Houston Grand Criterium

How Grand

The Coldspring Road Race left Catie and I waiting for what seemed like 4 hours (in all reality it was probably closer to two hours) for results/payout. In the hot sun. We eventually made our way to Houston and devoured the best sandwich of my life in Rice Town at Local. Then with full bellies, we checked into the DoubleTree hotel where Kim joined us! It has been a LONG time since the three of us had been together so after catching up we headed to the BRC (Big Red Cock) for dinner.

Dinner at BRC Kim, me, Catie 

We made it back to the hotel in time to watch the Spurs lose their final game. :-(  It was about that time that my allergies started to flare up. My runny nose quickly turned into a clogged and runny nose - the kind where you shove a tissue up each nostril and don't care who points and laughs. I searched my bags for Benadryl but no luck. I had only an emergency Zyrtec. No relief. Ugh!!! The three of us get to share one king size bed since no one wanted the nasty fold out couch mattress. However, we deployed the mattress in the corner of the room just incase an exile was warranted.

We were such a mess: Catie was snoring louder than a lumber jack and I was sniffling and covered in snotty tissues, and Kim has trouble sleeping with all of her ankle pain. Kim found a nice White Noise App on her phone to drown out the snoring and nursed me through the night. By 8am we were all up and my face was swollen and my nose was red and raw. It was now that Catie offered up the beautiful pink Benadryl pill I had dreamed of ALL night. It reminded me of dumb and dumber when Harry offers up his extra gloves at the end of a freezing ride.

"You had these gloves the whole time!?!?"

But I was desperate and too grateful to bring that up or get mad.  The next few hours we went through the normal pre-race routine of checking out and eating breakfast, etc.

RCM was extra lucky that Ken provided the sprinter van for the team gathering place. Seven RCM ladies were registered for the open race and loaded into the van for the team meeting. Kim laid out the plan; she has been an essential tool in our strategy and success at the end of the races. We had the finishing plan, the order of the lead out train and the location on the course when it would happen. We all dispersed to finish our own pre race routines (warming up, stretching, other shenanigans)

Kim gathering the heard.

Ready, Steady, GO! Kriten-Kirsten, Kate, Ash, Rhe, Nadia, Leila and I take off. No time for lolly gagging, Meredith takes off, pushing our heart rates to the red line.
 Most of the next 45ish minutes are a blur. There are different attacks but nothing will stick. There was a stud from Columbia who races for Dallas Racing and has been doing well on the national circuit who snagged all the merchandise primes. Us RCM girls stayed active and very present in the front of the race. We seemed to be marking our target girls well. Rhe, Nadia, and Leila were sacrificing themselves, covering some attacks and we tried to counter a few.

The time ticked on and lap cards started to show up. Five laps to go! Wait, wasn't there a big cash prime still left to give out?!
The race is almost over. Three to go and the bell rings. $900 prime on the line. We had discussed our finish but not really gotten much into a definite plan for the prime. I decided to stand by and go for it if possible. We came around the wide turn and just under the bridge (~250M) the pace increased. I went for it - as hard as I could go. No one was next to me. For a brief second I thought it was ours! But then I saw Columbia out of the corner of my eye zip past me to pip me for the $900. Frick! Her cadence was twice what mine was and I left her a nice little ally protected from the wind to come around me. I didn't believe that I did until the video provided as evidence (still stinging a week later). But couldn't cry over it, I had to recover for the lead out. I started to get nervous because the pack was tight and there didn't seem to be much moving around. Kate, being the savy pro that she is, appeared in front of me like a magic trick. And Kirsten behind me. Ash was boxed in further back and still winded from sprinting for the prime also. We were at a half lap and lined up three deep. Kate took us! She jumped before the double turn and we hit the straight away. She carried us to her drop point but I yelled for her to keep going. "FASTER!!!!" I yelled. She said she was sprinting. I wasn't quite ready to go around but hoped my legs wouldn't fail. I went around her just past the bridge and heard Kirsten tell me she was there. YES! I was hugging the right side of the road and opened up enough to let Kirsten around.

