Oden's Beard, the Sequel.

So Steve and I headed down to the Ouachita Challenge in Arkansas on Saturday. We got a bit of a late start, but hings come up in life that need to be done prior to leaving. Not a big deal. Our ETA at the Aqua Motel in MT. Ida was set for around 9:30. We stopped before Fayetteville to get some food at this little "traditional" Mexican restaurant. We figured the food would be good, it was mediocre at best. Back in the car, we finally made it to our destination well after dark. We stayed at the Aqua last year, it is pretty bare bones, but do-able. And, it is in the middle of the forrest, which is quaint. Steve and I watched a little bit of Jackass 2.5 on the computer, then hit the sack. The morning wake up call came at a little after 5. We got up, loaded up, and headed to the race. Side note here: it was 71 degrees when we got up! So, I didn't take my hoodie with me, I would sorely regret this later. We got to the race, and parked illegally after I questioned whether we should be doing so. Steve told me it was OK since we parked there last year. I also wondered out loud if we would need our id's to pick up our numbers. Steve thought not. We went in, and of course we did need our id's. Doh! We got our stuff, and that was when I received "the text". It was from Jasen, he and his wife had been in Arkansas all week prior to the Ouachita on holliday, and he was texting me to let me know that he was going to bail on the race since he was sick. Bummer. Steve and I went and got our breakfast, and sat down to eat with some other team mates. When we got done, we went outside and discovered that the 71 degree temps had dropped to about 55 in 30 minutes, and it was raining. Great! If you know about me and racing, you know Idont like mud. At all. It is the roadie slime in me that is still prevalent coming out. I don't like to clean my stuff, and to me it is just not fun. Well, the rain stopped, it was just enough to make it cold really. We got ready, and headed to the riders meeting. There are 2 races, the 60 mile and the 80 mile. The 60 mile filled up to capacity, I think the cap was set at 200 riders, and I think they let 100 riders race the 80 mile. Anyway, there were a ton of people. And it was a mass start. I lined up towards the middle, I made the mistake of going out too hard last year, and kind of imploding as soon as we hit the trail. There is a long section before you actually get into the single track, and that would serve to split things up a lot. Well, the gun went off, and it was about 10 seconds before I actually got going since there were so many people in front of me. It is pretty funny to experience: that many mountain bikers on pavement, it sounds like a monster truck rally. And, a lot of these people have no clue what to do in a pack riding situation riding close to others. Kind of sketchy. So, I started punching holes through the field, and mad my way into the top 40 or so. We hit some hills, and I worke my way up a little more, just trying to stay comfortable and not go too hard. We finally hit the single track, and it was a sloppy mess. There was a pretty substantial amount of standing water in places, enough to get you muddy right away. I tried to avoid the mud in the beginning, but it becoes pretty impossible fast. Anyway, I maintained position, and passed som people too. We came to the first water crossing, there were people trying to ride it. I could tell that it was deep, and I was the only one in my group to notice the bridge about 15 feet away over the water. As I was going across the bridge, I watched one guy dump his bike and himself into the water, total submersion. It would be a cold, wet day for him. I had one fall in this strecth, and of course it was on my knee on a rock, so I had some blood and pain. I made it to the first checkpoint at mile 22, and I still had plenty of fluid, so I picked up some food and kept going. Some road and gravel later, we came to the major water crossing of the day. The water was about mid thigh deep, and it was a pretty wide little stream. And, it was rushing. The guy there said that it was not safe to ride, and I could see why. They had a rope tied from one bank to the other side to hold onto. About halfway across, I had my bike shouldered, the current was so strong it almost knocked me over. It really sucked. Su, now I had freezing cold legs, and cold, wet feet. We entered more singletrack and started climbing. Not too bad, but you could tell that the trail was getting more technical. I made it to the next aid station without incident, and actually made up quite a few spots on the climb. I figured that by this time I was in the top 20'ish. Stopped, and filled up my fluids and got more food. One of the helpers at the station took my hydro [ack for my and filled it up. Not a good idea. When I got going again, I noticed that I had cold water all over my back. I just figured tht he had over filled it. I stopped and fumbled some enduro tabs into my mouth and got going again. Well, my back kept getting colder and wetter, so I stopped again. Opened the pack, and discovered that the lid was not screwed on correctly on the bladder in the pack. Nice! Got that fixed, and got going again. About 5 people passed me during this time. Well, I went to take a drink, and I couldn't get anything thru the tube. Stopped again, and took everything back apart. More people passed. Started up blowout mountain, the hardest part of this race. The climb is tough, but I rode the whole thing and passed a ton of walkers. The worst part for me is you think it is over, but you descend a little, and then climb forever again. Its pretty demoralizing. And, the amount of rock is disturbing: there is shit up there that you can't ride, to dangerous, so you have to walk. A fall on some of the rock up there would break bones for sure, maybe worse. I did ride more of the technical sections then I did last year, but I still did my fair share of carring the bike over stuff. I went over the bars into a rock pile, and somehow managed to land on my feet. Freaking lucky. Finally got done with blowout mtn and went thru the next aid station without stopping. At this time, I was no longer having fun and just wanted to get done. It was getting colder, and it was so windy on the mountains and in the valleys that I was wishing for someone to draft off of. Hit the next and final mountain, and rode it. More rock, and mud. By this time, I was cramping up pretty bad, but I knew I could push thru and get in in a decent time still. Last years race was short by a little over 10 miles due to flooding. I wanted to better my time from last year, even with the added miles, and I wanted to get in the top 30. Keep in mind last year that it took me 6 hours and 41 minutes for 50 ish miles. Not horrible, but not great. So, I was on [pace to come in this year in under 6 hours. I hit the final stretch of road, and stayed on the gas in the 11, and came in 5 hours and 55 minutes and some change. I was pretty happy. Burned a little under 8000 calories. And, I got 30th overall, which I was happy with. I think I could have knocked another 15 minutes off of my time if I didn't have to stop so much to get the stupid hydro pack fixed. Ah well. Steve had a good ride, but was pretty blown when he rolled in, and it was freaking cold. I was wishing for my hoodie, and I hid in the car the whole time I was waiting for him. We headed back to the motel, cleaned up, packed, and got on the road around 6. Long drive home, thru the mountains with 50 mh winds. I got home a little before 2 in the morning. And I called in to work today. So there you go. A blog post. I prolly won't ever do this race again, it was fun, but just too much...I have some video from our trip, I'll upload it soon...