The Stump Farm 12 hour

Somehow I managed to convince Captain that it would be FUN to head on up to the 12 hour at the Stump Farm. Looking at my list of "goals" for the year. . . . I decided the 6 hour solo was what I "needed" to do, so I could cross that off my list. Captain thought that might also be a good challenge for him, so that's what we did.

We arrived just in time to register and have our "pit crew" help us put our numbers on our bikes and get our coolers to the sidelines so we could start on time. No time to warm up, but really, who needs a warm up when you're going to be riding 6 HOURS?

Lap 1 felt way too hard. I knew I was still feeling fatigue from the week, and there was no way I was going to maintain that pace for 6 hours. I also must have been dehydrated because I sucked my bottle dry early in the lap and was still SOOOOOO thirsty. My quads felt like crap and after further examination, I realized my seat post was sliding down after every lap. I had asked the boys at the shop to order me a new seat post clamp, BUT they got too busy this week to take care of that. . . . .so that left me in the position where I had to stop every lap and put my seat back up a good 1/2 - 3/4 inch.

You never really realize how DIFFERENTLY you use the muscles in your legs when your seat is not where it's supposed to be. My quads fatigued quickly and my hamstrings weren't far behind. My hipflexors were even sore from pulling up on the pedal to give my quads a break. BUT whatever, it was for fun, so I kept riding.

I don't know how I managed to pull out such good energy at Rhinelander last week, because yesterday I started to fade big time soon after the 2 hour mark. I tried to dump some "fuel" in the body but it didn't work well and I literally just wanted to barf. I'm not sure I've ever ridden that long feeling that nauseated. It wasn't fun.

After lap 3 when I stopped to adjust my seat I managed to almost completely strip the bolt. Great. I knew I could get one more lap out of the clamp, but after that, there's no way I was riding if I couldn't get my seat back up. That deal seemed fine with my stomach, as it surely did NOT want to continue. 4 of the 6 hours was plenty for it, since it STILL wanted to expel it's contents.

I rode lap #4 pretty conservatively, slowly feeling my seat sink little by little. I was waiting for the "numbness" to set in. . . . you know when your body just goes numb because you've been riding so long that suddenly it doesn't hurt anymore. Well, that never happened. So after I scanned my thingie at the end of lap #4, I thought, screw it, I'm done. I headed back to the car where I grabbed some pretzels & drank some more water. I sat and let my body come back to life for about 15 minutes or so. Then I foolishly thought I'd get the Y wrench out and see if I could get my seat back up again. That worked, so now I sat looking at my watch thinking "two hours left. . . .I've only done 4 laps. . . . .I'm not cramping although I feel like a piece of poopie. . . . . .my tummy feels a little better since I gave it more food and rested. . . . . .should I try for another or not?"

Of course. . . . .off I went for another. The funny thing is, as I was debating this whole thing, sitting on the ground behind our car, Captain was at the start/finish chute deciding he was going to call it quits as well. He had emptied his tanks and didn't want to run himself clear into the ground. Had he been about 5 minutes faster getting to the car, I would have cashed it in myself. But no, he waited. . . . .so off I went for one more lap.

I think there were about 8 women who braved the 6 hour solo. I managed to finish 3rd. Not so bad considering I really thought I was going to barf on more than one occasion. I spent about 5 hours on the bike or so. . . . . .about 20 minutes on the pavement debating my future, and about 6 minutes adjusting my seat back to where it should never leave from. All & all, it was a good test of the endurance. I guess I didn't die. . . . so that must mean I "passed". . . . . .but I'd say I passed "just barely".

Today on a scale of 1-5 for fatigue (5 being the worst), I'm pretty sure I'm an "8". Totally wiped. . . . . .even my obliques are sore - strange. But we did have fun. . . . . .and that's what really matters.

Now I'll rest & recover. . . . .so I can "repeat". Riding around in a hayfield next weekend shoudl be a good time. :-)