2010 TSE - Day Five
I was up all night after our day at Raystown. Back and forth to the bathroom. None of the food or drink I put down would stay down. This was my problem the week before the Translyvania Epic. This was also a problem the day Dave and I were traveling to the event. It slowly went away with the help of some pro-biotic yogurt. Unfortunately I was out of pro-biotic yogurt and didn't have time to drive into State College to buy any.
Fortunately for me, Day five would be sort of a 'rest day'. The format for today is completely different than any other day in this event. It kind of reminded me of the 9 day stage race I did in India. We would ride casually, as a group, to the first timed section. Then there was a 5-10min sprint through this timed section. We'd all regroup and move onto the next sprint location as a group. Four total sprints for the day. As long as I stuck with Greg and Dicky then I'd be okay. Could I do that while trying to recover and get rid of whatever was in me?
Peter brought his dancing pants.
I felt O.K. at the start. The first timed leg was long. There were mixed talk about whether us singlespeeders should go hard or just 'ride' and take it easy today. Once we stared I think that all kind of got thrown out the window. Or was it me that threw it out the window?
1st 'mini XC':
Greg was off the front. I was somewhere behind him and Dicky behind me. Dicky managed to pass me as a tree branch wedged itself through my rear wheel taking me to a stand-still.
he said as he passed me. I quickly removed the tree branch and went off after him. Passed him right as the trail was turning very rocky and going downhill. Greg went on to take 1st SS, myself 2nd and Dicky third.
2nd 'mini XC':
Mass start down a gravel road to a right turn pile-up onto singletrack. Greg somehow got into the singletrack before us and Dicky and I squeezed in right infront of the tandem. I managed to get in ahead of him and cruised this rocky singletrack right on Karen Potter's wheel. Greg took 1st SS, myself 2nd and Dicky third.
LUNCH.
We had a nice casual lunch and then a nice casual ride to the start of the 3rd leg.
3rd 'mini XC':
The start was uphill on a grassy jeep trail. I felt really good when we started so I took off. Everyone's riding the two tire paths so I went up the middle. Made it to the top where the trail crested with Mark Weir and the WTB guys right next to me and the top leaders off the front of us. The WTB guys took off and I did my best to stay somewhat near them.
Right turn onto a dried up creekbed. Rocks galore. Huge rocks too. more like boulders. Somehow I was able to stay off the saddle and keep on pedaling and rode right through them. Caught up to a bunch of 26inch wheeled guys and passed them. The trail then smoothed out and eventually crossed a running creek.
I felt good going through the creek but did not fare too well whilst exiting the other side. Flat rear tire. I rode it as much as I could hoping the Stan's would seal it up. No dice. Then I saw the cones on the trail marking something like 100m left to go. Screw it. I'm winning the singlespeed field for this leg, albeit insignificant for the overall, so I'll keep going. I rode the bike to the finish on the rim. Greg passed me within a bike length before the finish. Damn. Almost.
Abe got a good photo of Dicky rolling through the creek.
Quickly changed my flat with the cyclocross tube I had and realized I also had a broken spoke. Guess that was from the tree branch on leg 1.
4th 'mini XC':
Not wanting to flat a second time I took it easy on this one. Lots of rocky singletrack again. It took us back down towards the parking lot. Greg and Dicky went ahead of me and I did my best to not flat. Wish I could have ridden this leg faster for it was a lot of fun but I did my best damage control. It worked.
Somewhere far ahead of us Mark Weir gapped the road that we had to cross. Insane!
We finished up the day with some food and then piled back in the car and made our way to the campground.
No change to the overall today (Greg 1st, myself 2nd and Dicky 3rd) except Dicky, once again, stood on the podium all by his lonesome.
I actually felt good during the day and the format for the day allowed me to recover well. My sights were set on stage 6 seeing as it was going to be another rocky day like stage 2. The evening was okay on my internals. I actually slept this evening.
What did Dicky think about today?
