Hey You Guys…My race weekend was almost over before it began
I had originally planned to head to Central Pennsylvania to
race the Wilderness 101, but constant rain and flood warnings the week of the
race made me reconsider my plans, so I headed to Central Wisconsin instead to
take part in the Wausau24. Since it was only me heading out and I had to drive
home Sunday I opted to do the 12-hour solo race instead of pushing all 24
hours.
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| This will make a lot more sense soon enough |
My trip started much like all my others, loading up my car
and preparing for a rather long drive. This time I decided to head out Thursday
after work to break up the drive and give myself some more time to pre-ride
and set up camp Friday. I drove to Joliet, IL and stayed at a Motel 6 that had
very comfortable beds and a great parking spot for my bike.
Friday morning, I woke up without the aid of an alarm (a
truly joyous and seldom experienced thing for me) re-loaded my car and headed
out into mile after mile of road construction through Illinois which lead to
Wisconsin, where apparently lane discipline does not exist; semis in the
furthest left of three lanes going 58, yup; cars in the middle lane going 82,
why not; trucks in the furthest right lane changing speed simple because they can, of course. Many frustrating hours later I made it to Nine Mile Forest,
the host of the Wausau 6, 12, and 24 hour races.
Since I registered rather late for the race I was not able
to book a reserved pit/camp spot right on the course, but arriving as early as
I did Friday I was able to find a spot about 30 yards from the course with
direct access, I could not ask for much better. I set up my tent and EZ-Up, got
a few things organized and decided it was time to head out for a pre-ride of
the course. Sure, I would be doing lap after lap Saturday, but it would be nice
to know what I was getting into.
The course started on some rolling two-track that led into
some tight twisty single track. About five minutes into my ride I heard the
frantic buzzing of small insect wings stuck in the front of my helmet and
before I could react I felt the unmistakable sting of a bee, just below my
hairline on my forehead.
Great!
Now for a little backstory. I have been stung by bees more
times in my life than I can remember and I have never had more than a small red
mark and a bump to show for it. In fact, mosquito bites caused more of a
reaction in the form of a giant welts. That was until last year. I was driving
home from the Bay City Driathlon and I felt something crawling on my left
ankle, I instinctively used my right foot to brush it off only to be stung. No
big deal. Until I woke up the next morning covered from head to toe in a horrible
rash. It itched so much. No over the counter medicine I had helped so off to
urgent care I went. They gave me a shot in the butt and sent me on my way with
a prescription for an epi-pen.
Jump back to Friday. I brought an epi-pen with me, but I have not had to use one and I am not really sure how I will react.
I have talked to some people who say their heart beats fast for a few minutes
then they are fine and other people who say they have to go to the ER when they
use them. Since I was at the race without a support crew I really did not want
to tempt fate with the epi-pen. If I reacted badly the race director and crew
would have to worry about what to do and I am sure as a safety precaution their
first step would be to call an ambulance. I would much rather take the chance
with a rash. I mean really, after a few hours in the saddle everything hurts so
much I probably would not even notice it anyway.
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| Dinner Friday night |
I finished up my ride and checked out my forehead via my phone camera and sent a picture to my wife and some friends, which led to me jokingly sending a picture of Sloth from the Goonies; we all laughed. I ate some tasty tacos, hung out for some prize drawings (no I did not win anything, I never win anything at drawings) and I went to bed none too worried about the sting. I slept well and once again woke up without the aid of an alarm (I could get used to this).
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| A little swelling, but nothing too bad |
Then I tried to open my eyes. My left eye was fine but for
some reason my right eye did not want to open. For a moment it felt like it was
stuck with sleep sand or maybe a little goopy. So I rubbed my eye and something
felt a little not right. I found my phone and once again looked at myself in
the camera. WOW. Half of my forehead, my right eye and cheek were all swollen,
and I don’t mean a little. I sent a picture to my wife who called me and asked
if I was okay to race. I still had one fully functioning eye, my legs and arms
were fine; sure I can still race.
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| First thing in the morning Saturday |
I got up and put my sunglasses on to hide most of my face
from anyone who might happen by and started getting around for the day. At 9:15
we had a short racers meeting and were allowed to stage our bikes for the Le
Mans style start. I found a nice spot right near the front of the staging area
and headed back to my pit to wait for the 10:00 start time.
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| About to head to the racers meeting and my face is not getting any better |
Up to this point in the day I had not really done much but
walk around and I felt fine so I was not worried about the race at all. When it
was time to line up I found a spot right in the front of the group for the less
than ¼ mile run to our bikes. At go, the first thing I notice was my legs felt
a bit like wood, but they worked. I stayed near the front of the group through
the run, got on my bike and started my 12-hour day.
