First an apology... I have not done this race wrap-up nearly as quickly as I had hoped and I know that I've disappointed a lot of folks by not getting it done sooner... the reasons are numerous but the lack of a product is still the same.
The 2009 - 24 Hours of ERock mountain bike race is now in the books. The race started on Friday June 5 at 1830 and finished at 1830 on Saturday. All week and the weeks proceeding we had periodic heavy rain and severe weather. Everyone was relieved when the forecasted weather for the race was supposed to be good.
I set up my pit area at about 1300 on Friday afternoon. I was able to secure the same spot as last year which is conveniently located immediately next to the timing tent and just off the course. The course is a 'nothing spectacular' course. It starts on the old state road which is a mix of sand, and hard packed sand, it climbs 500' total and descends back to the start/finish. Each lap is 8.25 miles long and it is considered to be nontechnical (meaning no obstacles to negotiate or difficult climbs or descents).
I will say that the views are really tremendous, Pikes Peak being fully covered in snow against the green grass and trees is truly inspiring. Additionally, the wild flowers were in full bloom... really something to see.
This year would be different for me as I would have a crew to support me. Last year I was entirely on my own, it made a difficult race even more so. Chad his wife Kim, their two girls Leslie and Lynn along with Beth (Chad's sister) came from Fort Collins to support me. I have often said that solo racing is best done as a team and this proved to be true even more so this year.
The crew's job is to manage the affairs in the pit area. It is a wildly boring job of hurry up and wait followed by managing the rider and bike as he comes into the pit. Getting the rider to tell you what he needs can be very challenging especially as the hours drag on, the miles add up and exhaustion sets in. This is a statement of the obvious but the crew really must think for the rider, anticipate his needs and be ready for any issue no matter how trivial.
In addition to providing the rider with water, fuel, bike maintenance, clothing changes etc they gather and report valuable information on the number of laps turned, position of leading and challenging riders. They also gather very important information on what the other riders look like, are they fresh, worked, surviving, highly motivated etc. All of this plays into how the rider responds to the challenges on the course. The crew plays a critical roll in strategizing how the rider should respond, or not on the course.
The weather at the start of the race was great, probably around 70F with the typical breeze from the south. Breeze in this sense means a wind of (I'm guessing) probably 10-15 miles per hour. The air in Colorado is typically very dry and this day was no exception, I think that I could feel the moisture being pulled out of me. My lips were constantly dry, cracked and painful.
So my strategy was the same this year... start last, be consistent, ride my own race and never ever stop. I did sit down 3 times during the race, all 3 times were to make quick clothing changes of fresh socks and shorts and to remove leg warmers. Also, with the problems that I've had with my back over the last week I knew that if I stopped and cooled down even a little bit that I risked the back seizing up.
This point cannot be over emphasized, this latest back issue was terrible. Dr. Joel at Well Within Chiropractic had worked on me every day except Thursday this week. We also worked with Alysia from Time To Heal Therapies to help sort out the knotted mess created by my misalignment, over use and old trauma issues. Between Dr. Joel and Alysia they were able to get me pushed, pulled and rubbed back into shape enough to at least get me to the start line. After that I would be on my own except that Dr. Joel put himself on call for me should I need his assistance, he would come to the race with his portable table and do what he could to make my body go as long as possible.
Again, it takes a team to get a single racer to the start line and Dr. Joel and Alysia, I cannot overstate how much I appreciate your unwavering commitment, jumping through hoops and moving schedules around to accommodate me... simply saying thank you is just so inadequate.
After the race Dr. Joel made the comment that he didn't think that I'd ever make it to the start line. I know that the fact that I did make it to the start is a combination of his hard work and experience with my issues, me being in excellent condition, trying to get good rest, eating right and being very careful to ride no more than absolutely necessary during the few days prior to the start.
I had some personal goals this year... I eluded to having them in an earlier blog but would not state them to anyone before or during the race. First I wanted to match my performance from last year of 30 laps, second I wanted to make 33 laps and last but not least I wanted to win... decisively. I had sliced and diced last years data and I knew where I needed to improve. I knew what had worked in the past and from the experience of last year I felt like I knew how the race would go. These 24 hour solo races are so grueling that I must have very simple things to help keep me focused on the outcome. I had calculated what my average speed would need to be in order to turn 33 laps, I accounted for some time in the pit area and hoped that I would be able to hold it all together and come out OK. This simple data was affixed to my handle bars where I could focus on it and never wonder if I was thinking clearly... hey, its simple and that works for me.
