After enjoying our race experience at the Whole Enchilada in 2022, we were really looking forward to participating again. I swam with our masters group at the aquatic center in the morning and Karel swam at Furman. We were going into this event with a solid week of training in us. We left Greenville around 12:30pm and had homemade sandwiches, grapes and chips during our 2 hour drive to the Whitewater Center. We did a 90 min recon ride on the East Main loop (11.7 miles). I could feel the fatigue in my arms and legs from the previous workouts this week but it felt good to be out on the trails. Last year when I participated in the event I had only been mountain biking for a few months so to have another year of riding behind me, I could notice that my skills had improved. However, I still struggle a lot with tight/twisty turns but I'm determined to continue to work on it. I was looking forward to one specific obstacle that I really struggled with last year. It's a short steep climb with tiny rocks, followed by several big exposed tree roots and then another set of roots. Karel showed me what to do and after 4 attempts, I finally made it. Karel's rear brake wasn't working and he didn't bring his brake bleeding kit so after we rode the loop, we went back to the car for him to put on different brake pads and then we went back out for him to test it again. He was frustrated that this happened as he was tinkering with his bike before we left and he said he must have gotten an air bubble in the brake.
After the ride, we did a quick change in the car and then at 5pm, we picked up our bib number and compimentary pair of socks. I forgot to bring a recovery drink/powder on this trip so we stopped by Smoothie King in route to my friends house where we were staying the night.
After the ride, we did a quick change in the car and then at 5pm, we picked up our bib number and compimentary pair of socks. I forgot to bring a recovery drink/powder on this trip so we stopped by Smoothie King in route to my friends house where we were staying the night.
I met my Christie in 2005 when participating in a trail run on New Years day in New Port Richy at Starky Park. I was living with my parents after graduate school and we were both leading the race and decided to just run together. We then met up at the Boston Marathon the year later and then from 2008 until 2012, we would stay with Christie during USA Cycling speed week when Karel would race the Dilworth Crit. I came across this picture from 2010 when Campy was just 3 years old. He loved his buddy Milo (who has sinced passed) - they had so much fun together. Christie has taken care of Campy a few times during our international travels and she loves getting updates of her "little man."
Christie made us vegetable lasagna for dinner (along with salad and bread) and it was so delicious. Christie, her partner Pamela and Karel and me enjoyed chatting over dinner. We went to bed around 9pm as we were super tired. Neither of us felt nervous for the race but excited to ride our mountain bikes for a few hours on new trails.
Christie made us vegetable lasagna for dinner (along with salad and bread) and it was so delicious. Christie, her partner Pamela and Karel and me enjoyed chatting over dinner. We went to bed around 9pm as we were super tired. Neither of us felt nervous for the race but excited to ride our mountain bikes for a few hours on new trails.
We arrived to the venue around 7:30am and we had on and off rain for a good 2 hours. Thankfully it wasn't cold out and the rain stopped around 9:30am. The race started at 8:30am. As I was waiting for the start, a random guy and I were chatting and he said to me "see that guy with the green Specialized. He just did 6 hours on the ridge and won the race and did 10 laps. He was really nice to me when he passed me." I then responded "that's my husband." It was such a sweet thing for him to say and I couldn't wait to tell Karel after the race. I was planning to start in the 2nd wave (like I did last year) but after hearing that the race course changed from last year with more single track to start, I decided to start near the back of the first wave.
As for the race itself, I was really proud of my skills in the first hour. I was able to get over several obstacles that other guys were struggling on. I have no idea how I was able to manage the roots and technical climbs. My legs were feeling good. I didn't have any falls but near the middle/end, I certainly got more tired and couldn't get through obstacles and had to quickly unclip and hike a bike over the obstacle. There were purple directional arrows for the whole course but several athletes went off course in the first hour and since I was following the group, we had to turn around and backtrack. At that point, I realized that the new course (somewhat reversed from last year) was a bit confusing with all the arrows and signs. Since both the whole and half started together and had a similar course, there were athletes going all different directions and it was very confusing.
Around 2 hours into the event, I came across two signs "Parkway" and "East Main Loop." At this point I was by myself and wasn't sure where to go. Last year we did the Parkway first and finished with the East Main loop but even though the course was somewhat reversed, I wasn't sure where to go. My gut said go straight because prior to those signs, there was a sign that said "course split ahead." Right after I passed the parkway sign, I saw a purple arrow so I thought I was going the right way. I even saw tire tracks in the mud so I figured others had gone this way. After 2 miles of riding, I came across a group of riders that I had seen early on in the race and they were coming from another direction. I asked them if they went the East Main Loop and they said yes. So I did an extra 2 miles but missed 1.76 miles. I continued on the course with relief that I was actually back on the course but I couldn't shake the fact that I had missed some of the course. For the next 23 miles and 2:26 hrs, I couldn't stop thinking about this mistake and what I should do. I went through several scenarios but what was interesting is that the scenarios changed depending on where I was on the course. I decided I would just finish the race and get a DQ when I was in the back part of the course. It was super mudy and the trail was not well groomed and I was getting frustrated and tired. But then when I would get to an easier section, I decided that I would make up the part I missed. It wasn't about awards or overall placement but I wouldn't be able to be ok with the fact that I knew I missed some of the course. Even if it was not my fault, I new I did it and I didn't want to finish the race with that on my mind.
