Burn 24 hour Race - next report

After lap one concluded, I headed back to the RV to refuel & rest. I refueled with something..can't remember what it was..either pb&j or some type of energy bar. Then I laid down in the bunk to put my feet up for about an hour or so. When it was time for hubby to get ready for his lap, I decided to start getting ready for mine as well since I followed him in the rotation.
Got some more food, hyrdated, changed back into my riding junk & warmed up. My warm up consisted of riding around the pea gravel track & also riding up & down this hill which led into the campground. Hubby came through & handed me the baton . This was a much better lap because I had a feel for the course & the legs were ready. Surprisingly my legs felt better than they did prior to my first lap. Maybe riding helped get whatever junk was in them from the previous week. At the beginning of the lap, I still bobbled on the rock section covering the culvert. This was to be my nemesis all weekend on the course. I could do all of the other rock gardens which were more technical than this one. I don't know what it was about this spot but I just could not ride it.
I was able to pass a few riders this lap, thus maintaining or gaining position from my teammates earlier efforts. Towards the second half of the lap, I was trailed by a solo dude. He recognized my team taco jersey & we chatted for a bit. Turns out he reads hubby's blogs pretty regularly and when he asked my blog name, he recognized me as well. It's always fun to run into people who know you by your blog. Sometimes it can be a little unnerving but for the most part it's cool.
Nothing eventful happened in lap 2..I raced a clean lap and felt a little stronger. Passed the baton off to Skippy & headed back to the RV for more rest, refuel. As I rested in the RV, one of the gals put in a DVD to watch. I wish I hadn't watched the movie because it caused a song to get stuck in my head for lap 3. Alvin and the Chimpmunks Christmas song!!!!! AAAAAAAH....I still want a huuuuula hooop. It was a cute movie though.

Lap 3 would take me into the night. Somehow I ended up w/ the dusk lap. Riding into the evening w/ the transition from day to dusk has always been a challenge for me. I don't see very well at night to begin with. The transition time always seems darker for me. For this lap I decided to don my flower bra (Over my jersey of course). I was also going to wear my grass skirt but it kept getting caught in my spokes. Got my light ready, refueled & warmed up. HUbby passed the baton & off I went. As I started my lap some folks from another tent hollered "go get 'em girl!"...that was cool b/c I don't know who these folks were but they were cheering for me. Lap 3 was also a good lap for me. I don't think I was as fast as lap 2 because once nightfall came, the lines got really weird. I mentioned the log jumps & rock gardens on the second half of the course...if you weren't careful, you would end up on top of a log jump where you didn't want to be but the lines took you right to them. I ended up on a couple of bad lines and had to dabble to get back on track. The night time transition really slowed me down as well. I still was able to pass some folks though. Most of the ones I passed were the solo dudes...they were starting to tire. I made it back in w/ out incident & handed off the baton to Skippy. Back in for more food and extended rest.

For the overnight hours, I had expressed my desire to not do any early morning laps...for some reason the thought of riding at that time of night/morning just creeped me out a little. The boyz were great & doubled up on their nighttime/early morning laps to allow me time to rest. I went to bed around 10...woke up at 1:30 a.m., then back to get more shut eye. I was awakened around 4:30 A.M. by Moe (Skippy's wife). She said the guys were beat & I would proably need to go. She asked how I felt & I said "ok"...a little sleepy but the legs felt fine. Hubby also got up b/c he was supposed to do the next rotation. We were trying to figure out who was gonna go thinking the rider on course would take an hour. I ate something & changed & tried to get ready as quickly as I could. Unfortunately our rider was back at the RV before I could get to the transition area. We probably lost 10 minutes or so because of this. I felt really bad about it. I took the baton & rode back to the transition area, then back on course.

