Raingnarok

Another long post. If you don't want to read the whole thing here is the recap so you can just scroll through and look at the pretty pictures (none of which are my pictures FYI). I did a really wet and muddy gravel bike race that included lightning and big hills, dropped out early to get to a wedding, did in fact get to the wedding (just) in time, and had a merry evening eating, drinking, and dancing with friends and family.

Well, if you read my last post you heard my plan for the weekend. Like any good plan that I make there is always a hiccup or two. The first one this weekend is not being able to get someone to shuttle my car from the start line to Lake City, where I planned to drop out. On to plan B - park at the drop out point and bike to the start. I was not a huge fan of this plan because it means getting up extra early and biking in the dark and probably rain, as well as having no dry vehicle to camp out in until the race starts. The competitor in me says this is a bad idea, not ideal race prep at all. The adventurer in me says why not, I'm not finishing anyway, and it would be a more legit day if I at least get a century in. I was briefly tempted to ride the course from the second checkpoint to the finish, but my desire to sleep in a bit later won out and I opted to take the more direct paved route to the start up HWY 61 instead.

Lake City, where the days adventure begins

So I set the alarm for 4:30 and packed all my bags and laid out clothes the night before so all I would have to do is get dressed, grab my stuff, and go in the morning; no thinking required. It was only lightly misting when I got to Lake City, and it didn't feel all that cold, so I was hopeful that my clothing selection would be adequate. My modified a garbage bag rain vest and U of M ski racing spandex that got some comments from riders in their nice rain gear at the start line, but my gear mostly did the trick.
I got checked in caught up with the other Northfield riders Dave, Bruce, Joe, and Paul, who were getting ready to go as the rain continued to intensify. The race rolled out and the gravel was in surprisingly good shape as long as you picked the right line. A lead pack of about 15 riders split within a couple miles, and I settled in to the first chase pack. After the first grinding climb up the pace was quite reasonable, and the weather continued to deteriorate. When we got to the top of Hill Valley Road is when we saw the first lightning bolts a few miles away. The peal of thunder would occasionally drown out the sound of wet wheels rolling through softening gravel. By the time we reached the top of the Weibusch Hill climb the lightning was quite a bit closer, with the thunder often sounding almost on top of the lightning strike, and the bolts were very visible along the horizon. The light show was nice, but I was glad to drop back down into the valley.

It looked kind of like this, but with a lot more rain

My pack missed the turn for the first MMR, but caught on almost right away and started up the Grosse Point Climb. I had to dismount briefly near the top and run a few strides when my wheel slipped out on some wet leaves, but didn't lose any time on my pack. The next MMR, nicknamed Scary Farm, I rode the whole hill, but had to get off and hike a few hundred meters through a snowfield at the top.

Scary Farm climb, you can just see the snow at the top

There were long stretches into the wind on the way to the first checkpoint at Zumbro falls, and I was getting progressively colder as we kept going. By the time we got to the check point I was shivering and could make a fist and watch the water pour out of my gloves, but it was good to see Jake's smiling face and get out of the rain for a minute or two. I managed to choke down some food and hop back on my bike just behind Bruce Anderson. I caught up to him and we rode together for the next 20 miles or so. The rain had stopped, and my spirits were increasing, even as my legs were feeling more and more depleted. At the base of every hill Bruce would tell me he was slowing down and letting me go, but at the top of the hill there he was, still right on my wheel. Eventually I had to stop and pee, and he got away from me, never to be seen again. My legs were feeling quite heavy and I couldn't tell if my stomach was hungry or upset at this point, and for a while I was worried about holding food down if I tried to eat, but finally decided to give it a try, and the shot of energy was just what I needed to break out of my bonk a bit.
Shortly after parting ways with Bruce the race went through the Zumbro River bottoms. The Zumbro 100 ultramarathon was going on and it was great fun to share a trail with some pretty crazy runners for a bit. It made me glad to be on a bike though. The Zumbro midnight 50 was the other race I was considering this weekend, but biking 100 miles starting at 6 AM sounded more fun than running 50 miles starting at midnight. There were a lot of runners sporting plastic bag raincoats similar to my own however, so I did feel a nice sense of camaraderie with these folks and I cheered for every one of them that I went by.

Part of the path we shared with the Zumbro trail runners

I knew there were 10 major climbs between the start and Lake City, so I was counting down every time I made it up one of them, so I knew coming out of the Zumbro bottoms was my last major climb which gave me the gusto I needed to make it up. I thought I saw another rider in a yellow jacket close behind me when I started the climb, but he was nowhere in sight when I got to the top, so I thought maybe I was starting to hallucinate phantom riders, maybe not a good sign. After another 15 miles or so I started to get hungry again, and with 12 miles still to cover I figured eating would a good plan. While I was was fishing my Clif bar out of it's protective plastic bag in my back pocket the phantom rider in the yellow coat went by me. Not a figment of my oxygen starved imagination after all, whew!
I rolled into the next checkpoint at 83.5 miles and officially dropped out of the race. I took a circuitous route back to my car to put in the last couple miles I needed to make sure I got over the 100 mile mark for the day. My total time was 6:13:37, a bit over my 6 hour goal, which meant not enough time to get home and shower before the wedding. According to my GPS my average pace was 13.9 mph, pretty darn close to my target of 14 mph to make the timing work out right, so I'm counting that as a success.

I didn't get a picture of myself when I finished, but I probably looked a lot like this, but more wet.

I called a friend who was on my route to see if I could stop and shower at his place, but he wasn't around, so car shower it was. I brought a couple extra water bottles and a towel with just in case. I was able to remove the worst of the sweat and dirt from the race and slap on some deodorant and a tie before heading in to the ceremony with a good 3-4 minutes to spare.

Lisa and Sam Pertz - Congratulations you two!

The wedding was a fun time. There were a lot of Amery people there, and many of the guys and gals I ran with in high school. Also a lot of camp Wapo folks who I have gotten to know throughout the years either from hanging out at camp or through other random channels. I met Nate's sister Kristen, who was a camp worker who I guess I just never crossed paths with before, or at least not since meeting Nate for sure. Dancing proved to be even more of a struggle than usual for me with 100 miles on my legs for the day, and I was feeling a bit tipsy halfway through my first glass of wine, but getting some more food in my stomach helped out immensely. I have really amazing friends, and when I get to see so many of them at the same time it is always a great occasion for me. Kinda makes me want to throw my own wedding party someday, but that isn't happening anytime soon. A fact my parents made sure to remind me of at the reception.
I was tired enough on Sunday that I dodged Nate's invitation to go running. My short bike ride to church and back was plenty for the day, but running felt great today, and Grandma's marathon keeps getting closer, so it's time to start taking running a bit more seriously now that my big biking challenge for the spring is behind me.