Firecracker 50 2008

Once again on the 4th of July I participated in the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race in Breckenridge. The only difference was that this year I completed the full 50 instead of the Sparkler 14 miles. It was a goal I set for myself last 4th of July.

The day started out hot. I got up to Breckenridge early to get my number and calm my nerves before the race. That didn’t happen, because my race number ended up being 666. As soon as they told me that I felt my heart sink. This is going to be a long race, I thought to myself…

I got lots of oohhs and aaahhs about my number as well as many comments, most along the lines of “good luck” with a discomforting look on theire face, or saying I was screwed because the devil was on my side… Needless to say, my nerves were never calmed before the race started.

My friend, Matt, decided to brave the 50 miles with me. I admire him a lot for that! He just moved here from back east, has a 15 year old mountain bike and has never raced in a mountain bike race before. I haven’t figured out yet if he is a superstar or just plain dumb. I think to do something like that is a mix of both! He met me in Breckenridge where we got some Starbucks and people watched for a while before we went off to get ready for the race. The race starts off the 4th of July parade, which has always been fun. The kids love to cheer us on and it is a good way to get pumped up for the race. Once our leader pulled off we were on our own. The race began. It starts with a pretty good uphill on a paved road. I quickly fell to the back of the pack. I had no goals for this race, other than to complete it, so I knew I didn’t want to start out hard- I had a long way to go. Eventually some of the beginner riders passed me, which took a lot to not push harder. It took a while for my legs to get in the groove of things, but eventually the spinning came naturally and I was feeling good. The pavement turned into dirt, and eventually into singletrack. Parts of the trail were very muddy, but still refreshing considering how hot it was. There were some evil uphills, where many people were walking. I thought about the last day of Kokopelli and how I just kept spinning, and used that on these uphills. I wasn’t overly fast going up, but I passed a lot of walkers and other riders, and was not dead by the time I got to the top. Then the steep, loose descent came. Most people walked this section, too. I was able to ride all of it, and ended up catching a few girls while I was at it. The evil descent finally ended at a fireroad where it descended at a much safer pace. I was feeling really good at this point, but this is about as far as I had ever ridden the trail, so I had no idea what was still coming. Well, there was a lot more uphill. An average grade of 16%. It was steep, and there were parts at the top that weren’t even ridable. Eventually I made it to the top, where it then descended down a very narrow singletrack. Thoughts were going through my head that I have to do all of this over again, and I tried my best to push them out and ignore them.

The trail descended for a while on a nice smooth, fast trail. It was so much fun. My favorite part of the course. Especially when there was a larger mud puddle I had to fly through. It cooled me off a lot! There was another steep scary downhill before the last aid station and the final climb. That last climb was not too bad, middle ring at least the whole way, and the feeling that it was the last climb was a good feeling. (except when you know you have to do it all over again…)

The last descent is fun, a fast fire road and then narrow switchbacks through the trees. It was here that I caught up to Matt, who was saying something about a problem he was having with his bike. I didn’t want to stop to chat, so I kept going, hoping he was ok…

I completed my first lap with lots of jeers from the spectators about my number. I had actually forgotten about it by this point. Thanks, guys… I pushed on, though, ready for the second lap. It was hard to ride up the pavement again knowing what I was up against, but as soon as I hit the dirt road I started feeling better. Really good, actually. I was passing people left and right, including the girl that I knew was standing in second in my category. It felt good to catch her, which boosted my mood and energy. I never saw her again. This lap was obviously the same as the first, the only difference is that I felt like I had more energy the second time around. My second lap was definately faster, and more fun than the first. The final descent was a blast, knowing that it was really the end now. I crossed the finish line in about 6:45. I wasn’t dissappointed by time, even though it is slow to some standards. I wasn’t racing for time, or a podium. Just to cross the finish line of my first 50 mile mountain bike race. I did it, and it felt great…

Matt ended up going out for the second lap, even though his bike was not functioning properly. He finished the race as well. Barely, because he collapsed as soon as he got to where I was sitting and it took a lot for me to get him up. Congrats to him for doing something so crazy and for surviving.

I ended up taking second place, and that is with riding with the number 666. I think it is just a myth that gets to people’s heads too much. It was my first ever race where I didn’t crash or have any sort of mechanical issue. Maybe it is my lucky number…

If only that luck could get rid of this darn cough… With still trying to get over the bronchitis, as well as inhaling dirt for the last almost 7 hours, my lungs were hating me and trying to get all the junk out and get air in. It was painful and continued all night and all weekend. It was hard to sleep, made all of my muscles ache and made me nauseaus. I couldn’t take it any more, so I called my step-mom to see if there were any more remedies for it, since the steroids and perscription cough medicince didn’t work… Luckily one of her friends was in town and she is a doctor. She ended up calling in another perscription for me, so now I am finally on antibiotics. God I hope it works this time. I am not sure I can survive another race feeling like this…