Syllamo's Revenge

This past Saturday was Syllamo's Revenge. We all rode there once before a few years ago. This race filled up in four days so I had been registered and committed for quite a while. Racers came from all over, AR, MO, TN, GA, IL, MS, TX, CO, LA, KS, FL, OK, NC, MN.

I was able to talk the wonderful Ms. Jessica



in to coming along so we both took off work on Friday and made the journey down. We stayed at Anglers White River Resort which was decent but not close to as nice as the cabin that we stayed in last time. Noisy wall unit AC, no microwave, no coffee maker, no fridge. I'll look for a rental cabin again next time. We checked out the race start location, then went in to town for some food. Went back to Tommy's Famous for some really good pizza. Then we grabbed a fudge brownie sundae from some place on the square, watched some pickin and grinnin, and went back to the room to rest up for the following day. I had some riding to do and Jess had a bunch of studying to do for a final.

Next morning went nice and smooth and we got prepped for the 8AM start. Here are some guys milling around before the start. Eventual winner Dwayne #340, Scott Peipert behind and to the right, Doug Long (won big last year at nationals I believe) in the black 360 kit, and Chris Ploch to the right of him.



Let me see if I can get these two guys right. Nico Matt Storm Klein and Mason Eddie Toscani Hoffmeyer. Yeah that's it.



There were close to 350? registered racers I believe and I think something like 290 lined up that morning. The race starts with a short flat section and then a mile long fairly steep fire road climb. I can't climb at all so I figured I'd try to at least get to the climb early and let everyone work their way around me. So, I lined up in the front row, in front of 290 other racers. I really don't belong there but it was nice to have open road in front of me. It worked all right as I was one of the first to reach the base of the climb.



Then everyone passed me. We funnelled in to the singletrack and the trail eventually got a little bit technical I guess. The rocks were really slippery from the previous rains so once one bobbled, so did everyone behind. There was quite a bit of dismounting in the first hour, a few times I'd slow before a technical section and let the guys ahead of me get through, then ride it myself. I thought many times about just riding around or running around everyone, but I didn't know who else was waiting to do the same thing, so I felt obligated to wait my turn in line. That's the way it is in big races I think and if you don't want to get caught in the jam than you need to get there first. I like riding the technical stuff so it was fun either way.


Pics available here. I'm buying one so I hope it's OK to use here.

I slowly worked my way through some riders until about 50 minutes in I slit my sidewall. I don't recall seeing a lot of guys fixing flats which is great, I think there were a lot last year. Immediately put in a tube but not before what seems like 20 or 30 riders passed me. The Doctor and TSMS passed so it was good to see familiar faces of wrist snapping encouragement.

When I got back moving the jam was even worse so it took a while for things to open up. There was some kind of killer quicksand pit / log combo that destroyed three of us at one time, as I hear at least one other, probably more. I was the third of three right in a row to lose my front wheel in the pit and wound up over the bars, half on top of the second guy with my chest resting on the log. The first guy was five yards further down the trail. I thought we were all done when it was happening, but somehow we all emerged unscathed. After the first checkpoint (16-17 miles?) it seems that the crowd thinned out immensely. I wonder if a lot of folks dropped out at that point? About one third of the way done and I had felt pretty good so far. The next section / green loop was great fun with lots of rock and tech moves.

The next section of the race I was feeling pretty bad, struggling to turn over the granny it felt like. I think a lot of that was mental as it was the middle of the race, the trail had gotten less flowy, and I may have been a bit behind on fueling. There were a couple thigh deep, swift, clear, cold, creek crossings that felt really good on this section, it would have been great to play around for a while. But I got through all that and got to the last third of the race which was fast, dry, and flowy and I felt pretty good again.

Popped out on to the initial climb with two other guys and we all booked it for the finsh, there was a sprint at the end and I ended up second of us three. There was no point but it was fun and had us all laughing at the finish.



After the finish I found Jess who had strategically positioned the CR-V by the bus and the finish line. A big gang congregated there and we all ate a bit and inconspicuously drank a bunch of beers. Nico, I made off with the superstar cup you gave me. I'll get it back to you.



The promoter did a great job with this race, which included a sweet shirt and spaghetti dinner, and I will definitely be back next year.

After the awards we all went to Tres Amigos. El Guapo served us some decent Mexican fare and Gino Sandknop Felino Greg threw down his winnings to cover our dinner. He even tried to pay for his own on top of that. Keeven and The Wallet Keeper of Hoffmeyer Pictures covered the rest. Thanks again to all three of you!

The next morning we ate breakfast at Angler's in their nice dining room overlooking the White River. We dined on fresh homemade omelettes and blueberry pancakes.

It was a perfect weekend that was more that just a bike race.



Results. Looks like 244 started, I ended up 34th overall.



Other reports so far (I'll add them as I see them):

Dwayne Winner

Seagulls

Mitch Johnson

Scott Peipert

Team Red Wheel


P.S.



P.P.S.

Hypercolor