The Lead out. KATE, me, KRITEN!

 She went at the perfect time and no one could come around! Perfect execution! I could hear Kim at the finish line screaming. FLAWLESS! The #hitsquad were the stars of the day. Perfect team work.

Kate, Nadia, Kim, Rhe, Leila, Ash, me, Kirsten
RCM Racing #hitsquad,  +1 extra Catie girl
Best team ever

Fort Hood State Road Race (Skill Based)

Try to find the silver lining when you do not find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.

Competitors get nervous before a race, it is normal. Greg Lemond use to get so nervous before an event that he would vomit. Mostly I just end up with repeat visits to the restroom but today it was worse. I was in tears, curled up on the bed, wondering why I do this to myself. Because I LOVE it! I love racing, I love riding, I love competing. I just get pre race jitters, and this was a State Championship road race with 3500 feet of climbing (I am not one of those skinny climbing mountain goats). There is a big payout and some very fast ladies preregistered.

Fort Hood military base. Got to see all kinds of cool stuff...

The night before I had received an email from a veteran racer in San Antonio, whom I have a great deal of respect for, that gave me something to think about. He suggested that I take off from the gun and hope the girls will stare at me dumbfounded and not chase until it was too late. Since I am a good solo rider and not as great on climbs or flusters of bursty attacks I thought it just might work. A Gamble, a roll of the dice. I discuss this plan with Kim and Kate. We decide we have nothing to loose.

Getting ready

LOST &  FOUND

At the start line it is hot and all the big players are present- except for Kat Hunter who was sitting out because she had been sick all week. We were lucky to snag Doug and Beau to feed us halfway through. I didn't enjoy racing with an extra water bottle in my jersey pocket at HHH, it rubbed my spine raw.  Today's race is 66 miles, a two lap race. As soon as the official blew the whistle I took off. Lauren was immediately on my wheel. Mandy toted the herd up to us about a mile into the race. WE were ALL together. The gamble did not work. Crap. Plan B: conserve as many "matches" as possible. Do not put my nose in the wind. Follow Lauren. We shortly arrive at the first monster hill where a small group of 6-ish grabs a gap. The downhill is forgiving and we all regroup. Phew.  We stay together until the next significant hill where I am sitting on Lauren's wheel and helplessly watch a small gap grow between her back wheel and my front wheel. It grows from 1 inch to 7. Then a foot, then a bike length. I turn myself inside out but cannot do much as I watch a small group of 4 crest the hill, just out of reach. Lauren, Mandy, Meredith, and Sammie. They remained in sight for some time while 5 of us organized a chase group. Kate and I were both there. The moto official would give us time checks every once and a while, and it was continually growing. Half way through the lead group was at 4 minutes ahead but Sammie had fallen off. The boys successfully got Kate, Sarah, and me fed but failed to collect our discharged water bottles. Kate would not be amused with this because her water bottles must come in a set of two. This meant she would have an orphan camel bak bottle if her discharged bottle was not found and collected. Tragedy averted though, as I was able to locate the lost bottle on Sunday morning. :-)

My feet were on fire! We still have another lap?!?! This is bullshit. I must suck it up because all I have to do now is finish to collect my freakin $50 payout. We all seem to be in somewhat the same boat so we trudge on. After the first big hill on lap two we see Sammie and collect her. So 3 remain up the road, their gap still growing, and we now have 6 in the chase group (2 RCM, 2 ATC, 2 randoms). There are no attacks until the last mile. Typical race slows and we look at each other, waiting for someone else to lead out. Kate attacks with Solymar practically licking her back wheel. The speed is up  and as soon as we catch those two I go and Solymar quickly attaches herself to me with Sammie also in tow. We have a gap on the other three and I know I cannot hold it to the line (we are still just under 1k),  I also don't want to regroup, so I try to shake them off and am unsuccessful. They come around me and I am a sitting duck. Sammie takes the sprint for 4th and I get 6th. Kate is right behind me for 7th. Kim is there at the finish line with a big smile, looking all cute. She worked plan A with us at the beginning and called it at one lap to have a little for the Age RR Sunday.

