Addison Back, Boyne Up

Last weekend was the first race in the Michigan Endurance Cup series, the 12 Hours of Addison Oaks. This race has loomed large on my calendar for nearly five months. Having not raced much the past two years, I was a bit nervous about how my body would respond to the rigors of endurance racing. Well, I am happy to report that things went well.

I like the Addison course which is a good thing. Riding a course you dislike for 12 hours can be a demoralizing endeavor. The course sets up well for a SS. I ran a 32x17 which was nearly perfect for 99% of the course. There are two short, punchy climbs that hurt a bit, but the rest of the course is twisty single-track and open two-track, so the gear was great.

I started fast as I wanted to get in front of the traffic going into the first single-track section. I was in the top 6 or 7 going in tot he tight section and settled in a bit. The SS was not giving up much, so it was not to tough to stick with the big boys. I saw Dave at the start and then again after he crashed. I never saw him again. He's just too strong to try and race with. I popped out onto the back two-track section and noticed that my HR was at 188. It was time to slow down! I backed off and got my HR under control and got comfy for the long day ahead.

I had some back pain, which is new for me. I hope that it was just an anomalous thing and not an indication of injury or age. From 1:00 until 4:00 I felt horrible. I wanted to stop and get off the bike. During this time the wind came up and there were branches crashing all around the course. It was scary. Around 4:00 the wind died down and the sun came out. The sun, mixed with some calorie intake, made me feel much better. From then on, I felt strong.

I had no idea where I was in the race, which is a bit unnerving at times. I dragged my feet on what I thought was my last lap, but I still came in at 9:46. I quickly checked off the course, scoped out the standings (which had not been updated) and decided that one more lap was in order. I think that last lap was one of my fastest! I was motivated to be done.

When it was all said and done, I won by two laps. I completed the same number of laps as the geared solo riders which made me feel great. We rode 21 laps, 140 miles, in 12:15.

Next up is The 24 Hours of Boyne.