I hate to start blogs like this, but, it was just not my day.
First, I love this race. Last year (2022) was my first year to participate in the Lula Lake Land Trust 5 Point 50 Mile mountain bike race and I loved it! After that race, I vowed to make it "my race" and show up for it regardless of my fitness. It's one of those courses that you can do as fast as you want and have fun or you can just do it at an easy pace and have fun. It's a mountain biker's race. It's located on Lookout Mountain, just outside of Chattanooga, TN.
The course starts out on a highway that takes you to the trail. It's about 5 miles of pavement. For me, that's the worst part of the race. It's a very fast role out and everyone is jockeying for position. It's a cock fight. But, if you can settle in and catch a draft, you can maintain a decent pace. Once you hit the trail, it's just ripping single track for miles! It flows and it's fast. There are some technical rock gardens that you really need to thread the needle through, but for the most part, just hold and let it fly. Of course, what goes down must go up. There are several short, punchy, and long climbs. But, it's like paying the debt, you get to enjoy what you pay (climb) for.
Somewhere around mile-37, you enter into private land, opened just for the racers. It's a land trust that is made accessible just for this race. It's rough and challenging, but worth it, just really good trail riding. After that, at about mile-43, you ride through the parking lot of the park the race starts and finishes. You only have about 7 miles left, but it's a hard loop. It's a long 3+ mile climb and a ripping descent to the gravel road that takes you to the finish line.
Since I had so much fun at this event last year, I put some extra time into training with intentions of knocking several minutes from 2022's finishing time. I finished in 4 hours and 45 minutes. I was happy with that. But, I felt like I could have been a little more prepared. Last year was a busy season and I really didn't invest in any long training rides. I was doing a lot of short workouts. So, this year, I hit it pretty hard. Several 3-4 hour rides with multiple extended efforts throughout. Also, last year, I used my Guerrilla Gravity: Trail Pistol, a short travel full-suspension trail bike. It's 120mm travel in the rear, and 130mm up front. It's do-it-all mountain bike. But, it's heavy. Without bottles and gear, it weighs in at 31 pounds. I can shave a pound off with lighter tires. But, it's not the ideal climbing bike. So, this year, I opted for my hardtail. It's a Spot Brand: Rocker with 120mm SID up front. It's not quite as comfy and confident as the Trail Pistol but I felt like it would be a better choice since it can handle just about anything and it weights < 25 pounds. I have spent most of my dirt training on the Rocker this year.
Another change I decided to make from last year was my pre-race sleep situation. Last year, my wife, Ellen, and I camped out at the venue. We both slept terribly. We were cold and uncomfortable. I love to camp, but before a race, I like to make sure I get quality sleep. This year, we opted for a hotel room. I thought this would improve my chances for a PR.
Though, I went through the mental checklist of how to set a personal best at this event, there were a couple of elements against me. One, two weeks before the event, I acquired a nasty case of Covid. I was inactive for a week. Two, three weeks before the event, I took a little spill on my commuter bike and strained my knee. A few days of rest and icing cut into my training. But, I felt like I made the best of what I had and it was adequate for my goal.
Race day arrived! The fitness was good, the bike was dialed, my gear and nutrition was in place, I had a great night of sleep, the weather was superb, and I had a detailed plan on how I was going to make this the performance of the season.
From the start, I jumped onto a fast group and we turned up the pace a bit, taking turns pulling to get that 5-miles of road over with as soon as possible. As soon as we reached the trail, it felt like the pace cranked up even more. But, it was good. All you could hear was the hum of treads on hard-packed dirt, with thunderous roars in each turn.
Minutes after we started into the trail, I clipped a tree pretty hard with my right shoulder. This is common. If you look at the top of my shoulders, you'll see that this happens a lot. I am covered with freckles except for the tips of my shoulders. They're freckle-free because of scars from brushing trees while mountain biking. I told myself, "that's going to hurt tomorrow" and didn't think too much more about it.
