This past weekend my lovely wife and I raced our big green Cannondale mountain tandem in Southern Cross http://www.55nine.com/southernX.html . Amy wrote a few words about it from her perspective in the stoker position...
Stoked to Stoke at Southern Cross 2012
"stoked" - adjective - to be "stoked" is to be completely and intensely enthusiastic, exhilirated, or excited about something.
“stoker” – noun – 1. One who is employed to feed fuel to a furnace. 2. The person at the rear of a tandem bicycle.
I don’t remember exactly when or how we decided to race Southern Cross on our tandem. But, I do know why – because we thought it would be fun. Suffering is fun, right? Of course it is. We are both cyclocross fanatics and were intrigued by the idea of ultracross. Cross course – 50 miles of fire roads – cross course – sounds great! And, what better way to enjoy this than together. Just for fun, lunacy for lunacy’s sake.
Our race preparations began with updating our trusty old tandem with a few bits of gear from Peachtree Bikes. A trip to the shop for an expert fitting by Tom ensured an optimal level of comfort for the event.
Per our normal race day protocol, I packed our shoes, helmets, kits, bottles, food, etc. while Josh loaded up the car. He got off easy this week since he had just one bike to deal with as opposed to 3 bikes plus pit wheels, tool box, easy-up tent, chairs, cooler of beer, Flemish flag, cow bells, and selection of embrocation normally required for a mere cyclocross race.
Driving to the race in the bright sunshine we felt anxious and excited as we neared the venue, Montaluce Winery in Dahlonega, GA. Things always seem hurried on race day until you find yourself on the starting line, waiting to GO. With the big bike comes big responsibility – in an effort to be courteous we lined up at the back of the field of nearly 300 racers. And we were off!
I was jolted into the reality of what we were doing as we entered the cross course. A short paved section took us into long grass downhill to a log-crossing where the field got pretty bunched up. We punched our way into the mix on the run up, finished out the cross course and hit the pavement. With our combined effort we passed as many single bikes as we could before the pavement ended.
Not far into the forest we started to notice ejected water bottles from the bikes of the big guns ahead of us. We passed several of the gravel’s victims making roadside repairs as we charged on to the first climb of the day. We climbed and climbed, spinning away, our legs burning. Despair vanished and pride took over as we closed in on those resigned to walking, our mantra “spin, spin, spin, must stay on the bike”. Reaching the top we were rewarded with a descent that was actually more challenging than the climb. We anticipated that we would rail the descents and get dropped on the climbs, but, the opposite was true. Those we had passed on the ascent were now bombing past us as we approached turns with caution and made sure to choose the smoothest lines.
Josh’s jersey served as our pantry, packed with enough nutrition to avoid stopping at the SAG station. Convenient access to food for both of us kept the calories flowing and our legs going.
The rest of the climbs were similar to the first, we played yo-yo with our compatriots, grinding up the grades and gingerly picking our way down. At long last we were spit out onto the final paved section and flew back to the winery, where the normally welcome sight of yellow course tape was less than amusing. We trudged up a ridiculously long run-up, tromped through a creek, scrambled over a log and at last the finish was in sight.
We did it, together. It was really hard. As happy as we were to get off the bike, we were already making plans for Southern Cross 2013. Many thanks for the words of encouragement from our fellow racers. See you next year!
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