A Perfect 10

The Park City Perfect 10 on Saturday was the absolute best bike race I have ever participated in. The course was awesome, the weather was perfect and so was the atmosphere. The course was just over 6 miles, 99% singletrack with over 900 ft of climbing. It was a very technical course. The climb consisted of multiple loose rocky switchbacks and most of the descent was on the Deer Valley downhill MTB trails. This was my first endurance event and I didn't know what to expect so I started conservatively. I slow jogged the lemans start and rode the first climb with Rhonda, just taking things easy and scoping the scene. Nature called at the top of the climb so I pulled over and let Rhonda finish the lap without me. I hopped back on and got to the bottom finishing my first lap in around 50 mins riding at a very conservative pace. For the next few laps I picked up the pace and averaged around 40-45 mins of riding time per lap with around 5-15 mins of down time between each lap to refuel, stretch and take care of business. At the halfway point, around noon, I decided to revise my goal upward from 10 laps to 11 laps which would put me at around 70 miles with 10,000 ft of climbing. Nice even numbers. Starting my 7th lap my legs still had plenty of snap and I was feeling great. As I headed out of the pit area I noticed my rear tire was a little squishy so I topped it off figuring I had burped it a bit on the last hairball DH. About 2-3 miles up the climb it got squishy again and I recognized my real problem. I had been lazy and hadn't topped off my Stans fluid since May. I had a small puncture in my tire but no sealant to seal it. I had one CO2 with me so I decided to play it safe and throw a tube in. Near the top of the climb I hit a rock just right and pinch flatted my tube. Lovely. I knew Rhonda was somewhere behind me with another tube and a pump so I picked a nice rock to sit on and waited for her. She was a little farther behind than I thought so I ended up waiting 40 mins or so. I grabbed her tube and pump and got to work. It took me awhile to realize it but her tube also had a hole in it. About this time I decided the race gods were conspiring against me and my race was done. I hiked cross country across some ski runs and carried my bike back to the staging area. I got back around 4pm and could have knocked out a couple quick laps before the finish but my motivation level was nill by this time so I threw in the towel.

Rhonda tag teamed the event with Lyna. They killed it, hammering out 13 laps and over 80 miles in just over 10 hours and I bet they could have done more had time not expired.

The event was excellent, even with my problems it was the funnest race I have ever done and I will do it again. A big thanks to Carl from the shop for wrenching away all the problems that happen when you abuse a bike for 10 hours. Also a big thanks to Bob and Shannon for the physical and mental support throughout the event.