Made it back to 24 Hour Town for a second ride on the course, and holy shizzle, it had quadrupled in size! There were about 3500 people camped out up in the desert - an amazing party gyrating it's way through the cactus. Met up with a great guy from California - John...hi John!...and we joined him for a ride of the course. I was determined to keep my HR down and have a really EZ spin, but the Rabbit took off, John followed, and my ego got angry and attempted to keep up...Fail...I had to try to chill it out, and did so by trying to hold John back with conversation. Ha! Remember the bit I mentioned about the cactus?...the narrow corridor, plentiful cactus, and how you really don't want to stop paying attention or they'll get you cactus? Unh-huh...right...so, I hit sand, I washed out, I sky rocketed into...you guessed it...a cactus - prickly pear to be exact. Armfull, legfull, of sharp spikes, pinky finger sprained - but as we all do when we crash in front of people, we jump up, laugh it off, claim to be OK, and carry on. So I did this, but was pretty gun shy from then on - it hurt A LOT to hold the handlebar, and my arm was on fire from all the barbs in my armwarmers, but, we made it through. At the end, I looked at my now purple, swollen finger, and felt a spike poking out of a bloody hole on the outside - I pulled out a 1 cm length of cactus - sa-weet. I guess it jammed into the knuckle and connected with the nerves, cuz I felt some relief when it came out. Carry on.
John was kind enough to bring me a bag of ice for the drive home, and it provided more relief. Of all the stupid things for me to do the day before the big day!! Sheesh...guess that's why they call me Crash...
So, back at the hotel, I got my bike cleaned up, got my kit packed, fretted, worried, peed a million times, chilled, paced, snoozed, packed, and planned everything that would be needed for the next day, and the trip home afterwards. I had picked up a big cactus needle in my rear tire - Stan's did the trick, but it was still losing air, so I beefed it up and prayed for it to hold... I had the happy diversion of meeting up with CJ for dinner, as she now lives and trains in Tucson - lucky girl - she was to race with a team also, but a shoulder injury derailed the plan :( (Hope you recover quickly!!! ) Good to see her and her all the stories from the world of Xterra, which I do hope to get back to soon :)
Fell into bed for, of course, a very restless sleep as always the night before, and waited for 5 AM to arrive.
Sure as shootin' it did..ok, that was corny, but it did, and I got up, dressed, ate, drank coffee, etc...yes, I said etc...I was nervous!!! Capital N.
We drove out to 24 Hour Town and I was really anxious to get going. Arriving early to beat the rush meant that I had a lot of time to pace, plan and get my feed zone set up. Picked a patch of turf along the race course, and placed chair, coolers, tools and spare bits there for refuel pits. I knew the night would be below freezing, so I also prepared extra clothes to hop into when the sun went down - I may be Cdn., but I still freeze in the desert...
Finally, noon arrived, and it was go time! The start of the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo is a 400m LeMans run up to the bikes. I stood in the middle of the pack, the gun went off, and I ran. With hundreds of other yahoos in bike shoes, in the desert - crazy awesome sight! The dust kicked up, but I got to the bikes, hopped on, and peddled away on my first lap. I wanted to break into this EZ style, so I tried to be mellow, but the adrenaline was pumping and I pushed a bit too hard,,,but just for awhile, then the smart kicked in and I relaxed again. I was only there to race me; hadn't seen a start list; didn't know who to look for; just wanted to ride - Just happy to be riding on dirt without studded tires, and NOT on a trainer...
So I rode, and then I flatted...fixed it...rode to the feed zone, filled up, hopped back on...crashed - like a flying enchilada into the rocks (at least no cactus here) - of course, jumped up and professed to be OK (and was, really) and finished my first lap. Wow...
And so I rode three more laps, with my tire loosing air on all of them, so the C02 got a good workout...damn cactus...
I had a really hard time sticking to my nutrition plan in these laps - such a full on course meant little time to fuel, and you had to really consciously tell yourself to do so - I made the number one mistake in these laps, by neglecting my need for calories and hydration. With a 24Hr. race, this is so important early on - I knew it - I planned for it - and then I effed it up...yup, I said eff...royally. My head ached and my energy zapped and I was only 4 hours in...s**t. Of course
As I rode on, it became increasingly hard to motivate myself to get going. Everything hurt, and my mood tanked. At the 5th lap I figured I was done, but the night was setting in and I felt a little renewed with the cold air coming in. This turned very cold quickly, and the ache piled on. I zoned out and kept peddling - happy to have some pretty serious help from my pit boss - awesome support for sure. I had moved into first, but really hurt too much to think about it. By the 12th lap, I was done. I sat down, I may have cried, I couldn't talk, eat, think - total raging white hot mess. I managed to eat some cheese, and tried hard to rally myself to get on the bike, and at least finish the lap, and tell them I was done. I cruised toward the finish ready to call it off, but then, I got angry. What the eff was I thinking?? Quitting?? While I am ahead (by only a narrow margin)???? After driving 38 hours to be there??? WTF??? So, I got really pissed off, swiped the baton, hopped back on, and somehow managed to have one of my better lap times. I have no idea where it came from. Of course, it sucked all the life from me, and I hadn't filled up my bottles or food supply cuz I thought I was done, but it was enough to push me to do another one after that, putting me just past noon, and the end of the race, and in first. So cooked...
