Shenandoah Mountain 100 2020: Preamble

If you want the tl;dr friendly version of the story, I didn't finish the Shenandoah Mountain 100.

Here's the tl;bdrbcaab version (too long but did read because Covid and also bored), here we go.

I can honestly say that I was 100% more prepared for this SM 100 than I have ever been for the previous eleven times I've decided it was something I needed in my life.  In the middle of the week leading up to it, I was feeling a little cooked from the riding I'd been doing, so I backed off on Thursday, and even took Friday completely off the bike.  I spent loads of time getting everything ready, most notably my nutrition and hydration needs, being that Covid had killed any chances of doing the usual grazing of brownies, and pizza, and French fries, and Pringles, and Coke, and...

If I could live off SM 100 aid stations for my normal existence, I would.

I also got soooo much sleep.  I took care of myself.  I really did.

Up at whatever time my eyes opened on Saturday. eat a mighty fine breakfast, load the car, start driving up at 9:30 AM.

"Did I remember my camping chair?"

No.

"What else did I forget?"

"Oh, it's gonna be chilly and I don't have warm'ish clothes and I packed my summer sleeping bag and... oh about a half dozen things that would make life better, but I'm pretty sure I have EVERYTHING I need to make great bike race."

Eat a light lunch on the drive up to Stokesville.

Get there, set up my ginormous tent, roll out for a gentle hour of spinning on a gravel road to get the drive out of my legs.  Hydrate like crazy, good stuff from Carborocket, La Croix... not beer.  Not yet anyways.

Pasta supper with salad and supplemented with a can of Spaghettios. 

Prepare all the things to make great bike race.

I decided to bring my biggest tent because I finally realized that getting ready for a hundred mile race in the dark after crawling out of a hammock (or the back of the Fit of Rage) blows.  Why not have all the dry room in the world to prepare for such an arduous endeavor?

Huge, cavernous, space for four persons all but used and abused by one.  Room under one of the huge vestibules for my bike to keep the saddle and grips dry and happy.

Every single thing I needed at my fingertips in the morning.  I even had my stove set up and pot filled to have coffee in less than ten minutes after being awake.

And get this.  I was in bed before 9:00 PM.  No more than two Coors on board, tons of proper fluid intake, loads of decent nutrition, and I'm pretty sure I feel asleep shortly after they turned off the music at the pavilion.

Woke up once to pee... not because of excess beer but because I'm hydrated.

And I unnaturally awake at 4:51 AM, nine minutes before my alarm.

Everything lined up just like I planned the night before.  Pop Tarts (yes, I could do better there, but whatever), coffee, kids dropped at the pool, dressed, and completely ready with zero panic moments or misplaced essentials.  Thanks to the socially distanced staged start with only 250 total racers, there was no reason to even head over to the line until the last minute.

Ride over, join your group of ten or so in the appropriate grid, wait until 6:31:15... and go.

It was gonna be a good day.