Fireweed 200

Well, the short version is, I finished. The cool thing is, I won! The story, is how I got there. I had been looking forward to the Fireweed 200 since last year. I couldn't wait for this race. And 2 weeks before suddenly I didn't want to go. I was totally uninspired and I waited until the very last minute to pack the car. Because I was not in the mood for the race I decided I was just going for a bike ride and whatever happened would happen. The morning of the race I opened the garage door to put the bike in the car when I noticed it was a complete downpour. Thank you Mother Nature! I am kidding of course. I don't care what race I do, Mother Nature always likes to put her special spin on it. I hate riding my bike in the rain but I do it so often that on that particular morning I just didn't care.
My wonderful husband had agreed to support me on this race. The plan was, because we had our 4.5 yr old son with us, was that he would see me off at the start and then drive the 200 miles to Valdez, have dinner and then come back out to check on me. Well that WAS the plan. Because that was the plan I was carrying all needed gear on my bike. I thought that I would just treat the race like a brevet. Hahahahahah.... I was riding in the "ride" division, which meant I could draft if I wanted. I DID NOT DRAFT THE ENTIRE 200 MILES. Not because I didn't want to but because there was simply no one around me to draft off of. There was also a "solo" division, which I should have entered but oh well. I am the type of gal who actually prefers to ride alone so I was actually happy. Anyway there were 12 women who entered the solo/ride 200 event. I remember seeing 3 at the start. One of which said, "I've never done anything like this before." "I've only commuted." I wished her luck, and thought well I guess if you commute from Girdwood or Wasilla everyday, you would probably be ok, I have no idea where she lived. Kudos to her for showing up. I never saw her again. So it was sunny at the start but I quickly realized what Mother Natures spin was for this race. WIND. A head wind....the whole way. I kept telling myself, at least it is sunny and not raining. The first 50 miles were the worst, I just could not get into a rhythm, and I was sick and tired of carrying my own gear. So at the 50 mile mark I dialed up the husband and told him to get his butt back out on the course so I could drop some of my gear. I was sooo hot and it was killing me. I was completely overdressed and had no where to put extra gear off of my body because I had used all of that space for rain gear that I thought I would need. Bad planning. At any rate I initiated this call around noonish and Tom said he and Asher would have lunch and then head back out. Luckily this very nice lady crewing her husband felt so sorry for me around mile 75 or so that she offered to take all of my extra gear. Her husband was plugging along just about the same speed as I so it was a good deal. I couldn't have been more happy and almost cried. I told her my husband was on his way back and I would catch him up with her when I saw him. So the miles ticked off and the wind just got stronger. I remember seeing a mother moose and her two babies and we weren't quite sure she was going to let us pass down the road but myself and 2 other riders shooed her through. Still the sun was shining but I could see we were in for rain soon. Just before the rain this very nice lady drove back to give me my jacket, unbelievable kindness from someone I didn't even know. And somewhere around 5 pm my husband finally showed up. I told him to go find this very nice lady and gather my gear and then he was to stay with me until the end. There is a lot of comfort in that car, I don't know why but there is. I began to be a bit worried I wouldn't make Teikel by 9pm. I told Tom I had to be there and he was very encouraging. At one point I had a severe pain in my right foot that almost stopped me, I took off my shoe for a few minutes, the pain subsided and I went on. That wasn't the only pain I was having, my lower back had been bothering me for about 3 days before the race and I was taking more than my fair share of anti-inflammatories and had a flector patch on my back. I could not bend over at all from the waist and that was before the race, I could ride my bike but standing up straight at stops was nearly impossible, but for some reason I just kept on going. Anyway I made it to Teikel by 7:30pm and was allowed to go on. I knew if I could just make it up the pass I just had to hold on and I would be home. So I climbed. I don't mind climbing at all, I just climb very slow. And now it was raining, in fact it was pouring. And it was getting dark. At some point just before the summit a race director pulled up next to me and said "you are the last one and they are waiting for you." I thought to myself really???? At the last checkpoint there were 5 people behind me and I know one of them was a girl because as she pulled into that stop as I was leaving. So when I made it to the checkpoint at the summit I asked the guys if I really was the last one and they told me no there were 4 people behind me, hmmm.....I was perplexed but moved on. They made me some cup of noodles and I changed into my winter biking clothes. Smart move on my part because I nearly froze to death on the way down from the summit. So much so that at the bottom I gathered my down jacket from my husband and that is how I ground out my last miles of the race, in my winter gear, including my down jacket. It was now dark, the race director asked Tom to ride behind me since I had no lights on the bike to the finish. So there were still 2 race officials there when I crossed the line, they were apparently waiting for me and it was now 1:30am or so. I was happy to see them and thanked them for staying up so late. They told me there were still 4 people behind me and the closest one was an hour behind me.
I am not sure what drove me to Valdez. I remember making a decision that they would have to sweep me off the course and I would not give up. The wind was miserable, I think it was at least 30mph winds at some point and there were long stretches of road where I could not get over 10mph due to the head wind. Still I kept on. I think I wanted some sort of redemption from the Susitna, proving that there really was something wrong medically with me on that race and that I wasn't just being a wimp. That I really am capable of pounding out the miles, even if they are slow miles. So I am happy I finished. I knew I would and that whole electrolyte thing, got that nailed down, no more hyponatremia for me. Bring on the Susitna 100 again, I am ready.
The next morning I ran into my coach at breakfast who gave me a hug. I am not a gifted athlete, I am just out there having fun and I am glad that she keeps me. She does the best sports psychology with me and I would not have made it without her. She really is AWESOME!!!! I am also in debt to my husband and son for sticking with me for the last 8 hours of the race. Wow!!
So I went to work on Monday, why I am still not sure. Some time after I got there someone told me to go look at the paper. I was in the paper! I was the only women to complete the 200 solo/ride. Everyone else bailed. I don't know why they bailed but they did. Huh! So going to prove you don't have to be the fastest, sometimes you just have to be the most stubborn.
I kind of played leap frog with another male rider from Speedway for at least 3/4 of the race. I think he said his name was Paul. I didn't see him in the roster and I know he didn't finish, he was having a heck of a time with flats. But he was good company for a lot of the race. So if I ever see him again, I will have to say thanks and it was good to ride with you. So that was my race, a happy ending.