Steve & I headed out for the race on Thursday, Feb. 14th. We flew to Seattle and met up with Shaun Taylor at the airport. Had a quick stop there where we caught up and boarded our next plane to Tucson. We arrived and got our bags and car rental organized and waited for Dave Franks to arrive. Dave arrived on time but none of his luggage arrived including his bike. The airline told us his bike would be delivered the next day before noon. We were all hoping that would be the case! Headed out and made our first stop in Tucson to get stocked up for the weekend.
We had about an hour drive to Oracle, where we were staying at Triangle L Ranch. It was tricky to find at night but we finally made it with Shaun's sharp navigational skills. We were staying at the Hill House a 3 bedroom cottage with a nice deck off the front and great view of the desert and mountains. We got settled in and hung out for the rest of the night.
We headed over to the main ranch building in the morning where we were served a great breakfast and got to know the staff and owner of the ranch over a cup of coffee. Back to the cottage to get the bikes and gear ready to head over to the course for a pre lap. Dave was pretty happy when his bike arrived.
The race course was 13 miles from the Ranch. When we arrived early afternoon the place was already packed. Shaun had arranged with a friend he met last year to save us a spot for our pit. We pulled in, got registered and headed out for a lap.
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| Dave, Shaun and Steve getting to rip some dirt! |
It was awesome to be in the sunshine, in a short sleeve shirt and shorts and on dirt again! I think it was close to 20C with a light wind. Way better then snow & ice! Some how Shaun & I managed to lose Dave & Steve with in the first 10 mins. We waited for them and asked a few riders but no one had seen them. We carried on as Shaun briefed me on the course as we were riding. It was in great shape with a nice balance of double and single track. There was nothing really technical about it. A lot of cactus, a couple of rocky sections but mostly fun and fast trails. I tracked 1178 ft gain and 26.5 km on my Garmin. We hooked back up with Dave & Steve. There is actually one section of the course where you can go two ways. They took one way and we took the other. Steve headed out for another lap since he was not racing. The rest of us headed back to get organized for race day.
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| I had already measured out all of my Infinit Nutrition for the race before I left. |
The forecast looked good for Saturday and Sunday. A high of 16C for both days dropping down to 4C. Winds looked like they would settle down as the race went on. We got organized and packed up the mini van and were off to 24 hour Town.
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| My bike was ready to go! |
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| The van was packed with 4 bikes and all our gear. |
We unloaded the van and set up our pit. There was not a lot to set up since we all flew down and did not have a tent, table, bike stand or any of the things you would normally have at your pit. Steve would be pitting for Shaun, Dave & I so we got things as organized as we could for him. Shaun knew the people in the pit beside us. They offered to help us and use their bike stand and anything else we needed so that was a huge help and gave Steve some support as it would be a tough job pitting for 3 people.
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| The pit - Dave & Shaun getting organized |
Before we knew it we were signing in and racking our bikes. It was packed with approximately 1,850 racers in total. We found a spot to stash our bikes towards the end of the run where Steve would be waiting for us. Shaun, Dave & I lined up for the run and it was elbow to elbow when the gun went off. Shaun & I arrived at the bikes at the same time. Steve passed my bike and I was off. I buzzed someone's tire with all the congestion and hit the dirt. No big deal back up on and on my way. Very congested as we headed out to the course. Once I approached "The Bitches", a series of ups and downs I had to pull over as my chain dropped off and was stuck behind the cassette. I managed to get myself sorted out and back on the bike fighting through the crowd. The chain dropped again shortly after. I stopped again and got it back on. My rear derailleur hanger may have got bent when I hit the dirt after the run so I avoided using a few of the easier gears that were skipping. Back on my bike working through the masses. Hit the pit and decided to keep going as the shifting seemed to be ok. I decided to stop and have Steve have a look at my bike after lap 2 just to make sure it was ok. He did not see any problems so I carried on and ran into Dave on the next lap.
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| Dave & I having some fun! |
I made no stops except to put on some layers and grab a fresh bottle of Infinit. After lap 4 I stopped to get my lights on. Steve mounted my lights as I grabbed some more layers and headed back out. About half way into the lap it started to get dark so I pulled over to turn on my lights. I set my Exposure Diablo and Six Pack lights to the low setting. As I began to ride I found it challenging to see as the course was really wide open and there were a lot of shadows. I used my remote switch and played around with the settings and decided I needed to have my lights on medium for this kind of terrain.
