24 Hours of fun....

wow, what a weekend. Congrats to those who slogged through the shit and finished.

The first lap was great. I spent the morning preparing all my food and my pit area. Didn't want to bother anyone else as I had no crew. My guy was held up and couldn't make it. The weather was great, nice and sunny.

They lined us all up early, solos got to start 15 minutes before the teams. We also got a longer course, 5 more fun filled km for us. We took off in a run with all sorts of people cheering us on. My first Lemans start. I remember again why I don't run anymore. The prologue loop led us through town and then wound back up to the Nordic Centre. I felt pretty good actually. The first part of the course is about 5km of climbing. A long rooty section greets you at the 2km mark. Passed a few guys walking this section.

Next was a nice technical downhill. I love this part. Only touched the brakes a little, mostly just cranked all the way down. Then we come to an evil steep uphill section and the first checkpoint. Dumped some water on my head and kept going. Wound down a little more and cruised through my favourite section. It was a little downhill section off the pavement to a nice rock launch. There was a big crowd there every lap, I made sure to give them a little show even on my last lap there. A fun jump that sent me about 30 feet down the trail. Good times. Then we raced down into Georgetown, a quick downhill section that you needed to pay attention on, a very sharp turn at the bottom of the hill.

Then more climbing. The new section of trail they cut was a bit of a clusterfuck the first few laps as a lot of people were unable to stay on their bikes. I had to holler for some to get out of the way as I cleaned it the first two laps. Then we rode to the 3rd checkpoint and the extra 5 km for the solo guys, a nasty climb that was on soft, wet grass. It was extremely slow even when it was semi-dry. It got really nasty later on. After the climb was a neat whoop de do section that we ran backwards compared to other year's I've raced this course. The finish isn't as nice as it used to be as there is no longer a stadium area to ride into, but is fun nonetheless.

I was still feeling good on lap two. It was very warm out. I think steam came off my head again when I dumped water on it. And again I walked nothing. Had to trackstand on the new singletrack climb as the guy in front of me didn't hear me catching up behind him but I didn't dab. Stuffed some more food in my face at my pit area and headed out for #3.

My knee was starting to bug me on the climbs now. I promised myself a few months ago that I'd stop if I thought my ride was going to jeopardize my Transrockies race. I kept going. Some crappy dark clouds started creeping into the valley. Shit. I was racing the weather, trying to get back before my meager tent blew away in the wind and oncoming rain. I wish I had a pit crew to worry about that. It starts to come down just as I'm approaching the start/finish line. And it is mean. Wind is swirling, rain coming down hard. I get to my pit area and have to save my shitty tent setup. My sports drink container has been blown over and has spilled all over my clean riding gear. The tent has been knocked over, I think someone got nailed by one of the big supports from the timing tent as well. I sit in another pit area and stay dry, planning my next move. It looks like it might blow over.

I head out with my jacket on in the rain. Screw it, lets get another lap in. I don't need the jacket as I am way too hot wearing it. I throw it at a spectator asking him to take it to my pit area. He gets it back there, spectators can be very cool. My knee feels like shit now. The rain is now gone, but not for long. 5 minutes later, it pours even harder than the last time. Fuck. I can't pedal the climbs anymore, too slippery. Every descent turns into a bind gamble. We get teased again with a stoppage in rain. And then it pours again. Just in time for the last difficult climb. I'm freezing now. I stupidly took off my gloves and ended up putting them back on as my hands were being chewed to bits. The lap takes forever. My knee hurts, my hands are toast, I am colder than I can remember. No one is passing me, I think everyone stopped and I am all by my lonesome out there. I get to the transition area and I am finished. I limp in, filthy and dejected. My race is over. Someone takes a pic of me in the tent and immediately apologizes when he sees my hollow eyes stare back at him. I hope I can find a copy of this photo as I probably look absolutely awesome. Cyd Fraser sees me in the pits and tells me not to quit yet, to take some time and clean up. The mechanic across from my pit area agrees. I straighten out my tent again and head for my car to get a towel, time to hit the showers.

I can't even open the door of the shower facility as my hand is shaking too much. Fuck it's cold. I walk in and strip off the filthy riding gear and have the best shower of my whole life. I feel somewhat human again. I am going to rest and see if my knee improves. In the mean time, I make the best of things and go see some new friends in the pit area. Brad, team mechanic for Barry Lyster from BC is awesome. We yap away for awhile about bikes and assorted stuff. He tuned my bike for me when I was getting cleaned up, just in case I wanted to go for it again. I chat up Dallas Morris' pit guy Shredder, what a character!! And I headed over to talk to brand new 24 Hour hall of famer Steve Fassbinder. He's flying out there. Other hall of famers Ed Hunt, Roy Wallack and Brett Wolfe are there as well. Great bunch of guys. Wolfe is one of my cycling heros, very cool to see how down to earth he is. Bummer that John Stamstad isn't there.

I go sleep in my car for 5 or so hours. It rains again. My knee has not improved so I do not head back out. It's tough to not feel like a total failure. I really wanted to hit my goal of 160km on the dirt. It'll have to wait until another day. And I know it was the right move with the Transrockies 2 weeks away.

Thanks to all that helped me. Brad in Barry Lyster's pit area, Shaun Taylor and his wife were a huge help, Dennis Smaggus' crew were great, and Allen Lane was there for me, too. Congrats to all the Deadgoats and Dallas Morris for their great results.