Ready or Not…

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m racing (and I use the term very loosely) in the Wilderness 101 next weekend. I’m now officially six days away from the start on July 31st. Part of me is very excited while another part of me is a bit nervous. The problem is, I’m not entirely convinced that I’m ready to embark on this trip aboard the pain train.

In less than a week, I’ll be putting it all out on the fire roads and single track of the Rothrock and Bald Eagle State Forests for one hundred miles of mountain biking bliss. I like to think I’m a relatively fit individual; however I haven’t had as much time as I would like to train for the event. I think I have the mental capacity to push through the suffering, but I’m not entirely convinced about the physical part.

There are many different factors that will affect my performance from my bike to the what I eat, to how I sleep the night before, to the weather, to trail conditions, and just about anything else. With any luck, everything will go according to plan and I’ll finish in a respectable time (hopefully in daylight). How I feel afterwards will be another story. Maybe I’ll have a full report next Sunday, but then again, I might be too tired to get out of bed or even walk for that matter. Tune in next week to get a full report (or not).

Back To Reality

Well, our week of “Take the family to the beach” has finally ended and I’m safely back in the SC. A lot happened over the past week and, quite frankly, there is almost too much to talk about. It was one wild roller coaster ride that took us from singing songs one minute to full-on hysterical crying the next. We played mini-golf, celebrated two birthdays, played games, visited three boardwalks, enjoyed a lukewarm hot-tub, watched a house get completely framed next door, ate too much, drank too much, and somehow still managed to find time to get to the beach at least once every day (well, I did at least).

There were lots of good times and lots of bad times. There were a few occasions where I felt like packing up my car and looking for a hotel. After all, this was a complete departure from the “swinging single” life I lead in my day-to-day where I’m in control of what’s happening. I did take a break from the family to get a surfboard and meet some friends at Assateague Island so I could really get my ass handed to me by the ocean, but that was more about surfing than an escape. Of course it went a long way to making things easier when I returned to a house of crying children (and one or two adults).

Will I do it all again in another two years? If you asked me in a week I’d probably say 80/20 no way. Over time, however, the not-so-good events will fade away and I’ll only remember the enjoyable ones; those shining moments when the laughter was louder than the cries. Everyone will be a little older and hopefully a bit more civilized. While the question of a repeat performance is for another day in the distant future, a week on the sand in a boozy haze surrounded by bikini clad women will go a long way to influencing that answer.

Vacation

So as of yesterday I entered full-on into a fun filled and exciting week at the beach with my family. Now, usually when I go to the coast it’s nothing but beers, bloodies, margaritas, sun, sand, surf, and solitude. When I’m with my family, however, it’s all that except the latter. Based on the official tally there is one house, seventeen people, fourteen cases of beer, one case of wine, two bottles of vodka, and one bottle of tequila. I think that should at least get us through until Wednesday, but I’m not getting my hopes up.

The Hurt

One of the goals I’ve loosely set for myself this year is to participate in the Wilderness 101. It’s this little mountain bike race that visits the fire roads and single-track of the Bald Eagle and Rothrock State Forests; basically my backyard. It’s typically held at the end of July and covers 100 miles. The past several years I’ve volunteered for the race so I figured it’s about time to give it a go and see what it’s like from the other side.

Over the years I’ve ridden the whole course in various segments but never linked it all together in one day. This weekend, Brian and I decided to ride a bit of the course in preparation for the race. I wanted to gauge my fitness level and put in some miles so we settled on a loop that would take us on about half of the race route. Of course, riding with Brian I knew I was going to suffer, but Mother Nature also helped with that.

To say this weekend was hot is an understatement. It’s been brutally oppressive the last several days here in the SC. At times I felt like I was riding on the sun. Other times, I felt like I was riding in a blast furnace. I’m not a meteorologist, but I think at one point the temperature reached one billion degrees. Add to that the ridiculously dry weather we’ve had lately and it made the suck quotient rise exponentially.

When the ride was finished I was completely worked. My legs were almost black from all the dust sticking to me and my arms felt like wet noodles with lead weights for hands. I’m not sure what my legs felt like because they had no feeling left in them. We ended up logging about fifty miles over six hours. Some of it was really fun, but none of it was easy. I’m not sure what this means about my abilities to finish the 101 but no one needs to worry about me taking a podium spot.