Kate and I collected some $$ and a little satisfaction for tackling a hard course. Kim was circling around in the parking lot on her bike in her favorite green wedges. The parking lot was soft dirt, and her front wheel turned causing her to have to catch herself so she wouldn't hit the deck. In doing this, her foot slid off the pedal and the teeth on her big ring carved up her heel! OUCH!!!! YCMTSU! I love you Kim!

"…but these are my favorite…"

HHH Sunday Crit

After the RR yesterday, we were so tired that we got lost on the spin back to the hotel and added an extra 10 miles onto our ride. It was HOT! Then we had to shower and go to the mandatory awards ceremony for pictures. It felt like we were there forever. Once back at our lovely HoJo hotel we were able to put our feet up and recover.

Guess who's feet are who's 

Sunday morning came quick and we began to pack and get ready for the last day of racing. Kate and Kim spent some time figuring out the points situation for the omnium while my nervous stomach spent some time in the bathroom. LOVE my teammates! They figured out that in order for us to win overall omnium, I had to finish right behind Christina (assuming she wins the crit) and collect some hot spot points. So the goal of the race was for me to mark Christina. I am not good at marking people but promised Kim I would do my absolute best. At the starting line I messed with Christina a little mentally, letting her know that I was aware of the points and she was going to have to do a lot of work. From the gun she tried to get away and I was with her.  I thought I was with her but my lovely Kim was right next to me "reminding me" by sternly saying "ONE INCH". This meant my front wheel needed to be almost attached to Christina's rear wheel. I was letting a little more space than one inch apparently. This continued on, lap after lap, for a while. Like a parrot, "One inch, one inch, ONE INCH, NOT SEVEN!" UGH!!!!! The only way to quiet the stern reminders was to shove my nose up her ass!~ :-O

Kim would remind me when I was not marking properly… ;-)

Christina just has such a snappy jump and it takes me a short while to work back up to her. But I wasn't letting her get away. Kate flatted just before the hot spot lap and was rolling out of the pit when the bell rang. HOT SPOT! Christina went and I stayed right with her. We got a gap on the field but she sat up, knowing that if me and her got away, I would certainly win the omnium. The pack caught us. She saw me reach for my water and she attacked again. I caught her. Kim and Kate were controlling the race and I was focused on marking….my job. I don't want to let them down. Kim was feeling good and attacked.

Kate out of the pit after her wheel change

Kim attacking the field

One to go. Christina attacked and I clung to her wheel. Tried to come around at the line but rolled across after her. She won the crit, but we won the omnium! WooHoo!!!

RCM with the Omnium Win!

And then we acquired some extra feet for the drive home...

HHH Road Race

RCM is wearing the leader's jersey, pressure is on! Kim, Kate and I had decided to be active but not stupid and my role was to behave myself and not attack during the first half and try for hot spot points. There are two hot spots in the 63 mile race; one around mile 20 and another around mile 40.

After a night of 3 teammates sharing one bed and ice baths in the HoJo tub we were ready to race and rode over to the start line. We had no wheels in the wheel truck so our fingers were crossed that we don't get a flat. The start of the race goes smooth, as SoundPony girl is at the front setting a decent pace. That doesn't last too long and the pace slows as a typical Texas women's race. Slow, fast, coast, attack, coast, coast, and I watch our average speed sink below 20mph… I grow impatient and feel the urge to GO, but I hold it in and soon we approach the first hot spot sprint. No one knows exactly where it is, and it is not obviously marked so we start the mile long drag race in search for a painted line on the road. We see a moto official on the side of the road and assume that is the line. Christina takes it. Crap. I have spit strings flying from the corners of my mouth and my heart rate is in the clouds. I look back and see the single file line of ladies; faces all contorted in pain. All these ladies are strong. The pace eases again and then a few attacks pursue. If we weren't causing the attacks, we were sure shutting them down. NOTHING was getting away. The pace slowed again until the second hot spot came up. Again, it was unclear where the line was so Christina and I (both hungry for the points) went into a mile-long, lock-down, drag-out sprint. The side of the road was speckled with motos and officials. We did not know which one to sprint to. We got to the first one and Christina and I both threw our bikes for a non existent sprint line. We glanced at each other and I mumble "Was that it". She does not answer so I get back out of my saddle and go all out to the next roadside official. We throw our bikes again, but that is still not the correct hot spot. I am out of gas but give it one more effort to the last official and Christina collects the points one more time. Shoot!

