weekends dealing with demons

24 hour racing is a curious creature; attractive to some, cruel to all, and satisfying to those who participate.

on thursday cam, dallas, luc, colin, laura and i left for wausau after work. after a quick stop in grand forks for dinner at burger time (it was going to be subways but someone forgot to tell colin's gps unit that the subway programmed into the map had recently been moved).

the crew getting dinner

after a bite to eat it was off to minneapolis where we were going to crash for the night. because of our late start we only rolled in to our hotel around 1:30 in the morning which meant that it was going to be short night, not a good thing to do prior to a 24 hour race.

mrs. dr. and i shared a room with the bikes - the boys got to fight over the two double beds in the other room

after a quick breakfast at denny's it was off to wausau

after we arrived in wausau we set up our camp and then it was off to town to buy supplies for the race. buying the food can be a tricky thing, you need to find something that tastes good, gives you the calories you need (about 250-300 an hour), and is something that is so easy to take and that won't repulse you later on. one of the hardest and most important aspects to 24 hour racing is nutrition; you need to stay on top of it or you will bonk or get an upset stomach which is a sure fire way to knock yourself out of the race. the foods of choice this race were boost, tapioca pudding, cherry strudels, and the odd banana which was washed down with water and some gatorade (got be careful with that stuff - too much and you'll get an upset stomach because of the sugar content). after the shopping it was time for a ride.

by friday afternoon we were on the trails for the pre-ride


colin coming out of the technical singletrack

after the pre-ride we registered, had dinner, and settled down for the night.

the next morning we set up our station on the course and got ready for the race. i decided to keep an easy gearing for the race and ran 34X19 and swapped out the rigid fork for a suspension fork hoping this would make for an easier race. with the food and water station set up it was time to race.

just before the start of the race; it was too hot to wear the dark jersey which was saved for the night laps.


the start line

finding alberto


speaking of sweet jerseys, i got to get myself one of these

the race started pretty well and i got towards the front following the le mans start. this was good because it meant that i could ride the first sections of the single track rather than walking through it which most of the riders have to do on the first lap until the group spreads out. cam and i started out pretty hot in hind sight (our first 3 lap times include 2-10 minute breaks during each lap as we stopped at our support tent for food and water) and it caught up with us quickly as we both experienced cramps on the 3rd lap - cam's more serious than mine.

dallas loading up for another lap

dallas had the better strategy; slower more even paced laps with less breaks in between each lap. dallas would come in after each lap behind me and leave before i would be ready to start the next lap; i would catch him, we ride together and then get separated on some single track later on the lap. if i would have been smarter i would have pace myself better as i soon started to spend more and more time between each lap getting ready for the next one coming up.

by 6:00 we had to get our lights on the bikes

as night came i was starting to get beat up. it is one thing to do a 24 hour race as a member of a team where you get a chance to recover between each lap, it is another thing to go out there lap after lap and get beat up by the roots and rocks that wait for you on the trail. riding the laps becomes especially difficult at night as the smoother lines you ride during the day are harder to find because of the artificial light changes the way everything looks and you are getting more and more tired, making it difficult to control your bike and pick those good lines. it is also the night time when the demons start to creep into your brain.

me dealing with the demons

it is also at night when you start to play mind games with yourself: how many laps you can do, when and how long you should rest, 'maybe i should lie down for a little while...,' i'm not hungry so i won't bother to eat; stuff like that which takes laps out of you. i finally succumbed to the tired demon at 5:30 and lay down for a short nap complaining to no one in particular that i lost my soul somewhere along the way.

in the morning wondering if i still had it in me to go out for another lap


dallas - the king of this stuff - knows how to do these type of events. here is with a cup of joe that mrs. dr. kindly picked up for us when she came back to the race site in the morning.

cam and i finally fought off the demons and managed to get our gear back on go out for one more lap. i am glad that i did because i would have been disappointed if i had not managed to do at least 13 laps this year. i completed 13 laps last year, but apparently the course was 2 miles longer this year (?) which means i covered more distance - a goal that was important to me

it really hurt to get back on the bike

many, many, many thanks to mrs. dr. and colin for their help during the race. support is important to doing these races. without them it is so hard to keep going because there is so much more to do and think of other than riding your bike.

the crew

more to come...