2008 Hampshire 100, Sunday August 17, 2008 Greenfield, NH
Race weekend started innocently enough Saturday afternoon at Greenfield State Park. Race packet pick-up was scheduled for Saturday afternoon from 3:00 to 9:00pm. All racers were provided with a free campsite the night before the race. No hookups, but hey this is New Hampshire, deal with it.
I arrived at the check-in center around 4:30pm and promptly was welcomed to the Hampshire 100 by none other than the Race Director, Randi Whitney who was just returning after making sure the course was clear and well marked. I was informed that a homemade dinner of veggie and meat lasagna would soon be ready and available for a very small donation to a local charity. I was directed to the open camping field which was 100 feet from the start line and informed to ‘pick a spot’. There was a cool, almost bohemian laid back vibe in the air.
My tent on Saturday evening was my Toyota 4Runner. With the seats folded down, an air mattress, a few comforters, I was all set. I pulled to the back of the field away from the main road and started to ready my tent, meaning I cleaned out my truck. I soon made a fast friend with a great guy named Gerry who pulled in next to me. Gerry lives in Mashpee, Massachusetts. After talking for a few minutes, we soon realized we had a lot in common. We both enjoyed riding the single-track on Otis AFB, we both had small children, and we were both looking forward to a quiet night without spouses or kids.
Soon the dinner bell rang and Gerry and I made our way over to the Gazebo for dinner. Gerry snaked the last piece of meat lasagna, but I was more than happy with the veggie version. What a great homemade pre-race meal for only $4.00. It was starting to get dark and I informed Gerry I brought a few movies with me to watch on my kid’s portable dual screen DVD player. We decided upon the movie Old School starring Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn. We soon had 10-12 people watching the movie with us, which was cool. It was pretty funny to look around and not see anyone eating popcorn or drinking out of mega 58 ounce jumbo jugs, but to see people with shaved legs sucking on Cliff Shots.
For me lights out was at 10:45pm, 5:15am was going to come very early. It was colder than it should have been for late August in New Hampshire, the temperature dropped to just above 40 degrees. Good thing I brought two comforters. The thoughtful and devious race director decided to set off a car alarm to ensure that everyone was up and ready for the mandatory rider meeting at 6:15am. I was up at 5:00am filling water bottles, packing my drop bags for the fuel stops along the course, and taping Hammer Gels to any open space along the top tube of my bike.
At 5:30am and only 54 degrees outside, I shuffled the 200 feet to the start line and enjoyed a breakfast of 4 Hammer Gels, 4 Endurolyte Capsules, 1 bagel with peanut butter, and 2 Power Crunch Bars. The rider meeting started promptly at 6:15am and the main themes were to stay on the course, be respectful to the over 60 miles of private land we were soon to ride over, up, and down on, and in Forest Gump style, "Don’t do anything stupid like getting yourself killed. " Gerry leaned over to me and said in a perfect Forest Gump impersonation, "I hope I don't let him down." Too funny. Immediately after the meeting, the organizers started staging the riders. There were 23 waves and each minute a new wave was started. The first wave of riders was promptly started at 6:45am. I was assigned to wave 13. My friend Gerry was assigned to wave 11. My wave started at exactly 6:58am. I remember feeling cold in my short sleeve shirt and wondering if I should have worn my arm warmers for the first few miles. I soon realized I wasn’t going to need arm warmers.
The first 5 miles were pretty flat and open and it was difficult to ‘stay back’. This section of the course consisted of an old railroad bed and class 5 & 6 dirt roads. It was wide open and screaming for speed, but I did not take the bait, I settled into a nice high cadence slowing warming up for the long day ahead. There wasn’t much passing at this point, people were still in packs of 3-6, nervously talking about what horrors we would soon face.
Somewhere around mile 6, we headed into some MTB specific single-track. I was excited that I caught up with my buddy Gerry. I had some trouble at first getting stuck behind some slower riders on the single-track, but figured out that if I just asked someone if I could pass, they would let me. It felt good to catch and pass some riders from earlier waves, but I decided to slow down to ensure that these same riders wouldn’t be passing me later in day. My goals at this point of the race were warm up and conserve energy. There were a few challenging hills before the first fuel stop at mile 10, but it was early in the race and everyone should have been strong at this point. I stopped quickly at Fuel Station #1 to refill one bottle and grab a few M&M’s.
What followed after mile 10 was pure MTB hell. We started an extended muddy technical climb that required concentration, balance, and power. All riders who made it to the top of the first sustained climb were entertained by a Fiddler!!!!!! Not sure of the tune being played, but it was a nice distraction. After that, there was more single-track, then some double track, and some dirt roads, some of it technical, most of it muddy…it’s fuzzy.
