Scott McGill's Take on Cranky Monkey

Scott running at the start of the race

        It was quite a memorable weekend at 12 hours of Cranky Monkey. Took 4 hours to get there – the last 12 miles took an hour and 45 minutes on I95. Randy, Moira, and I shared a nice room at the Ramada 5 minutes from the venue Friday night and we were at the race by 6:45 for the 8:00 start. As usual, I was selected to go first. It was a third of a mile run, followed by a 1/3 mile lap thru tents on bikes. Too much to pass up, Fast Forward was in first place overall by the time we hit the woods. Stupidest thing I've done in a while, but it was worth it. Cranky Monkey at Quantico Marine Base is no joke: fun but loose downhills with punchy steep climbs that make you thankful for granny gears. I did one lap with the 29’r then rode the rest of the day on the 26. With the tight corner and punchy uphill turns, it was perfect for the taurine hardtail. As for my racing, lets just say it wasn't my day. Started to feel the heat right away and just couldn't get my stomach to settle down. As a result, I didn't eat or drink nearly as much as I should have. Even with imbibing an entire jar of pickle juice, by the 4th lap I was cramping badly. Meanwhile, Randy was pumping out some impressive lap times, looking fresh as a Daisy at the transition, so all I could do was get out there when it was my turn and gut it out. We sat in 2nd all day, and that’s where we finished, against some very good competition. After knocking out some solo endurance events this spring, I can honestly say this duo was the hardest race I've done all year. Duo is a mentally cruel category, at least for me – you can’t quit or slow down when its not your best day because someone else is counting on you. All in all though, having Moira and Randy at the finish, along with hot pizza, wrapped it into a momentous day. Moira was busy all day flirting with the marines camped next to us, and kept Randy and I well fed. RE: EX2 Adventures- this was a well organized race, one of the best I've ever been to. And Wicked Wash was there to keep my bike shiny – they even set up a shower to cool us down. Awesome.

Randy, Moira, and Scott