It was going to be a long hot race today and with Heather out of town and no guarantee of a neutral feed, I had to carry all of my fluids. So I had three 32-ounce bottles and a Camelbak that held another 50 ounces…that’s over a gallon of liquid and almost 10 pounds! But I was glad I had it as I drank it all by mile 80 and was lucky to have gotten a neutral feed of water.

I rode my race bike today (so no power data) which was great. It was so nice to be riding a bike that’s 4.5 lbs. lighter and more aero (due to the deep-section wheels) than what I’m used to.

The race was a race of attrition as I thought it would be and by the end there was a break of three up the road and then I was in a group of five. Two of the Bob’s guys broke away from our group and we were chasing them as we ended the three big loops. We could still see them as they made a left onto Ferry Road. Having reviewed only the big loop of the course I didn’t have the small loops memorized, but I had a hunch that we were supposed to go straight at that intersection.

There was a small blue arrow pointing left and some cones that went down the centerline of Ferry so after some talk with my two chase companions we went left. I saw a follow vehicle behind us and was doubtful enough that I dropped back to check and the driver said he was pretty sure this was the way. So we continued on into the heat. I was really hurting at this point and Brandon L. was the one really driving our group. But then we ended up on Hwy 45 which I knew was not part of the course!

Oops, we took a wrong turn and had gone far enough that it wouldn’t make sense to go back the way we came because by then all the others behind us would have passed. So we headed north on Hwy 45 so we could get to Melba Rd and ride back to the finish. The funny part was that the two Bob’s riders ahead went left on Map Rock Road taking them even further off course! It’s amazing what some glycogen and oxygen deprivation will do to your mental abilities!

So I was pretty bummed that I didn’t follow my instinct which would have kept me on course and in contention for top six. But after that feeling settled, I was happy with my performance. Even though it was another “DNF”, it was still a confidence booster. I was able to hang on during all the attacking and stay with the front group to the end. With my little “detour” I ended up doing 97 miles in 4:19 and came to find out that they shortened the finishing loops for the “on-course” riders. So in the end I got a longer (better?) workout…right?!