This
past weekend I took a trip down to Jacksonville,
Florida for the 3rd race of the Florida State Championship
Mountain Bike Series. Gone
Riding put on great event at
Hanna Park.
I
got to my camp site at Huguenot
Park about 4:00 pm on Friday. It was steady raining so I went
looking for the nearest Wal-Mart. I ended up at a Food Lion off
HWY 105 in the bad part of town buying a loaf of Merrita
Bread, Mayonnaise, and a pack of Pickle Loaf sandwich meat
(I was on a serious budget). I also had to stock up on Chocolate
milk for in the mornin. By the time I made it back to camp the
rain had slowed enough for me to set up my tent. This was primitive
camping (site w/no water or electric). The wind was blowing hard
so I put extra tent steaks in each corner of the tent. I unloaded
all my gear from the van into the tent. I had taken out all of
the seats in the back of the van before leaving home. Knowing
that the weather wasn't going to get any better I set up shop
in the back of the van. I'm glad I did cause it rained hard and
the wind howled all night. It was very comfy and I had plenty
of room to move around, more than I would have had in my 4 person
tent. My camp site was right at the mouth of the St. Johns River.
It is a major marine port and huge ships were floating by all
the time.
I
woke Saturday to pouring rain but as the sun came up the rain
cleared to beautiful sunny skies. It was looking good for the
Pre-Ride. I decided to hang around camp a wile and do some exploring
over to the beach to watch the surfer's that had been streaming
in the park since 8 am.
I
drove over to Hanna Park (about a 20 min drive) to get a couple
pre-ride laps. I got all signed in and got my number plate. While
chit chatting with folks around the Gone Riding trailer no one
told me of the trails condition. I new the trail was wet but I
was thinking it was just gonna be packed (semi white) sand throughout.
Boy was I wrong. As soon as I entered the Single track there was
a 200 yard long black, stanky, mud puddle. I thought "oh
well a little mud at the start" but as I went on there was
puddle after puddle.
After
about 1.5 miles in the trail dried out and was fast and flowing
with tight turns with huge berms. Then about half way through
I had to make a hard left hand turn through a big puddle. I dove
right in thinking it would only be as deep as the rest of the
puddles I had encountered (about 6 inches deep) Well my front
tire went out of sight as I bogged down right in the middle, now
standing in nasty water above my knees YUK! I Dredged on and came
to another deeper whole and again dove right in before I knew
it was soooo deep.
I
made it through the first lap and even though I had planned to
do two laps it would not be worth it. I took my bike over to the
beach showers and washed her down then sprayed her with WD-40
and gushed chain lube all over every moving part. I planned on
lubing it all again before the race.
I
made my way back to camp to hunker down in the back of the van
for the night. I kept thinking of Chris Farley saying in a skit
on saturday night live "You want to end up living in a van
down by the river?" I took a shower in the park facilities
which were very substandard. I didn't even want to stand in the
shower with sandals on it was soo nasty. I ended up spending most
of the night fishing with no luck. I only had some artificial
baits. I would have caught something had I gone and got some shrimp
for bait. I had fun any way walking the shore listening to Planet
Radio 107.3.
Sunday
morning came quick, it seemed like time flew by. I packed everything
up and bolted for Hanna Park. The White wave (beginner) had already
started by the time I had got there. I was trying to talk myself
out of racing but I knew if I did not race I would regret it when
I got home. I got race ready and rode over to the start.
On
the start line of my race (Sport Men 30-39) it looked like a bunch
of pro's. All light weight XC bikes with riders with full kits
on and clipless. I looked really out of place with my flat pedals
and shin guards. The whistle blew and I was off. I settled into
last place within the first 100 yards. The start was along a tree
line next to a grassy field. It was mud bog city by the time we
started. I entered the single track right behind the pack and
tried to hang on. I managed to keep them in sight for the first
mile but then the later classes begin to catch me. About two mile
in I was passing a dude pushing his bike carrying his chain. I
said need some help, I gotta chain tool? He said sure. I jumped
off got out my chain tool to hand it to him but he says "
uhh i'm not sure how to use that". Sooooo of course I spend
10 min fixing his chain, even put in a new link pin for him. I
was assuming he was going to try and finish. He finished out that
lap and quit. Had I known he was just gonna ride out and quit
I would have let him walk. Anyway I had an extra long first lap.
By the middle of the second lap some of the sport women were catching
me. I was amazed to see these women just plow thru the mud and
muck like it was nothing. Some wearing only Bike shorts and jog
bras. My subsequent laps got faster.
I
finished in fine fashion as usual. Dave of Gone riding was pulling
up stakes as I crossed the line. I was glad to be thru but did
have a good time of it. After finishing and making sure I got
counted as finishing, I rode straight over to the beach and got
in the ocean. Shoes, shirt, riding shorts and all. I just wallered
around in the surf trying to get the ZOO smelling mud and muck
off me. I changed clothes, made my last two "Pickle Loaf"
sandwiches and headed north Home. Of course I ran in to construction
traffic on I-75 and it took me 6 HOURS to get HOME!
RESULTS
I ended up finishing 16th of 21 Sport Men 30-39
I
only had a disposable camera on this trip! click
here for ALL PHOTOS
Click
here for Carl Mesta's Photos
