YeeHaw! The Laramie Enduro! What a terrific time! I really wasn't sure how it would turn out. I imagined walking more then we did, possibly taking some diggers, but none of that happened.
We left JH around 12ish. On the way there we encountered this horrific hail storm about an hour outside of Laramie. The ice chunks quickly gathered on the side of the road and the hood of the truck, there was one pt. we were sprayed by a truck and couldn't see at all! Pick up the race packet at Fine Edge, smooth and organized. Good T-shirt, good swag bag. I recall it always raining in Laramie. We got to camp about 20 mins b4 the rain hit, which gave us enough time to set up camp and have a dry diner. Had some pre-made T-race pasta, bread and cc cookies, and of course a beer. Does anyone sleep the night b4 the LE? Jay is the am person, I am pm, good thing. He is excellent at waking up, getting the coffee going and me moving. Jay pretty much does everything twice as fast as me, and when it comes to eating, it might be 4x's as fast, ie., he can eat 4 potatoes to my 1. The start was great, we rode right thru the single-track! Aid one we grabbed a gel, banana and refilled a water bottle. Before we even started the race I was telling Jay I would like to walk this one steep DH, as we approached it I was repeatively saying, I don't want to do it, I don't want to do it, and before you know it we were descending and had cleared it. We had a good time on the firerds catching people left and right, cruisin'! Aid 2 we stopped to check the air in the tires, the fresh strawberries were so good I didn't want to leave, grabbed some more banana-GO! I remember them laughing at the aids because I was trying to stuff food in my mouth while Jay was asking if I was ready, and the food was just flying all over. I get a lot of comments like "oh you can just hang out back there and do whatever." They should try it, I'd like to see them to even be able to hold on! Eating, which includes having the food, unwrapping the food, getting the food to the mouth, breathing, stoking and drinking at, well, you'd have to try it to understand it. The help at the aid stations was amazing. Pointing out the food, filling wtr btls, holding the bike and asking what we needed. We lubed the chain a couple times. Aid 4, I really needed to recoup there, but no time for that. I ate a couple chips and 1 potato, chugged a cup of gatorade, and Jay said are you ready? I said no as I climbed back on the shack starting to feel the past hrs wearing. As we headed into Headquarters, it became harder to breath. There was a steep part in there and I just lost it. Jay was pushing the bike, I was trying to help, my breathing got short and shallow, and then there was no more air coming into my lungs. I had to stop, put my hands in the air and try to relax. I've had shortness of breath before, but never like that, completely scary. I think my body was stressed from trying to keep up with JayP. The tight single-track was really fun! There was a couple close calls with the trees, but what I learned is KEEP YOUR HANDS AND FEET INSIDE THE RIDE AT ALL TIMES!! I know I have walked some of those DH in the past, but with JayP as captain, there was no hesitation. Such a weird view from the back coming down the rocky DH, only being able to see parts here and there, but that's better fer shure! Towards the end the timing chain fell off 2x. It was great to get back on the single-track we had seen just 6 hours ago and be headed towards the finish! We finished 1.5 hrs ahead of the 2nd place tandem team and somewhere around 50th overall! The after party is definitely worth hanging around for. LOTS of great food, drinks, raffle prizes and friends to reminisce about the race with! I would HIGHLY recommend this race!