We were about an hour and a half in and all was well. I was still flying through the trail with the same group. We reached a climb with a couple of switchbacks. After the second turn, I felt a terrible sting on my ankle. I slapped at it and kept pedaling. Then I hear other people yelling, "ouch!" (and many other expressions). Then, I hear, "hornets!" I started to ride hard to get away but they had already found me. I took another sting on the back of my leg. I kept pedaling while slapping at my legs and relentlessly trying to get away. When I finally felt like it was clear, I asked the guy behind me if he was allergic and he said no, but he wanted to find a Benadryl at the next aid station. I am not allergic to stings. That is, aside from the fact that they hurt like the dickens. A ground hornet sting is a different kind of pain. This was not my first rodeo. It's bad. However, I didn't think much of it. I think my heart rate and adrenaline were so high that I really didn't get the full affect of the stings.
Shortly after the hornet incident, still with the same group, I took a turn too fast and hit the ground. Two riders behind me managed to get around without having to stop. I jumped up quick, assessed the damage, only a couple of small cuts on my knee and my seat post was a little off. I readjusted the seat, jumped back on, and stoked up the pace to catch back on to my group. But, since I landed on my drive side, my shifting was a little off. It's very likely that I bend the derailleur hanger. I made a quick stop and adjusted it the best that I could. There's not a lot you can do in the middle of a race but just make it work. I pulled the hanger out a little and jumped back on. While riding, I used the barrel adjuster to dial it a little. It wasn't perfect, but it was working.
After about two hours into the race I looked at my Garmin to check the status of my goal. But, to my surprise, the distance read 12.12 miles. That couldn't be. The good news is, I was right, I was closer to 20 miles. The bad news is, my GPS was not connected. I have a Garmin Edge 820. It's a touchscreen. What you need to know about a touchscreen is, if you don't lock the screen, it's very likely that it will start opening up features that you do not want it to. Dirt or sweat will actuate screen buttons. Well, I didn't lock the screen when I started the race. When I crashed, buttons were pushed by accident. At one point, I looked down and noticed that I was on the screen that allows you to choose a satellite. While wearing gloves, I tried my best to get it back to the home screen. Apparently, I disabled the GPS. I didn't have time to stop and fix it so I just went by the time, which was still ticking.
As I approached the three-hour mark, I started to feel bad and I had no explanation for it. My stomach was churning, I was feeling tired and fatigued, and I was losing the ability to ride relatively easy features. I thought about my calorie intake. I had a very meticulous plan for it. I was carrying three bottles with 360 calories each. And, I had four packs of Cliff Shot Blocks with 190 calories each. And, I was consistently consuming them. It was not my nutrition. I started to doubt myself. (That is a nail in the coffin in itself.) I started to doubt my training even though I knew I had put in the work. My stomach kept churning and I started to burp up my fluid and shot blocks. I had that burn in my throat that felt like acid reflux. My stomach was cramping and I felt leg cramps sneaking up.
I made it to the third aid station to find out that I was at mile 36. I had 14 miles until the finish. I looked at my ride time: 4 hours. There was no way to make my goal and I was way behind. Having completed this race last year, I knew it was going to be a hard 14 miles, possibly the hardest section of the race.
From that point, the trail enters the Lula Lake Land Trust. This is the private land that opens up for the race. It's a hard section of trail but I was going give it what I had. However, it seemed like every feature was unridable. But, I knew that it was ridable because I cleared it last year. I knew something was not right. I was so fatigued. I felt like I could sit down on the side of the trail and sleep. About halfway through the land trust, I decided that would not finish the race.
When I reached the parking lot that indicates mile-43 of the race, I dropped out, loaded up, and called it a day. That was at 4 hours and 40 minutes.
I am still not sure what happened. I am sure a sports psychologist could do a deep dive on what happened and tell me that it was "all in my head." But, I summarized with, it was just not my day. I do think the hornet stings had an adverse affect on my body. I looked back at my heart rate data and during that section of the race, it spiked. Then, it's possible that a week of Covid two weeks leading up to the event had an affect. I don't know.
I love this race and I will be back next year. And, I don't know that I will do anything different in preparation for it. But, I do hope that those hornets find a new home.
