Camp Hilbert Enduro #1, 4.04.09

What makes two guys drive 11ish hours round trip, spend cash on a hotel room, gas, tolls, and shit food just to punish themselves and race their mountain bikes for 5 hours? Who the hell knows?? But that's just what me and B. Schmalzer did this past weekend as we drove down to Maidens, Virginia to race the previously canceled Camp Hilbert 5 Hour Enduro.

I picked Brad up at Casa de Schmalzer Friday afternoon. We immediately had a small problem. For some reason my Yakima rack's fork mount would not accommodate Brad's SID lowers. WTF? But luckily with the seats down in the Xb there was plenty of room for his '09 Moto Rapido in the back. So Brad got the prima donna treatment for his bike. Typical. ;)

After a stop at ProBikes for pro mountain bike racer turned Cat 4/5 roadie- LBoH to work out some tire/rim issues Brad was having, it was time to get on the road. It of course was pissing down rain, and blowing wind... 'cause you KNOW driving 5.5 hours isn't enough, I like to drive half of it with my hands clutching the steering wheel holding on for dear life as the wind blows my very UN aerodynamic Xb around and the rain soaks my Dos Niner to the core.

"Run to the hills, run for yourrrrr lllllives"

- Run To The Hills, Iron Maiden

After 5.5+ hours of driving of Brad forcing (not really) me to relive my early high school days by listen to old school metal songs via his iPod (dear God man!) we made it to the hotel. Unpacked, got the bikes inside without any front desk confrontations, prepped bottles for the morning, and watched Rambo 2 (again- dear God man!).

"The bugle sounds and the charge begins,
But on this battlefield no one wins."
-The Trooper, Iron Maiden

After a sleep filled with nightmarish images of Stallone shooting exploding arrows and Ronnie James Dio riding tigers and wielding swords like he was an animated Frank Frazetta painting, it was off to the Camp Hilbert compound to do some racing. Finally!

The weather was perfect and the pit was set up. By pit I of course mean a cooler full of bottles and gels under a tree near the course start/finish. I soon joined Brad, P.G. Pete, and 25+ other Enduro minded folks at the start line and got ready to get the 2009 season going.

9:30 came and we were off. Brad and a few other dudes took off fast as hell, while the rest of us steady pace types just "took off". Unlike Brad I had not pre rode the course, I opted to save all my energy for the race. Knowing the course definitely would have had some advantages that first lap, but I think I made up for it on the second lap.

On the second lap, I was able to remember where the flatter sections were and big ring as many as I could. Like the Little Angry Man In A Hair Suit says "if you don't keep it in the big ring, you'll never win". OK, winning wasn't really on my mind, but making up some time was. I picked off a few riders and caught and passed Pete, who may have went out a bit too hard. Passing Pete was a good sign for me. He's a strong rider and passing him motivated me a bit. Anytime I got the chance I big ringed it to gap Pete the others I had passed. Knowing my talents (read: lack there of), the next lap I backed off the gas a bit.

By lap four all those roots were starting taking a toll on my back and I began to slightly regret my decision to not roll the Big Mama. There were so many sections (like Boyce Park here in Pittsburgh) that the full suspension would have let me just sit and hammer with no worry 'bout the roots. But there were some power climbs that I of course loved having the light weight Dos Niner for. I guess it was the whole 6 vs. 1/2 Doz. thing, and/or robbing Peter/paying Paul, Apples vs. Oranges, etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.

A lap was not all that long. The promoter said 6.5 miles, my computer (which is probably wrong) said less, so I had to do some mental hand-jobbing to deal. I tried to think of it as just one lllong stretch of single track. Instead of letting my mind think "great, that f*cking rock/tree/stick/climb again??" I would force myself to think that it was a new f*cking rock/tree/stick/climb. It sorta worked.

When I hit lap 7 I told myself that if I got to the start finish with less than 5 minutes to go I would no go out for lap 8. But, at the end of lap 8 I had a good 25 minutes or so, so I just kept going and never looked back.

On lap 8 I was lucky enough to hook up with a couple other Enduros who had a nice pace going. I latched on to them and let them pull me around for a few miles, but then back off and let them go. That was a good move and actually gave me one of my faster lap times on the day.

I was more than glad to be hitting the last climb with nothing more than a short sandy straight-a-way to the finish my first endurance race of 2009. I ended the day with 48.5 to 52 miles (depending on who's bike computer you look at) in 5:18 and in 9th place out of about 28ish Enduros.

My friend, navigator, former Bikeman.com teammate, current Twin-Six teammate, and pusher of old school heavy metal- Brad ended up in 3rd. An amazing result for someone doing what I think was his second enduro ever, I THINK his first would have been last year's W.V.M.B.A. Revenge of The Rattlesnake XXC race (a race that could make a grown man weep). Congrats dude! It must have been all that metal in your ears.

Post Race Salty Chamois

In the end I was real happy with my performance, my nutrition and the way my body felt. Looking forward to the Leesburg Bakers Dozen a couple weekends from now. For now, I see some Dogfish Head 60 Minutes and a heap of my White Trash Mexicana in my future.

Lap 1 37:34
Lap 2 36:12
Lap 3 36:59
Lap 4 38:44
Lap 5 43:41
Lap 6 42:45
Lap 7 43:13
Lap 8 39:41


Later.

p.s. Thanks to Brad "Rainbow In The Dark" Schmalzer for a couple pics.