On the Rocks at French Creek

Gary Johnson-3rd Sport Master Men
Mark Lentz-4th Sport Master Men
Mike Nardelli-8th Sport SS Open
Matt Orlando-15th Endurance Men

Looking for Five

I had decent fitness today for the On the Rocks at French Creek 6hr Endurance Race, though it doesn’t always seem to be about fitness. Sometimes a bit of bad luck rears its ugly head.

The course was 10 miles long and we had 6 hours to complete at many laps as possible before time ran out. The course was very challenging. It was highly technical, with lots of rocks and roughly 1800’ of elevation gain per lap.

Just in time for the 9:00am start, the clouds broke loose and started soaking the course with a heavy down pour. From the start we were climbing. The group quickly split up as I hung back thinking of the long day ahead. I found my pace and just kept turning the cranks.

After getting to the top of the first climb came the reward, quite possibly the roughest descent in the park. All I could do was let the big wheels roll and try to pick the cleanest line. Everything came easy on the first lap. I cleaned the trail and climbed with ease without blowing up.

I was trying to focus on nutrition a bit more after a horrible time in the heat last weekend. I managed to keep up my intake of fluids,gels and some solid food. Although it was quite windy and cool, I stayed comfortable all day with only minimal cramping in my left leg.

My second lap was much of the same. With the idea of keeping a solid pace and staying relaxed. I was able to stay consistent with my lap times. This has always been an issue, often blowing up after going out hard on the first lap. I was still cleaning all the technical stuff and climbing well. Both my laps were around 1:19 and I was expecting to get 5 for the day.

Coming in for lap three I noticed my rear tire was really soft. I quickly inflated it and by the time I grabbed food from my cooler, it was soft again. Well, off came the rear wheel and a fresh tube was installed. Thanks to all the guys and gals in the Cycle Works pit that helped. At least a handful of guys in my class passed through by the time I got rolling. I had cooled down a bit and that first climb took it out of me trying to catch up. I ended up hiking some of the rough climbs and my legs were feeling a little heavy. Lap three 1:45.

Lap four. I took a little time at the cooler, choked down a PB&J and took some more electrolyte caps. By now I was starting to hurt but managed to find a slow and smooth rhythm. I was getting passed by lap 5 guys and realizing that I was running out of time. I picked up the pace as much as possible but came through at 6:09:00 on my last lap. Lap four 1:43.

Disappointed? Yes. Did I want those ten minutes, changing a flat, back? Hell yes. But all in all I was happy with 40 miles. It was a very challenging and technical course, just the way it should be. I think Bean’s Bikes put on a great event and I’m looking forward to doing it all again next year.

MO