Testing the new bikes

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Eddie and Namrita O'Dea(Image credit: Trish Albert)

May 1, 2008

The race was Cohutta 100, the first race of the NUE series, but with the 24 hours of Vail Lake following one week later, we decided to race the shorter versions–the 65 mile race (Eddie) and the 35 mile race (Namrita) to shorten the recovery time. While it isn't ideal to race with brand new equipment, we didn't have a choice. We did get in a pre-ride of a small piece of the race course on Friday.

The weather was 70 degrees (Fahrenheit) and sunny, and the trails were in perfect shape. However, I felt horrible! I was really nervous because my legs couldn't climb, and I just generally didn't feel prepared to race. I had never raced any length of time under six hours, so the 35 mile race was definitely an unknown for me. Eddie said to not worry, though, because the "worse you feel the day before the race, the better you feel during the race". I'm not sure if that is true or not, but I decided to go with those words of wisdom anyway. Fast forward to race day...

The 35 mile race started after the 100 milers and the 65 milers went off. It had just finished raining, but it was still cloudy and damp. I looked around and recognized a few people, but not too many. Most of the people I normally race with were racing the 100 mile course. I was sort of out of my element amongst all these cross-country racers but I didn't let it worry me. Normally it takes me three hours to just warm up, so I didn't have big plans for this race. I just wanted to race smart and see how much I could push beyond my typical "endurance" pace. The course starts with three miles of pavement, followed by roughly 30 miles of singletrack, and ends with two miles of flat pavement.

I started off at a decent tempo pace on the road to warm up with, and went into the singletrack in seventh place. It wasn't long before I had passed four of the women, and I was feeling good so kept motoring along. I never saw any of the women again until the finish line. I desperately didn't want to get caught by anyone on the last two miles of pavement but it was certainly a possibility since I was on a singlespeed. I spun my legs off with Eddie's voice in my head coaching me through perfect pedal strokes to the finish line.

Eddie and Namrita O'Dea are two married racers balancing the demands of professional racing and training for and even the promoting of endurance races. The duo will travel the US national circuit of 24 hour solo events while dropping in on assorted 100 milers and 12 hour races in between. Follow both into and throughout 2008 as they pursue their roles as spouses, team-mates, co-promoters and yes, even co-business owners.