See?? The bottle says I DID IT!!
It was a cold start at about 36 degrees at 7:00 am in Round valley. I woke up at 5:45, did my stuff, had very little time to dink around, and had planned it that way. I wanted to pretty much get up, eat, and go.
The start was nice and easy up a dirt road where the faster and more adrenalined filled people could get up front. I took it easy starting at the back of the 9-10 hour group. Turned out I was right in place with a 9:46 finish.
The sun came up a few minutes after the start which was quite nice as my fingers had frozen by the end of the dirt road and I didn't care for handling my bike without feeling my brakes or handlebar. I typically like to feel. Luckily everyone was pretty mellow so all went well. Until my little slide out of a fast turn. I decided my tire selection this year has caused me plenty of grief. I like how fast and light my Continental Race Kings are but I cannot make them handle corners. I have had many incidents during the season and have learned to take corners much slower than I know I can. I will go with different tires once these wear out. Note to self: commute to work with race tires :)
At the end of Round valley is a nice asphalt patch where I planned on taking off my arm and leg warmers so I started rolling them off on the double track before that pavement. I found Vanessa was waiting at the very start of the pavement, so I stopped, fumbled, struggled, and finally got those things off. I donno how I ever took those off while riding LOTOJA cause this time they weren't coming off. No biggie. They came off. It was time to eat and get to Deer Valley.
Did I ever mention how awesome Vanessa is? She took yet another day to support me while I was pummelling myself to the ground. She must enjoy seeing me destroyed.
I broke the race down into a bunch of sections for my own sanity. Round valley, to Deer Valley, first feed at Silver Lake lodge, TG, shadow lake, park city, spiro, iron mountain, and ambush. I felt getting through Deer Valley and down TG was pretty quick; the first feed went well although the placement of the support was a little confusing. I knew I was supposed to ride the practice loop section first but the placement of the people made me doubt it. I was set on my way after stopping, looking dumbfounded, and spotting Vanessa.
The most difficult section was the climb from the bottom of John's up past Shadow Lake. So much climbing, so relentless. It changed my mindset from a great day to wanting to finish. The best thing I did is tell myself I had a 22 mile home stretch after I finished that climb. All I had to do is finish that climb, see the lake, and then it's a 22 mile home stretch.
After my stop at the Park City feed zone I had the spiro climb to deal with. After telling myself about the 22 mile home stretch, I counted the number of climbs left. 3 climbs left: spiro, iron mountain, ambush. While on spiro I just cranked telling myself I had 2 to go after that one. But it took for ever. And some more. I had great company for a portion of the climb and had an excellent pace but I then got caught on a root or rock, stopped my momentum, and didn't keep up with the guy that was keeping me company. I got deflated a bit. And it kept going for-eeeever. Looks like almost an hour from the 5:13 mark to 6:09. That's a lot of climbing.
Finally I found myself at the Mid-Mountain to Iron Mountain intersection. This time I went the right way as opposed to my preride. I would have preferred to go the wrong way, add mileage and elevation, and get MUCH better singletrack. That mid-mountain section was horribly rocky: the loose shale, huge rocks that are feet in diameter, and absolutely no fun.
Once I started recognizing the trail again I saw some chairlifts. I am at The Canyons! I started looking at my mileage and it showed 11 miles to go. At 10 miles to go I had ridden for 8:15 and thought I could maybe ride 10 mph for the remainder to finish at 9:15 which would be an excellent time - for me. My legs disagreed. I tried, I pushed for the next 30 minutes, past Red Pine lodge, but there was still too much climbing to do and not enough legs remained. Finally I arrived at Ambush which I was quite mentally ready for as I appreciate the kind of sick humor needed to make someone climb back away from the finish line 3 miles from the end. I took it as a victory lap until two guys passed me like I was standing still. I congratulated them and told them they were doing a good job for finishing strong, but it was time for me to be done. Luckily I pretty much was. One more evil downhill through rutted terrain, some switchbacks, one more slide out on the second to last turn, and I'm down the road to the finish line.
Notice I didn't talk about nutrition? EFS liquid shot worked great all day, with the occasional Clif Bar for some solid food. I think I just wanted the satisfaction of eating solids; I think EFS would have worked fine. At the Park City feed zone I grabbed a bottle of Carbo Rocket and my trusty Rice Krispie treats because I wanted some variety, and still had one or two swigs of EFS. I am surprised how well it worked. Well done, First Endurance.
I finished 16th out of 56 finishers and 76 starters of the 40-49 age group.
Overall I am 118th out of 253 finishers and 311 starters.
After waking up from my much needed nap I posted "The Park City Point 2 Point bike race is by far the hardest thing I have ever done on a bike. LOTOJA, tour de park city, death ride, pfffft" on Facebook. I meant it. Tough event. Luckily it went as well as my previous 9+ hour events and I am quite satisfied with the results.
I think I heard this photographer say "Nice Job" as he took the shot ->
Park City Point 2 Point
Garmin data
Milliseconds timing
