My teammate Emily closed her eyes briefly on the car ride home from her 1st crack at the Cohutta 100 mtb race. Moments later she awoke, laughing, not "ha ha funny" laughing...... but the kind of snicker that happens inside yourself when you cant put into words what you just experienced. When we asked her what was so funny, she said..... "when I close my eyes there were never end ribbons of trail climbing upward forever".
Even hours after the race I was still trying to deal with what had just happened earlier that day. Mentally and Physically. Just like Emily, I also felt that everything had a certain upward facing angle to it..........
The Cohutta 100 is a leg burning, mountain climbing extravaganza, with amazing views and screaming downhills. Nestled in eastern Tennessee near Cohutta wilderness and crossing into the Georgia Chattahoochee wilderness, this race really showcases the scenery this area has to offer!
Our Journey Starts Here:
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| Ocoee Whitewater Center |
Friday: After driving for most of the day. Trevor, Maria, Emily, and myself arrive at the Ocoee Whitewater Center in plenty of time to register and hand in our drop bags. First, let me say the staff putting on this event from Trail Head Outdoors were some of the best i have ever encountered! Not only, making a great experience but also rooting on every finisher. Did if forget to mention the free swag, including a swanky Cohutta 100 Stem from the fellas at SRAM. It's this type of attitude and environment that encourages racers of all abilities to take on these types of challenges, inspiration was all around!
After socializing for a few, we found our way to the ThunderRock campground to meet with our friends from Toasted Head Racing (again, amazing people in the MTB community) to set up and turn in for the night.
Saturday:
5am is wake up and morning ritual.
6am at Ocoee center to scramble our bikes and supplies together in a panic.
7am is race start. Everyone is excited and you can feel the energy all around. The race starts off in a hurry climbing (of course) on pavement to get the chance to touch some of Tennessee's best trails.
From what i heard, the front group pegged it from the get go. Many maintaining a heart rate of 180 BPMs for 40 mins! Woah! Not me...... I probably hit that tying my shoes. I was happy in the middle of the pack, pursuing a better time for my 3rd attempt at a NUE Series 100 miler. In my last attempt i DNF'd due to stepping on a hornets nest. So I was on a redemption mission.
Anyway..... The opening singletrack is fast and wide open! Racers were making moves everywhere, I witnessed 1 of these moves result in a painful looking wreck. We were only 3 miles into a 100 mile race! But as trail riding can do, racers began to string out as they dipped, dived, and climbed some more. 16.5 miles later the trail dropped riders onto a fascinating network of Forrest Service roads which would lead us across the Tennessee/Georgia Border, over a mountain, to some more singletrack at the other end.
The climbing was tough. Plain and simple, 70 percent of the race was spent climbing. Then just as your legs were about to go numb, you roll across something like this...... and you forgot about all the pain.
5am is wake up and morning ritual.
6am at Ocoee center to scramble our bikes and supplies together in a panic.
7am is race start. Everyone is excited and you can feel the energy all around. The race starts off in a hurry climbing (of course) on pavement to get the chance to touch some of Tennessee's best trails.
From what i heard, the front group pegged it from the get go. Many maintaining a heart rate of 180 BPMs for 40 mins! Woah! Not me...... I probably hit that tying my shoes. I was happy in the middle of the pack, pursuing a better time for my 3rd attempt at a NUE Series 100 miler. In my last attempt i DNF'd due to stepping on a hornets nest. So I was on a redemption mission. Anyway..... The opening singletrack is fast and wide open! Racers were making moves everywhere, I witnessed 1 of these moves result in a painful looking wreck. We were only 3 miles into a 100 mile race! But as trail riding can do, racers began to string out as they dipped, dived, and climbed some more. 16.5 miles later the trail dropped riders onto a fascinating network of Forrest Service roads which would lead us across the Tennessee/Georgia Border, over a mountain, to some more singletrack at the other end.
The climbing was tough. Plain and simple, 70 percent of the race was spent climbing. Then just as your legs were about to go numb, you roll across something like this...... and you forgot about all the pain.
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| Thank for the Pic Maria!
This is the view from the overlook on top of "Potatopatch Mountain". After this view, the trail went down...... for a long time. I passed the lead group of racers returning, on the way down this section. Jeremiah Bishop, Gerry Pflug, and I was happy to see my teammate Trevor Rockwell right behind. They were about hour in front of me at this point. I really soaked in the single track at the end of this section because I knew I would be heading back up that mountain soon.
Timing it from top to bottom, it took about 1hr 10min to climb 2000 ft in 6+ miles of that mountain. It hurt. Alot. I saw my teammate Emily pass me just after this section, as she pedaled her way to an 8th place finish!! I hadn't eaten nearly enough, and was now having trouble getting the food down. I knew I was going to suffer...
Finally reaching the last section of single track called the "ThunderRock Express", you feel elated to know you're so close, and when you finally hear cowbells ringing in the distance you somehow find a 7th or 8th wind to carry you to the finish line. Crossing the line feels amazing for two reasons. You finally get off your bike and typically someone hands you a plate of food and a beer. Every single person who crosses that finish line is amazing whether it takes 8 hours or 15 hours. To even try something so crazy is more than many can handle. Maybe we are crazy? But there are very few times in our lives when we can embrace the unknown and embark on a journey of this magnitude. Truly disappearing into the wild, to emerge a little different every time. This is what keeps bringing me back.
When everything was said and done Trevor had won 5th place Single Speed category. Our new friend Dan Rapp from Toasted Head Racing took 2nd. Way to go...... FAST! And Congrats to all of Team Noah who were out doing their thing!
100 miles is a long ride on a mountain bike. To race this distance means to push yourself as hard as you can until you finish, with as little breaking as necessary. Sometimes things go well, and you feel good the whole time. Other times, not so fun times happen. I've experienced many of these not so fun times.
It takes as much mental strength to complete one of these races as it does fitness, and no one is immune to pain. Especially when every little thing adds up... a missed opportunity to eat/drink. A wrong turn, resulting in added mileage. A flat tire. Anyone of these items seems like a reason to quit 8 hours into a mountain bike race. It takes a great amount of internal power to be able to deal with the suffering. I guess that's one of the things our team has in common with the little warrior our team is named after.
It was an amazing experience and until next time, I've never been prouder of my coffee mug.
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| You've got to earn this mug! |
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