24 Hours of Hanson Hills...the Conclusion

We had a mass start with both the 12 and 24 hour racers going out together.

My plan was to take the first lap at a steady if somewhat slow pace.  It's been three years since my last 24 hour and the whole pacing thing was going to be a bit tricky.

Brandon stayed behind me during this lap and I'm pretty sure the pace was driving him crazy.  In fact, we discussed out loud that the pace was driving him crazy. 

Once we went through the pits at the end of the lap, Brandon took off and I didn't see him again until later in the afternoon.

During my third lap my back started really bothering me. 

This was one of the things Josh had been concerned about leading up to the race.

It was a bit of a gamble as to whether or not 24 hours on the hard tail would be survivable.

In his all knowing way, he borrowed a thud buster seat post from Cullen and that pretty much saved the day!  We switched out my seat post for the thud buster and Miss Tokyo between laps 3 and 4.

We also started having Josh roll my back with "the stick" each lap and then he'd apply a layer of biofreeze onto my lower back.

This routine went on for the next five hours.  Each time I came to the pit we'd run through this drill and then I'd be back out for another lap.

For nutrition,  I went with mostly gels with the occasional solid food item thrown in (hammer bar, pb&j, donut hole).

For hydration, we used nuun in my water bottles and just water in my hydrapak ( And every couple laps I would have a coke or a starbucks espresso double shot....delicious).

With summer now behind us, you could feel the night starting to take hold around five o' clock.  Shadows were creeping into the trail and there was a noticeable cooling effect from the foilage.

After my six o' clock lap, Josh was ready and waiting with my lights.  We affixed them to the handlebar and seat post and then I was back out for another lap.

When the 12 hour riders finished their race, we timed out a longer pit stop for me to stop for coffee and a hamburger.  Disgusting combination in theory, but absolutely delicious in person!

This was about the time that the cats arrived on the trail.  I swear that there were herds and herds of cats running around the trail where only hours ago there had been brown ferns lining the path.

Since night riding kind of freaks me out when I'm alone, I tried my best not to look around too much into the darkness.  Especially behind me...I was positive that there were bears hiding in the dark woods behind me...

The night wore on and I kept pedaling.  Occasionally one of the team riders would fly by or I would see a riders headlight through the trees where the trail almost overlapped itself, but otherwise I was alone.

Pedal, pedal, pedal...

My brain focused on the dirt ahead and the task of pedaling.  I felt like a bike zombie.

When morning arrived, it was cloudy and overcast.  There would be no sunrise lap, just an abrupt transition to no longer needing lights.

And then it was time for my last lap...

It felt like it took forever to complete this lap...

Goodbye rock...

Goodbye cats...

Goodbye hill I don't like climbing...

Goodbye hill I do like climbing...

As I returned to the finish line, Josh and Brandon were waiting for me.

I climbed off my bike and removed my shoes half in a daze.  All I wanted to do was to get out of my contacts...my eyes felt like they were bleeding...

I stumbled off to the bathrooms and clumsily changed out of my riding clothes.

When I returned to the pit area, I immediately asked Josh if I had "Chris Eatough" eyes.  It was very important to me to have the classic sunken in eyes of an endurance racer.

He laughed at me and I kept asking him over and over again until he finally admitted that I did in fact have "Chris Eatough" eyes...

Once we packed up the pit, we sat down in the ski lounge awaiting the awards...and then all three of us passed out on the benches until the loud speaker woke us up.

In all, I ended up with 167 miles for the 24 hour period.  I had really wanted 200, but this was still a mileage pr and I will be happy with that (for now)!

There were so many people that helped us make it to the race, ACF for loaning us the tents, Josh's parents lending us the van, Serfas for lending us lights, Danni with an i for loaning us batteries, Bob for the lights and batteries he sent our way, Cullen for all of the parts and batteries he graciously borrowed us and my parents for all of their support!

Josh was once again, the best pit chief ever and I owe alot of the days success to him!

Now we are back to the drawing board to plan for the next race...stay tuned for a very big 2014!

24 Hours of Hanson Hills

Since we got home from the race Sunday...each night...I dream about eating food...

It's been so bizarre...lol...

The 24 hours of Hanson Hills has come and gone and I couldn't be happier with how things went.

Josh and I ran around alot the week before the race gathering up supplies and making last minute arrangements for the critters.

Big thanks to my little brother for watching the house and the naked kitties!

