An Epic

The whole thing about an epic ride or an epic something is that it really is epic. I don't know I've ever heard of anything else being called "epic" except for a lot of old classic stories like Homer's Odyssey and so on, and here and there a few storied bike rides. Well, I wouldn't exactly call this story the Odyssey, but it was really long and certainly was odd.

As I started out before, it was a 60 degree day in January with the sun shining high overhead, quite a contrast to today's weather of pouring rain and 35mph+ winds. It felt more like September than January.
Jason(J-Core to those of you who know him) and I had planned this the week before, knowing the weather was supposed to be so fantastic. There is a sweet loop of mostly singletrack all the way around this lake called Blue Marsh that makes for a 30 mile loop. There is one spot about 10 miles into it that you can cut of 10 miles and make it a 20 mile loop, but that is the only shortcut. We had tried to organize a trip to do this loop in the fall, but it got rained out, so here we are in January, stoked that we get to do it.

So I took off first thing in the morning, well it was close anyway, to meet him up at his apartment in Kutztown about an hour away. I got there right about 10am. We load up and head out to the trailhead, driving separately so that I can head home for dinner right when we're done. With a lot of putzing around and some minor getting lost, we finally hit the trail at 11:30, a bit later than I was expecting, but shouldn't be a problem right? 30 miles of track, I figured 3 hours optimistically, but no more than 4, taking into account that neither of us are exactly in tip top shape.
Well, we hit the first 10 miles and we, relatively speaking, tear it up. It was a gorgeous day, I just couldn't comprehend that it was possibly January. The trail was a bit soggy from some rain the day before, but it wasn't too bad, just a little slow. All told, with one break for a breakfast bar, one hour and thirty minutes. I sort of wished we were moving a little faster, but no big deal, we had plenty of time and it was a sweet day.

We decided we were feeling pretty good and we weren't going to get a better shot at doing the whole trail probably until May or June, so we skipped the shortcut and hopped on the 2nd section of 10 miles. This is where I started to get worried. It started with about 3 miles of mostly flat singletrack close to the lake that was just really soggy. You know, the kind that just sucks the energy right out of you. As we continued, I began to watch my cpu record the steady and slow decline of our average speed. No big deal, I just figured we took too long of a break at the road so, I suggested we just keep on plugging away to keep some of that momentum. It turns out that the oatmeal that Jason ate for breakfast wasn't really cutting it, nor were the Combo's he brought along for lunch. Granted, Jason has only owned his bike since August, but this was bad.

Next up, now that we were half way through was a section up and around a small ski hill, but nonetheless it was a ski hill. I was stoked and ready for some good long technical climbs. Jason was dying a slow death. Here is where the walking began. His technical skills really weren't matched up yet with how strong his legs were, which isn't saying much. We made it through, got back to the road, 10 miles to go. Time passed, now three and a half hours. That puts it at 3pm in the afternoon, 10 miles to go, and the sun sets in 2 hours. Uh-oh.
I knew I couldn't say much of anything to him, I've been in his shoes before, I just hoped we could make it out by dark. Well, we began counting down the last of the miles as Jason slowly seemed to disintegrate before my eyes. I had to really try to go as slow as he was, especially on the hills. I never thought I would see the day where my granny gear on a 27 speed bike wasn't low enough. With about 7 or 8 miles to go, he started walking every hill. I mean every single one. He hardly had the energy to stand on his pedals to coast through the downhills. I knew we were sunk, and I could see it in his eyes. I gave him my Clif Shot, my Gatorade, my breakfast bar, and I think all it did was help him keep his eyes open. We started out with an average speed of close to 8, we were now under 7mph and dropping fast. In case you don't know, it really is faster to pedal your bike, even in granny gear, than it is to push it. Trust me.

We're down to about 4 or 5 miles to go, and it is now nearing 5pm. I suddenly don't need my sunglasses anymore, and there is now a chill in the air. Jason's legs are starting to twinge and threatening to cramp. He tells me to just go on, go back to the parking lot and leave, he'll make it out sooner or later. Well, from the looks of things it was going to be a lot later than sooner. Though I was tempted to take off, I wasn't about to leave somebody who has no energy, whose legs are nearly cramped solid, who doesn't have any food and only a little water, out in the woods by himself, now that it is nearly dark. We did have one thing on our side though, it was a totally clear night, and from the looks of things we were going to have a full moon.

I hit the next section, a long winding downhill that I just had to bomb through, I couldn't take it anymore. I probably could have fallen asleep at the bottom waiting for him, but I had an idea. It was going to be dark soon, no doubt about it, so I trashed my way back to the parking lot, the last 2.5 miles, opened up my Jeep, grabbed my headlamp and my Maglite flashlight, and headed back down the trail to find Jason. When I left him, he had totally given up on riding altogether, that means he is now walking, pushing his bike, probably at about 2mph. I found him, riding while holding a Maglite in my hand, and we walked out the last 1.5 miles. The last section of road we climbed to get back to the parking lot, Jason was so drained I pushed my bike up the hill, and I pushed his bike up the hill. He was nearly delirious from not having any energy. He was really looking forward to going to the gas station and buying fruit roll-ups, pop tarts, and Gatorade!? Nobody in their right mind eats that combination. He really sounded like he was talking in his sleep, I wish I could have recorded it.

We finally reached the parking lot at 6pm. On the trail for 6.5 hours. That amounts to less than 5mph average, which is painfully slow, but to Jason, it was just painful. I felt bad just leaving him, I couldn't drive him home because we had two cars, but I think he made it. I assume so, but come to think of it, I haven't heard from him since......