For those of you who don’t know, I grew up in Greenbrier County - White Sulphur Springs to be exact. I spent my junior racing years training in the Greenbrier State forest. So, for some reason it was almost like I was heading home for this one. I had been jazzed for this race since I planned it out on Tuesday.
For me this is a season of firsts. Well not first place, but first attempts at expert mountain biking, road racing, and ultra-endurance mountain biking. I spent most of Saturday preparing my bottles and bike and organizing my gels for the lengthy journey. I planned out my optimal fueling strategy complete with rescue gels and bottles.
Sunday consisted of a 5:15 rise and shine, quick gather of the final goods, most importantly coffee. Myra and I were on our way by 6:00. We cruised into the parking lot of the Greenbrier State forest on the dot at 8:10. This left me a little over an hour to register, change, and warm-up before the 9:30 start. After a short briefing on the feed zone at registration, Myra headed down to stake out a spot, and I cruised around the park for a warm-up. After a quick good luck kiss I headed to the starting line at 9:25. A nice group of racers showed up for the Marathon (47 racers total) and the competition looked to be pretty stiff. I kept looking around for familiar faces but didn’t see anyone that I recognized; all is well though, figured this could be my little adventure.
The start was about what I planned for, fast but not too fast. I settled in at about 7th position and figured I had a few laps to let things get sorted out. I pushed a moderately fast pace for about 5 min. then backed off into my planned race pace (~85% MaxHR). This worked well, as you can see from the time splits at (http://live-timing.com/report.php?r=13683&rp=167635). I really enjoyed this course...nice sections of fast double track, some tight, rocky winding single track, and slightly technical climbs.
I trucked along lap after lap after lap after lap, and then it started. The heat w
as hot, beginners and sport races were now out on course, increasing the traffic, and that slow death was creeping into me. For the 4th and 5th lap I started to slightly fall off pace; I was working around the slower traffic, but with increasing fatigue I found it more and more difficult to make passes. I found myself satisfied to sit in - not good for the time splits.
as hot, beginners and sport races were now out on course, increasing the traffic, and that slow death was creeping into me. For the 4th and 5th lap I started to slightly fall off pace; I was working around the slower traffic, but with increasing fatigue I found it more and more difficult to make passes. I found myself satisfied to sit in - not good for the time splits. My 6th lap I could feel myself unraveling. Temperatures were now in the low 90s, and my brain was starting to boil. I started to plan out my finishing time for my 7th lap to make the 1:15 cut-off time. I really wanted to get in 8 laps, my target. I was spot on giving myself about 40 min for the last lap to make the cut-off. I was pushing hard to maintain my pace and meet my goal. I found the traffic was in bunches of 3-4 riders in groups, but I was still able to work my way around. On a fast downhill section I approached a much slower rider and called out “passing on your right,” but as soon as the words left my lips the rider in front of me had come to screeching halt in the middle of the trail. I swerved right much faster than I had planned and lost control of my big-wheeled bicycle. I was a mess of bike and boy tumbling between rock and tree. I popped up and still had all limbs 
attached. The stopped rider was standing there, and I realized it was a girl who was in a complete episode – bawling, tears streaming down her cheeks. She asked if I was okay first, which I followed up with “are you okay?” thinking that with all the tears she must be in serious pain; had I clipped her? Don’t think so; I guess it was just the reaction to seeing tumbling boy and bike snapping small tree limbs and bouncing off of rocks. I grabbed my bike and realized that my rear brake lever was vertical to the ground but figured I didn’t have time to fix it if I was going to make the cut-off. I threw one leg over and tried to get back on pace. As I continued along, I marveled at my trail rash that spread from my right knee up to my right shoulder. I took a real nice digger! I kept pushing but was losing motivation and couldn’t quite maintain the needed pace. I missed the cut-off by about 2 min.
attached. The stopped rider was standing there, and I realized it was a girl who was in a complete episode – bawling, tears streaming down her cheeks. She asked if I was okay first, which I followed up with “are you okay?” thinking that with all the tears she must be in serious pain; had I clipped her? Don’t think so; I guess it was just the reaction to seeing tumbling boy and bike snapping small tree limbs and bouncing off of rocks. I grabbed my bike and realized that my rear brake lever was vertical to the ground but figured I didn’t have time to fix it if I was going to make the cut-off. I threw one leg over and tried to get back on pace. As I continued along, I marveled at my trail rash that spread from my right knee up to my right shoulder. I took a real nice digger! I kept pushing but was losing motivation and couldn’t quite maintain the needed pace. I missed the cut-off by about 2 min. I cruised on down to the feed zone to find my other half. She really did a great job getting me my bottles and gels. Thanks #1 wifey!!! I sipped on water, chatted with JR, wished him luck and
encouraged him to consume high volumes of H2O. I headed back to change. I ate a little then headed down to get the results. I decided I could be happy with top ten; it was hard, hot race and all things went as planned except for my crash. My average heart rate for the race was pretty much exactly as planned at 82%, and for the seven laps I climbed close to 1500 m. The results were posted and I went to check things out - I found myself in 5th! 5th! Well hot dog...Needless to say I was quite pleased, considering this was my first attempt at a long distance race. There will definitely be more of 
these to come.See everyone at Mountwood,
Ryan
P.S. JR went on to win his class!!! Go JR!!! WVMBA Rocks!!!
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