Well, I've had my problems getting pics loaded recently, but I think I have them licked (I hope!).

Been busy with work, but getting lots of play in, too. This past weekend the bi-annual Tip To Tip bike race was run; it begins at Barton Point and the first 19 miles is pure and simple jungle trails on mountain bikes. Lots of loose sand, roots, coconuts (not to mention coconut crabs), dive-bombing boobie birds, fallen palm fronds and all sorts of other debris - in other words, it was fantastic

Honestly, I'm not an MTB kind of guy - at least I wasn't until Sunday. We all loaded up at the marina and crossed over with our bikes to the starting point. 19 miles down the road the road bikes were staged at GEODDS for those of us transitioning off the MTBs for the remaining 18 miles on the paved DG1. At the start I latched onto the lead group and after a CPO buddy of mine crashed (not badly, but he lost a bit of time) behind me, there were just three of us together at the front.

I felt absolutely great for the first 8 miles. Then, inexplicably, my legs - specifically my hamstrings - began to feel worse and worse. I finally began dropping back from the leading duo, and was slowly caught by those coming up behind until I was dropped out of the top ten. I finally realized with about 2 miles to go to the transition point that I'd not ridden enough practice miles on the borrowed MTB to detect the fact I had the saddle much too low. Man, my legs were aching in ways I'd never experienced before, believe me!

At that point, we were on the crushed coral section of the off-road leg and I figured I'd better just bite the bullet and not stop; I had allen keys in my jersey, but figured by that point it wouldn't make much of a difference over the course of a couple miles. The pic below was taken by a fellow CPO about 1/4 mile before the transition - that is NOT a smile, but a grimace of pain.

This is me gutting it out:



At the transition, I almost gave up. I mean to say my legs were so hurting I didn't know if I'd be able to mount my Mondia. After slamming a Gatorade I felt a little better and grabbed up my bike and decided to give it a go.

This is me with a more familiar bike:



And here I am with a bit of a smile going on - back in my element on a bike I'm dialed-in on:



As the writing on the road states, 18 miles to go. A few more people passed me during the transition (I was painfully slow getting into my road shoes, and took some time to stretch a little to ease the pain in my legs). Once onto the Mondia, I really felt depressed: I still hurt, and although I was dialed-in, the pain didn't go away. I began pedaling in my 42 ring with the intention of simply soft-pedaling it to the finish. About 3/4 mile afterward, Tony (the CPO that crashed behind me from the original lead group) flew by me and up the road. Damn...

Well, there was good news in the end. Tony was the last person to pass me and after about 3 miles the pain was going away - yay! - so I began to up my pace. I knew I was good to go the second time I went into my big ring and within another couple of miles I could see riders up ahead. That's all I needed - the hint that I could track anyone down. By the finish, I'd re-passed 9 riders and finished just outside the top ten in 2:43:05.

Having felt so fantastic from the start, I wonder how well I'd have gone had I planned better and given myself more time to suss out my position on the MTB. Oh, well - there's always the next one in 6 months

Oh, and I'm now a convert to MTBing here on the island and am on the lookout for a decent one. The Morale, Welfare and Recreation department did a fantastic job readying the trail on the far side of the island (it's very rarely used, so it must have looked terrible before they went out the week before with Gators and machetes), provided super support with water stations every mile for the first 21 miles and even took photos from all points on the course. Later this week I'll be able to get a CD with pics from the Public Works volunteer photographers. Bonus!

A fun day, with lots of calories burned and a big lesson learned, too.

DD