Patrick and I were rolling for Sunday River Resort in Maine by 6 am. Heavy rain was forecasted and delivered. The anticipation of cold, wet, and muddy pain made the 2.5 hour car ride seem just a little longer. We pulled up, took a collective deep breath, and readied ourselves. It was actually really nice to have the big empty ski lodge to change and stretch. We took a little spin up the start of the course. I could tell immediately that it would be my course. From the start the course headed straight up a long fireroad and trail climb. Finally, some climbing! At the start, I thought, "I'm not feeling it today." Still, I was sitting 3rd and gapping those behind me. Hmmm...maybe its not so bad. I sat in and ground through the muck. To say that the course was technical would be a gross, gross understatement. Rocks, roots, drops, and mud so sticky that flats were sometimes unrideable. It was perfect for me and the 29er. I thought back to the advice that Jack Miller gave me before my first MTB race: "Just be smooth and let the other guy make the mistakes." Almost reminds me of tennis lessons as a kid. I was smooth. I was on. The alpha brain waves were hard at work. I sat third for most of the first 2 laps until I was passed by two guys with dually's on the downhill sections. I caught them again on the next climb, but wasn't able to hold the lead through the tech stuff. Still, I was very pleased as a rolled in with a 5th place finish! Awesome! Patrick finished his race in the Men's B in the top ten too! I was riding high. I was feeling great. Those 2 hours had gone by in a flash, despite so much suffering. Over 800 vert ft of climbing per lap! We made our post race ramen under the shelter of the ski lodge deck, enjoyed our endorphin high's, and rolled out.
Headed to registration:
Post-race muck:
Elevation profile:
Heartrate profile (pretty darned good!):
OK...time for a little backstory. First of all, you should know that this was White Coat Weekend for the first years. So, Karl's gf Sadie was down from Maine. His ex-roomate Sam and his gf, Erin were staying with us too. Sam has an interview at Tuck today. So, the house was feeling pretty full. Second, you should know that on Friday I had asked one of the first year girls, Nicola, out for dinner. She said yes and asked if I was going to BEMA. OK part three, Saturday night was the epic annual graduate student BEMA (Big Empty Meeting Area) party. Last year, I danced myself into oblivion and set my reputation for the rest of the year. Despite being decimated from a 5:30am wakeup, 5 hours of driving, and 2 hours of pure death, I wasn't about to miss BEMA or not defend my reputation as a dancing machine.
BEMA delivered. Begem and I got the dancing started and, eventually, it felt like a real party. I was sweating like a machine, but having a great time. And I got ample chance to talk and dance with Nicki. She convinced me to go to an afterparty with her. We danced more there, but it wasn't long before intentions were made clear. So as not to offend the sensibilities of my blog readers, I'll leave it at that. And I'll also say that I find it very interesting that, despite being tired pretty much continuously for the past months, I felt rested and awake for the first time yesterday with basically zero sleep. Maybe I pushed beyond that point, but I'd like to think that sharing an intimate connection with another can do wonders to revitalize one's soul.
Sunday was as beautiful as Saturday was ugly. I went apple picking with Karl and crew. Words had been spoken between Patrick and I on the ride home. He was claiming that he might be a faster climber than me now. I, of course, disputed these claims. So, a battle was set for Academy hill. After a brief little shower under sunny skies, Michael, Patrick, Matt, Chase, and I hit the bottom of Academy. Obviously, I was pretty smoked from a hard race and zero sleep, but I attacked hard, required 950 watts of my foes to follow. We sat in and pushed hard, very hard. On the semi flat in the middle of the climb, Patrick showed off his freight train skills, but couldn't drop Michael and I. In the end, Patrick fell off right before cresting the last pitch, leaving Michael and I to battle it out. He took it by half of a wheel. And though he has coming off of a cold, he had the luxury of sleeping over 24 of the last 48 hours. To say that he was fresh would be an understatement. Still, a win is a win, and all involved showed some serious effort. I pushed both Michael and Patrick to new personal power records. We rewarded ourselves with an absolutely gorgeous and perfect fall ride through Union Village Dam park. What a day! Man was I smoked too.
Despite my super, super high heartrate numbers, I was still aerobic. Michael makes a good point that I'd be well served to hit the gym and make my kick just a little bit more bitey. Then I'd be *really* dangerous. That will be work for this winter. I can feel my body starting to ask for mercy. I've been training continuously since my recovery in March. My legs are celebrating the imminent end of the MTB race season.
Begem and I went to Yama for dinner to catch up. The second years are headed into exams imminently, so they're all feeling a bit of stress. It was great to catch up with my pseudofamily member.
Wow! What a weekend! It was exactly what I needed to break out of that loneliness and reflection.
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