It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog since life’s been busy but here it is…..
For the holidays my family headed down to Mexico City to spend it with family and friends. We actually drove to Hermosillo, which is the capital of the state of Sonora (which is the state under AZ), and then flew to Mexico City. We spent a week in Mexico City with most of my cousins, uncles and aunts. The second week we spent in Cuernavaca which is a town about an hour outside of Mexico City where everyone stayed at my aunt’s house, which is awesome. It was great seeing everyone and spending some great time with family.
Got back on January 2 and brought back some great memories as well as a stupid cough that ended up lasting about three weeks. Thursday rolled along and Casey from Red Rock Company needed some volunteers to help out in Friday at the packet pickup for the 12 Hours of Papago. So I drove down to Landis Cyclery to help out. When I got there Casey asked me why I wasn’t racing and I decided on a whim to sign up to do the race solo.
I helped out for a couple of hours before I raced home stopping at Triple Sports and the grocery store for nutrition and food for the race. Luckily I had taken my trusty mountain bike “Aria” to the awesome guys at Sunday Cycles a couple of days before so my bike was dialed in and ready to go. So even though I hadn’t ridden in over two weeks and had a good cough going I had decided to race a 12hr mountain biking event solo, admittedly not one of my greatest decisions.
January 8th race morning I got up washed down some oatmeal loaded up my truck and headed down to Tempe. Got there at 5 am and had about 5 layers of clothing on and was still cold. I set up my station along solo row and had the Landis guys mount a new rear tire on my bike. I quickly started to see some familiar faces, Bob LaRouche, JP, Mike Melley, Tim Bolen, Travis McMaster and the Sunday Cycles group, Joe Berman, and co. I got Aria race ready and took her to the bike rack. Next to me were two guys that had a small propane heater (which was great) and a girl Nicole that I had met at registration.
The race was scheduled to start at 7am and the course was a 7 mile loop that included 2 miles on the canal. Initially I had no real goal but thought that 16-17 laps was a good distance to cover in 12hrs. 6:30 rolled along and I started to shed some layers and get down to what I was going to wear for the race. Nicole and I chatted a bit about the race and seeing me with my racelab kit on she asked me if I worked with Gus. As it turns out she happens to work a couple of cubicles away from my dad, small world right?
Just before 7am I went down to the start line for the Le Mans start. Which for those who don’t know is where all the racers (solo riders and teammates of duo teams, 4 and 5 person teams doing the first lap) line up a distance away from their bikes and when the race starts run to their bikes and start riding. I joked around with some of the racers before going to the very back of the group having no desire to sprint to my bike. The first lap was a bit of a cluster you know what and the realization that Red Rock had made sure to include every major climb in the course quickly caused me to reconsider my silent goal of finishing 16-17 laps. The canal section was interesting because of the mountain bike pace lines that formed. I settled into a comfortable 12 hr pace and felt surprisingly comfortable for not having been on my bike for weeks, well besides the cough that kept bothering me. One guy actually asked me not to cough up a lung while he was drafting me on the canal. The toughest hill by far was one that came right after the tunnel, for which you had to dismount your bike to cross. It was loose and had a very distinct line that you had to follow precisely. The canal section was nice since it allowed you to relax a bit although the bridge you had to cross at the end before heading back was a pain. The step up was about a foot and a half and even if it had a small dirt ramp up to it the other side was two tall steps that took you by surprise. I think I might have ridden it 3-4 times before I decided to dismount and run my bike across; partially because that dirt ramp started to disappear and I was tired and didn’t want to risk hurting myself or Aria.
I paced myself well and with the cheers of all my friends racing with me I kept it going strong. Mike Melley was riding his single speed as usual and every time he laped me he would give me a good pinch of motivation. I did feel like I was in the verge of cramping for almost the whole time which encouraged me to take my e caps each lap as well as keep my nutrition going. After 9 consecutive laps without stopping I decided that it was probably time to take a breather. I laid down elevated my legs and after texting my parents to see when they’d show up to watch me I got in a little power nap. At this time my cough had not improved and had left my abs sore from it. Before I headed back on the course I talked to my mom and gave her directions on where the race venue was. I headed out on a lap and felt a little bit of a renewed energy and coming in to the transition site I saw Heinrich (an Austrian Pro Triathlete and family friend who is staying here for 6months of training) and his family on the course cheering me on as well as my mom and dad. This gave me even more energy and I headed out for another lap. About half way through my 11 lap my energy level dropped and with the cough feeling like it was getting worse I made the tough decision that I was going to stop since I didn’t want to risk getting sicker. I finished the lap and was glad to see my parents and friends. Coach (aka Mom) agreed with my decision to stop and helped me pack my things and take them to my car. I managed to introduce them to a couple of awesome people and give them a taste of what the atmosphere is like at a mountain bike race and why I absolutely love it.
They left to run some errands and I decided to hang out a bit more at the race. Mike Melley was kicking some major ass and even though there was no single speed division he was winning riding one, the guy is a machine; a couple of my buddies where also crushing it out there and it was great to see them race and cheer them on. After hanging out with the Sunday Cycles team (thanks for the PBR) and meeting some awesome people my next destination was the beer garden which was sponsored by 4 Peaks. The rest of the race was spent drinking good beer and hanging out with awesome people. Melley ended up winning the race and Bob got 3rd (the guy is fricking awesome, rode a full rigid geared 29 and he’s 49 years old, amazing!!). Nicole got 2nd in the women’s solo category too which was awesome. After some more drinking and merriment I hobbled to my car content with getting 11 laps in (~80miles) and coming in 26th place out of about 50 male solo riders. In n Out was my treat afterward before heading home to a hot shower and a comfy bed.
Thanks to all the people that where out there cheering me on, thanks to Red Rock for organizing an amazing event.
24hrs of Pueblo is going to be amazing and I can’t wait for it. 12 hrs of Papago was a bit of a reality pill but it’s motivated me to up my training and I’ve been putting in the time on the bike since then thanks to racelab (racelab.com) for getting me ready for the race. I’m feeling stronger and getting my endurance up which feels good. Sit bones are not the happiest though but I’ll get used to it soon. A little less than a month to go…wish me luck
“Mountain biking kicks your ass but sooths your soul”
Peace
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