infinitely sustainable pace

Fool’s Gold was this past weekend down in Dahlonega, GA. It’s a little odd that a Vermonter should venture that far afield to partake in a 50 mile mountain bike race. But lets just say that it worked out that way.

Bike29 was a sponsor again this year. Last year George and DA went down for the festival/race/event and had a grand time. The plan was to repeat the trip and I would go along, so I decided to aim to race it as well. After all, I didn’t want to go all the way down there and just watch everyone else. So it went into the schedule and I started working toward it. George pulled out of the trip, but I didn’t want to give up the race and didn’t have anything to replace it with nearby so decided to go through with it alone.

the penguin squeaker that Mike added to my bike to keep me cool on the trail.

Our Niner rep lives down there and volunteered to be my bike handler, a kind gesture especially since I ride a Vassago. I flew down to ATL on the Thursday and met up with a friend. On Friday, Mike took me to Yargo for a warm-up ride. Warm up is right. Right up to 95 degrees. It’s been such a cool summer up here, that i melted. Wasn’t so bad on the flats, but whenever I tried to climb anything I thought my brain would explode. or melt. something not very pretty. Not a good sign.

I made it up to Dahlonega and met up with some friends from last spring. Got settled into the bunkhouse and partook of a few tasty beverages before hitting the hay.

There I am, on the left of this photo, stolen from Stacey's photos.

All seemed okay the next morning. We took off from the start and began the long 10-12 mile climb that starts the race. The first few miles were fine, but then it kicked up fairly steeply and I started to die. Already it was hotter than any previous ride save one of the summer. My gearing was wrong. I felt horrid. There was no way I could do this thing, I couldn’t even make it up the first fricken climb! Rather than pass out, I got off and shamefully walked for about 1/2 mile. Lots of folks passed me, I continued to feel bad. Bad in the head, but mostly bad because i was walking. We came to a bend, it flattened out and i got back on the bike. Very shortly things felt a lot better and before I knew it I was reeling people back in.

The singletrack sections were a lot of fun. Bull Mountain was particularly fun. The first section was a little rough and involved a lot of walking on my part, but the second part of the climb involved me passing a lot of people. Thus I went on. My legs felt pretty good during the 3rd and 4th hours and I was catching and passing folks. However, after the trouble on the first climb I had figured that it wasn’t so much a race for me as an opportunity to enjoy a good long ride so I didn’t hang it out there that much.

The 5th hour found me starting to fight some mild quad cramps. Not too bad, just when I tried to put a lot of power on the pedals. This coincided with a lot of steep, clay and rooty climbs and thus a lot of walking. I had been hoping for a finish within 6:30, but the last 6 miles dragged on forever. My HRM time at finish was 6:41. Good for 9th place in the open women category and about 1.5 hours quicker than my previous 50 mile effort.

Afterwards I was listening to all the singlespeed boys talk about their gearing, they were mostly riding 32:20 - just like me. That means that I should have geared easier, 32:21 or 32:22. I’m not going to misrepresent myself, I might be riding a singlespeed but I’m not that strong. A better gear, being a little more conservative and persistent in the start and more training, and I think I could do really well next year.

It was really fun to hang out with the Birmingham crew, Eddie, Namrita, Team Dicky and Mike and great to meet everyone else. Southern hospitality isn’t a lie, those folks are some of the nicest around and I can’t wait to get back down and do it again soon.