24 Hours of Adrenaline

Treena got me on her team for 24 Hours of Adrenaline a few months ago. Her buddy was putting in a team (sponsored! No fees! I'm such a freegan), and I got a spot. I was nervous, because I've only been on my bike about 6 times so far this year. I'm pretty sure only 2 of them were trail rides, and both of those were little ones in Calgary. I was hoping to ride more (leading up the event), but was always crunched for time with lots of ultimate and a very rainy early season. Anyway, by Friday, I couldn't help but think maybe I should have signed up for the 48 Hours of Fuck All this weekend.

I knew I'd have a blast as soon as I actually got there, which I absolutely did. I was the 4th rider (Shannon was second and Treena third), so my first lap was somewhere around 4 o'clock. That lap was my most fun, partially because it was 'dry' (there were wet roots, but not too much mud yet) - looking back on it, compared to the torrential downpours we got before (started right as Treena started riding) and pretty much the rest of the weekend, that loop was 'dry'. I took about 1 hr 15 minutes, and was really pleased with that loop.

My second lap was my night lap. I think I stared around 12:30 or 12:45 in the morning. It was weird/neat/scary riding with lights (thanks to Rob & Nat/Shannon for the loans) and f'ing hard in all that mud. The technically rooty section from the first lap became a giant, rainy, nighttime trail run/walk with my bike. So much uphill! It was wet enough that I don't think I could have ridden that fresh, during the day, at the end of the season. The night lap was very tiring, both because it was at night, and because of the mud. I think I churned out an extra 100 calories per hill by slipping. Although I did get new tires (so needed) for the race (the front one was the original, and I both commuted on it on bikepath for a long time and took it to Moab) and they were AWESOME. My night lap time was 1 hr 50.

I managed to get a solid 3.5 hours of sleep (while Deanna, Reagan and Shannon rode), before getting up and getting ready (while Treena rode). I could tell I was a little fatigued at that point when I punched myself in the nose stuffing my sleeping bag into it's stuff sag. My first slipped - ow.

My third and final lap was our teams last. I think I left around 10? I really enjoyed this lap too, although I did have one really hard bail in the rooty section. There was so much mud that I was having a hard time clipping in (same on the night lap). I had other 'bail', but I didn't really fall, I just lost control, leapt off the back on my bike - it went down the little hill without me. Final time was 1 hr 34 minutes.

There were lots of people that I knew at the race (I nearly said tournament), which I didn't expect. It was a nice surprise, and I think I got a boost of energy from everyone I saw.

Everyone rode really well - everyone kicked at least one lap. It was a really fun group.

Random ride note: I was only kind of proud of riding a hardtail. I think I saw maybe one other one the whole weekend.

ps. The dark shot was taken about 4 am just before I went to bed. The white streak is a riders light as he passed.