(stole this one from the mutt)
I think I left off just finishing up lap 4 (or 6) I can't remember. But things started to get a little hazy at that point. As you might know (spoiler alert) I am not a fast rider by any means, and had been on the bike for around 6 hours. I was getting a little loopy. I was lucky enough to have Jason bring his bike and go out with me on lap 6. It was nice having someone to talk to on the trail that had no intention of passing my slow ass. I took in a burger (or 2, I can't remember) some cliff bars for the trail, filled up the camelbak with powerade and headed out for my first night lap. This also happened to be my first night lap ever.
Luckily Bart loaned me a Seca 1400. Man that thing was bright. As I went out for that nice casual lap I realized that I was getting a little loopy in my head, and sloopy on the trail. The roots were starting to dew over and get slick and I ended up walking some of the trail. I did manage to pass my local dirt diva Little Miss Sunshine. We actually finished the lap together.
Thank you Mutt for the tag.
I that was just the finish for lap number 7 (I think). After that details get a little blurry. I know that I was standing at my bike looking around the tent and all I could hear was the Burrower "what do you want/need?". I just looked around and finally got to asking for a refill of the camelbak. I went out for another lap.
I don't really remember much that last lap. I have learned that your body starts to shut down after long periods of time in extreme conditions (this one being heat). I didn't want to eat or drink or even use the bathroom. To date I had ridden only a 6 hour race. Here I was on hour 12 and I was delirious. I did manage to finish lap 8 sometime around midnight before calling it quits for the night. When I came in luckily the pit crew was still almost sober and helped me gather some food, take my bike, and point me in the direction of a hose for a quick rinse off before bed after me playing a game of charades and pointing and grunting at what I wanted to eat and drink.
I think it was a little after midnight when I finally passed out, dead to the world.
I awoke the next morning around 630. My alarm was set for 645 as I had ambitions, I had goals...and I also had a sore ass from riding 12 hours the day before. Erik made breakfast of eggs, bagels and oatmeal for me as I looked at my bike the entire time. It was a showdown. Me against the culprit. I put on my last dry set of riding clothes and finally hit the trail around 8:20. I only managed to do one lap before calling it quits. I was just too tired and to sore to continue. I ended up 15 out of 22 entries with 9 laps in the mens solo open.
At first I was disappointed in my results, I wanted 15 laps (or 100 miles) but looking back there were a lot of things that couldn't be avoided. The heat, the rain the night before, the lack of riding before hand due to other commitments, the beer, etc. I also spoke with a lot of other riders who had been riding since before I was born and they were just doing their first 24 hour race. I have been riding for 3 years now to put it into perspective. They had a really nice base to fall back on. I wanted a challenge, I got a challenge. I will continue to strive to do better next year as Erin already signed me up as she just likes to have an excuse to camp and peoplewatch. I'm already training for it....
Here are just some other pictures from the Burn in which the Burrower took or I stole off the F-book.
Glow bracelets, not just for raves anymore
The morning fog rolling out. I just thought this was a cool picture.
Looked at this one again. There is a guy wearing underwear and cape in it. Why would I not post it?
I am sure more will post up online somewhere, but until next week, enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment