Oct
3rd
Elgin 80, well 40, well actually 45
By mudderhucker
After spending all week trying to figure out if I would spend
another afternoon punishing myself by doing another event on my
single speed I finally made a decision on Friday afternoon, HELL
yes. Friday evening I cleaned up the Misfit and got it all
ready for the event. The deciding factor, 3 others were doing
the event on their single speeds.
Saturday morning I loaded my bike on the roof, through the gear in the car and I was off to Elgin which is about 40 minutes from my house. I am not sure why I had such a problem making up my mind, the other events I did this summer were 3 to 4 hours from my house and I had no trouble making up my mind.
The morning was very crisp but by the 12:00 start for the 40km event it had warmed up nicely and it was very comfortable in shorts and a jersey. Perfect weather for an event.
We were gathered together for a riders meeting and role call was done, we were informed that the course was closer to 45km because they changed it to lessen the brutals climbs (I would of hated to see that course if this course had less climbing)
I started near the back of the pack so that I wouldn't be in the way of the geared riders rocketing off the start. That didn't matter though because in the first 30 seconds you were on to the first brutal climb of the course. It just went up and up and up. I picked my way through some of the geared riders and was just behind the main pack of 15 to 20 riders making there was up the hill. The other 3 single speeders were up with that pack.
By the top of the climb I had fallen off the lead pack and settled into my own pace. I made my way through the dirt roads, loose climbs, atv trail, and one section of atv trail that thank god it was hard bottomed because water was flowing down it a few inches deep and it seemed to go on forever. I made it to the feed station which was 18km in in 1hr and 15min. Very cool, if the rest of the course is like that.....
It was not, after the feed station things rolled along well for a few more km. Then there were sections of singletrack that was quite slow going, it seemed very fresh and not beat in so it was sucking alot of enegry from me. Also there were sections of black thick mud which I would have to stop and walk my bike around as best as I could. The climbs while not super long were steeper and loose. I was starting to cramp and was on the verge of bonking. I made it through all this with my spirit not completely broken and enjoyed some hard pack dirt road riding. Finally I hit pavement again, great almost out. I spoke to soon, what was ahead of me was a 2.5km dirt road climb and I was walking one huge cramp waiting to happen. I rode the best I could, but ended up walking a fair bit. After the climb there was a nice fast downhill, then a short flat section and then across the finish line.
I finished the event, no mechanicals, 1 minor crash, and I was feeling worn out, but not to bad.
My final thoughts on the event:
It is great to see a whole community get involved and put on an event like this.
The course was very challenging but this may not be an event everyone.
Saturday morning I loaded my bike on the roof, through the gear in the car and I was off to Elgin which is about 40 minutes from my house. I am not sure why I had such a problem making up my mind, the other events I did this summer were 3 to 4 hours from my house and I had no trouble making up my mind.
The morning was very crisp but by the 12:00 start for the 40km event it had warmed up nicely and it was very comfortable in shorts and a jersey. Perfect weather for an event.
We were gathered together for a riders meeting and role call was done, we were informed that the course was closer to 45km because they changed it to lessen the brutals climbs (I would of hated to see that course if this course had less climbing)
I started near the back of the pack so that I wouldn't be in the way of the geared riders rocketing off the start. That didn't matter though because in the first 30 seconds you were on to the first brutal climb of the course. It just went up and up and up. I picked my way through some of the geared riders and was just behind the main pack of 15 to 20 riders making there was up the hill. The other 3 single speeders were up with that pack.
By the top of the climb I had fallen off the lead pack and settled into my own pace. I made my way through the dirt roads, loose climbs, atv trail, and one section of atv trail that thank god it was hard bottomed because water was flowing down it a few inches deep and it seemed to go on forever. I made it to the feed station which was 18km in in 1hr and 15min. Very cool, if the rest of the course is like that.....
It was not, after the feed station things rolled along well for a few more km. Then there were sections of singletrack that was quite slow going, it seemed very fresh and not beat in so it was sucking alot of enegry from me. Also there were sections of black thick mud which I would have to stop and walk my bike around as best as I could. The climbs while not super long were steeper and loose. I was starting to cramp and was on the verge of bonking. I made it through all this with my spirit not completely broken and enjoyed some hard pack dirt road riding. Finally I hit pavement again, great almost out. I spoke to soon, what was ahead of me was a 2.5km dirt road climb and I was walking one huge cramp waiting to happen. I rode the best I could, but ended up walking a fair bit. After the climb there was a nice fast downhill, then a short flat section and then across the finish line.
I finished the event, no mechanicals, 1 minor crash, and I was feeling worn out, but not to bad.
My final thoughts on the event:
It is great to see a whole community get involved and put on an event like this.
The course was very challenging but this may not be an event everyone.
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