Heck of the North

I am finally getting down to writing about this race. I would have typed it up sooner, but these past few weeks have been very busy with conferences at school.

I left for Two Harbors on Friday right after I got out of school. Drove up there and headed to the motel to meet the crew. Dino, Jo, Mason, Kasey, Eleanor and me. Lots of people (with bikes and gear) crammed into a smaller space. We spent the night getting everything ready and set for the day ahead of us. While getting ready, I was planning my potential dropping out of the race. I really had not ridden much this year, and especially have not ridden overly far nor long.

We awoke skies without storm clouds and temperatures that were not overly cold. I was highly surprised by that. If if had been raining at the start the likelihood of me not starting was 97% because in all of my arsenal for training in terrible weather I don't have anything waterproof (nor really resistant). Alas! This was not the case. I had on my arm warmers and a vest at the start. Once we loaded up the cars we set forth on our adventure we made our way to the local McDonalds and I got a big cup of coffee. I really don't like coffee, but it gives me a wicked kick of energy.

We arrived at the parking lot about 30 min before the start of the race. We turned in our drop bags, set up the bikes, and prepared all that we could. We then made our way over to the start. I was mentally getting ready for the day, and it sure did surpass anything I could have possibly thought up about this race.

The race started and we all stayed at a pretty casual pace. I knew if I would have tried to race my legs would have given out around mile 50. I am seriously lacking in the endurance department.We all stuck together for the first part of the race. Within minutes we started seeing people pulling over to fix flat tires. I bet there was 10 within the first 6 miles. The weather was perfect at this point. I had on my vest and arm warmers, and it was all I needed.

About 10 or 15 miles into the race we turned down what would be one of many snowmobile/ATV trails. Tall grass, and lots of bog mud. These sections were not easy. There were big rocks and large, standing pools of water. I would be biking and then I would hit some mud and lose all momentum. It was then time to hike a bike. I felt alright walking my bike when I saw those who had to walk their fat bikes.

We lost contact with our group after a couple of these sections. I am still reflecting on how intense they were. In my mind the race was going to be mostly gravel roads, not bogs! It was an experience to say the least. For the remainder of the race it was just my little group. We stuck together in our little group. We did ride with others from time to time, but mostly it was just us.

The rain started around mile 30. People pulled on their rain jackets and I pulled up my arm warmers. Needless to say nothing about me was dry. We continued to bike through it all. Everything was getting super dirty and it was impossible to draft without eating gravel that was sprayed up from the tire in front of you! I was very much looking forward to getting the halfway point.

I would say 30 minutes before I got to the halfway point is when the negative thoughts started to creep into my brain. I was not wanting to continue. I was cold, wet, and cranky. It was good that none of us got cranky and negative at the same time though. That meant there was always someone to keep the spirits up and alive. We were getting close to Lester Park and I noticed my front tire was getting super squishy and I realized it was going flat. This just added to my anger and loathing for this ride. I was not going to change it until I got to the check-in point.

We climbed the 7 bridges road and made it to the check point. I really wanted to quit when I got there. I didn't want to deal with the flat tire, and I didn't want to be wet anymore. We ate our lunch and put on some fresh, dry clothes. I was glad I packed my leg warmers and long sleeve wind jacket. Then I got to work on my flat front tire. All in all we probably stopped at halfway for about 45 min. I really didn't want to continue, but there was nobody there to pick me up, so I kept on biking.

We left the checkpoint and continued in the rain back towards Two Harbors. I was in a bad spot mentally, for I wanted and needed to be done. I was becoming very frustrated. Eleanor was happily singing while I was beating myself down in my brain. Although in retrospect I know that cheery manners helped keep my spirit alive and well.

We kept biking and biking. We were making good progress and I was starting get get out of my funk. We were getting down to the last cue card and we were very excited. The one thing I didn't anticipate was 2 more sections of snowmobile/ATV trails. My watch died after 7:45 of ride time at mile 97. We had 7 miles to go. 7 miles... 1 cue card...I knew I could do it.

The last 7 miles seemed to take forever. I was on the last cue card and everyone was in the mental state where we didn't care anymore. At one point there was a huge standing pool of water. Nobody cared and we charged right through it without a 2nd thought. No more messing around and going around the mud and puddles. It takes too much time!

Then the most amazing thing happened. We crested a small hill and just in the distance we could see civilization! We saw the Basco clan and the finish line. It was an incredible feeling to finally be done. Our results said about 9:30 for total time out there. That was the longest I had ever been on a bike.

Once we were done we packed up the car as fast as possible. Mason, Dino, and Kasey were sure that we were going to drop out. They were happy to see that we finished. We then made our way to go get some well deserved pizza. I don't know if it was the fact that we had ridden almost 9 hours, but that pizza was some of the best I have ever had in my life. After we ate we went to Mason's sister's place. That is where we showered, had a drink, and then went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up to a bright, sunny day and surprisingly wasn't very sore. I could tell that I had ridden my bike for an extended period of time, but I didn't wake up feeling like I had been hit by a car. The Heck for me was more challenging mentally than physically. I had some very low points and also some really high points. I will be doing it again in 2014. Probably not on a single speed bike though...

We all had a great time (for the most part) and it was a great weekend with great people. I don't know too many people who would do a 104 mile race in the rain, over gravel, and through the woods.

Until next time! Bye bye.