Underestimating The Whole Enchilada

The Misfit Mountain team decided it would be a good idea to race 35 miles of single track in a single morning. In hindsight, this good idea was less than that.

The day began at the ass crack of dawn, driving to the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC. With a race start time of 8am and final packet pick up by 7:30am, there was no time for lollygagging. The USNWC was hosting its inaugural "The Whole Enchilada" on January 13th, where you can pay money to harm yourself for 4+ hours on nothing but single track.

There we stand at 8am, next to the drained out man-made whitewater rapid river bed, freezing our yo-yos. The bullhorn erupts, and off we go.

Two hours and sixteen miles later I realize I've made a terrible mistake. My mistake is one of judgment, believing that I could actually go into race mode for 35 miles. I've been "racing" for the last 16 miles, and I'm ready to renounce my US citizenship, denounce mountain biking forever, and fall off my bike and cry. The 25 mile Couch Potato, up and down 3 bigass mountains in Pisgah National Forest, was easier than this. Bonus points - it rained for 6 hours the day prior. 

If you've ever reached the point where walking your bike up a hill is faster than riding due to sheer exhaustion...

After an additional two hours of great trail made horrible by my lack of Tour de France level endurance, I crossed the finish line. Misfit Carl, who had been drinking profusely in Wales the week before, still beat me by 5 minutes, that sonofabitch. Todd & Greg rolled in shortly thereafter. Giant enchiladas and a post-race NoDa beer were hastily consumed to restore blood sugar levels.

But yeah, we underestimated The Whole Enchilada. Click the pic of us in our jerseys to watch a little viddy ditty. Or click here. 

And then we went to Concord, NC to drink beer and play old school video games with our fun in-laws. Things turned out all right...