The race start was set for 6:00 a.m. and if anyone knows me very well at all then they know that I am a hurry up and wait kind of guy. I was up at 4:20 to let my body get woken up and so I could do some business. We made our way to the start venue around 5:20 a.m. and Mark and I rode up and down the street a little bit, I think for me it was more to calm my nerves than for anything else.
When people started forming on the start line there were huge gaps here and there so instead of just getting in line I rode my way up to the middle of the pack and took my place, Lyle rolled up next to me and we talked for a little bit.
Soon we were off and the pace thru town seemed to be faster than the year before, I didn't run off with the leaders I just maintained a steady pace and by the time I hit the gravel road (about 2 miles in) the leaders were probably a half mile ahead of me at this point. I didn't care about that because I know I cannot ride that pace without blowing up. The first leg was 58 miles and all of it was into a headwind or a head/crosswind. There wasn't a ton of climbing but some good climbs were littered throughout the course. I started out slowly, I did have to bridge up early to draft off a group of riders because I was stuck in the open with riders a ways behind me. When the group I was drafting sped up I just eased into an easy pace and waited for the next group to catch me and then I rode with them for a while. I did not want to be a hero as I knew it was a long race and we were not very far into the race.
About 22 miles in I was flying down a hill in a group when I noticed something fly up in the air, as it was doing flips I could tell it wasn't a rock but I wasn't sure what it was. I looked down and I found out what it was...it was my computer. Well I just kept going since I was in a group and who knows where it landed. The remainder of the first leg was pretty good, steady effort but nothing too hard. I finished that leg just under 4 hrs.
I came into my pit area and was there for 10 min max and then was back out on the road again. The second leg was 44 miles and I was feeling pretty good about it. It started out with a lot of flat sections and a tailwind, this lasted for about 20 miles or so. I was riding with Gerald Hart and another guy toward the end of that 20 miles and when we made the turn back to the West Gerald made the comment that we had 24 miles of wind so we better settle in. Only a couple miles down the road we came to a turn that was not marked but it seemed by the map that this is where we should turn. Gerald and I said that we should turn but another guy rolled up and said we were suppose to go straight. Gerald went on but I wanted to make sure and there were more riders rolling up. There ended up being about 10 of us there and half of us thought one way and the other half thought the other way, we could see several other riders had gone straight but I still didn't feel that was right. Soon we could see some riders coming back from that direction, it ended up being about 30 people and now there was around 40 of us standing at this intersection, we quickly realized that we did need to turn there and we all left as a group. About a mile in we found some more course markings so we knew that we were on course. We had 3 water crossings, the first one was a stinky muddy mess but the other two were not so bad. Soon we were climbing out of these low sections and back into the wind, I started to slow down. I just kept pushing on as best as I could. The last 8 miles or so was more of a tailwind or cross tailwind but I knew not to go too hard thru there as I was just getting to the halfway point of the race. As we rolled into town I looked at another guy and said "Man that was a tough 44 miles", he smiled and said "Thank you for saying that because I thought I was just being a wimp".
