Bad Idea Racing

Unlike most of the smart people going to ORAMM who stayed the night near the venue I decided I would just get up at 4:00AM and make the drive the morning of the race. The Big Worm joined me for the trip after leaving his house by bike at 4:00AM, and with eight frozen waffles in my belly we were on our way to Old Fort, NC. When we got there I had a chance to check out the competition. Jason Morgan was back to defend his double title (rigid/SS winner 06), Topher, Jimbo, some guy from Texas, and a whole slew of fit looking folks on sexy SS's were carousing in the parking lot. Nobody was going to easily walk away from this fight.

There ended up being something like 430-450 registered riders, so I lined up close to the front and decided I was going to spin my legs off on the flat pavement start to make sure I got to the first fireroad climb in the top 50-100 riders. I stayed all up in it for a few miles, but I backed off the pace and watched my competition go by. The first SS'er to pass me looked like he stepped outta Muscle Magazine looking quite resplendit with his well oiled legs. Seeing this new guy looking all shiny affected my morale slightly, but being passed by Jason, Topher, and Jimbo early on didn't help either.

Once we hit the fireroad climb I turned it up a notch and got back into the group. As I was standing on the pedals my rear end (not my ass, the bike) flexed just enough, and I threw a chain. I was standing up when it popped, and I lost my balance and swerved into another rider putting his bar in my thigh and his bike in the ditch. Sorry big random guy. It took what felt like an infinity to walk the chain back on, and I put myself to the task of reuniting with the lead SS'ers. The course took a new (for '07) turn off the fireroad, and into a hike-a-bike, so I used my BC Bike Race training and ran myself back into contention. I had all but the shiny Ivan Drago back in my sights.

When we hit the switchback climb up Kitsuma I was feeling pretty good. I had Jason in front of me and Topher behind me. Topher had a Reba and a good set of skills, so I new that he may be someone I'd have to contend with all day. When we hit the rolling ridge line descent I popped my chain off again, and had to stop to walk it back on. Once is a fluke, but twice is an issue that can cause an injury and should be addressed. I planned to take care of it at the first aid station which I had originally planned on blowing off, but now I had no choice.

When I pulled into the aid I flipped my bike over to tighten my chain, and Charlottean volunteer Tanya came over to fill my bottle. Outta the corner of my eye I could see some SS'ers leaving the aid station, but I needed to stay focused on my problem. There was still a whole lot of racing left, and although I didn't know how far back I slipped in the standings I tried to stay calm. I asked Tanya how much time I spent there and she said "Two minutes". I said "Great. I can get back two minutes in the next three minutes, so I'll be alright".

I pushed myself pretty hard up the climb to Star Gap, and brought Jimbo back. I topped out on the climb and hung my ass out on the descent to make up some more time. After the descent I hit the Never Ending Grassy Road of Death passing geared riders in the tall weeds grunting, groaning, and drooling, but I didn't find any SS'ers in the effort. When I got the the second aid station I blew right through it, and made a hasty pace to the base of Curtis Creek Road. Most folks hate the ten mile climb up Curtis Creek Road, but I love their hate and I feed off it. At the base of the climb I saw Ivan Drago fiddling with his rear wheel, and I put him in my rear view mirror. Shortly after that I caught Topher who said Jason was just up the road a little and climbing strong. I left Topher quickly, and I pulled Jason in my sights. I backed off my attack so I could approach him slowly and pick away at his brain.

When I pulled up on his wheel he turned around muttered an expletive, and a friendly greeting in the same breath. I stayed with him and feigned a few attacks off the front, but Jason was riding strong and he held on. We were picking off squishy/shifty riders as we battled back and forth, but we both knew that wasn't what we were here for. Late in the climb I pulled up next to him and he said "This is brutal". I just shrugged my shoulders, and said "yep". Then it was on. I could hear Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen with the call in the back of my head.

"The little man has dug deep in his suitcase of courage and put Morgan in a spot of difficulty..."

I put in a real attack, and didn't look back. I waited till we got to a switchback in the road and I saw that he wasn't reacting. It was so "Tour de France" (except for the fact that we are weak mountain bikers on single speeds), and it felt good to have things coming together.

At the top of the climb I hurried my way through the aid station so I could stay outta Jason's sight. I had a fair amount of climbing ahead of me on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and I wanted to give it everything I could, but not where he could see me. On the climb I passed Shey Linder, an incredibly strong rider from Georgia. It was at this point that I realized I might be doing way better than I planned on originally. Weird. I ran up the Heartbreak Ridge trail entrance passing two more geared riders and headed down the longest descent in Pisagh. I struggled with a fair amount of hand pain that is usually associated with going too fast down a technical descent on a rigid fork, but I wasn't going to slow down. Eventually I was riding in someone's settling dust and I knew I was catching another geared rider.

When I caught sight of the rider it turned out to be none other than Harvey "Guns" Minton. I came up on him pretty hot on the lower switchbacks, so he pulled to the outside to let me go by. As I negotiated the inside line I was aallllllmost through it when my front wheel pooped off the outside edge and down I went. I was laughing, Harvey as laughing, and I was wondering how far down the hill my bike had gone. While I set to retrieving my bike Harvey hopped back on and continued his ride, laughing as he left me behind. When I finally caught back up to him it was at the last aid station where I made a hasty stop and jumped back out ahead of him.

When Harvey closed the gap back down on the last fireroad climb of the day he said that we were in the top ten for sure. That would explain why I felt like I was dying. I was hoping for top 20-30, but I never thought I would be in the top ten of such a large field. He also told me that we were looking at a sub-six hour finish. My mind was blown away by what I was hearing.

I didn't feel anything the last time we went over the Kitsuma Trail. This was as good as it ever gets for me, and I just put my head down until I popped outta the woods into the parking lot (almost getting run over by a huge pick-up truck). All that was left was a long stretch of road where in the past I am normally caught by a few geared riders before the finish, but I kept fighting all the way refusing to give up a hard earned place. My legs were scorching with the effort, but soon enough I crossed the finish line.

1st single speed, 1st rigid, and 10th overall. I'm not sure how I rode 60+ miles with over 11,000 feet of climbing in 5hrs 40 minutes, but at this point I don't think I'm going to try to figure it out. It hurt me in so many ways that I'm looking forward to some leisure time starting now.

This was an "all the marbles" event for me. Of all the things I was going to do in 2007 I wanted to do well here more than anywhere else. It's my kinda riding; long climbs, treacherous descents, and beer at the finish. I'm pleased as poop. I have now done this course on a 26" wheeled bike and a 29'er (both rigid). No surprises there whatsoever. The $249 Zion 29'er frame crushed the performance of my high zoot ti Dean kid's wheels. Definitely no looking back now. I was able to go soooooooooooo much faster on the descents it was just silly, and my hands are functioning today like.....unh hands instead of lobster claws. Nuff said.

A big thanks to my BC Bike Race teammate Tim Dougherty for pushing me way over my limits for seven days forcing me to reset my limit-o-meter.