I'll have lots of posts thanks to this weekend, but let me start with the basics: the 10th annual PTR (Powhatan Trail Race) had two classifications, Regular (1 lap, approx. 30 miles) and Enduro (2 laps, appox 60 miles). It was a great time and culminated in a shocking finish:
a 6-way tie for first place in the Regular Classification! Check out the following photo from the finish line:
Amazing! Congrats to Tim, Steve, Scott, Rudy, Brian, and Emily for an astonishing finish line push.
In the Enduro Classification, the finish was just as close but involved only two riders: a tie between Mojo and me:
Just astonishing!
The course was great, roughly
the same ride as I discuss here but with a slight nav twist at the top of the mountain where you pick your own route down to Sherando Lake. Over 4,000 feet of elevation gain in one lap, or 8,000+ for the Enduro classification.
The Enduros started at sunrise and, by the end of the day, we were really hurting . . . Mike pronounced his quads "completely fried" and I tried to voice my agreement but all that came out was a dull groan. I think we may rename the Enduro Classification into its own race called "
The SufferFest." Oddly, I have a sadistic itch to go for 3 laps next time with one lap having to take place in the dark . . . I'm pretty sure a 5 hour lap is a reasonable average time for 3 laps, so a 2 AM start would mean a finish before darkness the next day (allowing for a bit of a break between each lap). I'd have to pick a night with a full moon and find a few totally insane people to go with me; I'll have to check on Mojo's schedule . . .
No write-up of the PTR is complete without a catalog of Chief Powhatan's revenge for the day; he likes to break bikes, throw nasty weather at racers, and otherwise get back at the PTR participants for their boldness in riding his course. As far as I know, there was 1 bent rim, 1 rim split into pieces, an egg-beater pedal snapped off it's stem, and a couple flat tires and endos attributed to The Chief.
The coveted "
Always Outnumbered Never Out-Gunned" award goes to Mike "Mojo" Jones who, with 25 miles to go on his second lap during the Enduro Classification, broke his pedal off his crank arm and rode the rest of the race (with most of the climbing still to go!) with only one good pedal and one little stem to push and pull on -- that's the stuff legends are made of! Tim Sinatra stopped to survey Mojo's situation and fired us all up with a timely quote: "What happens from here on out, defines us." Tim even offered to alternate bikes with Mojo but Mojo stuck it out.