 Now just need to make it to the finish line. Again, pace slows and everyone recovers. Around mile 50 we begin a fluster of attacks. Still nothing makes a break. I am running out of time. Before I know it I look down and see the 10K to go spray painted on the road. Gulp. I begin to panic and prepare for a sprint. 8K, 7K…5K. The pro men's leader flies by us. OH NO! The last thing I want is to get caught up in a sprint with the men's pro field. Another two boys fly by us. One has a pony tail. This could get confusing and messy. 2K to go. I find Kim and desperately ask if I should just go for it now, or should I wait for sprint? She responds with something like "Well if your gonna go, you better make it stick" I took that as permission. 1K to go and I am full blast out of the saddle. I look down and see a shadow. Is it a guy? Is it Christina? I force myself to look up the road. PAIN. I sit down at 500M to go and glance down to see a shadow still there so I get back out of the saddle and go again. Christina comes around and I finish just behind her for second place. Kate and Kim crossed the line with the pack, tired from covering and chasing and attacking. It felt so good to be part of such an active team! We still held on to the leader's jersey. Tomorrow is going to be a hard race.

Celina Snags the V for masters Women!

RR Christina 1st, Me 2nd, Solymar 3rd

HHH Friday Night Crit - #hitsquad #nailedit

Kim has gotten back from her trip! WaaHooooo! It seemed like she was gone for an eternity but it had only really been about a month. She informed me that her and Kate were interested in going to Wichita Falls for the Hotter n' Hell Stage race and a hotel room at the ever lovely Howard Johnson had been secured. It took her a little twisting of my arm before I would commit but was super excited when I did. 

Fitness chicks…Bro.

We met at Kate's house on Friday morning and decided to head up 281 with Kim behind the wheel. Smooth sailing despite Kim's suspicion of getting pulled over, claiming she was overdue for a ticket. During the drive we discussed all the possible strategies and scenarios that could unfold during the race.  Once in Wichita Falls, the convention center was packed full of excited cyclists ready for the Hotter ‘n Hell 100 ride. Kim, Kate, and I weaved in and out of the crowd in a hurry and made our way to packet pickup where we found out the crit start time was earlier than we though. FRICK!   We head out to locate our hotel which we find had been condemned. Turns out we were looking at the old address and the HoJo had moved up the road a few miles into an old Ramada Inn, right across from a stellar Fill and Chill convenient store. Classy! Well we were assured it was legit because there was a large banner outside that read out "Under New Management".   No time to play- we are on a time crunch now and I have to pee. So we check in to the hotel and I rush to the bathroom to find a hilarious site: an elongated toilet bowl with a shorty seat and cover. I almost peed my pants I was laughing so hard. Meanwhile, Kim and Kate are not debating who gets which bed because there is only one bed for all of us to share. Team bonding! So we are able to get ready with enough time to ride down to the course (getting a smidge lost) and pre ride the course. Man it was hot! Riding around, the wind was blowing hard and it felt like someone was holding a hair dryer inches from my face. We line up and I take a look around to see some fierce competition (Ginny, Christina, etc), and a big crowd of spectators has already formed. A presentation was given for Meagan Baab and I almost cried. It was really sad, she should be out here racing with us. Totally un-amped me for the race. But there was no choice, before we could recollect ourselves and refocus, the gun went off and we were racing.