Rolling into the second checkpoint I was not feeling really good, my stomach was not feeling right and I was not wanting to eat anything. I sat down for a while and took of my jersey and soaked a towel in ice water and put it on my face and neck to keep cool. The longer I sat there I was hoping to feel better but just didn't, so I decided to try and go to the bathroom. That was a good choice because I felt much better after that. I got new bottles and filled my Camelbak and headed back out on the course. The third leg was 60 miles and it was getting hotter out now and I was a bit concerned. Not very far into this leg I realized that I should have just brought all water because I tried to drink my Perpetuem and Fizz but my stomach wasn't having it. Now I was going to have to rely on my 70 oz of water in my Camelbak to get me to the end or try to force my other options. I was feeling really good early on, I wasn't riding very hard but seemed to be carrying a good speed (couldn't really tell without my computer!!!). This good feeling stopped about 15 miles in, I knew I still had 45 miles to go and I was hurting. I found a shade tree and stopped for about a minute and then went on again but was not feeling good. Now my stomach was not wanting water in it either, I was a cotton mouth since I had already slowed my fluid intake but I couldn't stomach the fluids. I decided to look for a water source to cool myself off. The next creek I came to the water was a ways down the hill so I went on, the next one was bone dry. Then I came to a low water crossing where there was concrete in the low spot so water wouldn't wash out the road. I laid on the concrete because my back hurt but the concrete was so hot. Stephanie McCreary, from St. Louis, rolled up and said "Oh Water", I told her I was thinking about getting in and she said "What are you thinking about, let's get in". So we did and the water was so cold and refreshing, my core temp was able to lower and it felt nice. A couple other people saw us and joined us then she and I got back on the bikes and took off. After a few miles we noticed rain in the distance and that it was clouding up so that was a good sign. I rode on ahead and could see some lightning off in the distance and the clouds were getting darker and darker. It wasn't long until my stomach thought it was time to put me through the ringer, I stopped and was hanging over my handlebars and dry heaving like a champ. I couldn't get anything out but my stomach didn't care and it kept trying to empty itself. Stephanie rolled up next to me and checked on me, I was in a world of hurt. She asked if I needed to call my wife and I told her I think I should. I turned on my GPS so I could get the coordinates but I did not want to quit. I told Stephanie to go on and I would be fine. I talked myself out of calling Molly and straddled my bike again, Emily Brock (last years female winner) rolled up and checked on me. I started riding with her and the lightning was increasing and the clouds were getting darker and the wind was picking up. Then it started to rain hard and it was big drops, usually I take my glasses off in the rain but it was raining so hard I couldn't see with them off. Emily said she was trying to decide when we should take cover and then she saw a tree line up ahead and said "I don't know about you but I'm going in there". I was hot on her heels and Stephanie was already under the tree line and then 2 or 3 other guys rolled up too. The rain was pouring down in sheets and the wind was thrashing the trees like crazy, then lightning struck about 50 yds away...it was a little bit scary. I heard later that someone had reported that they saw a tornado, I don't know if that was true or not. Another guy I talked to said the group he was riding with took cover also and the wind snapped a tree in half near their location. He also said a guy got blown off of his bike.
When the wind and rain slowed up we all took off again and about a mile down the road we made a turn back to the East, it "was" a dirt road but now was a mud road. It was impossible to ride as the bike was picking up huge amounts of mud and the wheels would not turn. Really made the bike nice and light!!! We all picked up our bikes and started carrying them, then the road turned back to the North and it was a mud road as far as I could see. We all ended up getting into the tall grass on the side of the road and did a hike-a-bike for 3 miles, talk about suck!!! My stomach was still not happy with me, I would stop and dry heave here and there and after nearly 2 hrs I was at the end of the mud road. There were a few riders there and a farmer had his pick up truck there too. The last thing I wanted to do was to quit but I was in so much pain and I couldn't drink anything without wanting to throw up. Also I was concerned about any other mud sections on the rest of the course. The farmer gave 4 of us a ride to Burdick, KS. It was about 4 buildings and a couple houses. We all tried to give him some money but he wouldn't take it, he was such a nice guy and you could tell he enjoyed helping us out. There were about 10 other riders in Burdick when we got there, they had gotten rides from other farmers. Soon after I climbed out of the truck I started my dry heaving again, man was I getting tired of this. I got a hold of Molly and she came and got me. We gave another rider a ride to the third checkpoint since that is where his crew was and he couldn't get a hold of them. On the way to drop him off I was shaking in the van, my fingers were curling into my palms and my hands were curling in toward my body and I just couldn't stop shaking. I was a mess.
I am disappointed with my race but not upset, I am more disappointed that I don't know exactly what happened to me. I don't ever want that to happen again, I hope that this experience will make me stronger.
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