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| Bike Staging |
At first, things were going pretty well but I felt like my
lines were just a little bit off. In the twisty and rather smooth first couple
miles of trail it was not a real big deal, but I knew I should be riding
cleaner and smoother than I was. About 4 or 4.5 miles in to the lap the course
made a hard 90° left turn into a rather technical rock and root covered
section of trail. I hit everything. I knew what I should be doing, where I
should be going, I rode though here the day before and had no problems, but I
just kept hitting everything. I somehow made it through and found myself back
out on a fast downhill two-track that lead to the most rock covered section of
the course; between miles 6-8. It was all rideable but once again I could not
pick a line. I put my foot down over and over, I pushed my bike though sections
and could not even put my feet in the spots I wanted; and then it hit me.
Because I could barely see out of my right eye I had almost no depth
perception. I was a few inches off in everything I did. Now it all made
sense.
I slowed down a little and paid way more attention to how
and when I was hitting everything and after another mile or two I figured out
how far I was off and started compensating for it and a few miles later I was
actually able to make it through technical sections. As the day went on I got a
little better at being able to pick my lines.
Each lap was about 12 miles long and my original plan was to
stop every two laps to exchange bottles and get anything else I might need. I
did not stop after the first lap as planned, but about midway through lap 2 the
bridge of my nose had become so swollen my glasses would not stay on my face. I
put them in my jersey pocket and rode on with the plan to drop them at my pit
at the end of the lap. I have been really bad about forgetting when I put my
glasses in my pocket so as I rolled into my pit the only thing I was think was
“glasses, glasses, glasses” and I forgot to take my BCAA+ and anti-fatigue
caps.
I remembered about 10 minutes into lap 3 and just said, oh
well, I will stop and after this lap and take them. And that was sort of how
then next few laps went. Nothing crazy happened and I was able to make it
through the most technical sections and I stopped for a minute at my pit each lap because there was inevitably something I wanted that I did not do or grab the
last time through.
At the end of lap 5 I pulled into my pit area and was just feeling a bit off and my face hurt. It was not just sore, it hurt. I took of my helmet it hopes that it would relieve a little of the pressure, which it did; so I thought it was time for another picture. Boy was I in for a surprise. The swelling had gotten much worse and it was spreading. I once again sent a picture to my wife who instantly called, not just concerned about my race but about me. I assured her I was still alive, I could still breath just fine and I was going to continue racing. I took a few minutes to get all my stuff rearranged, I put my empty bottles away, ate a little bit of PB&J and adjusted the nose piece of my glasses so they would fit my face. I really do not like riding without glasses. Then squeezed my now too tight helmet back on my much too large head, yes the swelling was in the shape of where my helmet rests on my forehead.
At the end of lap 5 I pulled into my pit area and was just feeling a bit off and my face hurt. It was not just sore, it hurt. I took of my helmet it hopes that it would relieve a little of the pressure, which it did; so I thought it was time for another picture. Boy was I in for a surprise. The swelling had gotten much worse and it was spreading. I once again sent a picture to my wife who instantly called, not just concerned about my race but about me. I assured her I was still alive, I could still breath just fine and I was going to continue racing. I took a few minutes to get all my stuff rearranged, I put my empty bottles away, ate a little bit of PB&J and adjusted the nose piece of my glasses so they would fit my face. I really do not like riding without glasses. Then squeezed my now too tight helmet back on my much too large head, yes the swelling was in the shape of where my helmet rests on my forehead.
Lap 6 was not bad, but during lap 7 I had an awful headache, but I did get another good story. I was riding with someone who was doing the 24-hour
race and he happened to get stung as well. He was telling me about someone who
had bee sting spray. I have never heard of it before, but apparently it helps
mitigate bee stings. So I said, “do you think it would help with this” and I
took off my glasses. He said whoa and swerved his bike a foot or two, luckily
we were on a nice flat section of two track at the time. After regaining
control, he said “I am not sure it will help that, but it couldn’t hurt”.
Needless to say I did not bother to find the person with bee sting spray.
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| After Lap 5 and it continues to swell, even spreading into my left eye. I told you the Sloth reference would make more sense. |
After lap 8, with over 9 hours of racing complete, I stopped at the timing station to find out how I was doing and determine how many more laps I needed to do. It turns out I was leading and had been all day. I had finished my 7th lap about 40 minutes ahead of the second place rider; with each lap taking me about 1hr 10min. Now it was time for some strategy and math. The way the race was run, your last lap of the day had to be completed after 12 hours of racing. Meaning, if I rolled through the line at 11hrs 59min I would have to go back out and do another lap or I would get a DNF, regardless of how much I was ahead of the next racer.
