Good recap Sequoya! Posted to the team blog (http://wvucycling.blogspot.com/)
On Sep 6, 5:25 pm, "s'moores" <[email protected]> wrote: > We managed to pull out of Morgantown 45 minutes later than > expected with a trailer-full of bicycles and three passenger cars, but > spirits were still high as we rolled out. Then came the “slam on your > breaks in the middle of the interstate” traffic on Interstate 79 due > to a little Mazda truck sitting on the roof of its cab in the slow > lane. After clearing that traffic, we made it onto 19 smoothly and > everything was going well. Interstate 77 was also going smoothly; we > stopped at Subway in Bland, VA (very fitting name for the place) and > discussed how we all believed that “Speed enforced by aircraft” meant > that an Apache helicopter would descend from the sky and blow your car > up with a grenade launcher if you drove over the speed limit. Somehow, > all three passenger cars came to this conclusion. After passing the > Jeep and trailer on 79, we never saw them on the drive again so I’m > not sure if they had the same ideas on this. > After satisfactorily filling our bellies, we continued our > journey on 77 until we hit the exit where 77 splits from 81 and we > came to another abrupt halt. Unlike the traffic on 79, however, this > time it continued for about 10 miles. Daniele told me that it was only > a few miles of traffic until we reached a bridge where whatever was > holding us up occurred. Daniele was wrong. We sat in bumper to bumper > traffic, slowly lurching along, cresting one hill just to see the red > tail-lights slowly climbing the next hill. This happened for about 3 > hills or ~10 miles when we finally hit the bridge where traffic had > been diverted to the 12-foot-wide shoulder around the area of sanded > liquid. We later found out that a FedEx truck had jackknifed and its > fuel tank had spilled all over the bridge (I feel sorry for whoever is > waiting for those packages). > Finally, we make it onto 421 and find the exit for the park we are > staying in. We drive through the sketchy little town that is > apparently part and/or all of North Wilksboro and turn onto Reservoir > Road. Drive to the end of that and find a gate and no sign of any > teams set up for camping. Great… now what do we do? Thanks to the > power of 3G, I have access to the race flier that gives perfect > directions to the camp location. We crest the hill that leads to the > dam we are supposed to drive across and what do you know, another > gate! Ok, really? Now what? That’s when we notice the 2 VT guys > crawling out of the back of their van in the little parking area by > the gate. They inform us that half their team hiked across the dam and > are sleeping over there, but they are just staying in the van. The > park rangers and the sheriff have been called but there is pretty much > nothing to be done. Well, we can adapt, we’ll just throw our tents up > on this mostly flat grassy knoll beside the gate. No big deal. Well, > apparently it is a big deal. The park rangers drive up and tell us we > aren’t allowed to camp there and we’ll just need to sleep in our cars > for the night. Yes, all 14 of us will sleep well crammed in our 3 > sedans and a Jeep! The sheriff also decides to come back after the > park rangers leave and informs the VT guys that he “will not deal with > this all night.” Sorry sir, it is our goal to stay awake because we > have no place to sleep and wreak havoc on your park. We finally get to > the parking lot, waking up the vicious dogs in the Xterra parked there > already and the GW guy sleeping in it, set up camp, and finally get to > sleep. At some point the Jeep furiously rolls in, unhitches the > trailer, and pulls back out to sleep in a hotel because they got lost > and couldn’t find the park. Sorry guys, you had the flier too. > The next day begins at 7am for me and apparently 6:30am for > others. We’re all looking a little tired, but our spirits are still > pretty high considering. We tear down our hard-won camping area, the > jeep shows back up to pull the trailer across the dam, and we head > over to registration. It’s at this point that we realize that we had > been surrounded on three sides by water that night and the hill we had > tried to set up camp on was directly adjacent to a cemetery. Everyone > does there pre-race thing. Several of us head out to pre-ride the > short track course which features a couple of not fun, steep little > climbs at the beginning before looping back around to a flowy smooth > downhill section and back to the hills. They sent the Men’s C category > off a few minutes late and they do their 20 minutes of short track. > The rest of us stood around and cheered on our fellows, especially the > 2 freshman who were putting out an astounding effort (big kudos to you > guys!) and watching the VT guy who was leading get legitimately > clotheslined by a vine. Next came the Men’s B race which went smoothly > and without an exciting wreck to report. Mikaela and I then had our > chance to pedal for 20 minutes against each other in the Women’s A/B > race of which we were the only two Bs. Obviously, we exhausted > ourselves in a heroic effort to be the dominant team (sarcasm). After > that, our entire team walked our bikes up the hill to the start of the > downhill to get in a couple of practice runs before the race. We > practiced a couple of times, trying to find the best line through the > gnarly rock garden, then had a nice sit-and-wait at the top of the > hill for the start of the event. Everyone else eventually showed up > and we all sat for a while longer until the event started; then we > rode our bikes down the mountain. > After we were all done, we made our way back to the cars to get > some foodstuffs in our bellies before the Super D. We ate and some > decided to practice the Super D course which really wasn’t too much > different from the downhill with the exception of a few extra twists > and turns. We all took our time getting back up to the top but we > still happened to be the first team