Syllamo's Revenge 125k

I got my ass handed to me by Arkansas's Syllamo trail system.  I pre-rode the start and first climb the day before that race and that went well.  The first climb is about 1 mile long that starts at the Blanchard Recreation area campground and then jumps into the single track of the yellow loop.

The first few miles went fine, I settled into a good pace.  During the first climb I noticed a guy go by wearing a Bell's Brewery Jersey.  It turned out to be Lee Cook from Kalamazoo.  Lee and I worked together for the first few miles until we got behind someone going just to slow.  Lee asked to pass the guy ahead of us and my encouragement.  As Lee passed he got caught up in some brush and fell down an embankment of rocks.  I didn't see Lee until later when he went by me after I fell on a switch back of rocks.  I didn't see him again until the first aid station where he had his elbow bandaged up and told me that it probably needed stitches.

I decided to journey on, I can't tell you where I was because I have never ridden Syllamo before.  All I know is that the terrain got more and more difficult.  The downhill switchbacks where driving me crazy, they were tight and rocky.  I was also starting to notice a knock in my headset.  This knock would get louder and louder as the race went on.  In a way I felt way beyond my comfort zone and was pushed to attempt terrain that I was not accustom to at all or even ridden before.

After falling 3 more times on the damn switchbacks the rocks where staring to take their tolls on my body.  By this time my shins where all scraped and bruised up and my right hip was bruised.  My left palm was hurting too.  For some reason I decided to wear full finger gloves and was glad I did.   The last time I fell I was ready to give in, I kept saying to myself "This is stupid, I'm going to kill myself out here" I picked the bike up off from the top of me, checked it out and decided to get back on.  All of this and I haven't even got 20 miles in yet.

By the time I got to the second aid station the heat had really risen.  It had spiked to 113 degrees on my GPS.  I was downing water like I had drank in days.  This was probably the start to my stomach problems that reared it's ugly head once again later in the race (I have been dealing with stomach issues on long races for a year now and have yet to figure it out). 

To get to the third aid station took everything I had, there was a long hike a bike uphill section that was totally un-rideable, at least for me.  There was 3 stream crossing, one that I could ride across the other two I would had to dismount and walk through.  Each one was about 20 to 30 yards wide.  There where rock / boulder lined downhill chutes that I had to get off my bike and walk down because I didn't dare chance another fall.

3 of the 4 checkpoint wristbands needed, I didn't get the yellow.

It took me 6 hours and 45 minutes to get 30 miles and the 3rd check point, mentally I was defeated, physically I was drained.  I tried to recover at the 3rd check point but it wasn't happening.  I couldn't get my heart rate to come down and my stomach was up in my throat.  I took a couple of papaya extracts and 2 Succeed tablets and my stomach calmed down enough for me to get back on the bike.  After checking my GPS readout after the race I realized I spent over an hour at the 3rd check point but during the race I could have sworn I was only there for about 20 minutes.

I got back on my bike and started to head out on what they call the red loop.  This was to be the easier 12 mile loop of the track.  As I headed out a race official caught me and informed me that I could continue on but I would not make the cutoff time.  I decided to to go ahead and do the 12 miles anyway, with my ego totally blown, my stomach in my mouth and all my bangs and bruises starting to play a toll on my body.  It took me 1 hour and 50 minutes to go that 12 miles, but I did it when the easy thing to do was just quit and ride the bike down the 1.5 mile downhill back to the start after they told me I would make the cut off.

I told my wife when I was done that If I had pre-rode the whole coarse a month earlier I wouldn't have done this race.  The terrain was way beyond my comfort zone but I learned from it, I got through the toughest part of the coarse and I pushed myself and got 50 miles in.  I was glad my family was there for support and to ease the pain when I was done.  My wife took care of me as I laid on the ground next to our car with words of encouragement and a chocolate milk, thanks Honey!

I am already thinking of my next endurance event and what I can do different to make sure I do better, lets go ride now!