It was cold & dark on this lap...and not too many people out there. Those who were out were moving slowly. This was my hardest lap. I was not awake & not warmed up..not to mention the fact I was quite chilly. I had to push in some areas which was really frustrating. As I neared the check in point I noticed what looked like a beach ball on the side of the trail. Earlier in the race, the promoters mentioned something about the 3:00 a.m. hour being the magical hour or wonder hour...or something. As I continued, I noticed more beach ball looking things. They were grayish in color and became more numerous. At one point I looked up and noticed green Christmas lights in the trees. I thought..hmmmm Christmas in May. As I progressed further, I noticed streamers hanging from the trees and then a whole bunch of Aliens lining the trail. They were having a party & those of us riding in the wee early morning hours were invited. Now I know why Adam was so upset earlier in the evening. He had forgotten his tin foil to line his helmet so the Aliens wouldn't abduct him!....That made my night!...I thought that was the coolest thing. I was laughing out loud (no one was around) because it was quite a sight. As I continued down the switchbacks I noticed orange/pink pencils outlining the edge of the turn..I guess so folks wouldn't go over the edge.
I continued on through the checkpoint, greeted the fine folks out there w/ a chipper "good morning". They responded."where have you been, we've been waiting all night for you"...I said "I'm here now..let the party begin"....It was a good laugh. I told them I loved the Aliens..it was a nice touch. Through the second half of the lap, I got passed by a chicky who was absolutely flying. The best part is she had white handlebar streamers!...It rocked.
I also passed another 24 hour solo dude who was pretty out of it. I felt bad for him.

As I neared the end of the lap, the sun was starting to rise. The rooster was crowing again. Once out of the woods I felt re-invigorated....the fog was rising off of the lake & it was a really cool scene. As I came throught the transition area, I greeted the timekeeper w/ another chipper "good morning"...They probably thought I was nuts b/c I had a lot of energy for so early in the morning. I handed the baton off & told Skippy I can go again after his lap & let the boyz rest more.
more to come in another post

Burn 24 hour Race - Part 1

A few months back our friend Skip had the notion of competing in a 24 hour mountain bike race. At first I wasn't too keen on the idea but Skip pleaded with me. He said they needed someone with boobs to complete the team of 5. I reluctantly said ok....I didn't want to be the slow poke on the team and hold them back. Skippy just wanted to race for fun to see how we would do.
We assembled our team of 5....Skip, Chris, Adam, Hubby, and myself.
As time drew closer, we put together our list of stuff to take. Lots of food, water, Cytomax, snacks, more food, sleeping bags, camping gear, bike stuff (extra jerseys, shorts, socks, cool weather gear,helmets, lights, chargers, extra lights), bikes, tubes, tools, chain lube, ibuprofen, etc etc.
I generally stress out over details and this was no exception. It seems like it took a week to pack & get ready. Here is a pic of some of the stuff we had prepared:

Around Tuesday or Wednesday of the week of the race my hubby informs me that we will not have to bring tents. I asked how was that possible. Adam hooked us up w/ a 36 foot RV... Up until this point I was still not too thrilled with the idea of doing this type of event. When I heard about the RV..I was stoked! No sleeping in a tent on the hard ground w/ lots of noise all night, cold temps, no where to keep clothes dry& warm, etc, etc. This RV was the shiznit. It was so nice that we didn't want to race...we just wanted to hang out in the RV all day and watch dvd's. This thing slept 9 people comfortably, had a toilet, microwave, a/c, sheets, fridge. It was hooked up! When we arrived at the sight...I was a little on edge. My legs did not feel good all week. We had raced in Bedford the week prior and I just didn't recover right. When I rode Tuesday, the legs felt heavy and on Thursday they felt even worse. I was really dreading having to go out there & race for 7 1/2 miles at a time. My biggest fear was I would not be able to recover in between laps and my legs would just plain give out on me.
The racers meeting was at 10:45a.m. with a noon start. We decided our rotation would go as follows: Hubby, me, Skip, Chris, Adam. We would each do one lap until the overnight hours where Hubby & Skip would do 2 laps per rotation. The race started as a lemans start..meaning you have to run to your bike. We were allowed to designate a runner for this portion. Skip would be our lucky runner. Starting the race this way enabled some distance to be put in between the riders before entering the singletrack. Most people jogged lightly around the path before handing off to the riders. Most teams knew you can't win the race in the first 1/2 mile...but you can lose it!

