Hey everyone! Time for another race recap. I signed up for True Grit again this year. Last year, it was tough, and it was my first-ever mountain bike race, which humbled me again. Last year, I got Billy to do it with me, as part of a pact we made when Brooke was in the hospital. This year, he wussed out (sorry, Billy – next year do it!). I had talked two other friends into it. One did it last year, and the other friend we had trained with for the last few months together, but he ended up getting shingles a few weeks before the race and bowed out. Here is my bike this year for this race – Specialized Epic Evo (120 mm/110mm front/rear suspension)
So we did the “50-mile” version of the race. The race is actually 43+ miles. The elevation on the race website lists 4300 feet of elevation gain, but our watches all show 5800 feet. This race is pretty gnarly and very technical riding. Let’s just say every time I have seen blood on the trail in multiple spots and wrecked bike carcasses throughout the course.
This bike race has an abusive relationship with Mother Nature’s temperature and weather. This year, the race organizer thought it best to push the race back a week, which just so happened to fall on one of the hottest weekends in March ever. Initially, the forecast said it would be 98 degrees, but it dropped to about 93ish. I have not been training in the heat, so that was nerve-wracking. Here are my drop bag contents!
Last year, I was pretty humbled and not trained enough; it took me a little over 6 hours. This year I had lofty goals, I wanted to shave more than an hour off and do sub 5 hours. I have been using TrainerRoad, and because of the snowless winter we had, I was able to ride outside way more than normal. I knew sub-5 would be a stretch, but I was stoked about a very lofty goal. Brooke gave me one last huge before my wave starts at 820 in the morning! It was already warm, and the sun was up on the trails, but the stoke level was high!!
The race is on a “closed-course,” and spectators really only see you at most 3-4 times per race. Which gave the family time to hit up Mcdonalds right after watching the start. I think this was definitely Skye’s and Beck’s favorite part of the day. McDonald’s pancakes are their fav and it’s tradition for them to get some when race spectating.
The first part of the race was amazing! We start in Santa Clara, Utah, and ride down Main Street to the trailheads. The rolling start is amazing and gives us all some time to have space before we hit the trails hard. Racing bikes is so new for me, and I’m learning from all my mistakes. I tried to be conservative and ride slower, but I was hyped up and probably went out a little too strong. At this point in the race, I’m about 12 miles in. Everything was amazing!! Fueling was going well, I missed a small crash, and no mechanical failures!! I was stoked to see the family. This part of the race starts with one of the most technical parts of the race, Zen Trail. (Kind of an oxymoron name for a tough part of the race).
Last year I didn’t crash here but I laid my bike down and messed up my dropper post on my bike, but it wasn’t a big deal. This year was worse! At this point, I was about 16 miles into the race. I was smashing my times and feeling really good, but on the downhill stretch, I leaned too far forward and was ejected headfirst off a rock ledge. It happened so fast and so slow. I checked everything in this order: bike first – nothing broken (so I thought), checked my body, nothing broken – just a few bruises and bruised ego, and I jumped up and started again. After 5 minutes of riding downhill, I looked down to see my stats and realized that my bike computer had ejected too ($$$$), and I was devastated. I knew I could find it later with my phone after I finished the race. So I tried not to stress about that and just ride the race by feel. Shortly thereafter, my shifter clamp snapped, so I lost the ability to shift gears. I started to unravel mentally, thinking my race was over. But I was hoping there was a bike mechanic at the aid station just about a mile away. That mile was painfully slow.
Bike aid stations are awesome; they have real food and everything in between! I had two drop bags around mile 18/35. I didn’t really take anything from the aid stations; I planned to have everything in my drop bags and carry it with me.
My cheer squad was amazing!!! They were amazing even in the HEAT!!! If it weren’t for them, I don’t know if I would have finished!
Even Curly came with us on our trip!!!
I limped in on the bike holding my shifter, praying the entire way that there was a mechanic there to save my bike and me.
I thought I was just missing a screw at first, but I realized the whole clamp was missing, so I thought my day was over. I was devastated.
But then I saw the Van of Glory!!! VeloFix, a mobile bike mechanic, was at the station. I went right over to him and asked him if he had anything. He was fixing someone else’s bike, but he said he could help me out!! Prayers were answered, and I started to think I could race again. It took quite a bit of time because he had to remove my grips and fix things. It added about 35-40 minutes from limping into the aid station and waiting for my bike. I knew my sub-5 goal was gone. But my day wasn’t over. I think I would have paid him just about any amount at that time, but he charged me only $25.
I got back on the bike, and I let all the nerves and anxiety get the best of me. I knew that I had lost so much time from the crash. I also lost my computer that had timers for my nutrition, so I got off on that, too. I started pushing hard on the pedals, which was not part of the plan. At this point in the race, I’m only halfway. Yeah…. learning experience number #101, from this race. PATIENCE…. I didn’t listen and paid for it later. Janae and the kids raced down to see me, and they saw me right when I got there. Janae tried to get a picture and missed me; we all look the same from afar. She got my front wheel on the right.
Remember how I lost my computer? Well, some REALLY AMAZING person saw it on the trail, put it in their pocket, finished the race with it, and turned it in at the finish tent. They announced it, and I was reunited with it when I finished. You can tell it got beat up on the crash, before it looked brand new, haha.
The heat started taking its toll. Riders and cheerleaders both!! Temps were above the 90s at this point, and I was at mile 35ish. My fueling strategy got back into the groove. I did a combo of both super-carb skratch, salt tablets, and GUs. Last year I was battling really bad cramps, this year even with the crazy heat I didn’t have full-on cramps. I could tell my body was starting to shut down, and I was redlining, but I only had less than ten miles to go. I had some very hot Coca-Cola from my drop bag and a GU and pushed on. I swear those last 7 miles were some of the hardest that I did that day. At one point, Janae called because she said I wasn’t moving for more than 5 minutes, and she was worried, but it must have been a glitch.
I think I learned more than 1,000 things during this race, and it was SO HARD. Harder than last year because of the heat, but I knew it was gonna be hard! I can’t tell you how many people passed me that probably had 15-20 years on me. I want to be like them! One of them told me, ” Let’s go, kid, let’s finish this!!
My official racetime this year was 5 hours 45 minutes. On a perfect day without a crash, could I have made my goal? Maybe, but I’m happy with the finish, and it was still better than last year’s time! There are so many takeaways from this race, but I’ll spare you with all of them.
Post-Race Viva Chicken was a must! The cheer squad didn’t have much time to eat and fuel up during the race, so everyone was VERY hungry when I finished. I think I chugged two full Gatorades and put my head down, reliving my race as I tried to recap the highs and lows to the family over lunch.
Still tired 2 hours later, needed a pick-me-up, Red Bull. Took me a few hours to perk up and be alive again. My family asked if I was gonna do the race again next year, and I said, ” No way. But as I write this today, you know I’m planning my revenge and making the plan for next year.
My biggest takeaway from the race. I remember the last 7ish miles of the race, and I remember that I was struggling mentally and probably looked worse physically, haha. I remember thinking, “Why am I doing this?” “Do I belong here?” “Should I do something else?” I remember thinking this throughout the day after the race. At times, it feels like quitting is so much easier than putting yourself out there and trying something hard or new. In the hard moments, all I could think about was how to keep pushing and not go the easy way out. I’m not sure why we push ourselves to do hard things, but I’m so glad that I did this, and of course, I’m planning my next hard race.
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Questions:
-Have you had a race that you completely came off the hinges? Did you recover? I want all the details
-What has been the most difficult race you have completed?
-Biggest takeaway from a race or life that you want to share?
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