Redneck Epic

Well, it is amazing how fast a month can fly by. Not a ton of riding to report, but some nonetheless. Mark C and I did a 50 mile South Boundary loop in Taos, 20 hard miles were ridden on the Sandia Crest trails, I made it back to North Carolina for a visit and did a Laurel>Pilot>South Mills>Buckhorn>Black point to point, and yesterday was the Chama Redneck Epic. First, a little photo dump and then a race report:

As for the race: 8am start for the 50, only about four other guys start at the same time. Everyone is worried about the trails being wet and a lot of people do a modified 46 mile loop to skip some muddy roads. Less than a mile in I'm by myself. After some tight switchbacks I'm at an overlook and I can see a lake and and elk herd far below. The valley is gorgeous. The first 6 miles are rough climbing and I push a little to hard trying to ride everything. I hear crashing in the woods around me and I find myself in the middle of an elk herd. They run along the ridge and disappear but I stumble upon them a second time a few minutes later. A woodpecker sounds out louder than a hammer driving nails and it's efforts ring through the aspens. There are wildflowers everywhere and plants I've never seen before. I pop out on a road and get a little relief. A right onto an old overgrown roadbed is a workout. I miss a turn for the CDT because the trail is so overgrown. I alternate between rutted forest roads and overgrown trail; I'm up high, there are hardly any trees. I miss another turn for the CDT and ride around for a good 20 minutes trying to figure out where the course is. I meet up with another SSer doing the 101 mile course and follow him for a bit until we reach the campground and the water drop. My stomach is not feeling hot and I'm not drinking enough tailwind or getting enough calories. Not really any point in standing around so I fill up a bottle and start the gravel climb on 87. I'm feeling ok for a bit and then the shorter steep pitches start to get to me. I walk a few. I come across Dylan in need of a tube. I give him the one on my seat post and take off knowing he will catch me. We ride together for a while just in case one of us flats. I wipe out in a loose gravel turn doing about 20 and tear a hole in my brand new (first ride) bibs. We turn onto the last gravel road section and Dylan pedals off. I'm feeling bonked but manage to pedal most of it. Hang a right on the singletrack I started on and race the incoming storm back to camp. Each little hill feels harder than the last and I walk more and more of them. Finally hit the overlook and its all downhill from there...