We had our fastest transition time yet, of a quick 22 minutes before we headed out on our bikes. I was starting to feel the fatigue and frustration at the lack of good food at the TA. I was craving that hamburger they had the last time.
We moved quick and I pedaled along quietly to start, I just needed a second to get over my attitude and tiredness. I ate some caffeine hoping it would kick in soon as I knew this was going to be an exhausting bike ride in the dark. I was thankful my foot didn’t hurt on the bike as well and I actually felt quite good cycling. We picked up checkpoints with ease and passed other teams. We were primarily on gravel or paved roads through houses and small towns and I started noticing my brain becoming tired.
Ut Oh.
I had been here before in our first Sea to Sea race, falling asleep while walking and seeing things that weren’t really there.
We rode along and as I looked at houses, I would see a smiley face of some sort or something entirely different than a house. After blinking my eyes and staring hard, my brain would realize it was just… a house. I did my best to not focus on what my brain was making up as I did this the last race and it led me to fall asleep while walking. Every time I would start to see the swirl of made up things, I would look back at the road in front of me and blink my eyes a bunch of times, trying to keep myself awake. After each hour I would take a caffeine gel but quickly realized it was hardly having any affect. There becomes a point after so much exhaustion that the only fix that will work, is sleep. I just needed to close my eyes.
Our goal as a team was to make it to the next O-relay so that we could take turns napping. I was starting to get nervous if I was going to be able to do that. We eventually started riding through a town and could see a gas station coming up on our right. Oh thank goodness I hope they are open, I thought.
As we turned to go into the gas station, we saw around 20 bikes laying around the entrance, all the teams were making a stop. Multiple people had food or coffee and some were fast asleep on the corner table inside. It was cold outside and the warmth inside felt so good, but if we stayed too long, our bodies would cool off and outside would feel even colder. I grabbed a quick coffee and bathroom break and we headed out. I felt a little more awake, but wasn’t sure how long it would last.
We picked up another checkpoint in town then headed out, searching for a couple more before the next TA. As we headed down a gravel path and set our bikes down, we were looking for a nearby checkpoint that we had to bushwhack for. As I entered the thick forest, I told David that I was going to go back and lay down. That I just needed to close my eyes for 5 minutes. He encouraged me to go lay down and I laid down with my backpack still on and fell into a swirling mess. My eyes were closed but I felt like I was swirling in a light dream, hearing David and Mike bushwhack off into the distance. Footsteps, snap, crack, footsteps, leaves rustling in the distance. I felt myself falling deeper, close to being unconscious but not quite sure if I completely did. After what I guessed to be 5 minutes, I opened my eyes and felt refreshed.
I was also getting extremely cold, so I got up, started eating and doing jumping jacks because I wasn’t quite sure where David and Mike were. I heard another team shout that they had found it and headed out. Then I had a spike of nervousness as I couldn’t hear David and Mike bushwhacking anymore. After a couple minutes I heard David yelling my name and for me to shine my flashlight towards them. They were in thick forest and eventually found their way back to where I was, claiming it was the worst bushwhacking experiences they have ever had. I was thankful I had actually stayed instead of following them.
We were just about to give up on this checkpoint, but as a team was coming our way, they gave us a clue as to where it was and we were finally able to find it. We were off by just a smidge. We then headed out to search for another checkpoint in a nearby area but after searching for a while, decided to give up. We were ready to get to the TA and regroup.
We made it to the TA around 5 in the morning on Saturday and decided David would go out first for the O-Relay and Mike and I would sleep.
I quickly organized my belongings, ate two egg sandwiches, and set out my sleeping bag on a flat spot behind all the teams. I was so thankful I decided to bring my sleeping bag as it was so cold out. As soon as I got inside, I felt my body relax and eyelids become heavy and I was out within seconds. If only every night of sleep could be like this.
I woke up an hour and half later to my blaring alarm and sat up with freight, where was I again?
