1st 12 Hour Solo Attempt at 24-9

Leading up to the race I didn't know what to expect. I had never ridden my bike for 12 hours or for as many miles as I would cover during the race. I wasn't nervous leading up to the race as much as I was unsure. Unsure if I could do 5 laps which was my goal (I acutally did 6), unsure how difficult it may be, unsure how to pace myself to cover 12 hours.

I took Friday off to be able to grocery shop, pre-ride and prepare all the things I needed to do a 12 hour race. I set up my tent and canopy to get a good spot on the course. It was of course, raining and I forgot my raincoat. I went to Walmart and did my shopping. Then I headed home and made some sandwiches cut up some fruit, cooked some pasta and got ready to head back out for a pre-ride. One more lap of pre-riding the course brought my total to 5 laps of the course in the two weeks leading to the race. I picked up my registration packet and headed back home to shower and go pick Kelsey up. We went to The Trek Store to buy one more pair of shorts. You can never have too many biking shorts. Then home to pack for the race. I live 15 minutes from 9 Mile but when I got the back of the Durango packed you might have thought 2 people were going racing and camping for a whole weekend. I guess it is better to have too much than not enough, even though that is not what I tell Carrie when we pack for WORS races.

Saturday morning and my alarm was set for 7:00 a.m. and yet my eyes were wide open at 5:18 A.M. I was sure that paired with going to bed late and not being able to sleep that great would be the perfect pairing for 12 hours on the bike. I headed out to 9 Mile at about 7:30 a.m. to set everything up while Kelsey and Carrie got ready to come later with Lori. Kelsey was hanging out with Lori to see a movie, etc. so she didn't get bored waiting for her dad to turn lap after lap. I guess the movie G-Force was good but all I saw were trees, people, trees, racers, men in kilts cheering, yes KILTS, trees, finish line, start area, my pit, repeat 6 times.

The 11 a.m. start was nearing and bang, the cannon goes off and the LeMans style start has everyone do about a 1/3 mile run to their bikes which were standing in racks. My number was 242.








I'm not much of a runner but I think I managed to take off in the middle of the pack hop on my bike and race to the log jam at the beginning of the singletrack where we had to wait for the racers to enter one by one. Once we came out of the first section of singletrack there was a long section of ski trail to start some passing. I was doing pretty good, passing here and there only to keep telling myself that I was riding too fast. Into the next singletrack still slightly backed up so at least I got a little rest. Back out into the ski trails for a long stretch with some uphill climbs. Then downhill past the guys in kilts. Lap one had one of them digging a big hole and using the dirt to build a jump. The rest....cheering and drinking. Flower trail had another slight back up of people trying to get through the rocks. Once again out onto a 1+ mile section of ski trail that has the steepest climb on the course but ends with a nice long downhill. Into Ho Chi Minh and more rocks. My best judgement was to walk some of these sections and avoid falling this early or pinch flatting a tire. More sections of single track and ski trail and then a nice 29 mph downhill gravel road. Across Red Bud road, past the water station, cheering people and loud music which is always a plus. More sections of single track and back across Red Bud road with about 1 mile left to the finish and by finish I mean the start of lap 2.

Laps 1 and 2 were fairly fast paced for me with times in the 1 hour 20-25 minute range for the 14+ mile lap. Lap 3 would be quite a bit longer with a series of cramps in my inner thighs slowing me down. Salt tablets from an EMT helped out and laps 4 and 5 were faster again. Lap 5 appears slower in time because I ate and refilled my water at the beginning of my laps with the clock running and I took a longer than normal break at the start of lap 5.Lap 6 was in the dark and included 3 hard crashes that made up my mind that I was done when I got back in just to be safe. I went down on my way through some rocks to get into Flower Trail and cracked my elbow up. Gary Esko rode up behind me later and let me know I was bleeding. No time or place to fix it then anyway. The next crash was my own fault trying to line up for a good line through some rocks on Ho Chi Minh. My bars clipped a tree and on my back I went. Crashing gets old fast and it makes it hard to get up and ride fast again. The last time was just a wash out of the front tire on a root. Any other time I could have pulled the bike back into shape but I was too tired. It was amazing how good it felt to lay on the ground. When I got back to the timing tent I scanned my card and handed it in. I had another hour left to start a lap but I wouldn't have been able to finish safely or with any lights left. I guess one plus was that I got to have a beer about 2 hours sooner than I thought.



