Cream Puff 2008

Well the cream puff has come and gone, and I completed my first goal of surviving the race and not falling victim to heat exhaustion and also rode hard. The results were emailed out and I finished in 12:13 and placed 36th.



Now for the details... I came out of the gates blazing and was in a chase pack of 6 riders that followed the top 10 riders up the first 4000 foot climb over 12 miles. I swapped bottles at the aid station and blazed on through. I passed 4 riders on the next 20 miles of single track and got passed by 1 single speed rider. We are talking fast and furious single track...I hugged behind the single speeder, Chris, for the remainder of the single track and moved faster than I would have if he was not there. I enjoyed his company for most of the climb and we talked about FSA and whether or not we were going to drop the Uber tech stump on the second lap (we both walked it the first time and subsequntly the second time as well).

The second big climb went well until my tubeless front tire failed when I got a slash from a sharp rock or glass. 3 minutes later I was covered in Slime and riding with a tube in the front. I blasted through the second, third and fourth aid stations. After mile 65 some one turned up the heat while I was on the third climb. I kicked it down a notch and began to think about conserving a little and not blowing up. At the 6th aid station there was a tub of cold water directly from the near by creek, I dunked the head and enjoyed some shade.

After mile 80 there was one more monster climb left. This bad boy was in the heat of the day and had lots of sun exposure. I told myself that if I saw a good looking piece of shade I would take advantage and lay down for a small rest. There it was, staring me in the face as if I was in day 4 of an adventure race. I set the alarm on my watch and laid down for a nappy nap. 25 minutes laterI was far from fresh, but ready to knock the climb out. The Alpine trail took me down into the finish line where Scott Taylor gave me my finisher hat and officially classified me as a bad ass.

This race is a class act. The best run aid stations and support personell that I have ever been a part of. The entire race I carried very minimal supplies and ate like a king. If you have not done this race then put it on your list...I will be back.