The start of any race is always exciting and this one is no exception, I get really amped up and it's hard not to go as hard as possible. Self control is paramount, but it is really hard to have that will power when the gun goes off and the dust starts to fly.
So the first 8 hours went pretty well, I was fairly consistent on lap times although my first couple of laps were WAY too fast and my heart rate was WAY too high. Chad made such a huge difference in making sure that I had every little detail attended to. He had my lights ready to go at dusk, food, water clothing etc. It helps that he is a fellow racer and my 18 Hrs of Fruita team mate. Chad knows what is needed and when. It also helps that we have known each other for 21 years... he can read me and my body language and demeanor very well, we have been in some pretty difficult and challenging places together.
Chad had everything laid out for me for the next 5 or 6 hours and he headed off to get some sleep at my place in Castle Rock with his family. These hours between about 0200 and 0700 are the most difficult for me and probably for most people. Our bodies want to be sleeping, we don't want to be awake and certainly don't want to be pedaling a bike. This is where experience pays off, I knew that I'd be fighting the night demons so I came armed with a thermos of hot coffee, 2 bottles of Coke and an array of other food that I could never eat in a shorter race.
As soon as I started to feel that horrible pull of sleep deprivation and fatigue I started drinking a cup of coffee at each pit stop and I was careful to keep taking my endurolites, fuel and plenty of water.
The worst time for me is between about 0230 and 0700, if you have ever stood guard duty in the military, worked night shift or been up for extended periods of time you know the feeling. I'll have to say that this was the worst sleep fatigue that I'd ever felt in a race. I was having to dig really, really deep to keep moving forward. I'd concocted all sorts of things in my head to motivate me, I'm pretty good at forcing myself to keep going but I had to talk REALLY mean to myself for several hours to make this happen.
I thought that I was going to fall asleep on the bike on the fast decent and careen off into the weeds and crash. What a struggle! At exactly 0430 I began to hear the birds chirping, I thought that this was a good sign and I knew that if I could hold on for another hour that it would start to get light and I'd probably survive these lows.
The next HUGE help came from an angelic figure who materialized out of the darkness and refilled my thermos of coffee, thanks nkr, I owe you ;-) At about 0600 I was feeling like I was totally out of gas so I pulled out the secret weapon in the form of a sweet, syrupy, fizzy Coke. I'd never tried a Coke during a race but I thought that I needed some sugar and caffeine and this would hopefully do the trick. I learned this 'trick' from some super athletes who do these races and it works for them so I gave it a go as well.
Somewhere around 0700 Beth showed up in the pit area. What a welcome sight to have a smiling friendly face to help keep me motivated, fueled and moving forward. With daylight on us the long shadows were becoming shorter and everyone was feeling the surge of energy from the sun. The 1/4 bottle of Coke had kicked in and I knew that I'd overcome the demons of the night.
Before Chad left me around midnight he had told me that I was running in 3rd place, this had been very helpful, a morale booster for sure and a nice benchmark. Beth started to feed me information in the morning on where I was in the mix. Beth reported that I was in first place. At about 0500 I'd completed 16 laps, one better than last year for the same elapsed time.
I had been really worried about another rider from last year who was here again this year. He is young and very strong, I figured that he would give me a run for my money since I had beat him in the very last hour of the race last year. I was disappointed to learn that he was struggling this year, some sort of knee issue. I hate to see another athlete in bad shape like he was but this is racing and some times you are on your game an others you are off, it depends on a lot of things that are beyond your control.
As the hours kept dragging on my target average speed that was affixed to the bar became my point of fixation. I was able to keep focused on it and watch my average speed on my odometer and keep spinning the cranks. At some point I had entered my 'pain cave'... this is the mental place that I go to help me keep the nagging painful distractions from bothering me any more than possible. My pain cave was now full but it was working for me. My left hand had gone numb at some point, I couldn't get it to come back. I knew that I'd pinched the nerve in the wrist again. The special Ergon bar grips were working but not well enough to keep this nagging and very disturbing condition from occurring again.
The 'normal' aches and pains of a long race were starting to become issues. The left knee was bothering me again. It feels like someone has a screwdriver under the knee cap and is trying to pry it up like the lid on a paint can... that screw driver felt huge and I felt it at ever pedal stoke. My back was also bothering me but not as much as I'd expected... I very rarely got out of the saddle to stretch the legs because I didn't want to aggravate the back anymore than necessary.
