The Dragon's Back Race proved to be an epic undertaking this year for many of us. Multiple days of rain and overcast conditions following high winds in the previous week left a normally rocky and rough course covered with wet, wet leaves, mud, and other debris. Lining up on the start I remember the announcer telling the HUGE Enduro XXC field that the course would diverge from the main cross country course and we would notice it was "ungroomed" from that point on. That was an understatement. At points we were literally riding or scrambling through the woods and over rocks trying to find age old swatches of paint on the trees to guide the right direction that the trail was supposed to go. This was not single track riding for a lot of this time.....we were just in the woods. I made a lot of wrong turns in this area, luckily, I was moving slow enough through here to figure out quickly that I was off course, and usually by no more than 200-300 yards. The Main Cross Country Course was rough, but this XXC course was a disaster, forestry signs from years before were rotted to unreadable stubs, and there were enough blowdown re-routes to make the challenge on the ridge that much more. Multiple Hike-a-bike sections were created by rock piles, leaf piles, and down trees.
After we came down off the ridge we were onto a "road" This had recently had some attention in the form of new Gravel....the size of softballs in some areas.....some states would call this a rock garden, but here in Virginia....it is a road....awesome. I was glad to have a Trek Fuel to rock this section on. The Rock Shox Reba and Monarch armed suspension system made smooth work of it for me. This section was fast and furious with multiple 10-15 foot wide river crossings made swollen from days of fresh, cold rain. I managed to miss a turn part way through this area, a bunch of the signs were blown down and all that was up were a few strands of orange ribbon in the tree branches on the side. Squinting through mud and sweat streaked safety glasses, I missed these. I ended up swimming across a river that was almost to my chest at one point.....this was after my bike floated out from under me while trying to ride through. I followed this road though all the way to pavement......and we were not supposed to find any pavement. After turning around and swimming again, I got back on course and managed to rally pretty solid at the end. Pulled back a couple groups of about 3 riders each, mostly single speeders. All in All, I put in 45 miles for a 37 mile course. Finishing a solid 14th place in a HUGE men's field. It took me almost 5 hours, but what a trip it was. I guess it comes down to that statement of it is not about the start or the finish, but the journey in between that really matters. I saw a lot of broken bikes and protesting bodies today on the XXC. The normal dérailleur and chain issues....that and cramps for all I think as well.
Our Team did Fabulous.
Our winners:
Denelle Grant 1st place Women's Sport (she also beat all the expert/pro women as well)
Michele Co 1st place Womens Enduro 6 hours 10 minutes....
Jeremy Senn 1st place single speed.
The Rest
Christy Tankersley 2nd Place Sport
Ken Tankersley 4th Place Sport (I think)
Chris Cunningham 7th place Masters Sport
Shawn Tevendale 14th Place XXC race
Nolan and Jason both took DNF's....and I kinda wish I had as well....ouch.
1 comment:
Great job everyone!
I have to agree with the triathlon part of the post title. It was actually relatively fun, but in a different sense of fun.
I definitely thought I heard at the XXC race meeting that there would be 2-3 water crossings. I counted at least 6-8 that were decently wide and deep enough (2-3 car lengths, at least hip deep water, for short me.) and definitely think that some of the course markings might have disappeared or were obscured.
I also spent a little bit of time wandering through the woods trying to locate a trail, depressions in the leaves, a skid mark from another rider... anything to let me know if I was headed in a direction that any other rider had taken (never mind if it was the correct direction). Luckily, I had a sketch of the XXC course and some other nearby riders to consult with, so I didn't quite have the epic adventure that Shawn had. I don't think I was ever more than 50 yds off course. I did almost lose my bike downstream during one of the water crossings due to the current.
On the other hand, I don't think I've ever quite had so many baths during a race. Overall the race was an awesome experience, and that last singletrack uphill to the ridge and the last downhill (the first ascent) were an incredibly fun way to finish the race.
I think next year, if it's as foggy/misty at the top as it was this year, they should place a course marshall up there dressed as a wizard to fit the dragons/medieval theme. Wouldn't it be fun to be riding in the mist, barely able to see far enough ahead of your bike, only to run into a white-haired wizard that shows you the WAY? Never mind me...
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