Zuni Mountain

Prep for Zuni Mountain went down like this: 52 mile bike path ride (with a couple of laps on a cross course) the Saturday before the race. Then a week of no biking plus several days of meals consisting of pizza, doughnuts, soda, hot dogs, and Mexican food. If I had simply incorporated some EPO I would have had a winning formula. I mean, look how high this dude can lift his bike and he's not even on a podium, but he is PRO.

I roll up to the campsite at McGaffey Lake (there is no lake btw, just a pond with no water by east coast standards) just before dark on Friday and get the tent set up as the sun disappears. I'm in bed about 10pm and wake up throughout the night 'cause its way colder than I was expecting.

Saturday morning I down two slices of pizza, a banana, and some strong coffee from the percolator. Race starts at 8am and the pack takes off quick. I lag at the back; it's cold, my stomach is full, and I'm still not awake. I stick with what was probably the second pack for a bit and then they lose me. I catch a dude named Mone from Vail on some 29+ drop bar road bike contraption as he's taking off some layers. He quickly catches back up before the first singletrack descent though. I ride by myself for most of the loop, get lost trying to find Quaking Aspen trail, and then finish the loop up with Mone. I manage to keep my pit time to about 8 minutes and scarf down a stinger waffle.

One the second loop I knew where I was going but the tummy was misbehaving a little bit and I began struggling with cramps. I actually stopped twice on the Quaking Aspen climb to take a breather. Once I got back to the gravel road I started really watching the clock and was hoping to make it in under 8 hours. Somehow I dug deep and the power came back and I was able to rip it the last half hour or so and finish in 7:50. I'll be back next year, hopefully sporting a harder gear, a faster rolling tire, and some improved fitness.

Settling For Less

Less miles, less races. That's the way the past few weeks have been. I changed my mind and only did loop two of the Manzanita Mountain Epic, skipped the Delores 100, and have been putting in fewer miles every week. On the flip side I've done two cyclocross practice races which were a blast and that got me interested in doing some cross races in the future. There's still the Zuni Mountain on the table in less than two weeks and I have negotiated with my brain and legs that there will be no bowing out and no shorter course option for me.

Little Manzanita rundown: Small pack of us start at 7 am. First trail up is the Cedro singletrack. I try to get settled in. I'm not really awake yet. I over anticipate the climb at the end and give up to walking too early. Probably could have cleaned it if I had been paying attention. I do the hike a bike on the meadow singletrack and that's the last time I get a glimpse of Mark up at the top. At this point I'm following a couple of guys on geared full suspension bikes. I catch up on the little climbs and then they get away from me on everything in between. I have no desire to attack, just hang on for now. They miss a turn on Mahogany and I get ahead momentarily. They catch back up and we all ride Bear Scat together. Once we hit Harry's trail they are gone again. I stop to piss and use it as an excuse to walk. I'm not attacking the hills hard enough to clean anything, but on the other hand I'm not bonking or blowing up. We all get lost for close to half an hour and trace the trail back and forth until we pick up the GPS track again. GPS is being a PITA today, its constantly freezing and not showing the course ahead. Logan takes off and the other geared guys get ahead. I ride alone for awhile and have a minor wreck at the bottom of Lower Pine. I pass two guys I haven't seen since the start while climbing up the 462 dirt road and then catch the two geared guys I've been following all day at the turnoff for 12. We ride together over to Mighty Mule and then I try and drop the hammer on all of the rolling short climbs. I get to FS13 and they are still close behind me. I don't even attempt to ride the five hills of death, but just try to walk each one quickly. I pause at the intersection of middle? trail wondering if I'm supposed to take it back to the finish. The directions are not helpful and the GPS is still showing some extra trail. What the hell? The geared guys are mere yards behind me as I get to the intersection with cedro peak road. I make a dumbass decision to follow what the the GPS track appears to show and continue up towards the towers, enduring another short climb. The trail basically ends so I turn around with one of the geared guys in tow and we blast down the other dirt road to the finish. The second geared rider skipped our little detour and had already signed out on the clipboard. Damn. Five hours of effort blemished by a mistake in the last minute. C'est is racing I suppose, and I've earned myself a tie for second place. Mark however, has been back for almost a full hour already. There was no chance of catching him.

Yesterday I took Jay out to Tijeras so he could experience some good ole baby heads. We rode: Ranger station>Tunnel>Otero>Gnasty>Blue Ribbon>FS106>Drop In>Cajun Pine>Wild Turkey?>Turkey Trot>David Canyon Rd>Drop In>Blue Ribbon>Gnasty>West Ridge>Birdhouse>End.