So last year, in my first year of mountain biking I was talked into being a sweep for the Tour of the White Mountains (the 15 miler mind you, I didn’t plan to die out there). It was a fun experience and allowed me to ride the course, chat with people and most importantly, go at my own pace. We finished last year in about 4.5 hrs so I was targeting that again for this year (we’ll forget about the 6.5 hrs it took to do a similar distance at the Whiskey). For once the weather looked like it would actually be a good day, a little windy, but nothing like last year’s torrential rains, the year before with 50+mph wind gusts or the year before that with the rain & mud. I headed out a little behind the 15 milers, just cruising at my own pace. I didn’t have sweep partner this year so either I would be riding with whomever was in back, or alone. I soon caught up to a girl who would be my back of the pack buddy for nearly the rest of the day. She was entertaining and I found out the friend she was riding with (who was ahead of us) was going to be proposed to when she finished by her future fiancé who was racing the 35 miler (they started an hour before us and he was fast, so the timing would be ok). I thought that was kind of cool although you better be sure she’s going to say yes in that kind of situation!
Todd from Epic had warned us that someone had stolen an SUV and crashed it on the trail a couple weeks ago and they hadn’t gotten it out yet. Sure enough, crashed SUV with a copy of Tucson Lifestyles on the steering wheel was found a couple miles into the course. You can see some cool stuff on the trail. There is one big problem with being a sweep – you are probably a better rider than whoever is riding in the back. You start to notice this when the BOP is walking up or down rocky sections and you really want to ride it. You learn to hold back and slow down so you can get a run at it without passing them. Or you ride it, pass them and then wait.
Lynette (my new BOP friend) turned out to be an REI manager and we chatted about when the Tucson REI was finally going to open (Spring 2010) as well as what to do with my poor Garmin who’s enter button was failing. We actually stopped in the trail and chatted for like 20 mins a couple times. I was enjoying the ride. The medical sweep kept catching up to us, poor guy. Finally he just went ahead. We ran into a couple of kids near the top of the never ending climb who had been up in front of the 15 milers but got a flat on one tire at the bottom of the climb and then flatted the other tire in the middle of it. Now they were just trying to get the tire to hold air. Tubeless people, tubeless. I felt like we were actually making pretty good time when we hit the top of the hill. I had been giving Lynette tips along the way based on my riding of the course from last year and last month’s pre-ride. We hit the downhill and she was gone! I took it easy, stopping to take pictures because I knew the bottom of the downhill was a blast and I wanted to enjoy all of it without having to slow down for anyone. About a ¼ mi from the aid station my phone starts ringing – the aid station hasn’t seen anyone in awhile (odd, those two kids were just in front of us) and wanted to make sure we were still coming. 3 mins later I said hi to the aid station folks in person. I love aid stations that are stocked with candy bars (mmmm….snickers!). I met up with the 10 mile sweep and he had 2 riders that came out on the 10 mile ride, but wanted to take the 15 mile trail back (10 milers took the road up and back from the aid station, 15 milers got singletrack). I agreed and our now group of 4 took off. Pretty uneventful downhill section, I was having a blast and actually riding stuff I didn’t ride last year. I ran into a guy coming towards me with a number so I stopped and asked if he was done already. He was a 65 miler who had managed to miss the turn off. I got him going back the right direction and continued on my way. I finally met up wth the 35 & 65 milers where we all headed back to the finish together. That was fun for my 10 miler-turned-15 miler friends, being passed at fast speeds on ATV roads. My very last 10 miler charge started getting charley horses as we were headed downhill so I was unable to enjoy the exhilaration of bounding over loose, rocky downhill trails. I'm so disappointed. We eventually got back to the out'n'back section of the course where I knew we had about 2 miles till beer. I'm a mountain biker, I'm in it for the beer. So that was what I used to motivate my back of the pack crew. Beer. I was near beer and they were delaying my enjoyment of it. Well I didn't make it sound that bad, but I know nearly all mountain bikers like their beer. I assume that of these guys.
We had to stop frequently for my BOP buddy to massage his thigh. I don't think I've ever experienced a charley horse so I had no suggestions for him aside from massaging it. With a half mile to go, he wanted to stop again and I nearly had a conniption. 1/2 mile to go, and you want to stop???? This is where you suck it up buddy. He stopped, and being a good sweep, I stopped too. Much to my dismay at prolonging my drinking experience for another few minutes. We finally reached the end. I had missed the proposal of the chick's friend I had ridden with in the beginning, but wished her well when I did see her. I got back to the truck to discover that Erik & co had been done and drinking for awhile now. It only took me 4 hours to get everyone across the line this year, and the guys still beat me.
I proceeded to join the beer line, grab my free food and then head back to the comforts and warmth of our rented "cabin". Which I might add, as a far better idea than camping - any year.
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