Eddie and Namrita O'Dea (Image credit: Trish Albert)
The new bikes are finished and ready to race! We decided to build them up and do a "test race" on them immediately (as in the next day). We would say that they passed!
The race was Cohutta 100, the first race of the NUE series, but with the 24 hours of Vail Lake following one week later, we decided to race the shorter versions–the 65 mile race (Eddie) and the 35 mile race (Namrita) to shorten the recovery time. While it isn't ideal to race with brand new equipment, we didn't have a choice. We did get in a pre-ride of a small piece of the race course on Friday.
The weather was 70 degrees (Fahrenheit) and sunny, and the trails were in perfect shape. However, I felt horrible! I was really nervous because my legs couldn't climb, and I just generally didn't feel prepared to race. I had never raced any length of time under six hours, so the 35 mile race was definitely an unknown for me. Eddie said to not worry, though, because the "worse you feel the day before the race, the better you feel during the race". I'm not sure if that is true or not, but I decided to go with those words of wisdom anyway. Fast forward to race day...