Each team member was equipped w/ a timing device which we wore on our ankles. We also had to keep track of a baton. Each rider kept the baton in their jersey pocket. At the conclusion of each lap, you would enter a transition area where your time would be tracked w/ the ankle bracelet & then the rider would pass the baton on to the next rider .
Hubby was the first one off. I'd be next. We gauged each lap would be roughly 40 -45 minutes so once he took off, I ate, changed, hydrated & started to warm up. I kept track of the time so I would be in the transition area as hubby came through. Skip & Moe spotted hubby coming through so I got ready to go. The lap started off in a grassy area which turned into a woop section. They a slight uphill over a culvert. The culvert was lined w/ rocks which I stared too long at and ended up having to foot out. It caused 2 guys behind me to get all screwed up. They were not at all happy with me...I apologized profusely to them. Then I quietly reminded myself that you cannot win a 24 hour race in lap 2. We took a left hand into the singletrack. The left hand turn was pretty loose so you really had to be careful. It wound back & forth along a creekbed, then it seemed like switchback after switchback. The first section was a gradual climb. I wasn't quite warmed up so it was a bit of a struggle at first. Eventually you dump out on top of a hill where you can look out & see the campground. Then down a fun downhill, through some berm turns, a crazy rock garden which really wasn't bad if you kept up your momentum, more switchbacks & burm turns. Then more gradual climbing. I kept getting passed by people so I was feeling bad b/c we were losing ground. My legs still didn't feel great so my pace was a little slower than I wanted.
About halfway there is a checkpoint where you called out your number. Then comes the second half of the course. This was sooooooo much fun. All of the gradual climbs & switchbacks paid off. There was some fireroad, more switchbacks, rock gardens, log jumps, etc. This is where you could really make up some time. You had to be careful though because some of the turns put you into obstacles & things that if you were not paying attention, you could really get hurt. At one point I ended up on this log ramp when I wanted to go around it. That's how quickly some of these things came up. The second half of the course took you down near this lake. There was this deafening sound the whole time. I thought they were spring peepers...but spring peepers stop peeping from time to time. This noise was constant, loud & deafening. (I think I said that already)...Turns out they were the 17 year cicadas..& they were everywhere.
There also must have been farm nearby because I kept hearing a rooster in one section. Weird. Towards the end of the lap, the course was winding and fast. more burm turns & you could get some serious air on a couple of jumps. Then you dumped out into the camping area, rode a pea gravel road which dumped into the grass...then you meadnered for a bit on the grass until approaching the transition area. The last couple of miles was my favorite part of the course because it was so fast. As I neared the transition area, I grabbed the baton out of my jersey & handed it off to Skip. Off he went.....Now I had to rest and get ready for lap 2 in a few hours.

Fat Tire Frenzy Race Report

Saturday marked the 2nd race in the VA Derailer Series. This race is held at Falling Creek Park in Bedford, VA. We couldn’t have asked for a better day for racing. Light breezes, sunny skies and temps in the low 70’s.
We arrived at the parking lot to find more cars than usual. We met up w/ the clan from Team El Toreo, registered, changed, warmed up. Etc. When we lined up for the start, they decided to start all of the sport class w/ the single speeders. I was the lone chicky single speeder again. I joked w/ the guys that the smell of testosterone was overwhelming. I decided to start behind the sport guys b/c I knew I could not hang w/ all the geared dudes on the grassy, slight uphill start. As we dumped into the woods it became a bit of a cluster b/c there are a couple of sections which are steep causing riders to dismount. Conditions were slightly muddy but it was the type of mud that makes you slide everywhere…sort of like peanut butter.
As we continued in the woods, I caught up to 2 Vet Sport men. One let me by but.when I got behind the other, he was just piddling. I asked if I could pass….he responded by speeding up to pull away from me. Must be something about the male ego & not wanting to be beat by a girl! We dumped out onto a gravel fireroad. This was slightly uphill but nothing major. I decided to pull up alongside the dude who wouldn’t let me pass to see if I could get a reaction. I did not utter a word..just pulled up slightly ahead of him and kept a steady pace.….sure enough..he took off again. I love playing mind games w/ some of the men b/c their egos just can’t handle a chicky riding stronger than them.

We twisted and turned down through the woods, up & over a couple of logs (I chickened out so I hopped off the bike to get over these), more woods, creeks, switchbacks. Climbs. At one point we climbed up a trail which dumped out into a fast, fun downhill section. The other Vet Sport who I passed caught to me up before the downhill. I let him go ahead of me since he had gears & was about 50 pounds heavier than me. I didn’t want that following me down the hill. We then rode through another field, then back into the woods for more twists, turns, climbs, creek crossings.. At one point there was a nasty, muddy creek crossing. I caught up to the first vet sport who had sped off. He looked like he was slowing so I took advantage of an opportunity to pass him in the muddy creek.
I did not see him the rest of the race so I’m not sure if he had a mechanical issue or what. He seemed to be riding strong up until this point.

My second lap was a bit slower than the first lap. My legs tired & I walked many of the uphills. I came in right at 2 hours…a little slower than I had hoped but it’s all good. At the end of the race I went back down to the start/ finish to catch the end of the female sport race. My buddy Jen was flying down the hill w/ another chicky friend, Gina. Everyone was screaming and cheering..telling Jen to pedal & telling Gina to catch her!. Jen won by a mere 4 seconds. It was quite a finish.

