Lajitas and the Big Bend area are difficult to describe to those who have never gone. Stark. Expansive. Panoramic. Mystical. These are some of the words that come to my mind. Aubrey, Scott and I left Baton Rouge for Lajitas on Thursday around 5 pm. These gents are my racing buddies. Scott and I are Sport racers, while Aubrey recently moved up to Expert and is in "semi-retirement".

We were driving across Texas to participate in the Chihuahuan Desert Challenge mountain bike race. This event is a quirky mountain bike stage race and festival that features stiff racing competition, a spectator friendly dirt crit, and a beer drinking goat, who happens to be the Lajitas’s major.

As is customary in departures for mountain biking parts unknown, we partook in cold and delicious beverages that heightened our already amped psyches. Unfortunately, when the buzz wears off, one is confronted with the reality of another 700 miles to go. That’s OK. The cost for Lajitas is high, but the rewards are higher.

We decided to drive through the night, and arrived in Study Butte (about 20 miles from Lajitas) at about 9 am Friday morning. We chose to stay in Study Butte because the Woodstock like nature of the Lajitas campground was more that I could bare. I’m not too keen on waiting 30 minutes to take a cold shower, or waiting a similar length of time to use a stinky bathroom with no toilet paper (I later found out that Lajitas has a new and modern bathhouse).

We stayed at the Study Butte RV Park. One could charitably describe it as rustic and "full of character". Most others would probably describe it as trashy and a bit stinky. Anyway, they had free firewood, a decent bathhouse (with no waits I might add) and we were cool with the digs.

I wanted to show the boys Big Bend National Park. I’ve been going there since high school, and absolutely love the place. We made the 45 minute drive into the Chisos Mountains Basin. During the drive, we went from stark desert to cool, high desert forest. I wish we could have taken a hike, or driven to one of the canyons, be we didn’t have the time. Next year.

Next we drove over to Lajitas to pick up our bibs and do a little preriding. We rode most of the Beginner course and most of the Sport Time Trail course. Nothing too technical. We went back to camp and went to sleep trying to make up for our sleep deprivation from the drive out.

I’ve never done a mountain bike time trial before. They staged us based on bib numbers, and riders left in 30 second intervals. It was a challenge to stay warmed up and also make sure we didn’t miss our start. I wish I had brought my air trainer to keep warmed up. Oh well.

I had debated whether I wanted to do the time trial in the first place. I was concerned that I would be fried for the challenging cross-country course the next day. However, I decided that I was there to race, and most of the other riders were facing the same challenge.

I was only going to go about 90 percent of maximum effort on the time trial however. Since the time trial only represents about 15 percent of the total racing time for the stage race, I decided it was in my strategic interest to be conservative on Saturday’s Time Trial. At worst, I would lose a minute or two, which could easily be made up on Sunday’s 30 mile course.

There is an interesting obstacle at the beginning of the time trial course. After doing a quick right u-turn, racers go down a steep chute in front of spectators. The chute isn’t too hard, but it would be easy to go too hard at the start and bungle the chute. I took the chute pretty easily and was off for the race.

My heart rate was running in the 160s, which is low for me (I typically run 170 plus during races). The lower heart rate was cool because I only wanted to go about 90 percent. About 2 miles into the race, I could hear the guy who started right behind me nipping at my heels. He was gaining in technical loose downhill sections, but I was holding him off in the flats and climbs. He finally passed me around mile three, and put another 18 seconds on me by the finish. I passed two other guys, and believed I had done OK and had saved something for Sunday.

I waited and cheered as Scott came over the finish line. He was covered in dust and told me that he took a spill. We waited and when the results came out, Scott had kicked ass. He ran a 25 minute time (9^th in his class, Sport 40-44). I did a pretty slow 27.5 minute time and was 27^th out of 37 riders in my class (Sport 35-39). I was a little disappointed in my time, but realized that two to three minutes is nothing to make up in Sunday’s race.

Preparation Sunday morning was hectic. Get the clothes and gear on, eat something, take care of bodily needs, get the bike ready, warm up, and get to the start for staging. At the last minute, I realized I had forgotten my water bottle cage. I put it on hastily while I listened to the other racers being staged.

