Ken Morton

As if this race wasn't hard enough already, I chose to ride my single

speed IRO 'cross bike. Why? No one is quite sure. Sunday morning Sam

and I are getting ready, and Lisa sits me down on the couch.



"Honey", she asks in her most concerned voice, "do you need a

psychiatrist?"



"Huh? No, I don't think so", I respond. "Why?"



With a serious tone, "Well, you are going to ride your single speed."



It's nice to have support of loved ones. Anyway, teammate and friend

Jay showed up and we loaded bikes and gear into his car for the drive

to Madras. We had a good drive over, making quicker time than we

expected. After borrowing tools from the rider parked next to us (Jay

and I both decided to leave our toolboxes at home for some reason) Jay,

Sam and I headed out to warm up a little. We rode out of the parking

lot, took a right up the paved road and a left down the gravel road.



After maybe a half mile, Sam noted he had a soft tire, so turned around

to take care of it. Jay and I rode to the other end of the road,

getting a nice pre-view of what the gravel would be like. We then

turned around and rode in the actual race direction, flying down the

hill at 25+ MPH.



Saturday I'd changed the gearing on my IRO to 38/20, which I now

thought was too low. On the paved portions, I was going to be spinning

like crazy and/or going pretty slow. 100 RPM was about 15 mph, and

frankly 15mph was too slow for a good portion of the course. Some

people were standing around the map pre-race and I heard a comment that

there was much more than 50% paved roads. I hoped they were wrong!

(Turns out I think they were.)



We placed a cooler by the gravel-road stop sign with extra water

bottles so we could switch after the 1st lap. I fiddled a little more,

Sam adjusted his seat and we ate turkey-cheese sandwiches. We watched

the 'A's and 'B's get going and finally it was our turn. I saw there

was at least one other person crazy enough to ride a single speed and

that made me feel better. He was running a 42/17 gear though! He and I

both lined up in back, figuring we were going to end up there anyway.



I stayed with the pack out of the parking lot, actually passing a few

people. We took off down the road, and I drafted as best I could. Sam

jumped off the front coming out of the parking lot, and the last time I

saw him, he had a good 15-bike length lead. "Save your legs Sam!" I

thought. Silly me, he had plenty of legs this day.



I did pretty well staying with the stragglers at first, but eventually

the pavement worked against me. On the first dirt section, I started

passing a few people, until a big climb; they passed me back. I chased

one group of 3 riders, a guy and two women, almost all the way to the

highway. I caught and passed them just maybe 1/4 mile before the

pavement. Once on the pavement, I sped up to 16 mph and held there. The

three came flying by. "You can grab a wheel if you'd like!" I sped up

to the 21mph they were doing and took one rotation through their pace

line. I dropped off after that; I can't keep up at 140 rpm pace!



I dropped back a little, and about the same time the pavement pitched

up. Then an interesting thing happened. I was able to maintain about

16mph on the flats, and about 15mph on these shallow climbs. Slowly, I

reeled the three of them back in and then lost them again as the

pavement pitched down. My usual downhill method was to spin up to 20

MPH or so, then just tuck in as best I could and coast.



We turned off the highway, and soon I overtook the group again. "Hey,

we waited for you!" one of the women said as I peddled by.

"Can't...slow.... down..." I huffed. One thing I have learned on the

single speed - keep whatever momentum you have! I never saw the three

again as I slowly increased my lead.



As I rode over the last dirt road on the first lap, I almost had my

race ended. I had crested the hill, and was flying down the other side

on my way to the stop sign. Coming around a blind left, there was a

huge Suburban coming my way. I was all the way left, and headed right

towards him. We both jammed brakes and I managed to steer right around

him, my heart in my throat. "Shit!"



At the stop sign, I hopped off the bike and laid it down, knocking a

handlebar plug out in the process. I yelled out my number, and the

corner worker said, "Oh, you're quitting." "NO!!", I yelled, "Just

getting water!" I grabbed one of the water bottles out of the cooler

and tossed in my empty. A guy in shorts and a jersey had picked up my

bike and replaced my bar end plug. He handed me my bike. "Thank you!" I

said, hopping on and taking off like I had a chance of placing.



I'd brought two bottles of Perpetum and one of HEED. I started the race

with a bottle of Perpetum and watered down HEED; I had drunk about 3/4

of the HEED before the race, and just filled the bottle with plain

water. I thought I'd grabbed the other Perpetum from the cooler. As I

now grabbed a swig, I realized it was ICE WATER. Man, it tasted good.

