Pro mountain biker and Elevation Outdoors correspondent Sonya Looney is racing in the Transylvania Epic this week. She will be providing updates from the field throughout the epic.
Or maybe I should call it not-so-prologue!! I got to TSE Ground Zero around 8 PM on Saturday. Dicky and Dougie Fresh picked me up at the State College airport, and we met up with Reba and Greg for some dinner in town.
I was signed up for one of the bunks, but brought my tent just in case. The bunks were pretty hot inside, so I decided to go set up my tent next to Jonny D. He was an amazing help. After I realized Delta Airlines charged 200 dollars ONE WAY per bike, he made a way to fit my bike in his super pro egg-sprinter set up! THANK YOU!
Home sweet home this week.
After getting my tent set up, I got to bed around midnight and was totally exhausted after a travel day that started at 5:30AM! In the morning, I decided I should probably pre-ride the time trial, so I went out and rode the 12 mile course -nice and easy. Jason gave me a structured warm-up to do before the start. I normally warm up and it’s basically the same thing, but not as “organized.” All last week, my legs weren’t feeling that great. 100W recovery rides made my legs burn. No good. It was the same story on the warm up. I tried to ignore the fatigue all week and did the space legs at FasCat coaching, got a massage, tried to rest although the week ended up being really stressful, and did a few 1 hour easy spins. I was hoping I’d come around in time for the race.
The Prologue course was super fun!
There was a good mix of road and techy singletrack. It was M-U-D-D-Y!!! I actually love the mud, but in Colorado, if you’re riding in mud, you’re likely damaging the trails. The dirt here is quite different so it holds water pretty well. I love the trails here – they do not disappoint. Unfortunately, from GO, I found that my legs were not going to cooperate. I did the best I could to go “hard,” but no matter how much I searched for power, I couldn’t find it. Instead, I accepted how my body was at the present moment, and focused on the experience! I had a couple mishaps, costing me precious time but everyone always does in a race. It was sweltering for my 4:16 PM start…. About 90 degrees and very humid.
