Ending On A High Note, Kinda...

Saturday afternoon Mr. Leach and myself made our way to the Terror of Teaberry race. The final chapter in the Michaux series and my last race of the year. Things were looking good, the high temp on race day was in the 60's and the course was going to be fun and challenging. the only problem I was having, was a cold was creeping up on me, I would just have to deal with it.

I was treating it like a long trail ride, no pressure, just go out and have fun. To deal with my recent stomach issues I went back to the old way for me. granola bars and gu packs, washed down with water and Accelerade.

I won't get into a whole lot of details, but I will touch on some highlights.
The first 15 miles were all new single track, which was not very Michaux like. It was fast and smooth with just a couple of short climbs. I was feeling pretty good until about mile 25. This was a rolling piece of single track that just kept going up and down the mountain, it seemed to go on forever and I was hurting a bit here. Then I rolled into aid station 3, about 36 miles in, and started felling better. I kept up with the eating and the drinking and the stomach seemed to be working well.

Next tough section was Rocky Ridge which we hit about 40 miles in, I rode most of this with Larry Camp and Kevin another single speeder. Nothing like saving one of the most technical pieces of single track in the world for last. After that it was pretty uneventful the rest of the way.

I felt like I had a good day, my goal was between 6 and 6.5 hours, I finished in 6:10. I was no where near the leaders, but I was able to finish strong, and had no stomach issues the whole day. With the exception of the runny nose I had all day, I'd say it was one of my better rides this year.

Now if I can just figure out how to avoid racing in the heat I think I will be OK.

Thanks to the folks at Gettysburg Bikes for putting on a great race. This may have been my favorite Michaux course yet. Congrats to all the folks that came out to these 3 races and finished them all, I think that is a major accomplishment in itself.

Cheers,
Buddy