For me it's hard to think about going to a race without actually racing. I find the standing around...cheering.....waiting....cheering...waiting...pretty painful. In most cases I would rather schedule a root canal...but that's just me!
But this past weekend I had the chance to support my friend,
Tony...aka Type1Rider, at the 18hrs on the farm MTB race in VA...a race that I planned to do but was sidelined with an injury.
(Please refer to my earlier post if you are interested in the details of my latest self induced pain and suffering)Tony and I did this race last year when it was rescheduled to Nov due to a storm that took out some trees on the course and they needed to be cleared. Needless to say the temperature was a little different in August! We almost lost some toes to frostbite last year..well, okay that's a little exaggerated...but it was really cold!
So this year I was off the bike and on the sidelines for 18hrs of supporting fun. My wife, Sara, and I would be keeping Tony fueled...hydrated...motivated...and whatever else it took to help him reach his goal at this race! Last year was 8 laps...this year had to be at least 9 and a top ten finish.
(The pit de jure)The roll out for this race was 4PM. So lots of night riding at this one which is awesome and Tony digs those night stealth missions anyway! The pack was led out by a guy on a unicycle...yeah, you heard me, a unicycle! I got pics!! check em!!
(Unicycle dude leading out the race start...did you check the chrome helmet?)Okay, back to the race. Tony rolled out just fine on the first few laps. Everything going as planned. A little pit stop. Fill up the H2O and some nutrition, check the blood sugar and back out there for another....and another...and another...
(see that's the part of being on the sideline that kills me...I keep seeing everyone rolling by and I want to grab a bike and follow right along...wait for me everyone)So sometime around 10 or 11 PM Tony comes in for a blood sugar test and things are a little off...like too high and Tony is not sure why so he chills in the pit for awhile to see if he can correct it or figure out why and all.
(did I mention that Tony is a Type 1 diabetic...well okay...Tony is a Type 1 Diabetic...now you are in the know)
(Tony on lap one...and that's my lovely wife Sara right behind him in the hat)So after about 30 mins there isn't much change but after a little discussion about not bailing so soon and figure out some contingency plans he rolls back out to get another lap and see what happens. We made sure he had his phone so if anything happened out o the backside of the course he can report in. Then we could call for the choppers and have him extracted. just kidding there folks.
Tony comes back to the pit after that lap and everything seemed to have worked itself out and the BS test was right on...(That's blood sugar...not bullshit)! This was the case for the rest of the race actually. Now that all of that was under control our main goal now was to keep Tony motivated and try to keep up with how he was ranking.
With the dark came a chill in the air so stopping for more than 10 mins would be a challenge to keep warm and not start shivering....
(nightmareish thoughts of last year's event...berrrr!) We need to bring a clothes dryer next year...or that RV Tony keep talking about!
Hardest part of the race was from 2am until sun up! Sara and I were pretty punchy by this time for sure, and when Tony would come back to the pit he was pretty punchy too. There's nothing like laughing yourself to tears while sleep deprived.
Phrases like:...slap the chicken
...a pack of cohutta warrior monkeys
...don't forget to sign the blow up doll
...anyone who brings back a glowing chicken will get a prize
To name a few!
(this the chicken that was being slapped..and by some choked...)At 6AM the latest results are posted and Tony is sitting in 12 place but the guys behind him, and the 4 in front, had not posted any new laps. It looked like they bailed in the middle of the night or just stopped to sleep or something. But Tony went out for number 8 and we would keep an eye on the results to see if anyone behind him sneaks back into the race.
Coming back into the pit after lap 8 and Tony was feeling pretty beat! But now he was in 8th place and the end was near. But he had to go out on one more to beat his last year lap count and solidify his top ten finish!!
(Tony going out on lap 9...still smiling!!)We had a close call when we noticed the guy who was in 9th place come rolling in so we had to wait and see if he would go out for another or just bag it...and luckily he bagged it! Tony would have rolled out for another if that guy went out man was he glad when he didn't...phewww!
So 8th place with 9 laps, 85.5 miles of riding...AWESOME! Tony is the man!!!
