a message saying where I was, no one was there, and hesitant to continue on to search for the checkpoint further b/c I was out of water. Couldn’t keep the quiver out of my voice. Then some hikers came along and were asking me if a trail to get down to the river. I told them all I knew was that if followed the yellow arrows would get to the Scout Camp 14 miles away. He said something about a second vista so I decided that maybe the checkpoint was at mile 34 and I started to pedal on. In about 1 minute of starting on I met one of the checkpoint people driving back looking for me and the sweep crew. I could have hugged him! He said the checkpoint was about 1/2 mile down the road and I could sit here and wait for him to return, or ride on to it. I rode on . Took me 5.5 hours to get there and I was done in. I hadn’t made the time cut-off so I couldn’t have ridden on even if I had wanted to do so. I told the main checkpoint lady of my fear that they had left. She said they WOULD NOT leave anyone out there. She said they don’t pack up until the sweep crew comes along. That was very reassuring. I drank a bunch of water, etc and tried to eat a bit, but was not feeling very well. The crew got the checkpoint packed up and loaded my bike and one other guy’s bike that didn’t make the time b/c of flat tire trouble and drove us back. The drive back was 45 minutes or more and I felt worse and worse along the way. Tried to eat,but nauseated, tried to drink, but nauseated. When got to the camp I did not feel comfortable going back to my tent so I asked to see the ER doctor they had on-site for the race. I ended up getting an IV to rehydrate. WOW, what a help! I felt like a new person when it was finished. When he started it I was just focusing on living, and when it was finished I felt alive. He said that once you get behind in hydration and your stomach doesn’t want to do it’s thing so well it is tough to get caught up. I thought about it then that I had pretty much been sweating since I arrived Saturday afternoon and now it was Tuesday afternoon. Cooled down a bit in my tent in the evening, but that’s it. I asked if there was any problem with riding again tomorrow and he said would be fine.
Stage 4 was at Raystown – it was GREAT trail. Some didn’t like it saying it was too neatly groomed. I loved it. Super sweet flowing single track! Had some pump sections built in, a few rocks. It was a 20 mile loop. The race was 2 laps. I did one loop and it took me a bit over 3 hours. It was during this stage that I decided I wasn’t going to ride any more stages. It was becoming not fun and I realized it wasn’t what I had expected it to be. I was thinking it was going to be all singletrack with a touch of road, but it was lots of road/off road stuff with some singletrack. I had trouble enjoying the singletrack pieces b/c I was so tired from all the road and climbing that connected the pieces. One of the cool things for me in this stage was to see how fast the leader men ride. Jeepers. They were lapping me near the end and they’d call out their approach so I’d pull out of the way and then whoosh they went past and disappeared! It was also cool to see how hard they were working.
That night I felt very sad to be choosing to not continue. But it was just too tough for me. The next morning when I was packing up to go home and the others were packing up to go race, I was glad I wasn’t racing. I have no regrets for choosing to race in it and I have no regrets for choosing to stop when I did. I could foresee me starting to hate my bike and riding if I pushed to continue. I also could foresee alot of frustration and potential for wrecking too. I wrecked once pretty hard at Raystown in a place where I still can’t quite figure out why. Just a sign of starting to lose some focus I think. Got a big bruise, a big scrape, and a puncture wound on my leg that I went to see the doctor about . He cleaned it up and poked around on it . When he pulled it apart a bit something would come out. I asked him what it was. His reply “oh, just some tissue” and the pushed it back together and it went back inside. Kinda cool, kinda eew. Didn’t need stitches though.
I signed up for the meal plan so ate in the (warm/hot) dining hall with a big group. The food was tasty and plentiful. It was fun to visit with the different riders and hear their stories, etc. There was a photographer on the course and he did a slide show each night. Cool.
That’s all I can think of for now. It was such a big experience for me that it is hard to even know what to write.
I was too busy with just trying to do my thing and took only 1 picture. If I get the photo CD I will find me in a few photos and post those.
Ride free )|(
Karmen
