I did my first ever solo endurance mountain bike race today. It was a 6 hour race in Woodstock, GA at the Blanket's Creek mountain bike trails. BC is one of the closest trails to my house, and I ride it pretty frequently. I don't really like racing there, though. There is a lot of short, steep climbing, and the trails beat you up. You do as many laps as you can in 6 hours. You have to finish your last lap within the 6 hours, or it doesn't count. There is a large pit area where teams set up EZ Up tents, coolers, chairs, etc. You can also have support people in this area. This acts as your homebase. You can stop as your pit as often and for as long as you want between laps or not stop at all; it's totally up to the racer. The time is counted as part of your lap towards your overall time, sort of like a transition area in a tri add to your overall time.
The laps were about 8.1 miles. I finished 5 and had 41.7 miles on my computer (haven't checked my Garmin). The first lap was good. The second lap was really fast until a yellow jacket somehow got in my jersey. It stung me on the left shoulder and hurt like !*!*. I was glad it didn't sting me somewhere else. I had to "pit" for a few extra minutes and take an Allegra. One of my teammates said the sting looked about as big as a nickel. The Allegra kept is from getting bigger. Lap 3 was good and about as fast as the first two except the extra time in the pit. Starting lap 4, I was at the three hour mark. Most of my road and mtb rides are under 3 hours. Lap 4 was about 5 minutes slower than the first two. I did a 5th lap only because I had enough time not because I needed the lap to win. The second place rider did 4 laps in the same time as I did 5. To put things in perspective, the pro woman that won her division did 8 laps...and she was on a singlespeed, which has only one gear. There is a reason she won the Masters Singlespeed Women's National Champion last weekend in PA. I was thrilled to win my division. The best prize....a $50 gift card to the hair salon that I go to. They are a huge supporter of women's mountain bike racing in Atlanta. (Both owners race mtb's.)
You're such a badass. I don't even try to relate to your races. Seriously impressive. I hope that sting feels better! What a random, crappy thing to have happen. Way to push through!!