Here I am in the parking lot before the start of FG100. Can you see the look of terror on my face?
We got to the vineyard Friday night at 8:55 just 5 mins before registration closed. Yes, I said vineyard. This year eddie and Namrita negotiated there way into a sweet venue, Montaluce vineyard http://www.montaluce.com/ Amy and I got settled into our campsite and settled down to rest while I sorted through my notes on how many bottles and how much food I would put in each sag feed bag. After some minor calculations I was in bed by 11.
We rose early and luckily my internal alarm went off b/c I forgot to turn on my weekend alarm on my iPhone. Coffee and oatmeal, a quick shower and we were off to the vineyard for the start.
When we arrived there were several folks already settled in and getting ready. I ran up the hill to check in and get my timing chip. I didn't run into any of the usuals until I was heading out for a warm up. Ran into Dickman and Dave muse. Muse was doing the 50 Miler and Dickman was just out to ride and hang out. As always it was great to see both of them.
I did my normal stretching while everyone else stood around.
Eddie gave the racers some last minute commands and directions about the race.
The Race had a neutral start for about 3 miles on pavement, so it was pretty sorted out by the time we got to the gravel road, Eddie peeled off and we were off. My goal was to stay with the top 10 and did so till about 3/4 of the way up coopers gap. When the road kicked up one last time, I lost contact and the mental games began.
I think that the main difference between ORAMM and FG100 is that ORAMM you go up then you go down, up and down, up/down, etc. But FG100 you go up then you traverse with rollers, down a bit, traverse a bit, up, traverse a bit, down, traverse a bit and repeat(lap two). Which all equates into a lot less time for recovery while descending.
Which is why the mind games began b/c I had put myself into the hurt cave and had to traverse for another 30 minutes while trying to find my way out of the cave. The last 10 minutes I caught on with a couple guys from Orlando as they passed me they said are you from Albany? You know Kent Lofton? Turns out they ride with Kent down in Florida. They were both riding full sus and we rotated through a few rotations to the top of winding stairs where I was on the front and proceeded to get a max speed of 40 mph. I came through a slight bend and got squirelly on some tennis ball size rocks and wrapped my chain up around my crank about that time one of the guys blew by me. When we got onto the single track that traverses from Jake to bull mtn we were chatting it up and turns out when he passed me he hit 43 mph. Not bad for a gravel road.
Shortly after that they proceeded to drop me and I returned to the cave, all by myself. I thought quitting which I haven't thought about during a race in several years. Eventually when I was about half way up bull mtn I decided that I was just going to keep riding and stick to my plan with eating and see if I could find a groove. I found my groove and settled in, kept eating, and started to feel stronger. Or at least I wasn't curled up in the corner of the pain cave. Finished 1st lap under 4 hours.
Second time around I can say that I made it up coopers gap, it wasn't pretty and I got passed by one guy whom I was able to pass later on the last section of single track after it rained and was muddy and slippery.
Road efficiently along the ridge traverse from coopers gap to winding stairs descent and started to dream about catching a few people and some possible finishing times. At this point I knew that sub 8 was not possible but sub 8:30 was well within reason. This thought brought my spirits up as did the awesome sag volunteers. As you rode into a sag they would call out your number and some one would come running up to you with your sag bag. They would fill bottles and do anything you asked. TOP NOTCH VOLUNTEERS, thanks eddie and Namrita.
I ended up catching one of the florida guys as he ended up having a bad day and had cracked and lost his garmin. He was piecing things back together as he climbed bull mtn and I believe his buddy went on to finish second but not really sure. I thought a couple of times about getting off and walking the top sections of the bull ascent but my internal bullies wouldn't let me.
It sprinkled a bit on the Bull descent and turns out that it was a full on rain storm on the lower single track and down at the winery. This played to my advantage because I could put caution to the wind and roll the last section of single track that was all slick and muddy. I was able to pass 2 more guys which was good but also caused some stress b/c now I had to make sure that I didn't get passed on the paved road back to the winery. As it turns out the return to the winery was mostly uphill, go figure, and with the recent rain and the sun coming out made it like sitting in a sauna. I did my best to put my head down and pedal circles. It worked out and I made it to the finish with out getting passed.
8:13ish good enough for 11th or 12th depending on how you look at it (I am actually 10th on the final results). As it turns out jeff shaulk was in the lead coming through the end of the first lap and didn't head back out for the second because the course wasn't marked. No disrespect jeff, cause I know you could school me any day, but shouldn't you have done your homework? Or at least listened at the start line when eddie explained the course? So jeff and christian tanguy were awarded a tie so really I was 12th but b/c of the tie the official results says 11th for my class. I will be back next year.
Thanks eddie and Namrita and everyone else that made his event so awesome. I will bring some south Georgia folks with me next year.
Here I am after riding on the blacktop sauna toward the finish.
My faithful steed thanks to Breakaway bikes for all the support.
Cooked and still deep in the cave.
The vineyard venue was exceptional with a pool and hot tub.
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Location:Dahlonega, GA
