21st Annual Tidewater Challenge

On October 26, Matt and I decided to take our first shot at mountain bike racing--the 21st annual Tidewater Challenge in Williamsburg, Virginia. I've been biking obsessively for about six months, and he has been biking for three. Needless to say, our combined experience amounts to nothing compared to the experience of most competitive racers.

We chose to enter the duo-endurance class, a six-hour relay along a four mile loop of technical singletrack. Our goals were simple: to not sustain any serious injuries (death, for example) and to place in something other than last position. We also decided that twelve laps would be a great number, so that distance was always in the back of our minds.

We drove down Saturday afternoon, arriving at a local KOA after dark and in a heavy rain. We pitched camp and then left for some food. When we returned, a group of drunk teens were blasting the music and shouting recklessly (this was a little after 11:00). They continued to shout and blast music, with occasional trips to vandalize people's lawns with their enormous, compensating-for-the-manhood-I-don't-possess truck, until around 4:00 a.m., when the police came for the second time to tell them to quiet down. We got somewhere between two and three hours of sleep.

Race day was beautiful--cool in the morning, high sixties at midday, clear and dry. We arrived at around 7:15, registered, lubed our bikes, made final adjustments, and staked out our spot in the enduro pit. The race was delayed an hour, so we had plenty of time to carb-load, warm-up and think of anything we were forgetting in the pit or our packs.

Matt went first. He was in first position due to our early registration, but he stepped back a few places to give the pros the positions they would soon be taking anyway. I waited anxiously in the pit. After about eighteen or nineteen minutes, the first rider entered the pit and quickly exchanged batons with his teammate. My first thought was "Holy crap, that was fast." Matt entered the pit in just under 30 minutes, which by our estimations was a good time. He had a look of surprise on his face, and his only comment was, "Let's just finish this thing."

The course was incredible. The four miles of singletrack were very technical and rooty, with more elevation change than I've ever seen on an MTB course. Several whoop-de-doos led to short bridges with equally steep banks on the other side. Surprising compressions dotted the last mile of the course. The track between the scoring table and the pit was fast and wide, with spectators lining the sides to see the pros get big air off the moto-style jumps.

I was immediately intimidated by the course, but I soon got the hang of the sudden elevation changes and quick turns. I passed about four racers near the beginning, thinking, "This isn't bad. I'm not the slowest one out here." What I didn't realize is that those were the only four people I would pass all day and they were likely single-enduro racers who were already tired from their first four miles.

I pulled into the pit around 31 minutes. No problems so far. We were racing like clockwork, with changes happening every half an hour almost to the second. In the pit, racers downed Gatorade, ate bananas and power bars, and tuned their bikes. I noticed several serious mechanical problems (broken frame, bent cassette) and was thankful our bikes, however inexpensive, were holding up to the course.

On my second lap I had a wipeout at the top of a hill when my front wheel didn't have enough weight and came down sideways. My right foot didn't unclip from my pedal immediately, and I came down hard on my right knee. A photographer nearby asked if I was okay, secretly smiling that he got the first "wipeout photo" of the day. I got brushed myself off and kept going, with a little more respect for the steep inclines.

My chain broke on the third lap. Fortunately, it was only feet from the pit, so I was able to complete the lap running. Matt had a spare master link with him, so I was able to fix it in only a few minutes. I was a little bummed because I bought the chain three days ago because my last chain broke the Wednesday before the race.

On my fourth lap, I started cramping. Then I started cramping bad. Then the cramps became a serious danger to my stability. My right quad would tense in a straight position, so that I could not bend it without triggering another painful explosion. I walked off the first few cramps, but by the time I got to the pit, I couldn't get my right hand to release the grips, and I couldn't get off my bike! I felt like a retard hobbling into the pit and just kinda chillin' for a few minutes on my bike, trying to look like I wanted to be in that position. I found out that another rider had similar cramps in his quads, which caused him to wipe out and drop out of the race. While I felt sorry for him, it did make me feel a little better that I wasn't alone.

When Matt got back, I wasn't sure if I could make another lap. He offered to run another one for me, but he looked tired in spite of running a very good race so far. I started off on my fifth, but only got as far as the first hill before I cramped so badly I couldn't ride. I walked painfully back to the pit and Matt was off, taking the lap in my place. In my next half hour in the pit, I came to the conclusion that I was not in shape for a race like this, and we would probably lose, and I was probably finished with the race, and life basically sucked. I drank nearly a half gallon of Gatorade in that time, and kept my muscles warm by riding my bike around the parking lot.

When Matt came around again (finishing our tenth lap), I said I'd give it a shot. I got to the same hill I had before and cramped the same way. But this time I rode/walked through it. I raised my seat about an inch (a move I was hesitant to do because of how frequently I was dabbing) to straighten my legs more. Also, the Gatorade I drank kicked in, and my muscles became much more responsive. I took the lap slowly, but not too slowly because I knew I needed to pass the scoring table within forty minutes, the end of the race, in order for our eleventh lap to count.

I passed the scoring table with five minutes to spare, which gave us the chance to do one more lap to the finish. Matt took the last lap, in no hurry I'm quite sure, and got us the score of twelve that we were shooting for. Our final placement was fifteen our of twenty in the duo-enduro class. I completed five laps and Matt completed freaking seven, putting our total mileage at about 48 for the day. We weren't great by any means, but I'll take that for a first race.

I'm definitely going back next year, probably for the duo-enduro again. I'm feeling a top ten.