I honestly don't think that I'm meant to do the 4th of July ride in Tryon. It seems that something happens every year to submarine me. Let's start...
2004- Broken wheel on the descent of the Watershed. Lost @ 10 minutes...
2005- Broken frame at some point of the ride. Couldn't push on the descent for fear of catastrophic frame failure...
2006- Super fit, ready to kill it...until I threw out my back and couldn't ride.
2007- Relatively fit...bitten by spider on top of left thigh. Huge, nasty wound that hurts like a MF'er. Taking antibiotics and steriods that absolutely wrecked my feelings on the bike. Heavy legs, no high HR (I maxed at 163 yesterday. Usual max is 185-ish) and mechanical issues on top of that...! I installed a new chain and a 13/25 cassette. I really wanted the 18 cog, but as my luck runs, it was the only gear that didn't work on the ride! Bastard!
I rode a completely suckwad 3:30 time, which is by far the worst of my three rides, even with the aforementioned failures of '04 and '05. I just couldn't put any power to the ground, so I was forced to just ride the damn thing. I spent more time in the 25 cog than ever before. Now granted, I finished way ahead of a lot of folks, but it was about 15-20 minutes slower than I had hoped. And I felt completely wrecked at the end. Then I had to drive home and play host for a cookout. Oh joy...!
The plan was to stay with Mandrus, but that got thrown out the window at mile 5. He finished in 3:14, while the third passenger in the van finished in a blistering 2:53. Yes, my friends, Doogie is a strong little monkey. He stayed with the lead group through the middle of the Watershed, when the hammer evidently went to the mat. The leaders finished in 2:49.
As much as I hate to say it, I'll probably go back next year...
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