SM100 Part Duex, 2008 edition...

So the circle is complete, a year had passed, and I was back at SM100 in '08.

I came into the race feeling less then prepared, the legs were tired and feeling very achy and I just generally did not feel strong or ready. A week of camping and hiking in Shenadoah national park right before the race didn't help.

But I started, I suffered, I finished. That's about it. After about 35 miles I had nothing left in the tank and was barelly moving, unable to maintain any sort of cadence or pace even on relatively level paved roads.

Somewhere after 60 miles, just like in W101, some sort of second win... no, not wind, morel ike a whiff, came thru, and I started moving again. Mind you, not fast, not great, but at least moving again. And I pressed on with single purpose to get to the station #5 before 4:20, which was the lights cut off. Max and I managed to do that, rolling in at somewhere between 3:25 and 3:30. That gave me a little moral boost, considering that last year we missed the cut off by 10-15 minutes and had to carry the lights.

After station 5 at 75 miles, it felt like a home stretch. By the time I got to the station #6 at 88 miles, all I was thinking was about finishing SOON! I caught a climps at someone's watch and it it was 5:23... 12 miles left, more than half of them down hill, and over an hour till the 12 hour time... Is it possible?... What the hell, I went for it, and somehow succeeded, finishing at unofficila time of about 11:50, which is over an hour improvement from last year's 13:10!

However, thruout the the race, whenever I was alone and had mental ability and presence to think, I was pondering why am I doing these races? I'm not really racing, I'm not competetive with my times, I'm not in enough shape or form to finish them in style or strong. It's a simple exercise in stuborness and persevirence. For what? Bragging rights of riding MTB for 100 miles in one day? But can I really claim even that? In the end all the sections I end up walking probably add up to good 10-15 miles. Out of remaining 85-90, 60 or so are paved, gravel or at most dirt fire roads. So that leaves really just about 25, MAYBE 30 miles of single track. So what? Anyone can ride 20-30 miles off road in one day. And sad part I don't even get to fully enjoy these trails because I'm so darn tired from all the riding... So why?...

I think the circle has been completed, I started at SM100 in '07, I came back, I improved, I started in 4 100-milers in one year, I finished in 3. I believe this is the end of this road for me. Time to ride more just for fun and pleasure.