Thursday night we picked up our race limousine from our parents (big thank you to them for letting use the van!!!) and then after much packing we were ready to roll Friday morning!

Our friend Brandon came along to help out, but after miles and miles, trapped with us in the van hearing about how awesome endurance racing is...he decided to race as well and signed up for the 12 hour race!

We arrived in Grayling with enough time to check in at the hotel, check in at the race and then do some shopping for last minute bike parts and supplies.

It was absolutely wonderful to have some actual downtime to prepare for what was to come...

Saturday morning I woke before my alarm...alert and ready to go!  Nervous butterflies stayed with me as we ate breakfast...the next 24 hours were going to hurt and my body knew it!

There was some killer fog surrounding the city of Grayling as we headed to our pit...I was crossing my fingers it wouldn't be back that evening.  Night riding is already hard enough with my crappy vision, let alone with killer fog obstructing the trail.

Josh has a great system with setting up the pit so I tried to stay out of the way.  Once the tents were up, I ceremoniously hung up our team disco ball and then taped up the picture of Rebecca Rusch that I brought for motivation...go ahead...call me a stalker :-)

And then it was time to line up for the race...

To be continued...

Getting Closer...

This time next week Josh and I will be packing the final items we will need for the 24 hours of Hanson Hills!

Luckily, we were able to acquire an extra member to our pit crew.  Our friend Brandon will be joining us next weekend for the fun and festivities!

This weekend, my top priority is acquiring a disco ball for the pit tent and practicing my best dance moves for the wee hours of the morning next Sunday...just like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_V28LKonfk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Excite!!!

Return to XC Racing

I should be cutting the grass right now...

But...it's so nice to be sitting in the air conditioning...that I decided to update my blog instead.

Today was Tailwind-Racing's end of summer race at Stony.  I decided on Thursday it might be fun to drop in and give the cross country thing another go.

By incorporating it into my planned "long" ride, I was hoping it would keep me at a faster tempo during those tricky middle miles.

This morning rolled around and the weather was gorgeous!  I packed up my hydrapak with some treats and began my ride to stony.

Surprisingly I was on time for registration (I'm traditionally always late when I drive) and felt like things were going to work out perfectly.

What I didn't realize was the fine print on the USA Cycling website about Cat 1 registration.  Apparently you cannot purchase a day of license for Cat 1 racing anymore.  Three years ago when I was an active member you could.

A few months ago there were quite a few emails going around about the new "rules" and maybe this information was included in there, but I didn't pay them much attention since they didn't impact my endurance events.

I explained all of this to the lady at the registration table and she said with a very straight and unsmiling face, you can race sport.

And so, I found myself signing up for my age group in the sport category...which started at one o'clock.  Three hours later...

With some extra time on my hands, I decided to ride out and put in some extra miles before the race.  My number plate was already strapped on and as I rode back out of the park it brought a few curious glances (people probably felt bad for me since it appeared I was lost from my race...haha).

Fast forward through three hours and thirty miles and it was back to the line...but first, I am pleased to report that I was able to officially meet Miss Avery Liagre at the starting line (http://www.theamazingavery.blogspot.com)!  Check this kid out!  She is awesome!!!

The course was extremely dry and rumors were floating around that two elite riders had broken their collarbones that morning.  Yikes!

The first lap was by far my favorite, I felt properly warmed up and the dust wasn't as stirred up as it would be over the next two.

I traded the lead back and forth with Lisa Loetzner from the Flying Rhino Club.  It was so nice to have someone to ride with that was close to my pace, I was beside myself with excitement!

Since we weren't racing in the same category there wasn't any pressure, which made it twice as nice!

When all things were said and done, I have to say it was really a nice day today!  I enjoyed the race and was happy to be able to mingle with alot of people I haven't seen in ages.

In addition, I ran into a rider that recognized me from my daily commute :-)!

She said it was my socks that gave me away!!! Lol!

Ruby 50

My neck is red, swollen and itches like the devil!

Yesterday was the Ruby 50 mountain bike race put on by Fun Promotions. 

Somewhere along my second loop, I was on the Avoca trail pushing 20 mph sucking down a gel, thinking about this song from the Greys Anatomy soundtrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoxKt_LqfNY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

When I was stung by something that must have been flying butt first down the trail. It hurt like the dickens and I couldn't stop slapping and scratching at it until I was back in the single track concentrating on the trail.

