Oramm

These 63 miles of trails are not unfamiliar to me, in fact I rode 83% of the ride only 2 weeks prior. So why…why…why was I soooo nervous??? I laid awake for most of the night; when I actually did slip into REM my dreams took every wrong turn on the ORAMM route…why was my head in such turmoil over this??? Breakfast was just not going to happen either…I managed to get some breakfast drink down and compensated my lack of appetite with a gu and started on my Perpetuem drink early. Chris & I arrived in plenty of time to get situated…chat amongst The Misfits…visit the port-a-john waaaaay too many times (at least waiting in line gave me something productive to do) Finally, time to line up with the rest of the crowd and embark on what is known as the hardest ride in WNC….

GO!!!! I manage to stay with the Misfits, drafting…chatting…calming nerves that had
inexplicitly taken over. We turned up our first gravel road where I latched onto Mr. Stone’s rear wheel…not sure if he was so happy about this…he kept looking to see if I was still hanging on! And, yep! I was gonna hang on for as long……ARRRG!!!!!!! MY GLASSES!!! *%$#@#$% NOT AGAIN….I dropped my lenses! See ya boys… (I must get duct tape and secure those things to my head before the next big ride!)

Back on my bike struggling to make up for lost time. We are then directed to a surprise bit of single-track which happens to be a conga line of hike-a-bikers. I snag my place in line right behind out-of-towner local Cory…we babble our way to the top catching up with mindless chatter wishing we were actually ON our bikes pedaling away. At this point I feel compelled to mention that I was once again behind Mr. Stone…of course that would not be the case as soon as the hill began its negative elevation change.

Down a quick grassy trail and onto Kitsuma for the first time…I knew this would be mostly hike-a-bike due to congestion, but I was thrilled to see very few people which allowed me to ride more than I thought. The first bit of downhill is a bit sketchy so I opted for the voluntary dismount to play it on the safe side…then, woooohooooo I love this trail! I had loaded my pockets with treats and still had a heavy camelback so I whizzed on by the first aid station. The climb up the base of Heartbreak was a tough one for me…I just could not seem to get my breath and heart rate at a steady pace so I walked quite a bit of this, it was getting annoying but I knew there was still plenty of pedal time left to do! Star Gap is a new trail for me (I have only done it once in the pre-ride) but it sure is fun! But short! The loooong grassy (apparently named Never Ending Road) was next and NOT a pleasure for me!!! The long loose gravely descent is by far not one of my strong points! I think I used up a lot of brake pad on this one…

Curtis Creek…everyone’s nemesis! At the base I was greeted with camelback fill-er-uppers, Advil-suppliers, electrolyte-freebies and great words of encouragement…off I go to climb the infamous Curtis Creek Road! OH wait…campground toilet…must visit!!! Whew…at the top I was greeted again with the gracious camelback fill-r-upper Wes from his own stash while the diligent Kassi was on a water-run. Chatted a bit with Lela from Biowheels as I dug into my stash of goodies and spent way too long (once again) scarfing down some chicken noodle soup (thanks Megan, it worked great!) and loaded up on some electrolytes and another breakfast drink…mmmm, strawberry!!! I was back to huffin’ along up the dreaded parkway (this is MY nemesis!!! It brought me to tears on the pre-ride…I was not giving in to it this time…nope!) Hoofed up the rather pretty little hike-a-bike to the top of Heartbreak!!! Wooooohooooo….now we are on….our….way!!!! NARF!!!!! What is it??? Why can’t I lay off the brakes??? GO Laurie GO….what is wrong with you???? Something in my exhausted brain is making me go SLOW!!!!! Oh good…someone is behind me! Just the little push I need to get up some speed…I pull over to let him by after what (to him) seemed like eternity only to pass him again while he answers nature’s call…hehe!!! AAAHHHH….as I cross the stream I know I am almost done and feeling good! I stop at the last stop to replenish the water portion of my camelback (I had 2 bladders, one with Perpetuem & one with water…worked great and kept me plenty nourished!) Climb the last gravel road and hit Kitsuma for the last time (managed to ride several switchbacks…yippy!! And yep, I walked the sketchy part again for fear of injuries) then found something inside me that I had lost on Heartbreak…SPEED!!! I pop out at the bottom and hit the pavement with a vengeance…1 mile and I have accomplished a ride I have been working up to for a year!!! I finished (well under my goal) at 9 hours and 34 minutes…a respectable time for an overcautious-gotta-pace-myself-spend-too-much-time-at-aid-stations kinda gal!

Chris finished 8 hours 6 minutes …good job sweetie!!!

On our way home I swore this ride off…nope…never again! I came, I saw, I completed…no more to do here!!! HA!!!! As I sit here and recall the day I remember the moments I could have done better…relish the feeling of accomplishment…say to myself “maybe I will do again???”

Obsession…gotta love it!!!

Wow, sounds like an amazing endurance event! Congratulations on doing so well! What did you do for training?

WOW!!!
Well done Bouncy. Great ride report.:)

Nice work. It sounds like quite the ride. I'm a total pansy when it comes to technical MTB riding so you sound like you did really well to me!! Not over cautious at all.

Yeah, after Ironman I said I'd never do it again. But here I am tapering for a second go around. Obsession is right.

Great endurance ride! Sounds like so much fun. Here in Arizona is a real nice ride in near SHow Low that sounds similar to that ride. I've done it a couple of years.. Maybe next year????

Sounds like you did wonderful