I finally made it to the Fuel Station #2 (18 mile mark) and I was in need of some restocking. To this point, I had sucked down almost 60 ounces of water, 1 bottle of Heed, 1 bottle of Perpertuem, 10 Endurolyte Capsules, and 5 Hammer Gels. I actually got off my bike and stretched for a minute while the wonderful volunteers refilled my Camelback and bottles.
From mile 18 to mile 25, the racers were entertained by mud bogs, horrendous climbs, ultra technical bench-cut single-track, and a 1 mile section under a set of power lines that was more hike-a-bike than ride-a-bike. It seemed to me at this stage of the race that the course was reaching up and attempting to slap the confidence out of the riders. The course seemed to be announcing that anyone can ride technical single-track for a few hours, but wanted to know how many of us could stay on track for 8+ hours?
The mud bogs were starting to take a toll on my legs by mile 27. Now when I say mud bogs, I do not mean nice 2-3 inch patches of mud you can go flying through, these were 1-2 foot deep sections of tire sucking mud with no bailout points. Most of the mud bogs encountered were an average of 15 feet in length. At this point in the race, the racers were completely spread out, occasionally if you crested a peak, you could look ahead or behind and see a sole competitor somewhere on the course, but for the most part, we were all alone fighting our own demons. The temperature was slowly creeping up as the morning wore on, at first I thought I was sweating so much because of all the climbing, but I heard a volunteer yell at one of the crossings that is was now over 81 degrees and we should all adjust our fluid intake.
I soon made it to Fuel Station #3 which was a drop station for our self packed bags. I ditched my bike, quickly found my bag and stuffed my pockets with more Hammer Gels, Hammer Bars, and Endurolytes. The volunteers once again refilled my Camelback and bottles and I was on the trails again. Shortly after Fuel Station #3 the real climbing started. This climb was a couple of miles long and just when you started to get tired, it got steeper. This climb was also exposed to the blazing sun. I finally gave in to the climb and hike-a-bike part duex started, I joined a conga line of hikers and we huffed it the final 600 meters to the top. At the top there was no rest for the weary, only the agony of a long technical decent awaited. This decent was long, narrow, and rocky. There wasn’t one section of this downhill you could relax; at least different muscles were now being battered.
We were actually rewarded at the bottom of the downhill with a pancake flat 3 mile section. The only problem was that this section was a sandy dirt road, which meant a higher gear and higher cadence was needed. I remember this section fondly because my legs started to cramp. I remember screaming out loud that "I'm not even at the half way point yet". I didn’t panic, but I did stop and reference my fluid/bodymass/exertion chart. I realized that up to this point in the race, I did not have to make a ‘pit-stop’ and I was probably dehydrated. While on the side of the road, I sucked down 24 ounces of electrolyte replacement and broke open 3 Endurolytes and sublingually ingested them (Hammer Nutrition Tech Tip). Within two minutes my cramping was gone and I was back on the road. I was soon climbing again and feeling OK. I ended up catching an older gentleman at the top of the climb and I asked him if he wanted me to lead the way down (like I knew where we were going). He said he knew the course and I could follow him. I was surprised at our speed; it was so nice to finally ride with someone and was a lot less boring than riding alone. We were just about at the bottom of the huge decent when the gentlemen starting doing cartwheels right in front of me. It looked like he wasn’t able to clear a washout and went over the bars headfirst. I immediately jumped of my bike to help and after a quick trauma assessment, determined that his racing day was over. He probably had a broken ankle and broken tib/fib. He also complained of hip pain. I looked around for log to splint his leg with and soon found one. I asked if he had any spare tubes, and he did. So right there on the side of the trail, I splinted his entire left leg with a log and three inner tubes. By the way, I did use his inner tubes (inside joke, I did not want to get DQ’d for lending equipment to others).
In total I spent 26 minutes with this injured racer. I wondered to myself if I could apply for EMS credits. The man did not complain of back or neck pain and wanted me to ride on. The next manned intersection was only 1 mile away and I raced there to inform the course marshal that medical attention was needed.
I will not continue to bore you with sentence after sentence about how steep, rocky, muddy, and technical the course was, but the rest of the course was steep, rocky, muddy and technical. My cramps eventually disappeared as did my power. I never bonked. I finally had to pit-stop at mile 45. I made it up the final 6 mile climb at mile 51 and somehow held on to make it back down Crotched Mountain. In the end, I somehow avoided the MTB version of the Death March.
