I had a tough time sleeping the night before this ride. The
last minute venue change had me nervous that no one would show up AND it was
raining off and on all night. When I woke up, it was a torrential downpour and
there were already posts at 5am from riders wondering if we were on. On the
drive out my phone was buzzing with questions about the ride. I did my best to
get the message ‘it’s ON, Burnett is dry’ but driving through the apocalyptic
storm required some attention.
In a testament to Central Texas rider’s overall gnarliness,
40 (!) riders braved the weather to come out to a venue that was much harder
than the ride they’d been training for. We rounded up the riders, got them
registered and started our first group just after 8.
My first lap felt good and I rounded the finish about a
minute before the lead group was heading out. John Russell called to me to ride
with them but I knew I couldn't maintain their pace. I made up my Infinit and
hopped on the bike. On my way out I saw Al coming in – he’d started in the 2nd
group so I knew he was making really good time. The second lap I rode a bit
with Colvin and Schaller but we got separated at some point (it’s blurry). Got
to chat a bit with Antonio who had had a lap from hell and was walking his
crippled bike (bummer). 3rd lap fatigue was starting to kick in and the
heat was getting to me. The sun would blaze out at different times for
the rest of the day and any time you were over the slickrock it was like riding
a hotplate. Stifling is too mild a word for the combo of the sun above, radiant
rock below and the rising steam. At the end of my 3rd lap I took a
long break to try to get my core temperature down. I was dumping ice water over
my head and it still took me ~10 minutes of that for my head to stop throbbing.
Popped some Advil and extra electrolytes, chugged a bunch of ice water, dumped my Infinit into my pack and
headed out for the 4th lap. By this time I was walking most of the
technical climbs to prevent flubbing a line, panic-dabbing and cramping a calf.
The 4th lap definitely felt better than the 3rd but it
was hotter. The 5th lap brought some reprieve from the sun since it
was well past its zenith. Also, every time I passed a rock feature or a climb I
got to say “I won’t have to ride this bastard again for a year” so that helped
a lot. I felt like I was barely making any forward progress for the last half
of the 5th lap, crawling along in granny. Near the end of the race loop
I heard brakes behind me – Johnny was closing in fast. Russell would normally be hours in front of
me, but he’d had a really freaky forearm cramp during his 2nd lap
that worried him so he was just doing a chill pace for the last 3 laps (his ‘chill’
pace made up 30 minutes on my ‘I’m about to barf up my soul’ pace). With Johnny
on my tail and 3 miles to go I dug down into whatever I had left and rolled
across the finish line with 2 minutes to spare before Johnny came through.
Interesting comparison for Austin mountain bikers: the Enchilada
Buffet took me 9:47 (8:18 moving time) to cover 82 miles. This ride took me
10:13 (8:57 moving time) to cover 62 miles.
Thanks again to Todd and Tony for scouting the course knowing
they’d probably have to take a DNF the day of the race to get it done. Thanks
to Gary for helping manage the crowds during the rain crisis. Thanks to Robert
for taking the hit on his 4th and final lap to stop and pick up the
race signs. Big thanks to Vol out at Reveille Peak Ranch for his willingness to
help us with the emergency move. Finally thanks to all the riders who had the
faith and the stones to come out and attempt this monster.
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