6 minutes! The length of a good classic rock song, I could probably run a mile in that time if I really pushed it. 6 minutes is nothing so how could it have an impact on a 60 mile mountain bike race?
The Ouachita Challenge is billed as one of the hardest bike races in the country. It’s actually two separate events. On Saturday they have the 60 mile tour which my friends Sarah and Aaron did. Now this is no casual stroll through the woods. Starting from Oden, AR the riders go on pavement than dirt road to the western trailhead of the Womble mountain bike trail. This is one of the best mountain bike trails in the country. After riding about half of the trail they are back on pavement to Sims, AR where I met up with them. Filling up water bladders, getting some painkiller for Sarah since she had fallen and hurt her shoulder early on the trail. (Some dude grabbed a handful of brake right in front of her.) All fed and nourished they were back out for a short road ride than back onto dirt road, a deep stream crossing and than the Ouachita trail.
The Ouachita trail is designed for hiking, not biking. This is very technical with steep elevation changes. After about 4 miles of trail Sarah and Aaron arrived at a checkpoint just before the cutoff time. They had the choice of doing Blowout Mountain (simply the hardest mountain biking I’ve ever seen or done) knowing they couldn’t make the next cutoff or calling it quits. They decided it was a good time to take the shortcut back to the start. They did great finishing all but two sections of the Ouachita Trail (Blowout Mountain and Big Brushy). I was waiting at Big Brushy Rec. Area for them and got a call from the race officials to meet them at the finish. They came in about 30 minutes after I got there having completed a total of 50 grueling miles. I was very impressed. I was also a little worried about what the next day would have in store for me.
Sunday morning at 7:55 I’m waiting at the starting line with my bike, nervous. I’m riding my 6 year old Gary Fisher Tasajara hardtail, wearing a $10 Wal-Mart shirt and some closeout price cycling shorts. $5000 - $10,000 bikes surrounded me. Riders with 0% body fat. The really crazy’s on single-speed. Team jerseys, pros from out of state, somewhere around was THE Gary Fisher waiting to join the race. What the hell was I doing here? Why couldn’t I just get a red corvette as my mid-life crisis? I decided just to settle down, start near the rear so I’d be out of everyone’s way and ride my pace. I felt pretty health but I hadn’t been training like I should have been for this race. My goal was to complete as much as possible and only stop when I didn’t make a checkpoint cutoff.
They had the entire group (200 racers) ride together down a short part of paved road to a dirt road for the start. (I think this was done for two reasons, less chance of anyone getting hurt with so many riders on a busy road and so Gary Fisher could join the race away from the official start so he wouldn’t get mobbed.) We were doing the race in the opposite direction of the tour. This meant we would be doing the dreaded Ouachita Trail portion first and have the nicer ride on the Womble at the end. We rode on the dirt road for about an 8 miles to the trailhead. I had ridden this section a few weeks before with Sarah and Aaron and knew that we would be going up. I made sure to eat some here knowing that it would be hard to eat and ride on the trail. I was in the back of the pack with only about 20 or 30 riders behind me as I got on the trail. I was really enjoying this section. I passed some people on the short hike-a-bikes up hill, this was partially due to not clipping my feet in to my pedals and instead using flat pedals and wearing my adventure racing shoes. I could run where others could barely walk. As I got to the bottom of the second really sweet downhill I hit a rock in a bad way with my rear tire and wound up with a pinch flat. I wish I were faster at changing tires. It took me about 5-10 minutes while I got passed by 6 or 7 riders. I got back on the bike still feeling really good and decided that I could get my place back. I knew I was only a couple of miles from Big Brushy Rec. Area where Sarah and Aaron were waiting for me with food and support. I caught every rider that had passed me before I got there. One of them, I learned her name is Barb, fell in a turn and hurt a rib, she was out. Her friend stayed with her as another rider and I promised to let race officials know at the next checkpoint.