Michelle, Solymar, and Kate

The gun went off and so did a girl from SoundPony. Everyone got in a line behind her as she motored on, unable to shake any of us. She eased off the pace and there was a fluster of small attacks, none of which materialized into anything. Kim, Kate and I  were working hard to cover everything and we even attacked some. I looked impatiently down at my Garmin and knew that soon we would be at the 10 laps to go mark, where the officials would ring a bell to declare the hot spot prime. This hot lap prime was very important because it was $100  cash and points for the overall omnium. Before I knew it, Hannah from MSU and Kate took off, attacking the field, opening a nice gap. The pack rolled through the start/finish and the officals rang the bell for that hot spot. YESSSSSS! Kate nabbed the prime from MSU!! Kate’s effort fatigued her and eventually caused her to fall off Hannah’s wheel so she came back to rejoin the pack. As soon as the pack caught Kate, Gwen (from Utah) attacked on the left and I shot up the right side and came around her. she jumped on my wheel and we took off around a corner. I pushed hard for a half lap then motioned for Gwen to come around to start helping. We took turns pulling for two laps and were close to catching Hannah (MSU). The announcer called out for another prime, this one was for a gift card from Richardson Bike Mart. Gwen and I caught Hannah on the backside and I accelerated past her and continued on to take the prime. I looked back to find that I was now alone with about 6 laps to go. It was hot. I was thirsty but afraid to drink. I didn’t want to get caught because I didn’t want to have to sprint against Christina and Ginny. So I pressed on as hard as I could. Kate and Kim were controlling the pack and not letting anything go up the road. With one lap to go I was able to enjoy the finish and raise my arms at the line. 

Market Racing crosses the line first!

I was so excited that our team strategy worked out beautifully. It was not an individual victory, but a team victory. Super excited! Love me some Kim and Kate! Market Racing!

Hannah (MSU), Jenny (Market Racing), Gwen (Utah)

Kate, Jenny, Kim after the race

Matching nail polish. #nailedit

Dirty Kanza 200

Pre Race

With an ironman just two weeks in my past, I find myself in another all day packing cluster. It was Wednesday and I was leaving tomorrow morning with Doug and Nathan for Emporia, Kansas to race the big DIRTY KANZA 200. This is a well known epic monster race that is 200 miles in the unsheltered flint hills (mountains) of Kansas. Packing shouldn’t be as bad though because there will be no swimming or running but I have to pack food and supplies for all kinds of conditions. There will be 3 checkpoints along the route to make sure no one is cutting the course. Every racer is instructed to have mandatory support since we will be in extreme isolation with no stores along the way. If you do not have a person that will be your support, you can pay extra for PavLoveGrub who will provide you with food and a ride if you decide to bail out. They will also take a care bag to each check point of personal stuff you provide them with the day before. So I am careful to ration out mini cliff bars, sour patch kids, and snack sized paydays, arm warmers, extra shoes and socks, a fresh kit (in case I crap myself), lights, vests, and rain jackets into 3 separate bags.

Thursday morning comes and we head out at 9am. The forecast looks dismal and I start thinking about how epic Saturday will be. Just as we pass through Austin Nathan realizes that he forgot his Platypus bladder and spends the next 30 minutes stressing out. So we reroute through Dallas so we can hit an REI that he knew of. After REI (which I was good and made no purchases) and a Chick-fil-a stop, we were back in business. Time flies by and we are in Oklahoma where the sky gets dark and the wind starts turning stuff sideways. We see a funnel form and storm chasers pulling off the side of the road. What should we do? Do we stop or do we continue? Which ones are the idiots? We decide to just press on, and drive right under it. We arrive in Emporia sometime around 9pm and stop to eat at a local pizza shop. After dinner we meet up with the Slauson family (Jim, Terri and Will) and learn that our Bed and Breakfast is HAUNTED!!! There was a portrait of a little girl and her eyes would follow people around. Freaky, but as long as there were not any roaches, I was fine. Slept good. 

Nathan at REI. Not even an hour on the road and he realizes he forgot something. :-)

Oklahoma Tornado Alley!

Moore tornado destruction

White Rose Bed & Breakfast, our haunted house for the weekend. One street over from the race start.

Terri reading the Safety Tips while sitting next to the portrait of the ghost girl.