When I left the timing tent for lap 6 I had some challenges so I headed back to the pit. Of course the sensible thing to do would be to turn around and follow the course back to the pit. However, I decided to go into the bush to get back and ended up getting cactus in my leg and on my gloves. Steve pulled them out with a comb which is apparently what you do when you have cactus stuck in your body. It works great! Anyways back to the issue, Steve sorted me out and I was back in business and headed back into the timing tent and back out on course.
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| The cactus looked like this x 2 in my leg |
My lights worked great for the rest of the race and I was starting to get used to riding in the desert at night. I was settling into a steady pace and felt pretty good. During one of my night laps when I came into the pit Shaun was there. It turned out something went wrong with his fork so he had to pull out of the race. He said I was doing a good job and to continue to chip away at the laps.
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| Great night shot Steve! |
The early morning laps were starting to get tough. It was cooling off and I was starting to feel my knees and my feet were getting sore and started to burn. I stopped after lap 11 to put on my jacket and switch to my warmer gloves. I checked in with Steve and asked how Dave was doing. He said good but he was done. It turns out all the sand and dirt had given him blurred vision and he was forced to stop early morning. It was now up to me to represent "Team Canada".
I knew the sun was going to be coming up on this lap so that was a good motivator. It was awesome to see the day light again. It really started to warm up as the lap continued. By the end of the lap I had all my layers zipped down and was ready to peel down for my next lap.
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| Morning lap |
At this point I had lost track of how many laps I had done. I did know that I would have to pick up the pace if I wanted to get out for 2 more laps before 12pm. As long as I got in before 12pm I could get out for one more lap. I really was not sure how I was doing but Steve & Shaun continued to say I was doing a good job. I just kept riding and doing my thing. A few people started to make some comments to me on the course like "you are killing it" and "hey champ" and one girl gave me a pat on the back as she hammered by. I think someone also said "hey Mini Goat" but I could have been hallucinating.
I arrived back at the pit at 10:00am so I knew I had plenty of time to get back before noon and go out again. Shaun gave me my bottle and a caffeine pill and told me I was doing well but would have to keep up the pace. Back out on the course and the wind was really starting to pick up which was adding to the challenge. I made pretty good time on the lap as the caffeine kicked in and was back to the pit by 11:40am. Steve, Dave & Shaun were there to greet me. They gave me 2 bottles and said I had secured my position so I just had to go out again with a steady pace. I still did not know my position so I headed out for my final lap and tried to ride smart. The wind had not died down and it was a push to finish the final climb before the downhill to the finish. All I could think of was that it was still way better than riding in the snow and ice I had been training on before the race. I was pumped to get to the top and rip the downhill for the last time to the finish. There were tons of people out cheering and it was awesome to hit the timing tent for the last time. As I finished up I looked around and saw Dave & Steve standing by the toilets. I had come in a little earlier than expected and Shaun just missed me as well. Big hugs all around and then I asked how I did? Steve checked the results and said I finished 3rd in my category with 15 laps. I was pleased with the result and knew I had done everything I could to get to the finish with 397km and 18,000 feet of climbing under my belt. The awards were starting right away so I did not have time to change. We headed into the tent for the awards.
The boys had already packed things up so we headed out after the solo awards. Back to the Ranch to get out of the same kit I had been wearing for over 25 hours. Time for a shower, some food and wine! We headed into the town of Oracle for some Mexican and BBQ then back to the Ranch for some more beer and wine!
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| That is a huge burrito |
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| My podium wine yum! |
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| Steve & Dave exhausted from the day! |
We enjoyed our breakfast the next morning and soaked up the sun on the deck for one last time. We knew it would be awhile before we would be enjoying sunshine, warm weather and dirt trails.
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| View from our cottage |
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| Shaun & I chilling on the deck |
Headed back to Tucson for our afternoon flights. We said goodbye to Dave as he was on a different flight. Shaun, Steve & I just made our flight to Seattle. We enjoyed a few beverages at the airport waiting for our connection.
Steve & I arrived back home late Monday night. In the morning I visited with my parents who were looking after our place and dog Milly while we were away. I gave them the race report and we looked at the results again. My dad had been questioning some of the results. The rules stated that you had to still be on course at 12pm or you would receive a DNF. When we looked at the results again we saw that I had been moved up to 2nd place. The girl who was originally 2nd was not on course until 12pm so she received a DNF. So I was now 2nd!
A big thanks (in no particular order) to Steve my wonderful husband for helping me get ready for the race and staying up all night to support me, Shaun for getting me ready and supporting me during the race, Dave for his support, my family and friends, Deadgoat Racing, the volunteers and race organizers, and my sponsors Exposure Lights USA, Infinit Nutrition Canada and Speed Matrix Canada. This was a great event and a good way to start off the race season!
