This past December I signed up for another Ouachita Challenge. An event that I have been racing since 2008. The course is hard and challenging but with the proper training, mental toughness and if you can get through Blow Out mountain without bike failures or bodily harm you should be able to finish. Against my better judgment I also signed up Christopher.
Three years ago I signed Christopher up for his first attempt at the Ouachita Challenge. Prior to that his only other distance event had been the Dakota 50 which he attempted in 2010 when he was 15. Christopher is a good cross country distance rider. He usually sticks to rides/races around an hour which is normal for a teenager I would think. So far all of his attempts at completing Marathon type cycling events came up short.
Would 2015 be any different? When I registered us I kept seeing this image in my head. I know from first hand experience what it feels like to be dead tired and not wanting to continue on. To have those voices in your head say things like "why did I want to attempt this?" "I just want to quit" and "where is my mommy?". I asked him did he really want to go through the suffering to finish and he said he did.
The goal was to just finish the Ouachita Challenge. No course records would be set. No awards won. Only the personal satisfaction of finishing. Early in January I gave the above photo to Christopher as motivation and to help him realize that any goal worth attempting would take work.
I put in enough rides during the winter that I knew I would be able to finish. I was really worried about Christopher because he never wanted to go ride this winter. I do not blame him. Who the hell wants to go ride when it is 15 degrees out?
I think his first ride of any distance/time was the Mullet Ride back in January. After that he kind of did his own thing which had me very worried about 3 weeks prior to the event.
About a month ago we headed down to Arkansas for Spring Break. In my mind this would be the decision maker. If he did not put in some long rides and feel good after them then he should not attempt to finish.
We hit several trail systems including Lake Leatherwood in Eureka Springs. Damn that place is hilly! This was a good thing because it offered up ideal training grounds for the challenge ahead.
It rained 3 out of the 4 days we were in Eureka Springs. Luckily most of the trail systems down there are very rocky. Despite the rain we got in several long rides. After the trip Christopher confirmed that he wanted to attempt the Ouachita Challenge again, and this time he was going to finish.
While Christopher was confident I had my doubts. Not only in him but myself. My knees, especially my right knee, have been giving me trouble as of late. It has gotten so bad that I can not even put weight on my knees while kneeling down. Some days are fine but other days I take a handful of pain meds to make it tolerable. More on the knee later...
We got a bit of bad news two days before the race. During our final ride on Wednesday he said he was having trouble shifting. When I checked everything out I found a broken link on the non-drive side. No bike to ride. Not really the news you want to hear a few days before your big event.
Luckily we had a spare bike. My Ritchey P-29er was built up for gravel and still had
CIRREM mud all over her and a rigid fork. It took a long cold evening (and several beers) in the garage to switch everything over. With no saddle time on her we loaded up and headed to Tige's house Saturday morning.
After 6+ hours of Smokey and the Bandit type driving we somehow safely arrived in Oden, AR. Tige wanted to get in a little ride and Christopher wanted to at least ride the P-29er once before the race on Sunday. I am glad we did ride because we ended up doing several adjustments on the bike to get Christopher somewhat comfortable.
Race morning came too quickly. Before we knew it riders were lining up. I told Christopher before the race to remember to pace himself, eat and drink. If he did not blow up then he could finish. Deep down I had my doubts but I wanted to sound confident.
The first 10 miles of the challenge are easy. I stayed with Christopher until the final gravel climb before the single track began. After that I rode my own event. Christopher wanted to do this event on his own. The event gets hard once you hit Blow Out mountain. This trail sucks ass. Part of it you can not even ride (at least mortal riders like myself). I was really concerned that Christopher would try to ride the really rocky sections like he did 3 years ago and waste a lot of energy. I later found out he listened to me and walked those sections.
I was feeling fine up until the Sims aid station at around the 1/2 way point. My legs started to cramp a little. If I am already cramping what the heck is Christopher feeling like? I kept riding and they went away. At the 5 hour mark they came back. The next 1 1/2 hours basically sucked ass. Leg cramps and fatigue. While I was going through my own little misery I kept thinking about Christopher. Did he pull out at Sims? I told him that if he had any doubt that he should bail at Sims as it was the closest to the Start/Finish area in Oden. I had two goals on the day: Finish without suffering and to have Christopher finish (he was allowed to suffer). I finished up in 6 hours 46 minutes. Despite the leg cramps I felt fine. After a quick shower and some recovery food and I go and check the finish area for Christopher. After 7 hrs still no sign of him. 7 hour 15 min still no Christopher. I tell Tige we should load things up and go see if we can find him at the final aid station. As I walk over to the finishing line one last time I hear the announcer say "we have our next finisher from Kansas City, MO, #119, Christopher Locke". The little shit did it! It took 7 hour 30 minutes but he did finish and I am very proud of him! He did not give up and despite only a handful of training rides he finished.