So I had finished lap 8 at just over 9 hours, I had a little
under three hours to go. At this point in the day I really had no interest in
three more laps and my rather vague calculations told me second place did not really have a chance to catch me. My legs and body felt okay but my face and head hurt like no
other and my eyes were so strained from being overworked all day (my left eye
was anyway; I was still struggling to see out of my right eye). I thought I slowed
down a bit for lap number 9 but I rolled though in 1:16:20 even with a stop to
put my lights on my bike. The race was now at 10 hours, 22 minutes, 43 seconds;
I had an hour and 37 minutes until I could finish my next lap or I would be
heading out for another after that.
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| Look how dirty my legs are |
Lap 10 was different than all the rest for one reason: it was now completely dark. I turned my lights on as soon as I started the lap and just tried to enjoy the first few miles. Then I got to the rocks and roots. I made it through most of the rock gardens but with only a bar mounted light it got rather tricky in some of the most technical sections. In one spot I got my front wheel through but my rear got hung up, I came to a complete stop and slowly tipped over. I got up, made sure my frame didn’t hit any rocks and walked on for a few yards then hopped back on. I walked two other short sections that I had been able to make all day just for the sake of not hurting myself or my bike, and it was not like I was in any sort of a hurry.
My tent/pit area was about 50 yards before the finish line
and I rode up to my tent at 11 hours and 40 minutes, I had twenty minutes until
I could finish and my desire to do another lap was even less than it had been
before. So I stopped at my tent, got off my bike and sat in my camp chair to
relax and wait for the 12-hour mark. I called my wife and chatted for a few
minutes to let her know I had survived the day and was 99.9% certain I was
about to win. I cleaned up the rest of my bottles and wrappers from the day so
I could get to sleep a little quicker after the race and with about 2 minutes
to go I rolled over to the finish line where I waited with about 30 other
riders who had the same plan as me.
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| Waiting for 12 hours, I look kind of like a human again |
I crossed the finish line at 12hrs, 00min, 08 seconds; seven and a half minutes ahead of second place. Could I have done another lap, yes. Did it matter that I did not, no. I will take the win and the day for what it was; a hard fought battle against an obstacle I never expected to encounter.
A question I was asked after this bee/face/swelling fiasco: was it mentally harder to deal with this or reaching the limit of being over-raced and past a physical limit at Lumberjack (you can read about it here: www.mtbmitch.blogspot.com/2018/06/sometimes-race-just-does-not-go-your-way.html ). I really had to think about this for a while before I came to a pretty easy answer. Hitting that wall at Lumberjack was much harder to overcome. This was purely a physical issue and I was able to keep myself in the race mentally (for all but a few minutes here are there). I may not have gone as fast or as far as I would have been able on just about any other day, but I still rode well and I am proud of the performance I put in. I would probably not do anything much different if I had the chance to re-do this race weekend, but I have made the decision not to put so much racing in such a short period of time as I did leading up to Lumberjack.
Back to the race.
The course was good mix of terrain. It started with a little
two track and a few miles of tight flowing single track that rewarded good
lines and maintaining speed. Around 4-4.5 miles in there was a rather technical
section of roots and rocks where picking a good line was the difference
between riding through and having to put a foot down. Just before the most technical section of the day
was a fast two-track descent allowing you to rest just enough before entering
miles 6-8 which were covered with rock gardens and the only thing resembling a
climb on course, which was also covered with rocks and roots. After this was
another nice section of flow leading to a road crossing (and the woman with the
squeaky rubber chicken - thank you for cheering all day if you happen to read
this, and for the gummy worm) just after the 10 mile sign. Just before
returning to the road were two rock gardens with gaps just wide enough for my
tires, then a last roughly mile back to the start line. It was a fun course,
but it was rough enough to wear out your body over the course of the day. It
was also tight enough that your average speed was much lower than your heart
rate would suggest.
To cap off a great race, about 10 minutes after I finished, pizza was provided to all racers and there were showers available. Once I was
full and clean I headed back to my tent for a rather sore and painful night of
tossing and turning because after 12 hours on a bike even laying down hurts.
I would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to put on this extremely well organized and run event. The logistics that must go into a weekend as crazy and busy as this are just mind boggling, but Adam Schmidt and his crew pulled it off without a hitch (or at least one that anyone racing noticed). The support of the race sponsors was great as well; Thanks Hammer Nutrition, ESI Grips, Wolf Tooth Components, and numerous others.
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| Sunday morning and the swelling is back |
If you are looking for an awesome 6, 12 or 24-hour race
(team or solo) this is one I would highly recommend. Or if you are looking for
some fun trails in Central Wisconsin, Nine Mile Forest is worth a stop.
As for me, my face is back to normal and most of the
soreness is gone. Up next is the Big Bear Butt Cruise, a 210k road ride (not a
race) starting and ending in Kaleva, MI on August 25th. Routes range
from 70k to 210K with some very scenic views, good food, and great company.
Results:
Strava:
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