TSEpic Stage 1: Bald Eagle (or how to blow yourself up in the sun)

Once again, I’m writing this as the next stage is within an hour of starting.

Yesterday’s stage was a little nerve-racking. The time trial was setup so that the fastest people started in the back. And while I tried to avoid looking over my shoulder in anticipation of the men’s pro-field possibly running me over, I found myself looking backwards more than I should have. Jeremiah Bishop passed me in an early section of singletrack, and it was fun trying to keep up with him for the brief few seconds I could still see him. 

About 1 minute to go
photo thanks to Gary Hoenhe

The course started out right at base camp and headed immediately to tight twisty singletrack before going to a trail along a stream that had quite a bit of mud and exposed slippery roots on it.  That was pretty much it for the mud though. From there, we were on a road for an exposed climb (whose idea was it for those black kits anyhow??).

That first road section was a good indicator of how I would feel for much of the TT – hot and on the verge of exploding. 

There were some very cool sections of trail that stood out to me. One was just after a road section, and as soon as I got to it, I recalled Mike Wissell’s pre-race ‘pep-talk’ about the downhill that was so steep that brakes would be completely useless. The look of fear on my face as I went screaming down that must have been priceless. 

One of my favorite sections of trail was the enduro segment. It had a long, long rocky downhill followed by a big tractor tire feature, some pump track dirt mounds, and some really swoopy berms. Of course, stopping during the race to swipe in and out was a little weird, but after I watched almost the entire women’s field make their way past me while I was trying not to explode on the road, I decided that I would make sure to stop and swipe at every damn enduro segment. 

This is summer camp, dammit, and participation is mandatory (at least for me it is).

Towards the end of the course, there was an ‘east coast rocks’ segment. I expected some pretty serious rock gardens because the rocks on the enduro segment were pretty gnarly.  But after a short section of small bumpy (and sharp) rocks, the rest of the segment was just super tight singletrack that reminded me a lot of something you’d see at Mendon Rd. in Sutton, MA. 

So, long story short (because I DO need to prep for a race that’s going to start soon), I finished 11^th out of 16 (7^th in enduro and 6^th in east coast rocks). It wasn’t the start to the week I’d been hoping for, but it’s going to be a long week. While I felt like I was going to completely explode, I managed my efforts appropriately so I could save myself a little bit for today.

Today’s race?  About 40 miles with close to 6k feet of climbing. Hurt so good, right? 

Oh yeah - side note: last night’s dinner was delicious (various stir fry flavors), and this morning’s breakfast (everything imaginable) was even better. The kitchen staff here is amazing, and that is a gross understatement.