spring epic 8-hr

I've discovered that, among many awesome things about the Boy, since he also races, he understands the whole racing thing - when I need to train, or when I'm tired and cranky (and need time off). Which means that we can do some races together, which is what we did on Saturday at the Spring Epic 8-hour. It was so fun!

We went into it as a training exercise, smart considering I'd never done a tag-team 8-hour before, and the Boy had not done any intensity training at all this year (don't be fooled, he is still mega fast). I think we are both pretty competitive personalities when it comes to a race, though, so despite all the "it's only training" talk, I'm pretty sure we were both interested in that podium. Or, maybe it was just me?

The Boy came up with our lap strategy, which ended up really pushing us and really was great training. He did 4 laps off the bat, and had us in first. I got caught by another team on my first lap, and because of that, I was frustrated for a good chunk of time (that whole competitive thing). I did 3 laps, which were getting progressively slower, but were good for me because that's a whole lap more than I ever have to do in an O-Cup. Then the Boy did 3 laps, in which he cramped really badly on the last lap, and by this point we were bouncing around in 6th or 7th, so I was far less worried about being competitive, and more interested in riding each lap as well as I could. I did a double, and then the Boy went out for his last lap. By now it was getting late in the day, and the Boy had had trouble with cramps on his previous set, so we knew he'd be doing a single, and I could pretty much decide for myself if I wanted to do one more. Between that and the time-limit (must start last lap by 6pm, must finish by 6:35pm, I needed about 44min to do a lap), I got dressed and fueled, but wasn't so sure I'd be heading out. Or that I wanted to head out. The Boy came in around 5:50, which meant I had exactly 45min to do that lap. After I made it known that I wanted the timing chip (he was... waving to adoring fans? I'm not sure) and got a quick kiss, I was back on the course. Oh, and I had a gel running down my leg, because I made the mistake of ripping it open when the Boy came into transition, and tucked it under the bottom of my shorts to eat (?) on course, and half of it dribbled down my thigh. Yum! Anyway, I knew that I needed to push a little bit to make this lap count, and if I was spending the energy going back out, I damn well wanted it to count. I knew all the sections where I could push a bit harder, and the single track sections totally clicked for me. I got to the "5km to go" sign with 25min left to finish the lap, and I knew I could do it. The last climb was pretty brutal - I bobbled on a root, had to walk a bit, and endured a few cramps when I got back on the bike, but it was all totally worth it when I dropped that little timing chip in the box at 6:31pm, and learned I had turned in my second fastest lap! High five!

It was really exciting to work really well as a team, and to have everything run smoothly on the bikes. Especially since the Boy put together one bike for himself on Friday afternoon, and then his new frame came on our way to dinner, and he stayed up to take apart the first bike and build the new one. Finishing a new build the morning of a race is not exactly my style, but whatever works!

We had a Ford Transit from Autoshare, which gave us lots of room to hang out inside between laps, get changed, have a nap, have some food, etc. Mari had wisely recommended bringing a thermarest, so we even had something soft(er) to lie or sit on. We brought a dry erase board, which was helpful for leaving notes because there was very little time to chat between laps or when we were handing off a bottle. Even though we each had fairly lengthy breaks between (fairly lengthy) sets on the course, I still found it hard to take in much food. On the other hand, I never felt like I was bonking during my laps, so I guess the nutrition thing just worked itself out, which in itself is amazing. The course was awesome, although the downhills were getting rutted enough that they kinda sucked on a rigid bike by the end of the day.

All kinds of fun, and probably something we will be doing again.