Friday morning I woke up and everything was wet from a night of rain. Drat. We had breakfast waiting for us on the big rap-a-round porch. Doug was quietly displeased when he noticed green bell peppers in the egg casserole. I learned last night how he was traumatized as a kid, being forced to eat stuffed peppers. We ate then headed out to pre-ride the first bit of the course. It wasn’t wet at all! It was a nice, tightly packed, flat, gravel road. This was going to be easy! The rest of the day consisted of resting, picking up our race packets, dropping off our checkpoint bags and attending the pre-race meeting. The meeting was packed and had a cool video but I was a bit disappointed that I learned nothing new that would help me during the DK. Waste of time. So back to the haunted house where the Slauson crew fell asleep before the sunset. I knew it would be a sleepless night but I laid my kit and equipment out for the next day and crawled into bed.

Doug and Jim accidental matchy-matchy

Terri and me at breakfast

To fart or not to fart? Jim, Will, me, Doug

nice pre-ride

Jason, serious Doug, Nathan, Kevin, Will, Jim, and me ready to tear up some gravel

Found this artwork on Commercial Drive. Crocheted bicycle and lock.

Granada Theatre: DK200 headquarters.

THE RACE

Saturday 

5:15am, time to wake up. The race starts in 45 minutes. I get ready in a nervous rush. Terri and Jim are also getting ready. Will is still in bed. I knew that boy would wait until the absolute last moment to get out of bed. Terri had his stuff all laid out and he was served breakfast in bed. Now for those of you who know me, I have to be at the start at least ten minutes prior, so I silently festered in agony until I could no longer stand it and I was out the door. I told the Slauson’s good luck. Terri and Will were doing the half pint distance (111.4 miles) and Jim didn’t want to start in the front. I had other plans. I wanted to race with Rebecca Rusch. I wanted to see how long I could hang, then when I fell off, I would simply wait for Jim, Nathan, and Doug. I just wanted to give it a try. Kevin, Jason, and Lee rolled up to the line with me. 5 minute countdown. This was going to be a LONG day. I see her - Rebecca Rusch, only 5 people to my left. My heart started pounding. This is really happening.

The Start

Roll out

6:00am: Go! The 600 people on the line start rolling. We have a mile of pavement then turn onto the gravel. I am in the lead group and Kevin is right behind me, babysitting. The group is moving fast and is large. I knew there would be a crash but did not expect to be in it. Sure enough, less than 5 miles in the pack started to slinky and my front wheel ended up next to someone else’s back wheel. At that exact moment, he jerked his bike to avoid a rock and took out my front wheel. Down I went. I rolled up like sonic the hedge hawg and caught sight of my bike just as Dallas rider, Chaos, rode over my frame and saddle. Noooooo. Kevin stopped and grabbed my bike and I did a quick check.Everything seemed fine so I jumped back on and kept going. I immediately noticed that saddle was broken, the left side was way lower than the right. KEEP GOING. I can deal with this. Kevin made it back onto the end of the lead group and I did not. I panicked. I let them go. Back up plan: Wait for my boys and ride with them as long as possible and TRY to finish. I look down and blood is rolling down my shin from a meaty gash on my knee. My saddle----ugh! I cannot believe this happened to me. I am in shock. I pedal on and find Lee who informs me that he went out too hard. Geesh, that sucks. We are less than 10 miles in and falling apart!!!! Then the first obstacle...a huge mud pit that you’d find a a tough mudder. I jump off and carry my bike around the far side of it. Once on the other side, we find Jason with a flat. I help and Lee stops also. Then I see them! Nathan, Doug, and Jim! Doug tries to level out my saddle and the rail snaps out of the back. But it lies flat now so as long as I am gentle, it should be ok. The flat gets fixed and we all forge on together. Shortly later, Lee falls off the back and Jason disappears off the front. With just us 4, we settle in to a good pace. We are making good time and then it appears...the white water creek crossing. There is a kayak in the crossing - this is insane. So we get off and lift the bikes up and start wading across. The water is up to our knees. Yikes. Maybe this will wash the blood off my shoes. I laugh because Jim is wearing sandals and Nathan’s bike weighs more than he does.  I sure hope this contaminated water does not infect my knee. We make it across a few other obstacles and soon find ourselves at checkpoint one.

