Tour of the White Mountains (TOWM) - 50 (53 actually) Miler

Barn Burner Wkend Fun

First race back from last season (MBAA 2013) for me. Well actually Jon Shouse made me do the Barn Burner with him ;) but I didn't blog on that. So much fun especially hanging out with Jon and Yvonne, but I was completely burnt out during that race, hence the team name "The BarnBurnouts"

So the TOWM - This is kind of way after the fact but I had started this TOWM blog shortly after I did the race but then I didn't finish it so here I am.  The TOWM was the first weekend in October in the Show Low/Pinetop, AZ area. Luckily I got to pre-ride a little of it but not all 53 miles, which I was nervous about. This would be my longest ride to-date and I'd be "racing" it, more like trying to survive. Riding in the pines is a lot scarier than the open desert. Sometimes you can get turned around and not know what direction you are headed.

I had no choice the night before but to camp. Money was tight. It was an extremely cold night with little sleep. I timed my "when I should wake up to get all the crap I need to do in" wrong and ended up rolling up to the start in the WAY back of the line with 45 sec to go. No warm-up, not sure if I got all my fuel/mechanical gear. The temp was about 25 degrees. Suddenly I remembered I forgot to take a couple shots of my inhaler. Crap, usually you need to take it 20 min before as it increases your heart rate and takes time for your body to adjust. Oh well, I went ahead and took a couple puffs. Those with asthma know that the dry cold is your worst enemy. This should be interesting. Ready, set, go!

So pretty up there

I take off hard and the people in the back are confused as most of them are doing this for a ride adventure and not really to race. Any real racer would have got to the start WAY early to be up front, right? DOH! I'm passing as many as I can and eating dirt. I don't know what I was thinking but I try to have a GU. I forgot to down one before the start. BAD IDEA! Total dirt snack not to mention tons of people around, trying to pass at the same time with one hand. Silly. I also feel a cramp coming. I'm like ALREADY? Goodness. I start sucking down the water, which I find later was a bad idea. The first 10 miles is a steady climb and about 10 min in, my asthma is really kicking. My chest starts to tighten, the tingles come, I feel lightheaded, and I slow down. My asthma gets a little scary off and on for the first 1.5 hrs, no matter how fast or slow I was going.  Some folks I passed are passing me back now and I just try to concentrate on my cadence. I remember Beth saying "don't freak out, count as you inhale and as you exhale." I'm trying, I'm panicking though. Edy passes me around where the 35ers would turn off. I almost take a DNF there but instead I took the easy jeep road as an opportunity to do some breathing exercises on the bike to settle the lungs down. As it got warmer, it got better.

Pre-ride Fun. Beautiful!

So far so good with no stopping at aide stations. I fly down the jeep road and catch Edy and Kata. Kata had a flat the first mile and had caught me on the climb. She was being awesome that day riding her SS. She caught me back on the next climb and then I didn't see her again. Edy and I from this point on would play leap frog for that 5th place spot. She pushed me to keep going and at a faster pace than I would have. Thanks Edy! I was out of water and had to stop at the aide station before the ridiculous hike-a-bike section. I refueled and took my jacket off. My lungs felt so much better. Edy passed me here and I was a couple minutes behind now with a climb ahead. I didn't figure I'd catch her as she's a better climber. I got to the hike-a-bike and was like oh this isn't so bad. Got up the first little bit and it seemed to go down. Then come around the corner, WHAT IN THE WOLRD?! It never ended. Extremely steep, loose dirt, mixed with roots and crap to step over. I had to use my bike as a crutch half the time. I think it took me a good 40 min to get through it. I was getting passed left and right on a hike-a-bike. I mean what in the heck. I was thinking "Ok, it's time to start running and hiking as well for training."

Preride fun

Finally, I was done with it but I was so shakey on the downhill after I took a little tumble. I shake it off get going and catch some of the guys who passed me, but I don't see Edy yet. Dang. I'm all turned around and not sure the direction I'm going now, hoping I'm on the right trail following the people in front but also trying to pay attention to any markers for turn-offs. I follow one guy right past a turn off and we realize after a minute and have to turn around to get back on track.

Around this time I'm trying to remember if we are back on the part we pre-rode a couple weeks before. It all seems the same. I just keep trucking along and notice I'm passing more people and see their number plates are different colors. I realize that they are the 35ers. I know I must be close to the last aide station then. About this time, I'm spent. I know the last 10 or so miles is downhill and I just want to be there already.

Finally we hit the main dirt road and I fly past people to the last aide station where I hear my name. I yell out "Hi and sorry, I'm so over this." and hit the fast double track part hard passing. Oh my goodness, there are SO many people now and I'm flying past a ton of them trying to keep my speed. I was totally spent about that time. I had my last Gu and I was almost out of water again. You ever get so exhausted you feel like you're in a dream? I hardly remember the last part other than I was going as fast as I could, there were so many people to pass, and I was a bit out of control. I hit one rock that dented my back rim but luckily I didn't flat.

Holy crap, I'm alive!

There is one last little detour I've not done before on the pre-ride coming up and suddenly I see Edy. She looks exhausted as well. I'm officially out of water and gus and I can feel the cramping coming. It seemed like every minute there was a place we had to stop and climb over a little gate thing. Every time I thought I should just bunny hop it but I was too weak. Getting off and on the bike was torture. I passed her right before one and I knew I would probably be ok since it was downhill. OH BUT WAIT…what is this? One last uphill I see people going up the switchbacks. Holy shit I'm going to cramp. I throw it in granny and spin my butt off up it hoping people don't stop in front of me. I look down and see Edy gaining on me. Damn, get good at uphills already, Cas. She's on a heavier bike kicking my butt uphill. FINALLY we're up at the top and I look down at the Garmin - 50 miles? WTH?! This was only supposed to be 50 miles so why am I still not finished? UGH!

All I can think of now is just being done. I hit the little downhill hard and luckily it was wide enough I could slip by all what seemed like 200 people in front of me. I come screeching to a halt to another gate we have to hop over. I look back and don't see Edy but I think, ok, she's just as tenacious. You need to go as fast as you can without cramping. You cramp and it's over. You crash and it's over. Be smart yet fast. Luckily it was double track all the way back but there were a few ups and downs that I worried about especially when I had people in front of me. I could not stand or push too hard or I'd cramp. I made sure not to use my brakes much and try to just use my momentum on the ups as much as possible.

I hit the pavement then come into the venue and hear the crowd. What a great feeling it is to complete  my longest ride to date and not to have cramped or passed out. I wanted to quit early due to my breathing troubles, but I pushed through and it was so worth it. A race that I just wanted to survive and learn from, I ended up on the podium even.

Thanks to Epic Rides for another awesome event. I'll definitely be back next year!

Recovering

Post-ride fun. Epic knows how to party!

AFTER RACE TIP: I took away lots of good experience tid bits to do and not to do for the next longer race. One of the biggest was that I'm drinking WAY too much water during races. Since then I've been making sure my fuel/electrolyte to water ratio is even. If I start cramping, the answer is not always have more water but have a Gu or electrolyte drink/tab instead. This has been such a huge change/impact in the weight that I carry on the bike (with less water) and actually not cramping during a race since then using this method. Hope this helps someone else!