Four hours, six minutes, seven seconds. That was my finish time for the Granogue enduro. I managed to squeeze 4 laps into the allotted time, which I am thoroughly happy with. Hell, I even got a mid-pack finish out of it so its gotta be good. When I compare my first two laps with my normal competition, guess what- I would have mid-packed it there too. And in Sport SS class. In Clydesdale, I would have taken top 25%. On my singlespeed. All I can say is it had to be the sideburns….

The race started with a speech from Fatmarc, reminding us that this was just a race, that Johan Bruyneel would not be handing out contracts to the winners, that we were there to have a good time, and to honor Andrew Mein’s memory. Somewhere in there he managed to work the words ‘pole’ and ‘box’ into the same sentence, and then he grinned about it. I caught him grinning. We moved into position, I told Kim my strategy was to just hang on her wheel, she grimaced and we were off. Straus and I held together for a little, but somehow I managed to start passing people right away. I looked down and saw my HR was in zone 5.3 (super-threshold) and I wondered if I was starting waaay too hot. It didn’t seem to matter, though, because I ended up flatting in the first creek crossing so I was forced to rest even though I didn’t want to. I had sealant in there but the hole was just too big. Crap, oh well, stuff a tube in, air up (hoping the half-used can of air I had would be enough) and keep going. I saw Strauser and Kim go by, but soon after I came up on Straus having his own tube-changing joy. Come to think of it, there were a LOT of people getting tub-changing practice on Saturday morning. Good thing I can do it pretty efficiently.

I hook onto a group of sport riders who had started a few minutes behind us and let them pace me around. Someone bobbles up front, I grumble about getting out of the way because riders have right-of-way, we both exchange some words and then once we are all clear, I come up on the guy and we apologize for acting like jackasses to each other. Sometimes racing isn’t very civil, but in the end we all usually realize we are in it together.

I come in from my first lap and check my tire pressure- seems I lost some air in the rear too because I started the race with about 35psi and now only had about 20. Looks like the Stans worked in the rear at least, so its 50% successful. I switch bottles, grab another tube and can-o-air, stuff them into my jersey pocket along with a gel and go out for round two.

I pick up another group of sport riders and start pacing again. My second lap is pretty straight forward, but the good news is the PBR crew is out just before the Kopenberg climb, so I yell out ‘PBR ME!’ and get a great hand-up. Man that tasted good, but Im starting to feel some fatigue because of the pace I am maintaining.

 After another quick pit, I go out for round 3 just before the expert and elite classes are staged to go off. I get to the top of an open field section and someone tells me the Elites just started and will be on me in about 30 seconds. I pull to the left side of the doubletrack area and start pacing myself with enough time to let them get by me without having to actually stop. It works out pretty well and I get into the singletrack cleanly. About 2 minutes later, the next group of experts comes up looking for a place to pass…then the next group, and the next group. Somewhere in there I find Liz and we manage to wait together at a bridge section for the next train of riders to go by. I hop back on, wave bye to Liz, and make a beeline for the PBR truck again. Another great hand-up is appreciated, half worn, and altogether enjoyed before the Koppenberg climb, again. At this point Im starting to cramp a little and am getting really tired, but Im still having a good time.

 Pit number 3 passes and out I go. At this point Im just riding my bike in the woods. I ride what I can, walk what I need to and just enjoy being out there. My mind was willing but my legs were almost out of gas. A fourth and final PBR hand-up and the race is over.

 Im not really concerned with how I did at this point, I just want to lay flat for a few minutes because my back is killing me. Somehow, I feel really good right through all of the pain I am experiencing. I sit up and grab some almonds from Straus, drink some Accelerade, and start munching on some raspberry newtons. Im really tired, but am glad I did it.

 My folks and I pack up the pit and head back to their place for some hot-tub time for the legs and a killer meal. I sleep like a rock and get up to another beautiful day, starting with coffee at SMC and a pastry from the Emmaus farmers market. When I got home the results were already posted, and I found out I placed 12 with solid lap times, even though it was like I rode two races. My first two laps were really consistent, and then my second two laps were really consistent, but each group was about 6 minutes apart. Weird. Oh well, Im glad I tried endurance, learned something about that style of racing as well as about myself and will do it again. Oh yeah, and sideburns are definitely the fastest facial hair arrangement yet.