there. We found what we assumed > was the start area and people practiced running to their bikes for the > Le Mans start. We concluded that Jake needed a new pair of shoes after > doing a burn out and falling down while taking off, at which we > laughed hysterically. Others had some amusing practice running-starts > as well. Everyone eventually showed up again and we all hung out for a > while, still hoping we were in the right spot for the start. We were. > Then after some Le Mans starts and splits between categories, we all > eventually pedaled down the hill in the Super D. Sadly, DeCann took a > spill on his way down which messed up his shoulder and caused him to > have to sit out the cross-country the next day. We have since banned > him from participating in any more gravity events. > After many hours in the heat, dust, sweat, and chamois, we were > finally done with racing. Though it wasn’t the toughest day, I am > confident in saying that we were all done. However, the best part of > the day was still to come. We had witnessed some of the VT riders > coming back from a dip in the reservoir between the downhill and Super > D and so decided that we should have a bathe in said reservoir. That > was the most amazing feeling ever and possibly one of the best > experiences of my cycling career. The cooling effects of the water > must have released a huge amount of endorphins in all of us because we > were simply giddy. Laughing, frolicking, and having an all-around > joyous time. Judging by the amount of dirt I scrubbed off of myself > Sunday night in the shower, I don’t think it really did anything for > getting us clean, but it sure lifted the spirits. > After drying off and putting on some dry, non-lycra clothes, we > headed out to find some grub. We had been arguing about where to go > for at least 3 hours and finally decided we would deal with the gastro- > intestinal effects and partake of the Mexican restaurant where the > road team always eats. After getting lost once again, we finally find > the place and sit down to a yummy meal. We laughed, discussed the > races, ate about 12 baskets of tortilla chips, and had enough plates > to feed most of an army. Afterwards, Mikaela and I sat complaining > about our food-babies, Oprah and Shania respectively and our food > induced comas. We were tired. We then made a quick Wal-Mart stop for > DeCann to get a heating pad and for some team road sodas. > We quickly made our way back to the camp, which we had luckily > set up earlier in the day so we could just enjoy the evening. The > sodas were broken into and the stand was set up to work on bikes. I > noticed the fire VT had going so I decided to join them for some > mountain biking spirit. If the laughter was any indication, the sodas > had their intended effect on the team and the WVUers were having a > good time as well. Eventually a park ranger pulled in and told us to > put the fire out and I suppose turn the music off considering it ended > at the same time. The two teams socialized for a while until the clock > struck at 11 and everyone quickly disappeared into tents. With some > rustling and snoring, we all fell into exhausted sleep. > The next day dawned much the same as the one before. Everyone > rolled out of sleeping bags looking a little more tired and I think > just ready to get the day over with. We ate, did a bit of last minute > bike maintenance, changed, and mentally prepared ourselves for the > last race of the weekend. The Men’s C/ Women’s B categories started > somewhere close to 9am and did a 6.4 mile lap which included more > climbing than I had mentally prepared for but was easily ride-able. I > sat behind Marco for a good part of the ride and every now and then > heard Mikaela’s breaks speaking behind me (she wasn’t feeling great > that morning). I warned her about the switch backs that were coming up > and hoped I hadn’t distracted her into wrecking. I had warning to slow > down after the first sharp turn and hearing brakes squealing and tires > skidding on rocks. That turned out to be Cameron having a minor crash > that skinned up his palm. Marco and I caught up to Cameron and > Daniele, at which point Marco found a place to pass and disappeared > into the twists and turns. I decided the guys were setting a good > enough pace for me and just sat in behind them, enjoying the fact that > I wasn’t alone for the first time in a race. When the XC trail met up > with the Super D course they dropped me and I finished the last little > bit alone. > They started the Men’s A race, which we didn’t have anybody > racing in, then the Men’s B/ Women’s A. Kyle was our only B rider for > that race so while he did his 2 laps, the rest of us packed up the > tents and started loading the trailer. After playing an hour long game > of bike Tetris, we fit all but 2 of the bikes in the trailer without > their wheels and found space for all the wheels as well. It was a > tight fit, but we finally managed. After Kyle came in from his laps > looking hot and tired, we let him cool down for a bit before throwing > his bike on a rack, loading up and heading out. We left the parking > lot by 1 which I am pretty sure is some kind of WVU Cycling record. > The drive back was uneventful and we never hit any accidents. > Around Summersville or so we started hitting rain and as we got off > the interstate at Star City, we heard the obnoxious blasts of the > Weather Center issuing a severe thunderstorm warning. Daniele and I > pulled into the Bike House a bit before the rest and began to dread > having to unpack in the delude issuing from the sky. Little did we > know, that was going to be the Morgantown weather for the entire week. > Everyone else came in a little behind us and after waiting for the > trailer, which did not stop for a game of mini golf, we got the > trailer unloaded and everyone headed to their houses to shower and > recoup. It was a great weekend of riding and I can’t wait for this > weekend. > > Sequoya > > PS: Results will hopefully go up soon and we’ll pass those along.
