Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1048523
www November 2018 27 three-Liter camelback and figured I was good to go — another mistake. I took off at a good pace and started climbing into the mountain forest. Really technical second gear stuff, followed by sketchy descents which were manageable with some advice I received before the start. If you killed the engine in first and fanned the clutch to use as a rear brake, you could feather the front and use both legs to balance. There was only one sec on where mortals had to bulldog the bike down due to a sheer drop onto a wooden log bridge. If you miscalculated and went off, it put you in an impossible ravine to escape. I was pass- ing a good number of folks who might have been good sand riders at the beach race, but it wasn't doing them much good ge ng hung up on steep technical climbs. Although sketchy at mes with the eleva on, there was nothing really horrible through the first few checkpoints. About an hour into the race, I started to pick up the pace and was feeling pre y good. I thought it was weird that I kept seeing people off to the side res ng for a minute every few miles. What I didn't know at the me, was that you have to really pace yourself through these events or you go through all of your water. I made one clumsy mistake around the two-hour mark and my front wheel washed out at the worst me. My bike slid off the side of one of the cliffs, but luckily caught a few meters down. I wasted an exhaus ng hour ge ng my bike on the course by pushing and then riding along a ledge and ghos ng it back up on the ridge trail. I s ll can't believe I made it out. I sucked down a GU and plodded along trying to cool down, but nearly out of water. I managed to get some of my wind back and made it up some serious third- gear climbs, incredibly steep, straight up and fun. One of the riders had given me some advice and for the tough climbs, you need one thing, com- mitment. No hal earted a empts. Coming into the sixth checkpoint, I was thrilled and knew only 7 km remained to the finish. The check worker was like, great job, now get to the finish! Who can't get through three or four miles? The guys I talked with in the paddock who had run last year's Forest race had all finished in 2017 and ex- pected a tough but fun day. I have to say, this was the worst stuff I've ever seen, ever. The climbs before the finish were nearly impossible steep,