3 State 3 Mountain Redux

Last weekend I participated in my first century - 3 state 3 mountain. As the name implies, it covers 3 states (Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama) and 3 mountains (Suck Creek, Lookout Mountain, and Sand Mountain) and as such riders have close to 10,000 ft of elevation change.

Last year, I uncharacteristically didn't start due to the inclement weather. I had planned to stick it out but was scarred off by my bike-t0-work friends. This year, the weather was actually worse, but I told my wife I was going to at least start. The race was delayed due to thunderstorms and lightening.

The start was very weird, no gun, no horn, no anything. I'm a perennial optimist, but I have to be honest, the first 25 miles were miserable. Several ambulances passed me, and I was fortunate to be riding on my bike and not in their. I would later hear of some horrific stories from hypothermia to a seat-post being surgically removed from a guy's leg. I could barely see in the rain, we were all going at a snail pace, and none of my riding buddies were doing it, so I was riding by myself. My wife wanted constant updates, so I called her after the first mountain and just admitted that I was miserable and was seriously thinking about just turning back and hanging out with her and my newborn. She encouraged me to find a group and persevere.After figuring out that by the time I would get home, she would need to leave for a baby shower she was going to, I made up in my mind I was going to finish, no matter what. I then met-up with my brother-in-law's friend and rode with him and his friends. The next 30 miles were gorgeous passing several rivers and climbing Sand Mountain. The road was rough and met several flat tires. I later heard that one co-rider would have 8 flat tires by the end of the race!

Lookout Mountain was gorgeous as well. By this time the sun was blazing hot. Towards the top I was in the minority by actually riding my bike and not walking up. Again, I was a horrific wreck where a woman could not go any further up, she didn't have the leg strength to push down a pedal, and as such fell on her left side, head first. It was reported later that she got a concussion.

Once I topped Lookout, I was ready to see my girls, so I took off, and blazed to the finish line, while the group I was with was making full use of the SAG. The finish was great, with fellow riders hanging out drinking Cola and beer. The pizza was a little late, but I was just happy to have completed my first century.

Before I started I got a ton of advice from bring the strongest pain medication you can find, to forget the stops ride fast, to make full use of the sags and enjoy it. The only advice I ended up taking was the latter, which was from a friend who is always in-better shape than me. I think this ended up helping me finish so strong. At the end, I really felt like I could have ran a marathon, but my wife and I had dinner plans with friends.