It was incredibly painful, but a good challenge. The day before I had either slept wrong or pulled something working out and my back hurt bad, real bad, this was constant during the race and it only went "numb" and away about 3/4 through. Strangely, it doesn't hurt now. The race was incredibly warm and muggy. Some may not understand how it can be so warm in Alaska, but the sun is out 20+hrs a day and everything that gets radiation gets warm, so the net result is much warmer than the air temperature indicates, but the sun and humidity were brutal this day. The first segment to Cooper Landing seemed way too smooth (5mi on road and 38 mi on trail), I kept trying to imagine myself climbing out from Cooper on the return, but you feel so fresh and it's hard to imagine how bad things can get. I got a flat in the pass though, a puncture (sharp rock?) dead center in the casing. Had to break the bead, slap some glue on a boot, put a piece of plastic in there for extra protection, and go with a tube for the rest of the race, which worked all the way until after the finish line, where it went flat The second segment was Cooper Landing to Devils Creek (27mi), which seemed manageable, but just barely-a few friends were starting to cramp and the descent really started to take it's toll on pounding your body. This segment probably had the steepest climbing in it. It's amazing how your brain catalogs how long of a descent you are making that you'll have to turn around and head right back up. I stashed water at both checkpoints, but ran into a wall climbing to Devil's Pass on the last segment (32mi + 5mi road). A downhill rider clipped me and I put my foot down and it was over...for a while. He crashed, but was ok. I alternated between excruciating pain of cramps and trying to just walk forward on the trail, which took a while, for a while I couldn't move. All sorts of fun stuff happening like my hand cramping, basically any muscle I tried to use. Eventually I was able to get into some kind of rhythm where I could ride a short distance, then stop and wait for the muscles to stop locking, walk climbs, repeat. All the salt tabs and electrolytes in the world didn't seem to help. Getting back into Resurrection Pass and starting pick up speed to drop down on the Hope side was the best feeling ever, as at that point I knew I was going to finish, except not long after it feels like you hit some kind of time warp where you are stuck doing the same stretch of trail over and over. You start asking yourself "where is that ****ing bridge (across the river)!, it's not possible to keep riding this long and not hit it!". If you look at the map, it's a long way without that many turns and you go through several little draws, which always have a steep climb up the other side, but your brain starts playing tricks and you swear the one you just crossed was the last one, only to ride another 5 miles to the next, and repeat. The last miles were really not bad though, much of the pain had subsided, not cramping anymore, even made the final climb at the end. All in all, I'm glad I did the race, certainly the hardest physical thing I've ever done.
At 9:10 am, the solo racers took off, 10 minutes behind the relay racers. Carlos, the race director and organizer for many things powered by humans on two wheels in Alaska, is about to give the send off.
I'm in the neon-green, so they can find my body if i pass out.
This was the segment from Cooper Landing back up to Devil's Pass and down to the bottom of Devil's Creek.
This is about mile 60, when I'm thinking "it's ok, I can manage this".
This was the reverse view, with offers of whiskey, tequila, bacon and gummy bears from the impromptu aid station! (the real aid stations were at the turn-around points)
At 9:10 am, the solo racers took off, 10 minutes behind the relay racers. Carlos, the race director and organizer for many things powered by humans on two wheels in Alaska, is about to give the send off. View attachment 1150956
This was the segment from Cooper Landing back up to Devil's Pass and down to the bottom of Devil's Creek. View attachment 1150958
This is about mile 60, when I'm thinking "it's ok, I can manage this". View attachment 1150959
This was the reverse view, with offers of whiskey, tequila, bacon and gummy bears from the impromptu aid station! (the real aid stations were at the turn-around points) View attachment 1150960
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