Accidental regrouping with a few mechanicals

Nice view of rolling hills

9:30am Checkpoint One: Ok, we made nice time, just under 3 and a half hours. And that was with a tailwind... After some quick guess math I figure we will have around 16 hours of chamois time. We spend 10 minutes in the PavLove Grub tent. There were lovely ladies that filled up our bottles and fed us. I didn’t put clean socks in my bag so I must continue on with cow poo river soaked socks. I cleaned up my knee the best I could and we were back on the gravel road. Up and Down, Up and Down, UP, UP, and UP. Head wind, cross wind, head wind, cross wind. UGH! I continue on, barely surviving, scrapping on the back of wheels. I did not pull, I could not pull, I was hurting in every way imaginable. My mental guard went down and I was not well. I sucked it up and tried to find a happy thought to hold onto. On one of the hills Jim got stuck in a rut and took a little dirt nap. It was this leg of the ride (notice that it is no longer a race but a ride) that the obvious MVP and the apparent anchor would emerge. Nathan was constantly on the front pulling and was repeatedly told by Jim to slow down with by using the key word “PHILLIPS!!!!!!” (his last name). I was desperately clinging onto the back just waiting for my elastic band to snap. It didn’t. We emerged onto a paved road and I almost cried because it felt so good. We rolled downhill into the next checkpoint.

Doug, Jim and I with a few randoms. PHILLIPS!!! in front of us.

seas of green

1:30pm Checkpoint Two: LUNCH TIME!!! And a pair of way overdue dry, fresh socks! We spent 30 minutes here and I sat on a blanket to eat a subway sandwich. Today I learned that if you are hungry enough, you will eat anything. After 7 1/2 hours on the bike, I ate a sandwich with turkey/ham/mayonnaise/lettuce/tomato on it. I don’t think I even tasted it. We are only half way!!!!!! I send Jeff a wellness text and Jim checks on Terri and Will. They are making good time on the half pint. We head out with the wind at our backs and I enjoy it because I know it will not last too long. Sure enough, I see the nasty pink ribbon directing us to turn into the wind, now pushing us to the side. I soon find the only stick in Kansas and lodge it firmly into my rear derailleur pulley. It takes two of us and a multi-tool to free it. Then Jim’s water bottle cage breaks and his sandal cleat needs tightening. Nathan and I pull off to wait and see a full moon as a nerdy librarian decided to disrobe for a potty break. We pass people and people passed us all day. A few we see multiple times. Jim is insistent on chasing down and passing anyone with a leg tattoo...and there were quite a few of those. I am hungry again but can no longer eat my cliff bars, they just sit in my mouth refusing to dissolve. I try for my sour patch kids and have better luck. We run across a few Austin boys. We finally approach the final checkpoint where my friend, Cy, from the Red River Riot was volunteering and escorted us into the little town.  

Nathan, Doug and Jim

Doug and Nathan. This was my view for most of the day.

