I was lucky enough to be recruited into the Shamrock Cycles 12hr 4 person Co-ed team - Amanda (McKay) Virostko and Jake Virostko and Will Sherman - Supported by the man behind the magic, custom frame builder/owner/ wrench and general ball of positive energy Tim O'Donnell. I was there on my very un-custom single speed Fischer Rig nervous as hell and hoping not the be a disaster and have everyone regretting my 11th hour answer to a facebook request looking for a 4th to ride with them!!! On paper I was by far the weak link - it did not help my anxiety when Jacob turn the first 13 mile lap @ ~56 min and in first place of the entire race! I then heard some guy go "damn normal hot laps on this course are around an hour 5".....agggghhhhhh goes Scott's gut; that is followed by Will's sub-hour lap, then Amanda's lap of just over an hour.......all-the-while swapping lead with a team from Indy who Shamrock really enjoy beating.....as Amanda finishes her lap I get the high-five hand off and just resolve to do as best I can.......and leave it out there - hoping not to hurt the team - the first 20 minutes was awkward and did not help my gut, so I try to dig deeper and bury myself TTing on the Single speed - as I hit the first hills I am typically huffing like the asthmatic freight train I am and start passing riders like they are standing still - except those who are obviously not climbers and refuse to let me pass.......a couple more tangles with falling riders, scary fast down hills and I am surprised when I roll out of the wood - mostly up right and come to the start finish in just over an hour.....Slower yes - but not an embarrassment!!! We continue through the order with Jake and Will each turning sub-60 min laps - and Amanda around 1:03 or :04 - swapping places with the rival 4 man team and one machine of a solo 12 hour rider!
My next lap is at dusk and as I am waiting for Amanda to finish her lap I am standing next to our nemesis rider (Hopper, Hooper something like that) - secretly I am hoping their teammate has passed Amanda and that I can have a rabbit to chase, and it would relieve me the responsibility of being the slow guy who got passed by the bad guys!!!!
As it turns out he slaps in ~4 minutes ahead of Amanda even though she is still ripping the laps in just a bit more an hour. "Damn that is a lot, there would be no way I could even come close to making that up" I think, but I was feeling goofy and as I pullout (secretly half seriously) I express my dream goal and inform the team I am taking that 4 minutes out of his sorry butt!!!!! We all chuckle and I start riding as hard as my limited skills allow me and pass a couple of riders and then coming to the top 1/2 of the first hills, I see his guys kit...I slows and gets off his bike...mechanical or toasted I don't know......I hammer out of the saddle the entire climb and as I pass I want to leave him thinking...." damn he is doing that on a single speed there is no way I should even try" and then amazed by the idea I did catch him the internal voice changes to......hurt him! - push! every second you add hurts him - damn you can actually contribute!!!! Amanda's competitiveness is infectious! I keep this up for the next 30 minutes being treated to an amazing red-sunset and a truly Zen cycling moment as I am hammering as fast/hard as I can sweeping through corners and can't feel that my legs are there - they did not hurt - I just could not feel them, I truly felt part of the bike and the trail.....too cool - for the last 5 miles I rode controlled but like the finish line was 400 meters ahead....when I finally came out of the woods and crossed the line I had actually put a few minutes into the guy behind!!!! And we were now in first overall in the 12 hour -
Unfortunately the team suffered a flat on the next lap requiring a change of strategy - with huge efforts from Jacob and Will (1:01 night lap) - we finished 30 seconds from having the fasted 12 hour time - second place over-all and claimed the 1st place Co-ed 12 hr team uncontested! A plate or two of lasagna and I rolled out wishing Jeni Roosen well - with delusion of possibly making it to the Sunflower in time to get registered, but as I got home showered and in bed @ around 2:30, with regret, I warmed to the fact that it I was not going to make it....I hope everyone who represented had as good of a time as I did and are now ready for the kick-off of cyclocross season NEXT Saturday and Sunday at our Kings Cross race weekend - see you there and thanks in advance for each of your generous efforts in making that event a success!
Scott
My next lap is at dusk and as I am waiting for Amanda to finish her lap I am standing next to our nemesis rider (Hopper, Hooper something like that) - secretly I am hoping their teammate has passed Amanda and that I can have a rabbit to chase, and it would relieve me the responsibility of being the slow guy who got passed by the bad guys!!!!
As it turns out he slaps in ~4 minutes ahead of Amanda even though she is still ripping the laps in just a bit more an hour. "Damn that is a lot, there would be no way I could even come close to making that up" I think, but I was feeling goofy and as I pullout (secretly half seriously) I express my dream goal and inform the team I am taking that 4 minutes out of his sorry butt!!!!! We all chuckle and I start riding as hard as my limited skills allow me and pass a couple of riders and then coming to the top 1/2 of the first hills, I see his guys kit...I slows and gets off his bike...mechanical or toasted I don't know......I hammer out of the saddle the entire climb and as I pass I want to leave him thinking...." damn he is doing that on a single speed there is no way I should even try" and then amazed by the idea I did catch him the internal voice changes to......hurt him! - push! every second you add hurts him - damn you can actually contribute!!!! Amanda's competitiveness is infectious! I keep this up for the next 30 minutes being treated to an amazing red-sunset and a truly Zen cycling moment as I am hammering as fast/hard as I can sweeping through corners and can't feel that my legs are there - they did not hurt - I just could not feel them, I truly felt part of the bike and the trail.....too cool - for the last 5 miles I rode controlled but like the finish line was 400 meters ahead....when I finally came out of the woods and crossed the line I had actually put a few minutes into the guy behind!!!! And we were now in first overall in the 12 hour -
Unfortunately the team suffered a flat on the next lap requiring a change of strategy - with huge efforts from Jacob and Will (1:01 night lap) - we finished 30 seconds from having the fasted 12 hour time - second place over-all and claimed the 1st place Co-ed 12 hr team uncontested! A plate or two of lasagna and I rolled out wishing Jeni Roosen well - with delusion of possibly making it to the Sunflower in time to get registered, but as I got home showered and in bed @ around 2:30, with regret, I warmed to the fact that it I was not going to make it....I hope everyone who represented had as good of a time as I did and are now ready for the kick-off of cyclocross season NEXT Saturday and Sunday at our Kings Cross race weekend - see you there and thanks in advance for each of your generous efforts in making that event a success!
Scott
RSS Feed