I got to Big Brushy and Aaron got me another spare tire and air cylinder just in case. I ate half a protein bar and a banana and was on my way to do Blowout Mountain. Now Blowout Mountain was probably not named by mountain bikers but could have been. It starts with about 2 miles of going up. I promised myself I would stay on the bike for this. Just near the top the world’s worst rock garden starts. As I jumped off the bike I felt a little twinge in my left quad. This was a good time for a couple of electrolyte tabs. As I pushed and carried my bike over the rocks both of my quads totally locked up on me. Quite painful! I kept walking letting my calves carry me over the mountain. And giving the quads a rest. I tried to drink as much as I could. This section has about one and a half miles of unridable rocks (at least for my level of riding). So I carried my bike as fast as I could. I caught a couple of other riders along here as I didn’t stop to break at all and my shoes allowed me to move a little easier over the trail. I finally cleared the rocks and started a sweet decent to the first checkpoint. I flew down that trail really enjoying the ride after all the hiking. I finally came to the really steep decent to the road. I was doing fine on it practically sitting on my back tire when I came to the last little bit to get on the road. Those of you who know me know I like an audience so I choose this point to pull a nice endo in some rocks landing hard on my shoulder. I jumped up quickly and inspected my bike all was fine but my shoulder was going to be sore. I was three hours ahead of the cutoff. Way better than I thought I would be doing. The good news was I really felt good, except for the shoulder. I got some food and water in me, refilled my bladder and headed down the short dirt road section to the next, and last, part of the Ouachita Trail.
Chalybeate Mountain starts with a very steep but luckily short bike push up the mountain. I caught another rider here (someone that I would go back and forth with the rest of the race.) The downhill on the other side is wonderful, almost enough reward for the hike. At the bottom I came out on another dirt road and the Ouachita Trail section was over. Yeah! I almost stopped to kiss the dirt road but I had that other dude on my tail still. I rode along the dirt road getting some gel and starting to feel a bit worn. I was looking forward to getting to Sims and seeing Sarah and Aaron again. I needed some ibuprofen for my shoulder, which was starting to ache and I was feeling a little bump in my back tire. I obviously had not gotten the bead set right when I changed it. I knew that Aaron could fix it for me. I had to ride across Fiddler Creek, which was about 2 feet deep. Aaron had warned me about it and I geared down and picked up speed powering through it in front of some race volunteers (I had another audience). I now had about 5 more miles to Sims and was feeling my first bonk of the day. At this point the guy I had passed earlier caught me out of the blue, last time I had looked back there was no one. I dug a little deeper and stayed with him all the way to Sims.
Thank God for Sarah and Aaron! I had spent the last few miles putting together a list in my head of what I needed and when I hit the checkpoint I practically barked my needs. Fix the tire, ibuprofen, food and yes Sarah, I’m drinking enough I just refilled at the Blowout checkpoint. This was the first time during the race that I’d set down on anything other than my bike. Three riders left the checkpoint before I did, the woman who had been riding with ‘Barb’, the guy I had been going back and forth with all day and a guy I last saw on top of Blowout Mountain. I must have really bonked. Time to get moving. It was about 10 minutes past 2 in the afternoon and I had to make the next checkpoint by 4 p.m. to stay in the race. I had 11.5 miles between that checkpoint and me most of it the Womble with just one major mountain to conquer. I felt like I could make it. First about 3 miles of road to the trailhead.
I passed the guy I’d seen on Blowout right out of the block. I was feeling better. I finally got back on trail. I know this part, I’ve ridden it at least three times and I pushed. My quads were still letting me know they were there and slowed me down on some of the short up hills but I tried to make up time on the downhills. This is when you start trying to do math in your head. How far do I need to go? What average speed do I need to maintain? What time is it? These are tough questions when you’ve been pushing yourself for 6 or 7 hours. Eventually I just decided to ride as hard as I could.
I reached Mauldin Mountain, the last major elevation gain of the race. Going up it I caught my old buddy. He was hurting too. I got in front of him and never saw him again. Just shortly past the top I came up on ‘Barb’s’ friend. She was walking her bike on a fairly flat part. I asked her if she was all right and she said she was just tired. At that point I let it all go on the downhill. This was going to be close! I bombed the downhill narrowly missing some trees and almost leaving the trail when I tried to look down at my speed. I came out on a road with just 2 miles to go. It was 3:45p.m. This was going to be tough. I had never ridden the next section. It had a good bit of elevation gain and my legs were starting to give out. I pushed myself hard figuring that I could leave everything I had right there and rest once I got through the checkpoint. All I had to do was make the 4:00 cutoff and then I could crawl the rest of the race.