Over half way 

 5:50 pm, Checkpoint Three: We still have 50 miles left but I am happy we are on our last part. We spend another 30 minutes here and put our lights on, since we estimate finishing around 9:30 pm now. It has been 12 hours since the start of the race and the winner would be finishing any minute. Terri sent us a text with a much desired course spoiler! The next 15 miles would suck with climbs and head winds but then it would end with tailwind and downhills. Thank God for Terri. She had finished 111.4 "fucking" miles and had ridden the last part of our race. Yes, I am racing again. Racing to finish. Plus, PavLoveGrub had COKE at this stop! I feel better. As soon as we start going uphill my mood starts going downhill. I make it through those awful 15 miles and am ready for an easy cruise back in. Nathan decides to push it and I am uncomfortable. This last 35 miles I fall apart. At this point I get an uncontrollable urge to shit. I even am ok with the thought of crapping myself, but nothing happens, not even a toot. My body starts to fail. I start begging God, then I start to bargain with him. “Oh, please, I promise to be good and not gossip for a week. A month.....! PLEASE!! Just get me through this”.  That didn’t work so I started to abandon Him and start having a pity party. Then I apologize and try to harden up. I think of GI Jane and the Fire Academy: “A small bird will drop frozen dead without ever having felt sorry for itself”. I am desperate to finish. It got dark. I whimpered. Nathan pushed me up a hill. 10 miles left. My left calf cramped for the first time in my life (on the bike), Jim pushed me. Jim encouraged me. I wonder if I am the only one suffering. I can’t be. The anchor. 5miles left. I can’t see my Garmin anymore but I know we are on the last bit of gravel and I am confident for the first time all day that I will finish. I thanked God. Then it happened. We were sailing in at 21mph when I saw it. I was right behind Doug as he called out “CATTLE GUARD”. I didn’t see the details and treated it like a normal cattle guard by just unwieghting my bike. But this was not a normal cattle guard, this was an angry, fucked up, killer cattle guard that had bike eating longitudinal gaps between the rectangle grates. I was unlucky and my front wheel was lined up with the gap. I lost my front wheel in all the way to my fork dropouts and I hit the ground hard. My elbow had busted and the top of my hip hit the ground so hard that my skin lacerated. My glasses were in my sports bra and the impact knocked the wind out of me. Nathan and Doug examined my bike while Doctor Jim checked me out. The hoods were ripped off my shifters and my saddle was now even more toasted. But I would be able to finish on it. It was a miracle that my wheel didn't rub the brakes and that the tire didn't flat. Nathan carried my camelbak and noticed I lost the bite valve in the crash. He was forced to either finish drinking it or let it leak on him. We finished the last mile in a half and it felt so good to cross the line. Under 16 hours. About 50% of starters finished this year.

Lee, serious Doug, Nathan, Jason, me, Terri, Will, Jim, Nathan

Normal Cattle Guard

Poopy cattle guard (not the same one from DK, but similar idea).  DK's had ~3 gaps

I am so thankful I had Jim, Nathan, and Doug with me. Hard times always reveal true friends. Terri had pizza waiting for us. Jason had finished well, and Kevin finished 40 minutes before us. Lee had a crash and had to bail at mile 100. I went over to the medics and they did a good job of cleaning around my injuries. I had to go back to the haunted house and soak in the bath and clean my wounds. Jim took out his medical kit and stapled the laceration on my hip. No one was partying as they had planned on doing.  It was a train wreck. We swapped stories with Terri and Kevin and then all just went to bed. A lot can happen in 15 hours, no matter how many bad things happen and how badly you hurt, DO NOT QUIT.

Sunday. 4:30am. Cannot sleep. It hurts to move. It hurts to breathe. White sheets. That is what was on my bed. These white sheets now had oozing blood stains on them. I get on facebook and see Nathan and Doug are awake. The coffee shops in Emporia are closed on Sundays. Today would be a long drive back to San Antonio. 

Hands down the DK was harder than Ironman TX. DK there was blood, sweat, and tears. IMTX there was only sweat. At DK I bargained with God, I praised God, and I threatened God. I am pretty sure Doug needs a skin graph on his taint, pretty sure Jim will only wear sandals from now on, and pretty sure Nathan will not take those aero bars off his dirty cockpit bike. 

Every epic race/ride has memorable quotes:

“The maps don’t really help you” - JS

“110miles?! Might as well do the full 200.” -TS

“What is that??!! I didn’t get one!” -TS

“I already got my tattoo. It says rumple....” - DF

“That looks like a penis, only smaller” -

“There is somebody for everybody” -JP

“Saving it for good” -DF

“Cows are no different than people” - JS

“Drilling it for 200th place...couple of cat 5s” -JS

“Leg tats- we will catch them and we will pass them” -JS

“Carmichael- I didn’t buy the training package, I bought the drug package” -NP

“PHILLIPS!!!!” - JS

“Idiots and maniacs” -TS

Emmy, our PavLoveGrub HOTTIE