Racing and riding in the dark are fun and it makes for some cool camera effects.








See below for my riding/racing buddies times along with mine. Gary Esko, Bryan Lau and Dan Schuster. They also added some competition to the race because even though it was about racing myself I think everybody always wants somebody else to try to beat. There were 58 total riders in Men's 12 Hour Solo. Finishing in the top half of the field was better than I thought I would do.



Next year I'm not sure if there will be another 12 Hour Solo attempt because there is some talk of the 4 of us doing a 4 Man 24 Hour Team. That sounds like a lot of fun to me!

Bad Luck and More Bad Luck

Leading up to races I don't like to ride too close to the race in case I break something then there is a mad dash to get parts and get it fixed. Case in point....my bent wheels right before Eau Claire. Well this time it isn't me but my friends Dan and Bryan. Dan has had on and off trouble with his rear suspension bearings and Trek is sending a new frame but he will have to race his old bike at the 24-9. Bryan and I went riding last Tuesday and he broke his frame and Trek sent a new frame that arrived today at 1 p.m. and the Trek Store is going to get a set of components and build his bike by the time they close tomorrow or give him a bike to ride so he can race on Saturday. Either way his first ride on either bike will be when they fire the cannon for the race Saturday. Nothing like cutting it close.

WORS Race #6 (Sunburst Showdown)

We arrived in Kewaskum Saturday afternoon and set up camp. I took Collin out for a little pre-ride fun. The Juniors course was not marked so I assumed that maybe they were doing one lap of the full course. Let me tell you that Collin did not find it FUN. He wondered why the course had to be all uphill and so hard. My standard response is if it was easy then everybody would do it. We went and ate spaghetti for supper that was put on by the ski patrol. Gary and I headed out for another lap after dark with our lights. I'm not sure why but riding at fun is a blast. When I got back I was informed by Collin that he and I had a big day of racing tomorrow and I needed to get to sleep.

Sunday morning I awoke to Carrie telling me, "Yes, that is rain you hear on the tent." Great! I have the wrong tires on my bike for wet conditions. Luckily right before Collin's race the sun came out and stuff started drying out. Collin fought through the uphills to come in 2nd place. He had the first place rider in his sites but a crash and one last uphill climb made him fade a bit.

When my race started the lead out to the steep climb felt pretty good. I was mid pack but I made a stupid mistake on the first climb. I hung on the wheel of 3 slower guys that I could have easily passed. I thought saving some energy for the next two times I had to climb it was smart but in reality it allowed the guys in front of us to get away a little more. ALWAYS, ALWAYS pass when you have the chance. Wow, was it rough and dusty. On lap 2 I got stopped by a rider crashing coming at me and his bike landing on my side of the trail. 3 of us had to get off our bikes and run around the downed rider and bike. Getting off the bike is the worst especially on an uphill because it is so hard to get going again. By the third lap there were people cramping up but I still felt good. I stayed ahead of Gary for the whole race which almost never happens. I came home with a 20th place finish which is a little lower than normal but there was an overly large amount of climbing which made it a little harder.

Next is my first 12 hour solo at the 24-9 next weekend.

Niterider is Awesome

I sent my Niterider Flight HID light back last Monday, July 6th, 2nd day Fed Ex to San Diego. They received it on July 8th and shipped it back to me on July 10th with a new battery and charger at no charge to me. They have the best no questions asked service and they made sure that I would have the light back before the 24-9 on July 25th. Hopefully I should have it back by the middle of this week so I can get some night rides in at 9 Mile before the 12 hour race.

