Short version
It rained a lot, I quit and I'm good with that.
Long version
Friday 50km Ultra run
The first part of the double race was a 50km Ultra run, this race takes place on the Friday preceding the 100 mile gravel ride on the Saturday.
The race started at 8am. As we set off, I hit start on my GPS watch which then had to find satellites, I am so pro... by the time the watch had found satellites we were into the run but at least I got a track of most of the route.
The first part and end of the run took us out of town on around 2.5miles of pavement, my pace felt comfortable and everyone was in a great mood.
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| Here we go on the pavement. |
As we hit the dirt the runners were starting to string out a little, I was remembering to eat and drink and felt pretty good.
A quick stop at the first aid station (mile 5 ish) for another drink and I was off again. 5 miles of undulating gravel road lay ahead and brought us to the second aid station at mile 10. I had been running alone on and off on this section.
Another quickish stop at the aid station and I was off again this time with Oscar for a while before I ran ahead as I had to pee.
Another quickish stop at the aid station and I was off again this time with Oscar for a while before I ran ahead as I had to pee.
Here we are having a blast on some solid Oklahoma dirt.
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| No way another straight road in Oklahoma! |
We were now up to turn eight on the course and around 1/2 way along the next section of road we had to cross some mud.
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| MUD! |
Past turn 9 of the course and we heading towards the halfway mark of the course. Another quick aid station stop and I was off. My chip time at the aid station was 2:19:31 and I was in 47th overall.
Here is my around 1/2 way time from my watch.
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| Woohoo 1/2way |
After negotiating turn number 10 on the course we had to deal with a slippery descent into the 20mile aid station then it was uphill into turn 11, down hill into a river crossing (managed to stay dry) before taking turns 12, 13 and 14 and being almost on the home straight, well at least the part of the course we had already run. Back onto the never ending hills.
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| Never ending hills |
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| Checkpoint cheer crew. |
I was feeling pretty tired by this point and definitely feeling a blister on my left foot. Oh well, 1/2 a coke and I was off again.
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| 4:20:32 for my first ever Marathon |
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| So stoked. |
It was now a case of pushing on to the finish. Another pee break, a short walk on the pavement and I was passed by a guy who had been chasing me down for miles (his words). He got me running again, having company to run with helps so much mentally. We were running pretty smoothly and even managing sub 9min miles into the finish.
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| Done - watch time due to late start. |
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| I didn't get that. |
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| Happy to be done, got cold quick. |
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| I love Garmin badges! |
The Strava
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| Chip time |
Saturday 100mile Gravel ride
Holy rain batman!
Our day started in the rain, we timed our arrival at the start to be around 07:50, as we were rolling downtown we found out that the start had been delayed to 08:30. Fortunately for us Dan had brought the car down so we all piled in to try and warm up.
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| Yer it was a little wet. |
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| Cold, wet and waiting to line up! |
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| Hurry up Bobby we are freezing! |
At 08:37 we finally set off, I would have taken more photos but didn't want to ruin my phone. It was very wet on the way out down 19th St. There was lots of wet and gritty paste forming. Great for bike shop sales, not so great for bikes. There will be lots of brake pads, rotors, bearings and drive trains to be replaced soon. Could this really be Bobby's ulterior motive for this event?
With the amount of rain we got I was pretty happy with the state of the roads early in the event, the bridge at mile 14 was fine and everyone seemed happy, though I was still frozen.
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| CX practice |
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| walk your bike |
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| mostly happy but frozen |
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| hmmmm |
Next up we passed a State trooper blasting music from his loud hailer. Shortly after this we were to the fun b road from last year. This year it was a push and not so much fun, by now many people had no brakes.
Brethren hill was fine for me, I actually managed to ride all the way up again even with people walking in front of me.
I stopped for a coffee and ended up with coke, oh well got a little food and then saw my friend Jeremy so chased off after him.
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| Chasing people |
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| Still almost smiling |
After a super sketchy downhill I felt my drive train locking up. Luckily there was a stream at the side of the hill and I pulled out my brush and washed off the drivetrain as best I could.
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| Time to clean. |
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| This helped me lots to get rolling |
Back on the bike for the toughest section I rode all day, It was a fine line between finding rideable sections and not. I had to walk a couple of times and got lucky a few more.
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| Mud |
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| More mud |
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| lots of pushing |
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| Farm on left washing peoples bikes. Mile 41 ish |
It was at this point I was pretty much done... I know what the back half of the course potentially had in store and I really wasn't up for that.
After this point the roads did improve and I managed to roll into Perkins and the bike wash in a little over 5 hrs. I washed my bike and then crusised around to the timing mat to get a chip time of 5:09:13, I was apparently in 9th place at the time.
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| Race stats |
I found my friend Dan who was supporting, Amy, Oscar and I and told him I was quitting. I have zero regrets about that.
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| That's it I'm out. |
I had some pizza, chatted with friends and waited for Amy and Oscar to arrive.
Oscar rolled up in a jeep after ripping his derailleur off around mile 39.
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| Oh snap! Oscar's words not mine :) |
Amy rolled in later on with a smile on her face and no brakes left.
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| Way to go Amy |
In case anyone was wondering what I "missed out on" on the back side of the course here are some photos.
Yep, glad I stopped
Yep, glad I stopped
The Strava
Oklahoma has made me soft or I have lost my I must finish at all cost mentality. Though if there hadn't been an easy road option back to Stillwater I may have continued.
If I had know I was in 9th place at the time, I probably would have sucked it up, though I really didn't want to totally destroy my bike or do 10hrs plus for 100miles of gravel.
My fitness and training for this program seemed to work, I'm stronger and fitter than I have been for a long time and I'm sure I had the fitness to complete it, if not the mental toughness on the day.
I pretty sure I'm going to need new cable and housing, chain and possibly jockey wheels. I am already having new brake pads installed and getting the brakes bled, thanks Bike Lab for being able to do that given the current situation.
Of the 116 people that started the double run I finished 36th.
The following day, 81 people started the ride and made it to Brethren hill, I was in 16th place at Brethren hill. By the time I quit I was in 9th place. Only 39 people made it to Perkins according to the the timing mat.
By the finish, only 33 people crossed the line to complete the double.
The cleanup is messy, this is fixing the jockey wheels on Amy's bike.
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| Sure it's a sealed bearing.... |
Will I do it again or something similar?
Absolutely! I loved getting back into the running and am excited to see what other events I can take part in, once COVID-19 has run it's course and events are back on.
And finally
A huge shout out to my friends for coming down to Oklahoma to take part in this event. It was great to have you along for the event and make some more memories with you all.
A huge thanks to Amanda and Fiona for putting up with me during all the training, it has been a long program but fun having you join me on it.
