Pukefest (also known as a bike race) at Afton Alps

Am I glad I did the race? Definitely. Was it hard? Extremely.

Sunday was the MNSCS race at Afton Alps. The last time I rode here was about 7 years ago and I somehow managed to forget how hard this course is. I knew it was going to be a tough race with a lot of climbing but I forgot exactly how much climbing there was to be had. The course did have some short, sections of fun singletrack mixed throughout but you had to climb to get to it. I can’t believe I did the 24 Hours of Afton 4 times and still forget how tough this course is.

I woke up about 6:30 Sunday morning to the sound of pouring rain and really hoped the rain would continue. It didn’t so I didn’t have a good excuse to not show up. I wasn’t nervous and my only goal was to finish. I never do good at starts (that’s why I like endurance races) and this one was no different. Gun went off and all the women went speeding on ahead. I managed to pass a few of them and was able to settle into a pace, uncomfortable as it was. I felt pretty good the first lap and was able to ride most everything and finished in 50 minutes.

Second lap not so good. I went through the start area, grabbed a fresh water bottle from Janet (thanks!) and started climbing. It was time to get some energy so I grabbed a PowerGel and ate it quickly at the top of a climb. My stomach completely revolted on me and I proceeded to throw up. The very weird thing is that I had already done that in the morning – I think it was a bad reaction to taking my vitamins on an empty stomach. I felt totally fine before that and really had no idea where the stomach upset came from. After that I was just hoping to finish and not get passed by the women behind me (I accomplished both goals).
I ended up walking a lot more this lap – mostly on the short steep stuff. I just didn’t have the energy to power up them. There was one technical section that I didn’t try the first lap, tried on the second, got stuck on a rock and flown off my bike but luckily I was going to slow to get hurt. I finished at 1 hour, 51 minutes, 7th overall (out of 10), and 2nd in my age category.

This race was very good and not just because it was good hill training. I maintained a good mental attitude and it provided me 2 hours for some uninterrupted reflection. I haven’t felt right the last several weeks (physically and mentally) and really think I need to start over with the training – kind of like the ctrl-alt-del I talked about earlier. I know these races are tough but I really want to find the balance between the physical challenge, the mental challenge and the fun aspect. This time allowed me to really think about why I want to do these crazy endurance events, what about it that makes me happy and what motivates me to push myself. I really don’t want to lose sight all this and this time helped me get back to thinking about it.

So, I’ve decided to make one change to my race schedule – I am not going to do the 100 mile race at Levis Trow. I don’t feel ready and think I need some more training to tackle a 100 miler and will be doing the 50 miler instead. This will allow me to concentrate on my 12 hour solo race at the 24 Hours of 9 mile, a race course I dream about!

Thanks to Janet and Kim for cheering Sunday!