W for win or for weak? A little of both. I was more than a little worried headed to Florida Friday morning. The painful chest and cough I had developed on Wed. was getting more persisitant and I had taken Wed. off from riding due to crummy feeling legs. However, I was signed up and everybody was fired up to go. So I went. Robert, Joel, and I left around 6AM on Fri. morning so we could get a good spot to set up camp on the course. We got down to Bellview around 12:30 and got set up in the same spot as last year. Worked fine then so why change anything right? We got 2 1/2 hrs. in on the course and called it a day. Same course as last year. I ran a 34 X 17T last year and although it felt a little tough, decided to run it again this year. The legs were OK pre-riding, I took one lap easy, then did a hot lap to open up the legs. After this, the legs were good but the lungs were crap, with a painful cough and headache. I was worried.
We got dinner at the same Mexican Joint as always, then groceries ( with lots of TheraFlu and Vitamin C) and headed back to camp. After a steaming cup of TheraFlu I headed off to sleep. Or so I thought. There were of course some Idiots raising Hell all night keeping everyone awake. I think one of my competitors must have stayed in a motel and had his buddies stay up all night to keep people awake. After much yelling from other people, the jerks finally quieted down and I got some much needed sleep.
I awoke to my teammates Bill and Jeremy hollering at me about 8AM to get up and bring the pain. I had the pain alright- just all over myself. I felt terrible. So I went and hollered some things at the guys that were loud last night. They looked at me and quickly turned away as everyone in our area now hated them. I planned on putting ants in their sleeping bags on Sat. night. After a breakfast of more TheraFlu and oatmeal I started to feel better. I slowly got ready and before I knew it it was time to drop off my bike in the transition area and head to the start line. I was lacking the energy to stand at the start so I sat on a rock wanting to sleep until the stat line got busy. I lined up and we were off.
I had a decent run, got into the trail in around 15th. Moving up past the prerequisite guys that run really fast then blow up 5 min. in, I found myself in the top 10, in 1st solo. I stayed here for a few hours, then started feeling really bad. The sickness was catching up- my lungs were killing me, my headache made me think my eyes were going to fall out, and I couldn't focus very well with my eyes. I started making dumb mistakes. The 34 X 17 was feeling way taller than last year. I pulled into the pit after the 5th lap and decided that I was doing more damage to myself than it was worth. However, I was still in 1st by a large margin. After hacking up some quarter sized phlegm, I grabbed a coke and rolled out for one more easy lap. It was a fast one. As were the next 5 laps. I had begun to feel a little better. With a steady diet of Perpetum and TheraFlu, I lapped 2nd place halfway through. I have a theory as to why I "felt better". It's all about balance of pain. In the beginning my head and lungs were hurting from being sick while my legs felt fine. Unbalanced pain. So I noticed the pain and dwelled on it. Toward the middle, the rest of my body caught up with the lungs and head and then everything hurt. Balanced pain. I could then concentrate on riding. Everything was fine. I was now 1 1/2 laps up on 2nd Singlespeed and 5th overall. I could have stopped early but decided to put the exclamation point on it ( and I wanted to go over 120 miles) so I rolled out for a last lap. With that done, it was over. Team Cafe:ine (formerly known as Team Terrapin) had won SS Solo 12 Hr (me), 2 man Team 12 Hr (Bill and Jeremy), and Sport Solo 12Hr.(Andrew). Congrats to Joel as well for pulling out a 5th in his first ever solo 12 hr!Not bad for the first race of the year. Now- to get well then get some much needed training in. After collapsing by the fire for awhile, I got changed, we all got our awards, and we rolled out to find a hotel.
Although I had a sub standard ride, a win is a win and I'll take it. Next up- Rouge Roubaix on March 7th. That one should be epic and I'm looking forward to it.
Later-DH
We got dinner at the same Mexican Joint as always, then groceries ( with lots of TheraFlu and Vitamin C) and headed back to camp. After a steaming cup of TheraFlu I headed off to sleep. Or so I thought. There were of course some Idiots raising Hell all night keeping everyone awake. I think one of my competitors must have stayed in a motel and had his buddies stay up all night to keep people awake. After much yelling from other people, the jerks finally quieted down and I got some much needed sleep.
I awoke to my teammates Bill and Jeremy hollering at me about 8AM to get up and bring the pain. I had the pain alright- just all over myself. I felt terrible. So I went and hollered some things at the guys that were loud last night. They looked at me and quickly turned away as everyone in our area now hated them. I planned on putting ants in their sleeping bags on Sat. night. After a breakfast of more TheraFlu and oatmeal I started to feel better. I slowly got ready and before I knew it it was time to drop off my bike in the transition area and head to the start line. I was lacking the energy to stand at the start so I sat on a rock wanting to sleep until the stat line got busy. I lined up and we were off.
I had a decent run, got into the trail in around 15th. Moving up past the prerequisite guys that run really fast then blow up 5 min. in, I found myself in the top 10, in 1st solo. I stayed here for a few hours, then started feeling really bad. The sickness was catching up- my lungs were killing me, my headache made me think my eyes were going to fall out, and I couldn't focus very well with my eyes. I started making dumb mistakes. The 34 X 17 was feeling way taller than last year. I pulled into the pit after the 5th lap and decided that I was doing more damage to myself than it was worth. However, I was still in 1st by a large margin. After hacking up some quarter sized phlegm, I grabbed a coke and rolled out for one more easy lap. It was a fast one. As were the next 5 laps. I had begun to feel a little better. With a steady diet of Perpetum and TheraFlu, I lapped 2nd place halfway through. I have a theory as to why I "felt better". It's all about balance of pain. In the beginning my head and lungs were hurting from being sick while my legs felt fine. Unbalanced pain. So I noticed the pain and dwelled on it. Toward the middle, the rest of my body caught up with the lungs and head and then everything hurt. Balanced pain. I could then concentrate on riding. Everything was fine. I was now 1 1/2 laps up on 2nd Singlespeed and 5th overall. I could have stopped early but decided to put the exclamation point on it ( and I wanted to go over 120 miles) so I rolled out for a last lap. With that done, it was over. Team Cafe:ine (formerly known as Team Terrapin) had won SS Solo 12 Hr (me), 2 man Team 12 Hr (Bill and Jeremy), and Sport Solo 12Hr.(Andrew). Congrats to Joel as well for pulling out a 5th in his first ever solo 12 hr!Not bad for the first race of the year. Now- to get well then get some much needed training in. After collapsing by the fire for awhile, I got changed, we all got our awards, and we rolled out to find a hotel.
Although I had a sub standard ride, a win is a win and I'll take it. Next up- Rouge Roubaix on March 7th. That one should be epic and I'm looking forward to it.
Later-DH
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