24 Hours in the Old Pueblo 2014

It is always a treat to get away from the snow and cold for a riding adventure. The temperatures had been particularly cold two weeks leading up to the race. This meant a lot of grinding it out on the trainer, which is always awesome ;-). Prior to that I did get some good riding in Fernie and had a fun trip out to Rossland.

Dave & I flew out of Calgary and met up with Shaun in Phoenix. A stop at Whole Foods and we were good to go for our drive to Oracle. A few other racers were meeting us at 3C Ranch. Antonio & Holly were also driving from Texas to help with pit support, which was greatly appreciated.

View from place

It was nice to catch up with everyone the next morning and enjoy some coffee on the warm deck before heading out to register and do a pre-lap on the course. The sun was shining and temps were mid 80s. It felt amazing to be on the dirt again. I felt great on my bike and was ready to go!

Race day woke up to more sunshine and it was already warm. We headed to the course to finish setting up the pit and get organized for what was about to unfold. 24 Hour racing is always interesting  :-).

On the way to the race

The Fate was good to roll.

Dave, Shaun, Ryan & I stashed our bikes and headed up to the Le Mans start. We decided to position ourselves a little further back, as last year was a real gong show. The gun went off and we were on our way. Shaun & I arrived at the bikes at the same time and settled into the pack. I lost sight of him once he started hammering up the B**tches. I ran into Ryan and Dave on that lap, which was fun. Things were congested as always but moving along and I hit the pits in good time. Grabbed a bottle of Infinit and back out. I was racing back and forth with another solo racer the first lap and the beginning of the 2nd. I decided to pick up the pace a little so I could find my own rhythm and settle into my pace.

Le Mans start. Can you find the Specialized kit?

My lap times were consistent and I was starting to get some good flow on the course. It was hot and dusty but I was loving it after a long winter. My first stop was after lap #4 to mount lights. I was in and out fairly quick. I knew there was at least one girl ahead of me so there was no time to waste. That was a fun lap as things started to cool down and the sun set. Back to the pit and added another layer just to be safe before the temps dropped.

Here is where things started to get interesting. On lap #7 I noticed my eyes were watering a lot and getting sore. It was dusty and there was smoke from the open fires that were on the course and in the transition area. It was getting a little challenging to see. I didn't want to stop but thought the smart thing to do was to get some eye drops when I hit the pits. So the crew flushed my eyes and I wiped my face off hoping things would improve.

Unfortunately the drops just seemed to make things worse. It was like a film had been placed over my eyes. I had to keep switching my lights to high just to make out where I was going. A few sections I went off course and could tell I was really starting to slow down. By the time I got back to the pit I had decided I should go to the medical tent to get things looked at. Amber was nice enough to come with me. I guess my eyes were fire red with little white. They started flushing the eyes out, and then squirted more saline in as I was supposed to keep them open and stare at something. Good times! Wow that burned and I felt a bit nauseous.  After having a look at me I was advised not to go back on course and get some sleep and rest my eyes. What? Stop? Just over 12 hours of racing and approximately 200km and I was done. Well that sucked!!

I tried to get some sleep in the van but using my race bag as a pillow didn't really work out. I spent the rest of the night by the heater in the pit with a blanket over my head.  The sun came up and it was time to cheer on the rest of our team. I was not the only one with their challenges but we still had Dave & Tony out on course. Tony was doing great chipping away at his laps and Dave was getting his groove back after suffering dehydration, gut cramps, etc. He managed to pull off an 8th place finish, which was impressive.

As the race came to a finish it seemed strange not to be crossing the line. However, that's racing you never know what you are going to get. All you can do is get yourself ready and the rest is beyond control. It only makes me want to race again really soon!

Spent the next few days having some fun and enjoying the warm weather before heading back to winter.