Not a pretty sight, but the job was done, and despite appearances, I was elated! And as seen below, I passed out immediately...not pretty, but pretty pleased :)
Very cool trophy from Rosemont Copper - complete with Barbed Wire to signify the ranch life at Willow Springs Ranch - home of the event. Amazing property, and I thank them for allowing this race to take place. Epic Rides puts on a fantastic show down there in the wild Southwest - a must-do race for anyone contemplating the drive down south!! It was top notch all around and one wild ride fo' sho'...
I hopped on a plane first thing the next morning and stumbled home, passed out, woke up, and managed to get to work for 6 this morning. I am in huge debt on all fronts, but really, really happy to have been lucky enough to have had this experience! I am grateful...very grateful -and I hope there's more to come! After all, life is for livin' ;)
John was kind enough to bring me a bag of ice for the drive home, and it provided more relief. Of all the stupid things for me to do the day before the big day!! Sheesh...guess that's why they call me Crash...
So, back at the hotel, I got my bike cleaned up, got my kit packed, fretted, worried, peed a million times, chilled, paced, snoozed, packed, and planned everything that would be needed for the next day, and the trip home afterwards. I had picked up a big cactus needle in my rear tire - Stan's did the trick, but it was still losing air, so I beefed it up and prayed for it to hold... I had the happy diversion of meeting up with CJ for dinner, as she now lives and trains in Tucson - lucky girl - she was to race with a team also, but a shoulder injury derailed the plan :( (Hope you recover quickly!!! ) Good to see her and her all the stories from the world of Xterra, which I do hope to get back to soon :)
Fell into bed for, of course, a very restless sleep as always the night before, and waited for 5 AM to arrive.
Sure as shootin' it did..ok, that was corny, but it did, and I got up, dressed, ate, drank coffee, etc...yes, I said etc...I was nervous!!! Capital N.
Finally, noon arrived, and it was go time! The start of the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo is a 400m LeMans run up to the bikes. I stood in the middle of the pack, the gun went off, and I ran. With hundreds of other yahoos in bike shoes, in the desert - crazy awesome sight! The dust kicked up, but I got to the bikes, hopped on, and peddled away on my first lap. I wanted to break into this EZ style, so I tried to be mellow, but the adrenaline was pumping and I pushed a bit too hard,,,but just for awhile, then the smart kicked in and I relaxed again. I was only there to race me; hadn't seen a start list; didn't know who to look for; just wanted to ride - Just happy to be riding on dirt without studded tires, and NOT on a trainer...
So I rode, and then I flatted...fixed it...rode to the feed zone, filled up, hopped back on...crashed - like a flying enchilada into the rocks (at least no cactus here) - of course, jumped up and professed to be OK (and was, really) and finished my first lap. Wow...
And so I rode three more laps, with my tire loosing air on all of them, so the C02 got a good workout...damn cactus...
I had a really hard time sticking to my nutrition plan in these laps - such a full on course meant little time to fuel, and you had to really consciously tell yourself to do so - I made the number one mistake in these laps, by neglecting my need for calories and hydration. With a 24Hr. race, this is so important early on - I knew it - I planned for it - and then I effed it up...yup, I said eff...royally. My head ached and my energy zapped and I was only 4 hours in...s**t. Of courseAs I rode on, it became increasingly hard to motivate myself to get going. Everything hurt, and my mood tanked. At the 5th lap I figured I was done, but the night was setting in and I felt a little renewed with the cold air coming in. This turned very cold quickly, and the ache piled on. I zoned out and kept peddling - happy to have some pretty serious help from my pit boss - awesome support for sure. I had moved into first, but really hurt too much to think about it. By the 12th lap, I was done. I sat down, I may have cried, I couldn't talk, eat, think - total raging white hot mess. I managed to eat some cheese, and tried hard to rally myself to get on the bike, and at least finish the lap, and tell them I was done. I cruised toward the finish ready to call it off, but then, I got angry. What the eff was I thinking?? Quitting?? While I am ahead (by only a narrow margin)???? After driving 38 hours to be there??? WTF??? So, I got really pissed off, swiped the baton, hopped back on, and somehow managed to have one of my better lap times. I have no idea where it came from. Of course, it sucked all the life from me, and I hadn't filled up my bottles or food supply cuz I thought I was done, but it was enough to push me to do another one after that, putting me just past noon, and the end of the race, and in first. So cooked...
Not a pretty sight, but the job was done, and despite appearances, I was elated! And as seen below, I passed out immediately...not pretty, but pretty pleased :)
I hopped on a plane first thing the next morning and stumbled home, passed out, woke up, and managed to get to work for 6 this morning. I am in huge debt on all fronts, but really, really happy to have been lucky enough to have had this experience! I am grateful...very grateful -and I hope there's more to come! After all, life is for livin' ;)
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