ORAMM (The Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell) is this Sunday and this will be my 2nd go at it. It will be my first time on the original or traditional course though. Last year they had to use a modified course due to some landslides. On the surface it doesn’t appear to be an incredibly tough day, at least relatively, it is 60+ miles with over 10k of vert with a fair bit of pavement/gravel. However I’ve always heard that it was pretty tough. There are probably a lot of factors for this, heat, humidity, the overall pretty quick pace, the amazingly extended climbing. Either way, I was definitely put in my place last year.
I will say that last year we had spent the week and a half before the race going back and forth to Atlanta dealing with some major family health issues. There wasn’t much (if any) bike race prep going on, Katie was 8 1/2 months pregnant and not sleeping well (which meant I wasn’t sleeping well), and there was a ton of general stress. We actually didn’t get home until about 5 or 6 pm the night before the race after I already had it in my head that I wasn’t going to go. After the week we had I was looking for a short escape, so I went to the race.
As you could imagine it went poorly. I actually had a pretty decent start and for the first 2 hours or so I felt pretty good. I really seemed to feel ok and didn’t feel like I was overdoing it. Then we hit Curtis Creek road, the beginning of a 13-14 mile climb. Things started to unravel a little bit. The power wasn’t there, I’d stand to crank and just couldn’t keep it going. My food and water intake slowed and things just came apart. I ended up walking my bike up a gravel road, it’s been a long time since I’ve pushed my bike up a gravel road. People I know kept coming by me and asking if everything was ok, all I could say was, “it’s just one of those days”. Sometimes things happen, days don’t go your way and its OK.
Even once we got to Heartbreak Ridge and the race turned into some good ol fashion Pisgah gnar, I still couldn’t get out of my funk. That kind of trail is what keeps me coming back to bike races in Pisgah and in this case it was just beating me around. I’m pretty sure I hit every root and rock on that trail, some of them twice. By the time I got to the finish line most of the folks I’d normally be finishing close to had already eaten their lunch. After crossing the line I went straight to the creek and just laid in it. Overheated, tired, and a little unsure of how things went quite so awry.
In reality the day was still all I could ask for at the given time and what could I complain about. I was outside on a beautiful day riding bikes in the woods with friends. I knew my “race” was pretty much over as I was walking my bike up Curtis Creek Rd and the day was going to be more about just making it to the finish line. I did my best to keep a good attitude and for the most part I was able to enjoy the day.
With all that said I’ve been eyeing this event all year with the idea of some redemption. I’ve largely been feeling pretty good lately and riding pretty well, I think. July has had some travel in it which can definitely make consistent bike riding and healthy eating a little challenging. Eating healthily on vacation and work trips is tough particularly when you couple that with a one of my favorite parts about traveling is eating. We’ll see how this goes, I’ve got a few days to relax and prepare for the event this year, so maybe things will go more my way.
Regardless of how the race goes, I’m really looking forward to getting out there and pushing myself for a few hours. There’s something about racing bikes that I can’t seem to get enough of.