It turned out Sam had grabbed my Perpetum. I drank half the bottle

before I hit the gravel again.



I don't think I saw anyone again until I was back on the highway. There

was a nasty headwind going down the highway, and I just got on the

hoods and plowed down the road. I don't like headwinds (does anyone?)

but it seems I've ridden in a lot this year, so I'm getting better at

them. I'd been seeing a rider up ahead on and off, and now started

closing in. Finally, on the long uphill grade I caught her. "I'm just

going to sit here on your wheel for a minute and catch my breath" I

told her. She was not having fun on the highway, and I think was happy

to have the company. She said the cars and trucks flying by were really

scaring her. I sat on her wheel for a bit, until she motioned me

around. We switched back and forth for awhile, until the hill before

the turn for the first lap.



"Do we turn in the same place?" I asked her, noticing I was pulling

away a little. "I think so," she said, so I sped up. I got to the road,

and it was obvious we did not turn, so I slowed and waited for her. She

stayed on my wheel for a little ways, but we were climbing again and

soon I was dropping her. I turned around and waved, thanking her for

her help.



I turned off the highway and the road was still paved for a long ways.

I kept expecting someone to catch me on the long paved section, but no

one did. I just kept spinning along at my 16 mph. It was getting hot,

but as long as there was a breeze it wasn't too bad. Occasionally,

there would be a tailwind, and I'd suddenly feel the heat. I'd killed

the ice water, and only had a little in the other water bottle. I kept

hoping to see a course worker or someone I could get some water from.

Of course, I didn't see anyone.



I turned onto Skull Hollow road. Man this thing is rough! I thought I

had a flat as I could not seem to push the bike over 10 mph. "Am I

climbing?" I wondered. It didn't look like a grade, but it could be. I

passed the rock that I assumed was the Hollow Skull (very cool) and

wondered where Robaiux was. Belgium or France? Isn't that too far to

ride? I think I was hallucinating.



After a really nasty cattle guard, there was a wide grassy area to the

right. There were two mountain bikers there, who had obviously just

finished a ride. I rode up to them and asked if they had any extra

water. One of them filled one water bottle from his Camelback; the

other filled my other bottle from a Nagalene bottle. "Thank you guys!

Your lifesavers!" They told me I had about 3 miles more of UP to do.



I rode away, albeit not very fast. By now my legs were feeling leaden.

I thought I was just tired; it was all I could do to pedal up the hill.

6 mph, now down to 5, then to 4. Finally, I got off and walked a

little. My computer showed I was walking at 2.8 mph. I kept looking

back to see if someone was catching me, but I did not see anyone. For

the first time, I thought I might not be able to finish. "This is

ridiculous, " I thought. "I should be able to ride this!" I got back on

the bike, and rode standing for 100 yards before dismounting and

resuming walking.



I'm guessing I walked a mile to a mile and a half. Towards the top, the

hill finally got shallower and I started riding again. I surprised

myself; I did have legs left! I took it super easy at the two "SLOW"

signs, not wanting to wreck now. The downhill went on forever. I passed

3 people walking their bikes or just sitting with flat tires. I was

tired, and finding a good line on some of the faster sections was hard.

I remember one area where the center was scoured of loose rocks, but

was so rough you could barely ride there. Towards the sides it was

smoother, but the gravel was loose and sketchy. Once you'd chosen a

line, you almost had to stick with it until you got to the bottom of

that hill, as trying to switch at speed wasn't going to happen.



Finally, I made it to the last turn. There was a bunch of people just

before the turn, doing what I don't know. Around the turn and "Yippee!"

that's the 1K to go sign! There were still two hard hills to get up; I

walked yet again. I made it about 2/3rd's the way up the last hill did

my best Cycle Cross dismount and walked to the top. There was a little

flat before the finish and I got back on to ride over the line. I

finished in just a tick under 4 hours total.



I slowly made my way back to the cars. Sam told me I was a rock star,

but it turned out he was. He WON the Class C event, bringing home an

awesome trophy. The ride home took longer than the ride there, but we

all had fun talking about the race. Jay finished 13th, and I took home

19th. The other single speed rider, Wade came in an astounding 5th

place!



We had a good time, and I hope we get more of this kind of races here.

The big hill was TOO much for me, but there is a sense of pride in

finishing, even if I did walk most of it. Sam admitted he walked some

too. Jay, mountain biker he is, managed to ride the whole thing. Do it

again next year, and I'll show up. Maybe even on a single speed again.

:)



Ken





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