Afton

Brutal. 2 hours, 11 minutes of suffering. Prologue ran us through a rim-deep bog (see 1st photo above), which bunched everyone back together right before the singletrack. Of course that meant a big traffic jam. After getting out of that mess I gave it some gas to try to get in a good position for the Bridge Loop climb, where there are always people getting caught in the wrong gear and stalling out right in front of you. Gave it some more gas up the Shady Lane climb, passing some people and tried to settle into a rhythm. Made it through the technical sections and was feeling okay. The sun came out just in time for the Manhandler/Whistler climb, and I cooked. The last technical loop was cut out because of the rain, so there was a big bomber downhill instead, leading to the start/finish. 2nd lap I was just trying to maintain my position and not blow up. All the short technical climbs were wearing me down. 3rd lap I was dying. Running out of gas and the legs were on the verge of cramping and total shutdown. Played leapfrog the entire lap with rockstar singlespeeder Ben. Don't know how the hell you can ride Afton with one gear. I granny geared Shady and Manhandler, not sure if my legs were going to function in the middle-ring. Popped it in the middle for Whistler and passed 2-3 guys, putting a nice little gap on them. Gave it what little I had left and rolled into the finish. My left leg totally cramped when I stopped to take off my timing chip (still cramping this morning). Tough race. Loving my bike more and more each time I ride it. New tires did quite well in the grease. 4th place in my age group, 21st overall.

Had our team pot luck: burgers, brats, beer. It was great to see a lot of people still hanging out at the end of the comp/expert race. This is why I joined PCR: bad-ass riders who have as much fun suffering on the bike as they do hanging out together off the bike.

Photos courtesy of Skinnyski.com