RACE DETAILS - WARNING... IT'S A BOOK!

OW!!!!!! I'm hardly moving! LOL!

At the craft show I do on Saturdays, I twisted wrong when moving my boxes and pulled a back muscle... so Sunday morning, when I got up I knew I was really going to hurt if I rode the race... BUT DID IT ANYWAY! :)

So I did my back stretches to loosen up, then rode down to the park. Cars and bicycles everywhere!

At 7:20, all 400 or so bikers lined up - I stayed in the back because I'm slow and didn't want to get in anyone's way. Smokey Bear then announced the start, and I rode to the far right of the pack. David took photos (they'll be back by Friday), and right after the flash went off, someone goofed and took down 10 riders in a fall right behind me.

So I coasted along for the first 3 blocks (no racing allowed in town due to traffic issues). And then we hit the first big hill on the gravel road.

You'd all be so proud of me! I immediately started PASSING people! First 1, then 2, then 5, then 15!!!!

And then we reached the singletrack... Some people had to quit there because of mechanical issues. I took a quick break to catch my breath, and then hit it. I did ALL of the hills - even ones that I've had to walk in the past! And I kept catching up to a group of 5 men and 1 woman, who would panic as soon as they saw me behind them, so they'd take off again. And along the way, I passed 3 more people who were dealing with mechanical issues as well.

And I wasn't even sweating for the first 15 miles - it was a beautiful 60 degrees at start, and even colder when we hit the first canyon. I ran into other women, who did amazing on the flats, but would have to walk the uphills, so we were constantly passing each other 5 to 7 miles in.

Then first checkpoint! David and our friend Jack were there waiting for me and I arrived 15 minutes early to cheers from the organizers who knew me. I took a 15 minute break, refilled my water bottle, and then started out again.

As I went, I ran into two of the women I had been going back and forth with on the last 5 miles. One passed me, and the other stayed with me. And we did really well, me riding slowly up the hills (and she cheered me) while she walked and then caught up on the downhills.

18 miles in, we got to the 2nd checkpoint, and the guy asked us how many of us there were - we told him how we'd left 15 or more people behind, but didn't know if they were going to continue. Then we continued on to the next big hill.

This stretch was tough and I even had to get off to walk it, so as we did, we talked about where they were from - one was from Rochester, Minnesota, and only did road biking normally, the other was from Rapid City and had only done 1 short singletrack before (and she was doing awesome - left us in her dust).

We finally came off the hill into a meadow, and flew down to the ridge where the climb gets really steep as it goes on top of the Spearfish Canyon's rim. And there was this guy standing there. And when I asked how it was going, he asked if we had seen a car - and I said incredulous, "A car?" and he said they were waiting for an ambulance. It was obvious he had no idea where he was, so I told him what direction the ambulance would come from (a mile away on an ATV trail), and as he got on his bike to find it, he said there was an EMT and another person taking care of a guy who was suffering from heat stroke.

We couldn't help out anymore, so we hiked to the top of the rim, and I then called David and told him to meet the ambulance and tell them to go to the Red Lake area to meet this biker. (At the next checkpoint, David told me that he found the ambulance....They had no idea where to start looking because they didn't know the area and were looking at the map upside down. So David corrected it for them, just as another biker flew down the road and told them where to go to find the guy.)

So as I was on the phone, the girls kept going, and once I got all the directions sent off, I followed. I finally reached the Rimrock Trail, and was so overheated myself, I took a short 15 minute break to eat something and cool down, and I could hear the ATV going back and forth at the bottom of the hill as they were getting the heat stroke guy. (I heard he's going to be fine - was kept in the hospital overnight Sunday night.)

I then continued on, and reached the Old Baldy checkpoint at 1:15 (45 minutes later than I had planned). They asked if I was the last one, and I told them about the heat stroke guy, and said I think I was last because I was going really slow and no one was passing me. I then asked about the other girls, and was told that they were about 19 minutes ahead of me. David then told me that the whole parking area looked like a flop house when he got there - people lying on the ground all over the place, and then half of them loaded their bikes onto cars and quit.

So I ate a sandwich and a granola bar, and downed a bottle of water and refilled everything, and then headed out on the trail that starts back. I did really well, and flew down the trails to the next check point. (My back was just starting to hurt when I hit the stones and roots hard.)

At the 4th checkpoint, the guys told me that I was only about 15 minutes behind the other girls, and said that I was definitely the last one.

Then the trail went up another two steep hills, and then hit the snowmobile trail... I'm familiar with that area, so following the tracks in the dirt, I flew down the next 6 miles or so at 20 - 35 miles per hour, and reached the base of Cardiac Ridge 5 minutes after the girls took off from it.

So wanting to catch up with them, I skipped eating again, and RODE half way up Cardiac Ridge (my back was really starting to bother me by this point). Just after I got off to walk to the top, I ran into the other girls.

And then I bonked (ran out of energy), so I had to stop and eat something. So while I sat and ate, we talked, and then they said they wanted to finish the race with me. I tried to get up about 10 minutes later and my back wasn't cooperating well, I could really tell the pain was setting in. But once I got moving again, the adreneline kicked in and we finished the hike to the top and discovered the Hobo Camp - there was a cooler of beer and bacon just sitting on top of it. EWWW! NOT APPEALING!

So then down we hiked over the steep edge - my hiking boots worked great (and no blisters)! Finally at the bottom, we started climbing (riding) up the easier forest service road, and there was an organizer standing there (again in the middle of nowhere), making sure we got off the trail ok. I was really starting to hurt now, so he walked the pace I was riding, and then started jogging when he realized the other girls were getting way ahead - he caught up to them when it became a singletrack again, and I slowly brought up the rear.

Finally with 6 miles to go, we hit the final singletrack down together - I was struggling and couldn't get enough power to get up the tougher hills because of my back, but the girls still stuck with me. An hour later, we finally reached the road, flew down it going 35 to 40 miles per hour, and then cruised our way to the finish in around 11 hours 35 minutes (I was so exhausted, I can't remember the exact minutes and seconds and it's not posted yet).

And because we came in last, we won the Spirit Award in honor of a mountain biker who passed away in a kayaking accident two years ago, and they did a drawing with our names for a cruiser bike. The girl from Rochester Minnesota won it, and there I was told that many of the 70 people that quit were under 30 years old!

And yesterday, I felt way older than my years - and had to use David's walker to get out of the chairs because my back spasmed all day. Today, it still hurts, but is better and I'm able to get around without it.

So I've insanely decided to do it again next year - at least I know that I can't be any slower than the 11 hours 30 minutes, AND I won't be hurt next year! LOL! So once the back is completely healed again, I'm going to boost up the training even harder this winter, get rid of that remaining 30 pounds, and see if I can't beat 10 hours next Labor Day!

Thanks for getting me through this everyone! Donna