Burn 24 hour Race (1 of at least 2)

Lets just start off saying that I survived my first 24 hour mountain bike race. I was (dumb, stupid, stubborn, unprepared, determined) pick one.



But I finished it. There were a lot of things that were going against me for my goal of 100 miles. The weather. It was hot. Damn hot. It was close to the mountains and not even June yet, but the temperature was still up around 90 degrees. Also, it rained the day before. Judging by the mud puddles it was a good amount. Also with mud there is the extra effort in which you need to put in. The wheels just kept on spinning on the first laps but the bike wasn't going anywhere. I guess I just put out to much power on the climbs that the bike couldn't keep up... Well, as long as I am lying to myself, I might as well make it a good one.


Look how naive I look, all ready to go.

I managed to get 2 laps in before coming into the pit area where my dedicated (and at this point still sober) pit crew awaited. (A big thank you to all of you for showing up and helping me out, it would have been rough without you). There was the always faithful and helpful Burrower, the traveling man Erik, Sunscreen Erin, Skipping Jason, and Potty mouth Amy who decided to show up for the weekend. The first exchange was a little rough as they didn't know how long I was going to be out on the trail, how many laps I was doing at one point. Logistics in which should have been thought of before the race but looking back, a few minutes didn't hurt resting off the bike.

The trail was still a little slick when I went out for laps 3 and 4. I could feel the pace of the group getting a little slower, and mostly my pace getting slower as well. I still had about 20 hours to go at this point, so I really wasn't in much of a hurry. The rest of the pack also started to thin out just a bit as well, I wasn't getting passed as much or doing as much passing. I think the heat and course took its tool on people earlier than expected. I managed to come in after the 4 lap unscathed and just fatigued. My neck had been bothering me for a week and I couldn't turn my head back to the right, but that didn't matter as long as I could look forward. At this point I took in a few cliff bars, some fruit snacks, filled up the camelback and kept going for lap 5. The rest is to be continued.