Team Taco had a decent showing this race:

Me – 1st place (and last J ) female Single Speed
Hubby – 2nd Place Male Singlespeed
Jen -1st place women sport
Yenski -1st place male expert 36 -49
Adam (adopted team member) – 1st place Clydesdale.

Next up: Burn 24 hour race….yup..24 hour race!

Va Derailer Series Race #1 - Danville

Southside Scramble May 3, 2008

This was the first race of the year for me and the first in the VA Derailer Series. I wasn't sure how I felt about doing this race. It seems the past couple times I have been down to Danville, some type of bad omen goes with me. A few years ago during a pre-ride, I was attacked by yellow jackets & stung 4 times. Then two summers ago at the race I had heat exhaustion following the race. At least this year it was held in May, not August when temperatures can get in the 100's.

The day was gorgeous when we got up. Sunny skies, mild breeze, low humidity, cool temps....Perfect for racing. When we arrived in Danville, their weather was much the same...maybe a little more humid.

Met up w/ team El Toreo, then we got registered. At this race they write your class & age on the back of your leg....for some reason they decided to make my age really HUGE on my leg so everyone who came upon me in the race would know to get away from the crazy old lady on the single speed. All our buddies back at the staging area got a kick out of it. Ha Ha...wait til you get to be my age!!!...Anywho...got a bite to eat, got changed & ready to go. Met up w/ the newest team member, my buddy Jen, and we rode the beginning & the end just to get a feel for what to expect. She came back in to get a bite to eat, I made a pit stop, then continued to warm up a little more.

We lined up for the pre-race meeting and once again, I was the only female in my class!..There was one expert chicky, one single speeder chicky (me), and 4 sport chickies and a few beginners. There were probably 8 or so singlespeed boyz....so it was me and the boyz again.

Really the only time I hung w/ the other singlespeeders was at the start...after that, I was all alone.

The starter counted us down and off we went..down the gravel road, right hand turn into the grass to the left hand turn into the trails. Down some dips, back up, down a few more, then twisty turny trail til we dumped out onto a gravel fireroad. I heard the siren sound again to start the sport men...I thought..uh oh..here they come..time to get passed. Sure enough once I was on the fireroad the first group of sport guys came upon me. There was plenty of room to pass to I let them on through but kept moving. Back into the single track where I stayed free for a bit but then another bigger group passed me. Oh well...I just focused on keeping a steady pace and doing well technically. I knew I would be passed my many others but it was ok.

Danville is the type of course where you are on the gas the entire time. It is tough in some spots because there are short grunts, followed by longer gradual uphills, then a downhill, then a steady spin again. Lots of tight twists & turns, creeks, wooden bridges, etc..then more uphills which open into wide open fields of nothing, back into singletrack, etc. etc.

At one point approximately 3 miles in I heard something barreling through the woods. I checked behind me to see if it was a biker but there was no one there. Out of the corner of my eye I saw it. It was a deer moving pretty fast..maybe 30 mph..scared out of its mind. I wasn't sure which way it was going to go, so I stopped to watch it. I've never seen a deer run so fast. There were 2 more behind it...one ran in the opposite direction & the other just stared at me as I went by. Yikes!.....

I plodded on..at some points I felt great, at others not so great. I had to walk some of the uphills simple because I could walk them just as fast as I could riding them & I wanted to conserve my legs as much as possible.

At 9 miles in, my legs started to cramp but I was able to keep well hydrated so while it was uncomfortable, it wasn't race ending. Towards the end of the course I got passed by a couple of beginners. GRrrrr. That was embarassing..but then again they had a shorter distance so I guess it really didn't matter.

I did finish so I got first in my class....(also last in my class since I was the only one!)...I felt great at the finish & finished strong. I think my average time was around 8 miles an hour which surprised me because every time I checked my Garmin it hovered around 6 mph. Oh well I"ll take it.

Hubby didn't fare so well. Apparently he crashed & got a mystery scratch/gash on his thigh. It's weird looking.

As they wrapped up the award ceremony, they called my name ..I didn't know what that was about until they handed me this huge trophy. Apparently I got overall Sport female winner since I raced the same distance as the sport women & came in ahead of them. Cool!..although I don't know what I'll do w/ this big friggin trophy.

All in all I was pleased w/ the result. I didn't have any weird omens take place this year and I got a goofy, anotomically incorrect trophy to boot. I may have also gotten some more chickys friends to ride with.