Cohutta 65 Part Two: The race

4:30 am wake-up call..who doesn't love it? Monte was already up making the coffee. I was laying in bed listening to the rain hit the roof. It seems like every Cohutta race I have been to has started out 1) dark, 2) chilly, and 3) wet. The pre-race morning hours just flew by..I think the dogs thought we were crazy standing outside with them in a church playground at 5:30 am in the dark and in the rain. The 100 miler was to go off at 7am and the 65 miler at 7:15am. While I really enjoyed having an extra 15 minutes to get ready that wasn't why I picked the 65 mile race. With the lack of training time these days I am working on my speed. I can go all day and all night..endurance is not the problem. But, the top endurance racing women not only have the endurance..they are fast as hell. So, this year is a great chance for me to work on my speed so I can bring it to the longer races when I'm ready to get back into those.

As soon as the 100 milers went off, the 65 milers were already lining up. This meant just one super short warm up interval. Most of the female contenders were lined up at the front. So, I squeezed my way around and up to the front and made a spot for myself next to Danielle, Lisa, and Ursula. The USAC official mentioned something about them possibly diverting us back to the Finish at Aid station 6 if the weather was looking bad, this would mean skipping the last 10 miles of singletrack. This would be in the back of my mind the entire race..go hard or save a little for the last 10 miles? Having raced this course twice before, I knew the last 10 miles is not super easy. There are definitely some climbs and you want to be on the gas until the end. After what seemed like an eternity, the official finally said GO. The next thing I knew, Danielle was taking off like a race car. That was the last I would see of her. She is a freak.

Ursula and Lisa were up a few positions from me but I had to slow my pace a bit. I figured I would catch them eventually and didn't want to blow it early. I wanted to make it to the singletrack without letting many people by me, but I was also not warmed up at all and was suffering a good bit. Another girl pretty much surprised me as she came around me after sitting on my wheel for a bit of the pavement climb. She didn't say anything, and I had no clue who she was. She was strong on the road but I was going into the singletrack first..that meant drafting her as long as I could and then putting the hammer down into the turn. I never saw her again. About halfway through the singletrack, though, I was passed by Lisa Krayer--a strong racer from Wisconsin that I knew had finished well at Ore to Shore, a big race in Michigan. I didn't panic and just kept up my pace. I was feeling good, riding smooth, and getting compliments from some of the guys around me. We started catching some of the 100 mile racers which was good--there was always a rabbit to chase.

The rooty section of Old Copper Road took me by surprise for some reason and I had a hell of a time getting through the first section in my biggest gear combination. NOT smooth! I was glad no one was there to laugh at me. For some reason I picked the worst line through the first two rooty sections. After that, I was myself again and rolling through pretty well. The rocky creek crossing was next. There were two guys getting off their bikes in front of me so I announced my presence and then picked a good line through. I don't know how many people were there but I heard a lot of them cheering my name--I felt pretty awesome, thank you.

The next several miles came and went nicely. I was hydrating, fueling, and pedaling strong. After the Aid station, I saw Lisa Krayer up ahead. I just sat tight and figured I would catch her eventually. Before I did, I actually saw Lisa Randall too. I came by her first on a descent..I was surprised to see her and figured something was wrong. She said she wasn't feeling well :( Knowing there wasn't anything I could do, I just motored on with Lisa Krayer in my sights. I eventually caught her and we rode together for a long while. It was rather enjoyable and I sort of forgot we were racing. She said Ursula was just another minute up the road so we took turns pulling in an effort to catch Ursula. Sure enough, as we turned the corner of a climb we saw her up ahead. Eventually, I left Lisa and went to catch Ursula. We exchanged a few words about who was behind us and soon rolled up to the Aid station. This was the same Aid station we just visited it twice. In full Namrita style, after refueling quickly I set out on the course again..except in the wrong direction. I heard people yelling but I didn't connect that they were actually yelling AT ME. I finally realized it, turned around, headed back to the Aid Station and on the right course. Luckily, Ursula and Lisa were still there so I did leave before them. I found out afterward that Danielle had done the exact same thing making the wrong turn! Haha, what are the chances?

The next 10 miles were steep rollers. I just kept focusing on my pedaling technique just like Eddie had taught me. I didn't know how to best meter my efforts, though, since it looked like the storm was rolling in and I was thinking they would cut the course short at Aid Station 6. That meant NOT letting Ursula or Lisa catch me. But, I didn't want to spend everything in the small chance that they would keep us on the full course (10 more miles of singletrack after Aid Station 6). I decided to not err on the side of conservative this time and just went for it. The worst thing that would happen is that I would blow up and someone would catch me..but at least I would have tried. The alternative was not going hard enough and getting caught anyway. Knowing both Ursula and Lisa were good at the short intense stuff, I couldn't take that chance.

The left turn descent at West Fork was a welcome sight. Before I knew it, I was at Aid Station 6 and Carey and Zeke's friendly faces were there, seeming happy and a little surprised to see me. I was kind of happy because I love singletrack but also kind of bummed that we were sticking to the 10 miles of trail instead of the reroute because I was getting a little tired. Pretty much as soon as I hit the West Fork climb, the thunder started. I kept the pace as strong and steady as I could, thinking that the further I could get before the rain the better. It started to rain while I was on the Quartz Loop which is pretty rocky and rooty. I was really thankful to be running Stan's No Tubes here..I heard my rim hit a rock squarely but luckily..no flats! My brake pads were pretty much gone and the trail soon turned into a river. I was squinting to keep stuff out of my eyes but keeping my eyes open enough to not die on the downhills. Towards the end of Chestnut, I happened to look back and I saw neon..the neon colors that could only mean one thing. Ursula. I had this sinking feeling in my stomach..I heard her coming and I let her catch up to me so we could chat for a second. I asked how far back Lisa was and she didn't know but she didn't think she was too far behind us. We crested the top of Chestnut which meant Thunder Rock Express downhill and then 1.5 miles of flat pavement to the Finish Line. This was going to be interesting.

I told Ursula my brake pads were pretty much gone so to go ahead of me. In hindsight, I probably should have just gone ahead because I would have descended faster and taken more risks. But, it is probably also good that she was in front of me because going slower may have saved me from a high speed crash. I stuck to her wheel and encouraged her to keep going fast and smooth so we wouldn't get caught by Lisa. Once the trail ended, my body just took over and left my brain behind. I clicked up into the biggest gear I had and put the hammer down. Ursula said "Go get em girl" and I went. But..less than a minute later I turned around and she was on my wheel. I didn't really know what to do..I had never been in the situation at the end of a long race like this. I kept pulling her and once we approached the bridge she moved to the side. I saw Danielle and gave her a "WTF do I do???" look. She cheered for me and then I decided to go for it once again. Ursula went wide on the wet bridge and I took the inside line. It was slightly sketchy but faster. I got in front..led down the bridge, and barely held it together for the left hand turn off the bridge. I didn't look back and ended up crossing the finish line 4 seconds up from Ursula according to the official results. I ended up in 2nd place out of the women and 12th, overall out of the men, I think.

Lisa came in about a minute or two after we did. I couldn't believe how the race turned out..I fully admit, I am still learning but I feel like I raced smart and didn't panic too much. I am not sure I would have done much differently other than been more aggressive with going into Thunder Rock first. The best part is that I was not completely wrecked afterward. I should be able to recover quickly and jump right into the next race which is in 5 days!

Thanks to Barb and New Leaf Adventures for the great event.

photos by danielle musto and carey lowery.