It was a solid day on the bike last Saturday at the Bailey Hundo. Despite working non-stop on preparing our house to be gone for six weeks, I luckily still had some energy for the race. After a neutral start, the pace of the front group of 15-20 racers got hot right at the first climb. I pushed hard for the first 30 minutes to keep up with this group the best I could. Alas, the front group pulled away from me as I pulled away from anyone behind me. Only a couple more racers passed me once we hit the singletrack 13km in, and I was racing alone for the rest of the day.
The kitty litter that is the trail in this area was as loose as ever. I'm not particularly good on kitty litter, but I progressed as the race went on. After a hard start, I settled into my own pace to climb Baldy/Miller Gulch in the sweet spot between zone 3 and 4. After the climb, I knew I couldn't let up on the descents since my descending has become degraded through the years of riding with a trailer on the road. I stayed low, and was surprised how quickly I reached the dirt road at the bottom.
After a refill at the aid station, it was time for the big climb up Nice Kitty/Buffalo Burn. I hit it hard and zoomed past the next aid station before Little Scraggy. I didn't realize there was a longer distance than previous years to the next aid.
I continued up Little Scraggy pushing the climbs. The trail got busy as I neared the top of the climb, and I passed a lot of riders out for a summer day ride. Everyone was very nice about allowing me to pass, and there were lots of words of encouragement when they saw I was a racer. By the time I reached the top of Little Scraggy, the group of riders thinned out. I was out of water as I started the descent, and already dreaming of the next aid station.
My thirst for water kept my pace as quick as possible down the long descent to Buffalo Creek Rd. Once at the road, I didn't let up on the gradual climb. I kept my head down and chugged along to what I thought was the next aid. My head was still down as I turned into the parking lot to the aid that had reliably been there several years in the past. I was in a panic when the aid station was not there! I turned around to see that an arrow pointed to continue up Buffalo Creek Rd. It was another long 10 minutes climb before getting to the next aid after an hour of being out of water. I drank a bottle of water at the aid, then refilled two bottles before heading out to the last climb. Round 2 up Baldy/Miller Gulch.
At this point, the tail end of the 50km racers were on the same course as the front racers of 100km. I was determined to empty my tank all the way to the finish line. On the climb up Baldy, every couple of seconds I was shouting, "mind if I pass!?... okay, on your left..." 99% of racers were very friendly about letting me pass. Only one racer made it difficult for me and I had to ram through a bush that cut open my left arm. Nothing like a little 🩸 to add to the motivation!
My vision was getting fuzzy as I reached the top of Miller Gulch. Regardless, I wasn't done yet. I ripped the dirt road descents, and stood on the pedals on the remaining climbs. I continued to pass A LOT of 50km racers along the way who encouraged me to keep pushing. I hit the last small climb and really pushed the watts to the max all the way to the finish. I saw the finish and sprinted to the line! It wasn't until they handed me a paper printout with my results that I realized I had grabbed a 🥈 in 30-39!
I pushed the pace all day, rode my own race, and never got discouraged even after seeing the lead group pull away at the beginning. The result was a spot on the podium. Nevertheless, with or without the podium spot I was proud of my output for the day. However, it does feel good to be rewarded for my effort. 😁
