Part III: The Race - Lost in the Rocks and Trees

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Part I: Getting There
Part II: Commitment
Part III: The Race
Part IV: The Finish

Rules
On the starting line, things were pretty quite. I think we were all a little unsure of what was in store. It did stop raining, but you could tell it was going to rain again.

They went over the rules and told us what to do if we broke down out there and also reminded us that we were going to be on our own for long stretches of time; alone. They also went over what supplies would be at the checkpoints (water and some basic items) and told us about the mechanic’s station at Checkpoint #1 and #3 which many riders would end up taking advantage of.

I started to feel a little better at this point knowing at least someone was going to be out there.

Start
When the race started, two quads lead us through the heart of downtown Mattawa. We just paced ourselves and followed them through town. There weren’t many people around, but it’s was still cool to start the race off like this; it actually makes you feel like you are doing something super-important. The townsfolk that were out just looked at us strangely as we went by.

After town, the pace picked up significantly. I don’t think it was until then that I actually realized that I was in a race. Someone tried to break away off the front so I pushed hard to get on their wheel. The whole time I was still trying to shake the cobwebs off of my travel-legs. A few minutes later, the pack broke apart and left the two of us at the front.

When we got to the top of the first dirt road climb, one of the quads slammed on the brakes and waved us around hard to the left. When I looked back, I saw a giant porcupine in the middle of the road.

It was then when I finally realized I was back in Northern Ontario.

Go Time!
It was only a few minutes into the race and I had already broken the first rule: Don’t lead! I didn’t know the trail, what was coming up or where I was going, but my legs felt good on the first road climb, so I decided to get out front and lay down a solid pace. I also figured that any extra ground I could make on the “good” roads would quickly get swallowed up by the other sections that lay ahead.

Terrain
Early on, the trail took us through a difficult clear-cut area covered with 1-2 ft high moguls. It looked like they were left behind by a logging skidder that had come through. The ground was soft. It was covered with wood chips and really hard to pedal across. I just took my time and bobbed back and forth across the wheel-sucking bumps, trying not to get the sticks and wood chips stuck in my spokes. This was different I thought to myself.

Blazing the Trail
Once we hit the bush roads, I was able to pick the pace back up again.

Some of roads were covered with rough gravel in sections and wet sand in others. There were a few sandy sections that just sucked the life out of your legs and made your bike not want to roll any longer (you know what I’m talking about). Thankfully these sections were pretty short and linked back up to rolling hills.

Speaking of hills, on the downhills you could really catch some serious speed if you wanted to. I approached the first couple of puddles with caution, but I learned pretty quickly that I could wheelie across the big ones as long as I carried a lot of speed. Some of them were deeper than others so that kept me on my toes.

According to my GPS, I hit 33 mph a few times as I skimmed across the puddles. This was a little unnerving, but a ton of fun! The big issue was trying to keep the mud and dirt out of my face. The front fender was working well, but mud and sand was still flying everywhere.

Navigation
No matter what race you are in, it’s always hard to ride full-out and follow directional arrows at the same time. Although the course was well marked, I have to admit, there were a lot of trails out there, and there were a lot of different colored arrows pointing in a lot of different directions at times. I definitely went through some nervous moments when I didn’t see any arrows for 10-15 minutes and started wondering if I was going in the right direction.

There were long stretches out there where the bush was dead silent and you knew you were alone. All I could hear was the whizzing of the tires and the odd crash from an animal in the bush. The only tracks I could see in front of me were fresh moose and bear tracks between Checkpoint #1 and #2.

I’ve been in SoCal for a while now but I still know a fresh moose track when I see one!

First Stop
It didn’t take long to reach Checkpoint #1 and I just kept going until I hit Checkpoint #2. This whole section wasn’t too bad at all. It was just bush roads, light mud, soft sand, puddles and rolling hills.

When I came in to Checkpoint #2 I think I caught the crew a little off guard. I was covered with mud and sand from head to toe, so when they asked if I wanted water, all I wanted was some water to clean my glasses. At this point they were caked so bad that I couldn’t see a thing. My drive train was starting to make noise as well, but I didn’t want to mess with it yet.

Everyone at the check was awesome. They helped me clean my glasses and got me going in no time. On the way out I grabbed one of the drinks that the Frenchman dropped off earlier.

So far I was following my plan 100%; except for the leading part.

Rainforest
On my way out of Checkpoint #2, I was happy to see the long gravel road ahead because I knew I could knock out some serious miles here.

I actually thought the section between Checkpoint #2 and #3 was the best part of whole course. This part had fast flowing bush roads and quad trails, and reminded me of the rainforests in Costa Rica (which I had a chance to visit and ride last year).