Fortunately for me, Day five would be sort of a 'rest day'. The format for today is completely different than any other day in this event. It kind of reminded me of the 9 day stage race I did in India. We would ride casually, as a group, to the first timed section. Then there was a 5-10min sprint through this timed section. We'd all regroup and move onto the next sprint location as a group. Four total sprints for the day. As long as I stuck with Greg and Dicky then I'd be okay. Could I do that while trying to recover and get rid of whatever was in me?
Peter brought his dancing pants.
Photo: A.E. Landes Photography
Photo: A.E. Landes Photography
Photo: A.E. Landes Photography
I felt O.K. at the start. The first timed leg was long. There were mixed talk about whether us singlespeeders should go hard or just 'ride' and take it easy today. Once we stared I think that all kind of got thrown out the window. Or was it me that threw it out the window?
1st 'mini XC':
Greg was off the front. I was somewhere behind him and Dicky behind me. Dicky managed to pass me as a tree branch wedged itself through my rear wheel taking me to a stand-still.
"VICTORY"
he said as he passed me. I quickly removed the tree branch and went off after him. Passed him right as the trail was turning very rocky and going downhill. Greg went on to take 1st SS, myself 2nd and Dicky third.
2nd 'mini XC':
Mass start down a gravel road to a right turn pile-up onto singletrack. Greg somehow got into the singletrack before us and Dicky and I squeezed in right infront of the tandem. I managed to get in ahead of him and cruised this rocky singletrack right on Karen Potter's wheel. Greg took 1st SS, myself 2nd and Dicky third.
LUNCH.
Photo: A.E. Landes Photography
We had a nice casual lunch and then a nice casual ride to the start of the 3rd leg.
3rd 'mini XC':
The start was uphill on a grassy jeep trail. I felt really good when we started so I took off. Everyone's riding the two tire paths so I went up the middle. Made it to the top where the trail crested with Mark Weir and the WTB guys right next to me and the top leaders off the front of us. The WTB guys took off and I did my best to stay somewhat near them.
Right turn onto a dried up creekbed. Rocks galore. Huge rocks too. more like boulders. Somehow I was able to stay off the saddle and keep on pedaling and rode right through them. Caught up to a bunch of 26inch wheeled guys and passed them. The trail then smoothed out and eventually crossed a running creek.
Photo: A.E. Landes Photography
I felt good going through the creek but did not fare too well whilst exiting the other side. Flat rear tire. I rode it as much as I could hoping the Stan's would seal it up. No dice. Then I saw the cones on the trail marking something like 100m left to go. Screw it. I'm winning the singlespeed field for this leg, albeit insignificant for the overall, so I'll keep going. I rode the bike to the finish on the rim. Greg passed me within a bike length before the finish. Damn. Almost.
Abe got a good photo of Dicky rolling through the creek.
Quickly changed my flat with the cyclocross tube I had and realized I also had a broken spoke. Guess that was from the tree branch on leg 1.
4th 'mini XC':
Not wanting to flat a second time I took it easy on this one. Lots of rocky singletrack again. It took us back down towards the parking lot. Greg and Dicky went ahead of me and I did my best to not flat. Wish I could have ridden this leg faster for it was a lot of fun but I did my best damage control. It worked.
Somewhere far ahead of us Mark Weir gapped the road that we had to cross. Insane!
Photo from WTB FaceBook page
We finished up the day with some food and then piled back in the car and made our way to the campground.
No change to the overall today (Greg 1st, myself 2nd and Dicky 3rd) except Dicky, once again, stood on the podium all by his lonesome.
I actually felt good during the day and the format for the day allowed me to recover well. My sights were set on stage 6 seeing as it was going to be another rocky day like stage 2. The evening was okay on my internals. I actually slept this evening.
What did Dicky think about today?
What did Buffalo Bill think about today?
posted by dougyfresh at 6:05 PM
1 Comments:
Great poost thank you
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