ChainBuster 6-hr solo mountain bike race, Conyers Intl Horse park, 19 March
Van Mixon and I made the trip to the site of the 1996 Olympic MTB race on Saturday. It was quite warm by the 10 am start, so I was glad to have 10 water bottles at my pit (I ended up using 9 of them). I had never ridden any of the trails at Conyers, so the first 8 mile lap was full of surprises. The course was eclectic with multiple muddy stream crossings followed by steep climbs, sticky mud, newly cut trail (off camber with lots of sticks), sandy sections, rooty sections and grassy hilsides....and about 1 mile of gravel road. That gravel road strung the peleton out right away and got my heat rate sky-high. I managed to make my way through the first lap without crashing, and then set a sustainable effort level while getting more proficient on the technical sections on each lap. Nutrition and hydration are critical in endurance races, and I managed them well, drinking over 1 bottle per 45 minute lap and eating an energy bar every lap. Midway through the race it was evident that many racers were not hydration and feeding enough as more and more were slowly walking hills, cramping, and even vomiting. The race is run such that you do as many laps as you can in 6 hrs. 1 second over 6 hrs and the lap doen't count. My lap times crept up to just over 45 minutes per lap, so there was no way I could complete an 8th lap at 5 hrs 24 minutes into the race--so my race was over at 7 laps! This is quite common at endurance races--in fact racers often quit even earlier because they don't have the physical or emotional ability to continue. I had some great competition and ended up in 3rd place for the 6 hr solo expert category.
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