Stoopid 50

Well did my first 50 miler for the season (here in the east)...as some of you know I did the Coolest24/8 and did the 8 hour solo which totaled 66 miles on my SS....my goal this year was to beat last years 50 mile attempts, which I turned at 8:04 my best...I really wanted to be in the 6 hour range...YEAH, I did 6:56:58....thats where I wanted...rode my new Gary Fisher Superfly (which is now converted to a 1x9) and came in 8th on the Maters catagory...could have done better as usual, but I can never pass up someone in need...so I could have shaved maybe another 10 minutes, oh well..hopefully that individual got to finish too...

The night before the race they fed us with spaggetti, bread, it was super...then we had a movie to watch on the big "blow" up screen...they showed Seasons, very cool movie, gets you pumped for riding...the sleeping was so comfortable cause the night really cooled off...in the morning there was pancakes and coffee, during the race at the food stations it was like being a king, they treated you SO WELL...all the helpers would come running to give you anything you needed they wouldn't let you get it, unbeleivable...super folks...then after the race they had pasta, beans and veggie burgers..>WOW!!!

The Stoopid 50 was up near State College, PA at Rothrock state park...this area has like 5 state parks converging...it's rocky, mountainous (beautifully so), 70% Single Track and only 30% dirt/gravel road...and the single track was in some places SO ROCKY, going up or going down...the rattling going down was something else...and brother did I see a lot of flats...thank god I didn't experience one...I did help this "roadie" from Indiana, poor guy had 5 flats that day, tough way to compete...

The weather was perfect (at least to me) I did hear some say it was too hot, but after Danville race I don't think it can get much worse than that...so to me it was perfect...we had a mass start with everyone following the chase moto for a few miles on the dirt road...lots of fun some of the downhill sections we were flying on, my computer registered 38mph...of course you know that with all that fun down hill comes uphill, and that it did...the only REAL BAD or TOUGH uphill was the infamous "Hike-A-Bike" everyone was talking about that NO ONE CAN RIDE..well I believe it, it was SO STEEP...and very long too, my ankles started hurting from the angle of the climb...met some great folks during the hike....met great people all weekend as a matter of fact...good to be back home, everyone is so friendly....

This year I did the WHOLE race without having to do any major walking due to exhaustion or cramps or any other reason...did some short hikes but thats it, otherwise really pushed it to keep riding...only felt the start of cramps once at about 37-41 miles,,,worked them out with some stretches...then the finish, they dumped you out on the paved road...I didn't know if it was the last stretch to the finish or if they were going to send us back into the single track...then I saw the sign that said hwy 322 3 miles...I knew it was 6 to the campground from the hwy...so we had 3 miles of raod to cover...up gradual...that was almost killer in itself...there was a competeing team member from beans in front of me on the road...so I worked hard to reel him in and get past to get the extra points for the team...did it...felt good after the finish and even better the next 2-3 days...went riding yesterday and a good long one today and no adverse affects...feel pretty much recovered (being in shape has helped), and nutrition plays such a vital role...

This coming weekend will be Neshimeny on my Single Speed.