CRIREM.... as I read the description before signing up it seemed to relate the first year of the Ragnarok, which I missed. It was shorter in distance, but the conditions seem to lend themselves to complete insanity. Gravel road ice, or gravel road slop....both?? Drew, Dave, Tim and I decided to sign up. New gravel, new people, sounds fun.
The morning started in the single digits in a small town south of Des Moises, at a Tap none the less. Cumming Tap is a the kind of Tap I had frequented a number of times in my younger days. Cheap food, cheap beer, and very colorful people who don't give a shit about how much their jeans cost. Perfect to say the least. The start and finish would be the front door of the Tap, what more of a incentive do we need to return?
The town was inundated with Lycra wearing gravel road rode riding nuts. A town normally populated with maybe fifty people had 112 smiling faces ready to put themselves through sixty miles of smiles. Their was a roar of anticipation at the start, but isn't there always at a race start? The Weather Channel said the day was going to play out like a nightmare. The race start would be cold, and warm up to the mid thirties. Ice then slush, could it be true?
The roll out was uneventful, we were paced by a local to the first bridge on the course that looked like a strong wind could blow it over. To make matters worse, it was a wooden bridge with slates opened just wide enough to suck your tire in and end your race prematurely. Hope you been practicing your skinny riding skills, on ice to boot! To be honest it wasn't as bad as it sounds, but if this was the start, what the hell was the rest of the course like?
The first five miles were covered with snow and ice and there were frequent and anticipated falls all over the place. I played it safe and watch the carnage from a far. Timmy had his bike knocked out from underneath him so I stopped to lend a hand. Luckily is was a easy fix, and Timmy was on his way....way faster than I.
If you think all of Iowa is flat, your dead wrong. This was no Ragnarok, but it had it's challenging climbs to say the least. Especially when you add ice and snow to the climbs. The first thirty miles was cold, icy, and somewhat predicable. The second half of the race was going to be anything but. I didn't really prepare properly for this race, so suffering was expected. My body didn't disappoint. Leg cramps, tired legs, heavy breathing....and so it goes.
Why don't we quit when were suffering? When your legs cramp, why don't we call in the troops to save us? Because it's part of the experience. You have to suffer, you have to doubt yourself....then prove to yourself all over again that you can over come the pain and suffering to finish something you started. With that in mind, I will continue.
At the half way point was a check in of smiling women asking us dumb questions like are you cold, it it slick out there? Maybe it was small talk because they were bored, either way I didn't want to hear it. On the bright side they had water and snacks, for that I was grateful and Thanked them. You see, your mind doesn't remember the first race of the previous year, it remembers the last. When you were in better shape and could ride sixty miles with one water bottle and a energy bar.....I wasn't in this kind of shape. I depleted my water bottles in the first twenty miles of the ride and had consumed three of the four bars I had. In short, I was a idiot. I should have brought more of both.
Before the half way mark I had been playing tag with two other riders, Trevor and Joe. I would ride ahead, then fall back and they would catch me. If you have done long distance races you know how it goes. Trevor rode up to me around mile thirty five or forty and said we should all ride together, riding solo sucks. I couldn't argue with that. We chatted about each others lives bikes and other races to keep our minds of the thawing gravel. The three of us were now riding either on pavement like gravel, or slushie slop gravel with ice mixed in for good measure. As the sun kept warming the gravel as our speed slowed, and the climbs became almost unbearable. But remember, I am not in the best shape. Trevor mentioned we should walk the longer climbs to conserve energy, sounds good to me.
So we slogged on, slowly climbing this hill walking the next. None of us not willing to quit, not even speaking of it. Around mile 50 two wonderful ladies left any riders that needed it a jug of water to fill their bottles. This was a huge turning point for me. They generously filled our bottles after all of us drained them to ensure the rest of the trip we would be properly hydrated. I put down three bottle of water at this stop and then filled both bottles to the brim. It couldn't have been ten minutes later I was feeling great. Cramps gone, smile back, and the thought of walking another hill far behind me. I told Trevor and Joe, I was feeling it and rode ahead. I wanted to finish the last thirteen miles strong. I soon rode up to another rider, Troy who had taken advantage of the ladies generous stop but wasn't benefiting from it. He said he would like to pace behind me and I was fine with that.
The last six or seven miles had numerous Twists and turns and you had to keep your mind strong or you would be adding bonus miles to your ride. Something I didn't wish to do, and neither did Troy. Luckily for the both of us 90% of the last miles were hard packed gravel you could open up your stead on. And so we did, it was nice to see twenty plus on the odometer after slugging through the slush for so long. Ironically as we crested a hill I saw a couple riders I knew well. Trevor and Joe had gotten lost and were riding down the road we were riding up. Turn around boys I yelled, and so we were now four.
As we turned on the last couple of roads I said lets make it a race and sprint the last few miles. The four us thought that sounded good, and off we went. Luck was on my side for this part of the course. The rest of the guys had a 44 as their biggest ring, while I had a fifty. Hammer down, smile on, ignoring the sore legs we unleashed what we had left. I finished a good 1/8 of a mile ahead of them all not caring the least that I won, but that I finished strong. I waited for them all at the front of the door of the Tap and we walked in together. Slaps on the back, hand shakes, smiles all around.
That's how to finish a race, with new friends in tow.
