- weather
- course
- mindset
The course was tough, after talking with Dez on a lap Sunday morning he agreed this may have been one of the toughest courses for a 24hr race. It started out with a short fire road stretch to single track that wound through the forest. It had a sweet little rock garden that had a few little drops that dropped you on to more single track. Then came the first climb, a fire road ascent that was steep but not too long followed by some rolling fire road/single track to the first single track climb that was tough. It had a few little descents and topped out at a long section of rolling descent with some switch backs that went on for a while...a nice relief. The course went up and down from here on tight single track and eventually dropped you off on the fire road climb back to the top of the course. Ouch. From the Garmin Marja had on her bike it looks like about 2 miles with a steep pitch at the bottom and a steep pitch at the top. Here, after lap 3 I hiked the bottom and top pitches faster than the geared bikes were riding them...
After you topped out it was a ripping single track descent with a few little ups that made all that suffering worth it. Then, "plop" you get to do it all over again.
Scott, Shelly and Max followed Marja and I (with Maddie and Phil of course) for the drive to Boggs Demonstration Forest near Cobb south of Clear Lake. Pete caught us on the road so we all arrived together and set up the pit area. Scott and Shelly made a great dinner for all of us and then around 8 it was time to hit the hay. Pete stayed at Boggs, while the rest of us lesser mortals crashed at the Bates Motel in Cobb. A good night sleep before race day.
We all met back up at the pits around 8, cooked breakfast and got the last details dialed in. With the weather cooperating I was able to mask my nerves....Marja was having a tougher time than me. Leading up to the start of Cool I was a complete basket case, I could tell she really wanted to get the race started. Fast forward to the start...
I rode the first lap with Scott (he and Shelly were doing the 8hr as a team). We had a cattle call at the technical rock garden about 1 mile into the course, but after that the course opened up. I was his tour guide as most of the course was the same as the Boggs 8Hr course that Carlos at Bike Monkey uses in March... It was nice to just ride and talk with Scott the whole time. As we rode the climb on the back side of the course I began wondering about gearing. I had 34x18 on the DeSalvo, and rode that first lap strong....hmmmm, 24hrs though. 1st lap down (Scott passed off to Shelly) and the race started in earnest as I had to get my mind into it. I will be the first to admit I was all over the place mentally. Thinking about way too much.
After lap 2 I swapped bikes with Pete and asked him to put the 19 on the back....a decision that payed off later. I was on my Bianchi that had crooked handle bars and a crooked seat. I am not the best multi-tasker, so early Saturday when tweaking the bike and talking with everyone I failed to pay attention....no biggee....just funny...
To my surprise, Pete was at the mid-way point of the race at an aid station with my DeSalvo. SWEET! I have a lot of history with that Bianchi, by my god is the DeSalvo heaven compared to it... quick cyclocross-like swap and I kept on rolling!
Off I go...
Heading out on lap 4, Pete tells me Mike Harrison is 10 minutes up on me, so take a minute or so off my laps. This started me focusing on racing. My lap times were good, but I was "riding" this race so far, not "racing." I picked it up a notch.
I come through and Pete tells me I knocked 4 minutes off my lap time, great, but back off....
Next lap, "its a 24 hr race Brad, same lap time you can slow down..."
I honestly thought I was. On my lap 7, as I am grinding up toward the halfway aid station I see DeSalvo across some one's butt.....its Marja!
I call out and she cusses me out (in play of course) because she wanted to hold me off for her entire 8 hours. This should have told me how fast I was going. Looking back I should have slowed right here and ridden the lap out with her. We talked for a little and I kept hammering that lap....
Lap 8 I just keep riding with good focus. Top of the last climb I see Mike. I caught him. We finish that lap together and he looks like hell. I head out on a little of a mental high and start lap 9 in the lead. I quickly extend my lead to about 20 minutes over the next few laps... with this a few problems pop up.
- Mentally I relax, and I ASSuME Mike is toast.
- Serious GI issues, stomach hurts and plumbing isn't working right.
Next lap I ride consistently, consistently SLOW as I am on the verge of vomiting most of the lap. Finish and end up in the bathroom for a while.
Mike passes me...
