So, I drove to Memphis on Thursday prior to the SC Cup race in Arkansas to catch up with some friends before heading on to Little Rock on Friday. What that meant was way too much Bar-B-Q and Beer. Memphis does it right for sure, but a slab of ribs, slaw, beans and texas toast washed down with a few Sierra Nevada summer brews was not what I had in mind for my nutritional needs. Delicious, but a crusher. A stuffed belly and not nearly enough sleep and I was pushing the last couple hours to Little Rock.
I pulled into the lot at Burns Park about 10 am and my car said it was 97 degrees outside without factoring in the stifling humidity. I’m from the south, so you would think I was used to this stuff, but damn! Melanie rolled into the lot right after I did in her pimp red PT Cruiser (you know you love it Mel, don’t deny it!), so we headed for a lap of the bike course. I was really surprised at the trails…fun, tight singletrack with some technical climbs and descents and tight turns most of the way, with some flat sections at the end where you could big ring it and fly over the soft track. The rocks made picking a smooth line pretty important - there were plenty of flats and even a couple of slashed sidewalls to be had out there and several 90 degree turns at the bottom of a descent that made it all too easy to blow by the turn and go off course (which Mel and I did on several occasions). We did a fun smooth lap, without any really hard efforts and I was pretty psyched on my chances with this course, as it didn’t have any long climbs where the stronger riders could put time on me like in Pelham. Did a quick swim in the lake after and then chilled out in Craig Evans’ RV for the balance of the afternoon watching some sweet extreme kayaking videos with he, Dan Hugo and Billy Pirtle while putting the hurt on a bag of cheese-its. Quality pre-race chow. Dinner was a pretty good local Italian joint in downtown Little Rock with Billy, some gearing on the bike in the hotel room (sorry Peabody - ruined a few hand towels)…then bed.
Woke early as usual, race day at last… To say that the SC Cup was a hot race would be a tragic understatement. A 10 am start was just downright wrong, particularly when the sport group (all 25 of them) got to start at 8 and the heat index was already 100. Transition was really sweet, soft grass and plenty of room to spread out. By the time I had my bike on the rack and some gear laid out, I was in a dead sweat….time to find Craig’s RV for a cool down.
The pros got a three minute head start and then it was our turn to toe the line. The swim was in an off-shoot section of the Arkansas river and the water had to have been in the high 80’s. I was pretty psyched on a single lap course as I hadn’t ever had a full regulation swim like that. I edged in behind Billy and Omar Fraser who I figured to be the fastest swimmers and tried to hang on to their ankles as long as I could to get clear of the pack….that was about 10 strokes, those guys are fast. The heat really hit hard early and my shoulders felt like lead bricks. After the front guys dropped me, I pretty much was in no man’s land the rest of the swim. With no one to try to catch or keep away from I think my pace dropped a bit more than I would have liked, but honestly I just wanted to stay smooth and get the heck out of there without completely getting blown, which was a real possibility. It was a strange swim, alternating between pockets of cool water that had been churned up and really really hot pockets of water that felt like a jacuzzi. Round the last buoy and back to shore and the run to T1 felt like my entire supply of bodily water had turned to steam. I really hope there weren’t any pictures of my exit, because I know I must have looked like the swamp thing crawling out of the lagoon…knuckles dragging in the water and mouth hung wide open…striking.
Transitions still need work, but I threw a leg over the bike and was psyched for some shady singletrack. Slater Fletcher came out of T1 right behind me and I knew he was in my AG and could put a good bike split up so I tried to pull away but he was drafting right on my wheel down the road and entered the trail ahead of me. I was trying to ride hard, but I was hurt from the swim and couldn’t seem to get my legs in gear or my heart rate down. He saw it and totally put the hammer down and dropped me after about 15 minutes. Got back most of my spots from the swim in the first lap and started to come back alive again. Despite my pre-race recon, I still managed to eat tape a couple of times missing my turn. Had a great second lap after my body temp came down a few notches and the only age groupers left in front to run down were Omar and Slater. I was feeling pretty good heading back to T2 and thought I was heading for a great run split….
The heat was intense. Coming out into the sun for about a 3k run on pavement and gravel felt like someone had a giant vacuum on me zapping all my mojo. Thank god for the aid stations…all six of them and their enchantingly cold water that helped keep me from going Chernobyl. I must have dumped about three gallons of water on my head on that run. It was nowhere near what I would call race pace…more like training pace, but with that heat it was all I could muster. I was finally getting near the single track and goat hill climb but still hadn’t caught sight of Slater or Omar, then all of the sudden my world turned upside down on me…literally. There was a vine across the trail that I didn’t see and the thing strung me up under my neck and pulled me off of my feet. No joke, I was on my back in a soft bed of poison ivy thinking, what the f@ck just happened! Managed to get back to my feet and scramble up the steep slope to the ridge which was a serious relief. There was a good breeze and a great view of the river and downtown Little Rock…oh yeah, and that 500 foot drop back down to the ground. Focus, focus…finally caught Slater at the fourth aid station where we both high fived and grabbed a glass of water together - I mean seriously, what the heck were we doing hanging out like we were at a bar in the middle of a race? Must have been the heat.
After my mind clicked back on I started hammering pretty good down the switchback descent, determined to put Slater as far behind me as I could and see if I had a shot at catching Omar. Hit the road at the bottom and took off for what was the last climb up ahead…a painfully unnecessary 200+/- meter climb up an exposed fire road. I managed to pull what little energy I had left out of the depths, chucked my water bottle which felt like it was 40 pounds and hit it hard, nearly popping (thank you aid station #6). Two more waters on the head and I was making my way over the top of the climb and down through the loose shale free-ride park. I heard the announcers call out Omar’s name and knew it was a 2nd place finish for me so pretty much shut it down and coasted in from there.
I’m honestly amazed at what a person can put their body through in conditions like that. Heat index was well over 100 and it was truly a battle against the heat and the mind, two very tough enemies. Accomplishing a race like that without giving up is character building stuff to be sure. There are always things to second guess after a race, but a 2nd overall amateur finish was my best yet at a Cup series race so I was psyched. Omar was way too strong for me this go around, but I will be back. Congrats to Todd Poole for a strong race grabbing some good points and to Mel for toughing out a second place finish (I fear for the pro women at the next race, Melanie is going to eat them alive!).
That’s the last xterra for me for a bit. Heavy dose of mountain biking coming up in July. Looking forward to seeing all you Melradians in Ogden.
Peace Frogs,
Fred