the curse!

What can one say about riding in the Michaux Sate Forest. Probably that it will be some of the toughest terrain one has ridden. How about racing a 100K event on those trails? It will probably test your very limits of endurance and stamina upon your two wheeled vehicle. Yesterday was the second installment of the Michaux Endurance Series, The Curse of the Dark Hollow, a 100K race through the forest. The race start was at 7 am so camping was, is the only option, plus it is always a good time hanging out with others the night before the race. Seeing how it was a 100K, I started with a decent pace to get warmed up, but still stayed ahead of the traffic before hitting the tight-n-twisty. Working my way through some folks, I found myself with a group that I could ride a ways with, Buck, Topher and Old Man Withers. We rode for a while, passed a huge timber rattlesnake, before the Old Man had a flat. Bummer! The three of us pressed on riding and actually stayed together for 45 miles. That was the longest I have ever ridden with the same people in a race. On to the last 20 miles, the course was more fire road than we had hit before and I was feeling good, so I pushed it on the climb to three mile trail. In three mile trail is where I felt like I have never ridden technical before in my life. Buck ended up catching and passing me, and the last time we chatted was at the 50 mile aid station. Keeping a decent form, I pressed on to the sweet decent of dead womans to grave's ridge. Rolling at the bottom of grave's I saw another huge rattlesnake. This time I was just turning the pedals and didn't really notice that it was right next to my foot! Cruising through the last aid station it was hot as hell with a two mile climb between myself and the finish. Back up on the flats, I rolled through the parking lot to see people from the 10 and 25 mile races looking fresh. Every beer in their hands looked like the elixir I needed, but I made some turns and ended my day in 2nd place for the SS class and 8th overall with a time of 6 hrs 48 mins. Props to Harlan for putting it to Eatough with the fastest time of the day. It is definitely sad to here the misfortunes that others had throughout the day when everything seemed to go well for yourself, but that's the way it seems to be served up at Michaux. You never know!