This weekend I chose to volunteer for @Chainbuster Racing’s Cohutta, Big Frog and Old Copper Mountain Bike Races in Copperhill, TN. I knew that we were short on volunteers, so I was happy to be able to sweep the 100mi course in the Subaru. The Forester forested and I got to enjoy some beautiful mountains while climbing up and down through several different climate zones. Ears must have popped a thousand times over the course of this race.
I caught up to Juan, the last 100 miler at about 15 miles before the climb up Potato Patch. I took a break to let him have some time to get ahead. Once we got near the top of Potato Patch, we entered the clouds. I got out of the Subaru twice on the climb and sprinted 200 yards both times to get ahead of Jaun and take some pics of him riding in the clouds. I talked to him for a couple of minutes while running uphill next to him, got to know him for a minute and he was in great spirits. I never saw him get off the bike until he got to the aid station.
He started at 7am, and when I got done pulling markers, ferrying supplies and pulled back into camp at 10:30pm I met up with him again as he finished. Nobody suffered as long as Juan. He was just as happy to be alive as he was when I last saw him 8hrs before. Great job to all the racers that came out yesterday!