Singlespeed-a-Palooza Redemption

It's race day!  This morning things came together well and the family and I were at the race without any problems.  I registered and was given number 300.  Nice!  I wasted no time and suited up.  The weather was great.  It started out overcast in the mid-50's and worked up to the mid-60's by the end.  No question, shorts and short sleeves.

Roland, James, Liz, James, Perry, Tom, Buzz
Jason, Matt, Steveyo, Robi

After a group photo, 8:00 arrived and all 11 of us lined up.  George, the event coordinator, was really excited to have us there.  We started and it didn't take long for some groupings to form.  The race starts on a dirt road for over 2.5 miles so it's easy to see where people are.  James T. and James R. on their 36ers, and Roland on his 29er took no time to pull away.  Steveyo on his wide tire 26er, and Robi, Perry, and myself on 29ers grouped in the middle.  Somewhere along the way Perry fell back.  I don't know the order behind me, but at some point on the dirt road the leaders and the followers were more or less out of sight.  The three of us middle guys entered the singletrack climb together.  I managed the climb without a dismount and from that point on I didn't saw Steveyo or Robi for the remainder of the race.

I had my phone in my pack and used My Tracks to track my ride.  I have been riding recently with this app because I wanted audio announcements of my speed at each mile.  I wanted to keep a pace of 6mph or higher to finish within 4 hours, and I had studied the course and anticipated when the mountain bikers would start passing.  The unicycles started early at 8:00, so we'd finish in time, and the bikers started at 9:00.  Even after the first singletrack hill climb my average speed was high, over 7mph, because of the initial dirt road, but lowered to around 6mph by the end.

My lower back was probably my biggest crutch, as it got fatigued early into the singletrack.  I stopped and took a few Advil for that.  I was worried I'd get saddle sore, and while I did start to get uncomfortable on the dirt road, the race brought me out of the saddle enough and I never felt saddle sore again.  My quads cramped somewhat a few times in the second third of the race, but that too was short lived.  I drank a lot of water and ate a lot of energy gel.  My breakfast of two English muffins with grape jelly was a good choice.  It sat well even with butterflies and didn't weigh on me.  I also had a Stinger Waffle in the 13.5 mile refueling station, a few electrolyte pills, and another Advil.  A funny staff guy manning the station was intrigued by my Stinger Waffle and asked to try some.  I let him a piece and joked, "Sure eat my food!".  I mean, this is a 24 mile race, I'm on a unicycle, and you want to take my food?  Haha... it was fine, but a little silly.  My knees never gave me problems, so that's awesome!  Otherwise I just experience overall fatigue later in the race and was feeling kind of sick of energy gel.

The passing mountain bikers issue wasn't as bad as I anticipated.  I probably dismounted and stepped off the trail for about half of them because the trail was too narrow.  Otherwise I was able to give them room.  I got tons of compliments, and I think most of them thought I was in first.  I corrected some.  I figured the leaders were miles away.

My only real complaint for the course was some long stretches of deep muddy and swamp.  The trails are in way better condition than my local trails, but dismounting and walking because of the mud was a bummer.

So the results...  woohoo I finished!!  That was my goal and I did it!  I really feel like I redeemed myself from last year's DNF.  Roland got 1st, James T. 2nd, and James R third!  I got 4th, Steveyo 5th and Robi 6th.  All others did not finish.  Roland told me James T. went off course for a bit and had to backtrack and he felt bad about claiming first. 

Here are the timing results:

Roland	3h09:47.35
James T.	3h24:38.53
James R.	3h35:57.03
Buzz	3h42:55.48
Steveyo	4h10:47.31
Robi	4h20:26.88
Matt	DNF
Tom	DNF
Jason	DNF
Liz	DNF
Perry	DNF

What else.  Oh, I got two ticks on my legs.  Apparently other riders found some too. 

Race coordinator, George, really wanted the uni riders to be able to finish on time so we could eat, drink, and be merry with the other racers.  I think it worked out well, and the food really hit the spot.  Thanks Dark Horse Cycles!  It was a great event!

Oh, so on my way out I picked up my little cooler that was taken to and from the refueling station.  Inside I found a this:

HEY MAN -

  I PUT THAT HONEY STINGER IN MY MOUTH THE FIRST TIME & COULDN'T RESIST THE SECOND ONE IN YOUR LUNCH/FEED/RACE/AWESOME BOX.  IT WAS LIKE CRACK.  MAGIC TO MY TASTE BUDS... SO HERE'S A COUPLE BUCKS & A DOPE-ASS BEER (C)KOOZIE.  GET ANOTHER BEER & A HONEY STINGER ON ME!

    THANKS DAWG,
    - BEER TENT GUY

Hahaha!  Very cool of him!