Chad and Beth were outstanding... I'd come into the pit with 3 or 4 things that I'd need or want and then as soon as I stopped I couldn't recall any of them, it was like hitting a hard reset on my brain. They would run through their check list and they would get it sorted out. They were particularly good about making me drink all the water in my bottle before sending me out with a fresh one. They both know that dehydration is the first killer of performance so they kept me well hydrated when I couldn't think to do it on my own. They were also very good about pushing me to make sure that I was getting enough calories, it's a fine line to question the rider and get accurate answers but they were good at it and persistent.
Somewhere in the afternoon my crew told me that I was running in first by 2 but probably 3 laps... they couldn't be sure because it all depends on timing of when we entered and left the timing tent and how far back the second place rider was as well as when the results had been posted. I place a huge amount of pressure on myself but I felt that pressure subside a bit and I knew that I'd just have to be consistent and now could focus on meeting my lap goal rather than just focus on winning.
The afternoon winds began to really scream out of the south, in fact they were blowing so hard that I had to gear down to pedal down the slight incline on the last mile or so of the road... The pit tents were getting thrashed, many of them were taken down. Our pit tent was damaged in the fray so it had to be retired to the dump after the race. In the past I would have complained about the wind, but now I realize that everyone is dealing with the same thing so I just keep your head down, stay in the Pain Cave and keep hammering.
I came into the pit area at roughly lap 28 or 29 and was greeted by Dr. Joel, his wife and their two kids. I was so glad to see them, it is so awesome to have such great friends that take time from their day to come out and support me. Thanks guys! Your being there made a huge difference to me!!
I could now see the end of the race nearing. I was trying desperately to calculate how many laps I could turn given my state of exhaustion and given the time that I had left. I could see that there was no way that I could hit 33 laps but if I could hold it all together I could probably get 32. I had set the solo male course record last year of 30 laps and I was determined to reset it again this year.
When the end of the race finally came I had completed 32 laps in 23 hrs and 40 minutes... 264 miles total and I had 20 minutes left to spare. I'd beat the 2nd place rider by 3 laps. One would probably think that I'd be elated and over joyed at winning. Quite the opposite, it is actually very anti-climactic. There are no cheering crowds, no real excitement just a huge sense of relief that it was over. I shook hands with the second place rider, what a great guy Andy Fox is... a real class act and an incredible athlete.
I have a great friend and fellow racer who will be mad that I mention this but I found that I was disappointed with my performance in that I didn't meet my goal of 33 laps. I know that it sounds ridiculous and even as I write this I want to delete it and keep it to myself but I also want to make a point. The point is that had I spent just 1 minutes less on average in the pit area each lap it would have resulted in giving me an extra 52 minutes (20 mins + 32 mins lost in the pits) that I could have had to do another lap to meet my goal. Seconds and a handful of minutes do count when it comes to being able to meet your goals.
One of the single funniest and most succinct statements about this race and about the results were made by another racer who I talked with just after the finish. He was on a team and was waiting at the finish line for his teammate. He asked me how many laps I'd done, and in my exhausted haze I said that I thought it was about 32... he stared at me in disbelief and in a very dead pan voice said 'That's retarded'. We all got a good laugh but he is probably right.
So thanks again to everyone for your support!! PowerQuip, I couldn't do it without you. To my customers and friends for being supportive and encouraging even while shaking your heads and asking me 'why?'. To Dr Joel, and the staff at Well Within Chiropractic... without you this would NOT have been possible, you know it and I know it... thank you so much. To Alysia at Time to Heal Therapies for the great massage work. 
A very special thanks to Chad, Kim, Beth and the kids for spending your whole weekend supporting my effort to win this race again. Solo racing IS best done as a team, thanks to everyone!!
So it has often been said that a picture is worth a 1,000 words... I got a kick out of my most recent bike maintenance episode and thought of how funny things in my life really are. I have to laugh at myself.
I've been wanting to do the Mount Evans ride for a long time and I've never driven up this way but I finally decided to go get some altitude training and get a good hill climb in on Mt. Evans. This mountain boasts the highest paved auto road in the nation. The parking lot at the top is at 14,130'. I started at the ranger station which is about 14 miles below. According to my altimeter I climbed about 3,500' over about 14 miles.
