SM100

Well, that was a rough one. I knew the day before when we were spinning our legs out and it was raining that Sunday was going to make for an interesting day. 300+ of my closest friends ripping through the wet trails before I got there would make for some mud and slop. The start was uneventful. I didn't remember the flat road section being so freaking long last year. Maybe because I had gears last year. I tried to just chill and not overspin for what I knew was coming. I got to the climbs and my legs didn't feel as chipper as I would have liked for a full day on the SS ahead. I eased off and really tried to chill out. I've been having some left leg-hip-IT band issues lately and a couple of times I had to stop and pull over a stretch it out. It was so tight and uncomfortable that it felt like someone had a string tied to my knee cap and was trying to pull it off my body. I'm sure I looked like an idiot. After a couple of hours, things started to warm up and cooperate.

There were times it was pouring so hard that I couldn't see a thing. It was the kind of rain where the taste of all the crap and funk that has built up in your helmet over the season was now in your mouth. Mmmmm. Sunscreen, sweat and bugspray. I would put my glasses on to act as a shield against the crap getting in my eyes on the road sections, but there was no seeing out of them. I just prayed I didn't hit a pot hole or rut as I rode blind down some of the gravel roads. 



It was pouring as I was riding down US 250 to Bridge Hollow (I think that's what it was). This section is not SS friendly. It felt like it went on forever. As I was riding, there were MANY riders going the opposite direction. They had pulled the plug. Mass exodus. I knew there was an interesting hike-a-bike section coming up. I turned in and rode across the rocky creek, into the trail, dismounted and started my trek up. There was literally a stream coming at me off the trail. It was not an easy walk because it was so muddy and slippery. I remember it being a bitch last year and it was dry then. Soon there were more people coming towards me and trying to get back to the road and call it quits. I negotiated around them on the tight, slick, bench-cut trail one at a time. One guy told me that if I was smart, I would turn back. Luckily, I rarely take advice advice from strangers and slogging through horrible trail conditions is definitely my strong suit. I remember being able to ride a good part of that singletrack after the hike-a-bike last year. Not this year. I couldn't get any traction in the rear and I was burning matches every time I tried to ride. It was a long hike. I got to the last piece of singletrack before the Aid Station 4 and could ride a little more through the slop. I actually was pedaling on the downhills and was on top of the gear. If I stopped pedaling, the slop would stop me in my tracks. I made it to Aid Station 4, got an eye wash (they were gritty and burning), filled a bottle with water and carried on. I knew this was where it was going to get interesting. I only had 2 hours to make it ~20 miles to Aid Station 5 to make the cut-off for those who did not have lights. I could have quit right then. I actually felt pretty good. I decided that if I'm not going to finish it was going to be because they had to pull me off the course. Being conservative early helped and I was able to stay on the bike a lot more than I did last year on the climb all the way to Aid Station 5. I made the cut-off by 10 plus minutes. Some mean man told me I didn't. I fought with him. I had a few violent thoughts about him. A lady working the aid station told him he was wrong about the cut-off time (he was). As they were bickering and calling to verify, I snuck away. Screw him. I felt better than I had felt all day at this point. I knew I was making it home.

I'm not great with trail names, but after Aid Station 5 there is something I like to call the climb to the "Meadow of Death". There were mud holes last year for a dry race. Imagine what it looked like this year. It was a slog fest. It's rolling with some steeps that I had to get off because I was going nowhere. Even on the flats it was hard to pedal forward because of the pudding like mud. It was leg sapping, to say the least. I passed about 10 + people here. Carnage.

Made it to Aid Station 6 and knew I only had 12 miles to go. I had one more climb to go and you could not wipe the smile off my face at that point. I grabbed my bottle with calories out of my drop bag  and carried on for the final push. After the climb I knew what was left. Some false flats on doubletrack and a downhill that drops into the campground and into the finish. I saw two kids on bikes at one of the corners of the downhill and I knew I had made it. I rolled into the finish and my epic adventure was over (until clean-up). Although, lopping off a good chunk of last year's time didn't happen as I had hoped because of the conditions, I still came in a little quicker. That's still a win.


Please note that it is still light out and I'm drinking my celebratory IPA

Wow. It's over. It still hasn't set in that I finished 5 hundreds on the SS. I actually set a goal and was actually able to see it through without my body completely breaking down. It protested, and it's been a rough past month or so, but I pulled it out.

Thanks to my fabulous traveling buddies for a good time! I will apologize once more for the overpowering cat pee funk smell that my shoes emit. Like I said, we don't have a cat, so I'm not sure what that's about...