I saw 4:00 come and go on the trail but I kept pushing just in case they would let me go despite being just a little late. I rolled into the checkpoint at 4:06p.m. That’s what six minutes means in a 60 mile race! The race was over. I took a break at the side of the road and ate and drank. I still had a 4 mile road ride (mostly downhill) to the finish line. As I rode I think I was secretly thankful to skip the last 6-7 miles. I was beat. They say the best part of hitting yourself in the head with a hammer is how good it feels when you stop. I know the true meaning.
I was the first person to not make the last cutoff. Riding back to the finish I consoled myself in that I was the fastest of the non-finishers. That’s me, the smartest guy on the short bus. Next year my goal will be to finish as the slowest of the finishers. It’s a great race! I did 53.5 miles in about 8 hours with 4880ft. of elevation gain. Special thanks go out to Sarah and Aaron for taking care of me not just during the race but all weekend. Thanks also to Lisa, my wife for taking care of things at home so I could go attempt this foolishness. I love you all!
Joe
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Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground!
holy shemp throwing chimps batman!
I'm glad you enjoy torturing yourself so much, it must make it easier to stay married to me [img]smile.gif[/img]
I'm sort of sorry I missed the agony but then I know I'm not ready for it right now and I had a great time getting sunburned and watching softball. Yeah for you honey, the smartest dumb kid in the class! GO SHORT BUS!
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The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'.
I had chicken fried chicken in a cafe in Mt. Ida the night before. I had three pancakes for breakfast the morning of the race. I like bananas during the race mixed with some Clif Shots (Viva Vanilla), Clif Bars (Carrot Cake), A PB&J somewhere during the race and a little berry gatorade mixed into my water.
About 2 hours after the race I puked and then went for some fried chicken.
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Today's mighty oak was once just some nut who held his ground!
Ouch. I'm reconsidering riding with you nuts. You guys are out of my league. Short bus? I'm in the ward with the Schiavos of the world. My goal with you guys will be to not get hurt so I can continue with my road riding season.
Thanks for the race report ODB. It's fun lviing vicariously through your words.
Originally posted by Kaiser: Ouch. I'm reconsidering riding with you nuts. You guys are out of my league. Short bus? I'm in the ward with the Schiavos of the world. My goal with you guys will be to not get hurt so I can continue with my road riding season.
Thanks for the race report ODB. It's fun lviing vicariously through your words.
Don't let Joe scare you. The course was tough, but that was mostly because of the climbs on the Ouachita Trail. The Womble is much much better. Perhaps you'll get the chance to ride it.
Kick ass trails tend to help with health and well being. At least some good single track always helps me. Bmph8ter started as a shortened form of bump hater; I drove an extremely slammed mini truck for quite some time. Now that I'm 'into' computers too, some friends at other forums have suggested that it could also be bitmap hater. The images suck really bad (crappy filesize) so I guess it works either way.
I participated in the tour (so I went the opposite direction of ODB) . And I have a few comments to share.
The first 25 miles of the tour was on the Womble trail. I cannot emphasize enough how amazing that trail is to ride. It was the sweetest single track I have ever been on. Practically the entire thing is Bench Cut trail and although it climbs up and up and up it does it in a way that doesn't kill you. It undulates, twists, turns, rises and falls with roots and rocks and pine needles to occupy your tires. It's not overly technical....in fact it is about perfect. It provides challenges without ever making you feel like your going to kill yourself. The big pay off is once you reach the top. You have the most amazing downhill (that I have ever ridden anyway). Again it is 90% bench cut. Super fast, moderately technical with a couple of steep switch backs. It gave the Hayes Hydros everything they could handle. Precision with the front tire is at a premium, due to the the bench cut nature, if your wheel wonders off the trail you got a pretty good chance to roll down the hill for a long way. I have no speedometer but I bet there were sections that we were at or near 25mph. When I arrived at CP1 I had a huge smile on my face. Although my body was already sending signals of possible cramps to come I had just completed the best piece of trail in my 5 year mountain bike history.
