here's the long version...
day started off nicely with clear skies and nice temps. during the course of the next 24 hours, it would soon change.
gun went off, and the run started. i had a good run, came in about 10th'ish or so, but with some mad cyclocross skillz, i was in 3rd place by the time we were all on our bikes, and then soon leading after a few hundered yards. nat passed me just before the first single track section, and cameron was on my tail. cameron would soon pass me when i bobbled on an uphill. nat and cameron took off.
with my heart rate hitting 187, i backed it off. way too early to run the heart that high. at about 6 miles in on my first lap, i flatted. i reached for my spare in my back pocket and i must of lost it during the run. fumbling for my tube under my saddle bag, i made the change. then, the bead didn't sit well on rim and then i almost popped the tube. had to deflate, get another co2 catridge and start all over again. i must of lost at least 5 minutes during that mess.
steve passed me, along with a few other riders. i chased hard and caught up to steve, and we duked it out for several laps back and fourth, most times coming in within 30 seconds of each other on our opening laps. the heat was coming down on us too - 92 plus degrees it hit during those opening hours.
at around 5 hours in, i started using a camelback with water in addition to my bottle on the bike. water on back, Hammer Heed or Sustained Energy on the bike. I felt a lot better now and passed steve on a single track rocky section while nat slowly built a lead with super fast laps. shortly before nightfall, nat passed me while i put time into steve.
after that, my gaps on steve grew and came down, nat seemed to be going steady and i didn't seem to be making up any time on him.
got the report shortly before 2am that they were going to stop the race. bad rain was coming and they were going to stop the race for 4 hours and adjust times. so, they stopped the race at 2am then added 4 hours to your time. that would be your start time. (for instance, steve got in at 2:06, so his start time was 2:06. i got in a lap ahead of him and got in at 3:10, so i went out at 7:10)
bonus for me here was that i got an extra lap in when it was dry. so with the skies looking bad and thoughts of this years national 24 hour race and the mess of a restart that was, i took off and went as hard as i could.
i came in at 3:10am, so my restart was 7:10 and within 5 minutes, i knew the last 5 hours was going to be tough. the first half of the trail was really bad - i would maybe go 100 yards, then would have to clear the mud off my bike so i could ride/push the next 100 yards. very tough riding - the type i like to say "builds character"... because it didn't rain enough to thin the mud out, it was more like a clay consistancy. literally, mud would stick to my tires an inch thick on the sidewalls.
so, with the race coming down to the final hours of a super muddy course, i was thinking it was going to be a battle of who could clean their bike the fastest for 2nd place.
i turned in three more laps and so does nat. steve ended up snapping a derailler hanger and had to walk back to the pit area for another bike.
at the end, nat won, i got second and steve came in third.
tough day, great course - when it is not muddy.
sologoat out
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