Thinking back I did actually enjoy a few moments and sections of this course. It was difficult to do so during the race. The river crossing that I rode thru will always stay with me. I was riding in chest deep water cursing myself for not having a snorkel just in case the water got 6 inches deeper.
There was an absolutely epic 2 mile section of smooth, mud free single-track that has to rank up there as one of the best sections of trail I have ever had the privilege of riding. I eventually finished in just over 9 hours and 23 minutes. I was pleased with my first off-road endurance event and was stoked to find out that I placed 1st overall in my class and 1st overall in my age group.
Highlights:
1. Absolutely the most scenic course ever!!!!!!!
2. Great day mechanically, no equipment malfunctions or flats
3. Riding through a chest deep river (approx 60 feet).
4. Finishing 1st overall in my class and age division and bringing home a sweet set of wind chimes that are shaped like bicycle sprockets (quite possible the coolest award ever).
5. The volunteers (Saints) and well stocked Fuel Stops.
Lowlights
1. 84 degree day
2. Being on my bike for 9 hours 23 minutes.
3. Having to stop for 28 minutes to splint a competitor's leg with a log and spare inner tubes (Race Officials wanted to adjust my time, but I didn't care, the poor guy had a broken ankle, and leg, I needed a rest at that point also).
4. The 100's of mud pits being un-ride-able and many waist deep
5. My legs starting to cramp at mile 43. Way too early.
6. Ingesting over 300 ounces of water, 200 ounces of electrolyte replacement, 20 Fig Newtons, 40 Enduralyte capsules, 20 gels, and assorted other m&m's, cookies, all the while still losing 7 pounds of weight after the race.
7. Having to bargain with myself after mile 50 to take in nutrition...........Sample script “If I just have one more gel, I won't have to have another Fig Newton for 3 more miles”...the horror.
What did I take away from this experience?
1. Training in the Groton State Forest will not prepare you for the 8000+ feet of climbing in this race, no matter how much you train
2. As long as you ride for 9 ½ hours, you can eat and drink like a Viking and still lose almost 8 pounds.
3. That leaving for vacation immediately after the race and having to chase my little guys around StoryLand and through the Polar Caves in not the ideal way to recover.
4. Do not try to hop over logs or navigate a rock garden with completely zapped of power. Late in race, riding over a 8 inch log was a MAJOR challenge.
Fuel Intake:
300 ounces of water
180 ounces of Hammer Nutrition Heed Electrolyte Replacement
72 ounces of Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem Carbohydrate Mix
20 Hammer Gel Packs (Plain/Vanilla/Rasberry/Chocolate)
38 Hammer Nutrition Endurolyte Capsules
2 Hammer Nutrition Bars
10 Fig Newton 4-packs
4 Uncrustables PB&J sandwiches
10 Special Recipe Endurance Treats
countless other snacks such as M&M’s, cookies, and potato chips
What did I take away from this?
1. Try to enjoy the moment, even the painful ones. I realized the painful moments are crucial for our personal breakthroughs and accomplishments, without them, the accomplishments don’t seem that important. Weird concept. In the days following the race as my all over body pain started to decrease, I started to realize how much I enjoyed this race. During the race, especially after mile 51, my body, mind, and that little voice that pops up from time to time asking us. “Why are you doing this?” wanted out. Looking back, I wish I could have enjoyed each moment…….ah, maybe I was better off to want out and grind on in spite of pain.
2. Another checkmark on the long list of Life Accomplishments
3. Realizing how much I LOVE running
4. Realizing I need to research the process of nominating someone for Sainthood. There was a homeowner at one of the road crossings offering to wash down riders and their bikes with a simple, but effective garden hose, soon after having to push our bikes through an approximately 40 foot long 3 foot deep mud pit and climb 400 feet in 1 mile. This MVV (Most Valuable Volunteer) was also offering to fill any empty water bottles.
The Payoff:
The sense of satisfaction? Nah.
The sense of accomplishment? Nah
Coming in 1st Place and bringing home the coolest set of wind chimes ever created? Nah
Finishing my first off-road endurance event and wanting to sign up ASAP for the next one? Nah
The Ultimate Payoff has been hanging my ‘award’ in front of my house and whenever my neighbors hear the sweet, relaxing, harmonious sounds of my wind chimes they know that “I’m The Man”. A few neighbors have yelled over and asked that I turn off the fan pointed at the wind chimes
Respectfully Submitted,
Anthony Mavilia- Jamis Bikes, Hammer Nutrition
No comments:
Post a Comment