It was my third trip to the Wilderness 101. This year, Chris Eatough and Josh Tostado were missing but Jeremiah Bishop and Nick Waite were there to animate the front of the race. The weather was going to be excellent and all conditions seemed to be gathered to break the race record.
Leading to the race, my training was on track and the day before the race I felt good. After a good night resting, I hoped I would be ready to survive 101 miles of mountain bike racing against some of the toughest racers in the country.
For once, the start was pretty mild on the first climb of the day. That provided a good warm-up for the legs and before we realized, we were already by the aid station #1. On the slopes of the next mountain, the front group was slowly getting smaller and as we started our descent to aid station #2, the group was counting 7 riders: Jeff Schalk, Jeremiah Bishop, Mike Simonson, Brandon Draugelis, Nick Waite, Robert Lichtenwalner and myself.
We completed most of the downhill and I was holding my own. Could it be that I finally reach aid station #2 with the lead group? That was my third attempt at it, and this year was just like the previous ones. The chain got jammed into the cranks and chain rings. It all happened in a fraction of a second such that I was still pedaling. The chain was completely twisted; the links will be oriented vertically by the chain rings but be horizontally oriented by the cassette.
Frustration and adrenaline helping, I pulled like a mad man on the chain and finally got it into an acceptable shape. Before I jumped on my bike, Chris Beck came flying down; I already lost quite some time. I exited the single track downhill and was now on a smooth dirt road. At every other rotation of the cranks, the chain will skip on the cassette. It was impossible to produce any kind of effort. It was clear that if there wasn't a mechanic with a 10-speed chain at the aid station, I would have been forced to quit the race.
It was my lucky day! The mechanic had a brand new chain. Of course, the few minutes I spent standing aside the bike appeared to last hours especially when watching other racers coming and leaving the aid station. The mechanic told me that my rear derailleur had a weak spring which was probably the cause of the chain getting jammed into the cranks in the first place.
Before taking off from the aid station, all the volunteers gave me a great cheer; especially Brandon's mom who convinced me that I was still in range for a descent finish. Indeed, the last 2 years, I was in the same kind of position and each time I arrived in the top 5.
The bike was ride able again but the tired derailleur spring along with a slightly too long new chain; caused the chain to skip every 20 seconds or so. For the remainder of the race (60 miles), I constantly adjusted the cable tension in order to minimize the chain skipping with various successes depending on the gear.
I always welcomed the long dirt road climb right after the aid station #2. I consider it like a launch pad of some sort. My regained motivation was fueling me and instead of "cooling down" two thirds up the mountain like the previous years, this time I kept the throttle fully opened to the very top. In the span of one climb, I gained back 5 places and was already spotting Chris Beck.
I had really good legs and by the aid station #3 I was back in 6th place. On the rocky single track ascend, I had a nice talk with my bike: "Either die or work properly!" as the chain skipped nonstop causing me to push the bike for a while. Apparently, it elected for the latter choice. Mid way between aid #3 and aid #4, I caught up to Brandon Draugelis. My close competitors were also suffering from mechanical problems so I passed Mike Simonson and Jeremiah Bishop while they were repairing their bikes. Nick Waite was with Jeremiah as I was riding by.
Incredibly, rolling in to aid station #4, I caught everybody but Jeff Schalk. Brandon's mom was again cheering me on and of course had to tell me: "I told you so!" The hardest part was still ahead of me. How do you contain a pro-road racer (Nick Waite) and a pro mountain biker (Jeremiah Bishop) from bridging back? And let's not forget Brandon Draugelis, always well placed. Simple! I rode like a dog: hammered the climbs, crossed my fingers on the rocky descents for the tires to hold up.
By aid station #5, nobody bridged back. It actually made me more nervous as it is easier to deal with an apparent danger rather than with a latent one. Anyway, I crushed the pedals for the last climb of the day. I surprised myself wishing for the mountain to be taller such that I could use my advantage in the climbs a little longer.
The bike gave me a last reminder that it needed some care when in the pitch black tunnel, one mile of the finish line, the chain dropped... Oh well, this time shifting between the different chain rings did the trick and I carried enough speed to keep my balance.
I am delighted I could cross the line in 2nd place behind Jeff. Except for the mechanical problem with the chain, everything went well. I need to thank one of our sponsor and friend Chris Eatough for the advice on the nutrition. Following his advice, I tried a new formulation of the Infinit product and it rocks!
Nice writeup Christian. See you at SM100.
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