Arrived in Ellensburg Saturday around 4:00pm. Got settled in to the motel room then went for dinner. After dinner drove out to the pits for sign-up.
The line was fairly long, the wind was blowing dust all over the place. There were some mean looking clouds around but it was fairly warm.
Got done with sign-up around 7:40pm. Went back to town for a good nights rest.
Sunday morning arrived at the pits around 8:45am. Got suited up and ready to go.
Went to the riders meeting. It was hilarious. They warned us about a couple of drop offs on either side of the second smoke bomb on the outside of trucks. We wer told to stay between the 2 trucks or else.
The start to the "main" course was 7 miles, then each lap was 35 miles. So the total for my race was 112 miles. Yikes!! Last year I had to stop a couple of times to rest. Its really hard to maintain correct riding stance when your left hand is cramped into a tight little ball, and your left thigh is cramped so tight it causes another cramp in your right foot!!! So my goal this year was to finish without cramping and not stopping to rest.
The start is LeMans style where you have to run about 50 ft to your bike start and go. The first mile or so was right out through the sage, rocks and ditches. What may appear to be a good line at first may turn into a bad line in the next 100 yds. So I didn't get a very good start, but thats OK I told myself I need to take it easy so I could last.
I never did see the trucks at the second smoke bomb. I just followed the herd of riders. Shortly after the second smoke bomb we headed down into a canyon and someone killed their bike in a little tight section that caused a brief bottleneck. One thing I forgot to mention is it had rained the night before, so little if any dust. It was perfect.
Once we got to the main course I realized we were riding last years course in reverse. No problem. Last years course was not too tough except for the 35 miles of round rocks, sharp rocks, stable rocks, mobile rocks, big whoops, little whoops, powdery silt, and a couple small hills. Great fun.
After the first lap I was feeling pretty strong. I was trying to keep a loose grip on the bars so I wouldn't cramp in the hands. I had also brought along some Gatorade and energy drink for each pit stop.
I took off on the second lap. There is a section right out of the pits that is an old asphalt road that has developed a few potholes. But other than that it is straight and flat for several miles. So I relaxed my hands on that section.
I felt pretty strong during the second lap. There was one section on the first lap that was a short (30 yds) uphill climb on some really loose rocks. I got a little out of shape and killed my bike there. So I was watching out for it on the second lap determined to do better. I made it up OK no problem.
Then there was another faster section that had a large rolling whoop that if hit fast enough would get some air with a landing on another whooped out section. On the first lap I hit this faster than I wanted. Talk about pucker power!! I almost ruined my riding pants.
I vowed to remember this on the second lap. Well I didn't. I hit the same section on the second lap and vowed to remember on the third lap.
The third lap, I started cramping again but not as bad as last year. By this time my drink system was almost gone. Every time I started to feel a cramp I tried to take a drink. I also was needing to answer the call of nature but I thought I could make it one more lap. However the constant pounding of the whoops made it harder and harder to ride. Finally about 10 miles from the finish I couldn't take it any longer and had to stop. When I got off my bike and stood erect, I immediately cramped on the back of my left thigh.
Anyway I finished pretty late again this year, but I felt pretty good about not stopping to rest and not cramping nearly so bad as last year. I will be back again next year. Thanks to the Stumpjumpers MC for another terrific Desert 100. I have to go now 'cause my hands are starting to cramp.
The line was fairly long, the wind was blowing dust all over the place. There were some mean looking clouds around but it was fairly warm.
Got done with sign-up around 7:40pm. Went back to town for a good nights rest.
Sunday morning arrived at the pits around 8:45am. Got suited up and ready to go.
Went to the riders meeting. It was hilarious. They warned us about a couple of drop offs on either side of the second smoke bomb on the outside of trucks. We wer told to stay between the 2 trucks or else.
The start to the "main" course was 7 miles, then each lap was 35 miles. So the total for my race was 112 miles. Yikes!! Last year I had to stop a couple of times to rest. Its really hard to maintain correct riding stance when your left hand is cramped into a tight little ball, and your left thigh is cramped so tight it causes another cramp in your right foot!!! So my goal this year was to finish without cramping and not stopping to rest.
The start is LeMans style where you have to run about 50 ft to your bike start and go. The first mile or so was right out through the sage, rocks and ditches. What may appear to be a good line at first may turn into a bad line in the next 100 yds. So I didn't get a very good start, but thats OK I told myself I need to take it easy so I could last.
I never did see the trucks at the second smoke bomb. I just followed the herd of riders. Shortly after the second smoke bomb we headed down into a canyon and someone killed their bike in a little tight section that caused a brief bottleneck. One thing I forgot to mention is it had rained the night before, so little if any dust. It was perfect.
Once we got to the main course I realized we were riding last years course in reverse. No problem. Last years course was not too tough except for the 35 miles of round rocks, sharp rocks, stable rocks, mobile rocks, big whoops, little whoops, powdery silt, and a couple small hills. Great fun.
After the first lap I was feeling pretty strong. I was trying to keep a loose grip on the bars so I wouldn't cramp in the hands. I had also brought along some Gatorade and energy drink for each pit stop.
I took off on the second lap. There is a section right out of the pits that is an old asphalt road that has developed a few potholes. But other than that it is straight and flat for several miles. So I relaxed my hands on that section.
I felt pretty strong during the second lap. There was one section on the first lap that was a short (30 yds) uphill climb on some really loose rocks. I got a little out of shape and killed my bike there. So I was watching out for it on the second lap determined to do better. I made it up OK no problem.
Then there was another faster section that had a large rolling whoop that if hit fast enough would get some air with a landing on another whooped out section. On the first lap I hit this faster than I wanted. Talk about pucker power!! I almost ruined my riding pants.
I vowed to remember this on the second lap. Well I didn't. I hit the same section on the second lap and vowed to remember on the third lap.
The third lap, I started cramping again but not as bad as last year. By this time my drink system was almost gone. Every time I started to feel a cramp I tried to take a drink. I also was needing to answer the call of nature but I thought I could make it one more lap. However the constant pounding of the whoops made it harder and harder to ride. Finally about 10 miles from the finish I couldn't take it any longer and had to stop. When I got off my bike and stood erect, I immediately cramped on the back of my left thigh.
Anyway I finished pretty late again this year, but I felt pretty good about not stopping to rest and not cramping nearly so bad as last year. I will be back again next year. Thanks to the Stumpjumpers MC for another terrific Desert 100. I have to go now 'cause my hands are starting to cramp.
