Riot On Racing: Paul's Dirty, My Hole, and Jim's Big Day

So, September 21st saw Paul's Dirty Enduro...a 100 kilometre Mountain Bike Race (There are also shorter options of 35km and 65km). Paul's is a Mountain Bike Race held in memory of Paul, a local Mountain Bike enthusiast, to raise money for Mental Health (actually the origin is quite a story...google it to get the whole deal).

I was registered for the race, but of course, until I heal, recover, and can put my big boy pants on again I am not able to ride. However, I had talked quite a crew to join me on this sufferage. Why sufferage? Paul's is one of the toughest races of the year. Part of it is the distance...but most of it is the location. Held in Ganaraska forest...the combination of hills and sand (extreme sand!!) make the course especially gruelling! Throw in an overabundance of poison ivy, and the fact that September weather can be challenging (foreshadowing anyone???), and you are in for a story from any racer who makes the attempt.

Anyways, as I had mentioned, my injury kept me from attending...however Jaimie and HydroPaul headed up mid day on the 20th to set up camp and avoid traffic (these guys is smart!...Mooore foreshadowing???).

Bad foreshadowing...

Good foreshadowing...

Anyways...the rest of the crew...Fig, EnglishJim, Giant piled into NewfieSteve's truck...but not until about 9pm. Apparently Steve had to work late (to facilitate buying a new home, support two families in Rawanda, and keep us all from believing he is a Newfie). So they didn't get there until about midnight...so not only did they have to set up camp in the dark...but....hold on....it had also started raining.

Sooo...here is where the foreshadowing thing plays out...the race starts at 8am...it's still raining (it rained ALL day). What happens when rain, sand, and dirt mix??? The worst kind of gummy, mucky, sticky, grindy, grindy, grindy mixture of energy sucking, momentum stopping, pivot and seal eating, brake pad burning goo!! Seriously!! Here is how it went down..

Sooo, after a 3 hour midnight drive, camping in the rain, 5 kilometres into the race EnglishJim slides on a gooey descent, goes over the bars, smokes a tree and destroys his brakes (broke the master cylinder)...he is done...minutes into the race. Beer time...but still, Mr. Jim was not too happy...

I'm thinkin he kinda looked like these guys...

Sorry...Jim likes the cat pics...

At the 40 km mark, and 4 hours later (the conditions made progress brutally slow), Fig and NewfieSteve had to to bail...with no brakes. This is how Steve's brake pads looked post race.

Seriously...worn right to the metal...

These are the brake pads of the fella who won the race. Very similar to Steve's...again worn through the metal backing...

His brakes failed at the 50 km mark, so he used his shoe on his back wheel for the remainder of the race to slow himself down...this is his shoe...

Many riders DNF'd due to mechanicals caused by conditions. Most who soldiered on were pulled at the 75km mark due to the time (including Jaimie, HydroPaul, and Giant). There were 47 riders in the 100km race...6 completed and finished it. Huge Kudo's to all that attempted it.

Wonder how the boys will feel about doing it next year??

As far as an update on my recovery...I had the packing removed this week, and wala!! It did not need to be repacked!! The infection is almost completely gone, the muscle tear and soft tissue damage is healing...which is all good news, but still a ways to go. Also, I still have a quarter sized hole in the skin and flesh of my leg that needs to heal up. I do have pics but they are gross (imagine a deep gunshot wound...that is what it looks like), so not a good idea to post them.

I am hoping to begin to get some minimum activity (light work on the trainer...weight work outs??) by next week...then gradually ramp it up. I just cannot push it too hard, or do anything that would have any possibility of falling on it. That would completely undo all of the benefit that rest has provided. And the rest and inactivity is darn near painful in itself, so I don't want to have to extend it to any longer than I have to!

The Fall Epic8 Hour MTB race is this Saturday (Sept 28th)...and the whole crew is headed up to participate. There is a bit of a catch though. This is the third race in a series of three (Spring Epic8, Summer Epic8, and Fall). Team DaNoofie N DaNative (Steve and me) are currently in second in the series in the two man team category after the first two races...so we have a chance depending on how we do in the Fall8. I, of course, cannot ride...and we can't substitute...I will be there to help out and support, however Steve is bravely going to solo the race as our team. Should be worthy of a good story!! Steve's chance to be the superhero!!! (SuperNewf???)

Actually this is my favourite superhero pic...

OK...back on track, and on a final note, it is EnglishJim's birthday this weekend (Shhhh don't tell him...I don't think he knows!). I think he is like, 85 or something. He still thinks, he looks like this though...