Chequamegon part 2

Matt and I took off onto the singletrack, which due to the alternative route I had taken, was very familiar. We tore through the first sections of singletrack. I was really happy to be riding with Matt. We seem to have very similar menatlities, thoughts on cycling, and with both of us on singlespeeds we rode very similarly keeping a good pace through all of the winding climbs. The sections of singletrack lasted maybe 15 miles or so before we hit a gravel section. I paused and told Matt to go ahead because I had considered waiting for Nick, and also just needed to grab a bite to eat. I knew there was a "magic stop" around mile 80 and figured that there HAD to at least be water there so I was drinking much more frewquently, just trying to keep the energy up. I still felt like my legs had a lot of juice in them, and after asking two guys if they had seen a rider in green on a purple bike (Nick), and hearing no, I decided to move on and tackle the next long section of gravel road by myself. Up and down the familiar hills I knew that the next turn was a snowmobile trail that had an arrow. I passed a few guys debating whether or not a certain ATV trail was the route. I simple stated, "I know the turn is marked." and then kept on going. Coming to the bottom of the turn I saw my friend Butch, from Gnomefest, pedalling around the top of the next hill. "Come on Butch!" as I turned down the doubletrack. He caught up and thanked me as we rode together for a while. Through a nasty sand area I left Butch and continued trudging along by myself. I caught back up to Matt at another cross-road around mile 78. We had differing opinions on which route to take and I stood around knowing that a few people were close behind. A group of three caught up and confirmed what I had been thinking. A minute later we were heading towards the resort and the aforementioned "magic spot". More conversation and planning happened as we cruised through parking lots and the resort. Hitting singletrack once again we trudged forward. I took a drink of my water and realized that I was running very low. I asked about the water spot, and found out to my dismay that I had missed it somewhere in the parking lot. TROUBLE. The day was getting hotter, I was getting tired, and I had little to no water left. I had to step back my effort and it wasn't easy as we were in the most difficult section of trail. Our group met up with another group that reunited me with Mr. Farrow and Matt. That picked up my spirits and I began to forget about running low on water until we hit another gravel section and I had the only bout of cramps of the entire race. The cramps necessitated me drinking the rest of the water that I had, and barring getting lost again I only had gravel and one nasty climb that, at that point, I was more than willing to walk if need be. I felt ok about the water situation and figured I was on my way home. I rode the gravel and at a fork I saw Charlie reading a sign. We followed the road and pounded down some gravel which luckily felt mostly downhill. After arriving at a new fork in the road our world exploded. We looked at one of the trail maps and realized that we were basically as far from where we needed to be as possible. Charlie started cursing, I started cursing, and we wondered what to do. I knew that I could get us back based off of my gps and new understanding of the map, but niether of us had water, and we were going to have at least another hour of riding. No choice but to turn around and trudge up the previously glorious downhill which had morphed into a bastard of a climb. We caught a couple of other groups who were struggling more physically than Charlie and I, and thank God one saint of a man gave us a bit of his extra water which propelled me through the final five or six miles of gravel. We rolled in as a group of five at 6:33, 11 hours 33 minutes after starting. I had about 10:15 of riding. The 45th place that I was slotted into doesn't really do the ride I had justice. I have said though that if you aren't in the top five or so in a race like this then the exact place you finish doesn't matter as much. I did find comfort in the fact that most of the guys that I rode with up to mile 85 or 90 finished in the top 25, and know that if it wasn't for my poor planning in regards to water, and the final wrong turn that set us at least another 30-45 minutes back I would have also been in that top 25 group. I felt good the entire time. The legs were there and I climbed as well as I had ever done in the past. No big wrecks, which was one of my goals, although there were a few close calls. Overall a good race, a great time, with great people, and a for-sure-will-do next year.