This past Saturday/Sunday was the 8th annual 24 Hours at 7 Oaks. I once again did the 12 hour solo race. This year I managed a scant seven laps, compared to last year's nine, but I finished second instead of fourth. Good for me. Here's my lap by lap race write up, much like last year.
Lap 1: Started slowly on purpose. I knew the course wasn't in great shape and I knew I had a long way to go and planned to ride slowly and steadily. Being damn near in last place was an okay place to be as I didn't have to deal with any traffic to speak of, especially given the low participation. The course (as promised) was in highly mixed condition, lots of muddy spots, several reroutes, plenty of dry /hardpack places, and a surprising amount of tacky, perfect dirt. With no one around me, and the extra bit added to the start to break the field up, this lap seemed to take forever. I planned on this and grabbed extra Gu and carried two bottles.
Lap 2: I cruised past my camp without a stop due to the extra food and beverage I just mentioned. Second lap went about like the first, slow, lonely, peaceful, pretty low effort. I really started noticing all reroutes and some of them were very nice, and should be worked in as permanent changes, some were of course quick work arounds that will be changed next spring. I focused a being smooth and trying to stay off my brakes to maximize my efforts, not so much my speed. This would be the most time I'd spent on my bike actually off road all season. I've a sweet new Jamis D29 team since this spring, and with the weather and working too much, I've barely ridden it off road. It was working great, and the position was pretty god after my minor changes earlier in the week.
Lap 3: Stopped at camp to reload bottles and Gu. I was starting to think of laps as doubles and trying to get my brain around only stopped at camp every other lap to minimize down time and keep me rolling forward longer. This is when people started catching and passing me more than just occasionally. I was still plodding along and faster people (especially teams) were going very very hard. No problems with any traffic, but it didn't help me mentally knowing I was that much slower than basically everyone else. Towards the furthest away point of the course, I noticed my rear tire was getting a tad low. This was a bad sign, as I was only running about 30 psi in it to start and though tubeless, it wouldn't ride well if it got too much softer. Shortly after I noticed it feeling soft, BLOFF! Blew it off the rim mid-corner, and somehow kept it upright. Both beads stayed on the rim, I just burped it really hard, and lost all my pressure. Going to my seat pack to pull my CO2 and a tube to fix it, I discovered it had come open and everything inside and fallen out. Awesome. With no other options, I started pushing/jogging/walking my way along the trail, hoping someone would come by soon with the stuff I needed, and a willingness to share. It took a surprisingly long time for anyone to approach. Fortunately for me, the first person who saw me, asked if I needed anything and happened to be riding a 29er. This guy (whose name I've forgotten) saved my race. This is a microcosm of why I love mountain biking, everyone is friendly and there's a camaraderie that isn't found in other types of cycling. After this lap I stopped inhaled a bagel and used a bread bag twisty tie to make sure my pack was closed.
Lap 4: Still slow, but still moving. Mid way through this lap I started getting a wicked headache and noticed I was really really hungry despite the bagel. Other than that I really have no distinct memories about lap four. I took a pretty long break after this lap, refueled as best I could with more food and gu brew. In a big to perk up mentally, I drank an entire can of Monster. I did feel a bit better, though my stomach was not 100% okay with this idea, and I was burping monster flavored burps for the next couple hours.
Lap 5: Again, nothing terribly new here. I walked a bit more of the climbs, and probably rode slower overall, but kept moving forward. With a quick stop to reload Gu packs and grab a fresh bottle, I was off for lap 6.
Lap 6: Starting to feel worn down. Arms, wrists, mid and lower back, plus my left knee all started to bother me a little. And of course after this much riding, "a little" is a relative term, so I was dreading every single medium sized bump, and had a couple interesting bails, including one where I jumped off the bike about 4 feet backwards to the far side of the bank of a deep washout, and the bike went in the crevice. It took a good 30 seconds to figure out how to lift the bike out. Towards the end of this lap it starting getting just a little dark in certain spot in the woods. I stopped and put my lights on and had a snack. I figured I could probably do another couple laps, as I wasn't feeling *that* bad, and it wasn't quite 8 pm.
Lap 7: Started out with the light on low, which was plenty for a few minutes, but soon I had to step it up to full power, which on a Nite Rider 600, is really really bright. During this lap I kept fighting a battle internally of doing another lap or quitting. By the middle of the lap I'd grazed a few trees, walked a ton of the climbs, and rode my brakes down damn near every decent. I was fairly certain I didn't have another one in me. Then, as it happens almost every lap, the last 30-40% is somewhat easier, and I started thinking, "hey, maybe I can squeeze in one more." That is, until I had a big, and probably entertaining to watch, endo on the last decent convinced me otherwise. No idea what caused my crash, but I was enjoying the downhill and all of a sudden my bike stopped, and I was airborne. After I stopped rolling and realized I was fine, I walked the 10 feet (seriously, it was that far) back uphill to my bike, gave it a quick once over, and finished the lap. I sat down and had a big snack and another bottle, just like I promised myself I would to double check if I could do another. It was barely after 9pm, and I had tons of time if I wanted to go again. I couldn't. I cracked a beer then had one of the top 10 best showers of my life.
After: I went and checked the score board, and found I was in second place, with a slight margin on those behind, but I was down a lap (and he was on course for number 9) to the guy who beat me for third last year, Jason Dal. I was somewhat surprised, and hoped that none of the guys chasing me had 8 laps in them. I knew I'd win the tie breaker as my 7th lap earlier than any one behind me. I hung out, snacked, drank some beers, had a brief awards ceremony, pocketed a little more than my entry fee for me efforts, then went to bed. Overall a fun day.
Feelings Monday: Still a little messed up. Hungry, but fill up pretty quickly, sore but really only my arms and lower back. Should be fine in a day or two, not as bad as last year, but felt worse immediately after. No idea what the difference was, but there it is. Course was rougher and slower, but my bike was nicer/faster/had a shock on it, but it may not have been any more comfortable. Almost can't wait for next year, almost.
Lap 7:
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