I packed up my sleeping bag and walked over to Mike at our belongings, he had woke up before me.
I started to get ready, expecting David to be there before too long. When he arrived, Mike and I went to grab our map, different from David’s, and headed out. We grabbed the first three with ease and I was happy that I was starting to understand the navigation piece a lot more than previous years. I’m not sure if being on the CDT and having to navigate more is what helped, but for some reason, it was clicking in my head from map to terrain.
We walked along sugar sand with spirits high having grabbed the first 3 checkpoints, and then came the difficult parts. We followed a team into thick forest and decided to turn around as it felt like we were guessing and not pace counting on our own. We headed back out and continued on to search for another checkpoint that we yet again came up short on. Dang it!
After a while of searching, we decided to head back and grab another checkpoint that was easier and made sure to meet David on the agreed upon time.
As we made our way back, Mike realized he had pace counted wrong as we were looking at the wrong scale. Darn it, we now knew where that last checkpoint was but felt like it was too late to turn around and snag it. It’s just how it goes sometimes.
We made it back to the TA and restocked our bags and ate food to head out on our biggest bike leg yet, 45 to 65 miles.
As I got on my bike, I was feeling like a whole new person. I mean, I felt GOOD. What was in that coffee?
We biked along at a quick pace and learned to have a high cadence as we rode through the sugar sand. I felt like I was handling my bike well, feeling it twist and turn beneath me, but able to stay up right. Nothing could stop me now.
We finally came out of the sandy area a couple hours later and onto paved roads and surprisingly a busy two lane road. I was shocked that they had us on such a busy road but apparently, things were different this go around. We flew up a bridge passing people left and right and picked up another checkpoint, suddenly finding ourselves around a ton of teams. As we road along through the town of Deland, I started to feel this derealization sensation late afternoon. This has happened to me only a handful of times and every time it occurs, its from sleep deprivation. The best way I can describe it is that I do not feel full present, that reality feels a little bit distant like watching a movie, and sounds are heard differently, sharper and distant at the same time, and my reaction time is slowed. Its a very loopy feeling and I knew that I needed to lay down again just for a short bit.
As we came to a ballpark to write down the answer to a checkpoint, I rode over to the side and tried to lay down but realized this area was incredibly loud with music from the stadium so we decided to continue on. Once we found a gas station, I grabbed some pizza and laid down again. I once again entered this swirling state of almost going unconscious, unsure if I fully did or not. After about 10 minutes we got back up and headed out on our bikes.
We eventually got off busy roads and onto back gravel roads. A group of 10 of us or so found a checkpoint and then we decided we would continue down the rough bumpy road to our next checkpoint. I quickly noticed most of the other teams went down a smoother road but I was hopeful that we would still make it and wouldn’t have to struggle on the tough terrain for too long. All of us were starting to chafe and riding on a bumpy road was not very comfortable.
Once we made it to the lake where the checkpoint was, we saw all the other teams there as well, seeming that either route would take the same amount of time.
It seemed as if we were just trailing behind this group of teams as they would head out right as we got to a checkpoint. We cruised along on the gravel roads. It was relatively easy terrain, but my bottom was hurting badly so I tried to stand up and pedal the best I could.
We snagged a few more checkpoints and I felt so much better once we were back on paved roads. The night was starting to fall and the race end was getting closer. I was also having my 4th or 5th wind and started getting energy. I loved being on my bike. We started to pedal faster as we neared the TA. I would pick up the pace leading our group out in a single file line and then David would lead and we would get a smidge faster, then Mike, then I. Circling through, getting faster and faster. Other teams would see us and try to hold on but ultimately would fall off. One solo man eventually got on and stayed on with us until the TA. Telling David “Thanks for the pull, I will probably regret that later” as we were pushing hard. I loved hearing that. I felt like it was fitting for our team name.
It was late in the night at our last TA and we had three legs left to go. We knew it was going to be an intense finish and were ready for it.
Izzy + Ozzy 