Stony Death March 2011

The race that I vow that I will never do again year after year. Bad luck mechanicals. Dehydration. Crazy hot weather. Lack of endurance training. It has all seemed take a toll on me at this race one way or another. So here I am again. Again at what I like to call the Stony Death March. Beginner friendly Stony Creek, turned into one evil event year after year with 50 miles of pain for the experts. And this year was no different. With Temps in the mid 90's and the heat index at 102! Even the bad asses of the sport were getting mowed down one by one with the dreaded DNF. For me it was simple. Rely on all my additional base miles I put in for the year, and grind this thing out. Knowing that there will be a lot of DNFs for mechanicals and cramps, I rolled the dice and hoped for the best.

The plan for the day was to "Just Finish", maintain my hydration and nutrition plan so I wouldn't cramp, and try to keep my lap times as consistent as possible. From the whistle, the lead group went out like a 20 mile XC race. Have fun boys. I decided to go at my own pace and have my own race. My bud Shawn Schaffert had the same plan, and we helped pull and encourage each other on all 5 laps. This was awesome, to have someone there to help with the boredom of the race. We plugged along at a respectable clip, each taking turns. I felt good for the entire race, except for the last 4 miles or so. This is when Shawn was able to ride away from me. Its too bad I let him get away, because for both of our consistent efforts and determination to finish strong, Shawn was rewarded with a 5th place and I came in less than a minute later in 6th. I just can't seem to shake that 6th place curse, as this is my 3rd race in a row looking at the last step on the podium. But overall I had a great race. All my laps were between 45-48 mins. I finished in under 4 hrs with 3:54. And I felt great in the end. This is great news as I am nearing the start of my CX season.

TSB had a full squad representing also, which was great! And out of the 8 racers that showed up, at least half got on the podium! Great job. And special thanks to Trixie for all her hard work handing out bottles, and providing lunch to a bunch of famished stinky bike racers. Your the best!
So before I start training again for CX in less than a month, will my next stop be the Criterium Detroit City next weekend???? Its time to get my power on!