The only problem was that I wasn't sure where I would be able to get back on the course to where I missed the turn. As I was nearing the parking lot, I spotted the enterance to the main loop where Karel and I rode the day before so I got myself off course and did the 1.76 mile loop that I missed. It was very technical and I was so tired at this point so I had to walk my bike a lot. My detour to re-ride the route I missed took me 20 minutes and it was three miles. So that was over 7 miles extra that I did on the course. After I finished the loop, I felt relieved knowing I did it all. I thought I was nearing the finish but I still had 4.5 miles and 31 minutes to go. Ugh, part of me just wanted this to be overwith as I was feeling so many different emotions. But I kept my mind calm by just focusing on having a solid training day and doing what I felt was the right thing.
Around 2 hours into the event, I came across two signs "Parkway" and "East Main Loop." At this point I was by myself and wasn't sure where to go. Last year we did the Parkway first and finished with the East Main loop but even though the course was somewhat reversed, I wasn't sure where to go. My gut said go straight because prior to those signs, there was a sign that said "course split ahead." Right after I passed the parkway sign, I saw a purple arrow so I thought I was going the right way. I even saw tire tracks in the mud so I figured others had gone this way. After 2 miles of riding, I came across a group of riders that I had seen early on in the race and they were coming from another direction. I asked them if they went the East Main Loop and they said yes. So I did an extra 2 miles but missed 1.76 miles. I continued on the course with relief that I was actually back on the course but I couldn't shake the fact that I had missed some of the course. For the next 23 miles and 2:26 hrs, I couldn't stop thinking about this mistake and what I should do. I went through several scenarios but what was interesting is that the scenarios changed depending on where I was on the course. I decided I would just finish the race and get a DQ when I was in the back part of the course. It was super mudy and the trail was not well groomed and I was getting frustrated and tired. But then when I would get to an easier section, I decided that I would make up the part I missed. It wasn't about awards or overall placement but I wouldn't be able to be ok with the fact that I knew I missed some of the course. Even if it was not my fault, I new I did it and I didn't want to finish the race with that on my mind.
The only problem was that I wasn't sure where I would be able to get back on the course to where I missed the turn. As I was nearing the parking lot, I spotted the enterance to the main loop where Karel and I rode the day before so I got myself off course and did the 1.76 mile loop that I missed. It was very technical and I was so tired at this point so I had to walk my bike a lot. My detour to re-ride the route I missed took me 20 minutes and it was three miles. So that was over 7 miles extra that I did on the course. After I finished the loop, I felt relieved knowing I did it all. I thought I was nearing the finish but I still had 4.5 miles and 31 minutes to go. Ugh, part of me just wanted this to be overwith as I was feeling so many different emotions. But I kept my mind calm by just focusing on having a solid training day and doing what I felt was the right thing.
I finished with 51 miles in the 43 mile course and rode for almost 5.5 hours. It was a long day but I would say, a productive one to have that much time on technical terrain - and in muddy conditions.
After I crossed the finish line, Karel came hobbling over to me and I thought that his back was bothering him (which is usual) but then he told me that he had several falls. The first was hitting his knee when he fell on a tight turn. This also caused him to hurt his left thumb. Then he had a few more slips on wet roots but just when he thought things were going better, he made a tight turn off a bridge (none of the bridges had chicken netting which helps with traction when wood is wet/damp) and the bike slipped out from under him and he banged his right hip really hard. He was on the ground for over 3 minutes in tremendous pain. He still had a little over 10 miles left in the race so he continued riding but at that point, he was hurting, frustrated and just ready for it all to be overwith. He also experienced confusion with the arrows and at the results, the placees were inaccurate as so many people did not complete the entire course.
After I crossed the finish line, Karel came hobbling over to me and I thought that his back was bothering him (which is usual) but then he told me that he had several falls. The first was hitting his knee when he fell on a tight turn. This also caused him to hurt his left thumb. Then he had a few more slips on wet roots but just when he thought things were going better, he made a tight turn off a bridge (none of the bridges had chicken netting which helps with traction when wood is wet/damp) and the bike slipped out from under him and he banged his right hip really hard. He was on the ground for over 3 minutes in tremendous pain. He still had a little over 10 miles left in the race so he continued riding but at that point, he was hurting, frustrated and just ready for it all to be overwith. He also experienced confusion with the arrows and at the results, the placees were inaccurate as so many people did not complete the entire course.
Soon after I finished, they were announcing the results and they called my name for winning the 40-49 age group. There were only 7 females who did the whole. The first place lady likely didn't complete the course as she wasn't at the results and she rode almost 80 minutes faster than me (and beat Karel) so since she didn't show up, the announced me as overall female. I recieved a hydration pack and a Whole Enchilada (which had meat in it so I packed it up in a to-go box for Karel).
I was speaking to the 2nd place female and she told me that she also found the course to be confusing. I told her my situation with the course and although I did complete the entire course, I still don't feel right for winning the event.
.jpg)
The girl who was 2nd overall is in the background with her husband. I found her on Facebook and sent her a message that I would like her to get the hydration pack as her award for being the first overall female.
Well, it was a muddy, fun, crazy, adventurous, unpredictable day of racing. These situations are tough and many athletes have been in them. While you are told that you are responsible for knowing the course, it's also important for the race director to have correct signage to keep you safe and on course. Instead of putting blame on the race director or feeling upset about your mistakes, the best thing you can do is admit if you cut the course by accident and when in doubt, make up what you missed. This way you finish what you intended to start AND you get in a bit more time doing what you love. Always race with integrity. Remember, for most of us, this is a hobby.
I drove home to let Karel relax a bit from his crashes. He was in a lot of pain. He felt a bit better after some ice cream and he is feeling a bit better today (no worse) so hopefully he will feel better as the week goes on.