Snowmass Marathon...
Pulled this from drunkcyclist.com
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From: Big Tex
Subject: No Regrets on January Decision
Juan Grande,
Thursday, I reentered the world of racing NORBA nationals after a 3 year hiatus. I entered the Snowmass Marathon, which so happened to be exactly half of the distance and climbing of the race you entered called Leadville 100.
Wednesday night I got off of work and drove 3hrs to Independence pass--12,041 feet and slept in my car. The next morning, I rose with the sun and drove down to the local grocery store for some pre race eating and coffee. I got my number, 621, and warmed up by looking for a place to stash my feed bag. The race consisted of 2 laps so I figured 3 bottles per lap plus some needed carbs.
At the start, I saw old friends and rivals like J. Henry, T. Brown, and Little Fabio. The field was small but stacked and it was mass start----men, women, children---GO! One thing of note, racing is Aspen is very steep. The start was muy tranquilo. I wan
ted to hold back with the race being long. I expected a 4 hr finish time. Brown and Henry quickly established a small gap of less than a minute. I stayed with 3 others including Etough. On the descent, Etough and I separated from the others and then I went on alone to bridge the gap to the leaders----I'm riding a full suspension Voodoo Canzo---How can I not descend faster than most.
So I'm riding with the leaders. We're talking having a good time on some killer single track with creek crossings, roots, rocks, dust, everything you want in a MTB ride. We start up and with in 10 minutes I realize this is faster than working man's speed. I let the leaders go in hopes that I'm saving myself for the last lap. At the end of the lap, four riders had caught up to me. Not bad, I can ride with these guys. I stop to feed my self with a few more water bottles and powergels. I never see anyone again till the finish.
At the 2hr mark, my legs quit. I can't breathe hard or even push myself because my legs don't have the strength to push the pedals fast enough to breathe hard. I paid $65 to suffer like this?---I finishing the race. There's the downhill---I'll be fast on this section. That goes well but I still have 1500 feet of climbing to the finish on a barren ridge line with high altitude temperatures above 90 degrees.
I begin to wonder when the women will catch me. I ride my granny gear 24X34 for the next hour and still no one catches me but I see the finish at 4 hrs 10 minutes. Whew! It was good to blow my legs out like that and to get back into the racing scene a little but it sure did hurt. I immediately thought of you and I wish you the best of luck in a few weeks as you ride double my distance and climbing. I'll cheer from the sidelines or I'll be somewhere else cheering---there's a nice little Fat Tire Festival in Los Alamos that same weekend.
__________________________________________________
From: Big Tex
Subject: No Regrets on January Decision
Juan Grande,
Thursday, I reentered the world of racing NORBA nationals after a 3 year hiatus. I entered the Snowmass Marathon, which so happened to be exactly half of the distance and climbing of the race you entered called Leadville 100.
Wednesday night I got off of work and drove 3hrs to Independence pass--12,041 feet and slept in my car. The next morning, I rose with the sun and drove down to the local grocery store for some pre race eating and coffee. I got my number, 621, and warmed up by looking for a place to stash my feed bag. The race consisted of 2 laps so I figured 3 bottles per lap plus some needed carbs.
At the start, I saw old friends and rivals like J. Henry, T. Brown, and Little Fabio. The field was small but stacked and it was mass start----men, women, children---GO! One thing of note, racing is Aspen is very steep. The start was muy tranquilo. I wan
ted to hold back with the race being long. I expected a 4 hr finish time. Brown and Henry quickly established a small gap of less than a minute. I stayed with 3 others including Etough. On the descent, Etough and I separated from the others and then I went on alone to bridge the gap to the leaders----I'm riding a full suspension Voodoo Canzo---How can I not descend faster than most.
So I'm riding with the leaders. We're talking having a good time on some killer single track with creek crossings, roots, rocks, dust, everything you want in a MTB ride. We start up and with in 10 minutes I realize this is faster than working man's speed. I let the leaders go in hopes that I'm saving myself for the last lap. At the end of the lap, four riders had caught up to me. Not bad, I can ride with these guys. I stop to feed my self with a few more water bottles and powergels. I never see anyone again till the finish.
At the 2hr mark, my legs quit. I can't breathe hard or even push myself because my legs don't have the strength to push the pedals fast enough to breathe hard. I paid $65 to suffer like this?---I finishing the race. There's the downhill---I'll be fast on this section. That goes well but I still have 1500 feet of climbing to the finish on a barren ridge line with high altitude temperatures above 90 degrees.
I begin to wonder when the women will catch me. I ride my granny gear 24X34 for the next hour and still no one catches me but I see the finish at 4 hrs 10 minutes. Whew! It was good to blow my legs out like that and to get back into the racing scene a little but it sure did hurt. I immediately thought of you and I wish you the best of luck in a few weeks as you ride double my distance and climbing. I'll cheer from the sidelines or I'll be somewhere else cheering---there's a nice little Fat Tire Festival in Los Alamos that same weekend.
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