D-Dub's 6 hour / 4 hour Race

The first race of the Dirty Spokes LLC 12/6 hour endurance mountain bike race series was held this weekend at Heritage Park Georgia. This is a perfect venue for an endurance race. The park has a huge covered pavilion which allows you and your gear to be out of the weather and it also has plenty of parking.

Nate and I left Friday night and spent the night with my brother and his wife who live on Lake Hartwell. This put us 1.5 hours from the race which meant 1.5 hours more sleep.This was the first time Nate or I had been to their new place. They retired 5 years ago and moved from Hendersonville to Lake Hartwell. We had a great visit!! Priscilla got up the next morning and fixed a great breakfast packed us some home made brownies and then we were on our way!

The weather was questionable. We passed through several rain squalls and was not sure what the weather would be like once we reached the venue. It turned out to be great with overcast skies most of the day and relatively cool temperatures. The rain did start almost immediately after the race and we had quite a storm for ~30 minutes.

The race itself was great! I got a call up for winning the 50+ 17 mile Snake Creek Gap TT. You should have seen the fear in everone's eyes knowing they were going to have to race against me(yeah right the short pudgy 50 yr old). I started the race feeling awesome. I thought wow maybe I can make the podium. 2nd lap I was still feeling good eating a drinking and trying to pace myself. The 3rd lap I was begining to feel tired and the 4th lap I just wanted to make it back so I could quit! My stomach was queasy which was probably a result of all the GU's I had eaten and the Gatorade I drank. My next race I am going to go with roasted red potatoes and water. I did do 4 hours and I did not finish last so my goal was accomplished. I knew going into the race I would only be good for about 4 hours. After finishing I cleaned up sat in my chair and watched Nate and Andy race. Man this was a lot easier than racing. Perhaps I should just spectate!!
Nate and Andy had a great race with Andy 6th and Nate 3rd. Man they looked haggered!

After the race it was pack up and head to the barn. The drive home was uneventful stopping only for food and to get some Aleve. OH yeah we stopped at Wendy's and the lady gave me the Senior discount without me even asking. I am sure some of you that read this blog will get a chuckle out of that!!

Looks like this coming weekend will be no racing. Just riding from the house and doing chores!