Stage 3 started off on the wrong foot. A local trailbuilder was upset that the race was running on a section of classic DH he had built (although it is on public land) and sabotaged the course by removing markings and felling trees onto the trail. So, the race director was forced to modify the course.The start time was changed to 9:30am though we finally ended up taking off at 10:45 am in what felt like the hottest part of the day. The start ended up being pretty hilarious. The RCMP (pace car) led us through the streets of Kamloops for about a 25 min ride, dropping 1/2 the pack in the back in the process and then all of the sudden pulled away and left us to our own devices. Well, we had no idea where we were and there was no lead moto to greet us, so we ended up taking a random left that lead us up to who-knows-where. All of the sudden those of us at the front realized we were lost and stopped in the middle of the trail. A local guy who is racing and helping to organize the race offered to lead us to where he thought the stage was going to go. So, we all played nice and rolled slowly though some singletrack until we met up with some course markings. It was the biggest group ride I have ever been on in my life. All 90 of us regrouped and after a 45 min of a neutral warmup we were off!
The day was tough. It included lots of extended climbs on a steep dirt roads in the blazing hot sun and some fun, newly cut (or perhaps never cut?) singletrack at a furious pace. Unfortunately, my legs felt like garbage for the first 1:30. I had to let the lead 3 women go up the opening 9k climb, knowing that there was nothing I could do but wait, hope and pray that my legs would come around. Finally they did...just in time for some downhill where I quickly got way too excited, knowing I was only 30 sec. down on the next gal and slid out, dropping my hip and rear derailer onto a big ol' boulder. I got right back on my merry way until I hit the next climb where I discovered I had my bent derailer by throwing my chain between my cassette and my spokes. After many failed attempts to get it dislodged on my own my new friend and trail angel John was kind enough to stop and help me yank it out. I would have never have had the guts to yard on a XTR derailleur like that, so it's a good thing he did. Somehow, he managed to leave me with most of my gears. His stopping to help was just one of the many selfless acts I witnessed all week.
Long story short, the race went on, I started feeling like myself again and I made it all the way to the last aid station where I was told that the lead 3 women had not yet come through. I was so confused. I was determined to catch back onto the lead pack now that I was feeling better, so I buried myself for the next 8 miles or so of rolling dirt road knowing that I had some time to make up after my little detour on Monday. Then, I got to the last course marshall 5k from the end where I ran into the 3 lead women who had been told long ago that the race had been neutralized and they just cruised on in. I still don't know how they got there first, as I went through the aid station first and never passed them. But only a few racers had been told that it had been neutralized. At that point, if I hadn't started laughing, well, I would have been crying, so Sue and I decided to ride the rest of the way home via some singletrack and try to get back into the Fun Zone, an area we had all left long ago...
The race director had led the lead pack of pro men in the wrong direction on his moto for 2k and had to bring them back up to the course. He made the decision that the entire stage would be neutralized because it was his fault that some people got lost and it wouldn't be fair. Those having great rides and making up time were left knowing that in the end their day wouldn't count. However, the worst, worst, worst part of the day was that Jerimiah Bishop crashed really hard at the very end, cracking his helmet and I think compressing a vertabrae in a stage that was already neutralized, all for naught. He's going to be okay, but I really really wish someone on course had had the ability to notify him that the race was done and perhaps his crash could have been avoided. But none of the course marshals or staff on the course had radios all week, so I guess they couldn't have known.
Stage 4
Stage 4 was the hardest day yet. Even though we got to start a 7am it was one of the hottest days yet with the temps hitting 100 deg and heat rash spreading through the pelaton like wildfire. It consisted of 2 huge climbs and included far more singletrack than any other stage. And it was not just any singletrack. It was rooty, rocky and technical and had me regretting not choosing the full-squish ride for the day. It was the most physically challenging of all of the days, as the singletrack was so technical it made for really slow going. Personally, it was my hardest day. The tailbone injury I inflicted upon myself in the XC race at Nationals last week (either broken or bruised-but who really wants to know if it's really broken, right?) really started giving me trouble. For the first 3 days I was doing okay with it-not great-but the pain was tolerable. But all of the sudden, 45 min in my entire back, glutes and hamstrings seized and made it excruciatingly painful to push the pedals. At 1:30 I told myself to just ride, simmer down and finish. Thankfully, the strategy worked. The more I eased off the better I felt and I was actually able to start pedaling hard again 5 hrs in. I enjoyed the singletrack even though it was some of the roughest stuff I have ever raced and came through the last aid station only to hear that I was now ahead of Sarah Kauffman (who had dropped me long ago) because she got off course.
I left the aid station so incredibly heartbroken. Sarah is my friend and a great person and she was having an incredible ride. And, because it has been so easy to get lost here all week (as I did on Monday loosing 35 min. in the process), I knew exactly how she must have felt. The next 10+ miles to the finish for me were some of the worst miles I have ever pedaled on a bicycle. What to do? Pin it and get the lead back that I had lost to her on Monday when I was 25 min. ahead of her when I got lost? Or soft pedal and relax? What was the right thing? I wavered back and forth the entire way. My entire body hurt, my brain was melting inside my helmet, and all I wanted to do was get off my bike, sit on the side of the road and just cry. Instead, I tried to shut of my head and just turn the pedals as steady as I could. I ended up finishing just about 12 min up on her and 5 min ahead in the GC.
But the worst part of the day was that Ben Sontag crashed HARD while in the lead and hit his head. I passed him as he was on a backboard in a neck collar receiving oxygen. Thankfully, he is going to be okay in the long run but it was scary for everyone to see. He was riding with Chris Sheppard at the time and Shep stopped on the side of the trail with him for 30 min. while Tinker went to get help, essentially giving up both their races. Both Tinker and Shep both get my vote for representing the real spirit of mountain biking. We are all in this together and have to help each other out in any way that we can and that's what they did. But, Tinker got lost at the end of the stage and hitchhiked home, putting Shep in the lead anyway, as the 3rd place guy also got lost. Instead of racing the TT on Friday, Tinker loaded up his fishing pole on his bike, found a lake and went fishing.
Type rest of the post here
