The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - MOMAR Cumberland 2009

The day finally arrived when the four of us, teams Coast Mountain Sports 1 and 2, packed up our gear and headed south to compete in the 30km Sport Course section of MOMAR Cumberland. 4:30 am, our agreed upon meeting time to pack our gear and bikes, came so incredibly early. I spent a restless night waking up every 45 minutes because I didn't want to sleep through my alarm.

We took the front tires off of our bikes to reduce the weight on the bike rack, loaded our gear bags into the trunk and strapped the bike rack onto the back of the car. It was one of those bike racks that lashes onto the trunk rather than a hitch model - no hitch on my car, hereinafter dubbed "the MOMAR mobile." By the time the bikes were loaded we were excited to be 15 minutes ahead of our scheduled 5:30 am departure time. The goal was to make the 3:00 ferry to Nanaimo in order to have some leg-stretch time in Cumberland in the evening.

At approximately 5:30 am our plans came to a crashing halt when one of the straps holding the bike rack to the trunk snapped, sending the rack and our four mountain bikes crashing onto Hwy 97 S at around 90 km/h. I looked into the rearview mirror and saw sparks.

In our favour? We were on a four lane section of highway so room for transports to move over, no traffic behind us to inadvertently end up wearing our bike rack and bikes, and close enough to a major intersection that there was a street light. We lashed the rack back onto the car and carried on.

A normally hour long journey to Quesnel took close to 2 hours. I was scared to drive beyond 80 km/h and all of us probably did an inner jump whenever there was a bump in the road or odd noise coming from the rack area of the car. We stopped at Wal-mart in Quesnel and two bungee cords were purchased to secure the bikes to the rack more securely and to secure the rack more securely to the car. Onward south we went. The goal still to make the 3:00 pm ferry.

The refueling stop at 100-Mile resulted in more bungee cords being purchased. The rack kept moving, sliding further back on the trunk and straps would pop off and there would be metal clips slamming into the trunk of the car. It seemed as if we stopped every half hour to readjust the strapping and tighten things down. It was in 100-Mile when I also came to the horrible realization that my bike was severely damaged in the crash.

As my bike was put on the bike rack last, it was at the bottom of the pile when gravity brought the rack to a crashing halt on the highway. My derailleur - the mechanical bit that helps shift gears - was bent at a horrific angle, the chain was jammed between the rear tire and the frame, the sprocket holding the back tire to the frame had come undone and the only thing holding the back tire on the bike was the bent frame.

I had that horrible feeling my race was over before it began.

We carried on, only by now had come to the realization the 3:00 ferry was not going to happen and we were now aiming for the 5:00 ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo. Problem. Vancouver Friday afternoon rush hour traffic and road construction. We made to the ferry terminal at 5:05 pm and were heartbroken.

Race check-in was scheduled for 7:00 until 9:30 pm and bikes had to be checked and stickered to confirm they were fit for the race. It is a nearly two hour ferry crossing and another hour and a half drive to Cumberland from Nanaimo - which put us well past the 9:30 pm cut-off time. We called the Race Director and were told this happens every year and we sent him a text when the ferry was on the way to let him know we were once again on route. We made race check-in with two minutes to spare.

The cycle shop was still open so after checking in for the race and into the hostel we walked our bikes over to the bike shop. Or should I say I limped my bike over to the bike shop. Needless to say after its pre-dawn crash onto the highway my bike (which I had just purchased 6 weeks ago) was in no condition to race. The cycle shop cut me a deal and straightened out what they could on my bike during the race while I road a rental bike for MOMAR - a full-suspension technical mountain bike. My bike is a "hardtail" - only front suspension.

Four hours of sleep later and we take our bikes to the designated bike drop off and then grab some breakfast before the race. We headed down to the lake to watch the Enduro racers do their kayak portion and then prepped ourselves for the race start at 10:30. Maps for our course were handed out at 9:00.

By the time the Sport Course was started, the calm as glass waters of Comox Lake had changed with the wind and we were treated to a 5 km course that battled winds and tides. It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. It was also the first time I'd paddled a kayak - my previous paddling experience had been in a canoe. My partner and I managed to finish in a respectable not last place and we headed off on the trail running portion of our race.

This is when things started to unwind for my physically. 15+ years of dealing with chronic pain from inflammatory arthritis has resulted in me taking an antidepressant. While that has done wonders for my brain chemistry, it has wreaked havoc on my stomach and I battle nausea every day. The physical exertion of the adventure race made that nausea unbearable.

We managed to navigate through the trail running portion of the course with only one slight error in course which was quickly corrected with only a slight loss of time. The hill though, I don't think I will ever forget the hill. It went straight up and didn't stop. It teased you and made you think it was stopping and then it laughed in your face and went further up. And up. And up. And up some more. I barely had legs left by the time we made it to the bike check point. That's when the unwinding continued.

Remember my last post when I commented about not being an athlete? Well, I'm not a technical mountain biker either. I was just adjusting to riding a bike with front suspension and now was mounted on a full-suspension technical bike that was far out of my league. And the tracks were incredibly technical as well. End result was my walking the bike more than I rode and a left calf that looks like someone took a meat tenderizer to it. I'm still not sure exactly where the three inch long, 1/8 inch wide scraping gash over my Achilles tendon happened. That one will take time to heal and may even leave a mark.

By the time we'd pushed/rode/shoved the bikes through to the middle checkpoint I was done. I was frustrated beyond belief with the bike, stressed about my bike and exhausted from fighting nausea the entire time. I was done. Done. My teammate was disappointed but I had nothing left.

Am I upset that I didn't finish? Disappointed but I have to remind myself I just started training for that race 5 months prior and literally went from couch to adventure race in that short time period. The fact I made it as far as I did with the level of fitness I had was amazing considering my medical situation.

Could I have done anything differently? Of course. I think some of the big factors were (a) not getting enough to eat the day before (b) the side effects of the AD (c) not having enough rest before the race (d) not having a strong enough fitness base. These things can be changed.

I think by trying to micromanage my ileostomy for the long drive - the first long road trip in 7 years - I ended up depleting my stores. I ate low residue food and didn't eat a lot because I didn't want to be stopping to empty my appliance a lot - no, you cannot regulate ileostomy output by not eating, in fact that causes all kinds of problems in itself - but by being careful about what you eat you can minimize the number of times you have to empty the appliance in a day. That, combined with a lack of sleep the night before the race, didn't give me a lot of energy to bring forward.

Then there is the eating during the race. I need to keep working on that one and experimenting with different race foods. I know that bars and gels can be risky because they can increase "output" - which means a lot of side treks off the beaten path to find a private log. I have to find out what I can eat during a race to keep my energy up.

All in all, however, I wouldn't trade that weekend for the world. I know what to expect for next year and can be better prepared physically for it. And I really enjoyed being in that atmosphere, surrounded by over 300 physically fit people all with the same goal to test themselves over a grueling course because that's what they love to do. It's addictive and I can't wait to do it again.

Next up? I carry the Olympic flame in January!

Before then, however, the training continues.

See you on the trails,
Barb