Boggs V 8 Hr - Report

I'm alive! Just completed my first 8 hour race event and boy that was a lot of fun with some pain. Conditions were wet and COLD, we started at 8:15 with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees and patches of snow still on the ground. To start things out, I got a late start since I parked my car too far u pthe road and had to carry my ice chest, pump and bike bag down to the pit area then go back up and get my bike. Next year I'm unloading my crap near the pit area and then parking! I ended up beginning around 8:21, that's about 5-6 late start, but I kept it cool and just started pedaling, I soon began to catch people and caught up with my buddy Wade and just chatted most of the 1st lap. I felt good, strong and energetic and felt like I could do this for hours haha. As soon as we hit the final climb (a long fireroad climb) I parted ways with Wade and took off only to see him after completing my 5th lap where I received a kind gesture (middle finger to be exact) from him as he was about to start his 5th lap.

My feet, fingers, and face were numb before even completely the first lap, especially after going through the muddle puddles on the fireroad leading up to the climb and they would stay that way for another 6-7 hours! My best lap was my 2nd lap, I felt strong and knocked 6 minutes off my previous lap but then I had to make a pitstop at the end of my 2nd lap for the bathroom. I guess my dinner from the night before finally caught up (Spaghetti/ w Meatballs, Slices of Pizza, 2-3 hours of Wii Sports) :)

I continued to stop each lap to swap water bottles (since I only carried one on me at a time) and eat something. I ended up going through 2 PBj's, 1 Clif Bar, 1-2 packets of Clif Shot Bloks and raisins. The "Pro's" caught me as I was climbing the fireroad climb on my 3rd lap, dang, those guys are fast. I just kept it together and kept pedaling. By the end of the 4th lap I was feeling it but I knew I needed at least 2 more laps to podium so I went out again, being passed more frequently this time but I kept my speed up on the downhills and fireroad climb. I even went up the fireroad climb on Lap 4 and 6 in the middle ring due to chain suck issues. I could feel every bump more on lap #5 and #6 as I got tired and I started to get sloppy with the control of my bike. Instead of using my arms or legs to maneuver my bike I just let the bike hit the object and roll over it and even hit a tree with my shoulder.

I was pretty certain I was done after completely my 6th lap, my chain suck issues were getting worse and I wasn't getting any better and I know I needed my granny gear to do another lap. I also felt like I maybe ate too much? My stomach felt like it had a minor cramp (or ache). My chain was so dry after this race due to all the mud, water and debris, the lube was probably totally gone after 4 laps but I cleaned up my drivetrain after lap #4 and that helped for a while. I finished my 6th lap at 3:05pm so I had time to do a 7th lap but ultimately decided I'm done and I ended up in 2nd place! Not bad!

I'm now kicking myself in the ass for not doing another lap since that would probably have placed me 1st place since my average lap times were faster than the guy who won since he did another lap than me, but congrats to him, but next time I will do 7!

I think I'm going to do a couple more 50 miler and/or 8 hr races later this season like the Kirkwood 9-5 #1 & #2 by Team Big Foot, Tahoe 50/100 Miler and maybe the next Boggs 8hr Race put on by Global Biorhythm Events. All these take place in Summer or early Fall so the course conditions will be dry and the temperatures will be great! Definately more willing to do those. Overall, I had a great time and I enjoyed the atmosphere of the place, I believe there were about 500 racers with probably another 300-500 spectators/event staff. We were treated to a great pasta dinner afterwards and some lucky poeple won some cool prizes in the raffle. The food wasn't enough for me, since I hauled back to Santa Rosa to meet my girlfriend and her parents for a "Macho Burrito" at Santa Rosa Taqueria, yum :)

My bike and me took a beating. My new bike did well beside the chain suck issues but what do you expect after going through mud and water for 7 hours? No one's bike is immune to chain suck unless you are a single speeder or maybe one of those lucky guys with the new SRAM XX drivetrains (2x10)! I'm still in the process of cleaning my bike actually :)

How am I doing you ask? I'm sore today, but I feel better than I thought I would, so onto my weekly routine of hitting the gym and commuting home twice a week and I look forward to the Napa Valley Dirt Classic, which is this Sunday April 11th! I hope for no rain like last year (crosses fingers).