2009, One for the Books!

by Tim Ek on October 23rd, 2009

A lot of miles on this one.

The 2009 race season has come to an end in a manner that represented all of the best and all of the worst. The cumulative effect of the largest race schedule I’ve ever tackled in my life, over 145 hours of racing, has taken it’s toll, not only financially, but physically and mentally as well. I entered the final race of the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series with little expectations, but I did have some goals. I wanted to ride at least ten hours of the prescribed twelve and make it through with an intact bike. A plague of recent mechanicals has left me leery of riding over the smallest of sticks or a rock that looks remotely sharp as this would be sure to disable my machine. However, I decided to couch those thoughts into the “bad luck” category and approach the race with gusto.

La Crosse, Wisconsin would host the Blufflands Epic Enduro complete with relentless climbing and at least fifteen “log hops” per lap. I was encouraged as I got ready to start the race as I thought back to a solid performance last year at the same venue. I would later review in my mind that last year it wasn’t 28 degrees at the start with a greasy sheen spread over the clay like trail. At the completion of the 2nd lap I was running in 3rd position with one crash under my belt and a general fatigue slowly saturating my body. I tried to push the control mistakes and the malaise out of my mind, “I’d been here before”, I told myself. As time went on the fatigue ran deeper and as the noon hour approached I surmised that, “I was completely wasted”. I began to wonder what effect the whole year was having on my body as I couldn’t seem to shake the “dark time” that I was in. I made a deal with myself that if I could make it to 5 p.m. I would assess whether I would continue or not.

A personal rule or law that I’ve adopted has been that I will never quit a race due to being “too tired”, but this time things were looking different. I had been turning laps with my training partner who is like a physical clone (we are very evenly matched) and I found that it was getting harder and harder to hold his wheel. At 3:00 p.m. during a short pit I announced that I was “cutting him loose”. He was on his own and I had officially entered survival mode.

I donned the ipod and started taking things one lap at a time. Surprisingly, the “darkness” that filled my being began to lift and I began to move toward the light, if you will. Things were improving mentally and I began to regain some satisfactory lap times. It appeared that achieving ten hours was now possible. I determined that I would quit the race at 6:00 p.m. and get my ten hours. As I completed the 11th lap I knew it would only be possible to get one more before 8:00 p.m., but it would be with the lights.

I quickly switched into night mode and left before I had a chance to change my mind. I struggled through final lap in the pitch dark finishing 82 miles in 11:20.

Ready to go. One more time.

With the completion of the race I vowed I wouldn’t mt. bike for at least two weeks, but as I type this I think about how fun it will be to ride just to ride, without racing on the mind. Thanks Evomo, Titec, Fluid, Action Wipes, Motor Tabs, Tifosi and Ergon for helping me achieve 2nd overall in the WEMS series. What a season and what a relief to be through it! Oh, one more thing, as I put the bike up on top of the car I noticed that the front shock blew a seal, there was oil all over the place. So it goes…

2009 Season:

1 broken chain

4 flats

4 derailleurs/hangers

1 blown front shock

1 bent rear disc

2 sets of break pads

1 new rt. hand shifter

1 set of 29′er Tubeless Bontrager Tires

3 rear derailleur cables/housing

2 spokes