2013 Cranky Monkey 3-Hour Solo, Rocky Gap State Park, MD

Strava: http://app.strava.com/activities/55151948

Let me be honest here, I was not planning on racing at all this weekend. Especially since I rode 40 miles on Friday for the Bike2Work Day event (in which I just biked to a day off of work). Anyway my wife and I met up with Paul Tarter and his wife on Friday and immediately Paul and I went out for a course recon pre-ride. This was my first time seeing Rocky Gap from the other side of the lake and I must admit now I know why they call it Rocky Gap. The course had some pretty steep climbs, somewhat thin single track, a few rolling hilly parts, a soul sucking road climb, a really big soul sucking rocky hill climb (I think it’s called “Evitt’s Revenge”), a couple technical rock crossings, and about three crazy rocky downhill runs! They also had a small side step trail because a 25 foot portion of the course was literally hub deep in mud. So they had to route alongside it, in which that too became a sloppy mess by the third hour of the race. The rest of the course pretty much ran along the lakefront  it was a slim single track with some areas wide enough for racers to pass if needed. The slope was a little intimidating at times, but then again I really thought about going for a swim at one point. The waterfront trails provided to be a little testing since they had a decent amount of roots and some small muddy spots. Also the trails were open to everyone, so there was the occasional bystander either cheering you on or dashing to get off the trail. When climbing out of the lake side area the terrain turned to a rocky and at times wet/muddy mess, the rocks were loose on the down hills and pretty solid going up, minus the crazy steep muddy mess of Evitt’s Revenge.

On the pre-ride I handled most of these pretty well only the steep rocky climb and the two rock crossings got me. But taking my time Paul and I finished the pre-ride in 1hr on the dot.

On to the ironic part! I saw they had a three hour solo race going on at the same time, and since I knew I could endure one hour of the course and that I could take a beating from the time spent at the Bakers Dozen, I starting to think I should sign up. Of course it didn't help that Paul did a little Jedi mind trick of his own...

So after much consideration and $105 spent, and on the day of the race mind you, I grabbed my bike, my gear, and signed up. I had pretty much everything I needed and if I didn't I could borrow from Paul Tarter.

The 9-Hour guys started off first at 1000 and the 3-Hour started off 20 mins later. I carried my tool, a bottle of water, a couple Cliff Shots and Cliff Bars, and some luck.

When we were off I did what I could to stay near the front without trying to tire myself out and for the most part I held onto that for some time! I also realized, during the first road climb, I forgot to start my Garmin when we were released. I really pushed hard on my first lap to get a significant gap between me and everyone else, but it didn't last long because a small group of three caught up to me right as we go to the road climb. After they passed me I decided to just enjoy the race since I knew I probably wouldn't catch them, even if they weren't in my racing category. So I eased up a bit and helped several racers along the route with mechanicals while letting the 9-Hour racers fly by. Not to mention the most awesomest high-speed “Bones-Explode” when Paul blew by!

On a side note I was kind of disappointed at some of the team racers out there, the majority of the people racing were encouraging, patient, and great, but there were a few who would get behind me and get irate with my speed saying, "You're killing my time, etc..." which is kind of annoying because I'm not you, sir, and I am not racing as a duo/trio... So please, with all due respect, chill eff' out. As for teams like The Bike Lane, Crosshairs, and SBR... You guys were helpful, and I thank you for that.

Off my soapbox now, being that I was doing a three hour race I felt that I had to at least get in three laps, which I did and they were all around an hour per lap, though mad kudos to the guy who got in four! I think my most difficult area was the climb and out of three laps I was only able to successfully bike up it once, after that I heard someone mention that it was just as quick to walk it with not nearly as much effort. So I tried on my second lap to bike up it, in which I only made it halfway  by the third lap I just walked since it was a muddy/rocky mess.

Speaking of my third lap, since I was taking it a moderately fast pace, I figured I was kind of in the middle of the pack until I returned from my second lap. When I stopped my wife and Leesa both told me that I was leading in first place and the second place guy was two minutes behind me. I was shocked, mocking the idea really that I was doing so well… so I refilled my water bottle and took off like a bat out of hell! I pushed it really hard on my third lap, especially when I saw one person pass me with a two digit number!!! I couldn't read his calf to determine if he was in my category or not but I didn't want to take the chance that he was my competitor for first place so I hung on him as hard as I could till the last quarter mile, in I asked and then politely passed him… then I nailed it into warp 9.8 to the end, so much that I almost passed out at the finish line.

I felt great! I didn’t believe I did so well and I felt better than I helped so many people along the way and was still able to pull ahead. Unfortunately that feeling didn't last long, when the race officials realized that they gave me the wrong chip and someone else had mine… so I went from first to fourth in a matter of ten minutes. No worries though, because in reality I was just happy to do as well as I did and even better yet help everyone else who needed a spare tube, CO2, or a little encouragement along the way.  So I as extremely satisfied with fourth considering all my riding during the week off the race and my serious lack of preparedness.

My nutrition was sparse to say the least, I ate somewhat little while relying more on just water and the Gatorade at the midway station. I'll make sure to pay better attention to that next time, but really what can go wrong in three hours other than dehydration or low electrolytes?

Afterwards I did the podium and then went on a small but nice bike ride with the wife. I also would like to thank her for encouraging me through this race, as well as *jokingly* giving me false motivation about being first (really hon, I am kidding!).

Anyway it was a great race, the course was awesome and I had an amazing time! Though I am considering whether to do the 3-Hour Cranky Monkey at Quantico… I’m a sucker for torture!