24 Hours of Old Pueblo is now gone and i miss it already. i've ridden a couple 24 hour road races, but this was my first on the mountain bike and it was easily ten times the size of any event i had been to. registration closed at 3,000 and then there were the friends, family, volunteers and the folks who just came to 24 Hour Town just for the party. 24 Hour Town is about 45 minutes outside of Tucson, AZ and then another 45 minutes down a dirt road into the middle of the desert. I'm not sure how long it took everyone else to get down the dirt road, but my friend's lowered VW GTI doesn't like the mud.so, we arrive to town around 3PM on Friday and it was 40 degrees and had been raining for a solid day and is supposed to continue to rain through the night. we meet up with our two other teammates and pick a camping spot and begin to setup... we then realize that we were not at all prepared for this. wasn't i in the desert!!? how am i going to get rid of this head cold!? no pre-ride!? we decide to pile into the Honda and head back to Tucson for a good meal and a warm/dry hotel room... we check out the weather forcast and it calls for 2-6 inches of snow. meh, i never claimed to be hard core.
we get back to our camp the next morning to find our colapsed canopy with a pile of snow next to it. at least the rain had stopped and now it was just cold. the captain's meeting is in 15 minutes so we all walk over and get orientated. it turns out that i'm going to do the first lap which means i'll be running a lemans start and hit the trail with several hundred other crazy and anxious mountain bikers.i'll explain the race and the course a bit... i'm trying to make this short, but its hard... so the race lasts for 24 Hours. the team (we registered in the 4 man category, but there were also soloist who are completely nuts) with the most laps the quickest after 24 hours wins. races often have a running (lemans) start in order to thin out the crowd a bit before diving into the singletrack. the 16.? mile course for this race was really great. it started with about a mile of fun and fast single track and then a series of six steep climbs and desents on service roads. they call these 'the bitches' for a reason. then you dive back into mostly fast single track with quick turns and cacti everywhere. the last five miles have you climbing into the 'high point' trail which goes around the back of the mountain next to town. the final two miles are possibly the most fun trail i've ridden. you scream down through rocks and dips and the edge of 24 Hour Town. people are scattered sporadically throughout the entire course cheering and clanking cow bells, but when you come into town and there are people lining the trail, the energy is amazing. the trail ends with 'the option'. you can either go right and have smooth sailing into the timing tent/finish or go left and climb up a series of rocks and then down the other side to the delight of all of the spectators just waiting for a quick and smooth decsent, a possible huck, or an all out crash.
ok - i'll speed this up... at noon the gun is fired and i'm running 400 yards down a muddy road in cycling shoes with several hundred screaming and panting bikers. the road is lined with people the whole way and we are being cheered for and laughed at. i find my bike and i'm off... at this point i'm actually still stuck among the parked bikes and the running masses. we're basically leaning on each other to keep from falling as we make our way to the trail. we were moving fast and there were bikes for as far as i could see. i was probably in the first 2/3 of the people on the the trail. one of the great things about riding in the desert is you can see for miles. it was fun to see the riders weaving through trails and switch backs that i haven't made it to yet and then to see then once i hit a switch back i can see bikes coming forever. the bitches had people pulling table tops over some the hips on the desents and i was squinting as hard as i could because pebbles and mud were flying everywhere and i had forgotten my glasses. i did get some air of my own, although i'm not sure i was intending to. we settle into a very fast pace and we are cramming into the single track for the first time in a pace line. this was my first time riding out west and contending with cacti. i had a chunk of a pricklypear stuck to my hand within minutes of arriving into town and i did not care to experience that again. after a scare, i learn quickly to follow the guy in front of me and not attempt to look around him for a pass. some parts of the trail were soupy mud and really slippery. by mile 10 the paceline was starting to break up and some people were breaking down and getting passed. there were some quick spurs off the trail or around a cactus to allow for passing but you had to time these perfectly. i was feeling good and making some passes and there were several people right on my rear tire. with only about 3 miles left in this first lap i started to slow down and lose traction. i could tell my front tire had a slow leak in it... less than a minute later the slow leak was a full on flat and i had to pull out and make a change. i was really impressed that the guys behind me actually commented with a 'shit! that sucks man!!' and acted disappointed as if they were enjoying themselves and hated to see me go. i pulled my tire off and started to get my new tube in within seconds. people were flying past and i think every single one of them asked if i was ok or if i had everything i needed. i was and i did, but i was getting frustrated. everytime i got one side of the tire seated the other would pop off. i was clearly freaking out and making this fix harder than it needed to be. i had to stop and take a few breaths and drink some water. now i was calm and ready to finish my fix and get back on the trail. i pop my CO2 and fill up my new tube. i ride hard on about 19PSI for the rest of the lap. the last climb and couple of miles through town are ridiculous fun. i get to the end and take 'the option' before even know it. awesome! i hand off the baton to my teammate and he's out on our second lap.
