Kona 24hr Global Championships
First of all thanks to Voodoo cycles, our pit crew and USE (www.exposurelights.com). This may have been the hardest race I've ever done---I'm still deciding. I think I'm just not that good at not sleeping.
Jimmy Jam and I started off good taking one lap at a time. I started with a run that lasted about a mile. The promoter, a Brit named Patrick(very cool bloke), said he liked to spread things out a bit at the start to give every one their own little piece of singletrack heaven. That was nice but I hate running, especially in cycling shoes.
So one lap at a time. That's not bad but the course was a fast 12.6 miles with over 1000 feet of climbing for each lap. All rollers of fireroad and single track. This was by far the best 24hr race course I have ever been on. You never rode more than 150meters with out a turn.
Lap one and I'm staying with the 4 person Coed Pro teams. We're shredding trail and never shifting from the big ring. With the run, 3 of us are done with our first lap in under 50 minutes. Wow, this is not so bad.
Four minutes later another duo team comes into the pit. Four minutes is good but like Juan Grande says, " In a 24hr race, you are just sitting in till that 3 am mark." Jimmy puts in a lap about the same and we agree to back off to 52 minute laps. We continue till dark.
It's dark and our time inbetween laps only allows us to sit down for 15 minutes before getting ready to mount the trusty steeds again, so we decide to go to 2 laps on/2 laps off for the night.----Mark of note--when making decisions on a Duo team it takes a couple of laps to make a decision since you only see each other for seconds while passing the baton.
Going to 2 laps on/2 laps off would give us some time to try and eat and close the eyes for about 40 minutes. We thought we should back off to 55 min. Alls well in Camp Voodoo. Lead is at 32 minutes at 9pm.
It's 3 am and time to make the coffee. Our lead is to 48 min The temperature has dropped to a cool 40 degrees with dew moistening the trail. The night is perfect. The first lap I hold my 55 min pace, then I just crack. As soon as I head out on the 2nd lap, I don't want to be there anymore. This is time to be attacking and here I am wanting to stop on the side of the trail and cry i.e. the gnome 2004 Old Pueblo. We all have these points. I keep rolling. I'll never be a gnome so why start now. The big ring course has turned into middle ring with some granny gear. I even walk a few climbs. The lap turns to be 1:03. I tell JJ at the transition that I'm ready to switch back. Two laps is just too much for me.
7am. The sun rises. It's colder than a witches titty in a brass bra and I'm tired of stuffing cheese pizza down my throat so I can do more laps. Also, we find that our lead has jumped to 2 laps. Hmmmmmm. To give J Jam a little extra rest, I do a recovery pace lap. We keep the recovery pace going all morning holding our lead. Nice. The last bit of the race we just enjoyed our lead and the amazing course.
After all that, it wasn't that bad. Like the promoter said. On Monday, you'll swear that you'll never do it again. On Tuesday, you are looking for the next opportunity to punish yourself with a 24hr race. I suggest everyone do one. There is some real soul searching to be done out there. Plus I found out that PBR makes a light beer. Maybe there's hope out there after all.
Now, we are in recovery mode and then final preparations for Cyclocross.
Jimmy Jam and I started off good taking one lap at a time. I started with a run that lasted about a mile. The promoter, a Brit named Patrick(very cool bloke), said he liked to spread things out a bit at the start to give every one their own little piece of singletrack heaven. That was nice but I hate running, especially in cycling shoes.
So one lap at a time. That's not bad but the course was a fast 12.6 miles with over 1000 feet of climbing for each lap. All rollers of fireroad and single track. This was by far the best 24hr race course I have ever been on. You never rode more than 150meters with out a turn.
Lap one and I'm staying with the 4 person Coed Pro teams. We're shredding trail and never shifting from the big ring. With the run, 3 of us are done with our first lap in under 50 minutes. Wow, this is not so bad.
Four minutes later another duo team comes into the pit. Four minutes is good but like Juan Grande says, " In a 24hr race, you are just sitting in till that 3 am mark." Jimmy puts in a lap about the same and we agree to back off to 52 minute laps. We continue till dark.
It's dark and our time inbetween laps only allows us to sit down for 15 minutes before getting ready to mount the trusty steeds again, so we decide to go to 2 laps on/2 laps off for the night.----Mark of note--when making decisions on a Duo team it takes a couple of laps to make a decision since you only see each other for seconds while passing the baton.
Going to 2 laps on/2 laps off would give us some time to try and eat and close the eyes for about 40 minutes. We thought we should back off to 55 min. Alls well in Camp Voodoo. Lead is at 32 minutes at 9pm.
It's 3 am and time to make the coffee. Our lead is to 48 min The temperature has dropped to a cool 40 degrees with dew moistening the trail. The night is perfect. The first lap I hold my 55 min pace, then I just crack. As soon as I head out on the 2nd lap, I don't want to be there anymore. This is time to be attacking and here I am wanting to stop on the side of the trail and cry i.e. the gnome 2004 Old Pueblo. We all have these points. I keep rolling. I'll never be a gnome so why start now. The big ring course has turned into middle ring with some granny gear. I even walk a few climbs. The lap turns to be 1:03. I tell JJ at the transition that I'm ready to switch back. Two laps is just too much for me.
7am. The sun rises. It's colder than a witches titty in a brass bra and I'm tired of stuffing cheese pizza down my throat so I can do more laps. Also, we find that our lead has jumped to 2 laps. Hmmmmmm. To give J Jam a little extra rest, I do a recovery pace lap. We keep the recovery pace going all morning holding our lead. Nice. The last bit of the race we just enjoyed our lead and the amazing course.
After all that, it wasn't that bad. Like the promoter said. On Monday, you'll swear that you'll never do it again. On Tuesday, you are looking for the next opportunity to punish yourself with a 24hr race. I suggest everyone do one. There is some real soul searching to be done out there. Plus I found out that PBR makes a light beer. Maybe there's hope out there after all.
Now, we are in recovery mode and then final preparations for Cyclocross.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home