Hardwood Hills 8 hour

Hmmmm where to start. Well the short of it. Today was definitely not my day. The mind was willing, the body well all of it except my legs were. I shut down fast today. No blow up just said stop.

Ok, so the long story. Things started off interesting. The weather had been on my mind all week. They called for rain and possible thunderstorms. What are the chances they were right? Well woke up at 6ish to a heavy down pour. I liked it.

Setup was normal, lots of solo's. Actually more than I've ever seen, somewhere around the 130 between all the divisions. I was feeling pretty good even though my stomach was jumping around alot more than normal. I usually feel a bit gaggy but this was a little more intense.

So jump a bit ahead to the start. Was staged at the front, technical course, need to stay near the front or your stuck in crazy bottle necks. Go!! Got on my pedals and went up the first double track climb just behind the lead riders. Fine, no worries. The first climb is about 3/4 of a kilometre. Nothing to hard though. Things are feeling good. Started at my normal 8 hour pace. Riping in the singletrack. It's muddy and slick but I'm hooking up with no problems.

Half way point I'm in 3rd with Scott Luscombe and his teammate pacing behind me. No worries. Feeling good. They had to revise the course last minute and removed a section of singletrack that had crazy roots and a log bridge crossing. I was really disappointed since it was a section that I liked alot. Especially with the rain.

Almost done the lap, bottle swap, no worries. Transition, quick and smooth. First lap 31 minutes. Came into the first climb again. Who put this wall there? Am I riding a Tricycle? I had zero power. I was getting passed like I was standing still. This continued all the way tot the top.I had now power. Alright, spin it out and get your rhythm back on top. Got into the single track and things felt not to bad, then came the next climb. Are my brakes rubbing??? This continued for the rest of the lap. Now it's strange, it felt like i was extremely slow but I was only 4 minutes behind my first lap. Either way things just did not feel right.

I stopped for a few minutes, got off the bike and debated on what to do. I felt tired already. Finally got myself back on the bike and decided to just play a bit. Of course the few minutes of rest gave the legs a very very short 2nd wind. That got me up the first climb. Half way through the lap I see Andrew Parry. No he wasn't racing, he's working. So this is where I know things are not right. I stopped and started to talk with him. Yep, stopped and didn't care. Of course I was there long enough to see everyone that I should have been riding with lap me. A few interesting comments.

Finally started moving again and cruised the lap. Coming into my feed zone i told Mom that I was done after this lap. Steady pace but things still felt horrible going up. Last lap was 35 minutes. My legs felt like I was at hour 8 not 2 hours in. That should have been the time of my slowest lap. Finished up and handed in my chip. Yep, some more interesting looks and comments.

So what happened. I'm not really sure yet. My quads feel like bricks right now. Nothing hurts they just feel heavy. There are way to many possibilities from the day to day work stuff to training. Am I not recovered from Solstice? Not sure.

SO the great thing out of this is that Heather has taken over my training for the next month. The Mountainview 9 Hour is important to me. It's my home track, home club, and I won it last year. I have always had in my mind that I want to repeat that again this year. She will have me ready.

As for my attitude about this race. It was always a wait and see event for me. It was a wait and see what happens at Solstice and wait and see where the legs are. Well I did wait and see on the side lines. It was fun cheering everyone on. It was different seeing everyone change during the race as they got tired.

Tomorrow is another day. Heather has me back on the bike tomorrow. Should be a whole new story tomorrow.

For now rest

Later