the sun starts to break through and i'm hearing that the trail is getting better by the minute. i hang out and watch other riders go through the option. i wander around town and check out some of the vendors. i eat some cookies and wait. by the time it was my turn again it was dark. i was going to ride my first night lap through the desert and i was stoked! it was cold at camp but i felt great on the trail. this lap was uneventful... there were a lot of people on the trail and i passed many of them and got passed by some superstars. one more time over the option and i'm handing of my baton. we each had put in a night lap and my team lets me know that they are done for the night. i decide to go back out and wanted to ride hard thinking that the trail would be a little more clear at 1AM. this lap was fast! it felt great but wasn't without incident. my light is the cheapest thing on the market several years ago. after seeing everyone else's lights on the trail i now know that i got what i paid for. i passed three guys and before my eyes could adjust to not having their lights leading the way, i was off the trail and going over the bars. i somehow landed on my feet and grabbed my bike and ran back onto the trail before they had made it back up to me. that was over... then at the end i wanted to have my way with the option this time. maybe see about a nice huck over the last drop. i speed into the option and pedal strike a rock which sends my bike sideways into the air. i come unclipped but somehow don't go down. i'm over the option with a huck and a few cheers from the late night crowd. my lap was completed at 1:44AM (i think?) and the time was 1hr 13min and i was happy.
these night laps were interesting because the soloist that were still on the course were at the breaking point. either they will make it through the cold night or decide to break for some warmth and possibly some rest. maybe even sleep... some of these soloist were creeping at a walking pace and others were sitting on the side of the trail staring at their bikes. certain parts of the trail started having lifesize cutouts of John Wayne and aliens appear. i'm pretty sure the soloist were delusional enough at this point to think they were about to be abducted.
after my 2nd night lap i go back to camp to warm up and see if anyone had decided to go out for a lap. a couple of the teammates were hitting the sack and the other one was volunteering in the timing tent. i hung out for a while and decided to check out the timing tent and possibly volunteer if they needed me. i found my teammate and he trained me real quick and we were now signing people in and out on laps. this was really fun because i was able to see the spirit of the soloist still going at it at 3:30AM and the dynamic between the highly competitive teams. while this was fun, it also made me feel like a slacker. why wasn't i out there riding!?
i head back to camp around 4:30AM and sit next to the fire. i am loving it... i could look out over the desert and see 24 Hour Town and then off in the distance see the lights of the riders on the trail miles away. this was sureal... i pulled out the iPod and tried to pick some nightcap music appropriate for the sweet spot i was sitting in. nothing was able to do the morning justice, but Songs:Ohia Magnolia Electric will hopefully always take me back to that moment. i crashed for a couple hours.
i wake up and the sun is out. not a single cloud in the sky! i had to snag a sunrise lap before the team was up and stirring. i started to get my gear together and realize that everything, shoes, jersey, bike, is covered with frost. my teammate wakes up and starts cooking some breakfast. i give him the opportunity to grab the first lap of the day but he says its fine if i go since i'm already ready. i sign in and head out for the glorious morning lap! my shadow was 20' long and i'm cranking through the bitches. i'm in the big chainring on the way down and then realize that i'm cruising in the big gear on the single track. the trail was in the best condition and the most wide open i had seen. i kept thinking to myself that this could be the last 16 miles i ride in the wild west for a really long time. i was determined to make it count... with about 6 miles left on this lap and still feeling strong, i start to hear a strange scrubbing sound. then my rear tire starts to lose traction and i'm feeling a little out of control. great! i was pissed! another flat, and this time it was at a really bad time. i push to a road crossing about a 1/2 mile ahead and hope that one of the spectators here will have a floor pump so that i can properly top off my new tube after the change. as i'm rolling up, i start yelling for tools and a pump. no one has anything... i jump off the bike and grab my tire to see how much air i had lost... the tire was stiff. i didn't have a flat - my rear pivot bolt had broken and fallen out on the trail. i was going to either have to walk back to town and forfeit that lap or finish with a broken bike. i decided to crank my way through the rest of the lap with my rear all over the trail. my bike squealed and sounded pitiful with each pedal stroke. i come into town and i've somehow gotten my speed up. my bike was making all sorts of sounds and my wheel was wobbling between the chainstays. i take the option one last time and hope that the other bolt doesn't snap. i'm done! my lap time appeared to be 1hr 4min which made me super excited. i had gone into the tent to sign in just after 7:55AM and finished my lap at 9:02AM. i go back to verify my lap time and they break the news to me... my start time was technically the same time as the end of the previous lap. that made my lap over 7 hours long and i was bummed. i go back to camp with a broken bike and a busted ego.
the fastest lap was right at 1hr and i just wanted to somehow get into the top25 of the fastest laps since my team wasn't exactly competing.
i took in the sights and enjoyed the rest of the morning. the vibe at 24 Hour Town was incredible. it seemed that mountain biking is a different sport out west. there were tons of spectators cheering for the riders. calling them by name and discussing their seasons. these were mostly friends and family and everyone was really pumped about bikes. kids were riding and climbing on the rocks. music was blasting and it felt like i was at a snowboarding event or something. mountain biking is definitely more rock and roll out there. i had to tell myself that Georgia could be like that, but there are just too many trees for people to enjoy the events.
we watch the awards and score some free beers. we head back to Phoenix and i pass out within the hour. after a great breakfast and some negotiations to get my bike shipped back home, it was off to the airport. i had a couple hours before my flight and was happy to just hang out. i find out that my flight was oversold and i may get bumped. i volunteer my seat and take a free round trip voucher and settle in for the later flight to Atlanta. definitely worth the wait considering i had no reason to rush home.lessons learned... what i got out of this race... ?? i don't know. i had a great time and rode through a desert for the first time. i could have and probably should have ridden a couple more laps through the night when i found out that my team wasn't interested. i guess i don't have any regrets really. oh - don't touch the pricklypear!
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