I got to the start in time to be put on the front row (due to my low bib number because I preregistered). However, they pulled the top ten from a race two weeks ago forward, then they pulled the top ten from the previous day’s Time Trail, which meant I was starting in the middle. Oh well. It’s a long course with plenty of passing opportunities.

The gun went off and everyone sprinted away from the line. I was following in a dust cloud that made it difficult to see the other riders and impossible to see the terrain. I stayed in my same relative position until we got to the single track. From there, I started passing riders. I proceeded to pass riders on the single track and on the mile long riverbed that was the race course.

Next we went out on a fast downhill fire road and I had three other riders sucking my wheel for several miles. I asked them if they wanted to work together, but they did not want to take a turn pulling, so I ignored them and rode my race. This wheel sucking dude with a black beard passed me right when we started the big climb. He is the one who said he didn’t have anything in him to pull. Frickin liar.

The big climb is the most distinctive feature of the Lajitas race. Lajitas was my last Beginner race in 1999. The beginners don’t do "the climb" so I had never ridden "the climb" before. It is tough! It is a pain induced slog. I just hunkered down and kept on peddling. I felt like I was going really slowly, but no one was passing me, and I was passing slow and walking racers. I knew from looking at the map that the climb was over at mile 12. My computer showed 8.3 miles. I had nearly four miles to go! I knew I had to pace myself or could never finish the 30 mile course. This course is about survival!

I got to the top, and started going downhill. This was a great relief because I wanted to really hammer the second half of the course. On the flats I was doing 18 to 20 mph and passing riders quickly. We had a few sketchy and loose downhill sections that I rode conservatively because I didn’t want to make a mistake after getting the climb out of the way.

Things were going well until I went down a little drop and heard "Pss, Pss, Pss, Pss…". I had cut my rear tire on a rock. I was losing air pressure. I’m running Stan’s Tubeless System. I stopped the bike and turned the rear wheel until the cut was at the bottom. It took a little time, but the latex sealed the hole. I then hit the tire with CO2. The CO2 started leaking out the cut at the higher pressure.

At this point, I faced a crucial decision. Do I use my last CO2 cartridge on the tire hoping the leak will seal itself? Or do I play it safe and put a tube in the tire. I had already lost about 5 minutes (Scott had passed me). I decided getting back to the start was more important than time. I had been in 20^th to 25^th place at mile 20 when I got the flat. I was really out of the race losing five minutes. I put the tube in and filled it with my last CO2 cartridge. I was only able to get about 15 psi in the tire. Upon riding, I had to dismount on any rocks and square edges or risk a pinch flat and a 10 mile walk back. The back tire was so low it was moving around in corners and did not inspire confidence. I had to ride slowly, dismount and get off the trail for other riders passing me.

Next I came to a fire road crossing with race support. A race volunteer said he had a pump and could put some air in my rear tire. Even though it is against NORBA rules for me to let him pump up my tire, at this point it was about just getting back to the start. We had a few problems with his pump, and after about another 10 minutes I was on my way. At this point, I was sightseeing with a heart rate in the 130s. Why hurry at this point? I already lost 30 minutes with the tire fiasco.

I finally got to the end and finished in 47^th place out of 58 racers with a time of 2:53:37. I estimate that I lost about 30 minutes with the tire problem. That would have put me at 2:23:37, which would have put me in 15^th place. Oh well, coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Scott Randall kicked ass for an old guy. He did the cross country course in 2:19:47 and placed 7^th out of 54 riders in his class. He probably would have had 2^nd place if his chain had not locked up on him. Scott’s a mountain biking stud and I’m really happy for his success.

The drive back was an uneventful 1,000 mile marathon. We left Study Butte around 6 pm Sunday, and arrived in BR around 9:30 Monday morning. I’m still catching up on my sleep. It was all a wonderful blur. One day the sun came up and we were in the bizarre desert wonderland. A couple of days later the sun comes up and we are at work. Did it really happen? My tired legs and dry skin tell me it did.

Below is an internet link to the race results. I’ve also included a link about the race. Enjoy.