On the way to CP2 is when the pain really began. There was a long fire road section leading to the single track. I had already started to experience some cramping in the quads. I felt great other than that. Lungs felt great, strength felt great, heart felt great but the cramps had set in and I knew it was going to be a long day. Little did I know how long and difficult it would be. I was in FULL cramp mode by mile 35. I had finished the fire road section and just started in on the single track when it started going UP at a vicious pace. As you can see on the relief map Tour Relief Map the pitch is quite significant. This is the first place I had to pull off the trail, sit the bike down and work on the legs. I was doing all that I could to work out the cramps. Taking electrolyte tablets, Tums, and massaging them excessively to loosen them up. Once I had any indication that I could go on, I would pick up the bike and either walk or ride depending on the section of trail. It was a delicate dance, the cramps and I, for the rest of the way. Cramp management was fully in effect. I happened to have a burst of energy and muscle relief to get me to the top of the last climb this cluster. The subsequent downhill proved to be extremely fun and challenging. It was much more technical than any downhill on the trail so far. All rideable but a little more "white knuckling" going on, especially with cramped legs and a fatigued body. At CP2 I was still in very good spirits. I was walking around exulting the greatness of the wicked downhill I just got to ride. People were looking at me strangely. A few even said things like "just wait for this next section, you won't believe it". Unfortunately, I took that as a sign of good things to come. Boy was I wrong!!!
The teenager handing out oranges didn't give it away.....all he said was "it's a tough 6 miles". This was BLOW OUT Mountain. This is when the ride became a grueling challenge. Extremely verticle, 80% of it was unrideable, with rock gardens as jagged and long as you can imagine. Very sketchy footing through the rock gardens in my Sidi Bullet MTB shoes and legs that were ultra fatigued and would cramp at the slightest variation in intensity. It still had not occurred to me that I might not make the final checkpoint in time. It was made aware by a passing participant. He casually mentioned that we were in jeopardy. Yikes, I had to pick up the pace. I had a lot of time to think on this hike and one theme proved popular. The body is amazingly resilient. We rarely push the limits of our mental and physical capabilities. I had never done anything like this before. I found a new piece of me that I didn't know I had. Others motivated me without even knowing it. Sometimes with their words. Sometimes with their actions.
Arriving at CP3 was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in sports. At 2:50 I pulled in with haggard legs and a since of accomplishment. My immediate reward was the best oatmeal cookie I have ever had! Things taste so good when you’re at that point. I relaxed for a while at CP3. I needed to recover so I did a little stretching, lots of massaging, meditated (I had never done that before…seemed like a good idea) and closed my eyes for a couple of minutes. A very euphoric feeling came upon me. I somehow felt relaxed even though my legs were noticeably torn apart. After 20 minutes of daydreaming I decided it was time to start in on the last 15 miles of trail.
Finishing the ride was not a matter of if at this point, just a matter of when. I was in no hurry. My ridding buddy was with me and somehow we continued to drive each other. This portion of trail would be very difficult to ride but the majority of it would be rideable. Of course not in the condition I was in. I saddled up as often as possible, it often felt better than walking, but if the pitch rose much at all it would quickly drive the legs into lock down. I traversed a rock garden of considerable distance, the longest and most jagged I had ever done. As I approached on my bike there were several walkers in the area. Like ODB I couldn’t resist the crowed. They encouraged me with hoots and hollers and I capitulated with a burst of speed that flattened the rock garden. Of course 50 yards down the trail the quads were locked up and required a few minutes of TLC. I just kept focused on the idea that it would soon be over. I knew when I reached the fire road that there was no more single track on the route. It was the first time I had ever been happy to be off of single track. The road was no fun, but I knew it was the final stretch to the finish.
I pulled in to the finish tent @ 5:30 PM. Exactly 9 ½ hours after I started. I almost went to tears as the people cheered and my wife and daughter were there to greet me. It was an emotional moment. The release of all the mental energy that was so focused on the task at hand. I was happy it was over. Best spaghetti I had ever had. :-D
Back at the cabin I had the great opportunity to take a dip in the Ouachita River. Talk about an ice bath. Numb from my neck to my toes…..and I couldn’t think of a better way to be at that moment in time. We had grand plans of a poker party after the challenge. As you might imagine it didn’t materialize. We enjoyed a couple of celebratory beers and discussed the events of the day. Most of us were vocal about NOT ever doing this again. However, I find myself, sitting here today almost fully recovered, wondering if I could post a better time. Well see.
HOLY CARP! 
I trust my health and well being to your good judgement. Remember I'm almost as old as Joe, just not as durable. 
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