“Nah, you are fine... I think it is a pretty fast course.”

Brent Marshall looked at me kinda sideways after I told him this. It was like he thought I had no idea what I was getting into. He was right. I signed up for 5 Points 50 at Lula Lake Land Trust a week ago. I knew I wanted water at an aid station 22 miles in...and that was it. Oh, and follow pink course tape. I wasn’t interested in over-thinking the course. I wanted the thrill of racing 50 miles of unknown singletrack.

I had no idea Brent was racing, but stars aligned and we ended up car camping side by side before the race. This was the first race that Melissa and I had car camped with both dogs, and it went fairly well until too many GPS beeps returned Kipper to some sort of mildly feral state at 11 AM race day. Anyway, Brent was right...the course ended up being very technical and very much like 50 miles of JCC, Trussville, West Ridge, and Hyde. If you are from around Birmingham, you know what is going on now, and maybe laughing a bit.

This was my first race since 2017, so objectively speaking, it would make sense to pick something to get a sure finish in the pocket. I have been back training consistently for maybe 3-4 months and really just wanted something exciting to do. This was it, and I wasn’t really even aware of how hard it was to get scared before it. That would happen about 20 miles in.

We rolled 5 miles of pavement down to the 5 Points trail system and got to work. I followed Jason Shearer’s plan of .75 IF for pacing and was happy enough with it. I recently started using Garmin’s Rally power meter pedals and from recent rides 0.75 was a good, steady riding pace. I rode well the first 15 miles of singletrack and made lots of passes on downhills. I was happy but my hamstrings weren’t. REAL sore. I was confused about this and still am but had much different work duties with shop inventory last week. Meaning lots of leaning and stooping to scan and count all day. Kinda how your legs feel after the first long yard work day of the year.

I recalibrated my plan a couple hours in. Ride the bikes, eat the food, and drink the water. Then make more decisions. I realized I wasn’t really able to pedal as I wanted, which was initially devastating. I thought more. My goal was to finish so I needed to make that happen, even if I couldn’t crush it. Crushing wasn’t on my goal list, though. Careful with those…

After the climby climby and flowy flowy 5 Points we went into the Ascalon section between the Aid Station at 18 and 24 miles in. Excuse my naming on some of this, as the trails are very tight through here and I had NO idea where I was. I even resorted to making up my own names of trails during the race. The rocks near Ascalon were really tough but I ended up riding almost all of it. This started some of the sections that were a big challenge to get through. Very technical. I have ridden with Lon Cullen a good bit the last few years and taken some of his skills classes. I was NOT on my best game Saturday, and my help from Jason and Lon very much gave me something to lean on. I rode some the last 3 years but very sporadically and mostly ran. Weird. I know. Life has phases and all I gotta say is I love riding my bike 5 days a week again. It means everything.

200 yards of easy singletrack let me relax briefly before another grunt climb rose up in front of me. My legs were too sore to pedal hard, so I saved my energy as best I could. There was a balancing act of riding fast enough to get over rocks but slow enough to save some muscle fibers. My fear here was cramping. It is very rare for me, but if it will happen, this is the situation to happen. (Long hard MTB effort with delayed onset muscle soreness, like after a gym workout). Careful, buddy. I saw the theme here, and it was not gradual climbs and flowy descents anymore. I was going to have to work while I was hurting, and not just a little bit. I hated the food I brought (Lara Bars...that was it) so changed up my plan based on availability. Oatmeal Cream Pies and pickles made the cut. Leave the Lara Bars in the pocket. The Only Eat Real Food crowd woulda been ashamed of me and I’m cool with that. I pushed on with the promise to myself I would enjoy the beautiful area around me and enjoy the trails. Great timing here as I was rewarded with the grind up Nick A Jack pavement in direct sunlight then hit the fresh cut F4 destruction machine. Oof.

This is the newest of the Lula Lake trails and is largely off camber, fresh cut, rooty singletrack. The race organizer warned us numerous times about slick bridges but this was much more dangerous. I rode some. I walked some. I named it The Infestation even though someone else already named it. I had no time goals and did NOT want a bad crash or mechanical issue to take me out. I rode some. I walked some. I put my Dissector/Rekon tire combo back on before this race and was very glad. It is a sticky tire course, but leave the big travel bike at home!

I knew the course would come through the start finish area and go back out so I was ready for it. Don’t. Stop. Or talk to anyone. Comfort and convenience could mean total destruction of my day here. I didn’t even get more water but could have used it. There was way too much going on here. I only wanted to get stuck back in the woods again so I had to finish. A guy I was riding with gave me a description of the final sections, but the part that stuck with me was, “it’s just a lot of climbing.”

Sometimes folks bitch about the final 8-10 miles of singletrack at the end of Skyway Epic here in Alabama. They would like it much more if they got a taste of the last 10 miles of 5 Points 50! There is no easy rolling here. Well, maybe a little. I left the start/finish and started the singletrack. LOTS of climbing with switchbacks but rideable. I could push harder again with the finish thrill looming. There was a fast descent, and I figured it would be a great way to finish the race, so hit it hard. Real fast and flowy! I loved my vision of a solid rip back into the campground. Yes!

It wasn’t the end, though. More singletrack that got harder and wetter. I barely mentioned the wetter til now, but it was real. Lots of rain here lately and this race was no exception. It was, as my buddy Trent Paulk says, “slicker than owl shit on a doorknob, man!” I did a bit too much of watching the GPS map through here, which, for your reference, isn’t much good if you don’t know the course. My bed was made, so it was time to sleep in it. I rode some. I walked some. Tried not to do any super dumb stuff. It is ALWAYS a possibility, and 5 Points 50 will give you a thousand places to ruin your day for no good reason. Take a calculated approach and keep rolling. Very easy to say and very hard to do, but the views make it better.

At some point I popped onto Lula Lake Road and a very nice volunteer told me to turn left when I got to a gravel road and head downhill. Down the gravel and done. Melissa was still trying to figure out where I was based on the LiveTrack I sent. Not the easiest process! Everything really hurt and I was so happy to have finished the race, it was tough to process. Digging deep to finish a grueling race was not what I expected. I thought we were all just gonna rip 50 miles of fast, flowy singletrack. I have always studied races really hard before doing them and wanted a different version this time. 5 Points 50 delivered what I wanted and I am ready for more. I will be back for this race and figure this one is my preride. I made mention that I thought this was harder than Hard Nox, Snake Creek 50, and Skyway Epic, but this is in the context of me returning after a layoff here. My advice is to do them all and make up your own mind!

Onward to Skyway 100.

*5 Points 50 training tips coming soon*

5 Points 21