The trails were like tunnels because the vegetation was so thick that it created a full canopy overhead. It was in this section when I came across a beautiful deer. He ran along side of trail for a few seconds and then darted off.

Not something you see every day in a mountain bike race!

Northern Exposure
About ¾ of the way through this section, the trail was starting to get really rough and I was slowing down a lot. The mud was getting deeper and the flies were getting bad.

The deer flies didn’t like the insect repellent on my arms and legs, but they had no problem biting through the top of my bike gloves. They also found their way into the holes in my helmet and I was trying to bat them out by knocking my helmet around my head.

Not fun.

The Hill
And then I came up to “the hill”. You the one I’m talking about. It was long, steep, wet, slippery and it was littered with fist-sized rocks. Somehow, I was able to sit in and just pick lines between the big rocks and get all the way to the top. I was totally spent but I knew I made good time on the hill, and possibly saved a few minutes on the next guys behind me.

More Problems
I knew the last section was going to be the toughest part of the whole race. I checked my bottle levels to make sure I could ride a solid hour and didn’t bother stopping at Checkpoint #3. The trails were getting really muddy by this point and my drive train was giving me a lot of trouble. Something was wrong with my front derailleur and I couldn’t shift out of my big ring any longer.

When I got to the beaver dam/log/bridge thing, I stopped and dipped my whole bike in the water. I spun the drive train around a few times to flush everything out. I was still fighting with gear changes and I didn’t know what was going on, but I finally got the chain to drop into the middle ring. I was just feathering every change from here on in.

Slip Sliding Away
This section was the toughest part of the whole course. I think the trail was a trail blazed for snowmobiles in the winter, but quads were obviously having a field day in there in the summer. It was full of 1-2 ft deep mud ruts that were filled with pockets of water. The mud was black and the clay was slippery like grease. Once you found a line (more like a rut), whether by choice or not, you had to commit to it 100%.

Tree roots and logs were exposed everywhere and I had quite a few near-death experiences. I swear my bike went sideways at least 10 times. I hit a few puddles as well and I completely lost my front end and almost endo-ed a few times as well.

I had new respect for anyone that could just get through this section.

Half-way
After fighting through the Vietnam jungle, they lead us back to some pretty fast bush roads and made my way back to Checkpoint #1. It was here where I started the whole loop all over again. There was only one hard climb and I was back on the main course before I knew it. “Half-way” I thought to myself. “…and I’m still alive!”

It was around here where I realized I had a serious problem with my front derailleur. It was making a ton of noise now and was permanently stuck in the big ring. At the time, I figured it was just a rock, so I didn’t worry about it too much. My plan was to look at it at Checkpoint #2 because I needed to stop to get water anyways.

Survival
By now I was I was coming across riders that were doing the 62km version of the 110km race. It was great seeing other people out on the trail at this point as I felt like I was riding alone for 2hrs before this.

Derailleured
When I rolled into Checkpoint #2, the volunteer staff were ready this time. They helped me clean my glasses while I leaned down and oiled my chain. I messed with the derailleur and I just adjusted the cable enough so that it cleared the chain, but it was still stuck on the big ring. I couldn’t figure out why, so I just decided to go on with it as it was.

Little Help
As I pedaled down the long gravel road, it started to rain pretty hard and the wind picked up significantly. This made things a lot harder this time. About half way down I stopped and give the rest of my energy drink to this gal that was obviously suffering from cramps. I said to mix it with water and to drink it down. She thanked me and then I was off again.

The rest of the course was just a repeat of the first loop, except a little harder this time because of my “perma big ring situation” and the fact the trail was chewed up because of the other bikes that came through. The rain wasn’t helping either. The course had taken many victims at this point and I came across a many riders just walking their bikes or should I say, pushing them through the mud.

At this point I was just struggling to get my pedals over one another and to keep my bike straight.

Lost
When I finally got back to Checkpoint #1, I looked down at my GPS and saw it was around 55 miles or so, and I knew I was almost done. I put it into high gear and hauled butt through the last section.

This part of the trail was actually really technical, hilly and super slippery. I’m not sure what happened, but somehow I took a hard right and went down a steep nasty hill. At the bottom, I didn’t see any tracks or anyone, so I knew I made a wrong turn.

The problem was that the hill was so steep I couldn’t pedal back up. I had to throw my bike on my back and climb the slippery hill. On my way up I recognized a few guys I passed earlier, so I regrouped, caught back up to them and put my head down to get to the finish.

I definitely ended up losing a few minutes here but I was still determined and I pushed all the way to the finish line.