24 Hours, Hot August Nights

Where to begin? Still recovering from the effort and a bit tired. We (Mark, Suzanne, Casey, my mother and I) arrived at the venue late Friday evening. Set-up camp and went out for a night ride. Course was tougher than last time. A bit more climbing and quite a bit of it was steep middle-ring grinders. Hit the hay afterwards only to be awoken shortly after by a bunch of drunk campers. Didn't sleep a bit at all and that really sucked. Arose with a massive headache and no appetite. Not good.

Race started well, perhaps a little too well. I had a killer first lap and was the first solo rider across the line. In fact I think I was somewhere in the top 10 overall when I crossed the line. I hammered out a few more laps and then started to settle into a decent pace. I led the race for the first couple hours and then was swapping places with a few other riders. Depending on who rested and when was the deciding factor. Pretty much was hanging in the top 3 the whole time.

I took my first break at nightfall (after 7 laps) to snag my light, get some food and head out. Turned over 3 night laps and came in for a short rest. I was starting to cramp up a little bit, and my back was aching from the constant pounding of the course. I grabbed some food and Casey's ma Wendy worked on my back, while Jeremy worked on my bike. I had just come in from my "wanderer" lap as it came to be called (2 hours). I was having some issues in which my chain jammed in the spokes twice, plus was just trashed and feeling the effects of my back, no sleep from the night before and a tough course. I scooted out for another lap and turned a good time for a night lap 1:10. Legs were feeling good and I thought all was well. I pulled my next lap and the back pain started to creep back, it was 3 am by the time I finished the lap.

I'd had enough. Pulled the plug, wiped out, finished, exhausted. I was still hanging in the top 3 at the point, but back pain and sleep deprivation had gotten to me at this point. I took a nap and was awoken at 6 to head out again. I was still feeling exhausted and decided not to go. Slept up a little bit, awoke at 7 and rolled over to go, and the stomach was in complete agony.

I'm happy with the effort, but not the outcome. Being only my 2nd 24 hour solo effort there are alot of variables. So it will take a few more to get things working properly. All in all I turned in 12 laps, winner was 20. 15 hours of racing and still finishing in a respectable 11th place

HUGE Congrats to Mark and Suzanne who raced it a s a duo and finished 2nd. Suzanne had some chammy problems and Mark ended up turning 13!! laps.


Ready to Roll at the Start Line


Coming out of the woods in the top 15




Off for another Lap



Transition Area



Mark Hartman gives it some gas at the start



Woohoo!! Podium for GBC



Kicking some Canadian ass!

Blame Canada!


Are you sure you guys were riding the whole course?
~J