I hit the pit and Marja and Pete are lost as too how. Mike seriously turned it on at night and in combination with my GI issues he caught me and kept riding strong on the high of catching me. I, on the other hand, still nauseous and mentally smacked in the face am having a hard time regaining my focus. The next few laps Mike get almost 20 minutes on me before I regain some focus and start riding more consistent.
One lap in particular I was starving but nauseous at the same time. I was whining HUGE, Marja stepped up and threw my butt out of the pit on my bike...the BEST thing that could have happened, thanks Marja!!!
As the night wears on its freaking COLD...really cold for June in California. As expected, as the light starts to appear on the Eastern Horizon the temp is dropping, BUT the sun is coming.
Once in the daylight I regain a bit of my focus and start riding better. My body is still broken, but my mind is better. I ride a lap with Dez, he passes me on a climb and I ride his butt on the descents. A great carrot for me to follow. He stops to visit nature, and a bit later on the last descent we ride into the pits together. It was great to have someone to talk to.
This race had 40 24hr folks on the course after 8pm Saturday. It made it very desolate at night. So the conversation was a nice change. I had several laps where I saw no one!
As time is passing, I am realizing that I definitely have 2 laps I can get in before 12. Mike has 16 minutes on me, he can definitely get 3 more. I do not want to finish 1 lap down on him for a couple reasons:
- Pride, he and I have battled it out and to NOT finish on the same lap cause I missed the cutoff wasn't an option I wanted to deal with; and
- The Leave No Trace Series is based on mileage, and I was 12.5 miles ahead of Mike because I beat him in Cool (he raced geared at Cool). Currently I sit #2 behind Tinker.
Lap 18 Pete and Marja tell me I have to bust it in order to get out on Lap 19 with enough time. I struggle on 18, but role through the start/finish with 1hr 20 minutes to finish Lap 19. That was my average since morning.
I come into the pit and toss my bottles, Marja replaces them, she shoves two Snickers in my mouth...Pete shoves 4 Chomps in my mouth...with a Diet Coke in hand I leave within seconds of arriving at the pit. Riding down pit row I realize I just might be sweeping the course. Turns out Pete and Marja were really worried about me making it, and Jim (race director) came by the pit after I left and expressed his concern that I wouldn't make it.
I can happily say I left that pit knowing I would make it. Somehow I found complete focus from the start of that lap. I just kept mumbling to myself "my legs will clear quickly and easily"...nonstop. I caught a "Davis Bike Club" guy on the single track climb and he was toast. I tried to fire him up but he was broken....he wouldn't make it.
I fly down the descents trying to gain every second I can. I start grinding up to the halfway point and there's Marja Screaming for me with a diet coke in hand....I grab it, slam most of it and keep on pushing. She didn't seem too happy I remember thinking. Afterwards she told me she was concerned I might just miss the cutoff.
On the last climb, I pass another solo Single Speed and fire him up. He was silent.... I yelled at him to get on his bike and push his butt to the finish....
The last descent toward the end I was flying... I glance at my watch and realize not only was I going to make noon, but I was going to have over 10 minutes to spare.
I pop out at the start/finish, Marja and Pete yelling! I roll around the final tree and see the clock reads 23:47:15. I just pulled off a 1:07 final lap. I was so stoked. Marja grabs my bike and as I hop off all excited I suddenly feel like I was going to hurl. A few dry heaves here and there and my stomach starts to settle.
I was so happy to have pulled off that lap after losing focus over night. To race that hard and that fast for 24 hrs was a new level for me. My hats off to Mike, he raced his ass off! I can honestly say it was great to be in that close of a race the entire time.
Tinker finished with 23 laps, Dez with 22 and then Mike and I had 19 laps. Next closest was 15 laps I believe. What a race! What a brutal course, especially on a SS...whoa!
Whats up next....riding Downieville, Hole-n-the-Ground, Rim, etc having fun! I plan on riding a lot of miles helping Scott get tuned for his stage race out of Brian Head, Utah in August.
I owe a lot to Marja and Pete for their dedication this past weekend....staying awake - Marja after racing and winning the 8hr race.....Yes she LAPPED 2nd place twice... They kept me fed, moving when I was totally beat down. They froze their butts off and never missed a beat, thanks guys!!!!!
Pics to come!
Garmin: 199.5 miles, 27,702 vertical feet