New Trail Construction

About 12 or so of us mountain bikers spent Saturday from 8 a.m. - 1 p.m. building a couple new trails out at 9 Mile. It is a lot faster with so many people doing the work. We did what Matt Block (person who spends the time to get this approved with the county) thought would take several work sessions because of the amount of people we had. We even got a couple people who were done riding to help. The trails are going to be fun and by fun I mean hard, technical, pain inflicting uphills, rocky, off camber....you know FUN!!!

Early Birthday Present

Thursday night when I got home I had a few things to do (clean my bike). Carrie texted me and said she had a surprise for me. I was talking to Dan on the phone when she got home and she was antsy to show me what it was. When I got off the phone I went out in the garage and there was a Park Tool PCS-10 workstand. I haved talked about getting one but never decided to spend the money. Now I have one and it's not even my birthday until July 31. I let Carrie know how awesome she is. Thanks to her and the kids.

Ready to Roll

My new wheels got ordered on Monday and I picked them up last night. I love good service. Mavic Tn719 with Shimano XT Hubs and DT Swiss 14g/15g spokes. They are already on the bike and ready to roll at 9 Mile tonight. With any luck I won't need a new set for a while. I'm not sure how many times a year I could swing $350 for new wheels.

New Wheels

I returned my borrowed wheel today along with a thank you aka a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon for the guys at Rib Mountain Cycles. They asked how I did and I blamed my finish on the wheel. They are hand building me a set of custom wheels and I should have them by the end of the week. I'll post more then with some specs. and some pics.

WORS Race #5 (Chippewa Valley Firecracker)

Eau Claire is always one of the best venues to race. The course is always awesome and fast, there is lots to do for the kids and they put on a super spaghetti feed and a breakfast that are both all you can eat. We arrived on Friday and camped till Sunday.

Friday night a bunch of us guys went out for a night ride. When I set up my lights I found out one of them didn't work and it is brand new. I'll have to send it back and get it warrantied. I went out with just my helmet light which slowed me down a bit but it was still fun being in the woods in the dark.

Collin had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends some of which were the competition and I explained to him that they weren't friends when Don said Goooooo. I went out on the course and got a bunch of pictures during his race which he ended up winning for his age class. One day maybe he'll beat me.

When my race started I quickly found out I should have use a bigger chainring on the front. Maybe a 34 tooth for next year. The disadvantage of a 1x9 was clear on the lead out as I spun out (legs got tired). The guys with big rings slowly pulled away. I should have laid back and tried to catch them later. I was fast in the singletrack but it's hard to catch back up. I managed to get a 20th place finish and my time was about 6 minutes faster than my fastest time this year.

It was a good weekend for everybody.

Crash=$$$$$$$$$$$

Ironically I took my last of the 5 unpaid days off from work last Thursday. Dan was off too so we decided to take a ride out at 9 Mile. Approximately 10 minutes into the ride I was on the ground scraped up and bleeding and both wheels on my bike were bent so back to my vehicle I go and head for Rib Mountain Cycles. I explained my situation of leaving for Eau Claire Friday and of course Randy and his super bunch of guys tell me they will have the wheels straightened by noon on Friday so I can pick them up on my way through. Friday morning I packed everything up and needed to take the van to go get the wheels because I couldn't get my bike frame inside the vehicle. I got to the bike shop a little early so the wheels weren't done yet but they got right on it. The front wheel was almost as good as new, the back wheel was JUNK. Randy came through by lending me a wheel from a much more expensive bike. I asked him to not tell me how much it was worth so I didn't worry about damaging it. Back home I went and threw the wheels on my back and off we went. Around the block once to come back and get the Camelbaks. Around the block again to get my lights. Eau Claire here we come.

Is It Winter In June??

Went out to 9 Mile last night with Dan. I dressed for the 55 degree weather. Under Armor, jersey, pants and shorts over the pants. It rained on the way there but was dry while riding right until the end when we got a little wet. It wasn't even really a rain, it was more like fall mist. It was good to get out and ride. Got in some miles and some climbs. Another ride at 9 Mile tomorrow and then off to Eau Claire on Friday for the 5th race of the year.