The gnarly switchbacks pushed the itch and burn from my neck right out of my mind!

Overall, I was happy with how the race went.

The first lap was the worst, I missed the break at the beginning and never made up the gap.

Once I was into the single track I let all the "intimidating" stories people had told me about the trail take over and it turned me into a total mess.

I had trouble ascending and descending the switchbacks and almost toppled face first into the river.  On my way back to the timing tent I saw Kevin (Laroe) from wheels in motion coming up behind me.

Kevin and Josh had discussed gopro filming tips at the Island Lake Demo and I saw he had his camera with him at Ruby.  Thats when I remembered I was supposed to be riding with our camera today (and that I had forgotten it at home).

Bummer!

I told this to Kevin as we exited the single track and started the climb back up the driveway.

As we came to the top of the climb, Kevin pulled off the trail and jumped off his bike. 

Just off the starting line he had hid a gopro camera to film the riders coming in and out for laps.  I started laughing as I was leveling out onto the rode.

This pulled me out of my slump and from then on I felt better (minus the sting).

A very nice single speeder demonstrated a clean line down the switch backs and the river crossing became air conditioning for the feet.

I never did see the first place rider, Melanie Bermier (Reynold Cycling), after the start...she was having a great ride and after my mistakes, I wasn't going to make up the lost time.

But...

I pretended I could anyways and pushed past my normal comfort zone.  I kept my legs in just "enough" discomfort that I am still considerably sore today.

I was also able to push through every lap without stopping and even performed a very fancy extraction of a gel from my hydrapak while riding.

Coming in second, without any injuries and only one bee sting was worth the price of admission...and now I can say I survived the Ruby course...and if anyone asks me what I think of the course...I would tell them....it's a blast!

Best Helmet Ever!

I cannot believe how excited I am about my new helmet!!!  Look how green it is!!!

Pando pando pando

I think in the future before I race, I'm going to write down my goals and seal them up in an envelope.  This should help me to keep my brain on track...

This race was a hard one for me, the plan was to get some mileage, enjoy the day and check out the infamous Pando course.

Josh and I packed up for the race and started on the road around six Friday.  We had plans to get to the hotel around nine and in bed by ten.

This was about the time I decided to double check the registration fees on the website and realized the race went from 12-12 and not 8-8.  Crappers...

We turned around to drive back home to grab the lights (we actually discussed bringing them right before we left and decided against it...oh man).

We eventually did make it to the hotel and checked in at just before midnight.  At least we would be able to sleep in the next day!

Saturday we were up and moving, but we still managed to arrive right at the last minute for late registration.

Josh went to work setting up our pit and I grabbed my race number. 

After dressing in my kit, I grabbed my helmet to do some warm up spinning and noticed that there was a giant crack on the back.

Last weekend at WAM I had taken a spill on day one when a passing cyclist lost control of his bike and went down in front of me.  Apparently my helmet took a bit more of a hit then I realized during that episode!

We had brought Josh's helmet as an alternate so at least we had a replacement...

The race began and the 4 mile loops started accumulating.  There's quite a bit of climbing (it is a ski park after all) and immediately my legs were screaming...in their defense WAM was just five days prior...but who wants to make excuses for them?

Now, my bike on the other hand, had no qualms about making its issues known.  It sounded like a bowl of rice krispies...snap, crackle, pop.

Josh kept playing with it at each pit stop, but we weren't able to completely eliminate the problem until he switched out the seat clamp at mile 45.

After the six hour riders had finished, I started feeling fairly nauseous and found myself spending more and more time in the port a john.  It crossed my mind that people might be counting the number of times I was stopping to use them...but thats probably just in my head.

Around seven o 'clock, I rolled into the pit and broke the news to Josh that I was calling it a day.

We discussed it for a few minutes and agreed it was the best course of action (technically I was the only 12 Hour Lady so by default I was taking first either way).

After breaking down the pit we stopped in to say good bye to our friends from D2 racing and then started home.

Overall, I had met my race goals:

1.)  Have fun
2.)  Get in some mileage
3.)  Check out a new course
4.)  Don't push too hard and get injured

But, it was still hard to deal with not staying on the bike for 12 hours (it was a 12 hour race afterall).  The mind is a funny thing and it keeps wanting to fixate on this one detail.

So instead, I'm diverting and focusing on how beautiful it was that day and how lucky I am to be able to ride :-).

And now it's time to start writing down my goals for my next race!